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  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Daytona 500

    The kickoff race for NASCAR, the Daytona 500, is always one of the biggest and most prestigious races of the season. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 53rd running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500:

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”250″][/media-credit]Surprising:  In a race that set the record for lead changes, different leaders, and cautions, the biggest surprise to all, including himself, was Trevor Bayne, channeling his inner David Pearson in the famed Wood Brothers No. 21 car, to take the checkered flag.  Bayne is the second youngest race winner, accomplishing the feat on the second green, white, checkered, even while running low on gas.

    Bayne is the tenth different Ford driver to win the Daytona 500.  This was the youngster’s first win in only his second Cup Series start.

    Not Surprising:  Carl Edwards, exhibiting great patience, came in the second spot. Edwards, however, took solace in “how nice a guy Trevor is” as he savored his runner up status.

    “I don’t know if you guys noticed, but it was pretty wild out there today,” Edwards said. “But I was there at the end and that’s what I had to do.”

    Surprising: It was indeed surprising that there were no Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, or Richard Childress Racing representatives in the top five finishing order. The story instead was one of the underdog teams, with the Wood Brothers, Front Row Motorsports and JTG Daugherty instead in the top five.

    Not Surprising:   Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a great day, leading laps and staying competitive.  Unfortunately, as has happened to Junior all too often, he was caught up in a tussle on the final laps, pushing him back to a 24th place finish.

    Surprising:   Incredibly surprising was the amount of deal making prior to the race, as well as throughout the race itself. Crew chiefs and spotters were exchanging frequency numbers, and probably cell phone numbers, in the garage area so that they could communicate and work together during the race.  Even on the spotter’s stand, it was “like the New York Stock Exchange,” according to Darrell Waltrip, with deals aplenty being made.

    Not Surprising:  All of this deal-making seemed to wreak some degree of havoc on the track, including some tandem drivers causing each other to wreck. Some of the drivers, crew chiefs, and spotters seemed almost lax on their primary responsibilities as they focused instead on coordinating with other drivers and teams.

    The best example of this confusion was a radio exchange between Kyle Busch and defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray, who thought they would be working together until McMurray remembered that he had a deal with his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

    Surprising:  One of the biggest surprises was the expiration of Team Childress engines. Kevin Harvick was the first to lose his engine, early in the race on lap 22. At about lap 96, teammate Jeff Burton lost his engine.

    “We had just a 10 to 15 more degree oil temp that what we have been running,” Harvick said. “We never blow motors. Everybody at ECR does a great job.”

    “We are asking a lot out of the engines here for sure,” Burton said. “I am disappointed. Exceptionally disappointed. But I am really proud of everybody.”

    Not Surprising:  Daytona, infamous for the big one, had one of course.  Early in the race on lap 29, Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, got into the back of his teammate David Reutimann and the big one was on.  Fourteen cars were involved in the crash, including the three Hendrick cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Mark Martin. Other drivers involved were Joe Nemechek, Andy Lally, Brian Vickers, Marcos Ambrose, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, A J Allmendinger, and David Gilliland.

    “Our chances to win the Daytona 500 are over,” Jeff Gordon said after the wreck. “It is such a bummer. We had such a fast race car, such a great race team.”

    Surprising:  While it is the Daytona 500 and this is the first race of the season, the crowd on hand was healthy and the excitement in the air was palpable.  Hopefully the start is a harbinger for what is in store for NASCAR for the rest of the season.

    Not Surprising:  Probably the most moving moment of the race occurred on lap 3, when the track went silent, except for the roar of the engines. The crowd stood as one, holding up three fingers in memory of the Intimidator.  There is no doubt Dale Earnhardt would have like that.

  • Tony Stewart Edges Clint Bowyer for One, Two KHI Nationwide Punch at Daytona

    Tony Stewart Edges Clint Bowyer for One, Two KHI Nationwide Punch at Daytona

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]In the third closest finish in Nationwide racing history at Daytona, Tony Stewart edged out Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Clint Bowyer by .007 seconds to win the DRIVE4COPD 300.

    This is Stewart’s 10th NASCAR Nationwide victory in 91 races and his sixth victory at Daytona International Speedway.

    “Wow is the first thing,” Stewart said simply when asked about his win. “We got to the front pretty early and once we got to Clint (Bowyer), we knew we would be a pretty potent combination.”

    “We knew it was going to be between the KHI cars and the Gibbs cars,” Stewart continued. “We were sacrificing the speed to get air in the grille. You didn’t really know which strategy was best”

    “We had the caution and the flat tire,” Stewart said. “I didn’t realize we had as many cars a lap down, but that is what saved us.”

    Clint Bowyer, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Rheem Heating Cooling Chevrolet, came up just short of accomplishing the victory. Bowyer, who posted his 10th top-10 finish at Daytona, started the race from the pole.

    “A lot of work goes into these race cars for this place,” Bowyer said. “Hats off to these guys for sitting on the pole and I had a car capable of being up front and winning the race.”

    “The race was a little bit slow,” Bowyer said. “But then I found my dancing partner and we were able to make some ground and have some fun with the No. 18 and the No. 20.”

    Bowyer said that he was glad to see Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the front in his Chevrolet and the two were able to work their way toward the front. Earnhardt, Jr. finished in the fourth position.

    “What do you do?” Bowyer said, reliving the end of the race. “I tried to block and then all hell broke loose. Awesome ending and that’s the thing that’s so much fun about this place. No matter what the race is, the ending is always great.”

    Bowyer also worked with JR Motorsports driver Danica Patrick during the race, at one point pushing her to the front. Patrick finished the race in her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet in the 14th position.

    “Why not put her in the show?” Bowyer said of his push. “She did a good job today.”

    One of the best finishes was for young driver Landon Cassill, piloting the No. 1 Phoenix Construction Chevy. Cassill managed to finish in the third position right behind both of the KHI teammates.

    “It was just a crazy day,” Cassill said. “We didn’t draft at all in practice today, so it was a learn on the fly deal.”

