|| *Comments on the 2012 Sylvania 300:* View the most recent comment <#329> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Talon64 posted: 09.21.2012 - 5:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon picks up his 72nd career Sprint Cup Series pole and 2nd of 2012. It's his first season with multiple poles since he had 4 in 2008. Denny Hamlin was the last car to go out in qualifying but ended up 32nd because the team left their tires at race pressures by accident. 2nd gaffe in 2 weeks for the #11 team, with the responsibility being on Darian Grubb's shoulder. Meanwhile, Tony Stewart has one of his best qualifying results of the season (just his 4th top 5 start) in 3rd. 2. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dave Blaney qualified 10th in the #22 car, even though he won't be racing in it on Sunday. Just goes to show you how important equipment is to being successful in this day and age. 3. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.21.2012 - 5:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why is this tape delayed? Just stupid. Love to know what happened to Denny (who I have in my pool). He led practice, looked like he would dominate this weekend like Fireball Roberts dominated Daytona in 1962 (look it up, just staggering, 5 for 5). But he qualifed 32nd? Did Bobby Labonte qualify right before him in his Watkins Glen car? 4. cjs3872 posted: 09.21.2012 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, we know how Dave Blaney can do in good equipment, though it's been a while. Remember the spring race in Atlanta in 2001? That race is known for it's emotional finish, with Kevin Harvick nipping Jeff Gordon to score a win for Dale, but what's forgotten about that race is that Dave Blaney actually had that one in the bag, as he had the best carin the field, only to be knocked out of contention with a broken wheel. And lets also not forget that he finished third in the spring race at Darlington in 2003 (in the #77 car), and would have won the race if it was one more lap. However, having Dave Blaney qualify the #22 Cup car is anoher obvious sign of Penske's opinions of Dave's son Ryan, who is a development driver for Penske and scored the first win for the truck team of Brad Keselowski, who drives Penske's other Cup car and is the current points leader, and Penske wanted to give Dave a shot, at least in practice and qualifying. I'd just like to have seem Penske give Dave a shot in the race, because I think he can run in the top ten, and I think he'd do better than Sam Hornish can, though I might be mistaken about that. And congrats to Jeff Gordon and Alan Gustafson for finally not screwing it up in qualifying. In their defense, when they usually were high up on the practice board, they couldn't back it up because of the Saturday qualifying sessions, and other teams sandbagging thusly. Now the question is, can Gordon run up front all day without Gustafson screwing it up with questionable pit calls (like earlier this season at Loudon). And also, this is Gordon's first non-RP pole since the fall Charlotte race of 2010, and his first pole on a track a mile or shorter in length since he spring race at Martinsville in 2009. 5. Anonymous posted: 09.21.2012 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, maybe Blaney will get a chance at Talladega, since Hornish was originally scheduled to run the #12 there. 6. Bronco posted: 09.21.2012 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Denny Hamlin was the last car to go out in qualifying but ended up 32nd because the team left their tires at race pressures by accident. 2nd gaffe in 2 weeks for the #11 team, with the responsibility being on Darian Grubb's shoulder." Glad you explained it, otherwise I had no idea how the fastest car in practice could qualify that poorly. He isn't going to win like he said, but Denny will probably still get a top 5 although I don't think he's a true championship contender. Great start for Vickers and the #55. 7. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I do remember those races. Another one that comes to mind is the spring Talladega race last year when he seemed to have the best car when being pushed in the tandem draft, only to have a shot at the win taken away when Kurt Busch unintentionally turned him in the corner with a few laps to go. But speaking in general, I'm pleasantly surprised that Blaney managed to not only qualify top 10, but he out-qualified his teammate BK by five positions. And the races you listed at Atlanta '01 and Darlington '03, I wouldn't necessarily call the teams he was driving for (the 2nd Bill Davis car and Jasper Motorsports) competitive. But since this was his first time in a car that was at least reasonably competitive in four years, he did better than my expectations. I'm with you, I think he should be allowed to drive that Cup car this weekend. I always believed that if you don't practice or qualify the car, you shouldn't be allowed to race it. And since Dave's son Ryan Blaney is now a Penske developmental driver, having Dave race the car would be great for Ryan because he could listen to his dad over the radio and talk about the car following the race. And I feel Dave would be a better teacher for Ryan if he was allowed to race the cars that Ryan could some day drive than Sam Hornish because a.) he's his father and b.) he wouldn't be competing against his son for a ride. Hornish would be and he doesn't know enough about these cars to give good feedback to Ryan. Also, like you said, I too think that Dave would get more out of the car than Sam, especially since he would have had two days worth of driving and working on the damn thing. So I think that Dave should be driving the #22 in the race Sunday because he could give better feedback to the team and to his son (the future of Penske Racing), and also because he's been in it all weekend. Also, how did Josh Wise fail to qualify for this race? He was 34th fastest in qualifying, and was faster than six other GOGH cars that made the race. 8. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith won't return to the Furniture Row Racing #78 car next year. Kurt Busch is the likely candidate to replace him in 2013. Wow...after being so loyal to them the last four years and building them up from a weekly backmarker, moving out to freakin' Colorado in a NC-based sport, and giving them a win in the Southern 500 last year, and now he's told he won't be back with two months left in the season. Thanks a lot FRR. Good luck attracting sponsorship with Kurt Busch as your driver. 9. Daniel posted: 09.21.2012 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #23 Scott Riggs & #49 Jason Leffler Out using fastest 43: #32 Mike Olsen & #36 Tony Raines That really ticks me off about Furniture Row letting Smith go. He did a very good job for how mediocre that team is. 10. Anonymous posted: 09.21.2012 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #26 missed the race due to a shock violation in post-qualifying tech. 11. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.21.2012 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I still think Dave Blaney's good enough to run up front given the right car. 12. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.21.2012 - 7:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) i think blaney would have given the #22 car a top 25th place run, but not as good as hornish will do. but penske should let dave drive the #22 natiownide car for at least 1 race last this season now. 13. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) instead of continuing to let brad and joey ruin the nationwide races, penske should try some sponsors for next year to let a couple veterans like dave blaney and kenny wallace split the season in the #22 car. 14. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FRR has steadily improved since they hired Regan as their driver, he even won them a race (at Darlington no less) for them. I have no idea why they would go from Regan to a PR nightmare (and a better driver) named Kurt Busch? I seriously question that move. 15. cjs3872 posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anonymous (#5), what's probably going to happen is that Penske won't run the #12 car at Talladega since, as you said, that was to put Sam Hornish in the race. Since he's going to be in the #22 car, there won't be any need to have the third car in the race. Also, having a third car in that race could adversely affect Brad Keselowski's championship chances if it finishes ahead of Keselowski, as big a long shot as that might be, unless Keselowski crashes. Remember what happened with Penske's IndyCar team at Sonoma. Had Ryan Briscoe not gotten in front of Will Power, and if someone other than Roger Penske had been running things, Briscoe might have been told to give way to Power to aid Power's championship. But Penske likely won't run the #12 with Hornish in the #22. And remember that Blaney will be in the #36 for that race, and figures to be a major contender at Talladega, unless Penske wants him to drive the third car and Tommy Baldwin releases him from his obligations at TBR that weekend to do that. Also, there's a chance that a third Penske car might not make the field because of speed (their cars don't usually qualify fast there) or a potential rain out of practice and qualifying, because the #12 has only attempted less than a handful of races this year. 16. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And cjs, whether Dave Blaney drives the #36 or a 3rd Penske Cup car at Talladega, he could certainly help Brad out during the race if he can get to him in the draft. Remember, Brad pushed Blaney to a 3rd place finish there last fall. The new cooling system this year has hurt most smaller teams at the restrictor plate tracks (though the racing at Daytona has been much worse than Talladega), but if given the chance, maybe Blaney repays the favor to Brad. Taking a gamble and putting Blaney in a 3rd Penske car would be a better choice because he would have better equipment to drive up to the front and help Brad in the draft in case Hornish can't get to him or has a problem. I doubt this will happen, but if Penske wants to have a 3rd full-time Cup car in 2013, this would be a great race to test the 3rd car out (as crazy as that sounds, being that it is Talladega). 17. murb posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Total BS about Regan probably getting canned from the 78. Like Paul said, he's been loyal to them for three to four years. He even moved all the way out to Colorado just to be closer to them. And now he's probably getting shitcanned for the radio sweetheart. Hopefully Regan can find a good NNS or Truck ride that he can win in, because there aren't any Cup rides that he can do that in now. 18. Rusty posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why won't Penske just let Blaney run this race in the #22? It isn't like Hornish is running for points, why bother flying him back and forth? As for Smith, sucks for him. I think it shows that Furniture Row just couldn't afford two cars, because they've been drooling over Kurt Busch all year. 19. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) actually, penske might HAVE to run the #12 car at talladega, SKF was signed to sponsor that race with hornish (that was suppossed to be sam's 2nd cup start of the year) and since that deal with announced months ago, i assume that SKF has already paid for that race. 20. cjs3872 posted: 09.21.2012 - 8:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) But Paul, I think the last thing Penske wants to do is risk running another car that could beat Brad Keselowski at Talladega, no matter who the driver is, especially in light of what just happened to Will Power, his IndyCar driver, at the end of the season. And remember that these deals were in place when A.J. Allmendinger drove the #22 car. All that could change, now that Hornish is in the #22 car. After all, that deal was signed to get Hornish in that car, but now that Hornish is already in the #22 car, Penske might very well withdraw the #12 car for Talladega. And we all know that Penske's not going to run three cars next year, even if he has sponsorship, unless Brad Keselowski wins the championship, because of the points situation regarding the top 35 rule if it stays for next year, and even Penske can't risk having cars failing to qualify because of points and the potential of qualifying rain outs in the first five races of the season. But we'll know about the situation regarding the #12 car within a couple of weeks. 21. JG24FanForever posted: 09.21.2012 - 9:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pole! 22. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.21.2012 - 9:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) why would the top 35 prevent penske from starting a third team next year, hornish should have no trouble qualifying. besides, they would do what michael waltrip did this year and buy owner points from someone. 23. JG24FanForever posted: 09.21.2012 - 9:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thank God he shaved the "Crash Stache"! His Best Races with the "Crash Stache" were his runner-ups to Big E at the 600 and another at Michigan race 1 to Ricky Rudd all the way back in 1993. But.... 1992 Debut: Crash(31st) 1993 North Wilksboro 1: Crash(Dead last) 2012 Chicago: Crash(35th) Gordon should never,ever grow the Moustache. Because running 4th and having the throttle hang at 180 mph was by far his worst luck moment of the year. 24. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.21.2012 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder if Chad Knaus is one of Bill Belichick's disciples 25. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24, yeah I'm not sure why he wanted to bring it back. People always bring up the mustache, but I think they forget that the most luck he had with that 'stache was when he drove for Bill Davis in the Busch Series way back in '92. I think people remember it because he just looked goofy. And with the mullet, kind of a whiny voice, and rainbow paint scheme, he was very much the anti-Earnhardt back in the day. It would have been epic if he brought it back along with his rainbow paint scheme at Homestead as that would have made for a perfect 20-year anniversary moment. cjs, like Dave #38 Fan said, Penske could just purchase owner's points from another team as well. It's a shame that Kenseth is leaving the year Penske moves over to Ford because Roush could have transfered the #17's points over to the #12, and Matt would still be locked in with the past champion's provisional. But then again, this is Jack Roush we're talking about, so it probably wouldn't happen anyways. A more likely situation would be if they purchase the #32 team's owner's points. The #32 team is a fellow Ford team, plus they sold their 2011 points to MWR's #55 team for Daytona because they had Terry Labonte as their driver, who had the PCP (they then took over the #6 car's owner's points the following week). 26. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.21.2012 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Complete dumbass move by Furniture Row. The only positive to this is that I will no longer be living in the same state as Kurt. Other than that it is a lose, lose. Morons. 27. Jim Davis posted: 09.21.2012 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is everyone here saying that Smith would out perform Busch in the #78 next year? I find that hard to believe. 28. murb posted: 09.21.2012 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not saying that Regan could outperform Kurt, but I highly doubt that Kurt will do any better in the 78 than he has done in Finch's car this year. At least Regan has got potential. Kurt is quick to throw in the towel (Copyright: DSFF), while Regan is a young guy who has got a good head on his shoulders. And he's a proven winner. An impressive win at Darlington where he held off Carl Edwards who had fresher tires than him (and he also showed that he can win at plate tracks with Talladega '08, even though he wasn't officially scored as the winner). I think their original plan was to have Regan back in the 78 with Kurt coming over in a second car. But a lot of that depended on Dodge to come in and support them, which obviously won't happen now. So they basically had to choose between Regan and Kurt, and I guess they just wanted Kurt more. I hate it for Regan. Like I said before, I just hope he can find a good ride in one of the three series. 29. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I see three competitive rides that Regan could obtain next season, and all of them are with RCR in each of the three series. He least likely is driving a 4th RCR Cup car next year because I just don't see RCR re-expanding to four cars already, but he could very well replace Elliott Sadler in the #2 Nationwide car (of course OneMain Financial will most likely be leaving as well) and he could take over the #22 Truck as it was mentioned during the Truck race tonight that Joey Coulter is looking for a new ride for 2013. Regan already drives RCR equipment and has been rumored to a 4th Cup car this year, so I see this as a possibility. 30. JG24FanForever posted: 09.21.2012 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch is name on a T-Shirt that sells. Regan Smith just got screwed. After building that team, and taking a win that I value more than the Chase Championship(Not the 1975-2003 though)and putting up with a less than perfect car, without having any giant meltdowns or public outburst. What were they thinking? Kurt is going to ruin the cohesiveness of the Team. 31. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RPM is another possibility because they haven't signed either of their drivers for next season. It's likely they'll re-sign Ambrose, but Almirola could very well be a one-year hire. Bringing Regan into their organization would give them an oval-winning driver, which they haven't had since 2010. Of course, going to RPM wouldn't be a huge leap for Regan, as he would be moving over from the #3 RCR/EGR car to the #3 Roush-Yates car. Also, great news for fans of great racing. Las Vegas will most likely not be on the Truck Series schedule next year, and taking its place might include two road courses at Mid-Ohio and Mosport up in Canada, and two great short tracks at Myrtle Beach and South Boston. If this all comes true, along with having Rockingham and two Iowa races, the Truck Series will have by far the best schedule in NASCAR. 32. Paul posted: 09.21.2012 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "putting up with a less than perfect car, without having any giant meltdowns or public outburst" Ironically enough, Smith's only win came at a race where one of the biggest public outbursts occurred with the infamous Kyle Busch/Kevin Harvick incident. To this day, I still hold it against those two (especially Harvick for not letting it go) for taking away a lot of what was supposed to be Regan's shining career moment. "and taking a win that I value more than the Chase Championship" I'll go even farther than that. I think winning the Southern 500 is even bigger than the Daytona 500. Sure it doesn't reward the biggest purse, but it is the ultimate driver track. As seen from most of the Daytona 500s of the past 11 years, talent takes a backseat to equipment and the draft to win that race. By winning at Darlington with a mediocre team on older tires over one of the sport's top drivers in Carl Edwards, Regan proved that he indeed does belong in Sprint Cup. 33. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave #38 Fan and Paul, the reason I say that the top 35 rule would prevent Penske from running a third car for at least the first five races if Keselowski does not win the championship is that the third car would not have any safety net in case they're not fast enough at Daytona, or if qualifying gets rained out, or if they have a mechanical problem. If Keselowski wins the championship, Penske could start a third team and give that team Keselowski's points because Keselowski would then have the champion's provisional to use, if needed. But with only four spots open in time trials and three more in the qualifying races, and with the fact that Penske's cars have always qualified slow on the plate tracks in recent years, he just can't afford to take that chance if Keselowski does not win the championship. And if Penske did go to a third team, why would Roush transfer the #17 car's points to the #12 car. That would end up leaving Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. without a safety net for SpeedWeeks. That's one of the dumbest things I've seen here. It wouldn't make any sense for Roush to jeopardize one of his own drivers. Besides, if Roush wanted to move the points from one of his cars should Greg Biffle win the title, wouldn't it make more sense to move them to the #21 car, since it's a Roush farm team with a Roush-employed driver? As it is, if one team falls out of the top 35, the #21 car might move in anyways. And Paul, it's not accurate that if Regan Smith moved to RPM's #43 car next year, that it would be the #3 car for Roush. If anything, he would be the #5 Roush car next year, #6 when the #21 competes, if RPM is going to be associated with Roush at all. Petty might move his alliance to Penske for all we know. With Roush running three cars full-time, the Wood Brothers become the #4 Roush car when they compete, and the #9 RPM car becomes #5, and moves up to #4 when the Woods don't compete. Just look at the Woods performance when compared to RPM's performance when both compete. More often than not, the Woods beat one, if not both of Petty's cars. Indy was a perfect example, when Trevor Bayne passed both of Petty's cars in the final laps of that race. And I still think that Roush might pull Trevor Bayne from the Wood Brothers car for one or two of their final four races this season to get Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. some more Cup experience, which he badly needs for next year. 34. Jim Davis posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Regan Smith just got screwed." Really? If Smith decided to leave Furniture Row to take over the #20 or #22 rides if they had been offered to him would anyone be complaining that Furniture Row just got screwed? After giving Smith a car good enough to win at Darlington for his first and thus far only win? This is all just business. A contract has expired and one party feels that they can get a better deal with a third party. This time it was the owner, next time it might be the driver. Is Furniture Row supposed to resign Smith no matter who becomes available? Brad Keselowski? Tony Stewart? Jimmie Johnson? 35. joey2448 posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) POLE FOR BIG DADDY! Now go out and win on Sunday! "and taking a win that I value more than the Chase Championship" I don't know if winning at Darlington is more impressive than winning the Championship...Certainly the Chase cheapens it a little bit, but a driver still has to put together 10 good races. Also, could it be that FRR had their eyes on Kurt since he and Regan have drafted so well together in the past on restrictor plate tracks, particularly 2011 Speedweeks? 36. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, you completely missed the message I made on two different points. First of all, all I said was that it's too bad that Kenseth is leaving Roush because now they CANNOT transfer the #17's points over to the #12. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is not a Cup champion and therefore has no past champion's provisional, so it would make zero sense to transfer his points to a 3rd Penske car. Like I said, the best way for Penske to start a 3rd Cup team with owner's points is if either Greg Biffle or Brad Keselowski win the championship and transfer their points to Penske, or if they purchase the #32 team's owner's points because they could put Terry Labonte in the Daytona 500 like they did this year. To be honest, I'm insulted that you thought I meant they should transfer Stenhouse's 2013 owner's points to Penske. Come on. And I said that if Regan moved to RPM, he would join the #3 Roush-Yates TEAM, not car. RPM's cars are clearly not the 3rd best Ford cars out there as they're currently ranked 4th and 5th among Ford cars in the standings. And because the Wood Brothers are a part-time team, I consider them to be #2a as of now, and might be knocked down to #3a if Penske is indeed the #2 team next year. 37. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And another thing, it hasn't been confirmed that Regan will be leaving FRR. But according to Regan himself, he doesn't think he'll be retained by FRR next year. The team wanted to start a 2nd team and hire Kurt Busch to be the driver. I think you're right joey2448. I think a lot of that has to do with how well Kurt and Regan drafted together last year at the restrictor plate tracks, along with the fact that Kurt was going to be available come 2013. But when Dodge announced they were pulling out, I guess FRR felt they weren't going to get the manufacturer support they needed to run two cars competitively. Jim Davis, I'm not upset that FRR isn't re-signing Regan Smith, I'm upset that (if it indeed happens) that they've waited this long into the season to decide they didn't want him back. That, along with the fact that he moved out to freakin' Colorado to be close to the team's shop and helped build this team out of nothing. To me, this is another David Reutimann/MWR split, and I'd hate to think Regan's 2013 season will be similar to Reuti's 2012 season. Also, I'm a bit surprised that you seem to be defending Kurt Busch in this situation by saying he's the better driver, yet on the Richmond page you came off as if driving ability comes second to sponsorship, mentioning David Reutimann's driving ability compared to Danica Patrick's sponsorship. Yet, you're saying that FRR should hire Kurt Busch because he's (arguably) a better driver than Regan, despite his history of scaring off sponsors and being a PR nightmare. Regan brought a couple extra sponsors to FRR to go along with the team's namesake, and I don't see Kurt Busch being a better fit to that team than Regan is. 38. BON GORDON posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #72 BABY!!!! Well hopefully he can perform well on Sunday. He complained for much of the first practice when the car was in race setup. He's not a BIG fan of this tire and was around 39th fastest before posting 2nd fastest by the end running his qualifying setup. Hopefully they can get things fixed by Sunday but it's awesome he got another pole and is in prime position to make up points. 39. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry about that Paul, I missed the part about Kenseth leaving. But even if that wasn't the case, it still wouldn't make sense to transfer points from a Roush car to a Penske car before transferring them to a Roush satellite team first. And on the other point, I didn't consider Penske's team, because he won't be under the Roush satellite, though he will be using their engines (which is a big mistake, if you ask me). I was referring to the individual car more than the team, but if you're talking about the organization as a whole, you're dead on, Paul. Petty will be the #3 Roush organization, (a distant #2 when the Woods don't compete) if he stays aligned with Roush. Petty may decide to align with Penske if he stays with Ford, which it appears he will. And if the Wood Brothers align with their old rivals (Richard Petty if they align with Penske), which it appears they've done as much as with Roush the last two years, Roush could be in for a longer season than even I suspected, because Biffle's up and down, Edwards is up and down so much that it would register on the Richter Scale, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is so wild, that he's unreliable without a mentor, and I'm not sure how much Jimmy Fennig will help in that regard. 40. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 2:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I agree, I think Penske using Roush-Yates engines rather than their own is a mistake. I don't get the logic in using equipment made by your competition when you have the resources to use your own. Perhaps Penske plans on using the Roush-Yates stuff this year and take notes and use their own stuff in 2014 because they don't want to run the risk of having a bad Ford engine package their first year. And I'll admit, I don't see Penske obtaining the #16 team's owner's points if Greg Biffle manages to win the title (I think the points reset ended his title hopes). If what you say is true and RPM and Penske form a partnership, and the "Kurt Busch to RPM" rumors prove to be true, I suppose they could transfer the the #43 team's owner's points to Penske. But again, I don't expect Kurt to go to RPM, so this possibility seems irrelevant. I think their best option is for Brad to just win the title this year because then it wouldn't cost them to exchange owner's points. And with the way Brad's run as of late and by beating the #48 team last week, it's not an improbable solution. And if what you say is true, that the Wood Brothers will align with RPM and Penske next year (which I believe gives them the best chance to win), then Roush will definitely have a tough 2013 season. If they lose the Wood Brothers, then they'll be left with backmarkers FRM and FAS Lane (which could be good for those teams, but not Roush). Roush is already going into 2013 with crew chief and driver changes, not to mention their driver line-up has "inconsistency" written all over it, that they would have an uphill battle next year. Even if the Wood Brothers stay aligned with them, the Woods only drive at tracks that are at least 1.5-miles long, which are Roush's strongest tracks. If they lose RPM's satellite support, they lose much of their road course support (not a coincidence that Kenseth and Biffle each had strong runs on the road courses this year) and would be on their own on the short tracks. Sure Carl Edwards is capable of pulling off a strong finish at Bristol or Richmond, but it sure is easier to perform with better short track teammates than Biffle and the rookie Stenhouse to share information with. I mentioned on the other page that I expect Stenhouse's first few years in Cup to be similar to either Kurt Busch's or Greg Biffle's. I expect him to be inconsistent and even crash out a few times because of his aggressive driving style, but once he adapts to these cars, whether it be late 2013 or even in the 2014 season, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. I don't think he'll win a Cup race or contend for the Chase next year, but certainly having Jimmy Fennig as his crew chief will help him to stay calm when things go bad and bring him up when he's down. And I still think that it would be smart for Roush to run the #6 car at Talladega in a few weeks with Stenhouse as the driver because it would add another competitive Ford car to the mix to help Biffle and Kenseth out at winning the title. This way, if Carl or Trevor have issues, Ricky would be able to step in and work with Biffle and/or Kenseth in case they need a push to the front. Plus, since he's not racing for points, should Biffle or Kenseth have issues, they could have Ricky pull in and allow Biffle or Kenseth to pass him and pick up one extra position. 41. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And I apologize for blowing up at you earlier. I was already in a fiery mood and reading your comment pretty much set me off. 42. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 7:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ah man, las vegas could be off the truck schedule next year? darn. they always put on a decent show there, mostly because it's during the chase halfway across the country from wherever the cup race is this weekend and the trucks don't have any cup drivers in the field to stink up the show. i could see the trucks at south boston, they raced there until 2003. not so sure about myrtle beach, i don't believe nascar has been there since some busch races in the 90's. they need to add lucas oil raceway (IRP) back onto the truck and nns schedule's and drop the stupid brickyard and bring cup to LOR! 43. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 9:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave #38 Fan, the problem with bringing the top NASCAR series back to IRP is that the facilities there are far below par. you could probably have brought the Cup series there back in the 1970s or early 80s, but not now. The facilities there are far below current standards. That's one of the reasons why NASCAR wanted to move the Nationwide Series race from there to the speedway as far back as 10-12 years ago. They knew the facilities and seating there were not up to standard, but Tony George balked at that. Once George was out of the way, NASCAR finally got the final hurdle to moving those events to the speedway out of the way (even though it was not their doing), so the NNS race finally was moved to the speedway, and the truck race there was gonw completely. NASCAR also didn't want to divert the attention for NASCAR drivers away from the speedway that weekend, so they made it so that the NNS would run at the speedway and not penalize the drivers that wanted to run the NNS race at Indy by moving it to the speedway. 44. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 11:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) the IRP facility was always very nice and fan friendly, not sure what the problem was there. i can sort of see the problem of wanting all of the attention on the brickyard for that weekend, but why did nascar not have a weekened like the new hampshire / kentucky weekend like they're doing this week, have the cup in one place and a stand alone truck / nns weekend at irp? 45. Rusty posted: 09.22.2012 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It isn't like Kurt Busch has been hired by the #78 anyways. There is a rumor that Brian Vickers may get the ride, so it is mostly a bunch of people jumping to conclusions as usual. 46. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also, great news for fans of great racing. Las Vegas will most likely not be on the Truck Series schedule next year, and taking its place might include two road courses at Mid-Ohio and Mosport up in Canada, and two great short tracks at Myrtle Beach and South Boston. If this all comes true, along with having Rockingham and two Iowa races, the Truck Series will have by far the best schedule in NASCAR." Now just get N'wide and Cup away from Vegas then all will be right. Any NASCAR series at Mid-Ohio wouldn't be a good idea. That place is narrow, so it would be a demo derby (which i'm sure the fans would enjoy GREATLY). Mosport yes, i'd like to see that. I don't remember watching any races from Myrtle Beach and South Boston but wouldn't be a bad idea. (or are you just throwing those names out there for wishful thinking?) 47. murb posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ""Kurt Busch to RPM" rumors" I couldn't imagine anything worse than seeing a clown like Kurt driving one of the most iconic cars in history in the 43 car. Almirola doesn't seem to be cutting it, so I do expect him to be replaced. Hopefully by Regan Smith. I've heard that it is a done deal that Vickers will be in a full time JGR NNS ride (along with Elliott Sadler as a teammate), so I don't see him getting the 78 car. Kurt has been on their radar for months, so I don't see it simmering down at all. 48. 10andJoe posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >Dave #38 Fan, the problem with bringing the top NASCAR series back to IRP is that the facilities there are far below par. If you're referring to the lack of SAFER Barriers, according to Jayski NASCAR is studying the safety implications of running at short tracks without them (in a 'We plan to do this' kind of way). 49. Dave#38Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the truck series to myrtle beach and south boston rumors came straight from ray dunlap, a speed truck series pit reporter who has always been know for reliable information. 50. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When I was talking about the facilities at IRP, I was not talking about the track, which I think does have SAFER barriers (I didn't think so originally). In fact, the one good thing about IRP is the track. I was talking about the rest of the place from what I remember. For instance, until the late 90s, they didn't even have a serviceable pit road, and even with auxilary seating, the most they could get in would be about 25,000. And as far as a split weekend, Dave #38 Fan, that's excatly what they did there until this year when the series was in Indy. It's just that the two tracks were in the same area. They had the Cup race at one location and the Truck and NNS series races at another. 51. Jim Davis posted: 09.22.2012 - 1:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Yet, you're saying that FRR should hire Kurt Busch because he's (arguably) a better driver than Regan, despite his history of scaring off sponsors and being a PR nightmare." Surely there can be no argument that Smith is a better driver than Busch? As for sponsorship, this is a third tier team that is self sponsored so that issue doesn't really raise its head here. If the economy improves and many more sponsorships become available Busch's anger management issues might indeed become a liability to the team but that is years in the future. Furniture Row's goal at present is to survive until "happy days are here again" and Busch gives them the better chance. "Regan brought a couple extra sponsors to FRR to go along with the team's namesake,..." Well, then he can take them along in his search for a new and possibly better ride. "...and I don't see Kurt Busch being a better fit to that team than Regan is." Here I think you're on much firmer ground. Busch could come in and wreck a lot of cars by overdriving them. Maybe a journeyman like Smith who finishes mid pack but brings the car back is the better choice. I do think it possible that FRR might end up regretting hiring Busch. But it is a perfectly defensible decision and in no way can Furniture Row be said to be screwing Smith. 52. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.22.2012 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "the truck series to myrtle beach and south boston rumors came straight from ray dunlap, a speed truck series pit reporter who has always been know for reliable information." I'd take that ray dunlap says as good info. Too me, he is one of the few media members who don't spout BS outta their mouths when they talk. (atleast not regularly) 53. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "or are you just throwing those names out there for wishful thinking?" 1995 Subaru, it's not wishful thinking even though it may sound like it. I just put down what Ray Dunlap reported following the Truck race last night. And he never said that they were going to be on the schedule next year, but he did say that NASCAR was discussing adding races at those tracks. Mosport was the only one I heard was being discussed prior to last night. 54. Rusty posted: 09.22.2012 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was talking to someone who made an interesting point. We all know RCR is interested in Kurt Busch in a 4th car if sponsorship can be found, but they probably won't find one. Furniture Row has a technical alliance with RCR, so maybe it is possible that RCR is making some sort of under the table deal with FRR to put Kurt Busch in the car? 55. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) richard childress doing a dirty under the table move? i can't imagine him doing that *cough cough richmond fall 2011 cough cough* 56. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The replay just showed Austin Dillon getting "intimidated" by Sam Hornish, Jr. First time ever that the #3 has been intimidated by a Penske car. 57. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) are you sure about that paul? remember pocono in 2000? mayfield (in a penske car) intimidated the #3 right out of the lead. 58. Jordan posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse runs into Eric McClure exiting the pits. Not really McClure's fault, but has he done anything productive all year? I am surprised he was even on the lead lap at the time. 59. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave, I wouldn't consider that move by Mayfield as intimidation as much as it was a bump 'n run. Hornish intimidated Austin Dillon because he didn't make contact, but he got really close and caused Austin to move out of the way. 60. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McClure actually had his best finishes in the weeks following his return from his Talladega injury, but has since fallen back into his usual mid-late 20s runs. Also, ARCA driver Hal Martin will be joining TriStar Motorsports on a full-time basis next season with full sponsorship. I'm curious to find out what will happen to Mike Bliss and Jeff Green following this season because teams can only have 5 full-time cars in a series. My guess is Green will be the odd man out, which is a shame because he outperformed McClure while filling in during McClure's recovery. 61. Jordan posted: 09.22.2012 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is the limit 5 or 4 in Nationwide? It's a shame Hefty is partnered with McClure instead of a more talented driver. Stenhouse overdrove and hit the wall, leading to flat right-rear tire and he had to make a green flag stop. 62. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.22.2012 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the 4 cars to a limit applies to at least the top 3 nascar series, not sure about k&n or modifieds. 63. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anything new about that, Jordan? Stenhouse's problem has always been that he drives too hard, which is terrible for the longer races in the Cup series, because he'll be involved in crashes more than he should be. 64. Jordan posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This could really hurt him in Cup, because he won't just be running at the front all the time, and he tends to make his mistakes driving up from the rear of the field... he'll be doing a lot more of that in Cup. Is it a penalty to pass the leader under caution as you're entering the pits? Elliott Sadler pitted from second and was definitely ahead of leader Austin Dillon (who did not pit) at the commitment line. 65. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Luke Lambert made a rare mistake by having Elliott Sadler come down pit road and give up 2nd place as most of the other leaders stayed out. He currently has regained the point lead over Stenhouse by 1 point. 66. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is a shame that Regan Smith won't be back in the #78 next season, because he has truly overachieved with that team. That's a team I never saw coming close to winning a race, yet Regan pulled a win off at Darlington (the place where so and so teams can shine if they have good drivers, look at Ward Burton). Kurt Busch will be a good addition performance-wise, but is it really worth putting up with his insane tantrums? He might overdrive the car a lot as well, trying to pick up spots like he has this year in the #51. 67. Crash McGehee posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Questioning credibility of NNS winner's win. 68. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Helluva run by Johanna. 69. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did Stenhouse seriously put the blame on Eric McClure for their pit road incident? It came off that way with the way he phrased it. If anyone's to blame it's Stenhouse's spotter for not telling him to check up, or Ricky for not checking up if in fact he was told to. Then he doesn't put blame on himself for hitting the wall, so I guess it's McClure's fault for Ricky hitting the wall too. I thought for sure that Ricky was past putting blame on others for his mistakes, but I guess we'll have to wait at least another year for that to happen. Stenhouse and Austin Dillon confuse me because each week I have different feelings towards them, and most of it has to do with their interviews. When they do well and give a good post-race interview I like them, when they make mistakes and don't take the blame for them I can't stand them. Maybe it's just me, but I wish they were more consistent in their behavior because I find them hard to read or root for. Congrats to Austin Dillon for sweeping Kentucky in his rookie Nationwide season, reminds me of last year when Stenhouse swept Iowa for his first 2 career wins. Cjs, I never thought of it before, but after you brought it up on the Chicago page, I do see some similarities between Austin and Davey Allison. I wouldn't say Austin reminds me of Davey Allison quite yet, because like I said he hasn't won me over yet, but I see some of Davey in Austin now that you mention it. Great runs for Drew Herring, finishing 4th in his only scheduled Nationwide start of the year. Hopefully he gets more races and/or a full-time ride for next season because I think he has winning potential. Also, Johanna Long made a mistake by slightly going too far into her pit box, but managed to stay in 12th place and was actually gaining on Brian Scott in the last few laps. She tied her career best finish from Daytona, and his was her best non-restrictor plate finish. I don't know if you guys saw the Truck race last night, but I was pretty impressed by Brian Scott driving the KBM truck. I think his driving style is perfect for the Truck Series because I notice that he tends to overdrive the car from the center of the corner to the exit. Last night I never saw him overdrive the car and he finished top 5 with a top 5 truck; today however, he restarted 3rd at once point and overdrove the car several times in the ensuing laps and almost caused a wreck at one point by sliding in front of Alex Bowman, and later hit the wall, finishing 11th with a top 7-8 car. I think KBM should consider putting him in their truck full-time next season. 70. Mr X posted: 09.22.2012 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Amen DSFF, you beat me to it, I missed the race but after seeing the results, 12th place and on the lead lap, several laps and positions up on Danica in worse equipment at a track where equipment matters is immpressive. 71. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Mr X, Johanna Long was one lap down (one of three to finish one lap down), but you got the finishing position correct, and Long was one lap ahead of Danica. And making things worse for Danica was the fact that Cole Whitt, her teammate, was actually a contender late and finished two laps ahead of Danica. And Paul, if you're right about Stenhouse, it just shows me that he's not ready for the Cup series mentally, because he keeps making these mistakes. The pit road incident is subject to happen during any caution flag pit stop, but then he compounds it by running too hard and hitting the wall, dropping him to 31st, and although he rebounded to finish 17th, it could have been much better if he had only taken what the situation gave him, instead of hitting the wall going for too much, especially since it was still early. That's why I keep saying that at this point, Trevor Bayne should have been given the #17 Cup car full-time ahead of Stenhouse, with Stenhouse serving a stewardship in the #21 car, learning from the most experienced team in the sport. (Bayne's more conservative driving style fits the #17 better, anyways.) And like I've said, Stenhouse is so wild that, without someone else to mentor him, he could be plunging into disaster next year, and he proved it again today. He needs more experience, especially taking over a championship-caliber car, and I feel that the #17 team may have a hard time staying in the top 20 in points because of all the cars that Stenhouse is probably going to end up crashing. Putting a driver like Stenhouse in that car, with nobody to guide him, may end up being the biggest mistake Roush has ever made from a driver hiring point of view. 72. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree cjs. I thought that it would be best for both Ricky and Trevor if Trevor was able to run the full Nationwide schedule in 2013 and have Ricky run part-time for both the Wood Brothers in Cup and for Roush in Nationwide because I felt that Trevor had reached a great level in maturity and that he wouldn't need to team up with the Wood Brothers for a 2nd season as much as Ricky would. Ricky's interview reminded me of (I can't remember the race) when he ran over his crew members because he overshot his pit box, then blamed Erik Darnell for sitting in the stall in front of his as the reason for his mistake. It's like he can't take responsibility for his own faults and instead passes the blame onto someone else who had nothing to do with it. I will give him credit for rebounding after hitting the wall to finish 17th, but a calmer, more mature driver (such as Trevor Bayne) wouldn't have put himself in that position in the first place. Trevor is the type of driver who will take a 5th place (Nationwide) car and (if nothing goes wrong) will finish in 5th place, while Ricky will take a 5th place car and drive it up to 1st place, but may be at risk for knocking himself out of contention by his own faults. Cooler heads often prevail, and while Ricky seemed to have one last year en route to winning the Nationwide title, he seems to have lost it and jeopardized his repeat hopes with a mediocre finish today. Had Trevor been in that car this year, I think he would be right where Austin Dillon is this season. He may not win the title, but at least he's not going to do anything to lose the title like Stenhouse could very well do. 73. cjs3872 posted: 09.22.2012 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hence the comparisons I've made between Bayne and drivers like Terry Labonte and Benny Parsons, Paul. And when you speak of cooler heads prevailing, my mind always goes back to the 1987 Indianapolis 500, because when all kinds of crazy things were happening late in that race, the one man that was unfazed through everything was Al Unser, Sr. Jim Lampley of ABC Sports said it best when he said that Unser had the "coolest head on the track". Al almost never made a foolish mistake to throw a race away, and you and I think that Trevor Bayne's the same way. But when he got into a position where he had to push it to win at Texas last fall in the Nationwide race, he pushed it and stole that race from a dominant Carl Edwards on a late restart, then had to hold off Denny Hamlin, and never turned a wheel wrong in doing so. And Austin Dillon won today's race by doing the same thing, leting his main competition fall by the wayside for one reason or another, and then picked up the pieces and won easily. 74. Smiff_99 posted: 09.22.2012 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watch for me tomorrow, I'll be up in row 41 in turn 1.....I'll be wearing a brand new t-shirt in support of 'The Anti-Johnson', Brad Keselowski. I will wear it loud and I will wear it proud....lol Also, it should be fun to watch Hamlin work his way up through the field from 32nd. Barring any sort of fuel or equipment issues, I'd say he's gonna be top 5 by the end of the day. In fact, I'd so far as to say that good money would be on the top 5 being (in no particular order): Keselowski, Johnson, Hamlin, Gordon, Bowyer 75. Paul posted: 09.22.2012 - 11:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'd laugh if Darian Grubb put the qualifying tire pressures on the car during the race, causing Denny to lose his confidence only 20 laps into a 300-lap race and fails to regain that confidence until another crew chief change in 2014. Seriously, how incompetent do you have to be to leave the race setup tire pressures on the car during qualifying? I've never heard of any team, let alone a championship contending team, that made such a blunder late in the season. 76. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 2:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, "I think winning the Southern 500 is even bigger than the Daytona 500. Sure it doesn't reward the biggest purse, but it is the ultimate driver track." You ever been? It's a lot narrower in person, and you get the benefit of seeing the cars barrel into the turns at 180+ and simply slide it next to the wall all the way around through the turn. It's quite exciting watching from the entrance of turn three on the back stretch, because of how fast they go by you. Probably the best vantage point is Pearson Tower above turn 4, where they sweep inches from the wall on the exit of the turn. I was at this years race(iv'e been every year since 2009 and 2002 too!)and was playing jester and standing up and displaying a five almost every lap, while Johnson(He's my biggest enemy,but I like him)was in the lead. You wouldn't believe the Fan-Fare for Danica Patrick. Though as there was a group of people in front of me that stood up every time she passed by.Darrell Waltrip apparently said on Fox that Danica's debut in the Southern 500 "was one of the best ever" but he never said a word about Bad Brad's 7th and Joey Logano's 9th both in the 2009 edition. 77. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does anyone on here play Video Games? Maybe even played Dirt to Daytona for the PS2 or Gamecube? Since I love making list so much, here's my Top 35 Favorite Video Games. 1. Earthbound/SNES 2. Majoras Mask/N64 3. Twilight Princess/Gamecube 4. Dino Crisis 2/PSX 5. Silent Hill/PSX 6. Ocarina of Time/N64 7. The Wind Waker/Gamecube 8. Resident Evil 2/PSX 9. Resident Evil 0/PSX 10. Resident Evil Remake/Gamecube 11. A Link To The Past/SNES 12. Super Mario All-Stars/SNES 13. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis/PSX 14. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/PSX 15. Resident Evil Deadly Silence/Nintendo DS 16. Super Metroid/SNES 17. Final Fantasy VII/PSX 18. The Legend of Zelda/NES 19. Final Fantasy III/SNES 20. Goldeneye 007/N64 21. Castlevania: Bloodlines/Sega Genesis 22. Eternal Darkness/Gamecube 23. Chrono Cross/PSX 24. Resident Evil 4/Gamecube and PS2 25. Doom 64/N64 26. Silent Hill 2/PS2 27. Chrono Trigger DS/Nintendo DS 28. Silent Hill 4: The Room/PS2 29. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 30. Super Mario Bros. 3/NES 31. Streets of Rage 3/Sega Genesis 32. Metal Gear Solid/PSX 33. Contra Hard Corps/Sega Genesis 34. Super Punchout!!/SNES 35. Super Mario Bros./NES And here's my Top 12 Racing/Fighting games 1. Mortal Kombat 2. Dirt To Daytona 3. F-Zero 4. Street Fighter Alpha 3 5. Primal Rage 6. Destruction Derby 2 7. Mortal Kombat II 8. Need For Speed: High Stakes 9. Mortal Kombat: Trilogy 10. Gran Turismo 4 11. Mortal Kombat: Deception 12. Eternal Champions I figure at least one of you has to be a "Game Nerd". 78. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24, sadly no I have yet to see a live race at Darlington. I'd love to see in person how the cars enter the corners low and slide up to the wall because tv just doesn't do it justice. My all-time favorite Darlington race was the final Labor Day weekend Southern 500 when one of my all-time favorites Terry Labonte took his 22nd and final checkered flag. It was truly a full circle race for Labonte's career, as he made his first career start in the '78 Southern 500 (finishing 4th), won his first race in the '80 Southern 500, left there with the points lead after an 8th place finish in his '84 championship season, had a rare non-top 10 finish in his '96 championship season to keep the points race interesting, and finally winning his final race there in '03, the final Labor Day weekend Southern 500. It was the perfect way to end an era (that I wish hadn't ended), and the right guy won the race. I hope that when Terry finally hangs his helmet up for good, he makes his final start in the Southern 500. As for video games, you have a pretty diverse collection. I take it you're a Nintendo fan based on your large number of NES/SNES/N64/NGC games? I usually play racing, football, wrestling, Mario, occasionally shooter games myself. I love NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona. Right now I'm alternating between NASCAR Racing 2003 for the PC and Grand Theft Auto IV. As a matter of fact, I did a full Nationwide race at Kentucky earlier today. I had led most of the first 120 laps before I got caught up in a wreck started by some start-and-parkers. Despite this, I still pulled off a 5th place finish because all but 7 cars had been lapped during the course of the race. Brad Keselowski held off Austin Dillon for the win, btw. 79. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, it looks like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will be racing at Dover, Charlotte, and Homestead in Cup to prepare for his rookie season in 2013, with the possibility for more races if his Cup appearances don't hinder his Nationwide title hopes. I'm curious to see how he'll do at Dover because that track is notorious for being tough for young Cup drivers. With the change in horsepower from the Nationwide cars, along with the fact that Stenhouse wrecked there in the spring Nationwide race, I'm interested in seeing if he can keep the car clean. I think he'll either run top 15 and wreck, or he'll run top 25 and keep the car off the wall. I don't think he'll be able to keep the car clean AND run competitively, but running a race at Dover when he's not racing for points is a great move on Roush's part. I still think they should have Ricky run the Talladega Cup race as well because it is an off-week for the Nationwide Series, plus he could serve as an extra competitive Ford drafter for Kenseth or Biffle just in case Carl or Trevor fall out of the race. And just in case Kenseth or Biffle have problems during the race, they could have Stenhouse pull into the garage so they can at least regain one point towards the title. Also, David Ragan doesn't expect to return to Front Row Motorsports next year. He signed a one-year deal shortly before this season after being the front runner for the Penske #22, before Allmendinger became available. He says he wants to be in a competitive ride, and because of his history with Ford and having an oval Cup victory, it's possible he could replace Almirola at RPM. I don't think Ragan would be much of an upgrade over Almirola, but he does have more experience and has a slightly higher ceiling. 80. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Indeed I do love the Nintendo Brand. I find it fascinating that when Regan Smith won The Mother's Day Southern 500 in 2011,he became the first driver since Terry Labonte in the 1980 Labor Day Southern 500 to get there first career win in the event. Regan Smith was driving the No. 78 which is the year that Terry made his debut in that very event. Interesting. Iv'e won about 1200+ Cup races in career mode on Dirt To Daytona over a 7 year period,with about 55 Cup championships. The game just doesn't get old and even the newest Nascar racer: Nascar 2011, just doesn't have the correct handling characteristics that you get from Dirt To Daytona, even though Nascar 2011 is really good. 81. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speaking from multiple personal experiences, Darlington is one hell of a place to watch a race. The only downside is that I've pretty much ended up getting the same seats every year: sitting roughly somewhere right in front of the start finish line. I'd love to watch a race from the backstretch once... As for video games, I myself have a fair collection of games, although I myself mostly like platforming-type games like Mario. Some of my favorites include Mario, Sonic (the OLD Sonic games), Spyro the Dragon, Banjo-Kazooie, Earthworm Jim (I love the Banjo-Kazooie and Earthworm Jim series for their really screwy sense of humor-plus I think they're still fun to play to this day), and Kirby. And you might laugh, but I still have some old Pokemon games which actually still work to this day that I occasionally just play and fiddle about with. I do have a few NASCAR games...I have NASCAR Racing 2, NASCAR Racing 1999 Edition, NASCAR Heat, NASCAR Racing 4, and NASCAR Rumble for the Playstation, which is a fun game because it actually uses NASCAR cars and drivers in a more goofy, demo-derby type game. I find it fun to play once in a while. Here's something funny I might as well share: on NASCAR Heat, I actually DID manage to win the Daytona 500, but no sooner than I crossed the finish line and the game showed the results, instead of showing victory lane, the game crashed! That really bummed me out. For some reason my NASCAR Heat game just can't handle me actually winning Daytona. I don't know why, but if I win there (I've tried even with the race distance shortened), the game always crashes afterwards. Is the disc screwed up or something? 82. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm almost completely certain that I'm the only one sitting up at 4:30 in the morning waiting on The GP2 race held at the Marina Bay Street Cicuit in Singapore. Followed by the ultra epic Night Time Grand Prix of Singapore. Where my favorite F1 driver(Fernando Alonso)starts 5th, and my second favorite,(Pastor Maldonado)who out Qualified his teammate Bruno Senna by 3 full seconds!! starts 2nd next to Mclaren driving Genius: Lewis Hamilton. Singapore Night race+New Hampshire Chase+NHRA Texas Motorplex Countdown makes this a Very Grand race day,indeed. 83. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "For some reason my NASCAR Heat game just can't handle me actually winning Daytona. I don't know why, but if I win there (I've tried even with the race distance shortened), the game always crashes afterwards. Is the disc screwed up or something?" It's gotta be a Bug. For whatever reason, Nascar games of all shades just all seem to have something "Buggy" wrong with them. That even includes Nascar 2011. 84. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Boy, you aren't kidding. I was just looking up videos of NASCAR 2011 and found out that Mark Martin does backflips after winning races, as does every other driver. Even Bill Elliott and Danica Patrick! Plus they screwed up Bill Elliott's face so that he looks more like Trevor Bayne and A. J. Allmendinger's love child. Seems to me whoever designed that game wasn't terribly familiar with NASCAR... 85. joey2448 posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) HAHAHAHA Schroeder51! Yea Bill Elliott's face is a mess on NASCAR 2011. And every driver does a backflip off the car when you win with them. I guess the designers figured if it's good enough for Carl, it's good enough for every driver. I'm not too familiar with a lot of games today, but I must say my favorite racing game is Forza Motorsport 4....Just an absolute joy to race almost any car you want, and it's very informative too! Actually, right now I'm playing Madden 13 (also very fun), while waiting for the Singapore Grand Prix to begin! Huzzah for no sleep! 86. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24, you're not alone. I have watched GP2 since the inaugural season. 87. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell yeah. Great to see such adamant fans of Motor Racing. I'm going to be faded out by the time of the NHRA Drag Race tonight at 8:30, but today is just so damn great. Go Gordon!! Go Alonso!! Go Maldonado!! Go Force!! Go Schumcher(Tony)!! 88. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^^^ That should read "Go Schumacher(Tony)!!" 89. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't know the GP2 race was going to be run in sunlight. I assumed it'd be darkness, too. 90. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^^ I guess this would be the very first Day race at this facility then. 91. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) one thing I like about GP2, is that you can take The Crown only once and when you become Champion you're automatically retired from the sereis. I know little about these Teams, but my favorite is Ocean, because the name is dreamy. 92. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Ocean Racing is Portuguese... Atlantic Ocean, Ocean Racing, ha ha? This track needs to get a facelift. It is sick when the race is so slow that they have to switch to timed distance because it takes them longer to run a 3.1 mile lap here than it does to run a 4.5 mile lap at Spa. 93. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24, why not go enter some picks in the F1 Predictor Cup while you still have time. 94. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Starting to get nervous about the F1 race. I just hope Grosjean doesn't fly into Alonso at the first corner, and I hope Maldonado can keep his head and get his second career Podium. 95. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darlington is a great place to watch a race. I went once for the old Labor Day Southern 500 and sat on the backstretch in the boiling heat (1998). Then I went back this year on the frontstretch with awesome seats way up high. It is a thrill watching them fly into that narrow little groove. Just a very unique place to see a race. They couldn't re-create Darlington if they tried. Of course I am still partial to Martinsville. Everything is right there in front of you. And the atmosphere is just great. Like a county fair. And oh yeah the racing kicks ass. Anyone ever been to Dover? I'd like to go once. I'd like to get seats going in to Turn 1 when those cars drop into the corner. Seems like it would be a great place to watch a race. As for video games, anyone mention F Zero? 96. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 8:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I mentioned F-Zero in my Favorite Racers list. and by the way, I would crush you on F-Zero. Wait.. even though it's not Two player. 97. startandparkfan posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just got NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona... Better than 2011! Can't wait till inside line. Also a GT5 Fan. 98. startandparkfan posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Come on Kimi Raikkonen! 99. startandparkfan posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Problem is... I don't live near many tracks. Pocono is about 2 hrs away, and I went there for last years Pocono 500 (or whatever they called it). Not to good, since I couldn't see around the whole track. I want to go to Dover, since it is great racing, but it is farther away. Has anyone been to Lime Rock Park? I was there on Labor Day for the Historic Race. Cool track, Infield camping is cool! I live about 2 and a half hours from Stafford Springs, and 3 hours from Thompson. It is about 1 hr 45 min to Wall Stadium, where Martin Truex Jr got his start, as well as brother Ryan, and Ray Evernham. 100. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That sounds like a challenge to me JG24Fan! My NASCAR video game preference is NR2003 for the computer. I love all the mods you can download like the AeroWar88 mod. It is also great downloading past tracks like Riverside. I need to try to find old tracks that were big deals back in the day. I need to find Asheville Weaverville Speedway. They used to run a race in the summer called the Western North Carolina 500 that used to be one of the majors due to the crowd it attracted. Also, paved tracks 1 mile or longer were big deals like Raleigh and Trenton, then of course Atlanta and Charlotte and that track in Florida were big deals to win. And for the record, Fireball Roberts won at each of those tracks except Charlotte (which ultimately killed him). 101. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 09.23.2012 - 1:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Grandstand seating sold out today, first sell-out of the year. Great job NH,S/ 102. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 09.23.2012 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As for video games, for actual serious simulations, I go to GP4, Rfactor, Iracing ect. GT5, Forza feel dull to me. I really like the new F1 game as well, exactly what a console racing game should be. For nascar nothing beats nr2003, even iracing. For places to watch a race, I'm in bermuda, so not exactly the greatest place to be a motorsport fan... When I lived in SA in the 80s and britain/us later it was better. But if you really want an awesome weekend, you may call me crazy, but go to the Hungaroring. Budapest is a fantastic city, cheap prices at the circuit, some fantastic viewing and while not much happens on circuit, there is plenty of action in turn 1. Plus on friday/saturday they let you walk around the circuit and watching a f1 car go through corners 6-10 there is incredible. Much better to attend than even spa and silverstone which I've been to. In terms of an oval, Richmond is fantastic, by far the best facility and track I've been to to watch a NASCAR race. 103. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, if you go to "rustyfx.com", they have a great selection of MODS and tracks to download. There's a drop-down menu at the top-left of the screen that'll give you everything you need. I myself downloaded Trenton Speedway, including a fictional one of how it may have looked like in 2006. I couldn't find Raleigh Speedway or Asheville, but I did find a unique figure 8 track called Raleigh Raceway Park that I'd recommend checking out. As for NASCAR 2011, they released a patch about a year ago that updated the roster (which didn't involve Bill Elliott's face) and fixed the backflip celebration so that only Carl Edwards does it, among other things. That game was actually developed by a lot of people that helped create NASCAR Racing 2003. It was their first console game and it was a good first effort, but that game had maybe the worst damage model out of all the NASCAR games. 104. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF always brings up oddball stats like: Bobby Allison never winning Martinsville or Cale never winning the Spring Darlington event. I found Jeff Gordon's only true "oddball" stat is this: At Charlotte he has 5 Wins and 8 Poles But the man has never Led The Most laps. 105. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) New England always packs that place. Kudos to those fans. 106. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has Dominated the most races in a season or been tied a record 9 times. He was tied with Jeff Burton in 1999 with 6. 1995-96,98-99,01-04,07 8 times in 10 years between 1995-2004 This is another of those impressive Gordon records,especially with the 4 straight. 107. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All-time leaders in Dominating the most races in a season: Top 5 with Tie-Breakers 1. Jeff Gordon 8(1995-96,1998,2001-04,2007) 2. Richard Petty 7(1962,1964,1967-68,1970-71,1975) 3. Cale Yarborough 5(1974,1976-78,1980) 3. Dale Earnhardt 5(1986-88,1990,1993) 5. Bobby Allison 3(1972,1982-83) 5. Darrell Waltrip 3(1979,1981,1984) 5. Jimmie Johnson 3(2008-10) I love this stat because it gives Gordon an extra boost in his All-Time ranking. 108. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can we give Denny Hamlin the trophy already in this race? It took him less than 100 laps to get to the lead and seeing how fast his car is, it's pretty obvious he'll win if nothing happens to him. 109. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is anybody paying attention to the "Denny Show"? 110. murb posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I've kind of lost interest in this race. Denny's got it wrapped up unless they have a late race screwup like they did in July. 111. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A fake caution to keep June on the lead lap. 112. joey2448 posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've been switching between the race and football, but it's been a delight seeing Denny race to the lead cuz I picked him to win. Looks like the 24 team went with their usual "pit for four tires on every caution" strategy...I just wanna see Jeff Gordon get a top-five today. JG24FanForever, when you say Jeff is the all-time leader in races dominated in a season, do you mean races in which he's led the most laps? What's the criteria? 113. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "JG24FanForever, when you say Jeff is the all-time leader in races dominated in a season, do you mean races in which he's led the most laps? What's the criteria?" It counts as leading the most laps in a race. 114. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Seeing Kid Rock helping promo these Chase races reminds me of how annoying he is. Who actually likes him or his music again...? 115. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) this race reminds me of that commercial they played all the time last year with denny hamlin where he says "it's denny time". 116. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They changed a Spring Rubber in Gordon's car and Jeff didn't understand why. now he's complaining that he has no rear grip, but his car seems pretty excellent on the long run, so I believe Gustafson knows what he's doing with the car at least. 117. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) pit strategy could be about to get interesting, with most of the leaders not pitting under the last caution and most of the back half of the lead lap cars taking tires and fuel. 118. RaceFanX posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two-time Busch North series champion (now K&N East) Mike Olsen unexpectedly get to make his Sprint Cup debut in the #32 Ford, he even got mentioned in the ESPN broadcast as he was lapped. Great to see the veteran 44-year-old Olsen get a chance in the era of 'young guns.' 119. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) looks like the #18 just lost a cylinder. 120. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch is possibly down a cylinder. If there's anyone rivaling Jeff Gordon for the screwiest season, I think Kyle is the leading candidate. 121. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin:"it's so hard to control down the straight aways" while he puts half a second on the field per lap. 122. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another fake caution. It seems lately the only way a caution can come out here at New Hampshire is if it's a fake caution. 123. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) and that takes pit strategy, the only thing that might have made this race interesting, out of the equation. for a fake debris caution. 124. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Sheriff leads the way! 125. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I spent much of the last hour and a half watching my Vikings knock off the then undefeated 49ers. By looking at the comments and the current leader board, it looks like I haven't missed much other than Kyle Busch's season-long engine woes continue. Gordon seems to be in position for a solid top 5 rebound after last week's crash. Without a caution, I see him finishing 3rd or 4th. 126. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It'll be interesting to see how Paul's strategy works for Brad. Was 8th, came out 4th. Let's see where it ends up. 127. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course they have to have another fake caution... 128. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) what a joke... 129. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for nothing. This erases Denny's 5-second lead. A lot of cars near the end of the lead lap are pitting. 130. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Like I said last week, if you have to throw that many debris cautions to keep things interesting, it is time to re evaluate things. 131. murb posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I haven't been paying attention to the race at all, but from what you guys are saying, it sounds like a total phantom race. 132. NadeauFan91 posted: 09.23.2012 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This reminded me that that horrid California race happened this year...this is horrible. 133. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) New Hampshire has a bad habit of having dull races like this... 134. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon cracks 18 consecutive 8+ Top 5 seasons. Denny Hamlin was the most Deadlock for a win before a race in years. 135. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Glad that ordeal is over. The playoffs start with two stinkers. 136. Jordan posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least Creepelowski didn't win. 137. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And again I ask: does Kenseth wear his street clothes under his uniform? He'll be on his plane and in the air in the next two minutes. 138. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon takes over second place in career Chase Top 5's with his 31st moving past Carl Edwards who has 30. It was also Gordon's Chase second best 50th Top 10 and Chase third best 8th Pole. Yes, a very good day. 139. Bronco posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Going to have to retract what I said in #5. Denny flat out crushed them, and the fact that he started in the back made it all the more impressive. And it looks he is back in the championship hunt, although the #48 is still the favorite. Really sucks to see the two most consistent drivers of the year, Dale Jr and Biffle, getting hosed by the farce that is the chase. I know their teams have dropped the ball in the first two races a bit, but every year I just hate seeing guys sneak into the chase and then their performance drastically improves, leading to an artificially high season's rank. 140. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Doubt Dobore will be any better, last good race there for the Cup Series was 2009 and Jimmie Johnson dominated the Spring race. Talladega could be interesting but after that you'll have the Charlotte Aerofestival followed by the (looking at vegas 07 when they did the same thing) Kansas Ice Skating Arena championship which means we'll have to wait all the way to October 28th at Martinsville to likely see a good race. Terrible schedule for the chase. 141. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only thing that caution did was allow Gordon to pass Bowyer on that final restart. I really don't see the point in throwing these phantom cautions because if a driver is as dominant in a race as Denny Hamlin was today, what's throwing a caution going to do? Nobody was going to pass him anyways, provided he didn't drop a cylinder like his teammate did. All that caution did was make the race take longer to finish, so I have a problem with NASCAR trying to play God with these phantom cautions. DSFF, it didn't look like Paul Wolfe's 2-tire call had much of an impact on Brad's finishing position, as he was about 7th before the call and wound up 6th. Listening to Kyle Busch's radio transmission on ESPN, it sounds like we got a near-meltdown on the radio when he discovered his engine was running rough. Dave Rogers was calmly told him to check his gauges, and Kyle said something along the lines of "I did check my gauges. I know something's wrong, I'm not stupid." I think that their relationship has fallen apart and a crew chief swap at JGR between the #18 and #20 teams would be a good change. 142. murb posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think that their relationship has fallen apart and a crew chief swap at JGR between the #18 and #20 teams would be a good change." This. Dave Rogers is a laid back crew chief who would fit perfectly with Kenseth, and Kyle and Ratcliff already are a proven combo with their NNS success. It would be a smart move. 143. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul's call gained Brad at least 2 spots. They were 8th, and who knows how it would have turned out with that last caution. This is a critical two race stretch for Brad, two of his poorer race tracks. tracks. 144. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought it was a very typical New Hampshire race. The only thing I didn't like was of course the phantom cautions. Rediculous, even if Gordon gained another spot on the final restart. I don't think it was boring and I wish they would put a road course in the chase and end the season at Daytona. You can take out Talladega and put it earlier in the season. Yes, yes I know, why would you wanna end the season with a restrictor plate track. It would be exciting and it would play a role in the final standings but you have nine other races to get the job done. I say start with Daytona and end with a Saturday night race at Daytona for the title. I'm sorry fellas, I love NASCAR and I don't think these races are boring. HOWEVER, what I do hate are phantom cautions. They want fans, stop this WWE fake caution garbage. 145. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, a big congratulations to Joe Gibbs and the entire JGR team on achieving 100 career Cup wins. They won their first race way back at the 1993 Daytona 500 with Dale Jarrett, and have also gone on to win 3 Cup championships, twice with Tony Stewart and once with Bobby Labonte. I'm surprised nobody in the media mentioned this leading up to this race and I didn't find out until Allen Bestwick mentioned it with about 30 laps to go. I guess that just goes to show you how much love the media has for Hendrick. It's been a while since I rooted for a JGR driver (about the same time Bobby Labonte left after '05), but I've always had tremendous amount of respect for Gibbs and am happy to see him reach this career milestone. 146. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No offense, BON GORDON, but you'd be hard pressed to move the second Talladega race to an earlier date in the year and move the July Daytona race to the end of the year because it is way too hot in Alabama in the summer for the race to be feasibly run there. As I recall they moved the second Talladega date BECAUSE it was too hot in the summer. 147. Anonymous posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) dreadful race 148. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We should have armed these guys with koopa shells, thunder bolts and banana peels just like in Mario Kart and let these guys take each other out with them it would have made the race a lot more interesting. 149. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And don't forget the fake item boxes. Denny needed to be hit by 9 or 10 blue shells. 150. 10andJoe posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 sponsor: Mohawk Northeast 151. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #148 Kind of like NASCAR Rumble. If you've ever played that game, the NASCAR cars could launch ice powerups that froze your opponents, lay down "bad gas cans" that caused your car to go super slow, or they could even launch off tornadoes that caused a lot of havoc. Try imagining this race with the cars shooting off tornadoes every 5 minutes. 152. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yea it's hot, so what. They can change it back. 153. cjs3872 posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First of all, a major reason the racing is lacking at NHIS is that the track is incapable of putting on good races. I say that because it's virtually impossible to pass, unless you have a truly superior car. The aerodynamics of the cars also has something to do with this, and that's an unfixable problem. Just look at how the field spread out in the last 23 laps. Even Jeff Gordon, who was third (and deserved to be), was a full straightaway behind the winner. But another reason for the lack of action is the lack of cars intending to go the distance, and the lack of competitve cars in NASCAR today. Only 33 cars tried to go the distance, meaning there were 10 cars, including two exempt cars (the 13 and 36), that had no intention of running the full distance. and a number of those 33 cars are simply not competitve. One, the #32 car was 11 laps behind, and another seven or eight are just hopelessly uncompetitive. By my count, that means that there are no more than 25 competitve cars running these days. With so few cars competitive, there's going to be a lot of conservative driving, because a number of the elite teams know that if they don't screw up badly, or don't have a rare mechanical problem, they're going to have a decent finish, because they know if they don't make mistakes and have a decent car, thy should be near the top 15-20 on any given day, because of the lack of competition. That's why I've said that the level of competition, from an overall point of view, is the lowest since the mid-to-late 90s. And I think that's what we're seeing. The combination of the fact that it's almost impossible to pass, when combined with the lack of competition (only 22-25 competitve cars out of 43), the conservative driving, mostly brought on by the current point system, and the increased frequency of pit stops under green due to the decreased range that the cars can go before having to pit, are what's causing these boring races. And it's happening everywhere, not just Loudon, but tracks like Loudon, Auto Club Speedway, and IMS, to name a few, are just incapable of putting on good races. They never have and they never will, unless major changes are made. 154. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And I don't know about anybody else but NASCAR Rumble was one of my favorite games of all-time. I played that game for hours and hours. I could beat anyone on this site at that game or NASCAR Thunder 2002-NASCAR the game 2011. 155. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You'd be hard pressed to beat me at NASCAR 2005 on the GameCube. 156. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Haha, bring it. I haven't found a good rival yet. 157. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm sorry fellas, I love NASCAR and I don't think these races are boring. HOWEVER, what I do hate are phantom cautions. They want fans, stop this WWE fake caution garbage." NASCAR had better make the fans happy (never gonna happen) or other wise another stupid gimmick will be created for the fans. But since races are "boring" then the fake cautions will keep coming to keep them entertained. But instead, fans complain about fake about cautions for them. NASCAR is about keeping the very same people happy, that will never be happy or appreciate what NASCAR does for them on a weekly basis. Every race now a days is boring, so i guess NASCAR should throw as many fake cautions as possible to keep the peanut gallery people happy. Even tho they will be the very same people taking a shit on NASCAR any chance they get. Congrats to Hamlin on getting Coach his 100th Cup win and laying waste to the field in process. Hopefully, you'll get him his 4th Cup does have the name "Labonte" or "Stewert" on it. 158. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree with you 100% 1995 Subaru. It seems like no matter what you can't please the "fan base." The debris cautions need to go though. NASCAR doesn't need them. 159. Schroeder51 posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's not just NASCAR's fanbase, it's pretty much ANY fanbase of anything in general that is hard to please. Hell, I think it might as well be "the human race in general is hard to please". 160. BON GORDON posted: 09.23.2012 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm easy to please. As long as Gordon is running good I don't care too much. 161. ch posted: 09.23.2012 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor changes: 33 - Circle Sport 91 - Humphrey Smith Racing 162. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'd rather watch a boring race that gets dominated by one driver, than watch a boring race that gets dominated by one driver with phantom cautions thrown in there as a way to keep the race exciting. The problem with that is when you're at a place like NHMS that doesn't put on great racing to begin with, throwing a caution will only bunch the field up for the restart. After a couple laps, the leader will regain some of his big lead and we're back to where we were before the caution, with the exception of a couple passes (i.e Jeff Gordon taking 3rd away from Bowyer). All it does it delay the inevitable and make the sport look fake. So without phantom cautions the race is boring, with phantom cautions the race is boring and fake. The problem isn't that we need more caution flags. The real problem is a culmination of things which include cars that are too aerodynamically sensitive and dependent, tracks that only re-enforce that aerodynamic sensitivity and dependency, tracks that suck (pretty much the same thing), too many uncompetitive cars, and too many competitive cars that have no shot at winning (RPM, FRR, JTG). All they're doing is putting a band-aid over a problem that needs to be surgically-repaired, and no 300-lap race filled with single-file racing and phantom cautions is going to change that. Knowing NASCAR, they'll just add another lap to this race the same way they did to the July race, thinking that that'll put asses in the seats. 163. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 8:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm easy to please. As long as Gordon is running good I don't care too much." I am too. I actually liked this race better than Chicago, and part of that had to do with Gordon's finishing position, which is why I still have a bad taste in my mouth from an otherwise great Martinsville race this past spring. I just hate seeing the sport I love being reduced to a show rather than a legitimate competition. 164. 18fan posted: 09.23.2012 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR didn't add the extra lap at New Hampshire, Lenox Industrial Tools wanted to do that as part of a promotion and it's stuck. NASCAR has no control over the distance of the race, I don't think. I think the tracks control that, like Pocono and California shortening the races the last couple years. 165. cjs3872 posted: 09.23.2012 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, you must have read my post (#153), because those are some of the very same reasons why I think the quality of racing is lacking. Add to your points the conservative racing brought on by the point system (something even Darrell Waltrip brought up at Richmond earlier this year), and the fact that there aren't as many cars even trying to run the distance. For instance, today there were 10 cars, including two exempt cars (the #13 and #36), that didn't even try to run the distance, so there were really just 33 cars out there trying to get to the finish, and every one of them did without incident. But I disagree with you on the competitve/uncompetitve car thing to a degree. Some of the cars you mentioned as competitve (like the 47 car) are not competitive. As I mentioned, out of a 43-car starting field, only 33-37 try to run the full race, and 10-14 of those aren't even competitive, and about 4-6 others are only competitve some of the time. For instance, the #31 car is only competitve about a third of the time, which is why I say that Childress needs to get someone else in that car. And there are other competitive cars (such as the 51 and 78) that have uncompetitive teams. As a result, drivers are racing conservatively just to get to the finish, because they know they'll have a decent finish if they just get to the finish since only about half the starting field is actually competitve. A lack of quality cars is definately hurting the cmpetition on the track and contributing to the lack of cautions and competition this year, and I think it's only going to get worse next year, because the car count, where quality cars are concerned, is not going up in 2013. 166. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.23.2012 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The problem isn't that we need more caution flags." Reason Bristol was boring, not enough cautions, wrecks, cars looking like modifieds and so on. "All it does it delay the inevitable and make the sport look fake. So without phantom cautions the race is boring, with phantom cautions the race is boring and fake." If this race went caution free, there would be an outcry over how boring it would be. Since NASCAR cares about the fans so damn much they do what they can and backfires on them. Lose-Lose situation. "The real problem is a culmination of things which include cars that are too aerodynamically sensitive and dependent, tracks that only re-enforce that aerodynamic sensitivity and dependency," The new car is "supposed" to get rid of that problem but i already see an issue: it is called "AIR." It is a fluid and it moves is magical ways. As long as one car is front of another, AERO ISSUES will be around. It isnt' a "spec car" by any means but AERO ISSUES will be a problem. "I agree with you 100% 1995 Subaru. It seems like no matter what you can't please the "fan base." The debris cautions need to go though. NASCAR doesn't need them." As long as the peanut gallery people keep complaining about "boring" races, fake cautions will keep coming. 167. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.23.2012 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) People Complain about anything and everything even you 1995 Subaru. I am sure you were complaining about the Detroit Lions 2008 Season 168. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.23.2012 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Biggest Thing that NASCAR needs to change is its leadership 169. 10andJoe posted: 09.23.2012 - 10:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the by, how awesome was the 55's paint job for this race? It really made the car look retro, in a good way, like a late-80s/early-90s car. 170. 10andJoe posted: 09.23.2012 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh, something that just occured to me about Penske starting a third team vs. retention of the top 35 rule: there's actually a team they could probably get points to be locked in from easily: the 32. 171. