Lent

Taking a break for a moment from racing, I wrote an entry about the traditional Christian period of Lent at my other blog. Rather than repeat here, how about if I just link it? Will appreciate your reading and thoughts.

God Don't Need Yo' Chocolate

We now return you to your regularly scheduled race blogging.

That is all.

10-4.

Out.

TMC

That's What She Said

From Mike Harris' AP story about the Cali race attendance.

"Despite the economic crunch that has hit California particularly hard and predictions of a disastrously small turnout Sunday, it appeared the grandstand that holds 105,000 spectators was more than half full." (emphasis is mine)

More than half full? What kind of reporting is that? 51%? 76%? 105%? Ahh, me thinks this is double-speak for closer to 51%.

Harris' odd percentage estimate was then trumped by this rose-colored-glasses whopper by track president Gillian Zucker.

"But the doom and gloom about the fact that California can't support NASCAR is dead wrong."

Wasn't Darlington and Rockingham each drawing more than 50 thou for their races? With less than state-of-the-art facilities? Without the backing of the incestuous relationship between the sanctioning body and the track owner? In cold February weather of the North Carolina sandhills or hot and humid Labor Day weekends at Darlington? Yet we were told by NASCAR and ISC the statement that Rockingham and Darlington couldn't support NASCAR was dead right? Whatever.

Gillian dear. I'm sure you mean well and are trying to do a yeoman's job at pimping your events. But face it. Your market does not support one race - much less two. With ISC as the owner, you will continue to be fortunate and keep both dates despite of travesty of it all.

TMC

Dr. Dick Berggren

banktruck has done a great job - and a very timely one - on his commentary the last 2 weeks. Last weekend, I was out of town with my son on a Boy Scouts trip & had only limited time to keep up with the race - much less blog about it.

This week, well... I really didn't care. Let's just be honest. I did see the final 30 laps, and Matt Kenseth put on a clinic. Not one mistake. A true Iceman. But I wasn't going to waste 3 to 4 hours of my life watching follow the leader at a track more boring than Nancy Pelosi's reading the bailout legislation word for word.

But one thing I have noticed the last 2 weeks in the limited coverage I have been able to watch is the increasingly darkening, purplish, bulbous schnoz upon Dr. Dick Berggren's face. What did this guy do in the off-season - vote in a free Iraqi election?



On to Viva Las Vegas!

TMC

Bristol Bound Baby!

Daytona is not even a week in our rear-view mirror. I'm not looking forward to another yawner at California. And the sport is still in troubled times with the number and stability of its teams. Yet, a bright and shiny glimmer of hope awaits. Bristol!

Got an invitation to go in a few weeks from a friend/co-worker. Ran it by the wife for budgetary and travel approval. She rubber-stamped it (a rarity). So off we'll go!

My first trip to Bristol was March 1986. We waited out a lengthy rain delay to see Rusty Wallace win his first career Cup race in the #27 Alugard/Blue Max Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2. Since then, I've been to about a half-dozen additional races at Thunder Valley.

This year will be the second consecutive year to go to the spring race. Last year's race featured a ton of activity in the last 5 laps. The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas dominated the race. But when the chips were on the table, the JGR Toyos were out of the picture and Richard Childress Racing Chevys finished 1-2-3.



TMC

1976 Daytona 500

Today, February 15, 2009, is the 33rd anniversary of the 1976 Daytona 500. Many view the 1976 edition as the 2nd most memorable of all time - second only to the 1979 500 where Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison wrecked and fought while Richard Petty went on to win his 6th Daytona 500 victory.

The 1976 Daytona 500 was shown nationwide; however, it wasn't shown flag-to-flag like the 1979 edition. ABC's Wide World of Sports joined it off-and-on during the race and then carried the last handful of laps.

Richard was coming off a spectacular 1975 season - 13 wins and his 6th championship. Pearson, who ran a limited schedule for the Wood Brothers for much of the 70s, had a moderately successful 1975 but was not poised to rip off an incredible 1976 season.

The finish came down to two long-time competitive but respectful drivers - The King and The Silver Fox, David Pearson. In an era of aero-dirty cars with unrestricted engines, drivers had the ability to pass using the sling-shot. Pearson and Petty battled back and forth the entire last lap before settling it in turn four. The King misjudged the rear of his Dodge and the front of Pearson's Mercury. When he clipped him...well just watch for yourself. Let's put it this way. The King COULD have been the only driver to win 8 Daytona 500s vs. the 7 he's got.



