Iron Man to Miss His First Race

Ricky Rudd driver of the #88 Ford Fusion Snickers car was injured in a wicked wreck at Sundays race in California. Apparently he seperated his shoulder and will miss his first race because of an injury after making his 900th start.

I have seen the replay of the wreck and he smacked the safer barrier on the drivers door with a solid hit so that had to really hurt and apparently it did.

What I find interesting about the whole story is not that he will miss his first race because of an injury is who will be his replacement driver, Kenny Wallace.

What I find interesting is that Kenny seems to be a great substitute driver but he can not seem to pin down a full time ride. He was suppose to be full time in the #78 Furniture Row Chevy but stepped down a few weeks ago as the driver. No real word on if it was voluntarily or he was “asked” to step down.

When drivers are injured and can’t race or suspended who do they call? They call Kenny “Hermenator” Wallace.

More Dominos falling

It is reported that JJ Yeley will drive the #96 Hall of Fame DLP Chevy (Toyota) next year replacing Tony Raines.

At least it will be easier for JJ to get in and out of the car, have you seen Tony Raines in the DLP commercials? He is a big ol’ boy.

In or Out That is the Question

Is he in or is he out? That is the question.

Nascar’s favorite son is on the verge of not making The Chase. Actually lets just face the facts. He is not going to make.

Dale Jr’s only real hope is that Kevin Harvick blows up or gets a DNF and Jr wins the race next week at Richmond. Or for that matter that Kurt Busch blows up or gets a DNF. Not saying it is impossible for Jr to make The Chase just that the odds are against him. Mathematically it is possible is words you will hear a lot going into Richmond. Reality is a tougher nut to crack then math.

I will say this, Nascar will be making changes to The Chase format next year to help ensure that Nascar’s favorite son will get in and also to ensure that the other top drivers also got in. After all it was Tony Stewart finishing 11th last year that caused them to make the change to top 12 drivers.

If they really wanted to make it interesting they should have all drivers that win 1 or more races in the first 26 races in The Chase and then reset all their points to zero and let them all start from scratch. That way there is not a unfair advantage for the twelve place guy.

Random thoughts for California.

So did anyone stay up for the entire race?

Was it just me or did it look like the safety crew was playing rock paper scissors while Mickey was toasting in his car?

Andy Petree called it, “I would be worried if I had a tire rub that bad” just before Michael Waltrip went up in a ball of fire. Bet Mickey was wishing he had his roof flap on that car.

I really don’t understand how you can have a race track as big as California yet drivers still manage to run into each other. Of course if you are Robby Gordon you just blame it on your spotter. Hey Robby there is a car, never mind you found him.

Fun in the Sun

Tommorrow is some company sponsored “fun in the sun”. Actually it will be in an air conditioned building.

We are going to Andretti karting . I know some people that have been there so it should be pretty fun. Of course it is company time so we have to be there and we will be doing some “team building” stuff. Funny because we really don’t work as teams here but I think it is more of a “bonding” thing as a group and suppose to be fun.

I got some feed back from Stephen who went there today. Yes we work together. He said it was a good time so I am actually looking forward to it. Of course any time away from the work here is a good time. And when the company pays for you to have fun it is even better.

Only draw back is I have to leave my house around 6AM just to get there by 8 because of the traffic. He said they got done around noonish and then had the rest of the day as free time to either stay there and play games or leave so it hopefully will be a short day in that respect.

Later Dudes

Movers and Losers

2 races to go before The Chase can Jr make it?

That is pretty much all you are going to be hearing and reading about for the next 2 weeks. That and the difference the 100 point penalty he got.

Jr currently sits 158 points outside of 12th. If not for the 100 point penalty for having the wrong spoiler/wing brackets he would be 58 points out. I am not going to dwell on it to much, Mike over at Trouble in Turn 2 breaks it down for you.

All I will say is watch for Nascar to change the rules for The Chase again next year so Nascar’s favorite son will be ensured to make it. Maybe make it top 15 drivers. Of course if Jr can’t make The Chase driving for Hendricks he will never make it.

Tony Stewart gets the biggest mover award for top 12 drivers. He moved up 2 more spots to 2nd place in the points and has a guaranteed starting spot in The Chase.