    “Towards the end there Tony got lined up behind me on the restart and pushed me through,” Cassill continued. “I just followed directions and when we had to swap with two to go, I was just glad to push him.”

    “James Finch gave me this race as a gift pretty much for running his Cup car last year,” Cassill said.  “I wouldn’t be here without James Finch. He got me back in the sport.”

    NASCAR confirmed that Cassill is now the official points leader, by just two points over Reed Sorenson,in the Nationwide Series. Ironically, the driver shared that he does not even have a ride lined up for the next race of the season.

    “I don’t have a ride next week, so I’m just going to bask in this for the next seven days,” Cassill said of his points lead. “But if I don’t get a ride, Reed (Sorenson) will be back in the lead.”

    The potential points leader, Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 32 Dollar General Chevy, scored a top five finish. Sorenson thought this was “pretty good”, especially since he was racing against so many Cup drivers.

    “The 4 and the 1 came down and we had to check up,” Sorenson said of the last lap of his race. “That pretty much ended our run. We were coming and we were going to have a shot to at least finish second or third or fourth there.”

    “This is my first time racing and it’s pretty much what I expected,” Sorenson said of the new racing style. “I guess we’re going to have to get used to it.”

    Jason Leffler, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Michael Waltrip, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top ten for the DRIVE4COPD 300.

    Unofficial Race Results

    DRIVE4COPD 300, Daytona Int’l Speedway

    February 19, 2011 – Race 1 of 34

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 – 4 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    2 – 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    3 – 1 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 41 0 120 Running
    4 – 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    5 – 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 39 0 120 Running
    6 – 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet 38 0 120 Running
    7 – 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    8 – 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 36 0 120 Running
    9 – 99 Michael Waltrip Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    10 – 16 Trevor Bayne Ford 35 1 120 Running
    11 – 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 0 0 120 Running
    12 – 20 Joey Logano Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    13 – 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 31 0 120 Running
    14 – 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 31 1 120 Running
    15 – 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 29 0 120 Running
    16 – 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 28 0 120 Running
    17 – 52 Bobby Santos Chevrolet 27 0 120 Running
    18 – 15 Todd Bodine Toyota 0 0 120 Running
    19 – 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 25 0 120 Running
    20 – 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 24 0 118 Running
    21 – 5 David Starr Chevrolet 0 0 118 Running
    22 – 70 Shelby Howard Chevrolet 22 0 118 Running
    23 – 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge 21 0 118 Running
    24 – 141 Patrick Sheltra Ford 20 0 118 Running
    25 – 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 19 0 118 Running
    26 – 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 18 0 117 Running
    27 – 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet 17 0 116 Running
    28 – 9 Kenny Wallace Toyota 16 0 115 Running
    29 – 60 Carl Edwards Ford 0 0 107 Running
    30 – 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 0 0 105 Running
    31 – 39 Josh Wise Ford 13 0 103 Running
    32 – 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Dodge 12 0 103 In Pit
    33 – 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet 11 0 95 Running
    34 – 11 Brian Scott Toyota 10 0 70 In Pit
    35 – 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 9 0 57 Out
    36 – 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 8 0 53 In Pit
    37 – 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 8 1 51 Running
    38 – 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet 6 0 45 Running
    39 – 62 Michael Annett Toyota 5 0 26 In Pit
    40 – 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet 4 0 18 In Pit
    41 – 24 Kevin Lepage Ford 3 0 12 In Pit
    42 – 27 J.R. Fitzpatrick Ford 2 0 10 In Pit
    43 – 25 Kelly Bires Ford 1 0 5 In Pit
  • Jeff Gordon Spotter Jeff Dickerson Is Home With Hendrick Motorsports

    Jeff Gordon Spotter Jeff Dickerson Is Home With Hendrick Motorsports

    In the early part of the 2010 season, Jeff Dickerson was on the spotter’s stand for driver Kyle Busch, a former Hendrick Motorsport team member.  But a change was made midway in the season and Dickerson returned home to HMS to spot for four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”267″][/media-credit]Dickerson is most excited to be reunited with crew chief Alan Gustafson, Busch’s former crew chief while at Hendrick.  Gustafson was part of the major crew chief swap at Hendrick Motorsports, moving from the pit box of Mark Martin to Jeff Gordon.

    “Alan Gustafson is one of my true loves in that garage,” Dickerson said.  “He is responsible for my success in this sport as much as anybody.  So to be reunited with him and those guys, it’s kind of like going home.”

    “It didn’t really take much to get re-acclimated with those guys because those relationships never really ended,” Dickerson continued.  “That’s really just been a lot of fun.”

    “Alan and I approach the race the same,” Dickerson said.  “He taught me everything I know.”

    As far as working with driver Jeff Gordon, Dickerson is feeling equally at home on the spotter’s stand.

    “Everything’s been good,” Dickerson said. “I’m obviously excited as everybody to get a chance at that championship.  But we have to close some races out.”

    “Last year, we were so close to winning some races and we couldn’t close them out.  Hopefully we can get that monkey off our back.”

    Dickerson said that his transition to Gordon was made most easy by the driver himself.

    “Jeff basically said for me to do my deal and he would figure it out,” Dickerson said.  “When they came and got me Jeff was looking for something different so he has done a really good job adapting to me.  He’s really made a nice soft landing for me.”

    “Any feedback that he has for me is in real time,” Dickerson continued.  “He is very open as far as feedback from me as far as what he needs to be doing.  No one is worried about hurting anyone’s feelings.  We’re just always trying to learn.”

    As at home with Jeff Gordon that Dickerson feels, he is definitely not feeling comfortable quite yet with the style of racing that has presented itself so far at Daytona.

    “We’re all still learning about this tandem racing,” Dickerson said.  “I’m as curious as anybody how this is going to go with 43 of us out there.  The cars on the race track are also still trying to figure that out.”

