Category: Featured Stories

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”214″][/media-credit]Kyle Busch sits in the corner of the room, chanting “Redrum. Redrum. Redrum.” Meanwhile, someone is hacking at the door, splinters fly, and finally the hole is big enough for a familiar, smiling face to appear.

“Here’s Kevin!”

Once again, Busch awakens from the nightmare that has been his since Darlington. You can argue that Kevin Harvick started things Saturday night with a bump to the rear bumper, but no one can doubt that it was Busch who purposely spun the 29 even as Clint Bowyer was still bouncing off the inside wall. When Harvick wanted to play, Busch stayed in his car. When Harvick came out to punch, Busch hit the gas, hit Harvick’s now empty car to send it rolling into the pit row wall, and took off for healthier climes.

It kind of reminded me of August 17, 2003. One talented, but very mouthy, driver was taunting a bear, only to have a big paw reach in and shut that mouth up, if only for a moment. Jimmy Spencer might have gotten suspended from the next race at Bristol, the big mouth might have won that next week but, after all the whining and playing loose with the truth about the incident, the fans turned ugly on Kurt Busch. So much so, the boy underwent a bit of a transformation to eventually become a man. Me thinks his little brother is cruising for a similar bruising.

Kevin Harvick. Of all the guys to tangle with, Busch the Younger takes on the man with the smile that makes even Jack Nicholson stand back. At least Montoya had the brains to take on a Ryan Newman, take a punch, and carry on. Is Harvick tough? Ask Carl Edwards. Payback is a bitch, and she is coming.

If it wasn’t the feud, the story at Darlington was a call for no tires, no pit stop, and a Southern 500 win for Regan Smith. It was the first Cup win for the 2008 Rookie of the Year, and the first in 137 races for the Colorado-based Furniture Row Racing, running just its second full-time schedule. A one car team that finally made good, keeping a charging Carl Edwards at bay as the boys had at ‘er behind him. Smith was right when he commented on the four crown jewels of Cup racing; the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, the World 600, and the Southern 500 at Darlington, and he claimed one of the big ones.

You might argue that any race at Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega, or Bristol should be added to that list, but when it comes to places that get the juices flowing, Dover is not one of them. They head to Delaware this Sunday afternoon, where Jimmie Johnson (15th at Darlington) has won three of the last four. Kyle Busch was the winner there last spring, but he might be listening for footsteps most of the day.

They have been coming here since 1969, a track where Richard Petty claimed seven victories, and Kyle Petty one. Ken Schrader won there, as did Benny Parsons. Even the first dozen races were won by future Hall of Famers, or will be after Cale Yarborough joins Petty, Allison, and Pearson next year. Well, look at that. I just got my juices flowing. The action begins on FOX, starting at 1pm, Eastern, this Sunday afternoon.

[media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”255″][/media-credit]Back on the seat again….. I was fortunate enough again to take part in Pennzoil’s “Best Seat in the House” at the Richmond International Speedway. As a guest of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge car driven by Kurt Busch, I was given a great view of the track and a behind the scenes look at all of the night’s action with the Pennzoil crew.

While taking the tour of the No. 22 hauler I got a view of what it takes to get to each race and all of the supplies and equipment necessary to compete. The team hauler holds two race cars, a primary and a backup car along with all of the parts necessary to repair or fix a race car during the weekend. This also includes three engines (one spare engine along with the engine that is in the backup car). Essentially the team hauler is a rolling shop.

Each team also has forty rims (enough for ten 4-tire pit stops) that are later equipped with leased tires from Goodyear. The only tires the team has are the eight tires that are on the two cars when entering the track. All tires are Micro-chipped and inventoried by Goodyear. Goodyear knows exactly where each tire goes and when it comes back. The team cannot leave the track until all of the tires are accounted for.

[media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]The team hauler is long and narrow but contains more than you would expect. Each crew member has their own spot for their personal items. Some of the space is used to house communication equipment but most of the remaining space houses parts, a lot of them. Everything is organized in certain locations and each member knows where to locate what might be needed during a race weekend. The team’s organization is the key to keeping the team going at the pace needed during the race weekend.

After a few minutes with crew chief Steve Addington, I quickly found out the team was struggling this weekend. Although optimistic, Addington knew they had a lot of work to do.

