Ultimate Speedway’s NASCAR Blog

Racedriven.com: Emotions, Emotions, Emotions – Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin as Clint Bowyer wins the 400 at Richmond. With 15 laps to go, my heart was pumping a mile a minute with Dale Jr. leading, Jr. Nation on there feet and yet to go from seeing your favorite driver leading the race one minute and the next minute or several laps later, get wrecked by another driver (cough…Kyle Busch) is very tough to watch, I understand it is racing…

I completely agree. It was hard watching Kyle Busch wreck Junior. My first reaction was anger at Kyle. Then I calmed down by watching the replays and realizing it was just a racing incident. It didn’t appear that anyone did anything malicious. However then I got mad again watching Kyle blow it off in the post race interview. He did apologize, but it was the way he did it.

It’s like when you tell someone “yeah, sorry” when you don’t really mean it. At least that’s how it came across to me.

At least it was a very interesting race!

I wanted to apologize to all of my readers for letting this blog sit dormant now for a few weeks. After everyone in my family was finally getting over all the viruses that were going around town, my father passed away unexpectedly.

It’s a hard thing to lose a parent. I have to admit that I didn’t even watch the last two NASCAR races and haven’t been paying close attention to recent NASCAR news.

The good news is that things are starting to make a little more sense now, and life is slowly returning to normal. I’m going back to work on Monday, and hope to catch this weekend’s race. At the very least, it will be a nice diversion from everything.

God’s blessings to you all, and remember to actually take the time to say "I love you" to the ones you care about while you still can. Those were my last words to my father, and I’ll always be grateful for that.

Every one’s been sick the past few weeks at my house. My daughter had a double-ear infection, and then we both got a stomach bug that’s been going around town. It’s pretty nasty and comes and goes for a couple weeks. I know you don’t want to hear about my problems being sick, but I just wanted to justify why I haven’t been posting much to the blog lately…

That said, here are my observations from the NASCAR season so far. They’re going to be brief because… well… the NASCAR season only has 5 races under it’s belt…

•  The Car-of-Tomorrow has brought parity to NASCAR. Last season only the teams with the most money dominated in the CoT, because they had the resources to devote to both the new and the old car. This season with every team running exclusively on the CoT, we’re seeing a ton of parity. The new car has really leveled the playing field.|
• Expect the Hendrick drivers to have a better season than they’ve had so far, but don’t expect them to dominate as they have in years past.
• Speaking of Hendrick drivers… notice how Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having the best season so far out of the entire Hendrick stable? I doubt he’s getting any additional resources the other drivers aren’t getting, so credit Dale Jr’s driving and Tony Jr’s skill as a crew chief. I still expect Dale Jr. to get several wins this season.
• Toyota–in only it’s second year in the Cup series–is fully up to par with the other manufacturers. Some of this has to do with the parity of the CoT, but a lot of it has to do with Toyota’s commitment and the addition of Joe Gibbs racing. I expect a Toyota car to visit Victory Lane several more times this season.
• Finally, when it comes to Toyota drivers, watch out for Kyle Busch! The kid really seems to have his act together and is fast becoming the top talent at Joe Gibbs Racing. Don’t get me wrong… Tony Stewart is driving well… but Kyle is a phenom. This kid is going to win multiple Sprint Cup championships before his career is over.

Well I said my observations would be brief. Now I welcome your comments.

My daughter was sick most of last week, and then I caught it from her. So that’s why I haven’t been posting lately. There’s a lot of great NASCAR news this week, especially the drivers’ opinions about the Goodyear tire used in Atlanta.

 Tony Stewart’s take on the Goodyear tire used in Atlanta:

“That was the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career. Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap.”

Jeff Gordon’s take on the tires:

“I felt like I was going to crash every single lap… There is just no reason for this. This car, this tire, at this race track, was just terrible.”

Goodyear’s response:

“Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not happy.”

All I can say is: “wow.”

Wow, I love it. In Ryan Newman’s weekly column over at Yahoo Sports, he starts out with this line:

This past weekend [at California] was a cluster all around…

Hey Ryan… I love the honesty!

I’ll be "on the road" this weekend, traveling out-of-state for a family gathering. It’s my niece’s first birthday party, so we couldn’t pass on that invitation. We don’t usually attend all of our niece’s and nephew’s birthday parties, but the first one is always special.

I’ll be catching the California Auto Club 500 on the radio in the car this Sunday. I’m really wishing I had SIRIUS Satellite Radioright about now, because I’m not sure what stations along my route will be carrying the race. I almost convinced my wife to let me get SIRIUS at Christmas… maybe next year.

So, will Matt Kenseth get yet another win at California? Will the Hendrick drivers turn things around? Will Toyota get it’s first win in Sprint Cup? As far as wins go, what about Ford or Chevy?

These are all great questions that I’m eager to see… err I mean hear… answered on Sunday.

Congratulations to Ryan Newman for winning the Daytona 500!

I have to hand it to Newman (and his teammate Kurt Busch for that matter). No one was picking any of the Penske drivers to win this race. Newman and Busch have always been great drivers, but they were taking a backseat to the Hendrick and Gibbs teams all week. So hat’s off to them for their one-two finish!