    Dickerson is also trying to figure out just how to make the appropriate deals up on the spotters’ stand that will most benefit his driver and team.

    “In the past, it was let’s make a deal, but you knew you were going to get screwed,” Dickerson said.  “If it was one big pack, you could jump in and jump out and everything was great.”

    “But now when you make a deal with someone, you sit in tandem and it’s a deal,” Dickerson continued.  “Now you need somebody more than you needed them before.”

    Dickerson described the spotters’ stand at Daytona as basically a “train wreck” given this new style of racing.

    “You’re running around making deals with whoever the guy is that’s ahead or behind or who is lined up behind you,” Dickerson said.  “We’re all running into each other just trying to adapt.”

    Dickerson also predicted that the partnerships that are formed in the Daytona 500 will last throughout most of the race.  This very situation occurred in Gordon’s duel, where he worked with young Trevor Bayne throughout, only to get caught up in a wreck at the end of the race.

    “I think Trevor Bayne did a great job,” Dickerson said.  “Can you only imagine being that old and having Jeff Gordon coming to you saying ‘Hey bud, we’re going to be working together today?’  It was just unfortunate that we all got caught up there in the end but he kept his poise.”

    “It could have been David Pearson in the car,” Dickerson continued.  “He looked beyond his years.  There’s been a lot of great guys that have run that car and it looked like anyone of them was in there.  He did a great job.”

    “Jeff would have no problem working with him again.”

    Unfortunately the two working together did not last during the final laps of the race.  Both Bayne and Gordon wrecked, with Bayne finishing 19th and Gordon finishing in the 12th position.

    “We were very fortunate to get through that with what we got,” Dickerson said.  “We’re really lucky because we could have been in the same position that the 88 is having to start at the back.  And that’s not what you want to do when you’re guaranteed a starting spot from the front row in this deal.”

    When Sunday rolls around and the Daytona 500 gets underway, Dickerson said that what he will be most surprised about is if the cars can really run like they did in the duel races for 500 miles.

    “I will be surprised if these guys can do this for 500 miles,” Dickerson said. “I am also curious to see how we are going to do that with 43 guys out there.”

    “It’s going to be as intense and crazy as you’ve ever seen.”

    Dickerson will get the opportunity to see just how intense the racing will be when he takes the spotter’s stand for America’s Super Bowl of racing.

    Until then, he will continue to savor his homecoming with the No. 24 team and his Hendrick Motorsports family.

  • Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    Jeff Burton Claims Second Duel Victory; Brian Keselowski Makes the Show

    The second Gatorade Duel race was all about teamwork and brotherly love.  Clint Bowyer pushed his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton to the checkered flag and victory, while Brad Keselowski pushed his brother Brian into a place in the Daytona 500.

    [media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]”It’s a shame two cars can’t fit in here,” Burton said in Victory Lane.  “Clint and I decided that we would find each other early and it worked out well.  For us, this is a good start and being in Victory Lane means a great deal.”

    “I learned a lot of things,” Bowyer said for his part, acknowledging the pusher role.  “I don’t know if there will be another rule change.  It was fun out there.”

    While Bowyer and Burton were high fiving one another after taking the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski was leaning in to congratulate his brother Brian, newly announced Rookie of the Year candidate, who made the biggest race of his life.

    “I owe my brother in a thousand ways,” Brian Keselowski said.  “We wouldn’t have made it here without him.”

    Keselowski, racing an old Ray Evernham car built in 2006, seemed almost in shock that he had raced his way in to the Daytona 500.  “I owe everything to eveybody right now,” Keselowski said.

    “I didn’t get to start driving until I was 18 years old,” Keselowski said.  “But I had to do it all on my own.  If I didn’t put it together, I wouldn’t be racing right now.”

    Michael Waltrip, former Daytona 500 winner, also made it in on time, thanks to his third place finish.  While he felt “blessed to be here,” Waltrip also admitted that he was really “tired”, particularly mentally after that challenging race.

    “You wouldn’t believe how relieving it is to get in no matter how you get in,” Waltrip said.

    Thanks to Waltrip’s finish, Travis Kvapil secured his place in the race on his time.  This was his first time to really experience the two car tango in race conditions.

    “Well it feels great,” Kvapil said about racing his way into the show.  “Last year, we missed this race and we have worked really hard over the wintertime.  It paid off for us and it’s great for our team.”

    The second duel race had a record 22 lead changes and also had a few more cautions than the first race.  One of the first drivers to get involved in a wreck was Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota.

    “Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield,” Logano said.  “Today I was the windshield. Wrong place, wrong time.”

    Denny Hamlin also had a less than stellar day.  The driver of the No. 11 Toyota  for Joe Gibbs Racing had a tire go down and then was involved in a single car spin.

    “I have to have a sense of humor I’ve learned this weekend,” Hamlin said.  “What’s so crazy is the fact that we were spun out and three laps later we go from deal last to second or something like that.”

    “This has been an amazing ride and hopefully our weekend is steadily improving,” Hamlin continued.  “We finally did finish.  It’s going to be interesting to see what happens from this day forward.”

    One of the most heartbreaking wrecks occurred late in the race, when Trevor Bayne, who had been stellar all race long, tussled with Jeff Gordon, causing a multi-car accident.  David Ragan was also a significant victim in this wreck as well.

    “I really  had a blast working with Trevor Bayne,” Gordon said.  “He’s a good kid.  He’s a heck of a race car driver.”

    For his part, Bayne was thrilled to have been working with his boyhood hero, Jeff Gordon.

    “Gordon and I worked awesome together and it was just down there at the end,” Bayne said.  “I hate it for all these guys because we were doing awesome, but that’s part of it.  That’s racing.  We’ll get there.”

    In addition to the two car tandem of Jeff Burton, winner, and runner up Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, Kyle Busch and Brian Keselowski rounded out the top five finishers.  Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards completed the top ten in the second Gatorade duel.

  • NASCAR’s Digital Fan Clubs Who is best? Who is biggest? Who has the best value?

