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  • Hot 20 – Martinsville allows us to remember a much simpler time and place

    Hot 20 – Martinsville allows us to remember a much simpler time and place

    Having a team in NASCAR is easy. Not losing your shirt and anything else that might keep your unmentionables private is a tougher task. Just ask Ron Devine of BK Racing.

    According to documents made public by ESPN, Devine’s outfit lost 11 million four years ago. $10.1 million vaporized in 2016. The next season, another $8.45 million went up in smoke. That is close to $30 million in three seasons. This is what happens when you attract few sponsors, limiting your revenue to not much more than prize money, which was not enough to cover even one of those campaigns. In total, it cost just short of $50-million for them to operate over that time period, and an $18-million dollar return does not cut it.

    We should discover this week what lies in the team’s future as it goes to court over its bankruptcy. If you were wondering why NASCAR Cup teams have gone from 43, to 40, to just 37 hitting the track last week, I think you just got closer to an answer.

    Gray Gaulding has been at the helm of the Earthwater Toyota this season. He broke in to the Top 20 at Daytona, sits 32nd in the standings after finishing 32nd at Fontana.

    If that does not attract your notice, this might. Next season, Lowe’s will no longer be sponsoring Jimmie Johnson. After seven championships over 18 seasons and 83 race wins, Lowe’s is going the way of Home Depot, Sprint, Subway, Target, and UPS. The days of a single sponsor paying the freight over an entire season are gone.

    As they head to more traditional grounds this weekend, on a track built in 1947 at Martinsville, Virginia, we can hearken back to simpler times. It is a venue about to host its 139th event in the NASCAR Strictly Stock, Grand National, Winston Cup, Nextel Cup, Sprint Cup, Monster Energy Cup series.

    I wonder if Merle Haggard ever got an answer to his question, “Are the good times really over for good?”

    Our Hot 20 include…

    1. KEVIN HARVICK – 3 WINS – 1 E.W. – 170 Pts
    After California, he took the blame and does not plan a tour bashing Larson or Putin.

    2. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN – 216 Pts
    Last Sunday’s movie saw the lead character nixed early, replaced with a new protagonist.

    3. AUSTIN DILLON – 1 WIN – 141 Pts
    After Daytona, has ranged between 10th and 17th on the track. Not stellar, but it seems to work.

    4. KYLE BUSCH – 207 POINTS
    Best damn driver without a win. Some still think he is the best damn driver…period.

    5. JOEY LOGANO – 197 POINTS
    Became the fourth straight Cup driver to win a Xfinity race. Just bloody wonderful.

    6. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 183 POINTS
    Whatever kind of Ford Harvick has, Brad would like one of those, too.

    7. RYAN BLANEY – 181 POINTS
    FBI Special Agent Wood, I presume.

    8. DENNY HAMLIN – 176 POINTS
    Other than being 17th at Las Vegas, he has rolled nothing but Top Tens.

    9. KYLE LARSON – 174 POINTS
    Funny, he does not look anything like Darth Vader.

    10. CLINT BOWYER – 155 POINTS
    Finished 11th at California, which is good. Was a lap down, which is not.

    11. ARIC ALMIROLA – 148 POINTS
    Does not look like Danica. Does not drive like Danica. Discuss.

    12. KURT BUSCH – 144 POINTS
    The official beer of NASCAR. Sorry…I might have got my notes confused.

    13. ERIK JONES – 132 POINTS
    His worst finish since Daytona? 11th at Atlanta. The lad is on the rise.

    14. RYAN NEWMAN – 117 POINTS
    8th…22nd…11th…11th…21st…and yet few remember he was even there. Talk about being stealth.

