Author: Ron Thornton

The 2013 campaign opens up this month with its pre-season events, including the Shootout and the Duels at Daytona in less than three weeks’ time. So, what is the big story coming into the new year?

It is the car, stupid. Coming into the new Sprint Cup season, the big selling point is the new Gen 6 as the Car of Tomorrow became so yesterday after just six seasons. Moving away from a design that made the COT look nothing like the showroom model vehicles you and I could buy, the new auto more closely looks like a real Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry. Their designs prevent two car tandems at tracks like Daytona and Talladega, and that is a good thing. However, will they somehow make the races at the 1.5-mile cookie cutter tracks more visually stimulating, or will we get more boring events with nicer looking cars?

While we are quick to blame the racing, it is up to the announcers to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Most just remind us that we are watching a pig. There is something majestic about a great announcer. I could never tire of listening to the Dodger’s Vin Scully, or Danny Gallivan of the Canadiens, while NASCAR boasted Chris Economaki and Ken Squier. Iconic voices that drew you into the action, voices who knew how to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, if need be.

Still bummed that Dodge is gone. Sure, I may have driven Dodges over much of the past twenty years, but more than anything I was looking forward to seeing something that actually looked like a Charger this season. It looks like I’m back to watching reruns of them Duke boys.

Big team switches for this season has Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the #17, as Matt Kenseth is now in the #20, while Joey Logano moves on to the #22. Kurt Busch continues on with the #78 while Danica Patrick runs full-time in the #10.

Awesome Bill from Dawsonville might be finally done. After 828 races over 37-years, including 44 wins and a Cup title in 1988, 57-year old Bill Elliott figures he might have run his final race on the circuit. He was in just two last season and hasn’t run a full campaign since 2003. Voted NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver a record 16 times, Elliott plans to spend his time assisting his boy Chase chase some driving dreams of his own.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the finishing driver for Chip Ganassi’s Rolex 24 at Daytona victory recently. I mention this only because I can happily report that no jet drivers were harmed in the running of that race. The Columbian signed a new deal with Earnhardt-Ganassi, but gone are their own engines, to be replaced by the tried and true brand from Hendrick.

Jet dryers might be on their way out, too. Drying with compressed air could be the new thing, at least at Daytona this year. It should cut down on the flames if you know who does you know what again.

In 2013, the Top 36 cars in qualifying make the race no matter where they are in the standings. The next six or seven will make it on points, with one provisional reserved for a past champion if one should need it. At least that comes into play after the first three events, where what they did last year might help save someone’s bacon.

Track owner Bruton Smith would like to get rid of the start-and-park entries, but how? One suggestion could be to alter the payout to cars to better reflect the number of laps they ran. Start and park after twenty laps, and you might lose a chunk of change. As for being wrecked early, well that would sure suck for somebody. What do you think?

Some owners try to pick up a few bucks in Cup, with no intention of actually racing. This does not include the Wood Brothers or James Finch, who do not enter every event but try whenever they do. You got to respect teams like that.

Start and park outfits are merely striving to strike gold, we are told, so that one day they might actually be able to run with the big boys. However, can anyone remember a single such under funded team that actually made it over the past twenty years? I don’t. Robby Gordon at least tried, but as time went along his involvement dwindled to the point he only ran three races last season. This year he is expected to run none.

At this moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr is unsponsored for 13 races. If even Junior has trouble getting sponsors to pony up, imagine how some of the others might be fairing.

There are upgrades planned for Daytona. That is good news, as I can tell you the washroom facilities haven’t changed much over the past 50 years. We still are not certain if the drip, drip, dripping we saw coming down as we went up into the stands was fresh water or the recycled variety. All I know is what goes into the trough does not stay in the trough.

