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  • Busch wins the NCWTS Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville

    Busch wins the NCWTS Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville

    Kyle Busch won the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 in dominating fashion, leading 140 out of 150 laps en route to his team’s third Camping World Truck Series victory in five races in the 2011 campaign, along with his second straight victory in sponsor Dollar General’s backyard. “It was a really good race.” said an ecstatic Kyle Busch. “The guys at the shop did a great job and brought a great piece of equipment out here to the track. The clean air really helped us out most of the race and with about ten to go, Hornaday got a jump on us on the restart and got along-side of our spoiler and took a little air off of me and got around us, but we got a caution and we thought we were in a good position on the restart. So we did the same thing that Hornaday did on the previous restart and we got a good run on him in turns one and two and sailed by him in turn three. It would have been a shame had we lost today. The guys worked so hard, and our pit-stops were great and we wored really hard to come away with the win.”

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]On Lap 114, Kyle Busch led his 20,000th career lap in NASCAR national competition, which includes Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series competition. But the win wasn’t without its share of drama. On a late race restart with eight laps to go, Ron Hornaday Jr. overtook him on the restart, but a spin by Max Papis with seven laps to go would bunch up the field one last time, as the race restarted with three laps remaining and in the exit of turn 2, Busch retook the lead from Hornaday Jr. and never looked back to score his 26th career Camping World Truck Series win and 11th career win as an owner by 1.061 seconds over Nelson Piquet Jr., who came home a surprising second place with Timothy Peters in third. Hornaday Jr. faltered to fourth in the final run-down, with James Buescher rounding out the top five.

    “It was a really huge deal for us to win a race in Dollar General’s backyard. ” reflected Busch post-race. “They’ve been awesome with their support and they had a bunch of people in the stands this week-end and we had a lot of their guys on pit road and on our pit box.”

     There were 5 lead changes among 4 drivers and a total of 6 cautions for 24 laps. The  average speed of the race was 119.433 miles per hour.

    Unofficial Results
    Bully Hill Vineyards 200, Nashville Superspeedway – April 22, 2011
    =================
    Pos. Driver
    =================
    1 Kyle Busch
    2 Nelson Piquet Jr. *
    3 Timothy Peters
    4 Ron Hornaday
    5 James Buescher
    6 Matt Crafton
    7 Johnny Sauter
    8 David Starr
    9 Craig Goess *
    10 Parker Kligerman *
    11 Austin Dillon
    12 Cole Whitt *
    13 Jason White
    14 Ricky Carmichael
    15 Justin Johnson *
    16 Justin Lofton
    17 Brendan Gaughan
    18 Elliott Sadler
    19 Todd Bodine
    20 Travis Kvapil
    21 Ryan Sieg
    22 Bobby Hamilton Jr.
    23 Max Papis
    24 Joey Coulter *
    25 Justin Marks
    26 Shane Sieg
    27 Miguel Paludo *
    28 Brad Sweet
    29 Cale Gale
    30 Jamie Dick
    31 Clay Rogers
    32 Johanna Long *
    33 Chase Mattioli *
    34 Nick Hoffman
    35 Johnny Chapman
    36 Mike Garvey

  • The Next Nascar Hall of Fame Nominees announced

    The Next Nascar Hall of Fame Nominees announced

    NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 2012 NASCAR HALL OF FAME CLASS
     
    Earles, Isaac, Owens, Richter and Leonard Wood Join List Of Legends
     
    [media-credit name=”NASCAR HOF” align=”alignright” width=”103″][/media-credit]DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 19, 2011) – NASCAR announced today the list of 25 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame’s third induction class to be enshrined in January 2012. From that list, five inductees will be elected by the NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, which includes a nationwide fan vote on NASCAR.COM.

     Of the 25 nominees, 20 return from last year’s group. Five are first-timers: H. Clay Earles, Bobby Isaac, Cotton Owens, Les Richter and Leonard Wood.

     This round of nominees, which again includes many of the sport’s legendary names, were selected by a 21-person nominating committee consisting of representatives from NASCAR, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and track owners from both major facilities and historic short tracks. The committee’s votes were tabulated by accounting firm Ernst & Young.