TMC

Pre Daytona 500 - I'm tiring of this issue

From a barstool at Sugar Mountain Resort in Boone, NC...

Tires? Already? First race of the year? We saw early-run blistering and blowouts in the twins. And today, Ryan Newman loses one (and a 2nd race car this week) and collected himself and car-owner/bossman Smoke in the process. Wiped out both cars, and the two drivers will turn to backup cars for the 500.

Man oh man, I hope we aren't going to see a repeat of the too-often-seen tire failing scenario from 2008. And what I REALLY hope we don't see is a repeat of last year's Brickyard 400 where tires were failing every 8-10 laps.

TMC's 2009 Prognostications

My esteemed colleague of the financial services sector has put me on the clock. His predictions are locked and loaded in the blogosphere. Archiving strategies here are certainly going to be more effective than what I've used before with scraps of paper or an e-mail buried deep in my inbox.

So without further ado, here are my 2009 NASCAR predictions. Drum roll please.

Daytona 500 champ.........The Shrub

[Not My Wireless Carrier] Cup champ.........Jimmie Johnson - can't believe I just typed that. First choice was Cuzzin. But in the interest of having something to debate in November, I'll pick someone else. And who better to pick than the 3x champ, who drives for a crook - I mean the most dominating car owner, and who had little signifcant change to his team in the off-season.

Rookie of the Year.........Scott Speed. Not because I believe he can. Its just that I'm already tired of Joey No-more-o.

First driver to be fired.........David Stremme in the [My wireless carrier yet not seen on the 12 car] Dodge.

Underachiever.........07 Casey Mears. Rick Hendrick was pretty sure he let the wrong guy go at the end of the 2007 season when he saw Kyle Busch win 8x in 2008 and Casey Mears drown in the milk of his soggy Corn Flakes. He'll be truly convinced when he sees Mark Martin run like a scalded dog in his new ride as Casey's replacement. Meanwhile, Richard Childress is now faced with the challenge of "coaching up" Mears. Its taking him longer to mature as a driver than a barrel of Lem Motlow's recipe.

Overachiever.........Aric Amarillobymorning - Despite what my partner in crime has stated, I think this guy actually has some game. The X factor is what kind of steed Chip-N-Dale Racing can put under him. He clearly got marginalized last year as Mark Martin played the role of Brett Favre last year. If, if, if CND can get sponsors for him to run a full schedule, I think he has a chance of exceeding the low expectations most folks seem to have for the 8 team.

Number of races without 43 starters.........5

Lamest rendition of the National Anthem at a race.........Taylor Swift

Will Nancy Pelosi be the Grand Marshall at the Sears Point race.........Uhhh no.

Will one of the 4 manufacturers announce their withdrawal from NASCAR by the end of the season?.........Yes

Will the following win a race?

• Kyle Busch.........yes (engine started)
• Jimmie Johnson.........yes (revving her up)
• Carl Edwards.........yes (burn out)

Now, let's proceed

• 00 - David Rutabaga.........Are you kidding me? No
  
• 07 - Casey I Ain't My Uncle Mears......... Nope
  
• 1 -T-Rex.........Hmmm. Yes
  
• 2 - Kurt Busch.........No
• 6 - David Gipper.........Yes
• 20 - Sliced Bread.........No
• 29 - Happy Harvick......... Yes
  
• 33 - Hamburger Helper Bowyer......... Yes
  
• 42 - Juan Big Red Montoya.........Yes
• 43 - Reed Coldsorespot.........No
• 82 - Scott Speed......... No
  
• 83 - Kris Kringle......... Yes
  
• 96 - Bobby Labonte.........No
• 98 - Paul Mentard.........Yes. Wait. What I meant was "will he wreck? = yes" not "will he win? = yes" Sorry.

Final 12 Chasers but not necessarily in finishing order:

• 99 - Cuzzin
• 48 - JJ
• 24 - Jeffy
• 16 - Possum
• 18 - Shrub
• 11 - Opie
• 5 - Brett Favre
• 29 - Happy
• 31 - Burton
• 33 - Bowyer
  
• 9 - Krispy Kreme
  
• 42 - Montoya

TMC

Kyle Petty at Daytona...30 years ago

Has it really been 30 years? February 11, 1979. Kyle Petty made his first ever stock car racing start in the Daytona ARCA 200. He drove one of King Richard's discarded Dodge Magnums, painted it up all purty and such with white and a shade of blue lighter than traditional Petty blue, got himself Valvoline as a sponsor, and off he went. He raced like a seasoned pro and impressed his dad, his grandfather Lee, and other veterans of the sport.

