Dreams I will never see…..

One night I had a dream, I dreamed that I was a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, I show up for camp and my coach for quarterbacks is none other than the great Fran Tarkington!!! he showed me how to scramble, how to throw the long ball, all the little things that quarterback needs to know, oh I was in heaven!!!! Just as I was getting ready for my first big game……………… I woke up.

That is how Reed Sorensen must feel, the young man from Ga. Who started out racing legends cars and watching Richard Petty win races on the Cup level, now has Richard Petty as a car owner. You see Reed is now driving the famed NASCAR legendary number “43” for Richard Petty Motorsports.

After a few seasons driving in the shadows, at Ganassi this year he moves to the team formerly known as G.E.M.. Now known as Richard Petty Motorsports. Now he has “the King” watching him at test, “the King” is there to offer tips and advice. How would you like to have Richard Petty watching your every move? I would almost kill for that chance, to have the Icon of the sport you love watching and teaching you . And to be driving “HIS” number …. well it has to be like a dream come true. Reed has really stepped up to the plate with this and he is thrilled to have “the King” watching, “It’s a little different testing when the King is there watching you,” Sorenson said. “ I should say so.

“I guess the pressure is to get [the No. 43 car] back in Victory Lane,” Sorenson said. “I think that’s going to be the biggest pressure point on that. Once everybody on our team found out that we were going to be the 43, you could kind of tell in their eyes that it was something different than most of the other numbers that we could have had.” With Daytona coming in just a few days I see this Kid from Ga. Making a big impact with this team, I think this will be his chance to shine, to strut his stuff, all under the watchful eye of Richard Petty. With teammates Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Almendinger this is going to be a good year.

The dr.

Lets go racin!!!

As the start of the season rolls up on us faster and faster, I am ready to see some racing…..BUT NOT WHAT I SAW at Irwindale last weekend in the Toyota All Stars Race. I have waited a week to post this so I wouldn’t be so mad!

The ordeal with Peyton Sellers(http://www.peytonsellers.com/index.htm) and “newbie” Joey Lagano, was ….. well it is hard to explain, I had started to allow myself to be a wee bit impressed by the new kid’s talents and driving abilities. I was thinking “well the kid can wheel a car!”. Even though I was not happy about Gibb’s bringing in a up team and car top run this race, I know they just wanted to give Joey some seat time, but this was not right to the drivers who this show was set up for, lower level drivers. But anyway

Coming down to the end of the race Payton Sellers who had worked his way up from the back thru clean driving and hard work was leading, he had held off the top 4 on a good restart, the 25 year old from Danville Va. who has been racing for 18 years ,the guy has over 30 wins and 50 poles at NASCAR sanctioned tracks, he was holding off Lagano the last couple laps when on the last lap turns3 and 4 Lagano decides to put his car in the bottom and try to get under Sellers, well it may of worked on paper but he knew it wouldn’t work, and he slid up and into the side of Sellers taking him out of the race, biggest “bonehead move of the year” then he goes on to cross the line first, but NASCAR actually got it right and nailed Lagano for rough driving and sent him to the back, giving the win to Matt kobyluck.

But the thing that got me really was the after race interview with both drivers, Sellers started his with “thank the Lord for letting me be here,” and he went on to give the nicest version I have ever heard from a driver who just got took slap out of a race! While Lagano on the other hand, spent his interview saying that Sellers clipped him in the right rear!!!!! duh!! when Lagano slid up across the track because he drove in way too hard and way too low yeah sure he made contact with Lagano’s right rear, he didn’t have much choice!!!but for Lagano to sit there and bash the guy he just took out of the race was #1 very unprofessional, #2 a cheap shot #3 a black eye for Gibbs Racing, some one should of stuck a cork in this kids mouth to keep him from running his yap!!!!!

And to think we got a whole season to watch this kid because you know the media is going to be all over him ans the new whiz kid of racing. But I think he will learn soon as he starts running with the big boys, so what will we see? Will he be the new Whiz kid or will he go the way of Casey Atwood and drive off into nowhere land???I guess that will be the next story for NASCAR this year……

Oh joy…….

the dr.

