Archive for February, 2010

Being a Vegas boy myself, I look forward to seeing Kurt race tomorrow. I hope he pulls off the win too.

Kurt Busch visited Victory Lane last year at his home track.

He was there to congratulate his little brother, Kyle, who became the first Busch brother to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

He wants his own party this year.

Kurt Busch shattered his brother’s track record Friday with a pole-winning role at Las Vegas, the track he and Kyle Busch consider to be among the most important on the series. The Las Vegas natives watched construction of the track, hopeful to one day get a chance to race there – and maybe even win.

J.C. Elder, known as “Suitcase Jake” during his long tenure as a NASCAR crew chief with the likes of star drivers David Pearson, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip, has died. He was 73.

Elder died Wednesday of natural causes at Autumn Care of Statesville, the Bunch-Johnson Funeral Home said Thursday.

Elder was the crew chief for Pearson’s 1968 and 1969 series champions and directed Earnhardt to his first Cup victory in 1979 at Bristol.

Rest In Peace, J.C.

Danica Patrick seems to have a good grip on reality.

One of the toughest lessons Danica Patrick has learned after two NASCAR races is that the desired results won’t come easy — or soon.

“I’m used to running up front. It’s shocking when you go that far back,” Patrick said after finishing 31st in the Nationwide race at California. “I have to disconnect from the results for quite some time. They’re probably not going to be what I’m used to.”

While Patrick reached a goal by finishing her second Nationwide race and gaining valuable stock car experience, the IndyCar Series star was three laps behind winner Kyle Busch and ahead of only six other cars still running at the end Saturday.

A week earlier in her much-anticipated debut at Daytona, she got caught up in a 12-car crash just past the midway point and was 35th.

“It’s an adjustment, it’s like starting from zero again,” Patrick said.

If you’re starting from zero, the only place to go is forward. Hang in there Danica.

There is no debate here.

Jimmie Johnson used the unbeatable combination of talent and luck Sunday at Fontana to post yet another victory in the Sprint Cup Series. Since the start of 2006 when his four-year reign of dominance began, Johnson has 30 victories, more than twice that of second place Kyle Busch (14).

But is it enough already? Is NASCAR hurting from too much Johnson in Victory Lane?

The more Jimmie Johnson appears in Victory Lane, the less viewers will tune in the following week. They’ll see.

Five days ago, Drew Blickensderfer was dropped, and it appears he had a pretty good bounce, even if it was backwards.

Roush Fenway Racing has announced that Drew Blickensderfer will take over as crew chief on the No. 60 Nationwide team with driver Carl Edwards effective immediately. Mike Kelley, who had served in that position, will assume the role of competition director for Roush Fenway’s Nationwide Series effort, and Mike Beam will move into the role of speedway specialist in the research and development department for all of Roush Fenway Racing.

The move will reunite Blickensderfer — who worked last season as the crew chief of the No. 17 Sprint Cup team — and Edwards in the Nationwide Series. Before taking over as Matt Kenseth’s crew chief prior to the 2009 season, Blickensderfer and Edwards teamed for 19 races in 2008, running to seven wins, two poles and a second-place series’ points finish, while closing the season with nine consecutive top-five runs.

Now let’s see what they’re going to do.

I spoke too soon. Two races in and NASCAR Sprint Cup racing is just as boring as it was last year and the year before.

For being in a town full of script writers, Auto Club Speedway sure does produce a lot of reruns.

It really is the same show every time the Sprint Cup circuit hits this suburban Los Angeles track. It starts with half-empty stands, followed by a strung-out race that tests the patience of even the die-hard fan, both of which prompt the requisite visit to the media center by track president Gillian Zucker, who puts her best spin on why NASCAR needs to be in the Los Angeles market for two races a year, which, in the end, usually are won by Jimmie Johnson.

Maybe NASCAR could incorporate some curling and hit Jimmie Johnson with a rock right before he crosses the finish line. I would pay to see that live.

The difficult part for Danica Patrick is still not knowing for sure how things are “supposed to feel” in a stock car and what is normal on the track.

“I really don’t have any of those answers at this point,” Patrick said Friday. “It’s only going to come from, in my experience, really having something good to go, ‘Oh yes, I want that again. I know I can achieve it.’ It just takes time.”

Maybe she’ll get a chance to finish this one.

Isn’t it a given that the pothole would be repaired?

Daytona International Speedway began repairs Thursday to the damaged portion of Turn 2 that forced two delays during the Daytona 500 totaling more than two hours.

Track president Robin Braig said a team of engineers and asphalt specialists from North American Testing Corp. decided a strip of pavement will be removed and a reinforced concrete patch will be poured in the area where a significant pothole developed during Sunday’s race.

Let’s hope this patch holds during the next race, unless of course you want a chance to eat some food during the repair time.

Good news for Todd Parrott, he’s climbing back on the box.

Todd Parrott has been named crew chief of Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 17 Ford, effective immediately.

Drew Blickensderfer, who has served as crew chief on the No. 17, driven by Matt Kenseth, since the start of the 2009 season, will assume a role in Roush Fenway’s research and development department.

Kenseth finished eighth in the season-opening race at Daytona on Sunday.

Blickensderfer had replaced Chip Bolin as crew chief for Kenseth following the 2008 season.

Parrott, who won the Cup Series championship with Dale Jarrett in 1999, has the third-most wins — 29 — among active crew chiefs in the Cup Series.

Not so good news for Drew Blickensderfer.

It shrinks in the cold, expands in the heat, and bends when a load is put upon it. In cooler weather it gets stiff, in warmer conditions slick and greasy.

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