Here are a few of my Daytona 500 race observations:

1. We never got to see "the big one."
   Just admit it… one of the most exciting and anticipated aspects of restrictor plate racing is the "big one." You know, that big crash that can take out a dozen or so cars at once. Well we never got to see it last night. Sure there were plenty of wrecks, and even some wrecks that in previous years would have led to the "big one," but not last night. I guess the new CoT cars really are a lot safer to drive.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. "almost" had a great race.
   Despite the miscommunication on whether not to pit late in the race (hey Junior, you need to take the headsets away from some of the crew if they can’t shut up for your crew chief… I’m just saying), Junior had a chance to win the race or at least finish higher. Unfortunately, he chose to get in line behind Kyle Busch. Who can blame him? Kyle had the fastest car all night, but stumbled on that last restart, killing his and Junior’s chances.
3. The Hendrick team.
   Junior had a chance to win the race, while Gordon and Johnson had bad races. But that was mostly due to bad luck. Jeff Gordon was right up there running with the leaders the whole race until he had equipment failure that ultimately gave him a DNF. Jimmie Johnson was having an average race until he got loose and wrecked, but had he saved it, there’s no reason not to believe that he couldn’t have dialed in his car and made a run for the lead pack. Disappointing yes, but Hendrick still looks dominate, assuming they can leave the bad luck behind them.
4. Toyota showed up.
   Again, considering it’s only their second year in Sprint Cup, Toyota won the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide races, and Toyota drivers were in contention for the win last night. Look for big things from Toyota this year.
5. Look out for Dodge.
   I was watching ESPN’s post race coverage when they threw up a graphic that I hadn’t realized at first… Dodge cars had six of the top eight places, including first and second place. That’s a HUGE come back from the performance we saw from Dodge cars last season.
6. More on the "big one."
   Here’s my theory on why things panned out the way they did in yesterday’s race. First off, the CoT car has somewhat leveled the playing field this year, as other teams and manufacturers have adapted to it. Second, not having the "big one" allowed the mid-pack drivers who didn’t qualify well to dial in their cars and make a run for the lead. Seriously, not taking anything away from Ryan Newman, but in previous years, there’s a good chance he’s involved in a race ending crash at some point during the race. Since we didn’t have a the "big one" take out a good portion of the field, suddenly it wasn’t as important to qualify well and run out front from the first lap. You could have a car that didn’t qualify well but ran well for 500 miles and be in contention. We saw that last night.

Well that’s my thoughts from the 2008 Daytona 500 race. I welcome your feedback…

Tony Stewart repelled a strong challenge from teammate Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the Camping World 300 Nationwide Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. (Source: NASCAR.COM)

I know Toyota was making strides at the end of the 2007 season, but with Joe Gibbs Racing on-board, expect to see great things from Toyota this year.

You may or may not like having Toyota in NASCAR, but one thing’s for sure–get ready, because we’re going to see Toyota cars in victory lane this season.

We might even see a Toyota in victory lane after tomorrow’s Daytona 500. It would be a huge milestone for Toyota in only their second year racing in the Sprint Cup series, and it might happen thanks to the talented stable of drivers their crews at Joe Gibbs Racing.

We’ll see what happens…

Dan Wetzel wrote a interesting article on the Daytona 500 titled "Everyone’s welcome."

Welcome to Daytona, the last blue collar stop on the nation’s major sporting tour.

I’ve been to almost every big sporting event in the country, most of them every year, and when it comes to accessibility for middle and working class people, there is nothing like this.

You have to hand it to NASCAR… no other sport allows fans to get so close to the action. Camping in the in-field… access to pit row… you have to love it.

The cost? Three tickets and an oversized parking spot for the week costs $900. That’s $300 each for a place to stay, a place to party and a place to watch the race that’s better than the actual grandstands. Allegedly, if you cook breakfast for the guards or slip them a cold one, getting extra people in is not a problem.

There just isn’t anything like this in any other sport.

No… there isn’t. I don’t know of any sport where you can get such a great value for the most important event of the season.

I found this really interesting…

Not far from the proletariat tent city of Turns 3 and 4 are rows of Prevost Coaches that can run up to $2 million.

The view of the race there isn’t much different than over here. And changes in tax base aside, the people aren’t either.

"They drink beer, too," said fan Kevin Astuto. "They’re as friendly to us as we are to them; it’s not like they look down on us as some dirtballs."

I never realized there were "millionaire club" folks camping the in-field of NASCAR races along with everyone else. You gotta love this sport!

NASCAR stands for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It was founded by William "Bill" France, Sr. on Feb 21, 1948, and has since grown into a international phenomenon with races being broadcast in over 150 countries.

Last year, 17 of the top 20 most attended live sporting events were NASCAR races. It was the second highest rated sport on TV behind the NFL. There are over 75 million fans.

NASCAR has many different series (or circuits) of competition. The top series is the Sprint Cup, which has the best drivers and the most fans. The next series is the Nationwide, followed by the Craftsman Truck.

You can read more about NASCAR at Wikipedia, or at the official About NASCAR guide.