Super Results from Boyds Speedway!

In the Super Late Model class it was 2 for one Saturday, with the Tarheel Tiger Ray Cook just spanking the field, and mean while at the back….. local favorite Ronnie Johnson “rj” put on a show showing them he knew he way around this track, coming from the waaay back to run second.
But the real show was in the pits, I haven’t seen more happy people in one place in a long long time. Everyone was just tickled to be back racing!!!Seeing old friends from last year, showing off new rides, hiding some new secrets,comparing notes on who has done what, moved to what class, it was just good to be back.

These drivers all shared something in the pits, for the only time this year no one had an advantage, clean slate no points to over come,new season, and every driver and crew member is more focused, more enthused because the season is new and they are all tied for the points lead.

The high 5’s the handshakes, the coming together is what makes me personally love dirt racing so much, meeting new people seeing new ideas and cars, learning what everyone else thinks is going to be the “new hot item” for the year.

Boyd’s Speedway drew some cars from a long way away Chris Wall who showed up from Holden La. Only to get caught up in someone elses mess, and running 4^th was Eric Turner from Springfield Mo. Lots from Tenn,Ga, and a few from Al. Even….

But Ray Cook put on a clinic and set fast time breaking the track record, Looks like the Harvey Brothers and Gar Dickson have done it right, and are willing to keep it right as shown by them constantly working to keep and make sure the track stayed together. So next time you want good racing ..might I suggest Boyds Speedway?? It worked for me……

The dr.

Mid-Nite Oil Racing Fuels 50
Boyd’s Speedway
Chattanooga/Ringgold
1/24/09

1. Ray Cook (# 53) of Brasstown, TN
2. Ronnie Johnson (# 5) of Chattanooga, TN
3. Anthony White (# 2X) of Clinton, TN
4. Eric Turner (# 99T) of Springfield, MO
5. Tony Knowles (# 26) of Tyrone, GA
6. David Earl Gentry (# 56) of Lewisburg, TN
7. Rick Rogers (# 44) of Knoxville, TN
8. Kevin Gibson (# M45) of Ringgold, GA
9. Jamie Oliver (# 38) of Murphy, NC
10. Kayne Hickman (# H3) of Soddy Daisy, TN
11. Robert Stutts (# 302) of Murfreesboro, TN
12. Ben Reed (# 07) of Memphis, TN
13. Jerry Trotter (# T7) of Cunningham, TN
14. Brandon Roberts (# 10) of Oxford, AL
15. Brian Hickman (# 41) of Soddy Daisy, TN
16. Skip Arp (# 31) of Georgetown, TN
17. Mike Collins (# 3) of Council Fire, IA
18. Brad Coffey (# 88) of Maryville, TN
19. JJ Nye (# 55) of Talking Rock, GA
20. Robby Mason (# 1S) of Hixson, TN
21. Anthony Burroughs (# 121) of Muscle Shoals, AL
22. Chris Wall (# 71) of Holden, LA
23. Charles Zimmerman (# 7M) of Cunningham, TN
24. Bruce Taylor (# of Toccoa, GA

Ready for some RACIN????

Now that we are less than a month away from the 500, it seems teams are coming out of the woodwork. It was just announced that Kelly Bires will be trying to make the field in Dexter Bean’s Blackjack Racing car.

Kirk Shelmerdine and several partners are trying to put a plan in place to run all the Sprint Cup races.

Derrick Cope is doing the same thing.

R3 Motorsports has announced that Mike Skinner will attempt to qualify its #23 Chevy into the Daytona 500

Tommy Baldwin Racing announced Scott Riggs as the driver of the #36 Toyota for the 2009 NASCAR season

Regan Smith is going to be driving for Furniture Row Racing in the 78 car.

The list for Rookie Of the Year list is pretty short. I haven’t seen not one driver who is planning on making a run for it. What does that tell you ? Are the owners finally seeing that the youngsters are not the way to go? Or is it just the economy?