    NASCAR’s Digital Fan Clubs Who is best? Who is biggest? Who has the best value?

    In this digital age NASCAR and its drivers have begun to reach out to their fan bases via the internet. Fan based websites have gotten bigger and better every year with fan clubs going completely electronic in place of the old school paper newsletter that came through the mail.

    This is the time of year that hosts the launch of most of the new fan clubs and their websites. Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Dale Jr, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and others all either have or will soon launch their new fan clubs and in some case’s their websites. So the Fourth Turn ventured out to see what was out there. The results might surprise you.

    The biggest site is not the best site. The best is not whose you might think. The most well known is light years behind and disappointing. And by the replies from the organizations combined with their sites the drivers who are most committed to their fans would perhaps surprise you. But the biggest surprise is who has the biggest and most loyal following behind them.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”180″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson’s fan club takes a very fresh approach towards his fan club. Their club is free and powered by Lowes. They offer perspectives from Chad Knaus and Earl Barban, in car audio, as well updates from Jimmie. A quick registration process has you ready to be in the middle of the quest for the 6-Pack.

    Their store is powered by Sports Today and offers a variety of merchandise and team 48 encrested items. Although they do offer a live race day chat and live in car audio, I was not able to find a message board or an actual chat room. The site is however, packed with information and fun things for fans of all ages. It is definitely the championship contender of the free sites. Lowes has left no corner unturned to bring the 48 fans in close to their team. Their approach is very reminiscent of Football’s extra man. By educating and illustrating they eliminate the unproductive fuss seen in many places.

    Kyle Busch does not offer a fan club dedicated website. His communications director Ryan Kingsbury stated, “I really see no value in an exclusive website for fan club members, we have a very powerful online presence for all our fans via our websites and social media assets. (KyleBusch.com, Twitter.com/KyleBusch, Facebook.com/KyleBusch) We offer an exclusive e-newsletter to the Fan Club members that we give them special offers, giveaways, first details on appearances, etc…In fact we will be giving away tickets to Daytona to a couple lucky Fan Club members in the coming weeks. Aside for the items they receive in the kit, Fan Club members receive a 10% discount on all purchases at our online store (RowdyBusch.com). We will also have an autograph session at KBM in May, Fan Club members will be able to RSVP and be assured an autograph, as well as an invitation to an exclusive Fan Club meeting in October at KBM. (Which will be well worth the price of the membership) Our Fan Club numbers are up 80% over last year already, for a once a year price of $35 it’s a great value.”

    Kevin Harvick’s club offers a great exclusive membership package that features lots of sponsorship involvement in the form of coupons that are included in the package sent to members. According to Fan Club President Tyler Patterson, the kit includes, a t-shirt, membership card, merchandise discount card, Kevin Harvick autograph card, decal, keychain, ink pen and mouse pad that is also a calendar complete with race dates.

    Patterson added, ”Each fall, we host an open house where fan club members can come and have the opportunity to meet Kevin and get a photo/autograph and tour the race shop. This year we have decided to take our fan club event on the road and will host gatherings at Martinsville in April and Phoenix in November.”

    Fan Central is an extension of KevinHarvick.com and is a basic social network site that allows fans to interact with one another. Kevin “really only uses his Twitter to interact with the fans now,” According to Patterson.

     You can also follow Kevin and Delana on Twitter. Their adventures with Mother Function and Lo are definitely not only entertaining but Delana offers Question and Answer on Race Day most weekends.

    Ryan Newman will also be launching a new fan club based web site that will celebrate their 10th year of operation. They will be doing so with an entirely new concept for fan clubs. Their new site will be a micro social network. The social network style will be the first of its kind in regards to NASCAR based fan clubs.

    By utilizing all of the best things about Facebook along with the NASCAR/Ryan Newman theme and connection, they hope to improve their fan experience several fold. It will work very similar to Facebook, with profiles, post interactions like Facebook and like buttons that will be race points. The race points will be used in a leader board style to allow recognition to the fan club members that post the most participated in conversations and the most well liked pictures and videos.

    Ryan Newman himself will also have a profile allowing him to participate as a part of the fan club. As a part of the group he can interact with the group as a member of the fan club family rather than as an outside object of conversation. The new site will allow Ryan  more transparency and proximity to his fan base.

    The site boasts bright colors and ease of use as well as its revolutionary concept. The site offers a live chat capability for its members based on events such as the Daytona 500 or news events that are taking place within the network itself. The site will be very much picture driven and allows I-Phone and I-Pad access.

    The site, scheduled to launch before the Daytona 500, will seamlessly integrate the old site and its members into the new one. New members will have instant access once the new site has launched.

    Four time Champion Jeff Gordon’s fan site has multiple levels. He has a pay site that features chats with Jeff and his wife. Contests and features like message boards and 24 hour chat. But he also offers a basic package that does not require a financial investment but offers family photos messages from Jeff and video’s of “Network” meetings.

    His general site gives a glimpse into the world of Jeff Gordon, with information about everything from his racing and foundation to his winery and their offerings. Gordon also has launched a Hologram program to protect all of his fans from fake autographs and he allows you to enter the number from your hologram to see if yours is real.

    Jeff’s commitment to his fans appears to be all year long as there were holiday messages found in archives from the last several years. Though Gordon’s blog appears to be more video in nature he keeps touch with scheduled regularity and offers a very close up view of his thoughts, his life, and his career.

    The shining star of the new stars that we checked out is just getting started. His name is familiar but his face will surprise you. Bobby Dale Earnhardt’s fan commitment is second to none. His website is just forming but his internet presence is growing on a daily basis. Between Twitter and Facebook, Team Earnhardt is turning heads. Bobby isn’t just the object of this effort. Bobby is a part of this effort.