    15. PAUL MENARD – 115 POINTS
    Las Vegas was good. Ever since…not so much. His average finish at Martinsville? 20th.

    16. ALEX BOWMAN – 115 POINTS
    After Junior left, I guess the #88 became invisible. Maybe Newman is Bowman’s Yoda.

    17. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 107 POINTS
    No, he is not dating Almirola. Sorry. In the words of Merle, “Mama tried to raise me better…”

    18. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 97 POINTS
    A Jimmie sighting! A Jimmie sighting! Now, if you are looking to sponsor somebody…

    19. DARRELL WALLACE JR. – 94 POINTS
    Richard Petty has a dozen grandfather clocks. I think Bubba would like a similar timepiece.

    20. WILLIAM BYRON – 91 POINTS
    This Lord Byron could write a poem about Elliott and that costly Phoenix points penalty

  • The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    The Final Word – Why Can’t NASCAR on TV Always be Like Sonoma?

    It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Interesting race, a few surprises, great topography and scenery, and top notch announcing. What was not to like?

    If you were Carl Edwards, not much. He came on strong over the final quarter of the race at Sonoma to march off with his 23rd career victory, and his second of the season. It marked his first win on a road course, and it ended a string of five straight wins by Team Hendrick. Well, barely, considering that Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr were contenders all day to conclude things in the Top Three. Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard put some spark into their seasons with Top Fives. Jimmie Johnson had a Top Ten, for those who do not things to change too much from week to week.

    Matt Kenseth got the biggest surprise, when Junior bounced off a curb to clip him into the tire barrier. That tore the front end, radiator included, off his beast to leave him steaming. The driver, Kenseth, not the car. Didn’t I mention the radiator was no longer attached? 42nd was his fate.

    Junior also managed to lay a late touch on A.J. Allmendinger, who then spun to get hit by Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers to tear up his front end. A.J. went from a contender to finish 37th, and probably burned his Junior Nation t-shirt afterwards.

    Kevin Harvick had a car to beat, and beat it he did when he got squeezed into Clint Bowyer’s spun car. Happy wasn’t, as his hopes faded to leave him 20th on the day. Notice that Earnhardt had nothing to do with that one.

    Danica Patrick finished 18th, just ahead of Tony Stewart, ahead of Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson. That should give you some indication as to how lousy the day was for those boys.

    Now, I would truly love to be a big Danica supporter, but despite her experience, her quality equipment, her lucrative sponsorship, and a loyal fan base, she just does not matter most weeks. To find her on the charts, you usually start at about 25th and look a few spots either way. Sunday was a good day, for her. Even great open wheelers have had trouble making the transition, and while she was popular, she was not great. Still, at 32, I guess there is still time.

    Time to turn our attention to this Saturday night, where Kentucky hosts just its fourth Cup event. Kyle, Keselowski, and Kenseth have won the first trio and I would expect them somewhere near the front again this year. Also, do not be surprised to see a Mr. Gordon or a Mr. Johnson up there close, as they have been the past three years. They have not yet won there, but Saturday has not yet arrived, so that could change.

    Change, like Home Depot leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and that same owner possibly about to welcome Edwards to the fold. Yet, not all things change. Check out the top of our leader board.

    SWEET SIXTEEN
    1 – Jimmie Johnson – 3 WINS (560 Pts)
    2 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 2 (555)
    3 – Carl Edwards – 2 (509)
    4 – Joey Logano – 2 (483)
    5 – Kevin Harvick – 2 (472)
    6 – Jeff Gordon – 1 (580)
    7 – Brad Keselowski – 1 (512)
    8 – Kyle Busch – 1 (465)
    9 – Denny Hamlin – 1 (453)
    10 – Kurt Busch – 1 (347)
    11 – Matt Kenseth – 515 POINTS
    12 – Ryan Newman – 473
    13 – Kyle Larson – 470
    14 – Paul Menard – 459
    15 – Clint Bowyer – 452
    16 – Greg Biffle – 444