Being atop the No. 22 Pennzoil pit box, or better known as the “war wagon”, is an experience in itself. The short climb straight up to the seating area in the pit box is just an undertaking like no other. You know it’s a special place. You can feel the action and you have a view like no other.

The No. 22 Pennzoil pit box was positioned just coming out of turn four, with a great look at the start/finish line. Unfortunately, the finish line ahead was going to be a rough one for the team.

[media-credit id=5 align=”alignright” width=”240″][/media-credit]After all of the last minute preparations that take place before the green flag. The team stopped for a few minutes in observance of the race prayer and the national anthem.

I received a team radio/headset which allowed me to hear the conversations between the crew chief Steve Addington and the rest of the No. 22 Pennzoil team during the race. The team was not happy from the start. They qualified 37th and the team radio proved to be the highlight of the night as Kurt Busch was not happy, to put it lightly before the race even began.

To say that the race was uneventful for the No 22 team is a lie. There were no real incidents early on with the No. 22 team but the struggles the team had during practice and qualifying had taken a toll on its driver and from the confines of his car Busch let the team have it. He was naming names and some were Penske Racing executives. At one point he was using nothing but four letter words. He also said, “I can’t fix this, neither can you.”

On Lap 44 the No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge started having handling trouble. Green flag conditions did not allow the team to make any adjustments and by lap 70, Busch went a lap down.

The team was able to make adjustments on lap 82 and then again on lap 107 after the first caution flag of the night.

Adjustments the included air pressure and track bar and the removal of a spring rubber where not enough as the team fell yet another lap down on lap 181 after the handling went away again.

Then on lap 237, Montoya spun out Newman in turn-3. As Newman was trying to spin his car back around, Busch ran into Newman. The No. 22 Dodge sustained damage to the left-front quarter-panel.

The race ended with younger brother Kyle Busch winning the race and the No. 22 team finished 22nd, three laps down despite all of the difficulties.

[media-credit id=5 align=”alignleft” width=”226″][/media-credit]“It was a very frustrating and long night for us. We put ourselves behind in qualifying and had to start from the back. Once the race went green, our car just wore through tires by 40 laps into a run. We never could back on the lead lap and just when I thought that our car was getting better, we got collected after the 42 and 39 got together.” Busch said after the race.

A special thanks to Pennzoil, the No. 22 team and everyone else involved that made this opportunity available to me again this season.

About Pennzoil

The current Pennzoil sponsorship not only affords tremendous brand recognition with a leading NASCAR team, but affords the brand a true testing ground for Pennzoil® motor oils under some of the harshest racing conditions. Pennzoil engineers work closely with Penske Racing to develop motor oil formulations to help maximize performance and engine reliability for the team throughout the season, with each change contributing to the advancement of the brand’s technology. This collaboration provides Pennzoil scientists with the ability to test existing and new motor oil technology to gain insights from the track that can be translated directly into the formulation of its consumer motor oils. All Pennzoil® motor oils exceed the most stringent car manufacturer standards for engine cleanliness and protection. No other leading motor helps keep engines cleaner than Pennzoil®.

[media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]”Thunder In Carolina” is the name of a 1960 movie starring actor Rory Calhoun. The majority of the film was shot at Darlington Raceway and depicted an underdog race team trying to make it to the NASCAR limelight. The sentiment from that old movie certainly rang true last Saturday night at the conclusion of the Showtime Southern 500 when victory lane was emotionally charged by the presence of a first time winner.

Unfortunately this magic moment was overshadowed by the arrival of NASCAR’s latest feud after the race which came on the heels of round two of the feud that stemmed from the Richmond race the week before.

But first let’s accent the positive:

HOORAH to driver Regan Smith for accomplishing the one goal every NASCAR dreams of: the first ever win in a national touring series. The fact that his first ever win came at a historic race track that helped create the Hall Of Fame heroes of the sport didn’t escape Smith’s attention. “Legends win this race,” he said “I’m not supposed to win this race, I’ve never even had a top five.”

HOORAH to Pete Rondeau, the race winning crew chief, who made the gutsy ‘all in” call to keep his driver on the track, during the next to the last caution flag late in the race. That call gave Smith the track position he needed to set up the winning move over runner up Carl Edwards.

HOORAH to Edwards, for showing a great deal of class, by being the first to congratulate NASCAR’s newest first time winner. There were quite a few Sprint Cup drivers who visited victory lane to offer their congratulations and Smith admitted that he was overwhelmed by the respect from his peers.