You got Bruton Smith wanting to blackout races that don’t sell out, what he don’t have enough money already? Gotta get MORE!!!!! Greed it is killing this sport, but we digress…..

Who are going to be the hot teams for the coming year? Well if you ask all the media pundits it will be one of the big three, H.M.S., Roush, or R.C.R. I (as usual) Disagree. I feel this is the breakout year for the team formally known as G.E.M., now known as Richard Petty Motorsports. I know they have had lots of problems with contracts and ownership issues and buyouts, and all the other distractions, BUT the teams in the shops have been hard at it working on getting the Dodge teams back up front, and I will go out on a limb and predict a win for one of the following cars at Daytona.. the 9 with an all returning crew and crew chief, the 19 with a new crew chief and some new crew members, the 43 what a great thing that would be for Reed Sorensen to get that car back to victory lane, or for the dinger to put the 44 car back on top..

One of these cars will have a win at Daytona!!! mark the dr’s words…. it is gonna happen!

This weekend though, it is DIRT RACIN as its best at Boyd’s Speedway in East Ridge Tenn. Well the track is in Ga. But the pits are in Tenn. Either way the RACIN is gonna be good!

The Dr.

And they call this a shootout?

“Changes to the shootout”, when I read this I almost got excited, til I read the first line. Then it started to sink in, gone are the days of real competition where drivers show up and really race, if this keeps up like it is going now we are going to see the shootout become a group singing with all drivers in the series showing up to cross the line arm in arm singing “kum-bi-ya”.

Look at what FRANCECAR has done since Brian France took over,

Top 35 rule, this is for the sponsors so the top 35 teams don’t get sent home for not being fast enough to make the field…… put it back to if you can’t go fast you go home!

C.O.T. FRANCECAR says this is to even out the field and make the drivers safer,…. ok I am all for safer car, but do you have to make them all the same, like the IROC cars of old? The C.O.T. Cars suck!!!

The last bastion of real racing was the Bud shootout, where drivers who won a race or sat on a pole during the previous season got to go at it for a big chunk of change…. now it has turned into more of that “make all cars equal” crap.

I really hate to say it I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but now he has shot himself in the foot. Brian France needs to go away, don’t care where he goes but he needs to leave and let the drivers get back to real racing. Brian France has taken a good sport and killed it with rules and changes that only serve to line his pockets.

Like I have said be fore…..The more I learn about NASCAR the better I like dirt….

the dr.

Insurance for Dirt drivers…..

Wednesday”,Bare foot” Bob McCreadie’s son Tim McCreadie was hurt during a heat race for the upcoming the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, OK.  McCreadie, 34, was leading a semifinal when something broke in his car’s rear end. The car flipped,and went over a fence. McCreadie won the 2006 World of Outlaws late model series championship.

This bring to the forefront a very blaring problem with racing, health insurance for drivers.

Tim has none as do lots of driver, some feel it will never happen to them., while others simply can’t afford it.

Some of these organizations that sanction these events always want a signed release form before anyone is allowed to race, protecting them from the law suits that would surely follow,if for nothing else but to help with medical expenses. The smart thing to do would be to come up with a insurance carrier who would be willing to cover these drivers at an affordable rate, the drivers in NASCAR have various ways to cover these expenses whether it is a personal policy or a policy carried by the team they drive for, but the drivers we all love to watch on Friday and Saturday nights don’t have these recourses available to them.

This is an area that needs attention in a bad way, how? I don’t know But it should be looked into soon We can’t afford to have dirt racing get a black eye over a thing like this.

It is not know yet how long Tim will be out or just how serious his injuries are but the bills still pile up and someone has to pay them, I would really like the sanctioning bodies look in to protecting the drivers who put the seats in the seats, and pay these bodies the money they make it is to bad that it may take a thing like this to wake up some people that these drivers really are human.

..For now, donations can be made to the U.S. Auto Club and sent to :

USAC

c/o Tim McCreadie Support Fund,

USAC, 4910 West 16th Street,

Speedway, Ind. 46224.