     The NHOF’s inductees will be determined by the Voting Panel, which has 54 members – the entire Nominating Committee, media members, manufacturer representatives, retired competitors (drivers, owners, crew chiefs) and recognized industry leaders. In addition, the fan vote will result in the Voting Panel’s 55th and final ballot. Fan voting on NASCAR.COM opens on April 28 and closes June 12.

    Following are the 25 nominees, listed alphabetically:
     
    Buck Baker,first driver to win consecutive NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series championships (1956-57)
    Red Byron, first NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, in 1949
    Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
    Jerry Cook, six-time NASCAR Modified champion
    H. Clay Earles, founder of Martinsville Speedway
    Richie Evans,nine-time NASCAR Modified champion
    Tim Flock, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
    Rick Hendrick, 13-time car owner champion in NASCAR’s three national series
    Jack Ingram, two-time NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion
    Dale Inman, eight-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series championship crew chief
    Bobby Isaac, 1970 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
    Fred Lorenzen, 26 wins and winner of the Daytona 500 and World 600
    Cotton Owens, driver-owner, won 1966 owner championship with David Pearson
    Raymond Parks, NASCAR’s first champion car owner
    Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series  champion
    Les Richter, former NASCAR executive; former president of Riverside International Raceway
    Fireball Roberts, won 33 NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series races, including the 1962 Daytona 500
    T. Wayne Robertson, helped raise NASCAR popularity as R.J. Reynolds Senior VP
    Herb Thomas, first two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion, 1951, ’53
    Curtis Turner, early personality, called the “Babe Ruth of stock car racing”
    Darrell Waltrip, 84 wins and three NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series  championships
    Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series champion
    Glen Wood, as driver, laid foundation for Wood Brothers’ future team success
    Leonard Wood, part-owner and former crew chief for Wood Brothers, revolutionized pit stops
    Cale Yarborough, three consecutive NASCAR premier (now Sprint Cup) series titles, 1976-78
     
    The Class of 2012 will be announced live on SPEED on June 14 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C and inducted next January. The 2011 class, which includes David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Ned Jarrett, Lee Petty, and Bud Moore will be enshrined at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Monday, May 23.
  • Austin Dillon Looks For Championship in Second Season of Truck Racing

    Austin Dillon Looks For Championship in Second Season of Truck Racing

    After Martinsville, Austin Dillon sits seventh in points, 20 points out of the lead with one top five and two top 10s.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]The season started off on the wrong note for the 20-year old with a crash at Daytona, though since then he has been climbing up through the points.

    “It’s a better start for me,” he said. “I think we’re in a better situation this year in points and I feel the competition level is high in the Truck Series.”

    The competition level in the Camping World Truck Series, to some fans, is better than any of the top three divisions. Dillon attributes that to the talent and teams.

    “I feel there’s a wide variety of new guys that have come in with a lot of talent and you still have the veterans that know how to run these tracks and how to get it done,” he said.

    One of the new talents is Dillon’s teammate Joey Coulter, who has been competiting in the ARCA Series the past couple of years.

    “Joey Coulter is a great driver,” he said. “He’s done a good job this year. I feel like he’s had some bad breaks so far, but he is going to be just fine. He’s started to learn how these trucks driver and there’s still a lot to learn for him and he will learn more as we go to the mile and a halfs, tracks he hasn’t been to. It’s a learning experience, but we’ll take care of him.”

    Dillon, grandson of car owner Richard Childress, has been around racing his entire life.

    “You get to go to races a lot and its just a regular family,” he said of the experience in a racing family. “You look out for each other,  take care of each other, and we go to the track and its just nice to have a strong family background in something that I love to do.”

    The first races he remembers going to date back to his dad, Mike Dillon, racing late models.

    “Probably going to all of my dad’s late model races, but first time big one was going to Dale Earnhardt’s when he won the Daytona 500,” he said. “We got to go to victory lane and do the hat dance when he won the race at Daytona. That’s the first one I really remember.”

    The first time he got in the racecar was in a bandolero on a quarter mile behind Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    “It was fun as it was such a challenge and I knew after that it was what I wanted to do,” he said.

    As he goes forward with the rest of the year, Dillon will be a driver who will be challenging for wins at every track, though Texas and Michigan are two he’d really like to win at.