I remember the anticipation of Kyle's beginning his racing career. Richard had ended a forgettable 1978 season with zero wins, a mid-season change in manufacturers from Dodge to General Motors, and off-season stomach ulcer surgery. The only bright spot was a win in the Winston Western race at Phoenix after the Cup season ended a week earlier at Ontario. I was ready for some optimism from the Petty camp, and the start of a third-generation Petty career was what I needed.

Of course, this was pre-dot com, pre-ESPN, pre-Speed, pre-boogity-boogity-boogity. The ARCA race wasn't televised, and it wasn't even on the radio - at least not in my area. I remember squirming a lot waiting for the local 6:20 sports report that evening to see if Kyle got a mention. I couldn't believe it when they said he had won.


Kyle's on-track success that weekend, however, was short-lived. He attempted his first Winston Cup race in May 1979 at the World 600 in Charlotte. A practice crash ended that attempt. Next up? Daytona's Firecracker 400. He won the ARCA race in February on the same track. Surely he could qualify for a Cup race, right? Wrong. Another attempt, another wreck. His Cup debut would have to wait until that season's 2nd Talladega race.

Even though Petty Enterprises is no more and Kyle is no longer associated with a Petty team, I did think it was extremely cool when Richard Petty Motorsports wheeled out the Valvoline / KP trib scheme for A.J. Allmendinger to run in the Bud Shootout and Daytona 500.


The win by the 18-year old in the hand-me-down Magnum was a harbinger of great things to come for Petty Enterprises in 1979. A week after Kyle's win, Richard won the Daytona 500 for the 6th time (take THAT you Earnhardt fans) after Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough wrecked on the last lap and got into a scrap with each other and Bobby Allison in that nationally-televised, historic race. Richard's win ended his long drought dating back to 1977 and set him up to win his 7th Cup championship in November 1979.

For more memories about the races near the beach in 1979, check out Tom Higgins' blog entry from February 5.

TMC

Bud Shootout: What if...

What would have happened if Joey Logano had won the Bud Shootout? Would he have been allowed in victory lane since he's under 21? Would he have been required to spray a can of Busch NA instead? (I wonder if A-B even still makes that crap.)



What if a race was held where Mikey, Paul Menard, AND Robby Gordon didn't all wreck? Would the world stop spinning on its axis right then and there?

What if Greg Biffle was the only car on the track at Daytona or Dega? Would he still get collected in 3 wrecks not of his own doing?

What if the Miller Lite car won the Bud Shootout? Wait...that's actually been done. Rusty Wallace did it. And Bill Elliott won a Busch Clash in a Coors Ford. Never mind.

What if A.J. Allmendinger's #44 retro Valvoline car had won? Would Kyle Petty have been found in victory lane?



What if the NASCAR brass allowed members of the media to do their job and cover the sport openly, objectively, candidly, and yes sometimes critically?

What if Jeff Hammond just shut up and quit pretending he is someone he isn't?

What if DW and Larry Mc quit stroking Hollywood's ego and realize they just encourage him to pretend he is someone he isn't?

What if Neil Bonnett were still with us doing race/color analysis?

What if one or more of these single-car teams who purchased blue-light special COTs from a Cup team yard sale actually finishes well?

What if Hall of Fame's Ask.com sponsorship check clears? Would it be the first dot com tech sponsor to actually pay for its NASCAR marketing?

TMC

2009 Daytona 500 ... an uh-oh moment for me

Just realized that I'll be somewhere other than in front of my Samsung DLP on February 15th when the green flag drops on the Daytona 500. I agreed to go with my son's boy scout troop on a ski trip to Sugar Mountain, NC that weekend. I'll also miss the Busch...ummm...Nationwide race on Saturday. Crap.

I don't ski. I'm simply going to assist with driving, supervision, and discipline. Perhaps I can find a place to hang out and watch the race while the boys and other adults ski. We're going to North Carolina for Pete's sake. Surely I'll be able to find the race on TV somewhere.

If I can find a place to watch it, that only solves half my dilemma. How am I going to spend 3 hours on Saturday or 4 hours on Sunday watching the races alone or with other racing fans that I'll meet those days and not be able to drink beer?

These challenges are on top of the fact my son and I will be gone on Valentine's Day weekend and away from our wife/mother.

What to do. Oh what to do.

TMC