I know, you probably thought coming into the 2013 Sprint Cup season, the big story in NASCAR was going to be the Patrick – Stenhouse romance. Yah, right. Why do some care? Well, Danica Patrick is a 30-year old beauty (31 in March) who, in a seven year IndyCar career, had a win in 2008, claimed three poles, finished third in the 2009 Indianapolis 500, and holds the record for 50 straight races still running at the finish. Did I mention she is also damn good looking? She and her husband of seven years are in the midst of  divorce proceedings, making her a free agent. Enter two-time Nationwide champion Stenhouse. Of course, nobody gives a damn about Stenhouse in this story, unless he happens to run much better than his paramour in their rookie Cup seasons. From what we’ve seen thus far, my money would be on the guy with the good looking girlfriend.

NASCAR likes to brag about how popular it is…or was. Averaging 100,000 fans for each of its 39 days of action is pretty impressive (including the Shootout and Duels in February along with the All-Star events), but that still averages out to just one race per week over 39 weeks. In fact, the 3.5-million fans it attracted in 2012 is down about a million (or more than 20%) from what is was in 2005. Then compare it to the 2430 game schedule in baseball, the 1230 games basketball and hockey (720 this lockout season) offer, and the 256 for NFL football, and those boys are able to provide us with a lot more highlights and thrills any given week. Major League Baseball attracts nearly 75-million fans annually, the NHL usually is over 20-million, and both the NFL and NBA are over 17-million. In short, NASCAR can not afford to continue to bleed off fans.

Revenues is another measurement, maybe even more important than warm bodies. Television has sure helped in that department, as along with marketing and sponsorship the NFL generates $11-billion in revenues, MLB $7-billion, the NBA $4.3-billion, and the NHL $3.3-billion. I have not seen any definitive totals for NASCAR, but $3-billion seems an accepted number, with about half a billion of that coming from television. It is said that in North America, there are four major sports. I might amend that by saying there are two, football and baseball, with three other significant pro entities. NASCAR would rank fifth among the five.

Which brings us back to the Gen 6 car. Will it prompt closer racing, will its design help make the product more visually appealing to both long time fans and those new to the sport? The last I heard, Rusty and Brad will be back so we can forget about an upgrade in the announce booth. There is a reason NASCAR has responded to fan criticism, as they want them to return and bring new blood with them. It was not going to happen the ways things were. Better cars for better racing for better entertainment for better attendance adding up to better revenues. That is the storyline for NASCAR going into the 2013 season. Enjoy the build up.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]Well, that was rather anti-climatic. We gathered in front of the television to watch the action from Homestead to see if Jimmie Johnson could make up the 20 points he trailed Brad Keselowski in the season finale for the Sprint Cup title. It even got interesting for a few minutes, then frustrating for Johnson fans, then downright ugly moments later. At least Keselowski was happy.

Keselowski not only defended his lead, he built on it. He avoided running out of fuel, watched misfortune strike his only challenger, and finished 15th to claim the 2012 championship. In fact, even if Johnson had maximized his day it would not have been enough. As it turned out, the new 28-year old champion could have won it even if he had sat in the stands chewing down hotdogs.

When the rear gear burned up on Jimmie’s car, the only guy happy about that turn of events on the Lowe’s team had to have been the rear tire changer. With just over 50 miles to go, Johnson was pretty much where he was behind Keselowski as when he began. They stopped for tires and fuel, but a lug nut was left behind. End of the day, one thought, but we were wrong. When the car filled with smoke a few laps later, that was truly the end as Johnson went to the garage while the engraver finished putting Brad’s name on the trophy.

With Jimmie going up in smoke, while Kasey Kahne and Junior, even though he finished 10th, on nobody’s radar last Sunday, at least Jeff Gordon left happy. He even managed to beat Clint Bowyer, as in out running him rather than wrecking him, to win his second of the season and 87th of his career. I think it has been real nice of Team Hendrick to loan out their championship the past couple of seasons, but does anybody think they are done quite yet?

Danica Patrick is back on the market after it was announced that her seven year marriage is over. That is all I will say on the matter, as I don’t want to give my wife any ammo to kick my butt back out onto the market. She could do better while I probably would end up with a cat.