    “I really like Texas and Michigan,” he said. “Both those tracks are really fun. I like Michigan – that’s just fun; it’s a really racey track. Texas because the pistols, the cowboy, and I feel like we’ve been really close in winning a race there so hopefully we’ll get one of them.”

    For now, Dillon is focused on Nashville this weekend as he will compete in both the Camping World Truck Series race and the Nationwide Series race.

    “Great race track,” he said. “I have ran well there in the past. Get to run a Nationwide car there for the first time. There’s a pretty cool guitar for a trophy so I wouldn’t mind taking the guitar home.”

    It has been reported that Dillon will be running full-time in Nationwide next year, though he will make his first Sprint Cup start later this year.

    “Its just another learning curve,” he said. “It’s awesome. I didn’t know I’d be in the Cup Series that fast. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m just going to have to take it day-by-day from the time that we get there.”

    Away from the track, Dillon hosts his own radio show “Country Boy Radio” on High Point University’s radio from 4pm-6pm EST every Monday.

    “I love it,” he said. “It’s something that I just started this year and within the first 30 minutes of the first show, I knew keep doing it and really enjoy it.”

  • Ready or Not Here They Come: Drivers Eager for Cup Rides Without Much Experience

    Ready or Not Here They Come: Drivers Eager for Cup Rides Without Much Experience

    [media-credit name=”Mike Finnegan” align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]When the clock was set to strike midnight on January 1, 2000 it was supposed to be the end of technology as things were to go crazy. According to Hollywood the end of the world is approaching in 2012, next year. The way young racecars drivers have been approaching their careers it appears they may have bought into those theories.

    Drivers are impatient by nature and now it’s not just on the track. Impatient in making it to the top of their profession the quickest they can. With sports that’s not always a good thing, as any athlete needs time to grow and gain experience. Yet, as long as the Sprint Cup Series is on top that’s where everyone wants to be.

    Kimi Raikkonen hasn’t even made his debut in the Camping World Truck Series and he has already asking about running in Nationwide and Sprint Cup races. He’s coming from the world of Formula 1 and Rally Car, has never competed in a NASCAR race before but already wants to go play with the big boys.

    He’s not the only one. Joey Logano wanted to make it into NASCAR but had to wait until his 18th birthday. And while Logano also wanted to race in the NSCS he didn’t want to as quickly as he did.

    The much publicized, even criticized and then closely analyzed debut of Logano at Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the better examples of what happens when drivers move or are moved too quick. Unfortunately for Logano and JGR they were put in a box when senior driver Tony Stewart announced his departure. Logano was quickly moved into the seat without a full-year of Nationwide under his belt.

    It was rough sailing early for Logano but in his third year in the No. 20 the road’s becoming smoother.

    Drivers like Brad Keselowski however, might have put themselves in the box. After Keselowski won the NSCS race at Talladega in the spring of 2009 he stated he wanted a Cup ride for the 2010 season. Keselowski was only in his second full season with JR Motorsports in the NNS but Roger Penske snatched Keselowski up and put him in the No. 12 and much like Logano had a rough go of it.

    Whether or not they are ready, Logano and Keselowski are not the only drivers who feel they need to be in the Cup Series as fast as they can. The reason the NNS is there is for driver development, yet it can’t work if drivers don’t want to develop but in essence throw themselves to the wolves.

    What’s the rush? The Cup Series will still be there next year and even the year after that.

    Racing among the best in the business is no doubt intriguing and where all the fame and fortune is, except everyone will have their time. That includes Austin Dillon a full-time driver in the CWTS.

    Dillon is in his second full year of truck action and has only run seven career NNS races. He though will be making his Cup debut later this year. Instant reaction of course was wondering if it was the right time. In the case of Dillon he’s only 20-years-old and as the saying goes, has all the time in the world to make it to the top. He’s young and talented and will not have to worry about team owners passing over him or sponsors not wanting to take a chance on him.

    With the announcement of his debut though came the news that Dillon will most likely be running full-time in the NNS next season.

    That’s more like it. Working up the ladder in what was once the ABC program (ARCA, Busch and Cup) was how drivers paid their dues and prepared themselves for the big leagues. There appears to be no such thing anymore and the only series that matters and is worth the time is Cup.