Please give if you can if not please keep Tim in your prayers.

the Dr.

Crew chief changes….

Have you seen the list of crew chief changes in the Cup series??? My,my,my… 20 teams have changed crew chiefs and team personnel ! 20 teams, how do you keep track of all that? Drivers are going to think they are on the wrong radio channel, crew chiefs are going to be watching the wrong car coming down pit road, this could really get interesting. Never have I seen such a rash of changes in my 30 years of being around racing. The first few test should really help work out the bugs but there will be glitches you can bet, now will these changes help anyone more than other? Who knows we will simply have to wait and see.

And can you believe that Brad Parrott, &Doug Richert are looking for work? These are 2 of NASCAR’s veterans and they haven’t found a place to land? Some of these teams could really benefit from these two guys I feel sure that come the start of Daytona they will be on the top of someone’s box.

I have found this list of current changes, but who says this wont change? This is just for the regular teams this don’t include the teams who are only running a partial schedule, and teams that haven’t as yet got all their ducks in a row. I hope the best for each and every team as we head into this season.

#00 [was #44] — Ryan Pemberton left to crew chief Brian Vickers for 2009, Rodney Childers comes from GEM to take over
#7 — made numerous crew chief changes in 2008, have heard nothing official, but heard that Kirk Almquist, who came to the team in late 2008, will be back
#8 — Supposedly Doug Randolph, formerly of DEI’s #15 team will be the new crew chief, replacing Gibson who left for Stewart-Haas’ #39
#10 — Crew chief Mike Shiplett moves to the #43, with Sammy Johns crew chiefing Allmendinger in the car
#14 [was #70] — Darian Grubbs comes over from Hendrick were he was an engineer, but has crew chiefed before with Jimmie Johnson, garnering two wins
#17 — Chip Bolin goes back to the engineering side at Roush, Nationwide crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer takes over in 2009
#19 — Kevin Buskirk comes over from DEI, former crew chief, Rodney Childers left to go to MWR’s #00 team
#22 — TBA, as former crew chief Tommy Baldwin left and started his own team
#26 — Donnie Wingo, leaves Gannasi to take the crew chief gig for McMurray, Wingo had been a longtime crew chief at Ganassi’s
#33 — Shane Wilson will crew chief Bowyer RCR’s new team
#36/TBR — Tommy Baldwin will act as crew chief of his own team.
#38 — TBA, Cully Barraclough left at seasons end is is back as the car chief on a NNS ride for Roush, no word who Gilliland’s crew chief will be.
#39 — Tony Gibson comes over from DEI, Bootie Barker heads to MWR
#41 — Donnie Wingo left to crew chief McMurray in the #26. #41 has no driver named, nor a crew chief
#43 — Jeff Meendering left and went to Stewart-Haas racing as a car chief, with the team merging with GEM, Mike Shiplett moves over from the #10.
#47 — Frank Kerr will be the crew chief for Ambrose
#55 — Bootie Barker comes over from Haas CNC
#83 — Ryan Pemberton comes over form MWR to crew chief Vickers, former crew chief, Ricky Viers supposedly will take a management role with the team.
#96 — no word on if Steve Moyer returns as the team teams up with Yates and switches to Ford
#98 — Larry Carter comes over from Roush/McMurray to take over for Paul Menard and this new team.
Some crew chiefs looking for work include: Walter Giles, James Ince, Brad Parrott, Doug Richert, Buddy Sisco, Rick Viers
No Changes [so far] for the following teams: #’s 07,1,2,5,6,9,11,12,18,20,21,24,25,29,42,48,82,88,99.

The Dr.

Driver or mechanic….

It has recently been reported on NASCAR.com that some of todays drivers dont have the” skills to pay the bills” when it comes to mechanic’s of the car. Well I ask you how is a driver going to convey his thoughts about how the car is handling if he don’t know what is making things happen?  Lots of drivers have suddenly made big splashes in the nascar scene by showing up and making a good showing for one or 2 races, then they land a big deal sign on the dotted line and go racing, only to fall flat on their faces. wonder why?????It is simple they don’t know enough about the cars dynamics to help the team make the correct adjustments.