So, the nine month odessey is over and we have a new champion. 2013 brings us a new car, and hopefully that will equate into more passing, more excitement, more visual stimulation than the televised version produced for much of the campaign. I know that being at the track, surrounded by that special atmosphere, is a far different experience than what we get watching from the couch. Still, the numbers in the stands continue to drop, and the television audience has plummeted by 25% over the past five years. There once was a time my extended family would get together to watch a few races each season, but that no longer is the case.

Sprint Cup has just one offering per week and if it is not stimulating enough to watch there is no backup plan. That is not the case in baseball or football, where there are often more than one game to chose from at the same time. If the game you are watching isn’t doing it for you, one on another channel just might, but in NASCAR what you see is all you get. If one car dominates, if the action is just a series of cars going round and round with little or no drama, there is always another channel to watch, but it won’t be NASCAR. I think that is exactly what has happened, and that does not bode well for the future.

By the way, what happened to those classic television commercials that provided outstanding visibility to some of the sport’s stars? Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr sitting around talking about NAPA, Mikey’s Bristol car all in pieces, Kasey Kahne and the young lasses who stalked him, even Jeremy Mayfield’s date all covered in sweet smelling oil. Even the sponsors no longer act like they care. I miss the days when Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Johnny Benson, and Allan Bestwick sat around like they were in our living rooms to shoot the breeze about the past week’s events, informing us and making us laugh. I miss those days. The erosion of what helped make the sport popular seems not to be isolated to the action, or lack of it, out on the track. There once was a winning formula in place, but somebody somewhere thought they had a better idea. They didn’t. NASCAR isn’t about spit and polish. It features people we can relate to, ordinary folks doing extraordinary things. They went uptown on us, while the rest of us stayed down home.

For those thinking that by having a new face hold the title we somehow are going to keep our current fan base and add to it, they are dreaming. Talladega might not exactly be everyone’s definition of what racing should be, but at least it is exciting to watch and that is the name of the game. No excitement, no fans, and we are back racing primarily in the south like in the good old days. We don’t need beating and banging, but there better be some slicing and dicing, or NASCAR will wind up being as much a draw as hockey is in Tupelo.

Tweeting from inside the car or Go Daddy cheese cake is not going to reverse the trend. I miss my NASCAR. I wish it came back, or a few more of you might not. Enjoy the winter of my discontent.

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Well, it is about damn time. NASCAR had a race that actually provided some television entertainment. Yes, you had to go through a few hours of round and round, but you have to admit that it was well worth the wait.

First, the race in Phoenix. This late in the season, it came down to watching if anything bad would befall one of the two leaders battling for the title. Jimmie Johnson seemed to be falling back on the track, the points about equal on the season, when his tire let go. Into the fence he went as he went from points leader to almost out of it. They got the beast back out there, but Johnson finished 32nd compared to Brad Keselowski’s 6th place result. Heading into Homestead next week, all Keselowski has to do is finish 15th or better and the crown is his.

Kyle Busch led most of the laps, yet wound up third. Kevin Harvick led the one that mattered, for his first win of the season. After it was announced this weekend that Harvick was moving on to Tony Stewart’s outfit in 2014, not much in the way of hugs were forthcoming from his present boss, Richard Childress. The driver might be Happy, but his owner sure is not, win or no win.

The highlight of the afternoon came courtesy of Jeff Gordon’s temper. His title hopes are long gone, and he made sure the suspense ended for Clint Bowyer as well. Bowyer and Gordon tangled running side by side. Jeff tried a little payback, but all he managed to do was put himself into the wall and that did not help his disposition. NASCAR black-flagged Gordon so he would get his battered vehicle off the track and in for repairs, but he had another idea. He waited for Mr. Bowyer to cruise by, clipping him to send both into the fence, collecting Aric Almirola, Joey Logano and, almost, Keselowski. Then the fun really began.