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I think JTG Daugherty Racing is capable of running competitively. The problem I see is a team with a conservative driver and a conservative team that would rather run 20th-25th all race than take a chance at getting a top 15 and risk tearing the car up. Add that in to the points system that offers little reward for gaining positions, and you have what JTG Daugherty has achieved so far this season. I think they have the resources and sponsorship to run competitively, but due to several different factors, they choose not to do so. Another thing that I think has hurt JTG is that they get their engines from Triad Racing Technologies, rather than from Toyota Racing Development. Now switching over to TRD engines might not make much of a difference because they'd be 7th in line after the 3 JGR cars and the 3 MWR cars, but right now they're one of only two teams that run the distance with TRT engines, and the other team is the first year BK Racing team, who has outperformed JTG several times this season and are only going to get better this offseason. Maybe Penske Racing should have left Dave Blaney in the car for the entire weekend. Blaney qualified the car 10th, but Hornish taking over resulted in him having to start and the back, but it seemed like he never reached the top 20 all race. Brian Vickers had to start at the back as well, but he rebounded and ran top 5 in the 2nd half of the race before settling for a 9th place finish. I think it was a mistake having Hornish drive the car after not being in it all weekend up until today, and the results show. He did do a good job keeping the car clean, but he was slow all day as his teammate ran top 10 most of the race. Again, I think the fact that Penske had Hornish in the car today shows that he wants to put him in a 3rd full-time car next season. Whether he does so primarily has to do with the sponsorship situation and the owner's points situation. I think if Brad wins the title it's a done deal, but we'll have to wait and see until then. And since Penske already had the #12 on the Talladega entry list with SKF as the sponsor, does anyone know if Penske is committed to putting that car on the official entry list in two weeks, or if he can withdraw it without upsetting SKF? If he keeps it, I think Dave Blaney would be the perfect driver for that car because of his son's relationship with Penske, plus he's proven to be really good at Talladega in bad equipment, so an equipment upgrade would only help. Another name that we should consider is the recently re-instated A.J. Allmendinger. Penske has stated that he would like to bring A.J. back to his organization (not saying which series), and A.J. wants to get back in a Cup car. If Penske is obligated to putting the #12 on the track at Talladega, A.J. could be a good fit. 172. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More Dumb stats: Jeff Gordon reaches 204 Podiums, 2nd in the Modern era to Big E's 205. Jimmie Johnson reaches 98 Top 2's, surpassing Rusty wallace for 7th in the Modern era; Denny Hamlin matches the truly great Terry Labonte and Matt Kenseth in career wins with his 22nd. 173. 10andJoe posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >I think JTG Daugherty Racing is capable of running competitively. IIRC, Brad Daughtery has explicitly said they're /not interested/ in running competitively. Their sole purpose is to be a rolling billboard and nothing more. 174. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 10andJoe, I actually mentioned that on post #36 that Penske could purchase the #32 team's owner's points to be locked into the first five races. MWR did that prior to this season to get the #55 car locked into the first five races, and the #32 team was still locked in because they entered Terry Labonte, who had the past champion's provisional, to drive their car at Daytona. They then obtained the #6 car's owner's points after that race to be locked into the next four races and have since maintained a top 35 points position. Also, have you guys noticed that every full-time, full distance team is locked into each race? The #13 and #36 occasionally start-and-park, but the other 33 teams all run the distance. The first team outside the top 35 is the part-time #21 team (that has no problems qualifying), and all the normal start-and-park teams are as well. So for anyone who complains about start-and-park teams taking money and robbing other teams, the only teams they are robbing are fellow start-and-park teams. So while this is an imperfect system that I hope gets absolved by the pre-2005 qualifying rules, it could be worse. 175. Baker posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt Kenseth is eliminated in my playoffs. 1. Jimmie Johnson 2123 2. Brad Keselowski 2120 -3 3. Denny Hamlin 2106 -17 4. Kasey Kahne 2093 -30 5. Tony Stewart 2085 -38 6. Clint Bowyer 2073 -50 7. Ryan Newman 2048 -75 8. Dale Junior 2041 -82 9. Kyle Busch 2039 -84 10. Greg Biffle 2032 -91 Newman, Junior, Busch and Biffle are all in danger going into next week. Jimmie, Kese and Denny would be mathmatically safe and Kahne would only have to start to be safe from elimination. 176. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "IIRC, Brad Daughtery has explicitly said they're /not interested/ in running competitively. Their sole purpose is to be a rolling billboard and nothing more." I know, which is why they don't run competitively on race day. I do think they have the resources to run competitively, but they'd rather take their money and their 20th-25th place finish and go on to the next race. If you ask me, they're no better than the start-and-park cars that "steal money from teams that intend on running the distance, even though all teams that intend on running the distance are locked in via the top 35 rule." 177. Paul posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Denny Hamlin matches the truly great Terry Labonte and Matt Kenseth in career wins with his 22nd." That's a great accomplishment for Denny to be mentioned in the same sentence as the likes of Labonte and Kenseth. I won't say he's at their level of greatness until he can win (and/or not lose) a championship, but he's getting there. And don't forget that his win today had him pass the late great Benny Parsons on the all-time wins list. Parsons, Labonte, and Kenseth all have something in common: They all were content with a top 10 finish rather than risk tearing their cars up going for a win, and they never lost a race by beating themselves. As a result, they have four championships between them, and Parsons and Kenseth are the only modern era drivers to win a Cup championship having only one win during the season. 178. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Funny, in the early 90's there was no complaining from the fan base about the quality of competition. Better tracks, better tires, clean air not quite king yet, no oversaturation of the schedule (you got enough off weekends it didn't wear you out), etc. That is the thing, NASCAR can throw as many gimmicks at it they want (lucky dogs, wave arounds, phantom cautions every 100 miles) but it doesn't change anything. Denny whipped the field and everybody knew nobody had anything for him unless he encountered trouble. Just like the old days at times. NASCAR has simply made a lot of short sighted decisions after the quick buck and are paying for it now. And while I am whining, I would like to add this: I hate the new points system. Jeff Gordon finished 3rd today and made up practically nothing. That is wrong. Yeah the 2nd (now 1st) place points guy finished ahead of him, but Brad was 3 spots back, yet he still gained pretty much nothing. Also, Denny should have been rewarded more playing the part of the Ultimate Warrior while turning the rest of the field into the Honky Tonk Man. Go back to the Latford system with a bigger bonus for the winner. Was it a little confusing? Yeah, but figuring the BC$ computer rankings isn't? 179. JG24FanForever posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Give me a full schedule latford system Championship any day over the horseshit they have in place now. 180. Mr X posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Exactly DSFF, the only reason that the latford system was ever confusing was because the lousy broadcasts never bothered to bring up a graphic on screen showing how points were awarded. I haven't seen a graphic like that since the 90's on a broadcast. NASCAR is in desperate need for some new management. The only reason why Nascar needs these gimmicks is because the on track product during a run is terrible in about 75% of the races for all the reasons that have been mentioned as well as the fact that the cars are too easy to drive as today's race prooved. The problem is that NASCAR has no clue how to fix it, and clearly think that the casual fan is a firm foundation. I love this sport to death but right now it's harder then ever to do so. 181. Mr X posted: 09.23.2012 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Exactly DSFF, the only reason that the latford system was ever confusing was because the lousy broadcasts never bothered to bring up a graphic on screen showing how points were awarded. I haven't seen a graphic like that since the 90's on a broadcast. NASCAR is in desperate need for some new management. The only reason why Nascar needs these gimmicks is because the on track product during a run is terrible in about 75% of the races for all the reasons that have been mentioned as well as the fact that the cars are too easy to drive as today's race prooved. The problem is that NASCAR has no clue how to fix it, and clearly think that the casual fan is a firm foundation. I love this sport to death but right now it's harder then ever to do so. 182. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah the old points system was a little odd, but at least it rewarded drivers for finishing top 5 and top 10 almost similarly to how it rewarded winning. I like how there was a 5-point differential from every position between 1st and 6th, then a 4-point differential between 6th and 10th, and then 3 points from 11th to 43rd. Then they changed it to reward more for winning by awarding an additional 5 points for 1st place in '04, and another 5 points in '07. They must have listened to (as Subaru 1995 put it) the peanut gallery, who apparently can't count, to create this 2011-present points system. It rewards nothing more for those that finish 5th and those who finished 25th, so there's no incentive to getting a high finishing position. At the same time, they reward an extra 3 points for winning, so there's a 4-point difference between 1st and 2nd (before bonus points), which is the equivalent of 20 points under the Latford system. So unless you have a winning car, just be happy with what you got. Gordon finished 3rd today, but only gained two points towards the championship. Adjusting to the Latford system's point differential (three points from 1st to 6th, two points from 6th to 11th, one point from 11th to 43rd), Gordon would have gained six points (+9 from Brad, -3 from Jimmie) towards the championship. A better points system could go a long way to making this championship, even with the Chase, seem more legitimate. What's sad is that NASCAR most likely won't change the current system because they had the perfect ending last season; the best drivers tied in points and the driver with the most wins won the tiebreaker. 183. David posted: 09.24.2012 - 12:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Last paragraph of post #182" (I can't copy and paste at this moment) I mentioned this (with very similar wording, I might add) a few weeks ago on a comment board. It is very sad, because the chances of a tie happening again in that manner are only slightly better than a racecar setting another jet dryer aflame (seriously, does anyone actually think that's going to happen again?). 184. Mr X posted: 09.24.2012 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul you also have to remember that if Tony Stewart hadn't passed Jeff Burton in the late laps last fall at PIR NASCAR would've had a disaster as a driver that won 5 of 10 chase races would've come up one point short of Carl Edwards who only won one race at Las Vegas outside the chase. Even still despite winning 5 more races then Edwards in a 10 race period Stewart still only made up the difference that he had with Edwards when the chase started, 3 points. What NASCAR has created is a point system where average finish and being conservative is more important then ever, without the chase Stewart is behind Harvick in the standings, pathetic in my view. But at least it's simple lol. Moderator you could delete post #181. 185. 18fan posted: 09.24.2012 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR's biggest problem is they can't grasp the fact that occasionally a team will just nail the setup and dominate the race and nobody can catch them. The scary thought is what if Darian doesn't screw up the air pressures for qualifying. Denny might've led every lap except for when he pitted. 186. cjs3872 posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I sometimes wonder if you and I share the same brain (scary thought, isnt it?), because we share the same opinion about the point system. And DSFF, a big reason why Jeff Gordon was unable to gain ground, even finishing third, has to do with the fact that he was half a race behind even 11th in points. And with no Chase driver finishing lower than 18th, that means that he would have been last, even if he had won the race. And by the way, with his third place finish today, that makes it four top threes in the last five races, though none of them are wins. And earlier this year, Gordon could hardly even see the top three. But another scary thought. The top 35 rule was supposed to help those teams that ran full-time, and it did for a while. But what it's doing now is suppressing the competition. And the situation may be getting worse. There were only 33 cars that tried to run the full distance, and there are as many as five teams currently inside the top 35 that may go away. They would include the FasLane Racing #32 car, which is in deep trouble, as far as sponsorship goes, BK Racing's two cars (#'s 83 and 93), which may also be having money problems, as well as the #51 car of James Finch, and Tommy Baldwin's team, which was reverted back to S&P'ing the #36 car. And that doesn't evn include the #13 car, which usually doesn't run the full races in the second half of the year. And there are no new teams that I know of set to enter the sport next year. That means there could be as few as 30 or 31 full-time cars next year, not including those we know of as start-and-park teams. That means there could be races next year with as many as 12-14 cars that do not intend to run the full race. 14 cars would represent one-third of the starting field for a Cup or NNS race. And again, that doesn't include the #13 car, which does not run the full races most of the time in the second half of the year. All this means that we could see races next year where the number of cars trying to run the full race are in the 20s out of a field of 43. And not all those cars would be competitive, either. There may be races next year with fewer than 20 truly competitve cars. Sobering thoughts, to be sure. And remember that next week, the series goes to Dover, and thanks in significant part to a large crash early in the race, there were only 23 healthy cars runnng at the finish out of a starting field of 43. Let's hope there's no big crash, because having a race with only half the field running healthy is not healthy for the sport, especially during the Chase, but I fear that might happen more often than wanted next year. What happened in the Truck series race last Friday at Kentucky may be sometinhg we see next year in the Cup Series, unless something is done to entice new competitve teams into the sport, or for existing ones capable of being competitve, such as Penske and Ganassi, to expand. 187. Tyler (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Today's race perfectly exemplified why I dislike Loudon. It's undoubtedly one of my least favorite tracks on the circuit -- along with Phoenix, Sonoma and a couple of others. Passing is just too hard at Loudon and there always seems to be long green flag runs. Yes, I do like wrecks and it is nice to see one every once in awhile, but come on. There has been (I think) less than 10 TOTAL cautions at Loudon in the last three events there -- and that includes the phantom cautions. I really look forward to NASCAR cutting it down to one Loudon race per season -- it'd be nice to give Darlington back another race or even Atlanta. It also wouldn't be such a bad idea to give Iowa a Cup race but that likely won't happen because there are already so many races on the Midwest. Rockingham would also be nice but that will never happen unfortunately. Anyway, congrats to Hamlin today. Who knows what he would have done if he didn't start 32nd (30th after Hornish and Vickers went to the back). Hamlin could have done what Jeff Burton did there in 2000. Now has 5 wins in 2012 -- Hamlin, Keselowski, Stewart & Johnson have now combined for 15 of the 28 wins this season. Hamlin was also my only saving grace today, as Johnson and Gordon finished second and third, respectively. Even though they had good runs, at least they did not win so I'll take it. Hopefully "The Evil Empire" doesn't get their 11th title this year. Also, congrats to Joe Gibbs on win no. 100. Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin & Joey Logano are the only drivers to have won for Gibbs -- although Kenseth will probably become the next one to win for JGR. Definitely looking forward to Dover next weekend, although I hope Johnson does not have the same car and set up. Unfortunately, Dover has been Hamlin's kryptonite since his Cup career began. (And before anyone assumes, yes I do like Hamlin but I'm not a gigantic fan of his. My favorite driver is Jamie McMurray, who's having a horrible season and I don't like Gordon, Johnson, Logano or Junior, although I respect all four of them for their driving abilities) 188. Sean posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Latford points system was good for 1975 (and compared to the even worse points systems that preceded it), but it was still awful, awarding WAY too many points to positions in the back half of the field, which I think is my bigger problem than not rewarding the winner enough (although I certainly would do that also). I'd almost be willing to accept 20-1 for the top 20 positions because it would at least more or less reflect TOP-LEVEL consistency. But giving the 18th place finisher so much more than the 35th place finisher? Bleurgh. Having said that, the chase and the 2011 points system were both certainly worse... Don't get me wrong. I'd definitely take the Latford system and no chase over what we currently have, but it did NEED to be changed (just not in the way they decided to change it). And having said that... "That's a great accomplishment for Denny to be mentioned in the same sentence as the likes of Labonte and Kenseth. I won't say he's at their level of greatness until he can win (and/or not lose) a championship, but he's getting there." Hamlin's 2010 was a better season than Labonte and Kenseth ever had. I'd even say this year is, probably... He is much more dominant than they usually are/were. It's not like Terry was a particularly deserving champion in 1984 or 1996 or Matt in 2003. Any title Hamlin would actually win would be more impressive than those... Would anyone say Terry Labonte is a better driver than Bobby Allison because he has more titles? Of course not. I think it's totally wrong to go strictly by titles especially with such awful points systems (throughout NASCAR's history, really). I could entertain an argument that Labonte's overall career is still greater than Hamlin's because Labonte had periods where he didn't have elite cars and raced during shorter seasons, but Kenseth had none of that. Hamlin > Kenseth now, and career-wise at this point. Seriously. Not to mention that his specialties are the short tracks and tricky superspeedways, while Kenseth (relatively) has more dominance on cookie cutters and plate tracks, where the driver matters less. Now that Hamlin has a crew chief who is a master on cookie cutters, he should be as big a threat as anyone else everywhere. Okay, some may scoff at his lack of championships and marquee race wins (which are more trivial to me than most), but his consistency and domination combined from the start of his career are second only to Jimmie Johnson, and I fully expect him to be the next first-time champion anyway. The other thing that impresses me is that after 2008, when Kyle DESTROYED Stewart and Hamlin, it looked like Hamlin was going down to a support role for Kyle much like Greg Biffle at Roush the past few seasons seemed to be for Kenseth and Edwards the past few seasons (until this year). Hamlin unexpectedly subverted that and took over the team, and has combined essentially Kyle-level dominance with a level of consistency I never expected. Did ANYONE except in 2008 that Hamlin would be the regular team leader? That probably says as much for his determination than any marquee race win could. Having said that, personality-wise, much like practically all the other stars these days (Greg Biffle is the only chaser I actually 100% LIKE), I don't like Hamlin, and I hate having to make a defense for him (but it seems like he gets ignored relative to Kyle, Brad, Kenseth, Edwards, and Harvick, and I don't get it...Brad's the only one probably in the discussion with him at this time, even though I still think Kyle has more talent than any of them). I don't like Kenseth either for reasons I can't put my finger on, but he's certainly preferable to Hamlin. I suppose we'll have our questions answered if Kenseth can wrest control of JGR from Hamlin, but Kyle might be in major trouble...he has the talent to take over the team from Kenseth and Hamlin but Kenseth's arrival probably demotes Kyle to #3 on the JGR depth chart, even if Kyle at his peak certainly has more talent than the other two. Me personally? I think Hamlin (especially with Darian Grubb) will continue dominating and will pretty consistently beat Kenseth. But I know most people wouldn't agree with me... 189. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I knew Hamlin was going to be strong despite his qualifying spot, but I never would have thought he'd have dominated like this. "Maybe Penske Racing should have left Dave Blaney in the car for the entire weekend. Blaney qualified the car 10th, but Hornish taking over resulted in him having to start and the back, but it seemed like he never reached the top 20 all race." Sam has been pretty consistent all season throughout both Nationwide and Cup races, and putting him in a car that he had not stepped in until Sunday probably wasn't the best move seeing as he only managed a 21st place finish. After Blaney's good qualifying run, it probably wouldn't have hurt to take a chance on letting him run the car in the race. 190. Tyler (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Brian Vickers got his fourth top ten in seven starts. If he had been running an entire season and kept this pace up, he would have 12 top-fives and 16 top-tens, meaning he'd have more top-tens than Hamlin, Kahne, Biffle, Harvick, Truex, Stewart, Kenseth and Gordon, all of whom are in the Chase -- along with Kyle Busch and Edwards. It could be assumed that if Vickers had been running the entire season in the No. 55, he could be in the Chase. You never know... 191. BON GORDON posted: 09.24.2012 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well another reason to say Terry Labonte is better than Denny Hamlin is that Terry Labonte displayed great longevity. He has a great deal more Top 5s and Top Tens as well. While both Terry and Bobby Labonte I would put ahead of Denny Hamlin as far as all-time best (for now) I'm sure in five to ten years Hamlin will be amoung the sports Top 25-30 all-time greatest drivers. I personally don't have an issue with the current points system. Yes I would like the chase to fanish into thin air but to me it's not NASCAR at it's worst and I can live with it. If you take I look back and look at NASCAR it's not as bad as everyone says it is. Im sorry, I hear the same rants every week. I don't like the phantom cautions and thats it. I like the Lucky Dog because if something happens to Gordon and he still has a good car I like that he can be the first car one lap down and get it back if the caution comes out. I like double file restarts because they are just very exciting to watch. You only need one attempt at a GWC finish in my opinion, not three, but one is acceptable. The racing is solid in my mind and has come a long way since 2007/2008. It's not the 1980s and early 90s any more but still good racing. I'll take a safe race car any day over the old style race car. I don't wanna see anybody get hurt or killed. I think the main issue with NASCAR is the drivers. None of them are likeable like they were 15 years ago. Would you rather have this race run with guys like Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Dale Sr., Ernie Irvan, Alan Kulwicki, Sterlin Marlin, Davey and Bobby Allison or a race with Juan Montoya, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Kyle and Kurt Busch? I bet most of you pick the first group of drivers. Besides Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Mark Martin the other drivers arent loved quiet as much or cared about quite as much overall. 192. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.24.2012 - 7:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Welcome to present day NASCAR where the village Idiots run the show. 193. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sean, Terry Labonte and Matt Kenseth had a much higher top ten percentages in their championship seasons (80% in '84, '77% in '96; 81% in '03) than Hamlin did in his lone championship contending season (50% in '10). Sure they only won a combined 5 races in those seasons to Hamlin, but they were far more dominant in terms of consistency. Also, Hamlin entered the Chase 9th in points prior to the points reset, so he was only a championship contender. Hamlin's '10 season was about as successful than Ryan Newman's '03 season. They each won three races, but neither would have been considered championship contenders without a points reset. And not once did I say that Terry Labonte was a better driver than Bobby Allison. Don't put words in my mouth. That said, I do agree that number of championships don't determine which drivers are better than another. For example, Bobby Allison has only one Cup title, yet I consider him to a better driver than even Darrell and Cale. And I don't think that just because he had more wins, I think that because he had greater longevity than those two. Had he not had his career ended at Pocono '88, I think he could have still won some races for another decade. He and David Pearson are the ultimate "what if" drivers as far as how many races they could have won had circumstances been different. But I would still put Terry Labonte and Matt Kenseth over Denny Hamlin because they have reputations of never beating themselves out of a win, a good finish, or a championship. Off the top of my head I can't think of Denny beating himself out of a win or a good finish, so he's already way ahead of his teammate in my book, but he and Mike Ford beat themselves out of a championship in 2010. When it came to fuel mileage or not fixing a damaged car so early into a race, the two of them blew their title hopes in the final two races after winning two of the previous three and having a 33-point lead (7-11 positions). I'll admit that it wasn't all Denny's fault, but I think his '11 season shows that he and his team hadn't recovered from their '10 meltdown as they were out of contention from the word "GO!" If he win the title this year or at least comes close without beating himself in the process, I may change my stance. But in terms of being consistent on a long-term basis, I'll take Labonte or Kenseth over Hamlin any day. 194. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "NASCAR's biggest problem is they can't grasp the fact that occasionally a team will just nail the setup and dominate the race and nobody can catch them. The scary thought is what if Darian doesn't screw up the air pressures for qualifying. Denny might've led every lap except for when he pitted." I think the fans can't grasp it either. "someone lead every lap, NASCAR do something!!!" "People Complain about anything and everything even you 1995 Subaru." You must not read other forums (not countng Youtube). Happens all the time. "The Latford points system was good for 1975 (and compared to the even worse points systems that preceded it), but it was still awful, awarding WAY too many points to positions in the back half of the field, which I think is my bigger problem than not rewarding the winner enough (although I certainly would do that also)." Yep, you have it. 195. cjs3872 posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I'll probably start a blog (and a firestorm) later this year when I reveal my all-time best drivers in the Cup series. Most people here already know what that is, but for those that don't, it's going to start a major discussion. And as for your comparing the top ten percentage of Hamlin's lone cnahoionship contending season (until this year) and those of Matt Kenseth and Terry Labonte (who won the title the only two years he ever really challenged fot it), remember that they accumulated points for the entire season then, while only the last ten races matter now. And by the way, Hamlin got a HUGE endorsement Sunday night when none other than the great Mario Andretti picked him for the title. When the greatest driver that ever lived picks you to be the champion, there's no endorsement that could mean more. And did anyone hear that every one of the drivers that have ever won a Cup race for Joe Gibbs, congratulated him on getting his 100th win as a car owner. Not only his other current drivers, but also Tony Stewart, his most succesful driver, Bobby Labonte, his first champion, and Dale Jarrett, who scored Gibbs' frst two victories, including that tear-jerking Daytona 500 (can you believe the 20th anniversary of that race is next year?). I don't remember Jack Roush's other drivers congratulating him on his 100th victory, though that might have happened. 196. David posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "When the greatest driver that ever lived picks you to be the champion, there's no endorsement that could mean more." I couldn't agree more. Who did A.J. Foyt endorse? 197. Ty (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bon Gordon - "I think the main issue with NASCAR is the drivers. None of them are likeable like they were 15 years ago. Would you rather have this race run with guys like Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Dale Sr., Ernie Irvan, Alan Kulwicki, Sterlin Marlin, Davey and Bobby Allison or a race with Juan Montoya, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Kyle and Kurt Busch? I bet most of you pick the first group of drivers. Besides Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Mark Martin the other drivers arent loved quiet as much or cared about quite as much overall." I agree with this 100%. Yes, I'm only 22 years old so I have no recollection of the early 1990s, but I'm still a big "historian" if you want to call it that -- my dad has also been watching NASCAR for over 30 years and I know a lot about it from him. Regardless, there just aren't that many likeable drivers in NASCAR right now. For instance, 20 years ago... there was Bill Elliott (my favorite driver of all-time), Alan Kulwicki, Davey Allison, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Harry Gant, Darrell Waltrip, Ernie Irvan, Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd (another one of my favorites), Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader, Dave Marcis, Geoff Bodine, among others -- that was also Richard Petty's last season, as well. I would pick that bunch any day of the week over Jimmie Johnson (don't like), Jeff Gordon (don't like), Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, etc. Yes, I was never a fan of Earnhardt Sr., Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine or Ernie Irvan, but I never actually loathed any of them either. I just wasn't a fan of them but I wouldn't care if they won a race. Nowadays, there are just too many drivers that people "hate" and I'll be the first to tell you that I am one of those people (with Gordon, Johnson, Logano and JPM). About 95% of NASCAR fans have one thing in common in this era of NASCAR -- they do not like Johnson, Gordon, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Kurt Busch or Earnhardt Jr. That's just the way it is. Back then, NASCAR wasn't like that. Sure, there would be fans that didn't like Earnhardt Sr. or Rusty Wallace or someone else. Nearly every single driver back then was well-liked, very marketable and so on. A lot of drivers right now just have that "hate factor", whether it be the way they drive, the way they look, and other aspects. I would take the first bunch ten times out of ten. That was also some of the best racing NASCAR has ever seen. Yes, there are some great races nowadays, but it seems as though they were just more exciting back then. But, that's just me so to each their own I guess... Hell, you can even go to 1998, NASCAR's 50th anniversary. During that season, we still had Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin, Terry Labonte, Ken Schrader, Ernie Irvan and Darrell Waltrip (and others), along with Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and "in-between drivers" such as Jeremy Mayfield, the departed Kenny Irwin Jr. and Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti and Ward Burton. Even with those "middle class drivers", I'd rather have Mayfield, Irwin, Hamilton, Andretti and Ward Burton, along with Chad Little, Jimmy Spencer, Johnny Benson, Ted Musgrave, Kenny Wallace, Jerry Nadeau and Joe Nemechek instead of Jamie McMurray (my current favorite), Montoya, Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Regan Smith, Marcos Ambrose, Aric Almirola, Paul Menard, David Ragan, A.J. Allmendinger (even though he's not in NASCAR right now), David Reutimann and Casey Mears. Racing back in the 1990s was undoubtedly better than the 2010s. The races were better, the drivers and teams were more competitive and overall, it was just more fun to watch. But once again, that's just me... 198. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ty, you had me until you said that 95% of NASCAR fans don't like Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, or Jimmie Johnson. If anything, those three drivers are loved by 95% of the NASCAR fanbase combined. Along with Tony Stewart, they make the most money on merchandise and are the most popular drivers in the sport. Not everybody is a fan of them, but the overwhelming majority of NASCAR fans like them one way or another. 199. 10andJoe posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ If you put quote marks around "fans", you'd be closer to the mark. 200. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2012/09/11/mcg-exclusive-2013-nascar-roll-cage/ ^ something on the new NASCAR roll cage. Looks VERY weird with all that extra tubing and heavier. 201. posted: 09.24.2012 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To add to the #22 Talladega discussion, does anyone think Kenny Wallace might get a shot at 'Dega either in the #22 or the #12 (if they run it and Sam runs the #22? Wallace appears to at least have some connections with the Penske NNS program according to this article. http://beyondtheflag.com/2012/07/27/kenny-wallace-gets-a-chance-with-penske-racing/ 202. Ty (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Perhaps the main gripe I have with NASCAR right now is that there just aren't that many competitive teams, which is undoubtedly different from even fifteen years ago -- especially from 1997 to 2000. As of right now, Hendrick has four teams (Gordon, Kahne, Johnson, Jr.), Roush has three teams (Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards), Childress has three teams (Harvick, Burton, Menard), Stewart-Haas has two teams (Stewart, Newman), Michael Waltrip has three teams (Truex, Bowyer, Martin/Vickers), Penske has two teams (Keselowski, Hornish), Gibbs has three teams (Hamlin, Ky. Busch, Logano), Richard Petty has two teams (Ambrose, Almirola) and Earnhardt-Ganassi has two teams (McMurray, JPM). Then, there's JTG-Daugherty (Labonte), Furniture Row (R. Smith), Germain Racing (Mears) and James Finch (Kurt Busch). That's as competitive as it gets now, even though the latter four aren't that competitive either. Adding those four teams with the others, that's 28 slots filled every race for a 43-car field -- just 65.11%. Now, let's go back to the 2000 season... The breakdown: Roush Racing, 5 (Martin, J. Burton, Kenseth, Little, Lepage) Hendrick Motorsports, 3 (Gordon, T. Labonte, Nadeau) Robert Yates Racing, 2 (Jarrett, Rudd) Penske Racing, 1 (Rusty Wallace) Joe Gibbs Racing, 2 (Stewart, B. Labonte) Richard Childress Racing, 2 (Earnhardt, Skinner) Bill Davis Racing, 2 (W. Burton, Blaney) Dale Earnhardt Inc., 2 (Earnhardt Jr., Park) Wood Brothers, 1 (Elliott Sadler) Travis Carter Motorsports, 2 (D. Waltrip, Spencer) Bill Elliott Motorsports, 1 (Elliott - obviously) Andy Petree Racing, 2 (Nemechek, K. Wallace) Petty Enterprises, 2 (Andretti, K. Petty) Nelson Bowers, 1 (Schrader) Michael Kranefuss, 1 (Mayfield) PPI Motorsports, 1 (S. Pruett) SABCO Racing, 2 (Marlin, Irwin Jr. - until her perished in July) Jasper Motorsports, 1 (Pressley) Melling Motorsports, 1 (Compton) McClure Motorsports, 1 (B. Hamilton) Mattei Motorsports, 1 (M. Waltrip) Tyler Jet Motorsports, 1 (Benson) By my count, that's 37 of the 43 slots filled up by (at least) semi-competitive teams. There's no doubt that Roush, Hendrick, Gibbs, Yates, Penske, Childress and DEI were the class of the bunch, which is very similar to now. But regardless, the other teams weren't that bad at all and I would consider all of those one-car teams to be better than the present day BK Racing, Front Row Motorsports, Tommy Baldwin Racing, Phoenix Racing, JTG-Daugherty Racing, Furniture Row Motorsports, Germain Racing, Inception Motorsports and Phil Parsons' team. Granted, teams like Tyler Jet, Mattei, Melling and Jasper weren't that good to begin with but I'm confident when I say, that if they raced nowadays, they'd post better results than BK Racing, Baldwin, Front Row, Germain, Inception, Parsons and possibly Furniture Row, Daugherty and Phoenix Racing -- this all depends on the driver, of course. But regardless, that's just what I think... 203. Ty (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, what I was trying to claify that 95% of fans don't like at least one of those drivers. I guarantee if you go up an average NASCAR fan and ask them if they have any hated drivers, they're gonna say either Gordon, Johnson, Keselowski, Dale Jr., Kyle Busch or Kurt Busch. I'm not saying that they'd hate all six of them, but there will be at least one that they don't like. Yes, Gordon, Johnson, Junior, Keselowski and Kyle Busch are (probably) five of the top-ten most well-liked drivers in the NASCAR garage, amongst fans. But, people also dislike them, as well. For every person that likes Gordon, someone hates him (along with Johnson) -- I mean, after all, have you been watching a race and seen Gordon or Johnson (or both) crash or have mechanical issues? The crowd goes nuts. Keselowski and Busch have done their own stupid things to ruin their reputation, along with Kurt Busch. Junior is undoubtedly the least hated driver among that bunch, as evidenced by him being the most popular driver every single year, along with the merchandise sales, etc. But, there are still people out there that don't necessarily like him. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of Junior, but I don't dislike or hate him either -- it just doesn't help that he drives for Hendrick, aka "The Evil Empire" in my book. But, I do get your point. I just wanted to clarify my statement. 204. Jim Davis posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #202,Ty: "Perhaps the main gripe I have with NASCAR right now is that there just aren't that many competitive teams, which is undoubtedly different from even fifteen years ago -- especially from 1997 to 2000." Compare the economy in 1997-2000 to the economy now. There were many more deep pocket sponsors then than there are now. That is why you have such a large percentage of field fillers now. NASCAR can't fix a poor economy; all they can do is hang on until things improve. 205. Daniel posted: 09.24.2012 - 2:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dover entry list out: -Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the #6 -Danica Patrick in the #10 -Mike Bliss in the #19 -T.J. Bell in the #32 -Cole Whitt in the #33 -J.J. Yeley in the #36 -#37 TBA -Mark Martin in the #55 -Kelly Bires in the #79 206. 10andJoe posted: 09.24.2012 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dover entry list is out. 48 cars: -Ricky Stenhouse in the 6 -Patrick in the 10 -Bliss back in the 19, no make listed -TJ Bell in the 32 -Whitt in the 33 -Yeley in the 36 -37 is TBA -Bires in the 79 207. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Okay Ty, that makes more sense. It should be no surprise that the drivers with the most fans also have the most haters, but that comes with the territory of being the sport's most polarizing figures. Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Bill Elliott might be the only drivers that were pretty much unanimously liked by the fans. The only top driver today I can think of that comes close to having zero haters is Matt Kenseth, but he doesn't have the charisma to be necessarily liked by everyone either. You either like the guy or you have no opinion. "-Cole Whitt in the #33" I don't understand this move. As it stands right now, Stephen Leicht is 18 points ahead of Josh Wise in the rookie standings and is almost a lock to win the award at this point, but why would you replace your regular driver with another driver who a.) isn't racing for points, and b.) is just going to start-and-park anyways? It's possible that Leicht has another racing commitment this weekend because he's not entered in the #47 Nationwide car either. There 48 cars on the entry list, so five cars will go home, including one that most likely would have made the race if the #6 car wasn't on the entry list (let's face it, Stenhouse will make the race if he completes one qualifying lap). I really feel sorry for those teams that miss the race at this point because they're only going to fall deeper in the whole. It's not so bad for NEMCO, R3 Motorsports, Front Row, or TriStar if they miss the race because they have other cars in Cup or Nationwide that are locked in, but even if they do make it they're just going to start-and-park, then try to repeat the process next week and the week after that and the week after that with no hope in sight of breaking away from this trend. So five start-and-parkers will miss the race, the other seven will start-and-park in the race (eight if the #13 S&P's), leaving us with 35-36 cars planning on going the distance. Of those 35-36, 7-10 (depends on if you include the #13, #47 and/or #51) won't be competitive, and another 8 cars that have funding but have almost no chance at winning, leaving just 17 cars that have a chance to win this race (the 13 cars that have won on ovals this year, Truex, Harvick, Martin, and Edwards). But judging by who has been successful at Dover lately and who is currently on a role as of late, I'd say the winner will either be Hamlin, Johnson, Gordon, Kyle Busch, Brad, or maybe even Bowyer. Normally I would consider Edwards or Kenseth, but it looks like they may not win another race this season. So it will be a race between those six I mentioned above, with Hamlin and Johnson being the favorites. cjs, will you rank the drivers by dividing them into categories based on series (NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, etc.), driving style (aggressive, conservative, "refuse to lose", etc.), or will you just rank them all together? 208. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Would anyone say Terry Labonte is a better driver than Bobby Allison because he has more titles? Of course not. I think it's totally wrong to go strictly by titles especially with such awful points systems" I have always said championships are the #1 indicator of a driver's career, but you also have to look at the circumstances of their career. Bobby Allison is the perfect example of this. He spent his entire career playing ride roulette. And his ride changes could never have come at worse times. What if Chrysler doesn't pull all their support from other teams to get Petty back in the fold causing his ride with Mario Rossi to fall apart? What if John Holman doesn't let his jealousy of Ralph Moody get the best of him right as Bobby took off with them in '71? What if Junior Johnson would at least say a single word to him about the cars in '72? What if he could have driven for Roger Penske and Bud Moore at times when they didn't blow engines every other race? He is the bizarro Darrell Waltrip who, despite his undeniable genius behind the wheel, drove for DiGard, Junior, and Hendrick during crest periods for them. The fact Bobby got one for the con artists at DiGard when things were falling apart says a ton for him. Conversely, you have to look at Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and realize they have spent their entire careers for the premier organization in NASCAR. So they almost have to win 5 or 6 titles to equal one of Bobby's. And finally you have to look at what was important and highly thought of at the time of their career's. A good example is Fireball Roberts. The championship didn't mean a whole lot (especially financially) until right about the time of Fireball's passing. Winning, and winning in the major events of the day were what most people were after. And Fireball, who never went after a championship, won just about every "big deal" race in his day. So to me, he is underrated historically. He is well known for his personality, one of the first true fan favorites, his everyman personality, Earnhardt before Earnhardt, a hard charger who was either gonna win, hit the wall, or blow up. But his list of accomplishments were quite astounding. Here are the things that were a "big deal" during his career: The Daytona Beach Course: His finishes weren't great here and he never won (well, actually he won once but was diqualified for an illegal carbeurator which some historians dispute if it was really illegal or not, but we have to assume it was). But it was taken off the schedule for the big track when he was just 29 (young at the time). Darlington: Won the Southern 500, the biggest race at the time, remember it wasn't until the late 60's it was esclipsed by the Daytona 500, twice, once in a Chevrolet ('58) and once in a Ford ('63). And for good measure, he won the inaugural Rebel 300 in the Convertible Series, which was wildly popular at the time until they screwed up and let them run with the hardtops showcasing just how much slower they were, then won another one. Daytona Speedway: Darlington may still have been king at the the time, but this track was never any joke, especially for Fireball who grew up in Daytona Beach. He led each of the first 3 Daytona 500s only to encounter mechanical issues, including 1961 when he led 170 of the first 184 laps only to blow up (remind you of anyone?). But he also won the inaugural Firecracker 250, won 3 straight qualifying races back when they counted as wins ('60-'62), the last Firecracker 250 ('62) and the first 400 mile running of the Summer race the next year ('63). But 1962 was his year there. He entered the 5 major Grand National races there and won all 5. He won the exhibition Race of Champions (I honestly have no idea the rules for eligibility for this one), the Pole Position Race (which set the front row back in the day), his Twin qualifier, the Daytona 500, then the Firecracker 250. 5-0! The Western North Carolina 500: This one gets lost in the sannds of time. Held at the semi high banked half mile in the NC mountains, this summer event always attracted a huge crowd and therefore was a big deal (that era's version of The Bristol Night Race). Fireball won this in 1958. Any paved track 1 mile or longer: At a time when most everything was on dirt, 1/2 mile or less, or both, any paved track a mile or more attracted all the big dogs. This includes now defunct one milers in Raleigh, NC and Trenton, NJ. The racing was probably not that great, but Fireball grabbed a win at each in '58. He also won the second race at the brand new big track in Atlanta. He also won a convertible race there. Langhorne: It was a dirt track, but it was no joke to win here. A one mile completely circular death trap, this was a big resume booster. Always fearless, Fireball grabbed a win here. Road Courses: Not sure how they were viewed at the time, but again, anything from the usual of the day, small bullrings, mostly dirt, had to be looked at as at least somewhat of a big deal. He won two road course races, including his final win, in an era where not all that many were on the schedule. Charlotte Motor Speedway: The only big paved track of his time he didn't win at. He had a couple of seconds including the 1961 World 600 behind a first time winner by the name of Pearson, but never won. That is probably why he was in the 1964 World 600 even though he was already on his way out of NASCAR, wary of the politics of the factory days, and having just got a higher paying job as a PR guy for a brewing company (shows you where NASCAR was at the time). He wanted this track and race on his resume. Unfortunately he barely made it 10 laps before being involved in the crash that would ultimately claim his life, and lead legends Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson into early retirement from racing. His fatal crash had a huge impact on the safety of the cars and the generation he raced with. Again, Earnhardt before Earnhardt. So again, this begs the question: Is Fireball severly underrated or what? 209. Scott B posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Odd stat for the week: Matt Kenseth was the top finishing Ford driver at 14th. That makes two consecutive weeks with no Fords in the top 10. 210. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Sure, there would be fans that didn't like Earnhardt Sr. or Rusty Wallace or someone else. Nearly every single driver back then was well-liked, very marketable and so on. A lot of drivers right now just have that "hate factor" " Couldn't agree more. I was a huge Earnhardt fan, therefore most of the time Rusty was his main rival. I never wanted to see Rusty win, but I never once said to myself "Good Lord, don't let that jerk win". It was more like "please don't let him win, this will really impact Dale's title chances". There was always a ton of respect for him personally. Even Geoff Bodine, who I still take potshots at to this day, I never disliked him the way I dislike half the field nowadays. He has just always been fun as hell to pick on. But now, anytime it looks like there might be a win by The Busch Brothers, Harvick, Hamlin, Carl, Logano (mostly NWide lol), or Newman (once every 2 years) I think "oh man, don't let this asshole win"! And I am sure a lot of people feel the same way about Brad. 211. Scott B posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another thought on the Kurt Busch/Regan Smith situation. Smith was happy to stick with FRR and have some stability after having a rough start to his Cup career as far as team ownership goes. On the other hand, if Kurt does a good enough job avoiding negative PR at Furniture Row to get an offer from a more competitive team, do you think he'd turn it down out of loyalty? I'm hoping Smith will wind up in the #43 (where he'd be a good teammate to Ambrose), but David Ragan will also be in the mix of drivers who'll get a serious look for that ride. 212. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is very hard trying to rank Terry Labonte historically. Has there ever been a more forgettable 2 time champ? I don't mean to rag on him, I have a ton of respect for him personally, for his longevity, and his undeniable toughness. To me, the most impressive thing about his career is the fact he was thought to be washed up and done 4 seperate times in his career only to come back. After his miracle 1980 Southern 500 win, he didn't win for another 3 years despite posting solid results and even leading the points a time or two (a career theme). This run was lowlighted by JD Stacy pulling his sponsorship of Terry while leading the points because he was so undazzled by him. Now granted JD Stacy is anything but a NASCAR visionary, remember this is the same guy who bought Earnhardt's #2 Wrangler team in the middle of 1981, the defending Winston Cup champions, DISMANTLED THE TEAM, and let Dale know he didn't see him as an asset. But still that has gotta sting for Terry. He was seen as a flash in the pan. He only got Piedmont Airlines for a sponsor, got Dale Inman as a crew chief, and won the 1984 Winston Cup title (one of the worst title fights ever, but still). Then he floundered in '85 and '86 despite still posting solid results as drivers like Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt drove circles around him. Once again considered "done" he was tabbed to replace Darrell at the fading Junior Johnson race team where he was respectable once again, especially compared to every non-1992 Junior Johnson season from 1986 til he quit racing for good. Then came the dreaded Skoal Classic and Sonoco years, which was tailed by his miserable 1993 campaign in the #14 Corn Flakes car. A horrible time for him and he was offically labled "washed up". But Rick Hendrick picked him up, he won at his greatest rates from '94-'96 (2-3 times per year lol) including his gift wrapped 1996 Winston Cup title. He won his home state race at Texas in early 1999 and didn't win again for a long time. He became a laughing stock, low lighted by the 1999 Bristol Night Race when his hunting buddy blatently dumped him on the final lap and offered the weakest apology ever (when apologizing for spinning somebody, you shouldn't have the world's biggest grin on your face). Going into 2003 he was once again D-O-N-E. You know the rest, he milked a Top 10 points finish out of that season and won the final Labor Day Southern 500. So we have a two time champion with wins 23 years apart, stunning longevity, and remarkable toughness. Yet he has an amazingly low win total (evidenced by somebody like Hamlin already matching him), each of his championships were not exactly inspiring, and perhaps the most conservative driver not named Herman Beam ever. I have him 25th all time, solely due to his championships. 213. Talon64 posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We're 9 years into the Chase, and I think it's about time to stop comparing what teams do now to what they did pre-Chase. Because with the Chase, it's all about just making it. It doesn't matter whether you're the points leader or the last wild card, since NASCAR doesn't award points for your points position after the regular season (but should!!!). It's wins that matter for your Chase seeding, and it's how you perform in the Chase that matters. It's something the #48 team's mastered. They did their best in the regular season to start as highly seeded as possible, whether it was by points position from 2004-2006 (2nd in 2004, 4th in 2005, 2nd in 2006) or wins from 2007-present (1st in 2007, 3rd in 2008, T-2nd in 2009, 2nd in 2010, T-5th in 2011, T-2nd this year). And then come Chase time, it's go time and they roll out their best stuff for when it matters. 5 championships proves that it works. Although I might be one of the few who believe the #48 could've won 5 straight without the Chase. Denny Hamlin may have been 9th prior to the Chase reseeding in 2010, and he was 8th this year, but look who had the most wins and started the Chase 1st in points? Heck, Hamlin only has to keep doing what he's done the whole year as far as winning races but improve the consistency, something they couldn't quite do in 2010 but might this year. Chad Knaus, Darian Grubb, Paul Wolfe... I'll even throw in Kenny Francis. They might be the 4 best crew chiefs in NASCAR right now, and the fact that their teams led the series in wins (except for Francis and the #5, but the 2 wins got them a wild card spot) and now they're 1st through 4th in points scored in the first 2 Chase races is some strong evidence. In a way it sucks that Dale Jr., Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth were up at the top of the standings all year but have stumbled to start the Chase. But it sucks that they apparently showed all their cards in the first 26 races and didn't have any new tricks to show come Chase time. At least with Biffle and Kenseth it's Roush's failure as a whole (have you seen how crappy Carl's been running?) but it's pretty bad when the other 3 Hendrick drivers have run top 5 each of the first two races while Dale Jr. can barely sniff the top 10. It's about time to start recognizing the teams that handle the Chase right and give them the credit that they deserve, instead of criticizing them for not doing well in an old championship system that doesn't exist anymore. You didn't see me bitch and moan when my Canucks got blown out of the 1st round of the playoffs this year as the #1 seeded team. At least not because it's unfair that the best team from the regular season did horribly in the playoffs because THAT'S JUST HOW IT WORKS. 214. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but David Ragan will also be in the mix of drivers who'll get a serious look for that ride." I wouldn't give Ragan another opportunity at a top Cup ride because he had his shot and he blew it. Granted, his '09-'10 seasons were hurt largely because RFR was having a rough stretch (Kenseth missed the Chase in '09 despite winning the first 2 races), bu he didn't do himself any favors by either being completely invisible or wrecking cars. I'd sooner give the other Davids (Gilliland, Reutimann) a shot at driving the #43 than Ragan. "The Busch Brothers, Harvick, Hamlin, Carl, Logano (mostly NWide lol), or Newman (once every 2 years) I think "oh man, don't let this asshole win"! And I am sure a lot of people feel the same way about Brad." I knew this may sound odd, but I have always been a fan of Kurt Busch. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's because I get a kick out of the Radio Sweetheart's tirades, maybe it's because he's stayed out of the Nationwide Series while a lot of those other guys you mentioned won't leave. I think it's because I started following NASCAR in '02 when Kurt Busch's career started to take off, plus he drove a really cool looking car that year. Whatever it is, I like Kurt, but can understand why a lot of people don't. He comes off like a throwback to me. As for those other guys (excluding Brad), I 100% agree. Kyle and Kevin are assholes and were perfect for each other in their '10-'11 feud (in wrestling terms, it was a heel vs. heel feud). I used to think Logano was just an underachieving driver with way too high expectations, now I see him as just your average current JGR driver: Jerk, overrated, and incapable of not beating himself; plus he's an underachiever who now has an undeserving ride with Penske next year. I used to like Edwards, but after his 2010 "I just intentionally wrecked Brad, but it's okay because I'm smiling and giving a polite interview afterwards" charade, I'm done with him. And I don't know what it is about Newman, but he is just completely unlikeable, as shown by the reaction on this page when it looked like he might steal a win and a Chase spot at Richmond. I like Brad, but I got my head-scratching as to why he wanted Joey Logano as his teammate for next year. Some people are saying that it's because they worked together very well on the restrictor plate tracks, but so have Tony Stewart and David Gilliland and you don't hear Smoke offering Gilliland a ride to replace Newman (though I'd be in favor of it). And I used to be a Stewart/Johnson hater, but have grown to like Smoke and am now mostly indifferent about Johnson. Looking back on 2010, while I didn't want to see any of the 3 title contenders battling for the title, I'm glad Johnson did win it because at least he's a champion that we can all respect. Hamlin hadn't grown into a champion-caliber driver yet, and I can't stand Harvick. 215. Talon64 posted: 09.24.2012 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ""and taking a win that I value more than the Chase Championship" I'll go even farther than that. I think winning the Southern 500 is even bigger than the Daytona 500. Sure it doesn't reward the biggest purse, but it is the ultimate driver track. As seen from most of the Daytona 500s of the past 11 years, talent takes a backseat to equipment and the draft to win that race. By winning at Darlington with a mediocre team on older tires over one of the sport's top drivers in Carl Edwards, Regan proved that he indeed does belong in Sprint Cup." I think this is (maybe mistakenly) implying that Southern 500 > Daytona 500 > Chase championship. But as far as saying a Southern 500 win, by any circumstances or situation, is better than winning a Chase championship.... that's just ridiculous. Winning 1 race trumps the work over 26 races to make the Chase, then 10 races to outperform your competition to win the championship? Sorry, I'm not buying it. I mean, Regan Smith's win was amazing in it's own right. And I hope that he can land a good ride for 2013, whether it's in Cup with an equally good team as FRR or a championship-caliber NNS or Truck ride. But let's be realistic here. 216. Paul posted: 09.24.2012 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think this is (maybe mistakenly) implying that Southern 500 > Daytona 500 > Chase championship." You are mistaken. I was only comparing the Southern 500 to the Daytona 500. The person who made the original statement said the Daytona 500 was more valuable than the Chase title (or something like that). 217. Smiff_99 posted: 09.24.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dunno if anybody's interested or not, but I'll be dropping by on here later tonight to offer my thoughts on yesterday's race after being there in person. One things i will say right now, though (and it's something you all probably already know).....but there wasn't a single legitimate caution yesterday. Not one (I know, SHOCKING, right?....lol) 218. 10andJoe posted: 09.24.2012 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With Dodge on their way out of NASCAR after this season, I got curious and went poking around the Truck Series results to see just what the marque's record was there. I thought it was kinda interesting, so here it is: First drivers to compete in a Dodge: Joe Bessey, Bob Keselowski and Walker Evans, Copper World Classic, Phoenix, February 5 1995 First top 10 and top 5 for a Dodge: Joe Bessey, Copper World Classic, Phoenix, February 5 1995 First win for a Dodge: Tony Raines, Western Auto Parts America 200, I-70 Speedway, May 24, 1997 (Roherig Racing) Longest winning streak by Dodges: 8 races, 2001 (races 1-8) Wins by Dodge drivers: -Ted Musgrave, 16 -Bobby Hamilton, 10 -Brendan Gaughan, 8 -Dennis Setzer, 6 -Scott Riggs, 5 -Joe Ruttman, 5 -Chad Chaffin, 2 -Jimmy Hensley, 2 -Kasey Kahne, 2 -Robert Pressley, 2 -Ryan Blaney, 1 (only win under the RAM marque) -Bob Keselowski, 1 -Jason Leffler, 1 -Jamie McMurray, 1 -Steve Park, 1 -Tony Raines, 1 -Jimmy Spencer, 1 219. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How is the weather in British Columbia Mr Talon 64 220. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Keselowski is to have any chance at beating Johnson for the title he should use the power of DSFF's Favorite wrestler to intimidate Johnson. 221. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think anyone can stand Harvick Paul the guy is a first class A$$hole. 222. New14 & 88Fan posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt just reveled on Race Hub that he'll be driving the #78 Furniture Row chevy next season, replacing Regan Smith. 