|| *Comments on the 2013 Subway Fresh Fit 500:* First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page | View All On One Page View the most recent comment | Post a comment <#post> 1. Schroeder51 posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (6) (2) Mark Martin wins the pole for this race for the second consecutive year. 2. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:27 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) A week after winning the pole for the Daytona 500, Danica only qualifies 40th fastest for this race. Nice run for the Dinger in James Finch's car. 3. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (11) (12) I know that A lot of you here want changes to the point system well here is a suggestion 100 bonus points to the driver that wrecks Jimmie Johnson. 4. That Guy posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Mark Martin wins his 56th career Cup pole and putting him alone at 7th all-time for most career Poles. Martin was previously tied with Bill Elliott. 5. Eric posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I heard during Qualifying that the 31 and 48 teams had problems in inspection before they qualified. 6. Anonymous posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) They showed the 47 car stuck in tech as well. 7. 13 posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) why does it say OP when everyone was already qualified? 8. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:53 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) Brad leads the Ford group.... IN QUALIFYING! Not a good sign for the other Fords. Something tells me he will lead the Fords a whole lot this year. 9. murb posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Yep Eric, they did. And what a huge surprise that both of those cars are under the umbrellas of probably the two shadiest organizations in recent years when it comes to this stuff. As a Jeff Burton fan, I hate it. I was hoping that maybe he could have one last redeeming year this year, especially with Luke Lambert coming back (since they had success in 2011). But so far it hasn't been looking that good with his crash in the 500 and now suffering from more RCR legality shenanigans. I'm not even gonna say anything about the 48. The way HMS cars are able to get away clean from these situations is just a joke to me now. It's a laughing matter. I was laughing as it was happening. Ugh. Anyway, on the plus side, MARK ON THE POLE!!!! Oh yeah, and how about Danica qualifying 40th? Welcome back to the real world, media. 10. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.01.2013 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) DaleSrFan, I've been predicting from the start that without Kenseth Brad and Penske will be the top Ford team. Mark Martin on pole and Danica 40th may make FOX coverage watchable this weekend, SPEED's coverage gave little mention of her before and after she qualified. 11. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.01.2013 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Mark wins a race this year, I think the title of "Ageless Wonder" may have to shift. 12. Paul posted: 03.01.2013 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Gee, and here I thought that it took a lot of talent to win a pole at Daytona. Judging by the fact that all six of her HMS/SHR teammates qualified in the top half of the field, including five in the top ten, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that's not the case for the GoDaddy driver. I think I heard that her lap was affected because she hit the apron or something, but that's no excuse for qualifying 40th while driving for the best team in the sport. I know it's just qualifying, but even Brad Keselowski, who's a bad qualifier and is driving for the weakest Cup manufacturer, qualified near the front. But nevermind that rubbish. Congrats to Mark Martin on his 56th career pole, which makes him the most experienced pole sitter in Cup history. I expect the TRD Toyotas and the HMS/SHR cars to be very strong on Sunday. 13. Kenny posted: 03.01.2013 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I would say Jemmie crash but after last week's NNS race I don't want anything bad to happen to the fans(and plus I don't wanna hear yall's backlash) @#3 LOL like I told DSFF on FB the other day i'm tired of Jemmie winning all the time and that at times I ask myself why do I keep watching this shit 14. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Jeff Gordon has won 7 times from 5th on the grid. Jeff Gordon has led a total of 1171 laps from 5th on the grid. Jeff Gordon has 22 Top 5 finishes from 5th on the grid. 15. Daniel posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (10) (1) I think the fact that Danica, driving a Hendrick car, was outran by cars fielded by Joe Falk, Brandon Davis, and Jonathan Cohen speaks volumes. 16. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:15 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "like I told DSFF on FB the other day i'm tired of Jemmie winning all the time and that at times I ask myself why do I keep watching this shit" If that's the case,then how could you possibly stand watching Richard Petty win 100 races in 6 seasons between 1966-1971 and 1967-72? or: Dale Earnhardt winning or finishing 2nd,or 3rd,9 Times in 10 years with 6 Championships and 2 runner-ups between 1986-95. Jeff Gordon winning 67 times between 1995-04 with a .1976 win percentage. Every era has a "Dominator" that collects the most Toys in tht era. It's just a shame that Johnson doesn't spark the interest to match his success. 