In the pits, Jeff took off his helmet while others thought of taking off somebody’s head. The two crews had a little brawl, causing the broadcast team to get more excited than they had been all day. Bowyer, parked on pit road, went sprinting to join the fray but got held up outside of Mr. Gordon’s rig. NASCAR brought the boys in for a talk, even providing security people so they could return to their abodes without being molested. The action on the track has turned into a snoozefest in recent seasons, but the beating and banging on and off the asphalt turned hardcore last Sunday.

Consistency is a big thing in NASCAR, not that you would know it from the flag stand. Harvick was leading, about to take the white flag, when Gordon and Bowyer had their set to. The caution waved right away and Harvick was denied victory. Off they went again, this time with Danica Patrick wrecking behind them. No caution this time, lots of oil, and as Harvick and runner-up Denny Hamlin went skidding through on their way to the line, others were not so successful. A lot of torn up cars were the result with Patrick, limping along to the finish, hit from behind as some in the field became pin balls.

Whatever it takes to provide entertaining, exciting, and competitive visual stimulation is a good thing, but even I think the wreck to conclude Phoenix was a bit much. Give me a race with no crashes but lots of passing and you got racing folks will tune in for. Maybe next year.

Next week it all comes to an end for 2012 as the final waltz is played at Homestead.  It will all come down to Keselowski staying out of trouble, especially if he manages to keep some air in the right front. Enjoy the week.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]A maximum of 96 points are left on the table as the boys and Danica move on to Phoenix and Homestead, which comes as bad news for pretty much anybody not named Jimmie Johnson or Brad Keselowski. Two of the 12 championship apostles are already eliminated, seven more should see the gates close after this weekend. Even for third place Clint Bowyer, 36 points in the bushes, his chances hinge on both the leaders spending some time in the garage either this upcoming Sunday or next.

Jimmie Johnson dominated the first half in Texas, led half of them on the day, and remained in the top three the rest of the way before passing Kyle Busch in the final laps to salt this one away. It marked his 60th Cup victory, the fifth of the season, and pushed him seven points ahead of Keselowski in his fix for six. His main challenger finished second, Busch third.

For a moment, there was a glimmer of hope for the rest of the pack. With under ten to go they went door to door, came together, each wobbled but managed to continue on without much break in momentum. It the kind of action fans love to see, and what a handful of drivers hope to see happen again, and soon, just with a different result. On this occasion, Johnson and Keselowski finished with cars that looked like cars and even shook hands in Victory Lane. However, like the handshake, the gloves are now off.

Fellow chasers Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, and Dale Earnhardt Jr grabbed the next four spots at the line. Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle also had Top Tens. Jeff Gordon had a tire problem that took him out of contention, while Danica Patrick was 24th, the final car on the lead lap. It was her best result and it came in her first race with Tony Gibson as crew chief. The pair will be together next season when Patrick runs full-time.

The other news coming from Texas was Harvick’s car being sandbagged before the race. Literally. It was dangling from a big ole Texas flag trailing a parachuter and clipped the “door”, right on the #29, putting a bit of a dent there. NASCAR allowed the crew to take it back to the garage to make some repairs. Now, had it clipped the #2 or #48, I’m sure the conspiracy theorists would have had a field day.

This Sunday is Remembrance or Veteran’s Day, depending on what side of the line you live on. A couple of hours after we observe the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month to honour  those who have served our respective nations in our armed forces, the engines come to life in Phoenix.  The only two questions we need answered Sunday is how close did Jimmie and Brad finish, and how well did they finish. Something tells me this could be a week of close finishes.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”233″][/media-credit]It was truly a Tale of Two Cities kind of day at Martinsville last Sunday afternoon. You know, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times…  It could not have been much better for Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski, who came away from the contest two points apart on top of the standings with three to go.

Johnson dominated a good portion of the contest, at least when he wasn’t sharing the lead with Clint Bowyer or Jeff Gordon. Johnson was up front when it counted as he kept Kyle Busch at bay in order to take his 59th career victory, his seventh at Martinsville, and the fourth of this campaign. Keselowski just wanted to be close, to keep his hopes alive, and a sixth place finish did exactly that for him, with only Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead left on the calender.

