Haven't posted for a week, so I have lots to comment on. First off congrats to Joey Logano for winning in Nashville. Wasn't Front Row Joe Nemechek awesome? He ran in the top 15 most of the race,pretty good for a driver-owner team, and gets ran into by Ricky Stenhouse, rolls his car a couple of times lands on the wheels and has enough control to be able to keep it out of the wall and drive back onto pit lane. It's just to bad that Joe can't afford to wreck cars, I would imagine that this will be quite a set back for Joe. I hope Joe can find some decent sponsorship, if I was putting out sponsorship money Joe is the kind of driver I'd want to have.
Speaking of sponsorship, if I was Kyle Busch's sponsor(s) I'd be pulling my sponsorship money in a hurry. What an idiot, having tantrums when he doesn't win races, even when it's his fault(Martinsville truck race). Demanding respect where none has been earned. He whined about fans having to much access to the drivers at the Nationwide race at Nashville, he stated that he was upset at all of the fans lined up at his hauler for autographs that had multiple items to sign(a few had suitcases full) well shouldn't his PR guy come out at the start and make the crowd aware that autographs are limited to one item per person? He says this on national TV, he's already stated that he doesn't care about souvenir sales-popularity. To me, that's like him straight out saying, fans are nothing more than pieces of dung. Aren't the fans the ones that sponsors are trying to get to buy their products? I was really trying to root for Kyle(a tiny bit) this year because he is a top of the class driver, but the past few weeks have put me in the same state I was last year, a "Kyle Hater " or even worse a"Kyle Busch, M&M's,Pedigree Dog Food, Interstate Batteries, Etc. Hater".
I wonder if Joey Logano will get a handle on the new car this year? He's on the verge of falling out of the top 35 in owners points but even if he does I don't think anyone should panic, he seems to always be able qualify real well. I think he just needs more time in the cup car, he needs to learn how to better communicate what he needs in the car with his crew chief. I didn't expect the #20 cup car to win any races this year, but I most defiantly didn't expect to see the #20 car on the top 35 bubble.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
20 Team Needs Help
Part of Joey Logano's lack of success in Sprint Cup may be the driver crew chief combination. There is no doubt that Greg Zipidelli is a great crew chief, but maybe Zippy and Joey just can't communicate properly with each other. Zippy was with the same driver for 10 seasons and it's been 9 seasons since he had to work with a rookie. I think Zippy may have become so accustomed to what Tony wanted and needed to drive the car and win races, that he may be having a hard time understanding what Joey wants and needs.
Joe Gibbs needs to do something before the famed 20 car falls out of the top 35 in owners points. Looking at the performance of the 18 and 11 teams rules out the poor equipment option, so Joe probably has two options to try and figure out if the problem is driver or crew chief. He could leave Joey in the 20 car and pair him with another crew chief for five races and see if it makes a difference or he could take the same route as did Team Redbull with A J Allmendinger and put a seasoned veteran behind the wheel of the car for five races to try and figure out what the problem is.
The solution may be as simple as putting another crew chief with Joey or as severe as taking Joey out of the car and putting in a different driver with a different crew chief. I would rather not see either of these people relieved of their duties, but something needs to be done to help the 20 team.
Congrats to Jeff Gordon for his Sprint Cup win at Texas on Sunday and congrats to Kyle Busch for his Nationwide win at Texas on Saturday.
Joe Gibbs needs to do something before the famed 20 car falls out of the top 35 in owners points. Looking at the performance of the 18 and 11 teams rules out the poor equipment option, so Joe probably has two options to try and figure out if the problem is driver or crew chief. He could leave Joey in the 20 car and pair him with another crew chief for five races and see if it makes a difference or he could take the same route as did Team Redbull with A J Allmendinger and put a seasoned veteran behind the wheel of the car for five races to try and figure out what the problem is.
The solution may be as simple as putting another crew chief with Joey or as severe as taking Joey out of the car and putting in a different driver with a different crew chief. I would rather not see either of these people relieved of their duties, but something needs to be done to help the 20 team.
Congrats to Jeff Gordon for his Sprint Cup win at Texas on Sunday and congrats to Kyle Busch for his Nationwide win at Texas on Saturday.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A Texas Weekend
I've always thought that if I could go on a fantasy all expense paid race weekend, I would go to the fall night race in Bristol,Tennessee. But I may be swaying towards the spring race in Fort Worth, Texas. Here's my reasoning:
Bristol has the cup race and the truck race, with the truck race being on Wednesday night and the cup race on Saturday afternoon. So Wednesday would be full with truck practice, qualifying and race.Thursday would have a cup practice and qualifying.Friday would have 2 cup practices and Saturday night would be the cup race.
Texas has the cup race and the Nationwide race,with Thursday being filled with Nationwide practice and qualifying. Friday would have cup practice and qualifying. Saturday would have two cup practices and the Nationwide race and Sunday would be the cup race. Not all that much different from Bristol.
My accomadations and seats at either place is where the differences start. In Bristol I think I would want to stay in a five star hotel, eat at good resturants and have really good seats(maybe even a luxury booth) on the front stretch with pit passes. At Texas I would rent a nice big RV and a stall on the infield. This takes care of accomadations, seats,pit passes and food(the RV would have a fold out BBQ and I'm big on BBQ'n). On the infield for the weekend, I think a person would have a better chance of meeting and interacting with more people than you would staying at a hotel. If you think about it you could arrive at the track on Wednesday night with groceries and beer and unless you wanted to, you wouldn't have to leave the track until Monday morning. I think that I would enjoy living in a RV, and kicking back with a whole bunch of race fans for the whole weekend. Besides that it's hot here in Alberta in August and I would imagine it's hotter in Bristol, where as we still have about a foot of snow here now and it looks pretty nice in Texas.