    CONTENDERS & PRETENDERS
    17 – Kasey Kahne – 429
    18 – Tony Stewart – 427
    19 – Austin Dillon – 427
    20 – Jamie McMurray – 425
    21 – Brian Vickers – 424
    22 – Marcos Ambrose – 407
    23 – Aric Almirola – 400
    24 – A.J. Allmendinger – 391
    25 – Casey Mears – 373
    26 – Martin Truex, Jr. – 360
    27 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 320
    28 – Danica Patrick – 299
    29 – Justin Allgaier – 280
    30 – Michael Annett – 249
    31 – David Gilliland – 232
    32 – Cole Whitt – 228

     

  • NASCAR May Hold Key For Kids With Limited Mobility To ‘Go Baby Go’

    NASCAR May Hold Key For Kids With Limited Mobility To ‘Go Baby Go’

    Physical therapist and developmental scientist Cole Galloway has devoted his life’s work to helping young children with limited mobility and other physical challenges explore their world.

    And he may have just found the solution in the world of NASCAR, developing modified toy race cars to get these babies and toddlers moving in order to understand and explore their surroundings.

    “I’m really interested in baby’s behaviors and I’m really interested in getting babies with limited mobility exploring,” Galloway, the founder of the project ‘Go Baby Go’ said. “About seven years ago, we put some very small babies with mobility challenges, four or five months old, behind a mobile robot which they could drive with a joy stick.”

    “We did these studies that showed that if we give you independent mobility, even earlier than your first crawling, that those babies scored higher on language scores and they crawled, walked and explored earlier.”

    “So, what is it about independent driving that gives you this ability? What we came up with is this ‘drive to explore,’ Galloway continued. “When you’re carried around passively, it’s very different behind the wheel and experiencing motion.”

    “As a physical therapist, I have kids with mobility issues that don’t get power chairs until they are five years old so this whole group of kids is sitting around until they are five without movement,” Galloway said. “This is disastrous for baby, brain and behavior, as well disastrous for the families.”

    “The more you start to unpack that you realize that we have to do something really different. So, what do you do?” Galloway continued. “You can’t offer $15,000 robots and the power chair industry is not going to produce this for kids under five because that is very new to them.”

    “We were forced to go to Toys R Us and basically get a toy car that we then modified,” Galloway said. “We started holding workshops to teach families basically how to build their own modified race cars.”

    “You could buy a Lightning McQueen or something cool like a Mater or a Barbie car or a four by four ATV and with simple materials that you would get at Lowes or Home Depot and a couple of hints about bolts and wires and at the end of two hours, you have your own custom-made race car for a kid or a clinic full of kids.”

    While Galloway, an Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware, has help from other professors, as well as a cadre of students and volunteers, he has become a bit of a victim of his own success.

    “But now we have another big problem because we get about 50 order requests a month to please build us these cars,” Galloway continued. “The industry is still behind building a pediatric power chair. So, you have to do it yourself.”

    “Now we have this small army of parents world-wide and there is this grass-roots effort for this do-it-yourself to help their children,” Galloway said. “All of a sudden, this plastic race car emerges as a solution. Our big problem is that we cannot build enough cars quick enough or do enough workshops to help families build their own.”

    For Galloway, his dream of granting mobility has now reached a whole new level, one that he calls sustainability or, in essence, finding funding to keep up with the science he has created.

    “Every time we talk, we get further and further unsustainable,” Galloway said. “We just had a workshop in Cincinnati where kids and families showed up, kids got in the race cars, they hit the switches, they moved around and they lit up just like a NASCAR racer.”

    “It’s that acceleration that they love and it makes them problem solve in ways they never did,” Galloway continued. “And their brain wants more.”

    “Families see it immediately,” Galloway said. “They don’t see a big, nasty black power chair. Instead they see a bright pink Barbie car. It’s the real deal.”

    “That’s what these kids and families want but the problem is that we have done a good job of outreach but we cannot keep up with the demand.”

    While the car itself is similar to NASCAR, it is also the feeling behind the wheel that mirrors the sport for these mobility impaired children.

    “The key to the whole thing is that the kids get the same feeling that a race car driver gets behind the wheel,” Galloway said. “That ability to explore beyond what I know right now to what I want to know in the future.”