HOORAH to Furniture Row Racing team owner Barney Visser who first put this organization together back in 2006. At a time when nearly all of the Sprint Cup teams are headquartered in the general area of Charlotte-North Carolina, Visser chose to keep his team close to his home of Denver-Colorado and that alone presents a challenge for this small, single car, team that only has 64 employees.

Visser gets another HOORAH for enhancing his team with the presence of sub contractors. The team receives their chassis and race parts from Richard Childress Racing, the power plants from Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines and their pit road crew is supplied by Stewart-Haas Racing. That’s some very heavy back up.

A special HOORAH goes out to the race winner’s mom who had a very special reason for not being in victory lane with her son during Mother’s Day weekend. Lee Smith, who normally attends all of her son’s races, is an animal rights activist. She was in Tuscaloosa-Alabama helping to rescue lost animals who were separated from their families in the wake of the devastating tornadoes that landed in that area.

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From one of her greatest hits, legendary singer Bonnie Raitt sang “let’s give them something to talk about.” HOORAH to Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch for giving us something to talk about. Who’s to bless and who’s to blame in NASCAR’s latest driver feud is a debate that will rage on for the next several days.

However, WAZZUP with the collateral damage that came from all of the beating and banging between these two drivers? In addition to placing their fellow competitors in dire straits, the real victim was Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing team mate Clint Bowyer who suffered a hard hit into the inside front stretch wall.

WAZZUP with the extended contact, after the yellow caution flag was thrown, when Busch hooked Harvick’s car and sent him head on into the outside front stretch wall in front of oncoming traffic? It was a very dangerous situation.

Then there was the matter of the extra curricular activity between these two drivers on pit road after the race. Whether or not that’s a WAZZUP or a HOORAH I suppose depends on how you feel about pit road contact or how you feel about the individual driver. Harvick climbed out of his car and threw a left hook past Busch’s window net. Whether or not the punch connected is uncertain. It was hard to tell from the camera angle.

Busch does deserve a WAZZUP for pushing Harvick’s unmanned race car out of his way. The car rolled to the left and bounced off of the pit road wall. The problem here was the fact that there were a lot of people, especially media photographers, standing there when the Harvick car was launched.

Then there was the matter of the members from the two team’s pit crew squaring off against each other in the garage area. A genuine HOORAH goes to that NASCAR official who placed himself between the two groups and ordered them to stand down. I wish I had that gentleman’s name. He was standing in the midst of angry people considerably larger than he was. He deserves a lot a credit for a job well done.

Needless to say both drivers were summoned to the NASCAR trailer after the race. Afterwards, both drivers had smiles on their faces but had very little to say about what was discussed inside of the trailer. Has NASCAR’s latest driver feud been resolved? I hardly think so.

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Even the “Twitter” comments were rather sparse regarding this incident. It seems everyone was being rather careful regarding how they approached this controversial topic. But HOORAHS goes out to a few “Twitter” accounts that provided some entertaining reading.

There were two comments from Kevin Harvick himself who tweeted “great car and it got a little exciting at the end. I love racing.” In his second tweet Harvick, during the course of wishing everyone happy Mother’s day, took a chocolate covered opportunity to endorse one of his sponsors while slamming one of Busch’s sponsors. In that message Harvick wrote: “if we get our moms candy make sure it’s Reese’s Pieces and not M&M’s. Right?”

However Mrs Harvick was a little more forthcoming in her “Twitter” messages. Right after the on track incident she wrote “are you freaking kidding me?” She followed that message with a second comment that read “good way to hurt somebody #18, (Busch). Nice hook on the front straightaway, A-hole.”

When it comes to candid, and often hilarious, comments you can always count on Kenny Wallace. Calling the incident great for the sport, Wallace wrote “my friends do not over analyze the Harvick-Busch fun. It’s two great drivers going at it. I have seen this movie before.” He backed that message up with a second tweet that read “my favorite part was when Harvick’s crew ran after Kyle Busch’s car like the “Keystone Cops.” ha ha ha hilarious.” This is why everyone loves “Herman The German.”

The most unique “Twitter” message of all came from “Queers 4 Gears Dot Com.” Yes, you read that right. This is a website for racing fans from the gay and lesbian community that, over the past two years, seems to be picking up a lot of avid readership. Their message stated “call your Congressman and ask him to pressure President Obama to release the photos of Kyle and Kevin in the NASCAR hauler.” You just have to love that.