    One argument could be made that the competition and racing as a whole are better when there’s a level playing field. Meaning drivers who are competing at a level they’re talent matches won’t end up being in the way. The less ‘slower traffic’ there is on the track the better.

    Yet, with drivers trying to rush themselves to the top and if they wind up being not ready for it, does anyone benefit? If the sponsors and team owners are willing to take the risk however, a driver will end where they want to be maybe before their time.

    If that’s what they want to do then have at it but be prepared for the risk, a risk that didn’t pan out for drivers like Sam Hornish Jr. and Patrick Carpentier to name a few. When they two came to NASCAR they went straight to Cup Series with limited Nationwide or other experience in between. Both no longer have rides and are trying to work their way back to the top.

    Even drivers that didn’t come from open wheel ranks haven’t been lucky. Casey Atwood was supposed to be the next Jeff Gordon when he moved to Cup. He’s long gone. Reed Sorenson had a stint in Cup after he was moved up by Chip Ganassi and is now back in the Nationwide Series but with a different team.

    It’s all about timing and the experience a driver is willing to take the time and earn. Besides, why rush to the Sprint Cup Series when the Nationwide Series have become Cup-lite?

    Every weekend Cup drivers invade the lower series and steal the show, the wins and the championships. The NNS is an excellent place to start for a young driver who wants to see if they can hang with Cup stars instead of going straight to the top and biting off more then they can chew.

    Because as fast as a driver moves up they can move right on out and permanently lose their chance at the big time.

  • Mikey Kile Nashville Superspeedway Quick Facts

    Mikey Kile Nashville Superspeedway Quick Facts

    MIKEY KILE QUICK FACTS

    No. 30 AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet Impala

    Nashville Superspeedway

    April 23, 2011

    No. 30 AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet News and Notes

    Home sweet home for Stewart Cooper… The No. 30 Chevrolet crew chief is heading home this weekend as the series heads to Tennessee. The Nashville-native loves racing at his home track and has a few favorite spots he can’t go to Nashville without visiting. One of his first stops is always San Antonio Taco Company (http://thesatco.com/) and he never misses J. Alexander’s (www.jalexanders.com). When he gets some time away from the track, Cooper loves to take advantage of all the live country music Nashville is legendary for, always stopping by the Whiskey Bent Saloon (www.whiskeybentsaloon.com) and Tootsies Orchid Lounge (www.tootsies.net).

    In the driver’s seat… ARCA Racing Series graduate, Mikey Kile, will make his debut in Turner Motorsports’ No. 30 AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet Impala this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. In 28 ARCA Racing Series starts in 2009 and 2010, Kile boasts one win, eight top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. He captured two pole awards in 2010 and has led a total of 183 laps. Kile will drive a minimum of seven races for the organization in 2011.

    Kile at Nashville Superspeedway… Kile has one NASCAR Nationwide Series start to his credit. After qualifying 25th in his NNS debut at the Lebanon, Tenn.-based track, he finished 33rd after being involved in an on-track incident.

    This week’s Impala… The No. 30 AccuDoc Solutions team will hit the track with chassis TMS-107 this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. This chassis last saw track action at Bristol Motor Speedway in March where James Buescher finished 13th after qualifying 16th.

    Start of a new era for Turner Motorsports… The 2011 season marks the start of a new era for Turner Motorsports. The team has expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR’s top-tier touring series, fielding three entries in the NCWTS and four entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). Three of the team’s regular NNS drivers (Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson and Justin Allgaier) have been pegged as viable contenders to win the 2011 NNS driver championship.

    Follow the No. 30 team on Twitter!Twitter.com/No30TurnerNNS

    Follow Mikey Kile on Twitter! Twitter.com/MikeyKile

    Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook!Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Aaron’s 499 at Talladega

    At one of the longest tracks on the NASCAR Cup circuit, 2.66 miles to be exact, where lead changes abound and Dale Earnhardt still rules with ten wins, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    [media-credit name=”Steven Iles” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Surprising:  Whether you call it the two car tango, dancing with the cars, friends with benefits, flying united, or Noah’s Ark racing, it was most certainly the pairs competition at ‘Dega this year. In comparison to the Daytona 500 to start the season, it was also most surprising how committed the pairs were to one another at Talladega.

    Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevrolet, summed it up best. “We all had commitment phobia in the past. But in this situation, you had to commit and make sacrifices, just like in a relationship.”

    Not Surprising:  There was no doubt that overcoming that commitment phobia was key to the race finish. Channeling their inner Talladega Nights characters Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton, Jr., Dale Earnhardt, Jr. pushed his teammate Jimmie Johnson, in the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet, to the checkered flag, scoring the closest margin of victory record at just .002 seconds.

    As both drivers shouted “Woo hoos” on their radios, congratulating each other and even sharing the checkered flag, Johnson scored his 54th career victory, tying Lee Petty, NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, for ninth on the all-time Cup Series win list.

    Johnson’s win moved him two spots ahead in the point standings. He currently sits in the second spot, just five points behind leader Carl Edwards.

    The other half of that tandem duo, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also surged forward in the point standings. Junior moved up three spots to claim the third position, just 19 points behind Edwards and 14 points behind Johnson.

    Surprising: While it was surprising that there was technically no ‘big one’ and thankfully no cars went airborne, there were a few spectacular wrecks and even more amazing saves. Ryan Newman, in the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet, laid claim to the biggest saves of the day, two of them in fact, calling on all of his dirt track racing experience to do so. After his first save, Newman was not so lucky on his second save, flat spotting all his tires and relegating him to a 25th place finish.

    Not Surprising:  While some drivers were busy saving their cars, other drivers not usually at the front got their chance to shine. Dave Blaney, behind the wheel of the No. 36 Golden Corral Chevrolet, almost had to make good on the sponsor’s offer to let kids eat free if he finished in the top ten. After leading several laps, Blaney unfortunately got turned by Kurt Busch, lost the draft and finished 27th.

    Andy Lally, rookie driver of the No. 71 Interstate Moving Services Ford, also had a big day. Known primarily for his Rolex racing skills, Lally found his place in the draft and finished 19th for TRG Motorsports.

    Surprising: After running so well together and finishing first and second respectively in the Nationwide race, it was somewhat surprising to see how badly Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&Ms Pretzel Toyota, and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, fared while working together.

    On lap 140, Logano tapped Busch, sending him spinning and bringing out the fourth caution. The impact was so intense that Busch’s right side tires lifted before spinning, landing him driver’s side against the retaining wall.

    “Joey (Logano) and I worked great all day,” Busch said. “I got spun out – it was nothing Joey did wrong.”

    “It’s just a product of what we’ve got,” Busch continued. “So far, at every restrictor-plate race, I’ve been spun out.”

    Not Surprising: Since dynamic duos were all the rage, it was not surprising that other pairs fared well together. Clint Bowyer, in the No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet, and Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet, both out of the Richard Childress stable, pushed each other to top-ten finishes.

    In addition, Hendrick Motorsport teammates Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet while battling a nasty cold, and Mark Martin, piloting the No. 5 Carquest/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, also were committed to each other to finish third and eighth respectively.

    Finally, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards, point leader and expectant father, and Greg Biffle, who just re-signed with sponsor 3M and RFR, were also locked together throughout the race. Edwards finished sixth and Biffle came in right behind in seventh.

    Surprising:  Red Bull had a most surprisingly bad day at the Talladega Superspeedway.  Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, spun and hit the wall as a result of contact with Landon Cassill, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    Teammate Kasey Kahne, in the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, got involved in the second wreck of the day, caught up in an incident started by the collision of teammates Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Kahne’s car burst into flames from the oil and the driver was still reeking of smoke in the infield care center before being checked out and released.

    Not Surprising: It was not just the drivers that had to dodge and weave in order to stay out of harm’s way this weekend, with tornado warnings throughout the area prior to the race. But in typical NASCAR fashion, the drivers, fans and all their families stuck together, looking out for one another and working together to ensure everyone’s safety.

    And in that spirit of camaraderie, happy Easter wishes to all, that is until the next race at Richmond, the Crown Royal 400, on April 30th.

  • What It Was, Wasn’t Racing

    What It Was, Wasn’t Racing

    Way back in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, comedian Andy Griffith put out a comedy record. On that record was a monologue called, “What It Was, Was Football.” It was a satire on someone attending their first football game and the narrator’s description of the action. It was a funny look at what we considered the norm for the sport. I can only imagine what that routine would be if Griffith described what we saw on April 17, 2011 at Talladega, Alabama.