223. Talon64 posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin picks up his 22nd career Sprint Cup Series victory, tying him with Matt Kenseth and Terry Labonte for 29th all time. It's also his series-leading 5th win of 2012. Hamlin's 22 wins since 2006 tie him with Kyle Busch for the 3rd most over that span, and his 18 wins since 2009 tie him with Jimmie Johnson for the most. It's Hamlin's 3rd win in the last 5 races, but they're also his only top 10's in the last 8 races. Hamlin started 32nd, the 2nd worst starting spot he's ever won from (38th at Homestead in 2009). Hamlin's 14th top 10 of the season equals his total from all of 2011, and he now has 12+ top 5's in 5 of his 7 full seasons in Cup. Hamlin's laps led in this race (his 18th race leading 100+ laps) gives him 1000+ for the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons. Hamlin picks up his 2nd win at Loudon, giving him 6 tracks with 2 or more wins. It's his first win at Loudon since 2007 but his 4th top 3 finish in the last 5 races there. Hamlin led 343 of 601 laps led at Loudon, the 3rd most ever led at Loudon in a single season; Tony Stewart holds the record (405 of 600 in 2005), while Jeff Gordon's 2nd (383 of 600 in 2001). Hamlin jumped up from 27th all time in laps led at Loudon (74) to 8th (417) this season. Hamlin's win is Joe Gibbs Racing's 100th career Cup win: Tony Stewart - 33 Denny Hamlin - 22 Bobby Labonte - 21 Kyle Busch - 20 Dale Jarrett - 2 Joey Logano - 2 Mike Bliss (4th at Richmond in 2004) and JJ Yeley (2nd in the Coke 600 in 2007) are the only other two drivers to pick up top 5 finishes for JGR other than the 6 who've won races for them. Jimmie Johnson picks up his 40th career runner-up finish. It's also his 2nd straight, 3rd in the last 5 races and series-leading 5th of 2012. Johnson's 14th top 5 of the season equals his total from all of 2011 and he needs just 1 more top 10 to reach 20 for an 11th consecutive season. Jimmie Johnson had 2 wins but just 3 top 10's in his first 7 Loudon starts (8.7 avg fin). Johnson now has 12 in his last 15 races (1 win, 6 top 5's, 9.9 avg fin). Jeff Gordon picks up his 5th top 3 finish in the last 8 races (11.8 avg fin) after none in the first 20 races of 2012. Gordon extends his streak of top 15 finishes at Loudon to 15 straight (7 finishes of 4th or better, 9 top 10's, 7.5 avg fin). Gordon also extended his track records for top 5's (16), top 10's (21) and laps led (1316) at Loudon. Clint Bowyer equals his career high for top 5's in a season with 7 (2008, 2010, 2012). It's his 7th top 10 in the last 8 races (2nd in points scored), and he needs just one more to equal his career high in a season (18, set in 2010). Bowyer has back-to-back top 5's at Loudon for the first time, picking up his 4th top 5 in 14 career Loudon starts (2 wins, 15.1 avg fin). It's also his 5th top 10 in the last 7 races there. Kasey Kahne gets his 9th top 5 of the season, his most since having 12 in 2006. Kahne also has back-to-back seasons with 15+ top 10's for the first time in his career. Kahne has 6 top 5's and 8 top 10's in the last 12 races (7.7 avg fin). Kahne finishes in the top 6 for the 3rd time in the last 4 races at Loudon, after going the previous 9 races with just 1 top 10. It's his 3rd top 5 in 18 career Loudon starts (16.2 avg fin). After having just 6 top 10's in the first 16 races of 2012, Brad Keselowski has 11 in the last 12 (1 win, 7 top 5's, 6.5 average finish). He's now tied with Clint Bowyer for 3rd in top 10's this season with 17. BraKes picks up his 3rd straight top 6 finish and 4th in 7 career Loudon starts (14.0 avg fin). Tony Stewart has 3 straight top 10 finishes for the first time since Pocono, Michigan and Sonoma (3 straight top 3 finishes) back in June. Stewart has not gone back-to-back races without a top 10 at Loudon since 22nd and 20th place finishes in 2003 (2 wins, 7 top 3's, 10.5 avg fin). His 14 top 5's and 17 top 10's in 28 Loudon starts rank 2nd only to Jeff Gordon. Joey Logano reaches 10+ top 10's for the 2nd time in 4 full seasons in Cup. He has back-to-back top 10's for the first time since Dover and Pocono back in early June and is 1 of 2 non-Chase drivers (Ryan Newman) to have top 10's in each of the first two Chase races. It's his 4th top 10 in 9 Loudon starts (15.3 avg fin) and his 4th straight finish of 14th or better there. Brian Vickers gets his 4th top 10 in 7 starts this season. He has a 14.0 average finish this season; his best in any prior full season in Cup was 17.3 in 2009 (12th in points, made the Chase). It's just his 3rd top 10 in 15 Loudon starts (20.3 avg fin) but his 2nd in the last 3 and 3rd straight top 15 finish. Ryan Newman has his 2nd streak of 3+ straight top 10's this season. He has 9 finishes of 11th or better in the last 11 races, but also has finishes of 36th and 35th (12.8 avg fin). Newman finished 10th in both Loudon races this season, and has 6 top 10's in his last 7 starts there (9.6 avg fin). After having just 7 top 20 finishes in the first 19 races of 2012 (24.3 avg fin), Regan Smith has 6 in 9 races (2 top 10's, 18.8 avg fin) since Todd Berrier came aboard as crew chief. 224. Talon64 posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Expanding on the Regan Smith stuff now that it's official that it's Kurt in the #78, Regan's 18th in points scored in the 9 races since Todd Berrier came aboard as crew chief. To put that in perspective, a single car team hasn't finished top 20 in points in a season since 2002. The #78's currently well out of it right now, but the crew chief change clearly made a big difference in performance for Regan and the team. So for FRR to be claiming that "change was needed" regarding the driver switch doesn't sit right with me. 225. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.24.2012 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It's about time to start recognizing the teams that handle the Chase right and give them the credit that they deserve, instead of criticizing them for not doing well in an old championship system that doesn't exist anymore." but, but, but, if, if, if they use the old system /end sarcaism/. Talon is right, lets give credit were it is due. We have what we have. Cream raises to the top and handle it better (48 crew) then anyone else. 226. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.24.2012 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree. As much as I hate the cha$e, it is how the champions are determined, everyone knows it, so they must be given their due as champions like everyone else. Do I need to bring up 1974 again? 227. murb posted: 09.24.2012 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't see Kurt doing any better in that car than Regan has done. Basically, I expect him to run about the same as he has in Finch's car. Hope you enjoy the radio blowups, Barney Vissar!!!! 228. Jordan posted: 09.25.2012 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Furniture Row team won't make it 2 more years if they choose Busch. 229. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 09.25.2012 - 1:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I used to say stuff like "the Chase format is easier to win a championship because just those 10 races count" back in 2009 and 2010, but since then I have realized that whoever is on top would be there no matter what point system we use because they would work around and adjust to whatever format there is. I could see Kurt Busch having good finishes at the plate tracks and road courses in the #78 seeing how he ran at them this year. While the #78 isn't a competitive ride, it's definitely better than the #51. If anything will hinder Kurt, it will be his blowups when something goes wrong. 230. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.25.2012 - 6:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Which Is Worse NASCAR Officiating Or NFL Officiating. 231. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.25.2012 - 6:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you all want something to complain about try the officiating in the past couple of NFL Games. 232. Anonymous posted: 09.25.2012 - 8:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith to the 43, he'd be a good fit. 233. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.25.2012 - 8:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hate to sayy this, but I agree with that Pats player. Foot Locker called, they want these replacement refs back at their day jobs. 234. Rusty posted: 09.25.2012 - 10:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) An interesting note, Kurt Busch told Matt Clark off camera on SPEED that he is allowed in the RCR shop next year when he isn't in Denver. I'm telling you, RCR wanted Busch in a 4th car but couldn't get sponsorship, but they may have found a loophole here. 235. Tyler (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.25.2012 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFanForever: "Couldn't agree more. I was a huge Earnhardt fan, therefore most of the time Rusty was his main rival. I never wanted to see Rusty win, but I never once said to myself "Good Lord, don't let that jerk win". It was more like "please don't let him win, this will really impact Dale's title chances". There was always a ton of respect for him personally. Even Geoff Bodine, who I still take potshots at to this day, I never disliked him the way I dislike half the field nowadays. He has just always been fun as hell to pick on. But now, anytime it looks like there might be a win by The Busch Brothers, Harvick, Hamlin, Carl, Logano (mostly NWide lol), or Newman (once every 2 years) I think "oh man, don't let this asshole win"! And I am sure a lot of people feel the same way about Brad." See that's exactly the way I am. Back then, I wasn't a fan of Senior, Rusty Wallace (especially since he was Bill's rival), Ernie Irvan or Geoff Bodine. But once again I never hated any of those four drivers. I respected every single one of them as a driver. And when one of them would win it was more like "Damnit, oh well. It happens". Nowadays, I absolutely can't stand Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Logano or JPM. Now when one of those guys win, I flip my s*#% all over the place. Also have never been a fan of Keselowski, Dale Jr., or Kurt Busch but they fall into the present day category that Senior, Wallace and the others did back in the day. "Compare the economy in 1997-2000 to the economy now. There were many more deep pocket sponsors then than there are now. That is why you have such a large percentage of field fillers now. NASCAR can't fix a poor economy; all they can do is hang on until things improve." Oh I already know. But just because it's that way doesn't mean I still can't have a problem with it, haha. It also doesn't help that teams and NASCAR ask for so much more money than what they used to. Companies don't wanna hand out that kind of dough. It also doesn't help that when companies want to sponsor a driver, it's going to be a "young gun" most of the time. They want someone like Stenhouse, Bayne and Danica and soon to be Ryan Blaney, Ryan Truex, Darrell Wallace Jr., Parker Kligerman and others. They don't want that savvy veteran that's been in Cup for 12+ years. That's also quite a shame because most of the time, that veteran is gonna have a better career than that up-and-comer. But that's just the way it is, there's nothing we can do about it. If only I had money like the Frances... Sigh. 236. Tyler (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.25.2012 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is what the 2013 season looks like... - Logano goes to the No. 22 for Penske - Replacing Logano will be Matt Kenseth - Stenhouse will replace Kenseth in the No. 17 - Truex stays in the No. 56, McMurray stays in the 1 - Regan Smith will leave Furniture Row - Phoenix Racing could close; Busch without a job - Bobby Labonte may get canned at JTG-Daugherty - Sadler will leave RCR in Nationwide Series - Vickers still has no full time job in Cup for 2013 Now, this is what should happen... - Regan Smith becomes the pilot of the No. 43; Almirola released - Almirola finds a decent ride in the Nationwide Series - Kurt Busch is hired by Furniture Row Racing - Reutimann is hired to drive the No. 47 for Daugherty - Sadler gets hired by Gibbs in the Nationwide Series - Vickers goes to Childress in the Nationwide Series - Hornish stays in the No. 12 for Penske in N'wide (There have also been rumors that Michael Annett could come up to Cup next year, which I believe to be a giant mistake. If anything, let him run 6 to 8 races, possibly 10. But he doesn't need to be thrown in there like that. Regan Smith would be a much better option, even if it's a one year rental) 237. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.25.2012 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) annett actually said they he may run 5-6 cup races next year but the plan is for another full season of nationwide. and vickers is rumored to be gibbs 2nd full-time nns driver. 238. cjs3872 posted: 09.25.2012 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tyler, I'm not sure where you've been, but it's already been announced that Regan Smith will be in the #78 next year, so we know he'll have a ride, and I think he'll do better than Smith, because he's more aggressive than Smith is. Sure, Kurt will likely wreck more cars, but he's got a better shot at pushing that car to the front. If Furniture Row is alinging itself with RCR, I wonder if this is the first step toward phasing Jeff Burton out of the #31 car, because Childress need someone capable of helping Kevin Harvick, which he does not have. That's one of the big reasons why RCR is struggling. He only has one car capable of being driven to the front. I do agree that Phoenix Racing will close, along with othe full-time teams like the 32 (FasLane Racing) and possibly the 36 (Tommy Baldwin) and both of BK Racing's cars. And with no new competitve team coming forward next year, that's why I see the potential for races next with the number of cars trying to run the distance in the high 20s to 30 (out of 43), with about 6-8 of them being uncompetitve. 239. Paul posted: 09.25.2012 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but it's already been announced that Regan Smith will be in the #78 next year" I believe you mean Kurt Busch will be in the #78 next year. "I do agree that Phoenix Racing will close, along with othe full-time teams like the 32 (FasLane Racing) and possibly the 36 (Tommy Baldwin) and both of BK Racing's cars." Unfortunately, I think Phoenix Racing will close next year, or at the very least close their Cup operations and may still run Nationwide restrictor plate races. Rumors seemed to have died down about Brian Scott taking over the #51, and with the money that he would have brought to that team, he might have saved them another season. Also cjs, do you have any proof that TBR or BK Racing are going to close? TBR is struggling this season largely because they're trying to run two cars when they can barely afford one, and BK Racing seems to only be improving as the year goes on. But I do agree that FAS Lane's "buy-a-ride" strategy may not last much longer. They'll probably attempt the Daytona 500 with Terry Labonte and the PCP (if they sell their owner's points again), but I'm not sure how much longer they can go. Maybe you have some information about TBR and BK that I don't have. Regardless, it is sad seeing as many as 4 full-time Cup teams struggling to make ends meet while the rest of the full distance teams are thriving. 240. Paul posted: 09.25.2012 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR has just released the 2013 Sprint Cup schedule, which will officially begin on February 24th for the Daytona 500. The only difference to the schedule is that they swapped the fall dates for Talladega and Kansas, so next year Kansas (2) will be race #30 and Talladega (2) will be race #32. 241. cjs3872 posted: 09.25.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I have heard nothing definitive, but I've heard that BK Racing has run into money problems over the last month or two. Remember that, much like the previous owners of that team, Red Bull, the only money that team has comes from the fact that it's owners are also the team's "sponsors". But I did hear some time ago they were beginning to run into trouble. Let's hope I'm wrong on this one, because they do have some parts there to build a quality team. And I just don't think that either FasLane acing or Tommy Baldwin Racing have very much longer, either. FasLane has no sponsorship, though unlike the other teams in the same situation, they actually do run the full races, and Tommy Baldwin's team has gone back to being a start-and-park team, so I don't see that team being around much longer, either. The real problem is that there are no new teams to take their place, which is why I made those dire predictions about some races next year having fewer than 30 cars (out of 43) trying to run the full race, and most races having as few as 31 or 32 (out of 43) trying to run the dstance. Only 33 tried to run the distance this past Sunday, and I see as many as five of those possibly going away, and certainly two or three probably will go away. And none of the Silly Season rumors involve any new teams (because of the top 35 rule, which I think may be staying next year because of the lack of recent news about that), just drivers switching between existing teams. I think one reason Michael Andretti keeps getting cold feet about entering NASCAR is the top 35 rule, and he may have been told that the top 35 rule is going to stick around next year. 242. cjs3872 posted: 09.25.2012 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So Paul, the fall Talladega lottery is going to have a bigger impact on the title next year. Frankly, I think they need to eliminate the second race there, because of the chances of as many as two-thirds of the field getting involved in crashes, possibly through the fault of nobody. And if they're going to keep that race on the schedule, they should move it back to late-July/early-August, move the Brickyard 400 to the Chase-opening race so there's a crown jewel in the Chase, and move the other Chase races back a race until you get to the point to where the schedule is, with Kansas being the sixth Chase race 243. Scott B posted: 09.25.2012 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TBR this season gets some benefits from their deal with Tony Stewart to provide the part-time ride for Danica Patrick. That deal won't be in place next year, so money could be tighter. 244. ch posted: 09.25.2012 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @241 The BK deal is not like the red bull situation. It was at first, but after Daytona, Burger King actually signed on as a real sponsor. I assure you the people saying BK is low on funds are full of it, and they will be back next year. For TBR, they will definately be back. They will have TWO guaranteed starting spots, as tommy said he will get the 10 points. He has already said on the teams Facebook page that Dave Blaney would be back in 2013 full time in the 36. I can actually see Regan Smith going to TBR next year to replace Reutimann in the 10 (probably will change to #35). I don't see Reutimann back in 2013 as I think Tommy is still upset about the Pocono problem. As for FAS Lane, I am fairly sure they will be back... I don't have any sure info like the previous two though. They are almost always sponsored though. They have about half a season in Labonte (CJ Energy), Schrader (Federated Auto), and Bell (Greensmoke) if they return. Then the sponsor fillers take the rest. 245. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.25.2012 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "So Paul, the fall Talladega lottery is going to have a bigger impact on the title next year. Frankly, I think they need to eliminate the second race there, because of the chances of as many as two-thirds of the field getting involved in crashes, possibly through the fault of nobody. And if they're going to keep that race on the schedule, they should move it back to late-July/early-August, move the Brickyard 400 to the Chase-opening race so there's a crown jewel in the Chase, and move the other Chase races back a race until you get to the point to where the schedule is, with Kansas being the sixth Chase race" As long as it is "manufactered pack racing" (which i honestly believe NASCAR will retain it with the new car, because NASCAR is deathly afraid of pissing off the peanut gallery) 2/3rds of the field could easily be taken out. Dega should be the first race of the chase, so it can be done and over with. And quit bring up the Brickyard. For the love of the heavens, GET AWAY FROM THERE. Leave the state of Indiana PERIOD, cuz no one cares there anymore. 246. Paul posted: 09.25.2012 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I don't see Reutimann back in 2013 as I think Tommy is still upset about the Pocono problem" I haven't heard about this before. I do know that Reutimann drove the #51 in place of the suspended Kurt Busch and TBR had Blaney in the #10 and Raines in the #36, then the next week Blaney and Raines swapped rides and Reutimann sat out that weekend. Another reason why TBR will be back for 2013 could be because they teamed up with Scott Lagasse, Jr. and his Nationwide return this past weekend. I don't think they would have bothered if they were in deep trouble financially, and this alliance could have only helped them since Lagasse kept the car clean. 247. ch posted: 09.25.2012 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you followed TBR's facebook page that weekend you would know. Tommy was ok that Reutimann raced in the 51, but he was extremely upset that Reutimann outperformed the 10 car. That was why Reutimann sat out that next week, he was supposed to race in the 10, but Tommy sat him out and parked the 10 last minute. Since then the relationship seems to be strained. As for the SL Racing partnership, that will evolve soon. This week the SL team was the TBR car, crew, even crew cheif. SL Racing is setting their team up somewhere outside of NC, so they will start using their own cars, crew, etc... I think that they were just borrowing the TBR car / team for the week, but the technical alliance should continue. We'll find out at Homestead as TBR is supposed to field a car for John Blankenship and Lagasse will be attempting the race too, so they can't be using the same crew. 248. cjs3872 posted: 09.25.2012 - 5:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ch, Tommy Baldwin will only get one guaranteed starting spot. The #10's points are almost certainly going to Stewart-Haas Racing (they'll need them), and Baldwin has only enough money to run one car, and maybe not for very long. Now Baldwin may run the Nationwide Series, but if he tries to run Cup, it will be S&P only, with the possible exception of the Daytona 500, because he has no sponsorship for next year that I know of. And he may even S&P in the 500. And 1995 Subaru WRX STi, one thing the Chase lacks is a big race. One great thing about the inaugural Chase in 2004 was that the Southern 500 was the next-to-last race, and as we all know, the Southern 500 is a crown jewel. But that race moved to Mother's Day in 2005, and ever since then, the Chase has lacked a big race. That's why I say the Brickyard should be moved to the Chase opener, as it's the most logical choice, given the current schedule layout. Remember that the Chase opens in Chicago. Given that, I don't think it's such a bad idea to switch the dates at Indy and Chicago. What that would do is prevent the Chicago date from being in direct competition from the Bears, and it would give the Chase the marquee opening it needs, while putting some attention back on NASCAR's second-biggest race. As long as there are no big races n the Chase, NASCAR's last part of the season will always be lacking. As the schedule sits now, the last big race happens before August begins, and as a result, all the NASCAR buzz will be over once the Chase begins. But put one of the crown jewels in the Chase, and then there will be talk about NASCAR in the fall again. Just look at the recently completed IndyCar season. This year, the final race was a 500-mile race in the nation's second-biggest market, and it decided the championship. And next year, I understand IndyCar racing will return to Pocono next year, which very well could mean a return of the old IndyCar Triple Crown of the 70s and 80s. That's what NASCAR needs to end the season with, a big race, and it currently doesn't have one after the month of July. 249. Talon64 posted: 09.25.2012 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ch, Tommy Baldwin will only get one guaranteed starting spot. The #10's points are almost certainly going to Stewart-Haas Racing (they'll need them), and Baldwin has only enough money to run one car, and maybe not for very long. Now Baldwin may run the Nationwide Series, but if he tries to run Cup, it will be S&P only, with the possible exception of the Daytona 500, because he has no sponsorship for next year that I know of. And he may even S&P in the 500." Don't forget that Tony Stewart has his past champion's provisional. SHR can just have Danica use the #14's points from this year. 250. Jordan posted: 09.25.2012 - 7:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How much does a full-season primary sponsorship really help a sponsor? I never thought it would be worth it for a sponsor to shell out the kind of bucks it takes to get on a car, especially a car that will be noticed. 251. 10andJoe posted: 09.25.2012 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >There have also been rumors that Michael Annett could come up to Cup next year, which I believe to be a giant mistake. If anything, let him run 6 to 8 races, possibly 10. That's actually what the probability is, as mentioned during the Nationwide race; Annett might have a 10-race Cup schedule next year. 252. JG24FanForever posted: 09.25.2012 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Top 15 active(Full-Time)Top 5%: 1. Jeff Gordon .4332/295 in 681 starts(Mega Legend) 2. Jimmie Johnson .4143/162 in 391 starts(Mega Legend) 3. Tony Stewart .3496/172 in 492 starts(Mega Legend) 4. Denny Hamlin .3108/78 in 251 starts 5. Carl Edwards .3106/91 in 293 starts 6. Kyle Busch .3053/87 in 285 starts 7. Matt Kenseth .2651/123 in 464 starts 8. Dale Jr. .2268/105 in 463 starts 9. Greg Biffle .2206/79 in 358 starts 10. Ryan Newman .2146/85 in 396 starts 11. Kevin Harvick .2133/90 in 422 starts 12. Kasey Kahne .2089/66 in 316 starts 13. Kurt Busch .2084/89 in 427 starts 14. Jeff Burton .2040/132 in 647 starts 15. Brad K. .1880/22 in 117 starts It's safe to say that if you have a .300%+ average, you're in the Elite league, which is a terrible shame for Carl Edwards, since he has 2 Top 5's in 28 starts this year. Jeff Gordon had 26 Top 5's in 33 races in 1998 .787% Tony Stewart had 9 Top 5's in 36 races in 2011 .250% Carl Edwards had 19 Top 5's in 36 races in 2011 .527%(twice as much as Stewey) 253. ch posted: 09.25.2012 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No, Tommy said at the beginning of the year that the 10 points would remain with TBR and that Stewart would give his points to Danica. He was VERY adament about not giving up the points if he was going to stretch his organization to two underfunded cars. Actually, I think they will S&P less next year. Dave is returning, and SealWrap is canceling the rest of their 2012 sponsorship to increase the number of races they sponsor in 2013 (I'm estimating about 15 races). 254. cjs3872 posted: 09.25.2012 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ch, this whole scenario would make sense only if NASCAR keeps the top 35 rule, which I think it will in the first few races next year. If they don't, this whole swapping owner's points business won't matter nearly as much, because there's a possibility that cars in the top 20-25 in owner's points may not make the Daytona 500, which is the big reason for the points swaps anyway. After all, it pays more than $250,000 just to start that race, and for the teams that do S&P's, that could mean as much as an extra month or two worth of time and money. I also think that if the top 35 rule goes, which I hope it does but probably won't, some of these start-and-park teams may go with it, because that would mean that more spots would open up for potential new teams, as well as existing teams to expand. But we pretty much know that one top 35 team (Phoenix Racing's #51 car) is not going to be back next year, but how many more will follow. I still say there could be as many as 1-3 that won't return that are currently in the top 35. 255. Red posted: 09.26.2012 - 1:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "the fall Talladega lottery is going to have a bigger impact on the title next year." I can't believe how many people fall for that logical fallacy. Just because it will be race #6 instead of race #4 doesn't mean the impact will be any different. The points count the same in all ten races, regardless of order. Yes, there will be less races to recover from a bad Dega finish next year, but there will be more races beforehand to build up a cushion. Remember how Jimmie's 38th place at Texas in 2009 had ZERO effect on the chase? That's because it was races #8, and Jimmie had already built up a huge lead in the standings. However, I agree that the Dega chase race needs to be taken off the schedule. Really, most of the chase schedule is terrible, as Dover, Martinsville, Phoenix, and Homestead are the only redeemable tracks. Chicago, Kansas, Charlotte, and Texas are all the same, and Loudon is just flat out awful. Hell, if they would even switch Richmond with Chicago, and make Richmond the first chase race, that would be a big improvement. I think race #26 is overrated as an event, so I don't care what track hosts it. 256. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 3:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wouldn't get rid of Talladega's Chase race because I think the Chase should comprise of all the different types of tracks currently run in the Sprint Cup Series. As it stands right now, there are four cookie-cutter tracks (Chicago, Charlotte, Kansas, Texas), two banked ovals (Dover, Homestead), one flat oval (Loudon), one superspeedway (Talladega), one short track (Martinsville), and one "other" track (Phoenix). Instead of trying to eliminate a track, we should be looking to expand and add new types of tracks. Two tracks that I would add would be IMS and a 3rd road course (preferably an international one like Montreal). Those two tracks would create new buzz for the Chase and are both well known tracks across the racing world, plus they fit two track types that we have yet to have in the Chase: A rectangle and a road course. For IMS, we could just have it take Loudon's place in the Chase and make it the first Chase race (the regular season starts off with a big race, and so should the Chase). Then I'd replace any of the cookie cutters (doesn't matter which one) and replace it with the road course (preferably Montreal). And while I'm at it, I'd take Atlanta and swap it for one of the other cookie cutters in the Chase (maybe swap it with Charlotte and have Labor Day weekend back in the Carolinas). This way we would have 3 cookie cutters, 2 high-banked ovals, 1 flat "oval", 1 superspeedway, 1 road course, 1 short track, and 1 "other". Also, in a perfect world we would have the likes of Iowa, Rockingham, and Darlington considered for the Chase, but even in a fantasy we have to be somewhat realistic. 257. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.26.2012 - 7:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone here think we should repave all the racetracks with a Atlanta or Rockingham style surface that's abrasive as Christian Bale's Batman voice. 258. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tayler Malsam, who was having a solid Nationwide Series season and is currently 13th in the points, has been released by TriStar Motorsports. Mike Bliss moves over to the #19 and Jeff Green moves to the #44. The #10 is TBA. Damn, Malsam was having a pretty good year in his first full-time Nationwide season. It's shame to see him go at this stage, but G-Oil must have pulled their sponsorship as I noticed last week that his car wasn't even in the normal paint scheme; it was a blank white car with G-Oil stickers put on it as if it was last minute. Hopefully they find a driver for the #10 so Jeff Green can run the distance . 259. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.26.2012 - 12:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) paul, malsam had been running a blank white car with a last minute logo for the last couple weeks, i noticed it at richmond and chicagoland, so i'm assumming their sponsorship ran out. 260. David posted: 09.26.2012 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The AdvoCare 500 is coming up again in November. No mistake. AdvoCare signed on to sponsor the fall Phoenix race. Coincidentally, Kobalt Tools sponsored both the spring Atlanta race and the fall Phoenix race in 2010. 261. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It would be awesome if we could repave a track so it is already of the consistency of Rockingham or Atlanta. 262. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave #38 Fan, I wouldn't have known that because they rarely show his car on tv and I haven't been looking up pictures of his car, but thanks anyway. DSFF, or better yet, we could just give Atlanta, Rockingham, and even Darlington more than 2 combined dates on the schedule. Oh wait, I forgot, that'll never happen. Why would we want these "has been" tracks when we have tracks with great atmospheres like casinos (Kansas), Hollywood celebrities (Fontana), and the suburbs of a big city (Chicago, Texas)? Give me a break. Those three tracks with six combined dates alone would put asses in the seats, but I guess they're not up to the standards of the big and rich corporate executives that have run this sport into the ground. They'd rather have tracks with large grandstands that never sell out than tracks with medium grandstands that (with the proper promotion) can sell out. In other news, Brian France has been trying very hard to keep his divorce records secret. I haven't heard this one before, but apparently back in 2008 a divorce court ruled that he had to pay his ex-wife $9 million, plus $32,000 a month in alimony for 10 years and $10,000 a month in child support (why are these separate?). Poor guy, I wonder if that has something to do with entry fees going up and sponsorship dollars increasing over the past four years. 263. David posted: 09.26.2012 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Those three tracks with six combined dates alone would put asses in the seats" You mean like mine that's going to the Naionwide Kansas race? 264. David posted: 09.26.2012 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Those three tracks with six combined dates alone would put asses in the seats" You mean like mine that's going to the Naionwide Kansas race? 265. David posted: 09.26.2012 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The third time's the charm. "Those three tracks with six combined dates alone would put asses in the seats" You mean like mine that's going to the Nationwide Kansas race? I have made clear before my disdain for casinos. 266. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith was on NASCAR Now on ESPN, and he said that he is only scheduled for two more races this season (Dover and Talladega) and could be replaced by Kurt Busch for the final six races. Since Kurt is not under contract with Phoenix Racing, he has the right to leave whenever he chooses. 267. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, the Truck Series will return to Rockingham next season on April 13th. Hopefully the Nationwide Series gets a date in the future and they can have a duel stand-alone weekend. 268. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "DSFF, or better yet, we could just give Atlanta, Rockingham, and even Darlington more than 2 combined dates on the schedule." That would make too much sense for Brain (not a typo) France and the suits in Daytona. "In other news, Brian France has been trying very hard to keep his divorce records secret." Why? It's not like anybody really gives a shit about him. And if he is afraid they will give us ammo to make fun of him, he provides us with enough of that himself with his dumbass decisions and hilariously uninformed public speeches. 269. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Regan Smith was on NASCAR Now on ESPN, and he said that he is only scheduled for two more races this season (Dover and Talladega) and could be replaced by Kurt Busch for the final six races." That is a damn shame. "OK Regan, you came in and gave us a respectability that experienced vets Kenny Wallace (who trashed us publically for firing him) and Joe Nemechek couldn't and made us hands down the best independent team out here, were so dedicated that you moved out here to Denver even as we stubbornly stayed here away from the hub of the sport, and even won us a race in The Granddady of Them All, the Southern 500, taking advantage of circumstances and outdriving Carl Edwards for the final 2 laps, and basically put us on the map. Now get the hell out, we are gonna replace you with the biggest douchebag in the sport, one of the worst team players ever, somebody who has torched every bridge he has ever seen." 270. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here is what I posted on Regan's driver page: "From now on, anyone getting the shit end of the stick in a deal will forevermore be known as being "Furniture Rowed"." Here is an example. On Monday Night, Green Bay was Furniture Rowed by the replacement refs. 271. cjs3872 posted: 09.26.2012 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, again I can't believe how much we sometimes think alike. Indy needs to be the first race in the Chase, because it's a big race, and there's currently no big race in the Chase. That's part of what made the first Chase in 2004 the best one, because you had a crown jewel event in that first Chase, the Southern 500. But instead of switching it out with Loudon (which is actually the second Chase race now), they should switch it with Chicago's because the way it sits now, that race runs in conflict with the Bears, even if the Bears are not playing at home that day. If you move the Chicago race to late-July/early-August (Indy's current place on the schedule), there are no real conflicts with the NFL then. It wouldn't make sense to switch it with Loudon anyway, since they alreadt race there in July. However, if they ever do put a road course race in the Chase, what they should do is go to Sonoma, because the chances of bad weather are far less there than any other road course locations on the circuit. If they replace Sonoma's summer date, they should go to a place like Road Atlanta or Portland (if upgrades are made) to get a northwest date. Road America is simply too long, though if they find a way to do there what they did at Watkins Glen and shorten the course, that's another viable option. The Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course is too narrow and Montreal is just too unsafe, and I don't know about any others that would take Sonoma's summer date if Sonoma is moved to the Chase. After all, a true champion needs to be good on all styles of tracks, and to win the championship, all a driver has to do is to feats on the 1.5 mile tracks (and the redo at Phoenix has made that like a 1.5 mile track), stay out of the wrecks at Talladega, and tread water at Loudon, Dover, and Martinsville. I laughed yesterday when they said on Race Hub that the top five or six drivers can win the title. In fact, only a maximum of four or five can do it. Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski are the ones to beat, but a bad finish by Tony Stewart and/or Denny Hamlin this week takes them out of contention, while Kasey Kahne's title hopes are going to get torpedoed by the same thing that would have done the same to the Roush team's hopes, had they not already been extinguished, and that is Martinsville, and I don't like his chances at Talladega, either. Kasey is notoriously terrible at Martinsville. Put him in traffic there, and he's a lost cause. After this week's race at Dover, we could conceivably be down to just three legitimate title contenders, Johnson, Keselowski, and Clint Bowyer. Everyone else below sixth is aready out of contention, in my view. See, one thing that Johnson does that has helped him win five championships, and he often gets criticized for this, is that he runs in the back all day at Talladega, which keeps him out of any potential trouble. There's just one race in the Chase that the #48 team doesn't usually try to win, and that's the race at Talladega. They just try to survive and stay out of the wrecks there, and only race the final 10-15 laps at Talladega. what they do there is let their competition beat themselves, get a top 10-15 finish, and go on from there. 272. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kenny Wallace (who trashed us publically for firing him)" Haven't heard that one before, but I'm not surprised. Kenny spoke badly about Jay Robinson Racing after he left that team and there's been some friction between he and Robby Benton ever since Kenny's schedule got reduced. "OK Regan, you came in and gave us a respectability that experienced vets Kenny Wallace (who trashed us publically for firing him) and Joe Nemechek couldn't and made us hands down the best independent team out here" Not only that, but they've eclipsed several big money teams such as JTG Daugherty and at least one car from EGR and RPM. Kenny, Joe, and Regan drove for FRR in 3 consecutive seasons ('07-'09). Kenny DNQ'd 12 times in 22 attempts, Joe DNQ'd 4 times in 36 attempts, and Regan DNQ'd twice in 20 attempts while on a part-time schedule. In the days of the "top 35 rule", I'd say that's damn impressive to make all but two races while part-time, and your predecessor's missed a combined 16 races while running part-time (Kenny left after the 22nd race in '07). Since then Regan has made every race the past 3 years, including giving the team its first top ten, top five, and oh yeah, its first win last year on only the toughest track on the circuit and beating the most consistent driver of 2011 to do it. It's like "Thanks for making us a respectable organization and have given us recognition Regan. Now get the hell out of here because we need people talking about us because of our driver's actions, even though the results will be very similar." "Here is an example. On Monday Night, Green Bay was Furniture Rowed by the replacement refs." Yes and I loved every minute of it. It's been a while since my Vikings have been above the Pack in the division. 273. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "See, one thing that Johnson does that has helped him win five championships, and he often gets criticized for this, is that he runs in the back all day at Talladega, which keeps him out of any potential trouble." That's what the entire HMS team did at the spring race last year. All 4 cars rode in the back all race long, leaving only Roush, RCR and fleet of mid-lower pack cars battling for 1st when it didn't matter. With about five laps to go, the gloves came off and all 4 Hendrick cars drove from 25th to the lead and they all earned top 8 finishes, including Jimmie Johnson getting the win and Gordon and Junior finishing in the top 4. I'd rather see the best cars at the front and not hold back until the very end, which is what happened in the fall race in that battle between Burton and Bowyer, but HMS are the masters at beating the system and they have a great idea at how to use it to their advantage. With the tandem draft phenomena of 2011, all you had to do was stay on the lead lap and get hooked up with another car for the final five laps to go from 25th to 1st. 274. Dave #38 Fan posted: 09.26.2012 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dalesrfanforever, i think i'll start using that catchphrase. for instance, jack roush has completely furniture rowed trevor bayne this year. 275. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's an article on nascar.com that has the headline "Childress looks forward to working with Busch", with a sub-headline "Richard Childress Racing has relationship with driver's 2013 Furniture Row team". So for anyone who thought that RCR had nothing to do with Kurt Busch's hiring at FRR, think again. I think this proves that RCR wanted Kurt in its 4th Cup car for 2013, but couldn't because of sponsorship troubles. So instead, they've forced FRR to get rid of a quality young driver in exchange for their dream driver. Maybe this will cover their engine leasing fee, or at least their chassis leasing fee since Kurt will probably go through a lot of cars next year. Kurt has that Earnhardt mentality of rather taking a chance at 1st place and wrecking that settling for a top 10. The difference though is that Earnahrdt's teams always accommodated for his aggressive style with cars that could last the whole race without falling apart, and I don't see RCR (yes RCR, not FRR) doing that for Kurt, which means more wrecked race cars and similar results to that of Regan Smith. 276. murb posted: 09.26.2012 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'd like to take this opportunity to wish Furniture Row Racing nothing but the worst in their future endeavors. I hope Kurt's arrival does nothing but blow up in the face of their idiotic management team. And Childress, really? You're really looking forward to working with Kurt? Just wait till he starts criticizing your equipment just like he did to Penske. You'll probably have second thoughts after that happens. Regan, in these last two races, drive your ass off. Take no prisoners. Show them what a mistake they're making. 277. cjs3872 posted: 09.26.2012 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I think you're referring to the spring race at Taladega last year, when Johnson won a photo finish with Clint Bowyer, because Bowyer won the fall race there last year for the second year in a row. And trust me, the tandem drafting will still be a factor at the end, but one thing that would worry me if I was a fan of the other makes is the speed edge the cooling system gives the Fords. Because they can draft closer together longer, the Fords have about a 2-3 MPH speed edge over everyone else over a prolonged period. Now that won't matter as far as the championship goes, because as I mentioned, the two Roush Fords in the Chase are already out of contention, nearly a full race behind with Martinsville, a track Roush treats as a throwaway track, still coming up. I also remember that in the fall race at Talladega in 2010, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson went from 26th and 27th to first and second in a little more than one lap. Of the ten races in the Chase, the one race Johnson's team self-admittedly does not try to win is the one at Talladega. If Johnson's pursuers all struggle at Dover, which is the weakest track for Keselowski (though that's not proven over time), Hamlin, and Stewart, who's been terrible at the concrete tracks in recent years, and Johnson finishes in the top three, he could get close to a half race lead in the standings entering Talladega next week, and if that's the case, he could play his coasting game and still end up with a healthy lead going to his two best tracks in the Chase, Charlotte and Martinsville. Johnson could end up with a lock on the championship after Martinsville, and just coast home from there. 278. Jordan posted: 09.26.2012 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian France has to pay $10,000 per month in child support? What kind of support does that child (do those children) need? 279. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Should've known Childress had something to do with this shit. I dislike him more and more every year. Now he will give FRR better resources and everyone will say "see, great move replacing Regan with the super talented champion Kurt". Just like HMS stepped up with Kurt in the 51 this year (they did the same in '09 with Brad in that car when he appeared to be the HMS heir apparent). He is quite simply a weasel. Every year that passes, and every decision Richard makes like this, it just increases the legacy of Dale Earnhardt as we see just how much he truly carried that team along with the Flying Aces. If Brian France would agree to go back and eliminate the name "Richard Childress" from everything Dale accomplished from '84-'01 I would never take another potshot at him ever. 280. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 6:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Having the indignity of your father being Brian France, those kids deserve $10000 per month. The worst part about this NFL official replacement disgrace is that Brian's 8 year run as worst leader of a major sport is coming to an end. I wondered whose streak would end first, Brian's or Loeb's Rally championship streak. Looks like it is Brian. 281. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Having the indignity of your father being Brian France, those kids deserve $10000 per month." Hahaha that's awesome! "eliminate the name "Richard Childress" from everything Dale accomplished from '84-'01 I would never take another potshot at him ever." What's amazing is that Dale had one (and 1/3) winless season in his 18 years at RCR, and in the 12 seasons (including this season) since Dale's passing, RCR has gone winless three times and is on pace for number four this year. It just goes to show you not only how great Earnhardt was, but how much of a 180 RCR has made since losing Dale. They've gone from a team that was a weekly contender to a team that is weekly invisible and a good day is having all 3 cars in the top 20. cjs, I was referring to those two races differently. I said that HMS rode in the back all most of the spring race and drove up to the front with all 4 cars, including Johnson getting the win, and that Bowyer and Burton were at the front all race and went on to finish 1-2 as the HMS "ride in the back" strategy backfired, thanks in part to Roush's idiotic "Ford drivers must only draft with Ford drivers" strategy that cost Gordon and Bayne a possible 1-2 finish and zero Fords in the top 10 because they weren't as strong as the Chevrolets at restrictor plate tracks last year. Now that I think about it, how ironic is it that RCR, probably the most conservative team in the garage, had all 4 cars running up front the entire race and went on to finish 1-2 at Talladega? Hell, Paul Menard had the best average finish on restrictor plate tracks last year. Sure they had to dodge all the wrecks, but the fact that they were running up front tells me that they're capable of running up front, yet they choose not to. 282. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course, although I am not a member of Rainbow Nation, fair is fair, and that cheap ass stunt Richard, Menard, and Harvick pulled at Richmond last year when they ganged up and Furniture Rowed Gordon was wrong and cheaper than a discount bin Kurt Busch #97 hat. That still has a horrible taste in my mouth over that one. Luckily neither Harvick nor Menard has won sonce and Richard just has one win, towards the end of last year with the driver he decided to low ball cause he wasn't worth it, the same guy who is becoming elite since joining a seemingly moribund MWR organization thiis year. 283. Anonymous posted: 09.26.2012 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree DSFF, RCR has completely been turning me off since that moment, along with the whole Kyle Busch obsession they had. I only support Jeff Burton (and to a growingly much lesser extent Harvick). But as far as Richard goes, I've just about lost all of my respect. One other thing that bugs me about him is the fact that his grandsons will be his Cup drivers in a few years. Pretty soon the whole family will be taking part in these dirty tactics. I just hope this whole situation doesn't mean the end of Regan Smith as a Nascar driver. I can't imagine what it would be like to be not only screwed out of a ride, but maybe even out of the sport. Regan's best bet to land a good Cup ride looks to be the 43 car, but I haven't heard anything about whether or not they are gonna bring Almirola back, so even that looks iffy. If it doesn't happen, then hopefully he can at least land somewhere. I've heard that David Reutimann might be headed to JTG Daugherty Racing, so maybe Regan could take his spot over at TBR or something. It would be better than nothing. 284. murb posted: 09.26.2012 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, post 283 was me. I had to switch browsers so it lost my username. 285. Paul posted: 09.26.2012 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It sounds to me that Regan is more concerned being in a competitive ride than he is being in a full-time Cup car next year. I think it's possible he could wind up at RCR in either the Nationwide or Truck Series since Elliott Sadler and Joey Coulter are both leaving after this season, and JR Motorsports have discussed putting a veteran in the #7 next season so Regan could go there as well. Turner Motorsports hasn't figured out their driver lineup for next year either in any series, and RPM hasn't re-signed Ambrose or Almirola, so there's still a few competitive rides out there that Regan could end up at. The worst thing he could do is sit on the sidelines and wait for a ride to open up. Scott Riggs found that out the hard way in '09. He began the season with TBR and left after 12 races when they began to start-and-park, and went two years without a full-time ride. So wherever Regan winds up, I hope he's competitive, but mostly I just hope he has a stable full-time ride. And if that means driving for TBR for a year, then so be it, but I wouldn't count out an RCR or JRM ride for 2013. 286. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.26.2012 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Are you guys talking about the Fall '11 Dega race when JJ and June employed the "let's lay back and wait until the checkered flag falls and the race is over and Matt Kenseth is already in his street clothes boarding his plane to make our move" strategy? I kinda liked it lol. 287. Rusty posted: 09.26.2012 - 9:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love how everyone cries that Furniture Row screwed Regan Smith, but if he left for an opportunity like Penske or Gibbs, nobody would accuse Smith of screwing Furniture Row. Besides, if FRR gets way more resources and help from RCR by doing this, then it is a complete no brainer. It isn't like they fired Jeff Gordon or anything, I know people love Regan Smith but outside of Darlington 2011 he's really done nothing except ride around and not crash. 288. Red posted: 09.27.2012 - 1:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you set aside the emotional component of this, it seems pretty obvious that Kurt Busch is a better choice for FRR than Regan Smith. First of all, Kurt is almost certainly the better driver, and at the very least he's a driver with a higher ceiling than Regan. But maybe more importantly, this move makes FRR way more relevant. Hardcore fans may appreciate Regan Smith, but in terms of name recognition, he isn't even in the same ballpark as Kurt Busch. Even though Kurt Busch is an asshole, he suddenly make Furniture Row Racing worth talking about amongst regular fans. Just for some local perspective, I live about 20 minutes from FRR's shop. I can tell you that FRR and Regan don't get ANY coverage/attention from local media and from Colorado sports fans in general. When they won the Southern 500, the local news had maybe a two minute blurb about it, and that's the only time I've ever heard FRR mentioned around here. I guarantee the attention will pick up a bit with a former Cup champion behind the wheel. Don't get me wrong, I would personally rather see Regan drive the #78, but I'm realistic about the business of NASCAR, and Regan Smith just doesn't move the needle for most people, including potential sponsors (FRR may be self-sponsored, but I'd bet a king's ransom they'd take on another sponsor if money was being offered). 289. Benjamin Lowe posted: 09.27.2012 - 7:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It seems The NFL has Turned into the XFL. 290. Paul posted: 09.27.2012 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYiaSN68l5k&feature=related I found his neat little video that I thought some of you might enjoy. It's an ESPN practical joke clip from 1988, featuring Dale Earnhardt and the jokester Rusty Wallace. The look on Dale's face as the joke is going on his priceless. Damn, it's crazy just how serious the world of sports has become over past 24 years. I can't imagine ESPN taking the time to do this with NASCAR drivers today, and I doubt you'll see a driver to what Rusty did and show up at ESPN for no reason other than this. Enjoy! 291. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.27.2012 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The look on Dale's face as the joke is going on his priceless. Damn, it's crazy just how serious the world of sports has become over past 24 years. I can't imagine ESPN taking the time to do this with NASCAR drivers today, and I doubt you'll see a driver to what Rusty did and show up at ESPN for no reason other than this." Blame sponsers for it. You have to be nice and correct all the time. You piss your sponsers off, you lose a MAJOR part of your paycheck. Sponsers control alot in this sport, especially what is said. Drivers even have to go to a school to learn how to plug their sponsers in. (eve those replacement refs could do that) Also ESPN then gave a damn about NASCAR, now a days it is just the "National Football Run By th Owners Who Do Not Give A Damn About Intgerity The Shield The Fans Or The Players Only The Money Which Will Soon Be About 18 Billion Dollars So I Smell Another Lockout Coming League" (I'd love to see someone do the acronym for that), the "Steriods Baseball League" and the "National Run By A Completely Balless Commissioner Who Is a Complete Wuss At His Job Baseketball League." 292. Talon64 posted: 09.27.2012 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith in a straight driver swap and AJ Allmendinger are two of the potential candidates to drive the #51 for the last 6 races of the season. But another two candidates are James Buescher and Justin Allgaier. Steve Turner was close to buying Phoenix Racing from James Finch back in 2010, so maybe this is a sign that the door's open for it to happen now? 293. David posted: 09.27.2012 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also ESPN then gave a damn about NASCAR, now a days it is just the 'National Football Run By th Owners Who Do Not Give A Damn About Intgerity The Shield The Fans Or The Players Only The Money Which Will Soon Be About 18 Billion Dollars So I Smell Another Lockout Coming League' (I'd love to see someone do the acronym for that), the 'Steriods Baseball League' and the 'National Run By A Completely Balless Commissioner Who Is a Complete Wuss At His Job Basketball League.'" NFRBTOWDNGADAITSTFOTPOTMWWSBAEBDSISALCL, SBL, and the NRBACBCWIACWAHJBL. Oh Sean, wherever you are, I would like to alert you to an error in your site. The 2003 Firecracker 400 was not Stacy Compton's last race. He made a start at Pocono this year (albeit a start-and-park). Webmaster, please delete posts #263 and #264. 294. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.27.2012 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I dispute Kurt being a better choice for that #78 car than Regan. Does Kurt have more natural driving talent than Regan? Of course he does. Many in the industry insist he has even more than his brother. But you still have to put the package together, which is something Kurt cannt do. You have to have heart and the abilty not to fall apart mentally when things go bad. Inside the car, Kurt has neither. Exhibit A: The Richmond race that just happened. Compare Jeff's performance in that race to Kyle's. We can all agree that, at minimum, they have equal driving talent with most claiming, including Gordon himself, that Kyle is even above Jeff in this category. By Lap 216 Kyle was in 7thwith about a 10th place car and Jeff was two laps down in 21st place with about a 30th place car. Didn't matter. Kyle's team made one mistake, a mistake made by other cars each of which finished better than him except Truex who, along with Hamlin, dropped back to give Kyle spots. He finished 16th even with the two free spots. Meanwhile, Gordon never quit, rallied, regained both laps, and finished 2nd only to a fuel mileage gamble. Kurt has the same mentality as his brother, so he will not be a better candidate for that car. Compare his finishes this year in Finch's car to Landon Cassill's last year. 295. Red posted: 09.27.2012 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I dispute Kurt being a better choice for that #78 car than Regan." I predict Kurt will have roughly the same average finish as Regan, but he'll do it with more up-and-down results. With Regan, you can count on a 15th-25th place finish every week. Not bad considering the equipment, but not enough to really make an impact in the Cup Series (Darlington `11 being the glaring exception). With Kurt in the #78, I expect more top 5's and top 10's, but also more DNF's and wrecked race cars. IMO, a high variance strategy is more beneficial for a low budget team, as it's important to maximize their relatively scarce opportunities to contend for wins. Kurt gives FRR a better chance to win races, and since that team will never win a championship, isn't winning races all that matters? Now, I'd agree that for the long term health of the team, adding a cancerous personality like Kurt could be detrimental. But they have to take chances if they want to grow as an organization, and in that light I believe Kurt is worth the gamble, especially with added help from RCR. 296. 10andJoe posted: 09.28.2012 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 293: What about the We're Lockouting Ourslves Into Irrelevance, Or Would If We Weren't Irrelevant Already Hockey League? >And that cheap ass stunt Richard, Menard, and Harvick pulled at Richmond last year when they ganged up and Furniture Rowed Gordon was wrong and cheaper than a discount bin Kurt Busch #97 hat. Was that ever proven? 297. Rusty posted: 09.28.2012 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You're trying to make a point about Kurt Busch by bringing up what happened with Kyle Busch at Richmond and it isn't fair DSFF. Kurt may be a loose cannon at times, but does anyone remember Homestead 2004? His entire wheel fell off and it looked like he was dead in the water and JJ was going to get his first title, but he stuck with it and rallied back to close the deal. Sure, having Jimmy Fennig on the pitbox helped, but you don't pull something off like that with the pressure at its' absolute highest without having some sort of heart and ability to pull it all together. He is ahead of his brother in that department, I know it isn't saying much, but I don't think you can talk about Kurt while discussing Kyle. This seems like a no brainer to FRR to me. A better chance of winning, more attention and likely more of a technical alliance with RCR. Even if Kurt turns out to be a disaster, it isn't like drivers the caliber of Regan Smith are hard to find. Sorry to rain on people's parades about Smith, but he just isn't anything special. He is a good guy and I wish the best for him going forward, but people let their personal feelings about a person overrule what can be best for an organization though. This site tends to gush over guys like Regan Smith and Landon Cassill but there are probably drivers as good as them undiscoered racing on local short tracks. Drivers like the Busch brothers are not easy to find, they come with their problems, but in any sport you always see organizations gamble on the ability. Hell, Pacman Jones is still in the NFL despite being an absolute disgrace of a human being. 