Archive for the ‘Nationwide Series’ Category

So far it looks to be an exciting season, in the Sprint Cup as well as the Nationwide series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a frightening, multi-car accident at Daytona International Speedway, where his car flipped upside down as he skidded along the superstretch during the Nationwide Series opener.

Earnhardt was battered from every direction Saturday as other cars could not avoid hitting the overturned No. 88 Chevrolet. He slid through the grass, and the car finally flipped back onto its wheels before coming to a stop.

We could feel the collective gasp from Daytona here in our living room. We’re glad Jr. is okay.

And congratulations to Tony Stewart.

Kevin Harvick knew his race cars were good enough to get either he or Tony Stewart into Victory Lane.

Once Dale Earnhardt Jr. was out of contention, their path was wide open.

Now I can hardly wait for tomorrow’s race.

Over the course of the past few weeks I have heard (and read) a lot of talk about Joey Logano. Many people were questioning Joe Gibbs’ decision to bring him on in the #20 when Tony Stewart announced he was leaving.

In the last week I came to the conclusion that it was do or die time for Logano, and he would do real good in a Nationwide race to “legitimize” the decision by Gibbs. It seems my conclusion was correct.

Teen star Joey Logano raced to his second career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, holding off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the Pepsi 300 on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.

The 18-year-old Logano and Busch ran in the top two and traded the lead for most of the race, with Logano leading the final 10 laps and finishing 0.487 seconds in front.

Congrats, Joey.

Pretty amazing numbers for an organization with so many people in it.

A crew member for a Nationwide Series team has become the second person suspended this season under NASCAR’s stricter new substance abuse policy.

John Boyd, a crew member for the No. 23 team of R3 Motorsports, failed a random drug test on March 9. He was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Wednesday, and his race team said he’s no longer with the organization.

What kind of drugs would you take to be a better crew member anyway?

The whole idea of ‘title sponsorship’ has always annoyed me, but now it’s really getting on my nerves. What’s up with these companies that feel threatened by the mere mention of a competitors name?

In the “Nextel-Sprint Cup” which became the “Sprint Cup”, we saw the whole drama transpire when AT&T (which had just purchased Cingular) wanted to keep their name on Jeff Burton’s #31 Chevrolet, but because Sprint was the “title sponsor” other phone/wireless companies were not allowed to sponsor cars anymore. Think of the millions of dollars lost because AT&T and others were no longer allowed to plaster their name on a car doing 150 mph for three hours on Sundays.

Veteran driver Mike Wallace may have had a unique sponsorship in place with GEICO this season, as he says that the insurance company had a deal with him – and not the team he drove for.

That allowed Wallace to choose his team, seemingly insulating him from the changing fortunes of NASCAR sponsorship.

But when Nationwide took over as title sponsor for NASCAR’s No. 2 series, GEICO needed to change its plans, and soon Wallace found himself without a ride.

Mike Wallace and GEICO had a great relationship, but NASCAR decided to screw that one up as well. I don’t get it? They were not allowed to remain since they were there before the renaming of the “Busch Series” to the “Nationwide Series”. Does Nationwide really think I am going to change my car insurance to them just because they are the “title sponsor” for NASCAR’s little league?

What would NASCAR do if Chevron signed to be the title sponsor? Would they force Ganassi to drop Texaco? And what about Post Cereals? What if they took over? Would General Mills need to take a hike?

It’s ridiculous that NASCAR would allow all those sponsorship dollars to be thrown away, especially now with the economy in the downturn it has taken. I don’t decide to buy my cereal, cell phone service, or car insurance because of a paint scheme on a car, and I doubt many other people do either. The whole idea of dropping competitor sponsors is just stupid.

Congratulations to Clint Bowyer for winning the Nationwide Series championship.

Carl Edwards did all he could but still was unable to capture his second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series title.

Clint Bowyer claimed the series championship despite watching Edwards win Saturday’s Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Entering with a 56-point advantage over Edwards, Bowyer – who has been atop the standings for 29 straight weeks – finished fifth in a Chevrolet. The series-high 29th top-10 finish earned Bowyer 155 points, giving him a season total of 5,132.

The Cup race is going on right now, and I have to say, last night’s Nationwide race was a lot more exciting. It’s time for the NASCAR to ditch the Car of Tomorrow. Cup races just aren’t fun to watch anymore.

NASCAR is facing another test. Will they hand down penalties that are consistent? Here’s their chance to prove they are tough will all forms of cheating no matter the team doing it.

Joe Gibbs is one of the most respected people in sports. All sports. He personally apologized for the incident, and it will be interesting to see whose idea it was to do this.

NASCAR inspectors, preparing to do tests on horsepower numbers following Saturday’s Nationwide race found magnets under the gas pedals on the No. 18 and No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas.

The teams will likely face big penalties after their efforts to alter the results of the chassis dyno test.

“If this alleged incident proves true, it goes against everything we stand for as an organization,” Gibbs said in a statement. “We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us. We will also investigate internally how this incident took place and who was involved and make whatever decisions are necessary to ensure that this kind of situation never happens again.

Now we wait til Tuesday.

I wonder if Kyle Busch would be doing this well if he had stayed at Hendrick Motorsports? I doubt it. I think being replaced by Dale Jr. is the best thing that has happened to the kid.

If Kyle Busch keeps this up, he’s going to have some difficult decisions to make.

Busch won his third consecutive race on NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, taking the Corona Mexico 200 by less than a second Sunday. He’s not committed to a full Nationwide schedule, but will he be able to resist a run at the championship?

Think about it. He’s in first place in the Craftsman Truck Series, second in the Nationwide Series, and third in the Sprint Cup. Granted we’re not that far into the season, but it’s pretty impressive if you ask me.

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Seeing the #5 driving with the National Guard logo is going to be awesome, almost as awesome as knowing the #5 car is being fielded by JR Motorsports. I hope they do well this season.

The Army National Guard will continue its involvement in the Nationwide Series in 2008 with a 21-race primary sponsorship of the No. 5 Chevrolet with drivers Landon Cassill and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The team will be fielded by JR Motorsports in partnership with Hendrick Motorsports.

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“The National Guard is very pleased to be sponsoring the No. 5 Nationwide Series car in 2008,” said Lt. Col. Diana Craun, deputy division chief, strength maintenance division, National Guard bureau. “The Guard’s presence at Nationwide Series races will honor America’s finest citizen-soldiers in an exciting way by featuring a unique unit patch on the hood, deck-lid and rear quarter-panels of the car. Additionally, army guard soldiers from these honored units will be invited to watch the No. 5 car as it reaches Victory Lane.”

It’s going to be a total pain this season, we have complete Series renaming and so many driver changes that it’s going to take a month to get caught up with everything.