Archive for April, 2009

This is ridiculous.

Two of NASCAR’s biggest stars offered differing opinions Tuesday on how the sport can control the racing at Talladega Superspeedway.

Three-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson called for a radical transformation of the race track, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. said alterations are not feasible. The two are teammates at Hendrick Motorsports.

Let’s look at a few other examples of “change”.

Accidents occur at an intersection, so authorities place a stoplight at the intersection, reducing the accidents. Does this mean accidents never occur at that intersection ever again? No.

When was the last truly “big” accident at Talladega? I am not talking about “The Big One” which is just a bunch of dummies driving too close to each other in large groups either.

Stop being stupid. Talladega is fine the way it is. If you want to change anything, change driver behavior on the track.

Despite injuries to fans from flying debris, NASCAR’s satisfied with its safety standards, saying the fence at Talladega Superspeedway did what it was supposed to do – keep Carl Edwards’ car out of the grandstands.

In a spectacular last-lap accident, Edwards’ car sailed upside-down into the frontstretch fence, which bowed but held, before the battered vehicle returned to the track. Blake Bobbitt, one of seven injured by debris, remained hospitalized Monday with a broken jaw.

Good on them.

“We’ll race like this until we kill somebody, then [NASCAR] will change it.”

Of course at that point it will be too late for that somebody, but in the meantime at least we’ll get to see a good show, right?

Seven people were injured Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, victims of the spectacular last-lap crash that saw Edwards’ 3,400-pound race car spiraling through the air, then slamming into the catch fence that separated him from fans only a few feet away.

That, not Brad Keselowski winning his first Sprint Cup Series race, is what will be remembered about the Aaron’s 499. Most who were there left the track ecstatic, even if Dale Earnhardt Jr. did wind up second, because they got to see the best race of the season.

Was the wreck scary? Yes.

Was the wreck dangerous to the fans? Yes.

Should they change anything at Talladega because of it? No.

Just because there was a horrific wreck that sent a car into the fence, that doesn’t mean that drastic changes need to be made. The fence held. It did it’s job. No one was seriously injured. Carl Edwards wasn’t injured because of the safety of the Car of Tomorrow.

So all these whiners need to shut up.

The kids gasped. The wife grimaced. I was stunned. It was Talladega, and it was awesome!

Carl Edwards began his charge to the front with nine laps to go at Talladega Superspeedway. He never expected to end up airborne, upside down, sheet metal spewing behind him as his car sailed into the safety fence.

The fence bowed, but held, and Edwards returned safely to the racing surface—another “Big One” to thrill the fans.

We never want to see anyone get hurt, and it’s a shame some of the fans were hit by debris, but the race today at Talladega was exciting right up to the finish. I’m glad Carl is okay too.

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski with his first NASCAR Cup win.

David Ragan earned his first NASCAR victory by passing Ryan Newman right before the finish line in the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ragan won for the first time in 196 starts—85 in Nationwide—spanning all three of NASCAR’s top series.

I would have liked the ending better if Flyin’ Ryan had won, but congrats to Ragan on his first ever win.

Oh wow. I knew Casey Mears was still driving because of the altercation with Junior last weekend, but I completely forgot about Harvick. Okay, just kidding.

Richard Childress Racing will swap the crews for slumping drivers Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears following this weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Both teams have underperformed this season, the first in which Richard Childress Racing is fielding four full-time cars. Team owner Childress said he’ll swap the crews to get both teams performing up to their standards.

Maybe this change will be good for both teams.

So long New York…

NASCAR’s season-ending party is heading to Las Vegas.

The weeklong salute to Sprint Cup’s stars is leaving New York after nearly three decades.

NASCAR announced the move Thursday, citing an aggressive pitch from Las Vegas officials that stressed reasonable room blocks and additional fan activities on the city’s famous strip.

The week will include the return of the “Victory Lap,” a procession of the top 10 Cup drivers in their race cars, and the Pit Stop Tour.

The annual banquet had been held in New York since 1981. NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France said he expects the circuit to have a presence in Manhattan.

Remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Yeah.

One thing NASCAR has never been consistent with, is penalties. When it comes down to clear violations we often hear, “There will be penalties”, but then nothing is done. Sometimes they say nothing will happen, then they throw the book at someome.

I find it hilarious that Kyle Busch was 0.005 over the pit road speed limit and they sent him to the tail end of the lead lap, yet they had no intention of penalizing Junior or Casey Mears after their altercation following the race.

That consistency I speak of reared it’s head, because they’re both on probation now.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears were penalized Tuesday for intentionally bumping cars after the race at Phoenix International Raceway.

NASCAR put both drivers on probation for the next six races, but neither was fined or lost any points. It was an about-face from Saturday night, when officials said they would not punish the drivers for their post-race skirmish.

“We had a weekly competition meeting, we had a good discussion about it, and we decided to put the drivers on probation so the situation did not escalate,” said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

I won’t have a post tonight. Our power keeps browning out or completely going out, so I am not even going to attempt a post.
More tomorrow…