    Bobby is Dale Earnhardt’s oldest grand child. He is the oldest son of Kerry Earnhardt. He is choosing to make his own way in the racing world without relying on his family or his family name although obviously he can not change that.  He is determined to make his way the old fashioned way, the way his Grandfather did, on his own. It may seem a lonely way to get there but Bobby is gathering a great many fans to walk the road with him and maybe have a good time with it too.

    Although nearly every driver’s fan club was contacted, only a handful responded. These are the most dynamic and the best of the offerings sampled. It is interesting to note, that in a time when NASCAR is suffering from a lack of people in the seats and on the couch, the common course in regards to its fan clubs is distant anonymity. The drivers who seem to be making the efforts to remain accountable to the fans and to stay close to their fan base are the drivers we see time after time rise to the top of the popularity charts and on the race track as well.

    It is amazing that people have missed one of the greatest stories of the off season, that of the fans of Richard Petty. The king has been off the track for quite some time as a driver but his dedication and loyalty to his fans has never changed. That dedication and loyalty was returned when the King of stock car racing entered a different kind of race one to regain control of his name, it was his faithful following that provided the muscle to make that happen. Is there a lesson to be learned in that, most definitely. Will it be embraced? Only time will tell. But it is interesting to note that the largest fan base in all of NASCAR belongs to a man who hasn’t turned the wheel of a stock car since 1992.

  • Rules, Regulations and the Speedway Mailbag. Welcome to the 2011 Racing Season

    Rules, Regulations and the Speedway Mailbag. Welcome to the 2011 Racing Season

    [media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”301″][/media-credit]Welcome to another edition of Speedway Media mailbag.

    Since our last meeting, Sprint Cup drivers have spent several days testing on the new Daytona International Speedway asphalt and interacting with media from around the world at the Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.

    Congratulations to Chip Ganassi and his continued dominance at the Rolex 24.

    Rumors from the Media Tour stated that invited guest at the wedding of Kyle Busch were made to sign a release. This release guaranteed none of the guest would take any unauthorized pictures, send tweets, or publish any inside information from the nuptials.
    This high level of secrecy is more than likely because of a planned future show about the race car driver’s marriage to Samantha Sarcinella.
    Busch has posted some pictures on his web site.

    So, since I have been traveling for the past two weeks, our ratty ole Tupperware bowl is bursting at the seams with letters, so let’s get cracking.

    Brian from Bakersfield writes:
    Dear Speedway Media; Do you think NASCAR racing is fixed?
    Wow Brian, what a question to start off our new year of racing.
    Many sporting events through out the ages have been fixed. The most famous was the 1919 World Series.
    While there have been several races where drivers, and fans, feel there have been some strange decisions by NASCAR that unfairly gave an advantage to select drivers, NASCAR has absolutely nothing to gain by fixing a race.
    Given there are 43 drivers, pit stops, crashes and a multitude of changes during the race, the logistics alone make it impossible to fix a race.
    On the other hand though, I have it on good authority there are other types of competitions that might be fixed.
    Take the Miss Universe pageant for instance. Every Miss Universe winner, including the very first one in 1952, has been from the planet Earth.

    Wally from Walla Walla writes:
    Dear Speedway Media; Can you clarify NASCAR’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” rule?
    Thanks for the great question Wally. After spending hours reading the NASCAR rule book, I cannot locate anything that refers to “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” unless of course you’re referring to the rule book its self.

    Cindy from Cincinnati writes:
    Dear Speedway Media; Have you heard any rumors about new additions to the NASCAR families?
    Well Cindy we have heard some good news from Roush-Fenway Racing. During the Sprint Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jack Roush announced that three of his four drivers at RFR, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, are all expecting family additions in 2011. As luck would have it, all three drivers will welcome their new baby’s right around the same time.

    During the recent test session at Daytona International Speedway, David Ragan, the fourth driver in the RFR stable, was seen with an unusual “O+” on his driver’s suit.
    There is speculation that Ragan is joining a growing number of race car drivers who advertise their blood types on their driver suits. In Ragan’s case it could also be a representation of the number of Sprint Cup wins he has and that he’s remaining positive.

    That’s all for this weeks edition of Speedway Mailbag. On a personal note, I want to extend congratulations to Urban Meyer on his new gig at ESPN.

    Feel free to send your questions, comments and suggestions to mailbag@speedwaymedia.com.

    Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of management.

  • Kyle Busch Becomes Poster Boy For ‘Have At It Boys’ With Display of Emotion

    Kyle Busch Becomes Poster Boy For ‘Have At It Boys’ With Display of Emotion

    When Robin Pemberton uttered those four words last year in January, a lot of people were curious as to how the drivers would react. Most thought it would equal some emotions being shown, but at the end of the year, it went beyond just a little bit of emotion.

    [media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]It was easily seen that Kyle Busch would be the poster boy for it, via some of his antics in the past. These antics have some fans not liking Busch for who he is.

    A simple poll of the fans easily shows that one of the drivers that seems to be on everybody’s list is Kyle Busch. In asking a group of fans as to why, you quickly get the sense it has to do with attitude and actions like the above.

    “He just gives off this vibe that he is better then everybody else and it’s all about him,” Evan Towle said. “Sort of like a young Tony Stewart used to be. Tony used to get on my nerves when he first started in NASCAR, but now he has matured and I like him.”

    “I tend to agree with a lot of the way Kyle Busch acts,” Kyle Sedan said. “Sometimes it’s rather annoying.”

    “Arrogant attitude, expects respect on the track but doesn’t give it back, whines about others when he is doing the same thing, fake,” one fan commented.

    “His attitude,” Cathy Gamble Costigan simply puts it.

    If you take his attitude out of the equation, then a lot of people seem to have respect for him.

    “I am, personally, a Tony Stewart fan, but for Kyle, love him or hate him, he is a damn good driver,” Mike Hearty said. “Race wins don’t lie.”

    “I do really like his support/involvement and commitment to short-track racing.” Sedan added.

    A lot of people have been debating that he needs to change, which has come with mixed reactions.