Take the recent rise of a couple drivers A.J. Almendinger and David Ragan, two young drivers who have very impressive backgrounds, David Ragan has learned the hard way coming up thru the ranks on the bull rings of the south, working on cars and making his own way, and it has started to pay off for him he has really attracted the attention of lots of writers for his good finishes and clean driving style. A.J. Almendinger on the other hand comes from Indy cars, and he is just learning the ways of the 3500lbs stock cars, while he was at Red Bull Racing he was wondering around like a lost kid in a candy store, no one there knew what he meant when he said something so he floundered there, but when he came to G.E.M. he prospered due to the vast background of experience that the crew there already had, A.J. made good use of it and he showed that he could drive, he might not know how to fix a problem but it will help him learn  and thats what he needs, seat time…lots of it. When he gets the car figured out with the right crew he will be a force to be reckoned with, but that isn’t going to happen tomorrow. He still needs time. and this is the reason he has no bargianing power when it comes to landing a full time seat, he just dont have the esperience he needs just yet. Once he has it , then he can write his own ticket til then he will have to take what he gets.

These up and coming drivers need to know that there is more to winning races than holding a pretty wheel. It takes time in the seat AND under the car to understand what it takes to make the car go. This is not easy and lots of these drivers are learning this, as are the teams who have run out and hired these inexperienced rookies. But time will tell and we will see who can cut the mustard and who can’t.

the dr.

Will change help Sadler?

Kevin Buskirk. ,Kevin Buskirk. , say it over and over, it is going to be a name that might just surprise a few people. It was just announced that G.E.M. Has brought Kevin Buskirk on board to put him with driver Elliott Sadler with whom he has worked before, that is the key here, “he has worked with him before”.

Working with a driver for a while you get to know things, things about what he means when he says”it’s just a wee bit tight”. You learn just how much “wee” is. This is not something you can sit down and talk about, it is something that you learn over time and that’s why the combinations of drivers and crew chiefs has become such an important subject. Look at the drivers of the past, like Richard Petty, and his long time relationship with Dale Inman. These two were together forever, they grew up together and are cousins. Look at Bill Elliott and his brother Ernie and how long they were together. It is a magic that is hard to predict and sometimes it just don’t work, other times it is magic from the word go.

Working with drivers is often challenging due to the fact that the driver is the source of input as to how the car is handling and what the crew chief needs to do to improve it. When driver “A” says the car is “not rolling thru” the corner just right he means one thing, but it could be totally different than what driver”B” means. The secret is to learn the difference and to know exactly what your driver means.

Hopefully with all the changes that have been made at G.E.M. This one will pay dividends.

The Dr.

the more I learn about NASCAR the better I like dirt…

I have been sitting here watching the drama of NASCAR unfold and watch the drivers switch teams sue and wonder where they are going next year, I decided something .

The more I learn about NASCAR the better I like dirt, seriously, the way things are going in the top of the racing ladder, the better I can deal with tire wars, and accusitions of cheating , hum sounds  vaguely familiar dont it???? I mean really isn’t this where nascar was just a few years ago? yeah but don’t worry I am not going there ….. not going to compare NASCAR and dirt racing, because there is none….. not any more.

NASCAR has tried to find the golden goose, and failed terribly, but dirt racing on the other hand, has struggled and survived, and are thriving. Dirt racing has guys and girls too, chomping at the bit, to get out on the track anywhere, just to race, while the big boys are sitting there whining about money for this and money for that. The dirt racing guys are ready to almost race for free just to get out there, now come mid season they are going to bitch an groan about how the economy has screwed then but right now they are ready to race!!!!!!!

I know one thing, I wil be attending more dirt races this year than I will NASCAR races, unless NASCAR sends me press passes and expense money……..

Besides give me the guys who race for fun! the ones who would hock the family car just to go racing, those are the drivers who put on a show, the ones who give the fans the real show every Friday and Saturday night at a local track near you .

See you there…

the dr.