Congrats to "The Franchise" David Reutimann for picking up the pole this afternoon.
Bristol has the cup race and the truck race, with the truck race being on Wednesday night and the cup race on Saturday afternoon. So Wednesday would be full with truck practice, qualifying and race.Thursday would have a cup practice and qualifying.Friday would have 2 cup practices and Saturday night would be the cup race.
Texas has the cup race and the Nationwide race,with Thursday being filled with Nationwide practice and qualifying. Friday would have cup practice and qualifying. Saturday would have two cup practices and the Nationwide race and Sunday would be the cup race. Not all that much different from Bristol.
My accomadations and seats at either place is where the differences start. In Bristol I think I would want to stay in a five star hotel, eat at good resturants and have really good seats(maybe even a luxury booth) on the front stretch with pit passes. At Texas I would rent a nice big RV and a stall on the infield. This takes care of accomadations, seats,pit passes and food(the RV would have a fold out BBQ and I'm big on BBQ'n). On the infield for the weekend, I think a person would have a better chance of meeting and interacting with more people than you would staying at a hotel. If you think about it you could arrive at the track on Wednesday night with groceries and beer and unless you wanted to, you wouldn't have to leave the track until Monday morning. I think that I would enjoy living in a RV, and kicking back with a whole bunch of race fans for the whole weekend. Besides that it's hot here in Alberta in August and I would imagine it's hotter in Bristol, where as we still have about a foot of snow here now and it looks pretty nice in Texas.
Congrats to "The Franchise" David Reutimann for picking up the pole this afternoon.
Sliced Bread And Butter
If Joey Lagano is sliced bread then A J Allmendinger must be butter, because he sure has been smooth.Looking at AJ's short Sprint Cup career he has improved phenomenally. His first year he struggled with not only being a rookie to Sprint Cup, but also driving for newly formed, Team Red Bull. AJ only qualified for 17 of the 36 races in 2007, but in comparison Brian Vickers, Red Bull's other driver only qualified for 23 of the 36 races and he's more of a seasoned veteran. The following year AJ failed to qualify the first three races and was taken out of the car and replaced by veteran Mike Skinner for the next five races. AJ must have been able to learn something from the vet Mike because upon returning to the car, his qualifying woes were no longer ,qualifying for the next 21 races before being let go by Red Bull because it seems Red Bull didn't have the time to develop a driver,but wanted one that would be an instant success (We see how that's working out). After being let go, AJ sat for 1 race, drove for Michael Waltrip Racing for 1 race and, finished off the season in the 10 car for GEM which is now Richard Petty Motorsports. Now only 6 races into the season he's put the 44 car not only into the top 35 in owners points, having to qualify his way into the first 5 races, but is also now in a respectable 15th place in overall points standings.
As it stands right now AJ only has sponsorship up to and including the Coca-Cola 600 and if none is found ,I wouldn't be surprised to see some shakedown-shufflearound moves done at RPM in order to keep AJ in the 44 car for the season.
As it stands right now AJ only has sponsorship up to and including the Coca-Cola 600 and if none is found ,I wouldn't be surprised to see some shakedown-shufflearound moves done at RPM in order to keep AJ in the 44 car for the season.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
36 Races At 31 Tracks
I read an article today stating that Kansas is once again lobbying for a second race date. I know economic times are tough right now, but I really think that in future times, NASCAR should be looking to expand the number of tracks they visit in a year, rather than doubling up at tracks. To me it only makes sense to cover a greater area of fan base, rather than hit the same fan base twice in one year.Also it would make make for a greater variety of tracks that would be visited,making driver diversity an even bigger part of winning a championship.
That's why 36 races at 31 tracks. For historical reasons I would leave Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Martinsville and Charlotte all with two dates, leaving 26 dates for other tracks. I know this wouldn't work right now, there just aren't enough tracks capable of holding a cup race. But eventually all of tracks with two dates other than those five would lose one date,so don't be upset about the races I've eliminated first, to accommodate tracks in existence now, that could probably hold a cup race. So until new tracks could be built, or existing tracks overhauled the schedule could look something like this.
That's why 36 races at 31 tracks. For historical reasons I would leave Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Martinsville and Charlotte all with two dates, leaving 26 dates for other tracks. I know this wouldn't work right now, there just aren't enough tracks capable of holding a cup race. But eventually all of tracks with two dates other than those five would lose one date,so don't be upset about the races I've eliminated first, to accommodate tracks in existence now, that could probably hold a cup race. So until new tracks could be built, or existing tracks overhauled the schedule could look something like this.
- Daytona-The first race of the year always needs to be here.
- Texas-Everyone whines about the spring California race so get rid of it.
- Las Vegas
- Atlanta
- Bristol
- Martinsville
- Nashville-minor upgrades could make this track cup ready.
- Phoenix
- Talledega
- Iowa-Once again this track wouldn't need much to be able to host a cup race.
- Darlington
- Charlotte
- Portland-I know it's a road course but I felt the northwest needs a race and road courses are easier to adapt to accommodate larger crowds.
- Pocono
- Michigan
- Montreal-For the international flair and also I'm Canadian.
- Loudon
- Daytona
- Chicago
- Indianapolis
- Rockingham-This track could be rejuvenated
- Watkins Glen
- Kentucky-From what I've read this track could easily hold a cup race.
- Bristol
- Atlanta
- Richmond
- Sonoma-That's right start the chase with a road course,it has a short track and a superspeedway, it needs a road course.
- Dover
- Kansas
- Fontana
- Charlotte
- Martinsville
- Talladega
- Texas
- Phoenix
- Homestead
The powers that be would never do this, it's just a thought, one that I'm sure will make some people happy and others very angry.
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