    Towle says, “We don’t need him, as the sport is doing fine without his babyish acts.”

    In some ways, there are certain things that Busch has to become better at, such as some of the things that we saw this past weekend.

    However overall, the sport needs somebody like Busch. His actions do spruce things up and add something different to the sport, and are needed to invoke discussion and rivalry. If everybody was the same cut, wouldn’t it get boring after a while?

    As Mike Hearty and Kyle Sedan both say, it adds to the sport.

    “I personally love Kyle’s attitude myself,” Hearty said. “NASCAR is entertainment and Kyle entertains in any way he can. Each sport needs a standout person the fans can have a choice to love or hate and he is the one. I do believe, though, when he matures more, his attitude will die down. I think he is young, a star and living in the moment right now.”

    “People either ‘love him’ or ‘love to hate him’,” Sedan says. “So he most definitely adds to the sport, and it is good for it.”

    This year was no exception as he added his own version of “Have at it Boys” to each of the divisions.

    Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race with Denny Hamlin

    After teammate Denny Hamlin took the air off the back of Busch’s car during the Sprint All-Star Race, Busch wasn’t too pleased at all as he called Hamlin out on it.

    “Somebody better keep me from Denny Hamlin after this race!” Busch yelled on the radio. “I had this race won. It was won.”

    Busch then drove the car to the garage area, parking directly in front of Hamlin’s hauler. He went inside and waited till Hamlin got there, where they had a discussion with car owner Joe Gibbs in the middle.

    “Kyle had a run to the outside and with me moving up and getting real tight, it then took some air away from the front of his car and he slid up into the wall. It’s tough for me,” Hamlin told Speed. “We talked about it and basically Kyle was just frustrated; he felt like he had a really good car. Me, I just came from the back with no practice and got back to the front where we needed to be and I felt like if I gave up the lead right there then I was going to give up the win.

    “I don’t think Kyle would do anything different if he was in my situation. It’s just when you’re the leader, my feeling is that you’ve got the whole race track. If a guy is to the outside. then that’s when you need to hold your line.”

    Nationwide Series Food City 250 Bristol Race with Brad Keselowski

    As the Nationwide race was getting closer to ending, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were battling hard for the lead. After contact from Keselowski caused Busch to hit the wall, Busch drove back up to Keselowski’s bumper, spinning him.

    “I raced him, raced him, raced him, I don’t know, 12-15 laps? I thought I had him cleared up the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an [Dale] Earnhardt crossover, he decided to just run into the back of me and put me in the fence,” Busch said.

    “That’s Brad Keselowski. So I went down into the next corner and I dumped him. He does it to everybody else, why can’t I do it to him?”

    Busch won the race while Keselowski ended up 14th.

    “He did a good job, almost cleared me and took it for granted that I would lift to let him in line and I didn’t,” Keselowski said. “That’s his right. We’re going to go to work on beating him next week, and the week after and every other week.”

    In his victory celebration, he changed it up by mocking somebody crying like a baby instead of his bow to go along with the reaction of the fans.

    Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky and Championship Battle with Todd Bodine

    Early in the race, it was set in stone that it would come down to a battle between Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch. On lap 82 while battling for the lead, Busch took the air off of Bodine’s truck causing him to spin. Though this ended up helping Bodine as with the unscheduled pit stop and resulting strategy, he came out as the winner while Busch finished seventh.

    “Our misfortune turned out to be a fortune,” Bodine said in victory lane. “I’d like to thank Kyle Busch for driving dirty, sucking me down and getting me spun out. That (stop) gave me enough gas. He doesn’t cut anybody a break. He drives that way in every division in every race.”

    Upon hearing the comments, Busch interrupted Bodine’s victory celebration to display his displeasure.

    “He (Busch) doesn’t have to drive like that to win; but he does,” Bodine said. “NASCAR won’t do anything about it. He was mad because I called him out on it.”

    This confrontation at Kentucky promoted a long, hard battle for the Owner’s Championship between Germain Racing (Todd Bodine’s team) and Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    Martinsville was no exception to their battle as they fought hard side-by-side, and at one point, Bodine was accused of trying to fool Busch on a restart.

    “If they think I was trying to do a slow restart to fool Kyle Busch, they are wrong,” Bodine said on the radio at that time. “I just didn’t get a good restart. Message delivered—I’ll work on it.”

    In the end, it was KBM coming out on top.

    The Complete Texas Weekend

    On Friday, Kyle Busch won the Camping World Truck Series race to take over the owner’s points championship standings for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

    On Saturday, Busch finished second to Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series race, though was unhappy about it as he thought Edwards jumped the start.

    “Does it f—- matter?” Busch said afterwards. “Race is over, guy’s in Victory Lane.”

    On Sunday, Busch stirred up controversy again, following repairs that he had to make on pit road after a wreck.

    Under caution, Busch sped off pit road to try to beat the pace car and stay on the lead lap. He caught up, but NASCAR penalized him one lap for speeding.

    Busch then went on a rant on the radio against NASCAR and showed the officials the middle finger on pit road, which incurred a penalty of two laps for driver misconduct.

    “I’m the only one who will stand up to ’em, and they’re gonna show me how far I can stand up,” Busch said on the radio after the penalty. He then added that it was freedom of speech, going against the constitutional rights of everybody.

    NASCAR penalized Busch $25,000 and putting him on probation until December 31st for “actions dentimental to the sport of stock car racing”.

    Busch released the following statement following the announcement…

    “I accept NASCAR’s penalty and realize what I did during Sunday’s race at Texas was inappropriate.

    “Even in my relatively short time here in NASCAR, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. Sometimes that passion has allowed me to find that little something extra I needed to win, and other times it’s made me cross the line. Sunday at Texas was one of those days.

     “I lost my cool, plain and simple. It’s not acceptable, and I know that. I apologize to NASCAR, its fans, all the partners who support Joe Gibbs Racing, and all the people who work so hard to give me a race car that’s capable of winning races every week. All of those people deserve better from me, and I owe it to them to keep my emotions in check.”

     

    Busch had other key incidents this year, including an argument with Jeff Burton. Though with them all, he just kept being himself and holding his part in the “Have at it Boys” policy.

    During the next couple of weeks, I will reflect upon these incidents as we look back at what all broke loose in 2010.

  • Joe Gibbs Racing 2011 Nationwide Series Lineup Raises Questions

    Joe Gibbs Racing 2011 Nationwide Series Lineup Raises Questions

    Joe Gibbs Racing made the announcement last month that they’d have three teams next year in the Nationwide Series.

    The first team will include Brian Scott running the No. 11 car full-time with crew chief Kevin Kidd.

    The second will include Adam Stevens, previously an engineer on the Cup side, as crew chief on the No. 20 with Joey Logano running the majority of the races. Denny Hamlin is also expected to run some of the races.

    The last team will include Jason Ratcliff with Kyle Busch driving the majority of the races as they try to defend their Owner’s Championship title.

    This all looks good on the surface, though it begs questions. Joe Gibbs Racing has drivers in development, including Brad Coleman and Matt DiBenedetto, so why not give them the chance behind the wheel full-time? Both have proved that they are talented and are worthy of being champions if given the equipment.

    Why let drivers like Busch, Logano and Hamlin compete in a series and win just to look good? All the fans know they are just winning due to competing against smaller teams and less talented drivers?

    By allowing DiBenedetto and Coleman full-time shots, you are allowing the talent pool to expand, which is why the Nationwide Series was built. It was built to give drivers a shot and get them ready for the Sprint Cup Series. Numerous drivers have come through that ladder and it has worked successfully. Why delete that system now and have drivers behind the wheel who have succeeded the ladder?

    It’s simple—Gibbs wants the publicity and knows the sponsors will pay the big bucks if he goes down this road.

    This is something you see with numerous of teams as you saw Penske Racing (Brad Keselowski) and Roush Racing (Carl Edwards) do it last year, just for a start. Though at least they stepped it up and put drivers full-time behind the wheel to give them a chance (Justin Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), but they still add to the problem.

    Till somebody, like NASCAR, stands up and puts an end to this, you are going to see the problem grow and the series lose fans. NASCAR has spoken about getting back to their roots and it’s about time they start doing it by starting with the Nationwide Series.

  • Top Nationwide Series Performances In 2010

    Top Nationwide Series Performances In 2010

    There was plenty of action this year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. We really haven’t been focusing on what the Nationwide drivers have accomplished this past season and more on the Cup and that is about to change. We are going to give out some awards right now for those very special drivers. And yes, it is my Christmas vacation and that is why I have been on some sort of a ‘hiatus’. Now, let’s get to the awards!

    CIA Stock Photo

    Driver Of The Year

    Kyle Busch — Look, I know Brad Keselowski won the 2010 championship, but look at what Kyle accomplished. He didn’t run the full season and yet found another way to have another record-breaking season. Busch broke the win record, winning 13 of the 29 races he competed it in 2010, so that gives him a winning percentage of 45% for the season! His incredible driving led Joe Gibbs Racing to its third owners championship in a row. Originally, both Sam Ard and Kyle Busch shared the win record with 10, but he shattered it this year. Coming into 2011, Busch will be five wins short of Mark Martin’s all-time record of 48 and expect Kyle to break that really quickly.

    Comeback Driver Of The Year

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — I’m going to have to give this one to Stenhouse. Stenhouse started off the year wrecking in just about every race he competed in. Some people went as far to say that he is the Marcos Ambrose or the Sam Hornish Jr. of the Nationwide Series. He didn’t let that talk get to him and Stenhouse came back to score eight Top 10 finishes and added three Top 5’s to finish 16th in the final standings. Expect Stenhouse to improve in 2011.

    Owner Of The Year

    Joe Gibbs– Need I say more? Third straight consecutive owners championship. Gibbs owns the Nationwide Series.

    Breakthrough Performer Of The Year (Sorry Not Danica Patrick)

    Trevor Bayne — Bayne had eight Top 10’s in the final eighteen races and even made his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut at Texas and finished 17th! That is pretty good considering that he was driving for the Wood Brothers.

  • Rick Hendrick: The Artwork of a NASCAR Champion and Someone To Always Respect

    Rick Hendrick: The Artwork of a NASCAR Champion and Someone To Always Respect

    When it was announced last year at the Sprint Cup Series banquet that Rick Hendrick would be receiving Bill France Award of Excellence, nobody was surprised.

    [media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]Everybody understood why Hendrick was receiving the award, as his actions through his 26 years in the sport speak for themselves. Hendrick has proven himself on-track as he’s made Hendrick Motorsports the best team in NASCAR.

    Though beyond that, he’s been through a lot of personal battles and stayed strong as he fought a battle with leukemia in 1997, and fought through the death of 10 of his closest friends in 2009.

    The success for Hendrick through the 26 seasons has been great, considering where it started and how it could’ve not even taken place. Hendrick and driver Geoff Bodine went into the Martinsville race in 1984 with one thing on their mind—run well or else they’d be done soon.

    “It was a pivotal race for us,” Hendrick later told The Sporting News in a 2004 interview. “I know exactly what some of these guys feel like who have an unsponsored car—we did not have a sponsor. We had a small associate on the car, All-Star Racing and City Chevrolet, my store in Charlotte. We were running the deal out of our pocket and needed some success to sell a sponsor.”

    Bodine would do more then just run well and lock in some sponsorship—he’d win the whole show as he took the lead with 48 laps to go and never looked back.

    “The race just unfolded,” Bodine said. “We were running good. I knew you had to pace yourself at this track; brakes were really important. I was doing that throughout the race. At the end, it was just perfect. The neat thing about the race was it was Rick’s first win, my first win; but no one fell out of this race. None of the good cars were out.”