Denny Hamlin and Matt Kennseth both dropped a spot to 3rd and 4th respectively but should also be locked into The Chase. Everyone else remained the same.

Bobby Labonte moved up another spot after giving Petty Enterprises another top 10 performance.

Kasey Kahne showed everyone that he still has some racing talent left by running 1st for the majority of the race at Bristol after winning the Busch race at the same track. He jumped up 4 spots in the points and after what can only be described as a lack luster season it is good to see that he still has some racing in him.

There was several drivers who dropped 1 or 2 spots in the points but Jamie McMurray is this weeks biggest loser dropping 2 more spots to 19th. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that guy was in The Chase?

Moving right along we go to the owners points. Dave Blaney is still managing to keep the #22 Cat Toyota in the 35th spot but not by much. The #21 piloted by Bill Elliott is breathing down his neck 37 markers out. Kyle Petty and the #45 Dodge is teetering on the edge of dropping off with only 58 points between him and the 36th spot. Kyle needs to get his butt back in the car and start doing some serious driving.

Up next is California which if years passed is any indicator will be another snoozer. What I do find funny about California is it is a very large track yet drivers still managed to find a way to crash into each other. Let’s see how much coverage John Paul and Happy Harvick get when they race near each other when the announcers are not busy talking about Dale Jr.

The New Bristol

My take on the new Bristol track, LOVE IT.

Friday Busch and Saturday Cup was the best Bristol racing I have seen in the 7 years I have been watching Nascar.

I have always loved the Bristol night race and if I could only watch one race it would be that one.

In the past it as been a single line of cars driving around in a oval waiting for someone to get pushed out of the groove and into the way. If someone got out it was a big deal watching them to see when they would managed to get down and how many position they would loose. In the race to the finish is was always a question of not IF the second place car would bump the leader it was WHEN they would do it. Those days are over. Enter the new era of side by side racing, passing on the high side and drivers actually having to race for the win instead of bumping for it.

Fridays Busch race was one of the most exciting finishes I have seen in a long time. That and ESPN loosing their video feed with 5 laps to go.

Saturdays Cup race was very exciting with the long green runs and the cars running 2 and sometimes 3 wide for position. It was not uncommon for ESPN to have split screen of two battles for position going on. That is what short track racing is all about. Those guys were beating and banging for position and running side by side for lap after lap till someone either made a mistake or let the other guy go by.

I don’t believe I heard a single driver complain about the track and I think the track even made them like the CoT just a little bit more.

It was interesting listening to Rusty talk about how he lost a few races when he was leading going into the closing laps and the second guy bumped him out of the way. He would have 10 wins at Bristol if it was not for the #24 fall of 2002 when he bumped Rusty for the win. Rusty even mentioned that one by name.

Those days are now in the past. Sure the 2nd place driver can still bump the leader if he wants to but there is no reason for him to do that. I would hope that with the ability to race 2 wide now they will think twice before doing the bump and run for the win. If they don’t have the talent to pass the guy cleanly then they should not get a win. Also with the CoT it is not as easy to move the guy out of the way like in the past.

Bristol has always been an exciting race and now with the new banking it is even more exciting for the fans, biggest down fall now is there is not enough bathroom breaks.

So Much For That Idea

Furniture Row released Kenny Wallace as driver of the #78 Chevy last week in hopes of getting a driver that could qualify for races. Unfortunately that did not work out this weekend with Sterling Marlin behind the wheel.

Personally I think they should have just kept Kenny in the car. Kenny is a good quality driver and I believe if you put him behind quality equipment he can get the job done. Unfortunately I just don’t believe that Furniture Row is able to field quality equipment that is going to be able to compete against the well funded teams.

That is really the main problem with this top 35 in owners points being locked in. Nascar says it is to level the playing field for teams that don’t have the deep pockets but really it hurts them.

Drivers in the top 35 in owners points can spend less time and money on qualifying and trying to make races when those trying to get in have to put much more emphasis on qualifying. But then if they make the race they have not spent that much time on race set ups and they end up not finishing well or finishing at all.