    “Kids can hit the switch with their heads if they can’t move their arms and it’s awesome. If the kids have to stand to get that good adrenalin rush, they will stand. If the kids have to put their feet on the ground or throw themselves around a bit, they will do that.”

    Galloway admitted that he has other projects in the lab that involve other types of real-world technology.

    “But these cars won’t go away,” Galloway said. “It’s something that has impact and is driven by the families and clinicians on a grass roots level.”

    “It really impacts all that mobility means,” Galloway continued. “This is the mountaintop of a human right because moving is a human right. When you have a kid sitting for years and years, you see what that lack of mobility can do.”

    “The lack of that thrill is almost overwhelming in how it changes the brain and the body versus when you get into a race car,” Galloway continued. “When parents see their kids in a race car, the symbol is very, very different than a wheel chair.”

    “A wheel chair is ‘give up’ and a race car is ‘get up and go.’ It’s about the power and empowering your kid,” Galloway said. “You just built that race car for your kid. It’s overwhelming. To see it each time, with a kid, I’m getting emotional just talking about it.”

    While Galloway’s work is based on so many NASCAR parallels, he admitted that he has not even had time to talk in depth with anyone in the sport.

    “I haven’t approached anyone in NASCAR in a meaningful way but we will have to do that in the next year,” Galloway said. “The car modification program is going world-wide but it is me and two project leaders and a gaggle of volunteers.”

    “There are hundreds of great ideas and so much opportunity that we have to balance with writing grants and teaching students,” Galloway continued. “But every day is another day these kids are sitting. That sometimes makes me want to give this project up because it’s tough. If we are building 10 to 15 cars, you feel like I’m not sure we will ever get there.”

    “We try to do what we can do.”

    For more information on Galloway’s project ‘Go Baby Go’ visit http://www.udel.edu/PT/About%20Us/People/galloway.html#BABY or on Facebook .

  • Ten Ways NASCAR Can Improve Tandem Racing

    Ten Ways NASCAR Can Improve Tandem Racing

    Debates started last year about the likability of two by two racing that is now occurring at both Daytona and Talladega on the NASCAR superspeedway circuit. Some tolerate it and others despise it, particularly fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who has taken to calling it “foolish racing.”

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”259″][/media-credit]So, what can NASCAR do about this kind of racing? While the sanctioning body could follow Jack Roush’s advice to “fix the front and the back of the car so if they have contact, there is an inclined angle that would drive the rear wheels off the ground to stop it,” there are indeed some other possibilities.

    Here are ten ways that NASCAR could improve the two by two racing that has become the norm at restrictor plate tracks.

    10.  Since some have dubbed the style “Noah’s Ark racing”, with the two by twoing like the animals trudging onto the ark before the flood, NASCAR should definitely have the drivers come out two by two for driver introductions.

    Most drivers acknowledge that they have already paired up prior to the event. But just in case the fans are not aware of the duos, NASCAR could really spice up the driver intros by having them come out in their pairings, one in front and one behind, to build suspense as to who is partnering with whom. Then the drivers could separate for the big ‘tandem reveal.’

    Better yet, instead of some of those cheesy driver intro stagings where drivers come out to wild music or crazy drumming, NASCAR could literally build an ark and have the tandem pairings appear together out of that.

    NASCAR may just have to keep the drumming for that style driver introduction or at least consult with Humpy Wheeler, retired track promoter extraordinaire, for some suitable side effects.

    9.  Since one of the biggest complaints regarding tandem racing is the inability of driver of the push car to see, NASCAR should encourage a new activity for the fans in the Fan Zone, that of making cardboard periscopes.

    The sponsors, such as Home Depot and General Mills, ought to be all over this one.  Home Depot could supply the building materials and General Mills, who has already done a special Wheaties cereal box promo with driver Clint Bowyer, could provide the cardboard boxes (for those old enough to remember the cardboard cereal box periscopes, this one is a no brainer).