    Steven Iles

    What it was wasn’t racing. In racing, every man is for himself. For some reason (safety for the fans being the most quoted reason), the powers that be have created this monster that requires two cars to run in tandem. In tight formation, the car in the back must push the other driver to go fast. Everyone does it because they have to so they can keep up. The driver behind can see nothing ahead of him and must trust the driver in front to let him know what’s going on. They switch—car in back to the front and the front car to the rear—for cooling purposes, but that’s the way the run for 500 miles. It’s madness.

    I firmly believe the fastest car probably didn’t win at the end, but we don’t really have enough information to know. No one ran alone all day unless they lost their partner to a wreck, which did happen on Sunday.

    I’m sure the fans loved it. If you did a poll, I guess most would say that it was the most exciting race of the season, but I don’t consider that racing. Sure, it was fun to watch and there was an exciting, close finish to boot, but it’s so contrived that doesn’t even resemble what racing is to me. If you happen to be in the front of the two car pack, you win. The only time you can pull out to try to pass is for it to be the last lap. In the tri-oval.

    It’s like a lot of things that has bastardized our sport. There is a long list of things that have bothered me for years, and the top of the list is the Lucky Dog. You don’t have to race to make up a lap. I thought this was racing. Sure, it’s done for safety, but what about restrictor-plate racing? Is that safe? Another is the pass around. Sure, it’s less confusing for fans, but is it racing when you get to make up almost a lap because you’re in front of the leader? Isn’t that rewarding mediocrity most of the time? Once upon a time Bill Elliott made up multiple laps at Talladega by being fast. That apparently doesn’t matter anymore in the name of a close finish.

    So, as you can now tell, I’m a traditionalist and a grouchy old man. I didn’t see a race on Sunday. I saw an entertaining spectacle. To each his own, I guess, but if I were NASCAR, I’d be looking for solutions like Matt Kenseth and others mentioned today.

    Of course, I’m not NASCAR and with the fans cheering wildly, don’t look for any changes.

  • Questioning the Relevance of NASCAR’s Evolving Form of Plate Racing

    Questioning the Relevance of NASCAR’s Evolving Form of Plate Racing

    It’s exciting! It’s thrilling! It’s NASCAR Sprint Cup plate racing!

    During the week long build up to a race at Daytona or Talladega, this is undeniably the theme from the majority of writers covering the sport. And who can blame them? Forty-three cars mere inches at each from one another at 200 miles per hour for almost four hours?

    [media-credit name=”(c) CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]A man’s heart can start racing merely from the thought of it.

    But at what point does the entertainment value of the racing detract from the quality of the product? When do we have to step back and look at things from a much broader perspective, with long term implications?

    For the casual or even non-fan, Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was beyond thrilling. The new tandem style of racing, like it or not, produces spectacular images for television. Paired cars bob and weave through others, often with a noticeable difference in speed. It can seem like a real life game of Mario Kart, minus the banana peels and turtle shells.

    This article, however, goes beyond the most recent incarnation of plate racing. In fact, this goes back to one of NASCAR’s most beloved words; parity.

    Now let’s look at some of the stats NASCAR and the media like to throw out there to demonstrate how ‘great’ plate racing is for the sport.

    • In the last eight Talladega races there have been eight different winners
    • In the last seven Daytona races, there have been seven different winners
    • Roughly half of those races had a last lap pass for the victory
    • Talladega is averaging over 80 lead changes over the past three races
    • Daytona is averaging over 50 lead changes per race

    Spectacular, is it not?

    Looking past sexy tidbits of information like this, you have to begin to wonder why this is happening. Are  there simply that many spectacular plate drivers on the Cup series now? Are the cars so evenly matched that there is virtually no competitive advantage anymore? Is parity so great that luck is often the deciding factor in outcomes?

    It’s that last question that poses the most interesting possibility. Prior to the 2005 season, it was quite easy to name the ‘great’ plate race drivers of the era. It didn’t matter if their car was torn to bits or if they hovered at mid-pack with just a handful of laps to go. You knew that as long as they were out there, they could find a way to the front.