    Hendrick wasn’t there for the race as at the time, he was in church with his wife. After the race was over, he called his mother and asked him how they had done. His mother told him, “Bodine blew up…no seriously! Nobody has told you! He won!”

    That year, Hendrick and Bodine finished the year with a total of three wins, seven top-fives, 14 top-10s and three pole positions.

    Since then, the success has only grown for Hendrick as his drivers have won 194 Cup races and 10 Cup titles.

    In the process, he’s also set records. In 2010, driver Jimmie Johnson became the only driver ever in NASCAR history to win five championships in a row (2006-2010) and Hendrick now ranks at the top of the all-time winners list.

    Last year, Hendrick also became the only driver to have his cars finish one-two-three with Johnson first, Mark Martin second and Gordon third. The size of the organization has also grown along the way as he went from a small shop of approximately 20 people to now employing more than 500 people.

    Though when it came to Betty Jane France’s speech to announcing the award to Hendrick, it was not the stats she brought up; it was the other elements of Hendrick.

    “NASCAR has had many iconic figures throughout its rich history, and Rick Hendrick certainly falls into that category,” France said. “Through the years, he has not only won our respect but our hearts as well.” These words from France were preceded also by praise from two of his drivers during their speeches at the banquet.

    “You taught me to live big and small—live big in your passion for what you do, what you believe in and in your successes, but be humble and appreciative and give thanks for all those things,” Jeff Gordon said during his speech.

    Martin said in his speech he sees “a little bit of Rick Hendrick in each and every one of” the employees of the team and went on to add, “You just win everything there is in NASCAR. You made history, win all these championships. You’re a big winner. Congratulations and thanks for letting me be a part of it. But that’s not the most impressive part of it. To me, you’re a true champion as a person, such an incredible individual that affects so many people in a positive way. I’d like to be more like you.”

    These elements that both Gordon and Martin speak about go towards the way that he treats the people around him.

    During discussions about the sport, you hear people getting talked about in a negative way somehow. Though in the midst of those discussions, nobody has anything negative to say towards Hendrick, as most people respect him and always regard him as a positive person. This is because he always treats people—no matter who they are or what their background is—positively and with respect. Hendrick is a person that you never see talk bad about people, even when others may.

    One example would be Kyle Busch, 

     a driver whom Hendrick released in 2007. Everybody speaks of Busch in a negative light, due to how he’s reacted on track with his attitude. Everybody thought Hendrick let him go and did it due to that attitude and didn’t want to deal with him.

    Though according to Busch’s manager Jeff Dickerson, it was Hendrick who gave Busch and Dickerson the best advice in choosing a new team for Busch to go with. Dickerson recalled going to Hendrick numerous times to ask him questions and Hendrick would always be open to answering them. Dickerson credited Hendrick for being one of the main players in the changing of the teams. Busch also went on to add that nobody was to sit and blame Hendrick for letting Busch go, as that was partly the fault of Busch.

    The reason Hendrick had let him go and hired Earnhardt Jr. was because Busch was hinting that he was looking around, when actually he was liking the scenario at Hendrick Motorsports.

    So why does Hendrick have the theory to go out and be nice to everybody, even if they’re on an opposing team? Simple—it’s all about the people for him. When speaking of the success of his organization, he always feels the need to bring up the people first.

    “I think our people are the biggest asset,” he says. “If you can keep it together and tweak it, it’s much better off than tearing it down and rebuilding it every year. It slows you down.

    “I’ve seen this happen in my career here. You can have all stars together; there’s no guarantee they’ll work. I mean, you can guess the best so called crew chief and best driver in the garage area and put them together, and that’s not necessarily going to work. You know, what I’ve tried to do is promote tweaking it rather than rebuilding it. I’m a fix it kind of guy rather than a strip-it-and-rebuild-it kind of guy.”

    This attitude is what drives the employees to work so hard and why you’ll see Hendrick employees putting that extra effort in, according to Johnson, Alan Gustafson and General Manager Marshall Carlson.

    “It starts with Rick and his vision and what he has given us all to work with in his 25 years in the sport,” Johnson says. “He’s just done an amazing job. I’m happy to make him happy, I’m happy to make him smile.”

    “The way that he goes about keeping us going, he’s got one requisite, and that is that we race together, and that’s absolutely imperative,” Carlson adds. “Beyond that, he gives everyone a lot of flexibility and a lot of autonomy, a lot of—as far as the X’s and O’s, these guys figure that out, and these guys bring their game to the track.

    “And I think that competitive people who want to win are attracted to that. I think that’s why Jimmie was attracted to the organization and Chad and why they continue to want to be there. …There’s 500 teammates back at Hendrick Motorsports who have built that place, and every single one of us owes an incredible debt of gratitude to Rick for his leadership, for his commitment and dedication for giving us the resources to have these opportunities.”

    “I don’t think there’s any person that I’ve ever met who was more compassionate and who treats fellow human beings better than Rick Hendrick,” Gustafson says. “And I think that’s the key for me personally, and that’s all I can speak on.

    “…There’s not any magic. The fact is he’s willing to do more for people, for his people, than basically anybody else is. And he’s willing to put himself second time and time and time again for his company and for his people, and we all sincerely appreciate that, and we want to return the favor to him because he treats us so well.

    “I think he genuinely enjoys bringing good things and happiness to people’s lives, and he does a great job of it. So he’s just a super special person. The world would be a worse place without Rick Hendrick in it. He’s just a great guy and somebody you will do anything for because he will treat you the same way.”

    So when it came towards choosing someone whom to look up to, I did not have to look far past Rick Hendrick in including him on the list.

    Rick, you showed so many qualities that showcase a top quality of person. Your dedication and the success of your team have shown me that hard work pays off and even though it may get hard at times, I need to keep at it. The qualities you showcased well in getting through the hard times have showed you’re a fighter and that giving up is not an option. Though the heart you have is what brings you to the front of my mind. The friendship you have shown and how much you care about others is what makes you stand above others when looking for someone to look up to.