If Nascar really wanted to level the playing field they would say all 43 drivers must get in on speed. That forces the well funded teams to put just as much emphasis on qualifying as racing. Especially at the impound races. That really hurts the less funded teams. Well funded teams can practice on a race setup then just show up for qualifying, run a couple laps and make the race. Those outside of the 35 in owners points must focus on making the race but then they don’t really have a good race setup and have to spend most of the race, assuming they make it, playing catch up. What usually happens is because they don’t have a good race setup they end up either wrecking, getting wrecked or finish laps down which does not help them in the points department.

Take a look at several of the impound races and see where some of the top 20 drivers qualified. If they had to make it on speed they would not have made it. They just showed up for qualifying and did not really try, why should they after all they are locked in the race.

I also think that the Champion provisional should only apply to active drivers only. If you are Bill Elliott and retired several years ago, you should not be able to come out of retirement and hope in a car and take the provisional provided a current Champion does not need it. Then once you use up your 6 provisionals you hop out of the car and let another past champion jump in.

Might also be nice to not limit the number of times you can use the past champion provisional like they do now. If Bill Elliott makes it on speed then give it to Dale Jarrett if he does not. Make 1 past championship provisional available each race to a past champion that does not make the race on speed. No limits on times you can use it.

Just my thoughts.

Go or Go Home Time

It is go or go home time for Nascar’s favorite son.

Dale Jr was 29th fastest in practice this morning. He ran a total of 53 laps. His fastest lap was the 52nd and he was about 3 tenths off of the fastest lap posted by The Shub who only ran 25 laps and got his fastest time on the 24th lap.

Meanwhile his arch rival Kurt Busch posted the 34th fastest lap but only ran 32 laps with his fastest time on the 32nd lap.

The dark horse Ryan “rocketman” Newman posted the 10th fastest time running a total of 42 laps with his fastest on the 39th lap.

This is going to be interesting to say the least.

Up next qualifying.

Movers and Losers

I know I am a day late. Just like the Michigan race I was under the weather but at least I was only delayed by one day.

Big congrats to Kurt Busch on his win which further cements his place in The Chase.

Not a lot of changes within the top 12 in the drivers points. Jimmy Johnson swapped places with Jeff Burton but other then that there was no change. Denny Hamlin gained a few more points on Jeff Gordon but those are really meaningless once The Chase starts since the points will be reset.

Dale Jr moved back into the 13th spot but he is still 163 points out of 12th and with only 3 more races to go before The Chase he is going to have to wreck Kurt Busch or get someone else to do it and have Nascar allow him to win the next 3 races. Other words it is probably not going to happen. We can how ever look forward to a change in the points system next year as well as Nascar making it the top 15 drivers for The Chase to help ensure that Nascar’s favorite son makes The Chase next year.

Of the drivers outside the top 12 but within the top 35 in owners points we have Bobby Labonte moving up 2 spots to 18th. Mark Martin is dropping like a stone but what do you expect when you don’t race. This weeks winner will go to Bobby since he is the only person that really moved in the points. There was a few 1 spot gains like Robby Gordon and David Regan and my favorite Toyota driver Dave Blaney. Others dropped a spot like Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Rudd who plans on retiring next year.

With Dave Blaney’s top 10 finish at MIS he has put the #22 Caterpillar Toyota back into the top 35 in Owners Points and moved the Wood Brothers #21 Ford back out. With Kyle Petty sitting out a few races he has dropped even closer to that dreaded 35th spot and sits dangerously close at 34th only 79 points from 36th spot and Scott Riggs has managed to move the #10 Valvoline Dodge up to the 37th spot but sits 185 points away from 35th so he needs some good finishes and MIS was not one of them.

There is still 13 more races to go before the end of the season so those outside the top 35th in owners points are going to be fighting just has hard as those driving for a Championship to get themselves either in the top 35th in owners points or as close to it as possible.

Mother Nature 4 NASCAR 0

Another rain out for the Michigan NNC race.

Plan is to run the race today but Mother Nature is not playing by the same rules. Tomorrow is the last hope of getting in the race this week. If not it might become the last race of the year.

Wonder what the weather is like in Michigan in November?