Max Helton Dies
Max Helton, who formed a Christian ministry that 20 years ago became Motor Racing Outreach, died Sunday afternoon of brain cancer at his home in Huntersville, N.C. He was 67.
“This is an earthly loss but a heavenly gain,” said Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage, who serves on the Board of Directors of World-Span Ministries, Helton’s international motorsports ministry.
“Max aided so many people in auto racing and you would often see him with some of the sport’s top drivers offering a quiet prayer just before the start of a race. He very personally counseled me through the years and was a great influence on my life.”
Helton will be remembered during pre-race ceremonies Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
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Someone Give This Guy A Clue
Jeff Burton took over the points lead this weekend, but he didn’t win the race. One of the new kids on the block was racing hard when he should have been making sure he didn’t screw up the end of the race. He honestly didn’t have a clue.
“I thought we were going to be in pretty good shape, but that kid in the double zero car [McDowell], he needs to learn some manners or he is going to get taught,” Burton said. “He can choose to do it the way he wants to — the hard way or the easy way. But one way or another, he’ll get taught.”
Here’s what the kid said. What’s wrong with his statement?
“I was just focusing on trying to get around the 28 [Travis Kvapil] and trying to stay on the lead lap,” said McDowell, who finished three laps down. “The 11 [Hamlin] got by, and we were able to run with him and the 31. When he [Burton] got to us, when he finally got underneath us, I tried to give him as much [room] as I can, but at the same time the 11 is racing the 28 — and you don’t hear the 11 complaining about the 28 right now.”
When you find yourself racing against the race leaders “trying to stay on the lead lap”, and finish three laps down, you have a problem with reality. My recommendation for next time? Stay out of the way if you are more than one lap down.
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A Case Of Intellectual Espionage?
Jack Rousch is blowing a gasket.
Jack Roush’s feud with Toyota is escalating over allegations of “intellectual espionage” — a case many say is much ado about nothing.
Roush has accused an unidentified Toyota team of stealing a swaybar created specifically for Roush Fenway Racing from one of RFR’s teams at last fall’s race at Dover, Del. And he wants NASCAR to make sure the team won’t use information gained “by their ill-gotten means.”
“What’s he doing with stuff just laying around the garage area?” four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon joked Friday. “If that was a proprietary piece, I’d think that you’d have some tighter grips on it. I think the whole thing is hilarious.”
Apparently the sway bar in question was picked up my mistake and as soon as the team in question realized they had it, they called Rousch. Big controversy huh?
Jack Rousch has had a mad on for Toyota for a long time now and this is the product of said madness. Rousch has gone on record to say that the team that took it was trying to gain an unfair “ill-gotten” advantage because of their intellectual espionage.
This isn’t the first time, nor that last that a team has walked away with a part that was not theirs. I’m sure this isn’t the last time that Jack Rousch will whine about Toyota either.
He’s still sore about the whole oil cover incident I am sure.
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It’s Funny When Memories Take You Back
I spent last weekend cleaning up the yard with the family. It is amazing how much stuff gets shoved into the garage, and how much crap builds up in the backyard over the winter months. It took a lot of work, but I must say, when all was said and done, the place looks great again.
I took the old mountain bike out of the garage and cleaned it up, checked the tires and the brakes, and went for a spin around the neighborhood. It was foggy while I was riding and I was immediately taken back to my college days in Hawaii.
Soon after I arrived in Hawaii, I purchased a bicycle to ride back and forth from the University. I saw others riding and thought it would be a cool way to fit in. Little did I know that most of those people were using motorized bicycles to get up and down the hills around the college.
After the first day I knew that I had to get a motorized bicycle or stop riding my bike to school. You see, the ride to the school was great, I could get there in about 15 minutes, it was all downhill. The ride home however took 2 hours and was uphill the whole way.
I had a great time living in Hawaii, but I never did find any bicycle engines while I was there. So where did everyone else get them?
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Sphere: Related ContentJeff Burton Wins Wild Race At Bristol
With two laps to go, the race was his to lose, and lose he did. Tony Stewart lost the race because Kevin Harvick bumped into him forcing the caution.