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If you think that drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman are thinking HOORAH to Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch for diverting the attention away from them you’re probably right. Montoya and Newman are of course the principals in NASCAR’s other driver’s feud that stems from the Richmond race.

On Friday NASCAR officials called the drivers to their trailer where they were informed that this was their final warning and their on track activities during the Darlington race would be closely monitored. This was followed by published reports, led by “Fox Sports Dot Com”, that said there was actually a physical confrontation between these two drivers. When asked about it after the meeting, a surly Montoya reportedly said “I’m not going to tell you s***, let’s leave it at that.”

WAZZUP with Montoya allegedly saying “Newman hits like a girl?” Considering Newman’s overall size and shape, I find that very had to imagine.

On Friday Kerry Tharpe calmly said “the meeting did not go as well as we had hoped it would.” However, the issues of these two driver feuds are far from over. Early Monday morning Tharpe announced that NASCAR plans to take a very close look at both of these off track incidents to determine if any further action is required.

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In some final thoughts this week WAZZUP with the horrible circumstances that plagued Richard Childress Racing during the Darlington weekend? In addition to the aforementioned crash damage to the Harvick and Bowyer cars, there was also a late race blown engine in Jeff Burton’s Chevrolet. This is a driver and team whose bad racing luck defies believability.

Even the organization’s fourth team, the #27 Chevrolet of Paul Menard, had some tough moments on, of all places, pit road. Following some contact from another car, Menard spun on pit road and entered his pit stall sideways with the nose of car facing the pit wall. Fortunately all four tires were inside the lines of the pit box so the team was allowed to complete the stop without a penalty.

Then, later in the race, a Menard crew member was attempting to remove a piece of tape from the front grill of the car. The jack man released the car, Menard hit the gas to leave the pit box and came very close to running over the crew member. You can bet “RC” was more than happy to leave South Carolina Saturday night.

WAZZUP with that unusual race accident between the cars of David Ragan and Brian Vickers? Following some contact Ragan’s Ford slid sideways and hit Vicker’s Toyota. The nose of the Ford ran down the left side of the Toyota and, like a giant can opener, literally peeled the sheet metal off from the front to the rear bumper. The contact also destroyed the energy absorbing safety foam installed in the driver’s door. There were multiple pieces of blue foam flying through the air and landing on the track. Even by Darlington Raceway standards this was a rather bizarre set of circumstances.

We close this week with a GOD BLESS to Kate and Carl Edwards who welcomed their second child. Michael Edwards became the newest member of the NASCAR nation last Wednesday weighing in a eight pounds and six ounces. All members of the family are reported to be just fine.

“And there’s a fight in the infield between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough…”

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]It’s been over thirty years since that historic day in Daytona Beach, Florida, and seemingly since then NASCAR has been attempting to recapture that entertaining magic of the 1979 Daytona 500. The larger the sport grew, the more blasé it became to long time fans, eventually culminating with NASCAR’s 2010 proclamation of the “Have At It” philosophy.

Ardent purist racing fans applauded, happy that drivers would finally have the chance to once again settle their problems on the track. Excitement grew with the knowledge that their favorite driver will once again be able to carry their emotions on their sleeve for all to see.

Now, a little over a year after NASCAR’s announcement, we as the followers of the sport have to step back and question if the spirit of this statement is being followed.

In the past year we have had a driver feud escalate to point of sending a car careening into the catch fence at 180 miles per hour. Those same drivers were involved in an altercation in which one was spun, driver’s side, directly into the path of the entire field merely out of spite and the thirst for victory. Tonight, we had one driver purposefully send a driver-less car down a pit road full of people.

Entertaining? Perhaps. But there comes a point when enough is enough. NASCAR’s attitude on enforcing this policy is eerily similar to their stance on driver safety fifteen years ago. The thought that “As long as the product is entertaining, why should we intervene?” seems to be the driving force behind what exactly is too much emotion.

Eventually, if this continues, someone will be injured. It could be another driver, a team member or even a fan. Is that small injection of entertainment truly worth that price?

By all means, let the drivers show their emotions both on and off the track. Let them duke it out at 170 miles per hour or out back behind the haulers. There needs to be limits, however, to make sure events like tonight do not have a more tragic result.

So please, for the sake of the sport, and all of those in it, let the boys “Have At It”…  just not at the risk to others safety.