298. David posted: 09.28.2012 - 8:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "But you still have to put the package together, which is something Kurt cannot do." He has once, and that gave him the title of "Cup Champion". "This seems like a no brainer to FRR to me. A better chance of winning, more attention and likely more of a technical alliance with RCR. Even if Kurt turns out to be a disaster, it isn't like drivers the caliber of Regan Smith are hard to find. Sorry to rain on people's parades about Smith, but he just isn't anything special. He is a good guy and I wish the best for him going forward, but people let their personal feelings about a person overrule what can be best for an organization though. This site tends to gush over guys like Regan Smith and Landon Cassill but there are probably drivers as good as them undiscovered racing on local short tracks. Drivers like the Busch brothers are not easy to find, they come with their problems, but in any sport you always see organizations gamble on the ability. Hell, Pacman Jones is still in the NFL despite being an absolute disgrace of a human being." True. Regan Smith's best season (2011) was merely serviceable, while Kurt Busch has been a title contender four times (2002-04, 2009). But it still seems like a sour deal for Smith, especially considering that he won't even finish out the season with the team. 299. cjs3872 posted: 09.28.2012 - 10:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 10andJoe, about whether or not the situation at Richmond last year regarding RCR organizing that caution for Kevin Harvick, I think the radio communications that were caught, first by SPEED, speak for themselves. They were updating Paul Menard on the happenings, which he had nothing to do with. They were saying that they, meaning RCR, did not need a caution flag, because Harvick was leading. Then not long after Jeff Gordon takes the lead froim Harvick, Menard is told to go to the back-up channel, where nobody could hear their conversation, shortly after which he harmlessly spins near the S/F line to bring out the caution that Harvick needed. And there was that question Slugger Labbe asked Menard about the water temperature, which Menard didn't even know the reason for. That might have been the code to do the spin at the S/F line to bring out that caution that Harvick needed. Of course it was done intentionally by Childress. NASCAR just swept it under the rug because the Chase was about to start, and they didn't need a race fixing scandal to overshadow the start of the Chase. But everyone that saw Race Hub and NASCAR Now in the week between last year's Chase field decider at Richmond and the chase opener at Chicago knew exactly what happened. Childres orchestrated that whole thing. NASCAR just decided not to pursue it. But if they had, RCR might have been in a lot of trouble, because the proof was in the radio communications, which would have been as damning to them in that case, as the wiretapping was to Richard Nixon in the Watergate scandal that brought down his presidency. 300. cjs3872 posted: 09.28.2012 - 10:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, there's sad news in the racing community, as Chris Economaki, the dean of motorsports journalism, has died. Economaki helped bring racing to television in the 1960s with ABC Sports, and helped the popularity of the sport on TV increase for 33 years on the air, first with ABC, then with CBS. Economaki had ben a journalist long before his TV days, with his National Speed Sport News paper, which he continued long after his TV commentating days were over. Along with Bud Lindemann, Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, Bill Flemming, and Ken Squier, Economaki was one of the most important people in bringing racing to the masses that could not go to the track, perhaps the most important of all. Racing will never be he same without Economaki and his famous voice around, and his presence will be missed beyond words. 301. Smiff_99 posted: 09.28.2012 - 10:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) HUGE bummer to hear about Economaki's passing....whether you like the man's voice or not, you have to love and respect all that he did for the world of motorsports journalism. 302. Smiff_99 posted: 09.28.2012 - 11:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And from the '4-days-too-late' department, a brief summary of my Sunday in Loudon last week. What I learned: -NHMS can still fill 90-95% of it's grandstands -Dick Berggren is one of the most down-to-earth, friendly guys you'll ever meet -Clint Bowyer is friggin' hilarious -Martin Truex Jr.? Not so much -No matter HOW "boring" a race may seem, in person, it's always amazing -Regardless of above comment, NHMS would still be MUCH better off redone with 20 or more degrees of banking -The track workers standing along the fence, keeping fans at bay, are NEVER race fans and thus, they never understand that you just want 'that perfect action shot'....lol -Whoever's in charge of dispatching the T-shirt cannon girls need to be SHOT. With about a half a lap to go before the 3rd restart of the day, they decided to send the girls out to shoot off t-shirts, which then inturn cause everybody to stand up unnecessarily and flail their arms for 5 laps, obstructing people's view of green flag racing. Dumb move. -That some people have no business being at the racetrack, EVER. One woman sitting in front of me had earplugs in and she was reading a romance novel the whole time. Seriously, lady? GO HOME! lol 303. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.28.2012 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm pointing out the fact that no matter how talented you are, you have to avoid melting down, like Kurt did at Darlington. Could Regan milk a 3rd place finish and near win at Sears Point like Kurt did? Nope. But he won't get suspended like Kurt did. Also, for all intents and purposes, he will be riving a 4th RCR car, they will bump up their support. Lets not forget how much of a disaster it has been every single time Richard has expanded. 1997 (one of only two winless seasons for Dale in 22 seasons of Cup), 2002 (that one got ugly quick, only one fuel mileage win), 2009 (winless) and 2011 (good year for Harvick, but Burton has been irrelevent since and Bowyer wound up bolting). And I know Kurt did an outstanding job in the last 10 races of '04. But that was an anomoly. He was out at Roush within a year. 304. 1995 Subaru WRX Sti posted: 09.28.2012 - 1:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kurt may be a loose cannon at times, but does anyone remember Homestead 2004? His entire wheel fell off and it looked like he was dead in the water and JJ was going to get his first title, but he stuck with it and rallied back to close the deal. Sure, having Jimmy Fennig on the pitbox helped, but you don't pull something off like that with the pressure at its' absolute highest without having some sort of heart and ability to pull it all together." I believe Kurt just wanted it. He said "i don't care about some damn wheel falling off my car, i'll win this championship with 3 wheels if i have too. Sorry Jimmie, THIS ONE IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!" 305. Paul posted: 09.28.2012 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We've now had two deaths in the last two days in the auto racing world. Not only has Chris Economacki died today at the age of 91, but yesterday Bob Newton passed away at the age of 85. Newton was the founder of Hoosier Racing Tires, which supplied tires for NASCAR in '88, '89, and part of '94, and they currently supply the tires in the ARCA Series. Both of them had a large impact in the racing world and they'll both be missed. "Kurt Busch has been a title contender four times (2002-04, 2009)" Correction: Kurt was a title contender once, and that was the year he won in 2004. He had great seasons in '02 and '09, but was entered the final race mathematically eliminated from the title, and led the points a combined one week in those two years. Just because he finished top 5 in points, doesn't necessarily mean he was a title contender. But I'll give you those two years over '03. In '03, Kurt was out of the top 5 by race #16 and eventually fell out of the top 10 in points, getting beat by Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott in what was their final competitive seasons. cjs, not only did Paul Menard not have anything to with the battle between Harvick and Gordon, but he was about 80 laps down and wasn't going to gain or lose any positions based on how many laps were left in the race. He also said over the radio that he felt a tire going down and his crew chief basically told him to stay out on the track, and a couple laps later he spun out. I'm not sure if he really had a tire going down or if that was just an alibi that he said over the primary radio channel. But if he did have a tire going down, and he couldn't gain or lose any more positions, then he and his team have no excuse as to why they didn't go to pit road. And to make matters more suspicious, Mike Dillon came over the radio and said "Slugger [Labbe], can you go to channel 2?" Now why would the team's general manager want to have a private conversation with the crew chief of the 34th place car that was now mathematically eliminated from the Chase, when he has another car that's in contention of winning the race? All the evidence says that RCR tried to mess with the outcome of the race, which they did in their favor to give Harvick an extra 3 points going into the race. Worse than that, they pretty much derailed the #24 team's momentum as they were a non-factor the entire Chase. Oh well, karma came back to bite them as RCR wasn't a factor going into the final Chase race, only won one more race last year by Clint Bowyer who is no longer with that team, and hasn't won a race at all this year. DSFF, I still don't know why Childress would want to deal with Kurt Busch when he has to deal with Kevin Harvick on a daily basis. Kurt may be more talented, but his history trumps even Harvick's as far as burning bridges and just being an asshole everywhere he goes (of course had Harvick and Busch started their careers where the other one did, maybe Harvick would be team jumping and Busch would be on stable ground at RCR). Late '01 to early '03 must have been the most stressful time for Childress because he had to deal with 3 great drivers (Harvick, Robby Gordon, Jeff Green) who all had egos and weren't good working with others, not to mention that they all hated each other. Kurt and Harvick may not have history, but they both are among the most hated in the sport, and Harvick doesn't get along with his teammates Burton or Menard. If I were Kurt, I would stay as close to my former teammate Jeff Burton and as far away from "Happy" as possible. If anyone can straighten Kurt Busch out, it's Jeff Burton. 306. cjs3872 posted: 09.28.2012 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I did mention the back-up channel, where he was told to go by his crew chief so their communications wouldn't be monitored, and a few other things you mentioned. I did not go in detail, because I don't remember all the details, and wouldn't have mentioned all the deatils, anyway. But how anyone could possibly say that there was no proof of any wrongdoing by RCR in that whole episode was why I even brought up some of what transpired, because all the proof anyone with any sense needed was in the radio communications, which is why I compared that being the proof of guilt to the wiretapping in the Watergate scandal being what eventually brought down the Nixon presidency, because the most damning proof in both cases was not anything physical, but rather what was caught over the air waves. And not only did that derail the #24 teamin the Chase, but affected the #24 team for most of this season. Only recently have they run better, with four top threes in the last five races being the proof of that, though none of those top threes have resulted in any wins. 307. Paul posted: 09.28.2012 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like some cars want to qualify early tomorrow for the Cup race as seen with Gordon being 36th in practice and Kenseth being 41st. Gordon said on his Facebook page that that was the plan and that they only made race runs, and I'm guessing Kenseth did the same thing. A few years ago, I never would have thought practice sessions would have so much strategy involved. Does anyone else find it odd that Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will drive the #17 in Cup next year, rather than the #6? The #6 is the flagship car at Roush and due to lack of sponsorship, has only run one race this year (two after this weekend). If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is Roush's way at getting back at Kenseth for leaving for "the dark side", by putting a different driver in his former car when the team's flagship car is still available. And does anyone else find this whole JR Motorsports/Eury family situation hypocritical? Five years ago, everyone was screaming for Theresa Earnhardt's head when she decided not to re-sign her stepson at DEI, but all of a sudden her stepdaughter releases her uncle and cousin from JRM and it's looked at as "just business". Okay let me get this straight: If Junior (or Kelley, who the hell knows who runs that team) decides to get rid of a family member, it's for the betterment of the team going forward. But if Junior (and his agent Kelley) get released by a family member (technically step-family member, but close enough), then it's because that person is incompetent and spiteful for Junior's success. If I remember correctly, Junior underachieved in '07 and went winless, while his 2nd year teammate won a race and made the Chase. This year, JRM has two drivers, one is a rookie and just learning how to drive these cars and the other is in her 3rd year and still hasn't figured out how to drive these cars, and neither are in the top 5 in points or have a win. The Eurys are the only people (other than his dad) to get the most out of Junior, and when they couldn't in '07, the driver was gone the next year. Fast forward five years and the Eurys are doing what they can with their current drivers and now they've been given the boot and are replaced by "the great" Ryan Pemberton, who hasn't won a race in 8 years. Great job, bravo, keep up the good work JRM. 308. cjs3872 posted: 09.28.2012 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, what you pointed out there is exactly why the idea to have the qualifying order reversed from the chosen practice session is an absurd idea on weekends where there's a Saturday qualifying session, because what happens is that teams intentionally sandbag to get a better time to qualify. Of course, at Bristol a few weeks ago, we saw the flipside of what could happen if you sandbag an get caught out by the weather. You get a bizarre starting grid, with Casey Mears on the pole and Jimmie Johnson in the back. And on the thing about Roush putting Stenhouse in the #17 for next year, instead of the #6. I don't know about you, but all signs there point to Roush wanting Trevor Bayne to be in the #6 Cup car in the future, which tells me who Roush is banking the long-term future of his organization on, and it's not the crash-prone Stenhouse, but the more steady Bayne, who already has something no other driver that will drive for Roush next year has, and that's a Daytona 500 win. The fact that Roush is apparently not using the #6 number for Stenhouse, and instead appears to be saving it for Bayne tells me who Roush believes is the true heir to Mark Martin in that #6 car, with apologies to David Ragan, who drive it for five years. I think he (Roush) believes that Trevor Bayne is the true heir to Mark Martin as the driver of the #6 car, and Roush not using that number for Stenhouse may be the clincher for me, as far as that goes. It may also be that Roush thinks that Stenhouse may not be able to handle that pressure, while he KNOWS that Bayne can handle the pressure. After all, when you lead the Daytona 500 on a retart with two laps remaining, and have champions like Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin (I know he's not officially a champion, but he certainly has the resume of one) as your closest pursuers, and then have Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards, among others, charging on the final lap in the sport's biggest race in many years, and don't flinch, that tells me that he can handle just about anything, even carrying on a legacy. After all, he's already done that with the #21 car, and I think Roush believes he's more capable than Stenhouse of doing the same thing with the #6 if he gets it. 309. Jim Davis posted: 09.28.2012 - 3:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Five years ago, everyone was screaming for Theresa Earnhardt's head when she decided not to re-sign her stepson at DEI..." Theresa Earnhardt was more than willing to sign Dale. Dale was holding out for a majority stake in DEI which Theresa was unwilling to concede. But your larger point about the hypocrisy of Jr. Nation stands. 310. Paul posted: 09.28.2012 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, that's a good point about Trevor Bayne and Roush wanting him in the #6. I didn't mention it in my previous post, and I figured that if Stenhouse is in the #17 then Bayne would (hopefully) get the #6, but I didn't take into consideration that there would be pressure on whoever drives that #6 car. Even though that car never won a Cup championship and the #17 did, I think there's more pressure on being the driver of the #6 than the #17, and I think it has to do with where Mark Martin's legacy stands compared to Matt Kenseth. One can argue that Mark is the greatest driver to never win the Cup championship in the modern era, whereas one can argue than Kenseth is the more forgettable champion in the modern era (which is a shame because that was a dominant season that he had in '03). And don't forget that Jamie McMurray was originally supposed to replace Mark in the #6. Jamie was still driving for Ganassi, but was slated to join Roush in '07. Roush needed a driver, so Mark agreed to drive that car for one more year. As it turned out, Jamie was released by Ganassi prior to '06, but after Mark had already agreed to drive the #6 that season, so a deal was rushed to put Jamie in the 5th Roush car that season. When Mark stepped out of the #6 after that season, Roush put David Ragan in that car who, despite his lack of NASCAR experience, did a pretty nice job in his first two years in Cup and again last year with a win. One thing I want to add about Trevor's win in the Daytona 500 is that he was probably the best driver that weekend (maybe the best all year) at pushing the car in front of him in the tandem draft. He and David Ragan (driving the #6) were in position for a 1-2 finish in the big race until Ragan made an ill-advised move by switching lanes before the start/finish line and was black flagged (which if you look at the replay, several other cars, including Ragan himself, switched lanes earlier in the race and weren't penalized). Bayne, who had been behind another car all race, was in the driver's seat, and as calm a driver in their 2nd career Cup race leading the Daytona 500 with a couple laps to go could be, went over to Bobby Labonte's radio channel (Labonte being a champion who never won the Daytona 500) because Labonte was right behind him on the restart and asked him if he could push him. Labonte said yes, and the two of them were great over the final two laps and managed to hold off a flying Carl Edwards/David Gilliland tandem (another great drafter) at the end. The only rookie mistake Trevor made all race was missing victory lane after winning the race. So I think that's a great point that you brought up about Roush wanting Trevor in his flagship car because Trevor can handle pressure better than any other young driver out there. Like the drivers we often compare him to (Terry Labonte and Benny Parsons), not only does he drive conservatively and not do anything to cost himself a good finish, but he is also very cool under pressure. I hope that's the reason why Roush is holding off on running the #6 next year and not because he just wants to replace Kenseth in the #17. 311. JG24FanForever posted: 09.28.2012 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) R.I.P Chris Economaki. 312. Talon64 posted: 09.28.2012 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) K&N Pro East Series race at Dover's been run. Kyle Larson's the new points leader with two races to go, trying to join Ryan Truex and Joey Logano as the only rookies to win the championship! 313. Schroeder51 posted: 09.28.2012 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How many times do you all think Danica will get lapped at Dover? My guess is at least 4-5 times. 314. JG24FanForever posted: 09.28.2012 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica Patrick won't complete Dover without crashing out. 200 laps down? 300+ more than likely. 315. JG24FanForever posted: 09.28.2012 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Top 25 Greatest Cup series drivers: 1. Richard Petty 1. Dale Earnhardt 1. Jeff Gordon 1. Jimmie Johnson 1. Bobby Allison 6. David Pearson 7. Darrell Waltrip 8. Cale Yarborough 9. Tony Stewart 10. Herb Thomas 11. Rusty Wallace 12. Bill Elliott 13. Tim Flock 14. Mark Martin 15. Junior Johnson 16. Curtis Turner 17. Fireball Roberts 18. Fred Lorenzen 19. Buck Baker 20. Lee Petty 21. Ned Jarrett 22. Joe Weatherly 23. Bobby Isaac 24. Dale Jarrett 25. Benny Parsons I no longer believe that just one single driver is the greatest anymore,hence the 5 way tie. As far as Johnson being tied for first, think about this: Johnson made an impossible comeback in 2006 to win the Championship after getting crashed out on the last lap at Talladega. He crushed Gordon in the Chase in 2007. He crushed Edwards in 2008 after finishing 2nd in Atlanta and winning Phoenix and easily took the title. He made everyone look ridiculous by winning at Phoenix and basically locking up the Championship after getting crashed at Texas in 2009. And in 2010 he just sat back and let Denny Hamlin give him the ultimate Championship and cruised to a 2nd place at Homestead without making any mistakes, becoming the ultimate Championship finisher in Cup history. The Chase is a joke, but Jimmie J isn't. 316. DaleSrFanForever posted: 09.28.2012 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Teresa was way too unfairly criticized for everything that went down. Why should she have given up DEI to known slacker June? Look at his NWide teams, he can't even run those. The fact she didn't just shut dwn shop for good on February 19, 2001 says how much she cared for Dale's legacy. And their ascenntion to championship form from '03-'07 cannot be overlooked. Especially when you consider their driver lineup, each of which never has looked better than they did while at DEI lonng after Dale's passing. And believe me, there s nobody on this planet that Dale trusted, respected, loved, and cared for alll at once more than Teresa. It still makes me sick the way Junior Nation villified her. Morons. 317. Schroeder51 posted: 09.28.2012 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Junior Nation had their way, Junior would be running NASCAR himself. 318. Red posted: 09.28.2012 - 11:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I no longer believe that just one single driver is the greatest anymore,hence the 5 way tie." That's a very sensible way to rank drivers, by doing it in tiers. It's impossible to look at two great drivers from totally different eras and know for sure which one was better. Yes it can be fun debating who is the best ever, but there really is no answer. I basically agree with most of your list, except I'd move Bill Elliott down about ten spots, Fireball up about five spots, knock Dale Jarrett off the list, and slide in Davey Allison where was Jarrett was. Your five #1's each accurately represent the best drivers of different eras: Petty: Mid 60's-Mid 70's Allison: Mid 70's-Mid 80's Earnhardt: Mid 80's-Mid 90's Gordon: Mid 90's-Early 00's Johnson: Mid 00's-Present It'll be interesting to see who takes over after Jimmie fades. At this point, I have no idea, although my best guess would be Brad K. 319. Eric posted: 09.28.2012 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is hard to say who takes over for Jimmie. What needs to be looked at the drivers in the Nationwide series currently or the trucks series to figure who will take over for a fading Jimmie Johnson besides Brad. I am not putting Chase Elliott into the mix because he isn't in a truck or a nationwide car. For the short term when Jimmie starts to fade, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin could be in the picture. Kyle is almost 10 years younger than Jimmie, and Hamlin is 5 years younger. I am saying that because Kenseth, Biffle, Stewart will be passed their prime or close to it when Jimmie starts to fade since those three are older unless if they pull a Mark Martin, or a Harry Gant. The other thing to look at is when Jimmie starts to fade, Dale Jr., and Harvick should be starting to fade or already started since they are close in age. 320. Eric posted: 09.29.2012 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't mention Trevor Bayne because it is hard to tell where Trevor will be when Jimmie fades. It goes to a few facts. No one knows when Trevor will be a full time cup driver and he has been hurt by not having sponsorship in the Nationwide series. Trevor also can't the driver to take over for Jimmie for winning races because his style of racing doesn't make him win a lot of races a season. There is also the fact Roush has problems finding sponsors and that is one of the factors that cause Matt go to JGR. That means that trend with Roush could force Trevor go to another team. Ricky Stenhouse could a factor when Jimmie starts to fade. He is a diamond in the rough at this point despite having a Nationwide championship. 321. BON GORDON posted: 09.29.2012 - 12:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'd like to send my reguards to Chris Economaki's family. Chris was a true pioneer in auto racing broadcasting and in publishing his magazine. He is a future NASCAR hall-of-famer for sure and he will be sorely missed. Mike Joy, Dr. Jerry Punch, Bob Jenkins, Eli Gold, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett, Barney Hall, and The Great One....Ken Squier are all broadcast legends (at least in my mind). In my personal opinion Ken Squier is not only the greatest auto racing broadcaster but the greatest sports broadcaster of all-time. His voice is iconic and so powerful. He paints a picture in my mind and gives me chills everytime I hear him speak. He could read the phone book and I would listen with awe. 322. Eric posted: 09.29.2012 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red, I really question Allison being the best driver from the mid 70's to the mid 1980's. Bobby was great from 1978 to 1983 and was ageless. Bobby Allison from the mid 1970's to the mid 1980's to me had to be ranked 2nd or 3rd as a couple driver. Bobby didn't win in 1976 or 1977. The problem with Bobby goes to a couple facts with that time period. Cale Yarborough won 3 straight championships. The other thing to look at is Darrell Waltrip had at least 5 wins a season from 1977 to 1984. During that run, Darrell won at least 6 races a season 7 times and that is something Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt can't claim to have a stretch that long. Bobby Allison from 1978 to 1983 had at least 5 wins a season 5 out of 6 seasons that stretch. He only won more than 5 races in that stretch in 1982 and 1983. I know Darrell Waltrip was on teams that were known to cheat, but Darrell was a great driver behind the wheel. Darrell was the driver to beat in first half of the 80's before Dale took over. Darrell didn't have a Southern 500 or a Daytona 500 win in that era, but the win total during that stretch The fact is Darrell Waltrip won 61 out of his 84 career wins from 1977 to 1984. He did this when the cup schedule had 30 or 31 races a season. 323. Eric posted: 09.29.2012 - 1:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chris Economaki will be missed and regards to his family. His impact in auto racing was felt by many generations of racing fans besides being a pioneer. Once he is on the ballot, he is an automatic to get in first ballot. 324. 10andJoe posted: 09.29.2012 - 2:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #321: I never could stand Ken Squier's voice. At all. I feel like I'm the only one who feels that way though, heh. Also: "As it does annually, NASCAR is contemplating competition changes that could include moving some Sprint Cup Series qualifying sessions to Friday afternoons in 2013 and tweaking the current testing policy. The possible changes were a hot topic in the Dover International Speedway garage area, where drivers and teams gave their input about more race weekend schedules that would feature Friday qualifying and a practice session on Saturday. By completing qualifying on Fridays, teams will have more time to work on the race setup on Saturdays. It also gives race promoters a Saturday ticket that will feature a couple hours of significant Cup practice and more time in the garage for driver and fan interaction instead of more than a couple of qualifying laps. NASCAR is expected to formally announce several competition changes for the 2013 season sometime in October." ...dare we hope for the top 35 rule being round-filed... 325. NicoRosbergFan posted: 09.29.2012 - 5:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Get your Grand-Am picks in as today's the day. 326. cjs3872 posted: 09.29.2012 - 6:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) BON GORDON, you forget on that list of motorsports commenting legends the name of Bud Lindemann, who's contributions to the sport's popularity were just as important as that of Economaki. And of course, you also forgot the names of Jim McKay, Keith Jackson, and Bill Flemming, who all worked many NASCAR and IndyCar races in the 60s, 70s, and 80s for ABC Sports, often with Economaki either working in the pits or even in the broadcast booth. In fact, McKay, Economaki, and Ken Squier were all on the first broadcast of a NASCAR race televised live from start to finish in 1971. McKay and Economaki were in the booth and Squier was the pit reporter that day. 327. ch posted: 07.16.2013 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor for the #30 should be Swan Racing, as the team transferred over from Inception. 328. Paul posted: 08.06.2017 - 2:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver changes: DC | Dave Blaney | 22 | Shell / Pennzoil | Roger Penske | Dodge 329. Sandy posted: 07.22.2020 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only cup start for Mike Olsen ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: