Talladega snoozefest.

NASCAR started the day by telling drivers in the drivers meeting that there had to be daylight between the bumpers on the turns, yeah right, there was for a few laps,they said there would be NO WARNINGS. Well they had warned teams 4 times by the lap 115. On lap 110 the 18,20 and 11 were nose to tail thru both ends and NASCAR warned all teams, not the ones who were breaking the rules.

But on paper I guess the race looked good lots of leaders, lots of lead changes, but to sit and watch it…….. well it was a snooze fest . At least til Ryan Newman got upside down, and then it got a little crazy, but the thing that got me was Newman’s comments when he came out of the infield care center, “this was a boring race for the fans, it was boring for the drivers….. I guess NASCAR don’t like us now” he was not alone lots of drivers were making comments during the race about it being boring, Tony Stewart said he needed something to keep him awake….

Now let’s look at some of my thoughts during the race…..

 

1 Sadler had a great run with the Ford leading at times and running up front most of the day.

2 Kahne showed he could run up front at will..finishing with a 2^nd place finish.

3 The 48 of Johnson didn’t run up front he hung at the back all day and it got him an 8^th place finish

4 Cars running out of fuel hurt a bunch of other teams at the end, since when the cars ran out it put off the finish of the race for another lap or two, this happened 3 times, 24 ran out 42 ran out the list goes on…..

 

All in all not impressed with the race and I am glad its over till next year. Now bring on Texas.

 

Cya@theraces

the dr.

Best thing to happen to dirt!!!!

The BEST thing to happen to racing in years!~!!!

There is a man in Whiteland Indiana who years ago changed the way people raced, with his revolutionary thinking, and some fast race cars. Well this man has struck again!

Enter C. J. Rayburn, and his NASRA (National All Star Racing Assoc.) http://www.nasra.com/

This series is designed to equate the open motor dirt late models and the crate motor machines as well as the new generation 525 all aluminum engines through weight breaks and harder compound tires .

C.J. Said a while back he thought that the new 525 motor would run with the best open motors around and Mike Mylar has proved him right. See the results here http://www.lawrenceburgspeedway.com/race_results.php?nID=97

This series has come after long and hard planning and preperation by C.J. Rayburn and his crew, this is not some fly by night outfit either this is real honest to God racing, and this is it’s first year next year they are working on getting a full time series sponsor and adding more dates, to what will become the greatest thing to hit dirt racing in years.

You can find rules and spec’s at the NASRA website and get all the details there. C.J. Rayburn is having its annual open house in November from the NASRA website “ NASRA will cap off its Inaugural Season with an Awards Banquet on Friday, November 27, 2009

We will recognize the top racers of the series that evening at CJ Rayburn Race Cars in conjunction with their annual Open House.  The facility is located at 4725 N. Graham Road Whiteland, IN 46184.  Contact phone number is 1-877-828-8232.

We are asking for your support in recognizing these drivers.  We will be presenting awards to our top finishers, and want to offer your company the opportunity to participate.   We are asking for donations of any kind, including products or gift certificates.  All sponsors will be recognized at the banquet, and we will display any company or product banners or literature that you send us.   Most importantly, we extend an invitation to you to attend the banquet and represent your company.

For additional information, please contact CJ at 1-877-828-8232, or email rayburn@indy.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Thank you for your support this year.  We hope that you will join us for the evening.

If you can attend you should…I think you might get to see some big names jumping on this ship next year. Good luck to C.J. Rayburn and his crew as they take on this huge task, but what do we expect from this guy? Nothing less…. than the best… C.J. Rayburn Race Cars Stronger than dirt!!!!

Cya@the races

the dr.

NASCAR Hall of Fame…

Hall of Fame inductees….

Ok the big news today has been the hall of fame inductees they are as follows….

Big Bill france Sr.

bill France Jr.

Richard Petty

Jr Johnson

dale Earnhardt Sr.

Ok lets look at the Hall of Fame… why do they only pick 5 people for the first class of inductees? Stupid stupid stupid…. but it’s NASCAR right? I got no issues at all with the France boys hell they founded NASCAR and rode the helm for years, and Jr Johnson, well he is a legend for sure, shoot even Richard Petty is a legend of the sport, but Dale Sr.??? really?? I know I will get crap about this BUT… look I am not saying he don’t deserve to be in he does, just not in the first class, get the pioneers in there … the ones who made it possible for Dale Sr. to do what he done. And why only 5 ?? that in itself is stupid, make the first class of inductee’s 10, and you please everyone. You can then get the legend’s of the sport and the pioneers plus a fan favorite. But noooooo NASCAR is going to do it how THEY want to do it. But thats ok…. most of the real legends of the sport are in a Hall of Fame else where.\

If I would have had anything at all to do with it here is my list of inductee’s for the first class … all 10 of them!

1 Bill France Sr.

2 Bill France Jr.

3 Red Byron

4 Tim Flock

5 Robbie Flock

6 Richard Petty

7 Glenn Wood

8 Jr Johnson

9 Fireball Roberts

10 the dr….. oops how did that get in there???

10 Dale Sr.

Now that is some old some new and it covers the pioneers of the sport and some of the recent drivers. It pleases everyone, and it makes good sense, and from here on out the class will be limited to 5 inductee’s per year. The vote should have some percentage of fan votes in it somehow…members of NASCAR and a committee of some sorts made up of past members and writers.

Man they leave it to the dr to figure everything out…. I should be on the payroll….

Cya@the races

the dr.

Phantom yellows????

Yellow flags?????

Now in my over 40 years of being around racing in all forms, the yellow flag has meant caution, warning, there is a issue drivers need to be aware of. It causes drivers to slow and stop on track battles, wait to see what the problem is, well in Sundays race at Fontana there has been some concern that NASCAR threw a caution for no reason other than to bunch the field up to, “liven up’ the event. Kasey Kahne took exception to this and blasted NASCAR with this comment,

“We worked hard all day, got ourselves in a good position. I think it was going to be a good points day, and NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris, which caused Kurt Busch to hit the wall, which caused me to go to the grass and Greg Biffle. And from there, that caused the whole next wreck on the front stretch. It’s disappointing that we had a bad race because of a caution to put a show on for the fans. That’s a good part of the sport, we have to keep the fans excited, but sometimes it ruins people’s days, and today it was our day. “

Well Scene Daily’s Jeff Gluck says he see’s no problems with “phantom Cautions” … is this guy serious? Or has he fallen and hit his head? Well let me clue this “guy “ in on what the yellow means….

“ The solid yellow flag, or caution flag, universally requires drivers to slow down due to a hazard on the track “

Key word is “ hazard “ on the track, now if there is no “hazard” why throw a caution? So it can bunch the field up? NOT!!!! NASCAR saw fit years ago to stop racing back to the yellow when a driver almost got killed, and now they have decided to start throwing them “just to bunch up “ the field. HORSE FEATHERS!!!!!! again it will get some one hurt but it don’t seen to affect the powers that be at NASCAR because they have gotten off the concern for drivers well being and are now worried more about the $$$$$$$$$

Gluck stated in his “commentary “ that

“Personally, I don’t have a problem with “phantom” cautions. If NASCAR is looking for an excuse to bring all the cars back together and create some excitement with a double-file restart, I’m totally OK with that. “

Well there Mr. Gluck have you ever raced? Nope… have you ever been involved with a race team? Nope….. so what do you know? Nothing other than what NASCAR tells you to say….

Yellow flags are for when something is wrong, not to bunch up a field, Fans want excitement, real honest excitement, not excitement created by NASCAR.

Mr. Gluck also says”

In some cases, a debris caution is a less blatant way to call a timeout. Other sports have timeouts to reset the action. What’s wrong with using the debris caution to inject some action into an otherwise boring race?

Well timeouts are not a way to reset the action in any other sport. When a team calls a timeout in the fourth quarter, they don’t reset the score to put them within a touchdown. They don’t get to catch up with the team in front of them. The timeout is to give them extra time to come up with a plan to stop the other team. All a “ time out in NASCAR would cause is wrecking, and wrecking is not good racing

Persona;;y I don’t like Jimmie Johnson, but I would rather see him win by 3 laps than see a caution thrown like it was Sunday, it cost lots of drivers a shot at a good points race and RPM 4 cars. But hey Jeff Gluck don’t mind it so it is ok… sounds like a NASCAR lackey to me.

And what was up with NASCAR telling the 9 crew they could not work on their car? That there wasn’t enough time to fix it …. Kenny Francis told Kahne on the radio that “NASCAR won’t let us fix the car when the yellow comes back out” what is up with that? Seems they are taking the “governing body” a little to far….

tell you what NASCAR how about we all admit publicly that your God and you give us back the real racing …. like it is supposed to be? Oh yeah, find somewhere for Gluck so we don’t have to hear or read his slanted ramblings anymore……he is on your payroll right??

Cya@theraces.

The dr.

Is this right??

As we get ready to start the race at Calif. Kyle Busch is still sick, and he has David Gilliand on stand by, only problem is Gilliand is starting the 71 car. Now does this mean he plans on parking the 71 just so he can run over and drive the 18?. Now is this fair? Well depends on who you are… if your TRG Motorsports no it isn’t, he is supposed to be there to run the entire race, now if NASCAR allows this to happen then it seems they are approving of the start and park teams. As reported by Scene Daily he is not expected “to drive the complete race”.At the start of the season John Darby said he would not stand for start and park teams to “just show up, just to park it” but by letting Gilliand do this that is exactly what they are doing.

Allmendinger has already been testing the Ford that RPM has gotten ready at a couple unnamed tracks. Look for A.J. And Sadler to be running Fords before the end of the year, with the new Ford motor too, got to have some one to test it….

“Ford Motor Company, with the help of Wood Brothers Racing, is giving new meaning to “racing for the cure.” The Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford driven by Bill Elliott will feature a special Ford Motor Company Warriors in Pink paint scheme in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The new paint scheme will debut at Lowe’s Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America on October 17. Elliott will also be wearing a specially-designed Ford Warriors in Pink fire suit and helmet during the race that will be auctioned off online after the Race. One hundred percent of auction proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.” (From Ford PR Dept.) Now that is a pink firesuit the dr would be proud to wear!!!

Friday’s Sports Business Daily is reporting – Semi-retired driver Terry Labonte and former team owner Bill Stavola are both getting back into NASCAR full-time as co-owners of a new race organization. StavolaLabonte Racing will field cars in the Sprint Cup Series, possibly next year, with Labonte driving initially. It was the Stovola Brothers who set NASCAR on fire a few years back, this will be good for NASCAR can’t wait to see them come back.

Cya!@the races

the dr.

Legal????

The big talk this week has been the 5 and the 48 car’s inspection. Both cars were deemed by NASCAR to be legal, but……. they were told not to bring the same cars back to the track like that again. The issue was the offset on the tail, which helps the rear of the car stick to the ground instead of spinning out, of the #5 Kellogg’s Chevy just made the tolerance. NASCAR allows a tolerance of 0.070 of an inch for the body off of the center line of the car. Suffice it to say, JJ’s #48 car didn’t make it. But by how much? NASCAR claims it was .006 over the tolerance. That’s about the thickness of two sheets of copier paper. Is that eno8ugh to make a difference? You bet it is!if not why did HMS push the boundary one this? The reason is to gain an advantage, pure and simple that’s why teams do the things they do.

Now for my issue with this call, yeah it may be within tolerances but is it with in the spirit of the rule? Depends on which side of the coin you like to be on, if your a HMS fan yeah its fine, but if your the rest of the world, it is cheating, and HMS has fans and haters….. no in betweeners, people either love them or hate them. From the top of the dr’s box I say “let it go we will get them next time”, but some fans don’t feel this way, they want to see the 48 team grilled on the bbq anytime there is any question of cheating….but as it stands John Darby said “NASCAR’s job is to police the sport and manage the sport&but we also work very closely with the competitors on helping the competitors to make sure we get the right results (i.e., warning teams when they get too close to the line). Take any measurement: say the car has to weigh at least 3,450 pounds∧ if a car comes through inspection right at 3,450 pounds, we’ll point that out to the team and say ‘Hey, what are you doing? What’s wrong with putting two more pounds in there&because you’re putting a lot in the bank that our scales are going to measure the same every time.’ We do it with engines, carburetors, everything. We owe it to the teams to do that. So (Tuesday, after the post-race inspection in Concord) we called the teams and said ‘This thing is passing, but&.if the exact same car comes back next week, and if our inspectors are five-thousandths (of an inch) off, guess what you’re not going to be right at the tolerance, you’re going to be over it.”

Now is it worth it to risk a chase Championship over 2 sheets of paper? You tell me.

Another issue I am wondering about is with Tony Stewart having engine issues at Kansas in practice is HMS giving him the best engines it has? Or is HMS saving the good stuff for it’s team drivers? Lets wait til the season is over and see how this one shakes out…

I have been disappointed in Mark Martin in the way he has turned into a HMS clone with his media answers sounding like an old version of Jimmie Johnson, “oh I got the best cars I have ever had….blah blah blah…….”he acts like HMS is the only team he has ever drove for. Funny how fast drivers forget where they come from….

I just watched John Darby talking about the 5 and the 48 teams, saying that “NASCAR don’t want to do anything that will affect the points,” well then the teams shouldn’t cheat! It is not NASCAR’s job to worry about who wins, it is NASCAR’s job to enforce the rules, pure and simple. Wonder how much Darby makes from HMS a year? Sure seems he is in their pocket sometimes.

Well like it or not that is the dr’s thoughts from the top of the box this week. Now let’s go racin!!!!!

cya@the races

the dr.

Martin wins the 1st one!

Martin wins the first one….

Here is what the chase points look like as of now…

1. #5-Mark Martin [5 wins], 5230, finished 1st at New Hampshire
   2) #48-Jimmie Johnson [3 wins], 5195, -35, 4th
   3) #11-Denny Hamlin [2 wins], 5195, -35, 2nd
   4) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 5175, -55, 3rd
   5) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 5165, -65, 6th
   6) #14-Tony Stewart [3 wins], 5156, -74, 14th
   7) #39-Ryan Newman, 5151, -79, 7th
   #83-Brian Vickers [1 win], 5140, -90, 11th
   9) #16-Greg Biffle, 5138, -92, 9th
   10) #24-Jeff Gordon [1 win], 5128, -102, 15th
   11) #99-Carl Edwards, 5117, -113, 17th
   12) #9-Kasey Kahne [2 wins], 5069, -161, 38th

#18-Kyle Busch, who missed making the Chase by just eight points, finished 5th in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But the left front of the #18 M&M’s Toyota was too low in post-race inspection, and he could be penalized by NASCAR this week, usually announced on Tuesday afternoons We will see how this works out. NASCAR needs to start cracking down on points and penalties with this sort of stuff not just money.

I have had to watch the race via DVR and not live due to other things but one thing I have noticed is the aggression that was displayed by Juan Pablo Montoya, he drove all over Jeff Burton getting into 3 and 4, and he seems just a tad too aggressive yeah I know he wants to win but there is a fine line between racing and driving over your head.

Broke my heart to see the 9 car grenade an engine but hey better now than in 4 or 5 races from now.

A big tip of the hat to the 19 team for a top ten finish despite getting turned when the 20 car of Lagano ran out of talent and took out a bunch of cars.

And man what a parking job by the combo of Kurt Busch and David Ragan… that was almost funny,

Since we have had soooo much rain this week all the local tracks around here were closed due to the monsoon type weather we have had.

Versus channel has signed a deal with NASCAR to highlight the Chase drivers during the Chase next year with a half hour show.

Have a good week and …

Cya@the races!!!!

the dr.

RPM to Ford for 2010!

RPM to Ford in 2010!

In 2010 RPM will field Fords for drivers Kasey Kahne , Elliott Sadler, A.J. Almindinger and Pauol Menard, Paul Menard? Where did he come from? Well he comes from the “merger” of Yates and RPM. Actually it is a take over not a perger, but either way Ford will be the Car of choice for next year. All this leaves 2 drivers with out a ride, Bobby Labonte who has up til now drove the Hall of Fame racing Ford out of Yates shops, and Reed Sorenson who has been driving the 43 for RPM. Menard brings “daddy’s Money” to the table and since teams are only allowed 4 teams for 2010 someone has to go.

I think this will be a good move for RPM , yeah I am a Ford fan and I know I bleed Ford blue but really Dodge has been in trouble for a while, both with money and in racing, they say they remain commited to NASCAR but they just don’t have their act together with the new motor program, and with the new Ford motor coming this bodes well for RPM, who thru the past year has only lacked in the motor dept. now they will have the motors to go run down the big boys. You can read the press release here http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=article&articleId=11793

Ford has invested tons of money in the new motor program and now RPM can get the benefits of all this hard work Ford has done.

Kahne showed last week at Atlanta that the desire is still there to run good and win and I think you will see more of that tonight at Richmond. Look for the 9 car to be solidly in the chase with a few bonus points under his belt.

Cya@the races.

The dr.