    In a lot of ways it was because they possessed a skill set that not every driver had. Much like there are great short track racers and great road racers, there were great plate racers.

    Some would argue that that was due to the quality of the cars they were driving at the time and the lack of the parity we enjoy today. But how else do you explain then a driver like Sterling Marlin scoring top fives at Daytona and Talladega with five different teams over the 1990s? Did Marlin just happen to end up with five teams with spectacular plate programs, or could it perhaps be that his skill is what put him above others during that time period?

    That skill set is now no longer needed in current evolved form plate racing. The victor is typically one who was merely shuffled up to the front in the most recent round of frantic pushing and drafting. It has become almost a game of chance, devoid of any input by the driver as to the outcome rather than the game of chess we have seen in years past.

    Sure there was the occasional surprise winner here and there, but that was the nature of the track. We like the occasional under-dog sneaking through with a victory. That was part of the appeal of the races, the unknown. Drivers like Dale Jarrett enjoying one last hurrah with a victory or Bobby Hillin, Jr. shocking the sport with a lone victory. Much like the old Bristol Motor Speedway, it gave the fan a sense of intensity and anticipation as to what may happen.

    What happens though when that unknown because a regular occurrence?  What happens when the unknown becomes a defined prescience?

    And finally, what does it say when the crown jewel event of the sport, the Daytona 500, can now seemingly be decided mostly by chance? It’s been five years since the winner of the Daytona 500 finished in the top ten in points, a remarkable stretch which underscores the lack of relevance of a 500 victory.

    In fact, the four races of as a whole could almost be considered detrimental to the season long points battle. In a lot of ways one could gather the same outcome by merely drawing names out of a hat. Winning at Talladega or Daytona doesn’t make you a championship contender, it just means you were up front at the right time.

    Don’t get me wrong, I find plate racing as thrilling as the next fan. It is not a recent occurrence as this fact has been building for the better part of the last decade.

    At some point, someone has to question what price we pay for the excitement. Clearly I do not have a solution to this possible problem, nor am I sure there is any good solution. One possible solution would be to remove Talladega from the Chase if this continues. Keeping there would be like asking teams during the MLB playoffs to play a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who gets credit for a series win.

    It’s not fair and it takes away from the meaningfulness of a championship.

    Who knew NASCAR’s quest for parity would have such a surprisingly, and worrying, outcome?

  • Did Jimmie Johnson Technically Win?

    Did Jimmie Johnson Technically Win?

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”227″][/media-credit]Many have already begun to question Jimmie Johnson’s close win at the Aaron’s 499 yesterday. It tied as the closest finish since 1993, when electronic score keeping came to be. Anybody will find something to speculate, and in this case they are speculating whether or not, Jimmie Johnson’s move was actually legal.

    Several camera angles proved to be that Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Chevy appeared to have been right on the yellow line, but never crossing it. The only camera angle that appeared to be questionable, was the blimp camera. From a birds eye view, it looked as if it was just past the yellow line slightly. But whether or not he crossed the forbidden yellow line, is not the question.

    In 2008, Regan Smith crossed the yellow line as he passed Tony Stewart, in what we thought would be his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory, but instead we saw Tony Stewart celebrating in Victory Lane. This rule was widely criticized but nothing seem to have changed. Granted, Regan Smith was clearly over the line in 2008, but was Jimmie Johnson? And if he was over the line, was it even relevant?

    The rule clearly states, that a driver can not advance his position if he were to cross that forbidden line. If you might recall, Jimmie Johnson did not advance his position, as he had a slight lead over 2nd place finisher Clint Bowyer coming out of the front-stretch tri-oval.

    My opinion is the same as the other 42 NASCAR drivers that day, who did not challenge the call, Jimmie Johnson won fairly in one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history.

  • NASCAR Needs To Rid Of Yellow Line Rule

    NASCAR Needs To Rid Of Yellow Line Rule

    [media-credit name=”Steven Iles” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]It has been the topic of controversy ever since it was implemented in 2001 and it is causing more controversy today after the end of the Aaron’s 499, which had Jimmie Johnson crossing the line for his 54th career victory by 0.002 seconds, tying the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for the closest finish in NASCAR history. However there is some controversy that comes along with the win.