With Tony out of contention, it was his teammate Denny Hamlin’s race to lose, and lose he did. On the restart his car failed to pick up fuel and he sputtered.
Out of nowhere, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer flew across the finish line.
Just like most Bristol races, you have no idea who is going to win until the last lap.
Tony Stewart should have won the race. And when he didn’t, it gave Denny Hamlin a clear shot at victory.
But the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers failed to seal the deal—again—at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Jeff Burton and his Richard Childress Racing teammates were there to capitalize.
Burton scored his first victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer to the first 1-2-3 sweep in RCR history by pouncing when the JGR drivers faltered at the very end Sunday.
“We did the little things right,” Burton said. “That’s the sign that this team’s matured. That’s the sign of a team that’s ready to take advantage of situations. I won’t lose sleep tonight because somebody says, ‘We had a faster car.’
“All I know is we’ve got the trophy.”
Congratulations Jeff. It was great seeing that AT&T logo in Victory Lane!
Dale Jarrett’s Final Ride
I can’t believe it’s here already. DJ’s final race. It doesn’t seem real. He has been a fixture in NASCAR as long as I have been watching. The only bright side to all of this, is we will get to see him in the broadcast booth sharing his expertise.
It’s extremely difficult for a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to go through a career where he is generally liked and respected by his fellow peers.
As Dale Jarrett prepares for the final race of his career in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway he is being lauded by his fellow drivers as a man who brought dignity to his trade as a race driver.
It’s All About The Oil
Last week on Information Salad, I mentioned that I thought something was going on with the #99 team. After hearing the news about the oil reservoir cover being totally absent from the vehicle, I had a feeling that someone did it intentionally. Jack Rousch has said that they have found no evidence that anyone did it intentionally, but that doesn’t mean no one did it intentionally. And for the record, the fact they are not appealing the penalties tells me that they know that too.
Roush Fenway Racing on Wednesday announced that it will not appeal the penalties imposed by NASCAR following post-race inspection of the No. 99 car at Las Vegas (read more).
Inspectors found that the cover of the oil reservoir encasement mounted behind the driver’s seat was off, a circumstance that constitutes an unauthorized aerodynamic modification. NASCAR rules require that the cover be bolted securely to the encasement.
If Jack Rousch was adament that no one did it intentionally, he would have appealed the penalties. Jack Rousch is a man of principle and in this case it’s the principle of the point. If you didn’t cheat, you should fight like hell to convince people you didn’t cheat. Why on Earth would you let it go, if you were so adament it was not done intentionally?
“We have conducted a thorough internal investigation and have found no evidence whatsoever that anyone intended for the bolt/nut fastener to fail to secure the lid for the entire race,” team owner Jack Roush said.
“We have subsequently added protective measures to insure that the lid will remain fastened even if a failure of this type should again occur.”
It just doesn’t make sense to me to let it go as far as penalties are concerned, yet still stand there and say you’re taking action to ensure this “accident” doesn’t happen again. Unless of course that “accident” got a pink slip in recent days.
Back In The Day
Many moons ago, I worked as a food server at several different hotel/casinos in three different states. It was always quite the adventure, but nothing ever compared to the days (and nights) that I would help unload the trucks as they arrived. Imagine my excitement after moving over 1000 pounds of potatoes from the back of the building, around the building, in through the casino, and all the way back to the restaurant, only to find that the viking access automatic gate was unlocked and all I had to do was press this tiny little button on a box hanging on the wall. I sure felt beat up that night.
One of the casinos I worked at hosted a motorcycle rally every year and we were always busy that week. As part of my job I would help check in the produce coming in and make sure we actually received the items we ordered. It took me a few weeks to get into a rythym but once I did, there was no stopping me. I was much like a us automatic swing gate. Always dependable, and always moving from side to side to get the job done.
One of my favorite parts of the rallies were the races they would hold. Wow. Talk about fun. Well, until some of the racers got caught racing while under the influence of some substance. Then it was fun watching them try to figure out how to get the apollo sliding gate that stood between them and their bikes open. If that wasn’t entertainment, I don’t know what is.