Denny Hamlin thought a win was in order for him to keep his hopes burning brightly. Instead, they got as soaked as a boat cruise on the Hudson River this week. Twice he got caught speeding on pit row, twice he let out the reins to get back near the front. Fate then stepped in and stepped on him as a short developed in the master switch to kill the juice in the car. He wound up 33rd, 49 points out. Hamlin deserved better.

Fans got what they deserved, as this was an entertaining affair. It was short track racing at its best, as they busted down the straightaways at 120 mph before hitting the brakes, trying to stay off the guy running beside them. Sometimes it did not exactly work out. Dale Earnhardt Jr was doing well in his return until he met up with Carl Edwards in the final laps as the duo saw their hopes for a good finish spin away.

Good things came the way of Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. Both were in the Top Five at the end, and presently are the only two drivers in position to move up should our two leaders falter. Bowyer is 26 back, Kahne is 29. Ask Hamlin how easy it is to have things go bad unexpectedly. You could say that for a precious few, this remains a season of light, the spring of hope, but for most of their championship hopes it ‘tis a season of darkness, a winter of despair. The Dickens, you might say.

If we have indeed identified our final four, only Johnson and Kahne have won in Texas, and only once. Johnson averages a Top Ten there in 18 starts, Bowyer’s is just over 13th in 13 tries. As for Keselowski, his best Texas finish is 14th.  It just might take a far, far better thing for him to do than he has ever done before just to stay in the hunt. What do you think?

[media-credit name=”Tyler Barrick/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”299″][/media-credit]Now, that was a race worth watching. The lead changed, some cars got bopped. It did not look a thing like Formula One where every one goes real fast in a single line train, where one lap looks just like any other. Kansas provided every argument as to why we watch NASCAR.

Sure, we had new pavement and tires that when pop a little too soon. The cautions threw a new wrinkle into the action, as well as a few entries. Nothing was etched in stone as cars did their own etching on the fence. Leaders came to the front, faded to the back, and while Matt Kenseth returned to win it all, some were not so lucky.

Aric Almirola, looking like a young pre-mustache Richard Petty, took his #43 car for a good ride up front for a time. That was before he eventually touched the wall a couple of times to end his day early. Jimmie Johnson rode up front, put his back end to the wall, and saw his crew work some real magic to keep him running to come home with a rather miraculous Top Ten performance.

Payback is a bitch. Just ask Landon Cassill. Getting upset with a fellow competitor is understandable. Trying to wreck the SOB is not out of the ordinary. However, when attempting a PIT manoeuver on the track, it is best to retain control of one’s own vehicle so it is the other guy parked in the garage. Danica Patrick is still learning.

In Charlotte, Kurt Busch finished 21st while the guy who he replaced, Regan Smith, wound up 38th after the engine blew on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s usual ride. In Kansas, Smith took his Juniormobile to 7th, while Kurt wound up in 25th. Maybe what is keeping Furniture Row from running with the big boys has nothing to do with their driver. With Earnhardt returning this weekend, Smith is out but I think he more than helped his cause for a full-time ride somewhere for next season.

The Chase is down to no more than five drivers contending for the title, unless bad things happen to Brad and Jimmie over the final four events. Keselowski retained a seven point lead over Johnson, with Denny Hamlin (20 points back), Clint Bowyer (25), and Kasey Kahne (30) in the rearview. Not bad, but the change in the points system has provided evidence that maybe the Chase is not only an artificial way of providing late season excitement, but an unnecessary one.  After Kansas, the non-Chase standings would show…

1 Jimmie Johnson –  1114 pts
2 Brad Keselowski – 1109       -5
3 Greg Biffle ——- 1096       -18
4 Matt Kenseth —- 1089       -25
5 Clint Bowyer —– 1077       -37

replica watches
cartier replica

Just as having the fastest 36 cars qualifying make the race, with the rest filled in by being amongst the best on the season just having a bad day, again making sense, so does having a champion declared by their season-long performance. Sometimes change is a good thing, but not always. It would appear that NASCAR really should have changed the points system first, instead of instituting the Chase.