Kahne Wins At Atlanta!

Kasey Kahne showed why they call it racing! he never gave up and took a solid top 5 car and won the race. Lots of drivers has issues early and some of the top teams were just junk, but some that were strong and fell back cam back at the end.

Kahne has said he wants to go race and take the same approach that they brought to Atlanta. Just win Baby!!

JPM who was very strong during the race brought home the target Chevy in 3rd and a strong showing I really think he is going to make the chase based on how he has come alive and has a great focus on making the points chase.

Harvick who had won the night before in the Nationwide race was really strong on long runs but it took him a while to get going , and with a 12 lap shoot out at the end it just wasn’t in the cards for the RCR driver.

Look at the 48 broke an axle leaving pit road, had to go behind the wall to fix it, but Vickers broke an axle too, and the 83 team changed their axle on pit road staying on the lead lap. Getting a 7th place finish, but still 20 points out of the chase.

david Gilliand looked good in the Wood Brothers car subbing for Bill elliott who broke 3 ribs playing on his dirt bike, guess Chase was whipping the old man!!!

there are 4 drivers locked in the chase …..

1) #14-Tony Stewart [3 wins], 3694, finished 11th at Atlanta
2) #24-Jeff Gordon [1 win], 3457, -237, 8th
3) #48-Jimmie Johnson [3 wins], 3404, -290, 36th
4) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 3296, -398, 6th

these still have a way to go..

5) #99-Carl Edwards, 3162, -532, 37th (+105 points ahead of 13th)
6) #9-Kasey Kahne [2 wins], 3153, -541 (+96), 1st
7) #2-Kurt Busch [1 win], 3152, -542 (+95), 38th
#42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 3145, -549 (+88), 3rd
9) #39-Ryan Newman, 3138, -556 (+77), 9th
10) #5-Mark Martin [4 wins], 3126, -568 (+72), 5th
11) #16-Greg Biffle, 3125, -569 (+69), 10th
12) #17-Matt Kenseth [2 wins], 3077, -617 (+20 ahead of 13th), 12th

And on the outside looking in right now are …

13) #83-Brian Vickers [1 win], 3057, 20 points out of 12th, 7th
14) #18-Kyle Busch [4 wins], 3040, -37, 13th
15) #00-David Reutimann [1 win] 2945, -132, 4th

Will Kyle Busch miss the chase? I think he will squeak in and not be a factor, but I have been wrong before. I think Vickers will knock Kennseth out and make his way in, after the performance he and the Red Bull Team put in tonight he should be there.

One final note .. I have found myself wondering how Harvick could run sooo strong the night before and tonight he ran soo strong in spurts .. could RCR be on to something? or could NASCAR tech guys be missing something? In the Cup race tonight I think he just found the right set up but last night….. different story, I really think there is something that the tech guys are missing. he was just TO fast last night. But we shall see.

Way to go to the RPM #9 Bud car,Team and driver Kasey Kahne … he was at the right spot at the right time….

Oh yeah, the dr’s really has some pissed off neighbors, they could care less if Kahne wins they don’t like the 45 second horn blowing and the big bore weapons going off……a oh well they should stratt reading the dr’s blog at least then they would know why!!!!

cya@the races!!

the dr.

is NASCAR getting smart?

NASCAR has started to get smart…..

NASCAR lowers age limit for some series: NASCAR announced it was implementing a Learner’s Permit License for its NASCAR Whelen All-American Series tracks beginning in 2010. The license will lower the age-limit for NASCAR-sanctioned tracks’ entry-level division from 16-years-old to 14. The change provides an intermediate step for young drivers looking to make the move from non-NASCAR beginner-level racing series to running at their NASCAR home track. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is NASCAR’s national championship program for its more than 55 sanctioned short tracks across North America. More than 10,000 drivers compete in the series annually.(NASCAR)

By allowing this it will keep some of the up and coming young guns like Chase Elliott , and the 2 Dillon boys ( both Grandsons to Richard cChildress )in a NASCAR ride. They ain’t completely stupid. But the way they are doing it is following along the NASCAR way, where they have complete control over the deal, they call it a learners permit… yeah right call it what it really is a conditional license. So that NASCAR can control who gets them and where they race . They are simply trying to keep the new and up coming young guns from going anywhere BUT NASCAR. Is it fair? Who knows but it is the way NASCAR has decided to do things….

the dr.