    Let’s be quite honest here, the yellow line rule is crap. The yellow line rule was implemented because of Dale Earnhardt’s death. Earth to all NASCAR fans: Going below the yellow line had nothing to do with Dale’s death. Nothing. Despite the fact he passed over a decade ago, his death has completely changed the sport and sometimes not in good ways. Earnhardt was killed because of his excessive blocking and he made one wrong move too many during that race. Marlin dipped below the yellow line after the initial contact to avoid getting into the mess. Unfortunately, our man of the hour, who this morning forgot to take a shower, Mike Helton,  fails to realize that the yellow line rule actually causes more excessive blocking, more crashes, and more confused fans.

    After the 2003 EA Sports 500, Helton made it apparently clear that you could go below the yellow line if you were in the lead. That was his explanation after the controversy between Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. Jr. actually wasn’t in the lead before he dipped below the line and the win should have gone to the second place driver, that being Kevin Harvick. If NASCAR was consistent, Jr. would have been placed in in 17th. NASCAR was too afraid of upsetting Junior Nation in this case.

    Sometimes even the announcers are confused. For example, during the Tony Stewart-Regan Smith debacle, Andy Petree actually thought it was legal to go below the yellow line on the final lap. In all honesty, did Regan Smith deserve to go from 2nd to 18th? No. Tony forced him below the line. If he moved up, he would have caused a huge accident. I have a new slogan, “Like big government. NASCAR Is There.”

    The first person to be caught under this rule was Tony Stewart during the 2001 Pepsi 400, the first race with the new rule. He was forced below the line by Johnny Benson and also really had no choice. Stewart was so fed up with NASCAR, he refused to answer the black flag. That didn’t please the dictators very much and that relegated him to a 26th place finish. The Carl Edwards incident of 2009 can be tied in with this, along with Hamlin and Johnson this year.

    Denny Hamlin won the Budweiser Shootout. After looking at different camera angles, photos, video, and pausing at the right time. Hamlin had the lead and his tires were “ON”, but not below the yellow line before he went down. He won the race. NASCAR yet again needs to be more consistent with its rulings. Why do you think NASCAR has a poor reputation in many parts of the sports world? A reporter even went as far to compare NASCAR with UFC, WWE, and boxing. Oh and by the way, Stewart did that in 2007 and was fined heavily. NASCAR doesn’t want to hear what others say. They run the show. I have something to tell you. Freedom of Speech. This is America.

    Now, going into today’s incident I went onto Yahoo Sports and they claimed it was a legal pass based off one photo. The problem with basing your argument off one photo is that another photo at a different time may have a different look. It’s like blaming a guy for murder based off a picture of him having a gun, only to look at a second photo of that man being shot four times in the chest. The photo Yahoo had put on the web showed Johnson “ON”, but below the line. The in-car feed from Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed Johnson go just below the line for like a quarter or half a second. The question is not whether he went below the yellow line or not, we know he did, but was that short second below the yellow line what sent him past Mark Martin? That is debatable. Jimmie and Dale definitely had the momentum coming to the line. It set up a fantastic finish.

    It set up an exciting finish, but do fans like this type of racing? No. According to a new poll, 74% of NASCAR fans prefer pack racing rather than the two-by-two tangos. I prefer the pack racing to be honest, but your opinion is your opinion and you won’t be criticized for it.

    Finally, I had some heated exchanges today with some fellow reporters. One said, “What does the Budweiser Shootout have to do with anything? Denny admitted to going below the yellow line to pass Jimmie Johnson. Were you not listening to what he said? He purposefully went below.”

    First of all, Jimmie Johnson had no influence on the finish and had nothing to do with it, so I’m afraid you’re wrong on that part. Who gives a crap about what he said? Let’s look at the footage shall we? http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/images/photos/001/135/205/hamlinnewman_crop_340x234.jpg?1297704152

    What do you see there? Hamlin got robbed. Anyway, it was a fantastic race. Don’t take that away. Leave your comments below, Facebook me, or email your opinion at therhino.ryan@gmail.com

    My grandfather passed this weekend and I would like to send condolences to my father, brother, and the rest of the O’Hara family. Happy Easter and we’ll see you at Richmond in two weeks!