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Kittie Allison Dies
Sphere: Related ContentKittie Allison, mother of NASCAR drivers Bobby and Donnie Allison, has died. She was 101.
Allison died Thursday at the Little Flower Catholic Assisted Living Community in Charlotte, N.C.
Her funeral will be Wednesday at St. Aloysious Catholic Church in Bessemer, Ala., a spokeswoman for Browns Service Funeral Home said Sunday.
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Allison and her late husband, Ed, had 13 children. Eight are still living, along with 25 grandchildren, 32 great grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.
The burial will be at Highland Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggested donations to: Little Flower Assisted Living, 8700 Lawyers Rd., Charlotte, N.C. 28227 or St. Aloysious Catholic Church, 751 Academy Dr., Bessemer, Al. 35022 or Victory Junction Gang Camp: http://www.victoryjunction.org
Goodbye My Friend
Just over a month ago we were saddened to learn that our devoted friend and family member, Flash, had bone cancer.
There is no more sobering word in the English language than the word cancer.
I still remember the day he picked our son out of the bunch of us. We had been looking for the “perfect” family dog for months and had decided to spare no expense in finding the perfect companion to grow up with our children. We contacted a local breeder and went to meet with her and the puppies.
When we arrived we were introduced to Flash’s mother, Pele, and his father, Banner. We got to see their temperaments in action, and we were amazed at them both.
Pele
Banner
We also learned that Banner was the son of Faera’s Future Classic, call name “Thunder”. Thunder is a champion Golden Retriever whose bloodline is well known and whose offspring have produced numerous “assistance” dogs around the country.
Thunder
Magic happened when we got to meet the puppies. Let me just say now, that if we had a bit more money at the time we would have come home with two, or maybe even three, of them. We sat on the front lawn watching the puppies play and one of them walked up to our oldest son and laid down in his lap.
The puppy was making it clear that he picked our son. We played with him a bit and moved him over to the side so we could all play with one of the other puppies, but within moments he was pushing his way back through the crowd and into our son’s lap.
The choice had been made. We paid a deposit and we waited three more weeks to bring him home. That was the day our lives changed forever.
When we arrived to pick him up, the breeder brought him out to us and he immediately ran up to our son. He remembered him, that was very clear. Because he had picked our son we decided to let him name the new addition to our family.
His name was Flash. There were two reasons for this name. One, was the lightning bolt shaped mark on his forehead, and the other was for the superhero. Hey, when you are four years old, it’s important to pay homage to your superheros.
From the moment we walked in the door, I knew this dog was hard headed. Once he got something in his mind, he wasn’t going to change it, and you knew it. He made it clear early on that he wanted to be in charge, so I spent the next few years letting him believe he was.
For nearly six years he has been a devoted friend, an energetic playmate, a trusting guard, and most of all a loving family member. He was always cheerful, he was always happy.
Our vet recommended seeing a specialist who could confirm the cancer diagnosis, and let us know what the options were. As we walked out of that specialist’s office, my wife and I knew what was coming, but neither one of us wanted to face it. We drove home and reviewed our options. No matter what we decided we knew we had to do the right thing for Flash.
It turns out, he made the choice for us. Three nights ago, when I went downstairs to let the dogs in, he was nowhere to be found. It was getting dark and I had to grab my shoes and a flashlight. It took me 15 minutes to find him in the backyard. He was laying in the wooded area behind our home. It took most of his energy to get up, and he slowly limped into the house.
For the next two days he did nothing but lay in his bed by the front door. He could barely walk to go outside to do his business, and once he did he came right back in and laid on his bed.
Two weeks ago, I told Flash that he needed to let me know when it was time. I begged him to tell me when he had had enough. Yesterday, he told me. There was something in his eyes and the way he cuddled into me. There was a message there. He was telling me that he wanted to go. He made it clear that he was done.
I didn’t want him to be done. I still don’t want him to be done. I want to play ball with him. I want to take him for walks through the neighborhood. I want to feel his warmth at my feet. I promised him I would do the right thing when the time came, and I did. But right now, all I want is my friend back.