This Sunday the boys (and girl) head to Martinsville. It is a place where Jeff Gordon has won seven times, Johnson has six, with Hamlin having collected the checkered flag four times. In five attempts, Keselowski has finished between 9th and 19th. Sunday could turn out to be a very good day for one of our top three. What do you think?

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]It is a good thing we live in this modern era, where by the push of a couple of buttons one does not have to choose between watching the Yankees play the Tigers or watching NASCAR from Charlotte. A fella can watch both. View one while recording the other, then when you hit a bank of commercials or return to real time, you simply reverse the process. Non-stop Saturday night action.

One contest was missing a star performer, as Dale Earnhardt Jr sat one out due to his concussion. The other saw Derek Jeter leave the field due to a fractured ankle. One saw Brad Keselowski surrender a chance to win to pick up fuel; the other had Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, and Curtis Granderson unable to win as they were discovered to have no gas in their tanks thus far in the playoffs. One was exciting, with the outcome in doubt to the end, the other was a race in Charlotte.

Yet, to be fair, the long expected outcome did not materialize in North Carolina. After watching Brad, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin pretty much represent the boys up front all day, it was Clint Bowyer who wound up with the sticky shower as he picked up his third win of the season. Once again fuel mileage decided this one, and thank goodness it did. While no one ran out of gas to get their hearts broken, the possibility was there and the outcome was in doubt. In fact, even the winner proved to have little to spare, with Clint having to walk to his post-race celebration and his car needed a push to get there. In a way it was like Sunday’s ball game in San Francisco, where St. Louis went up 6-0 to seemingly have a lock on things, only to see the Giants storm back with four of their own to put it in doubt. The one difference is that while San Francisco held on to win, Keselowski did not.

I have not seen the ratings from Saturday night, but I would be interested as to how the race fared against the baseball playoffs. The boys on the diamond featured some action that had folks talking about what they had seen after the lights went out. I’m not so sure they were doing the same after the race. I loved Talladega, some did not see it was real racing. Charlotte bored me, yet some might think it was just dandy. Maybe it comes down to taste. I can’t stand watching basketball or soccer, yet others love those sports. Maybe it is just me. Then again, the television ratings these past few years seem to suggest I am not alone.

Other than Junior’s injury, there does not seem to be many story lines here. The new rides for Regan Smith, Kurt Busch, and A.J. Allmendinger were noted, but not exactly riding the heights as a trio of Yankee stars batting a combined .101 between them in the post-season. Of course, there is also  Jeter’s injury, the brutal performance collapse of a Detroit reliever, the performance of older gentlemen named Ichiro or Ibanez, or a team losing the face of the franchise during the off-season only to contend once again for the championship. In NASCAR, we have Keselowski on top, now seven points ahead of the former five-time champion, and 15 ahead of Hamlin. Until such time as Keselowski does something akin to a crash and burn, at least enough to allow his challengers to catch up, that is how it will remain over the next five weeks. In a world with no distractions that might work, but unless you are a racing fanatic that is not the way things are.

This Sunday, the action moves to Kansas where Bowyer would love to win one at the track just a 90 minute drive from his hometown. Even so, he remains in fourth, 28 points out of the hunt. At present, our sole purpose in watching will be to see if Keselowski has enough of a problem to allow Jimmie or Denny to move up. If that is not enough for you, there is always the chance that there will be a ball game on at the same time.

As I think about it, I think if NASCAR had changed up its points system first, they might not have even needed a Chase. Today’s points system is more forgiving over the long haul than the old one, but brutal for those who stumble over the short run. If they had reversed how they had done things, and forgot the whole Chase concept, Johnson would be leading the standings by 9 over Keselowski and 16 over Greg Biffle. It might even be a reason to turn on the boob tube to catch the action. Let me know what you think..