    Fans could make the periscopes as a fun-filled race day activity and the best fan concoction could be presented to each pushing driver at driver introductions.

    Just in case NASCAR needs some advice on how to build these cardboard up periscopes, here is a helpful link: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Periscope/.

    8.  Again, since NASCAR is trying to engage new fans in the racing experience, another fan promotion could be encouraged at tandem race tracks, that of honorary pit crew stenciler.

    One of the biggest issues that has now evolved with this form of racing is that the manufacturer’s brand name is being rubbed off the front and back bumpers of the race cars.  To solve that concern, each manufacturer could have a fan contest to select fans that could very quickly, in 13 seconds or less, stencil the names back on the cars during the pit stops.

    This would not only encourage brand identity, but would also get the fans involved in a whole different aspect of the sport.  And there would be no better way than brand stenciling to get up close and personal with the race team.

    7.  Speaking of brand identity, while this may not make the racing any more exciting but to appeal to the adult fans in the crowd, NASCAR may just have to invite one of its primary sponsors, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, back to the track for a special cigarette promotion.  After all, the ‘friends with benefits’ type racing may just necessitate a bit of a short smoke break after the intense on-the-track coupling experiences.

    6.  NASCAR may also need to make a change to address the fact that there is inherently an odd number of cars on the track, with 43 starters.

    So, to increase interest, the last car qualified in should get to select a car from outside the field with whom to partner. Just think how interesting this past weekend’s race could have been if Joe Nemechek had selected say Kyle Petty or Rusty Wallace or even better yet Danica Patrick as his wing person.

    5.  In the interest of interest as well as safety, it would also behoove NASCAR to install the back up beeping devices in every race car. In this way, fans at the track and at home would hear the beep, beep, beeping and immediately know who is backing up in the field to find their tandem partners.

    Not only can fans and announcers alike track the cars going forward, but all could keep track of those purposefully dragging their brakes to find the second half of their particular dynamic duo throughout the race and especially on those fateful restarts.

    4.  Another way to involve the fans that NASCAR should consider for this style of racing is to allow a lucky fan at home to do the spotting for their particular race tandem. This would eliminate the wacky practice of having the pushee driver in the front’s spotter take over the spotting duties for the tandem.

    Heck, most of the drivers were confused anyway about who was in their ears from the perches high above on the spotters’ stand so one more weird voice should not be too disconcerting. And it would most certainly liven up the action for all stuck at home unable to attend the race for whatever reason.

    3.  Since the two car tandem style of racing has also been compared to the tango, NASCAR should insist that the dancing pairs perform at least one dip together below the yellow line at some point during the race.  Additional points toward the Chase may also be awarded for style, control, and degree of difficulty of the dance by visiting NASCAR officials of the day Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Toniolli.

    2.  One of the most intriguing ways that NASCAR could make the tandem racing more interesting is to utilize the now defunct qualifying draw to select a very special surprise.

    Just as in days of old, the driver, crew chief or team designee would need to visit the NASCAR spinning ball area outside of the famed NASCAR hauler to select their number.

    But instead of determining the qualifying order, a random number will be designated for that the one special team that will get super glue instead of Vaseline or Pam on their car on the very last pit stop of the race.

    Won’t that be an interesting twist for whoever decides to hook up with that particular car at the tail end of an upcoming Daytona or Talladega race?

    1.  The final way that NASCAR could make the tandem racing more interesting is to approach it all strictly as the square dance that it truly is. Each tandem racing pair should be instructed prior to the race to carefully monitor the NASCAR channel for their calling instructions.

    Drivers will be instructed to “Circle Left, Come Down the Middle, and Do Sa Do.” But the best part will be when NASCAR, sometime during the race but hopefully in the second green, white, checkered attempt, will call “Partner Trade” and the cars will have to scramble to find a whole new partner for the race finale.

    Oh, but that already happened this past race weekend, didn’t it?

    God bless tandem racing and God bless NASCAR.  See you next in Talladega!