More Links Than Jimmy Dean
I don’t have anything to say today (and the sarcastic reader would say, “that’s never stopped you before”), so I thought I’d see what else is going on in the world of NASCAR.
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First, a few stories that I didn’t have time to get to during Speedweeks. David Poole wrote an incredible follow-up piece about Wessa Miller. She was the girl who gave Dale Earnhardt Sr the lucky penny before his 1998 Daytona 500 win. An amazing story and a must read.
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Sports Illustrated writer Lewis Franck has his own blog, Franckly Speaking. Prior to Daytona he had a post about Max Papis and gives one more reason why Rick Hendrick is a good guy.
Ken Howes, Hendrick Motorsports vice president of competition, explained, “typically every full- time employee here gets a championship ring. That’s something Rick steps ups and does, then add on anyone who has contributed to the that effort. Max [Papis] is one of them. He did a lot of work testing especially on the road course many laps at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) and Kentucky.” Howes added that David Green, who did yeoman-like work on the COT on ovals, was also given one of those priceless rings.
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Speaking of SI, Mark Beech believes Casey Mears could be great if he were more consistent. Isn’t that kind of the point? If only Shaq were more consistent at the free throw line, he’d be a great free throw shooter, or if Rex Grossman would complete more passes he’d be a great quarterback. Beyond that, his reasoning is based on the fact that Casey Mears wrecked when he was in 5th place. His driver rating was a lousy 68.6. For comparison, Jeff Gordon had an 84.2 rating despite a suspension problem that landed him in the garage.
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A very underrated blog is The View From Here, which takes a business approach to NASCAR issues. Considering it’s written by VCU business professors, that makes more sense than a NASCAR blog with an anthropological slant. Anyway, they mention a story about how Brian Vickers is one of the environment-conscious drivers. I love that Vickers is trying to bring attention to the subject . A lot of what Vickers says I agree with, although I question one thing he says.
It’s a very small footprint we make,” Vickers said. “It’s only 38 races, 500 miles, 43 cars. The big global picture of things, it’s a small place. It is a start, and every little bit matters.
Vickers doesn’t mention the cross-country trips that the 6mpg haulers make on a weekly basis. And you can’t forget the private jet flights either. However Vickers does sound pretty serious about the issue. He talks about alternative fuel cells, the effect of biodiesel, buying carbon offsets and recycling. Based on this and other things I’ve read about Vickers, including his decision to switch from Hendrick to Red Bull, give me the impression that Vickers has more on his plate than simply racing. And I mean that in a good way.
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According to That’s Racin’ Gibbs Racing is struggling to get sponsorship for their Nationwide car. Yes, the one driven by Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Let’s see, that’s a car featuring a two-time Cup champion and two other Chase drivers that combined for seven Busch wins in 2007. That doesn’t give a lot of hope for the Sauter brothers does it?
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Robby Gordon was penalized 100 points and his crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended 6 races for his nose job at Daytona inspection. Jerry at RPT thinks it’s a little harsh, while David Poole says NASCAR got this one right. I can see both sides. For one, NASCAR shouldn’t interpret intent, only penalzing all infractions equally and the precedent was set last year with other teams getting 6 races and 100 points. However, if the difference was really just a matter of different decals, that seems a little silly.
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During the weekly media interview I came across this interesting question and answer from Matt Kenseth.
Q. I guess I wonder if you two can help each other at the track or is it just sort of a friendship deal?
MATT KENSETH: No, you know, I have six teammates already. I don’t think we can really help each other too much necessarily at the track. But, you know, certainly friends and get along good and like to race together.
(Mike counting teammates on his fingers)..McMurray is three, Ragan makes four…oh yeah…and the two Yates guys they absorbed makes five and six. Seriously, when do we drop the charade and concede that Roush-Fenway Racing is Ford Racing?