17. Anonymous posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) BTW, Richard Petty had a win% of .3788 from 1967-72. 100 wins in 264 starts. 18. Paul posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (2) (3) "It's just a shame that Johnson doesn't spark the interest to match his success." His problem is that he doesn't connect to the audience. He sort of has this aura about him and almost acts as if he is above everyone else. I'll go back to the example I used on the Daytona page about when he and Kurt Busch had their incidents at Pocono and Richmond. A normal driver wouldn't hit another car coming out of the corner and then say the other guy hit him first, nor would they bash him in the media throughout the week and say that the other guy shouldn't hit their race car, even though it was Jimmie who hit Kurt first. He's let his success get to his head, and it shows in his interviews as he has pretty much become a robot race car driver. That's a real shame because this sport needs personalities, especially at the top of pecking order, and by all accounts Jimmie has a very outgoing personality off camera, but chooses not to show it to those of us who are below his majesty. 19. 83andJoe posted: 03.01.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >why does it say OP when everyone was already qualified? Because regardless of how many cars attempt to qualify, positions 37 to 43 are set by owner points provisionals, even if everybody makes the race. 20. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A few superficial Phoenix stat: Most Wins: J. Johnson 4 with 12 Top 5's,15 Top 10's,931 Laps Led,1 Pole,6.7 Avg. Finish K. Harvick 3 with 6 Top 5's,10 Top 10's,420 Laps Led,12.8 Avg. Finish D. Allison 2 with 3 Top 5's,3 Top 10's,192 Laps Led,11.0 Avg. Finish D. Junior 2 with 4 Top 5's,8 Top 10's,460 Laps Led,18.2 Avg. Finish J. Burton 2 with 7 Top 5's,13 Top 10's,222 Laps Led,12.8 Avg. Finish M. Martin 2 with 12 Top 5's,21 Top 10's,836 Laps Led,2 Poles,9.1 Avg. Finish J. Gordon 2 with 10 Top 5's,19 Top 10's,389 Laps Led,3 Poles,11.5 Avg. Finish Winner of the first race: Alan Kulwicki in 1988 Winner of the last race at the old track: Jeff Gordon in 2011 Winner of the first race at the new track: Kasey Kahne in 2011 21. David posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "JG24FanForever Richard petty nmo was like jemmie and Dale jr put togeather the kink won all the time like jemmie but was loved like jr is now and there well NEVER be another driver like that if he wins alot hel be hated like Jeff was in the 90s(and even I hated Jeff back in the late 90s 98-99)" Do you need a translation, JG24, or do you think you've got it? 22. murb posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) "I think the fact that Danica, driving a Hendrick car, was outran by cars fielded by Joe Falk, Brandon Davis, and Jonathan Cohen speaks volumes." It speaks MAJOR volumes. Like I said, welcome back to the real world. 23. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Do you need a translation, JG24, or do you think you've got it?" He's saying Jimmie Johnson+Dale Jr.=The King! But does this mean Richard was a lazy Robot? 24. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Jimmie has absolutely perfected the art of being vanilla publically, and that is not a good thing. The shame is he grew up in a trailer park and had to work his way up the ladder, and by most accounts has a crazy fun personality off camera. But he just makes it impossible to connect with him by how he restricts himself publically. He has no authenticity while in the public eye. 25. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Do you need a translation, JG24, or do you think you've got it?" Jimmie Johnson+Dale June=The King! But is this supposed to mean Richard's a lazy robot? 26. David posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know some of you on here don't play the fantasy games on this site, but if you do, I would very much appreciate if you'd at least take a look at my game. I posted it today. You'll know it when you see it. 27. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Richard stayed true to himself throughout his entire career in racing, warts and all, as evidenced by that SPEED doc. Earnhardt actually embraced his "warts" publically. They were authentic. We need more of it. Brad is about it. 28. JG24FanForever posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "We need more of it. Brad is about it. " He'll speak his mind this year and get suspended for it. Still make the Chase,and win his 2nd straight title. Brad is one of the most intelligent and abrasive drivers in Nascar. The only thing keeping him from completely dominanting the races and gaining more fans, is Nascar's lottery racing and overly PC culture. If Brad drove for Hendrick he might have better cars, but his personality would clash with Mr. Hendrick's objectivity. His success would probably be less and he would be another victim of Chad Knaus. 29. 83andJoe posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Apparently, there will be no roofcams on intermediate tracks this year, as the saga that started out as "cars with roofcams have an aerodynamic advantage" and became "give all the cars roofcam housings, cam fitted or not" is now, with the G6 cars, "the roofcam gives the leader extra downforce but not cars in turbluent air". Roofcams reportedly will still be used on plate tracks, road courses, and short tracks. 30. murb posted: 03.01.2013 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Sort of a lengthy post coming up here (maybe - they look a lot bigger as you're writing them out, lol)... The thing that I don't like about Jimmie is how he's allowed himself to be brainwashed by Chad Knaus and the Hendrick way. If you go back to Homestead 2006 when he won his first championship, he was extremely grateful and it seemed like he realized how lucky he was to be in that car. But with each championship over the next four years after that, he became more and more arrogant with each one and got caught up in his own hype. In 2007, he won 10 races and beat out his "Obi Wan", Jeff Gordon (who also had a championship caliber season). I feel like this was one of the key "Wow, I really am great!!!" moments he had. Then in 2008, he tied Cale Yarborough's record of three straight championships. By doing this, he did something that not even his mentor or other past greats had done. And then of course he shattered the consecutive championship marks in 2009 and 2010. I largely blame Chad Knaus for the building up of Jimmie's ego. The TV pundits try to get us to believe that Chad is "a great cheerleader", but in actuality and behind the scenes, I think what he's really been doing is just forcing his own "Lie, Cheat, Get Dirty, Do Whatever To Be The Best" mentality onto Jimmie (which he got from Ray Evernham when he was on the Rainbow Warriors). Sure, it's worked all this time. But I (and obviously many others) feel like it's a pretty unethical way to go about winning championships, contrary to other past championship teams who won with dignity (like Alan Kulwicki in 1992, Bobby Labonte in 2000, and Matt Kenseth in 2003). I don't know. That's just what I think has been going on. It's this trickle down effect that has sort of struck both the 24 and 48 teams in their respective dynasties. I think the HMS environment as a whole is the thing to blame. 31. murb posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Apparently, there will be no roofcams on intermediate tracks this year" I actually like this. Hopefully now we can have more of those backseat cameras where you are watching the driver make every move. Those have always been my favorite. 32. ch posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was watching the Nationwide practice and it sure was odd to see the 01,4,52, and 55 using last years Impala instead of the Camaro. 33. ch posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:10 am Rate this comment: (4) (0) Also, during Cup Qualifying, it was stated on Speed that Joe Nemechek would not be starting and parking this year. At first I thought it was too good to be true! Hoping that is the case though! 34. Cornys posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's just that little bit of a chance that Mark gets into the chase on a wild car despite missing 7 of the first 26 races. I'm just fine with that happening and seeing him go for a championship one last time ;) He'll just have to out perform almost everybody and work up a 200 point gap on 20th place other than him in points in the races that he does race. A man can pray. 35. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (7) I hope the same thing happions to jemmie this Sunday that happioned to him last fall 36. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 7:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) JG24FanForever Richard petty nmo was like jemmie and Dale jr put togeather the kink won all the time like jemmie but was loved like jr is now and there well NEVER be another driver like that if he wins alot hel be hated like Jeff was in the 90s(and even I hated Jeff back in the late 90s 98-99) 37. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.02.2013 - 7:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am the Clown Prince of the Racing Reference Info Comment Board. 38. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.02.2013 - 8:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny and Ben, you guys need to resolve your differences. I like both of you because you are both a lot like me: weird as hell! I think you two would get along good. So Kenny's spelling and grammar is bad. He has a North Carolina education, like me. We are always at the bottom of the education rankings. No need to tell people to go away. 39. AnonymousEFR posted: 03.02.2013 - 9:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) After a ninth place last week, Michael McDowell does not attempt this race. 40. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2013 - 9:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I'm predicting possibly the worst race since the repave. 41. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thx DSFF and I have a education from menny stated I'm from cocoa florida and I I've lived sliver the place Florida 3x North carloina 3x(DSFF if you wanna know where I've lived let me know) Texas(the state from I gruated from HS) Missouri(never go there it sucks big time) Yes yes I'm southern and proude to be so that's a smell FYI about me if Ben stops putting shit on my YT page I'm welling(and wanting)let this all go....I mean comon I would exsept grammar nazis on YT pages not hear you ppl are better then that And remember most of my post I do on my iPod kinda tricky 42. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny I am sorry for lashing out at you and making fun of your typing skills. 43. murb posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Toyotas still look really strong in practice today. Especially Mark and Kyle. If their cars don't fall apart, they're in good shape. Meanwhile, the green car is 33rd. I just thought I would throw that update in there since BSPN does all the time. On their bottom line crawler thing, they had qualifying results that looked like this: "1. Mark Martin, 2. Kasey Kahne, 3. Jimmie Johnson, 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 40. Danica Patrick" 44. JRacingFast posted: 03.02.2013 - 12:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just thought of a really cool idea that someone with a youtube account should make a video making up shots of the gyro-cams of all the tracks on the circut....it would be cool and interesting to see....the only problem id see with the video is that i think fox is the only station to have the gyro cam. 45. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where is jr in practsice? And I saw this past Wednesday that Austin was on the entery list for this in the 33 car again so why did he pull out? 46. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I fine I what really made me mad at you was not so much on my spelling it was just the YT thing if you(or anyone hear)has issues with me hear tell me hear not YT and I know my spelling is shit I don't need to be told that I know he'll it's gotten me in trouble before hell I've even been banned because of it 47. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny I am no longer mad at you either actually I think you bad Grammar is kind of amusing. 48. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whatever just someone tell me where jr is in practice and why Austin withdrew from the cup race this weekend 49. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Kenny, I'm going to reiterate a point I've made before. If you want to wish misfortune on a driver, it's okay if it's mecanical, such as engine or parts failure, or what happened to the #48 team in last season's finale, which was a big-time put road gaffe that cost them a shot at the title (mechanical problems later made the pit road blunder a moot point). But I will not allow anyone wishing someone else to crash without a strong reponse. Did what happened at Daytona last Saturday teach you or anyone else wishing others to crash nothing? 28 fans injured as a result of the horrific crash at the end and Michael Annett sidelined for a indefnite amount of time with a broken and dislocated sternum because of the crash that preceeded it should, right there and then, silence anyone who wants to see anyone crash, because of the potential consequences. Granted, the likelyhood of anyone getting hurt in a crash at Phoenix is very remote because of the slower speeds, but no reasonable race fan should ever, under any circumstances, want a driver to crash, no matter how much they dislike him, because of the potentia consequences involved, and anyone who admits that is not a true race fan in my opinion, and I'm going to call anyone who does wish to see a certain driver crash out on it. If youwant to wish mechanical misfrtne on someone, that's one thing because that's not likely to be dangerous in any way, but wanting to see someone crash is a very dangerous thing to wish, and it's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. There aren't many thngs involving racing I get this passionate about, but this is way up there on that list because, as was seen at Daytona last Saturday on two occasions, the drivers are flesh and blood, just like the rest of us, and we saw just how damaging to the human body a crash can be. Michael Annett was seriously injured and it was a miracle Kyle Larson walked away from that crash at the end, but more than two dozen spectators weren't so lucky, though they all survived. The two things that, to me, are unforgiveable as a long-time fan of the sport are wishing for other people to crash and throwing debris on the track. And I include drvers and fans alike in that last point about throwing debris on the track. 50. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny I don't think Austin Dillon's #33 car was ever on the entry list for the Cup race this weekend to start with. Originally there were 44 cars listed, which became 43 when Phil Parsons decided not to bring his #98 team to Phoenix. 51. AveryNH posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Someone who throws debris on the track is not a race fan, he is a race idiot. - Bob Jenkins. For some reason while reading your post cjs that's the quote that instantly sprang to my head 52. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What's wrong with Missouri? Pretty women 4 seasons Has voted with the winner in the presidential election all but 3 times A lot of history 53. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought about this They say that once your part of the Penske family you are in the Penske family for life, well, is Kurt Busch still part of the penske family? 54. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Csj I don't want what happioned at Daytona last week to happion again nether I was also worried about thouse people and judt yesterday I found out what happioned to Annette but I'm sorry it's gonna take more then messed up scheet metal to stop jemmie(look at Kansas last fall he shouldn't have finished 9th) 55. jabber1990 posted: 03.02.2013 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ambrose should drive annets car too, it would be good for Ambrose, he wants an Oval win, so... 56. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.02.2013 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin to the rear of the field after an engine change. 57. 83andJoe posted: 03.02.2013 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >After a ninth place last week, Michael McDowell does not attempt this race. Reportedly PPR fell behind on building new G6 cars. Honestly I'm surprised this didn't happen to more teams. >why Austin [Dillon] withdrew from the cup race this weekend Dillon was only listed on the preliminary entry list as a "placeholder", i.e. Falk just sent in a 'same as Daytona' entry blank while he arranged for a full-time driver for the 33, which wound up being Cassill. >during Cup Qualifying, it was stated on Speed that Joe Nemechek would not be starting and parking this year. That would be awesome. 58. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I lived a smell town named Iberia for 3 years and it sucked it was cold as shit and there is no work there I tryed for 3 years to find a job and I couldn't and plus the people in that aria sucked to I hate MO and ill NEVER go back 59. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TY 83andjoe :) 60. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.02.2013 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Are you from a Military family Kenny? I'd like to take this opportunity to say I am already sick of the gyro cam. Oh and watching practice, Danica barely scraped the wall, and the FOX crew is blaming it on her spotter talking to her at the time. Is it Pocono yet? Hey cjs, I hope JJ crashes into the catch fence sending debris all the way up to the announce booth, shattering the glass, and hitting DW right in the larynx and voicebox. 61. kup posted: 03.02.2013 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My Top predictions* for this Phoenix Cup race: I make it for my Fantasy* Live teams @ Nascar.Com 1) Top 5 drivers, who gonna lead most laps: Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Tony Stewart Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon 2) + 3) = Sum* of Top 5 drivers: fast-lappers + quality passes: Kyle Busch Kevin Harvick Denny Hamlin Ryan Newman Jimmie Johnson 4) Top 5 (from Top 25 list of 2012) who will improve from start to finish: Kevin Harvick Ryan Newman Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jimmie Johnson Bobby Labonte 5) Top 5 drivers with best chances for Top 5 finish: Ryan Newman Kevin Harvick Mark Martin Jimmie Johnson Kyle Busch Who wanna publish other Top 5s and compare it after finish? 62. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.02.2013 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) As far as the media, particularly FOX and ESPN, NASCAR, and all the supporters of Danica are concerned, she is Jesus Christ Almighty... which is really disgusting. I can see drivers like Pastrana generating interest, but how does Danica do it when at the core she is a deplorable human being? It really makes me wonder how Ricky Stenhouse can go around saying he's a Christian yet simultaneously be dating her, but this board isn't to discuss religious ethics... The important part is this: I want that debris to also take out Larry Mac, and Brain France. PS: DSFF, the larynx and voicebox are the SAME THING :P 63. Kenny posted: 03.02.2013 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lmao @ what DSFF said and I like DW and no DSFF I'm not in a military family(thou I plan to join the navy as soon as I pass this f**king ASBAB test)but mostley my dad just said where moving so that was it 64. 18fan posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin led both practices today with Kyle Busch 2nd in both. Those two, along with the 48, are probably the favorites right now. 65. joey2448 posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wouldn't call Michael Annett's injury serious, but still should not be taken lightly. As I'm thinking about who I should pick to win this race, I'm looking at who hasn't won a Cup race in a long time, because the past six Phoenix Cup races have seen the winner break a long winless streak....will it be seven in a row? 66. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) JGR engines are becoming grenades. What a joke, no way Hamlin is going to win this from the rear. 67. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey, both Mark and Kyle seemed fast in practice... Newman may be another one that surprises Sunday. 68. Paul posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Perhaps Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is a "Christian in name only." 69. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Facepalm 70. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I want to correct something I mentioned in a previous post. The #33 car is entered, but not the RCR version. There are essentially two different organizations running the #33 car. One is Richard Childress Racing, which would run Austin Dillon in the #33 car, as it did in the Daytona 500 last week, and the other entity running the #33 car is owned by Joe Falk, who was a team owner back in the lte 90s, even finishing in the top five in the 1998 season finale at Atlanta with Todd Bodine. The RCR version of the #33 car is a car that, under the right circumstances, can actually run in the top 15-20, as it did at Michigan last June, while the Joe Falk version is a back marker, and usually a start-and-park to build up the number of attempts in case of a qualifying rain-out. In that respect, all the other fringe teams are already ahead of the 21 and 98 cars. When I said the #33 car was not entered, I was referring to the RCR version of the #33 car. And speaking of start-and-parks, I think may be about four to six of them, since the 30 and 87 teams have declared they're not doing that. But others I do anticipate potentially doing that would be the 33, 35, 36, and 44. AveryNH, that quote by Bob Jenkins that you brought up was said during the 1994 Winston 500 at Talladega, and as we all know, Ayrton Senna, one of the most legendary of all the great F1 champions, had been killed earlier that day at the San Marino Grand Prix. And by the way, that sentiment not only applies to racing, but all sports. If you haven't already done so, watch the Hail Mary Game in 1975 from Bloomington, MN, Game 5 of the 1976 ALCS or Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, both from Yankee Stadium, and you'll see similar incidents of "fans" throwing things onto the field, and in the later two instances, Howard Cosell doing his honest rants about such things. And Toyota better get their program engine together, because Denny hamlin's engine problem today means that they've had engine problems with four of the six primary cars (11, 18, 20, 56) and the second race of the season hasn't even started yet. I don't know if the problem is the teams getting too aggressive with their engine settings, or Toyota building lightweight parts (which generally have a greater chance at breaking), but something has to change there. I could see a situation where a top-tier Ford or Chevrolet driver, even though he knows he's at a deficit against the Toyotas, doesn't bother because he knows that if he makes a Toyota driver run hard, he can break him. And the truly sad part about this is that neither Daytona (due to the restrictor plates) or Phoenix are hard tracks on engines. But next weekend, they go to Las Vegas, which is a hard track on engines. It could be that the Toyota engines are powerful, but they appear to still be fragile, possibly due to running lightweight parts, though I can't be certain of that. After all, engine problems are what kept Kyle Busch out of the Chase last year, and they're off to just as bad a start this year from the reliability department. 71. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) TeamPlayersBlue, that's no longer a JGR problem, but rather a TRD problem, since they're now getting heir engines from TRD. And let's not forget that Martin Truex, Jr. also had engine problems last week. And I suspect, though there's no way that I can prove it, that it's because Toyota is running lightweight parts, which give the engine more horsepower, but also makes them more fragile, because this has been going on for several years. As a result, Ford and Chevrolet may not be making he power that the Toyotas are making, but that desn't matter because the Fords and Chevrolets (for the most part) are not having engine problems because their parts are generally more sturdy than the Toyotas, and don't figure to break as often. And if I'm right, then the peple at Toyota have gt to start making parts sturdy enough that they will last, or their cars are going to continue to have problems finishing due to constant engine-related problems. 72. Eric posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey, I don't put much stock into Kyle Busch's speed from practice if I were you since Denny's team blew an engine. The engines worry the crap out. I know MWR and JGR gets engines from trd, but JGR engines don't seem to last as good. I compare the reliability of JGR engines to what Bud Moore had for engines back in the early 1980's. It seems like the engines JGR are like they were in 2012. That means they are reliable and I don't think its all on the driver either. 73. Eric posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872 is correct about it being a TRD problem and I agree with his theory. I wouldn't trust those races for 500 mile races or for the coco cola 600 at this point. 74. Eric posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I forgot to mention to Joey2448 that don't put to much stock into Mark Martin either. Since Denny's engine had problems, who say there wouldn't any TRD engines blowing up on Sunday. 75. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.02.2013 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "PS: DSFF, the larynx and voicebox are the SAME THING :P" I had to give the common term for commoners (like cjs :p) as well as the medical term. As for the JGR engine woes, guess who picked Kenseth at Daytona and Hamlin here for their race pool. That's right, me! I think I am gonna put the "F" in DNF. 76. 83andJoe posted: 03.02.2013 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >But others I do anticipate potentially doing that would be the 33, 35, 36, and 44. The 35 has full sponsorship this weekend from Blockbuster again. The 36 has said they won't start-and-part except at high-cost/low-purse/unsponsored races like Sonoma. 77. Hank posted: 03.02.2013 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) Way to go Danica! 78. Anthony posted: 03.02.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How many times will Danica get lapped? I say the number of cautions will be less. 79. Eric posted: 03.02.2013 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think she is going to be lapped at least 3 times. I wouldn't be shocked if she gets lapped over 4 times if there isn't a lot of cautions. 80. cjs3872 posted: 03.02.2013 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, the thing with Bud Moore's engines being so unreliable in the late 70s and early 80s is this. First of all, the equipment was, in general, far less reliable. But also, the Fords were down substantially in horsepower, so the two main teams running Ford products at that time, Bud Moore and the Wood Brothers, had to come up with tricks to overcome their HP deficiency. The Woods decided to do it with handling and tire stagger, which they learned about at Indy when they pitted the Lotus cars. Moore went a different direction. He went with a more aggressive engine setup (gears, timing, etc.) to counter the lack of horsepower of the Ford engine, and one of the side effects of doing that is the risk of more blown engines, and that's what happened. For instance, Moore's car would have won the 1975 Daytona 500 if not for a broken timing chain on lap 145, and that kind of thing frequently happened because Moore was probably the most aggressive car owner/crew chief when it came to engine setup, and that's one of the prices you pay when you take such gambles. 81. Schroeder51 posted: 03.02.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Somehow, I can just imagine the caution coming out every single time Danica goes a lap down so that she can the free pass and get back on the lead lap... ...and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised at ALL if that happened. 82. The Final Gear posted: 03.02.2013 - 9:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think the 33 might be the only start and parker. Everybody else seems like they have secure sponsorship but it wouldn't surprise me if the 44 S&P'd as well. 83. ch posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #33 actually has sponsorship from Moon Shine Attitude Attire. The camoflauge paint scheme they are running was designed by the company to promote their products. Their decals are on the declid only in order avoid destractions from the scheme. Judging from laps run in practice, I would guess that only the #19 will be start and parking as they ran only six laps in final practice. Maybe the #44, but they might actually be running the distance. 84. ch posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The decals for the #33 are on the decklid only in order to avoid ruining the scheme. Sorry about the typos. 85. murb posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The camoflauge paint scheme they are running was designed by the company to promote their products. Their decals are on the declid only in order avoid destractions from the scheme." The best part about that scheme it is that it made the Fox guys look like idiots when they were talking about it. In practice, they kept yammering on about how its a special Jackson Pollack, splatter-paint paint scheme, lol. 86. ch posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I thought that was hilarious. The press release about the scheme was put out earlier in the week and it is still up on Jayski, so one would think that they should know what they are talking about. 87. AveryNH posted: 03.02.2013 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I feel like storming the field always happened after MLB playoff games well into the eighties. In College it's one thing, major upset, nat'l tv, hell I just saw UVA do it this week when they beat Duke. But as for a bunch of drunk fools inches from unprotected pro players it's just plain stupid. I'm amazed more people weren't hurt way back when. Sort of along these lines I only recall maybe one or two fools running onto the race track during the green at a NASCAR race. Once at Pocono long ago the other at Watkins glen, which was a little funny because they only did it to steal one of the sponsor banners. I've also only seen it a couple times in f1 which is almost even more frightening. I could drink all the beer in the world and not be that brave. 88. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well AveryNH, I once heard Johnny Rutherford tell the story of enthusiastic fans storming the track after he took the checkered flag in the 1974 Indianapolis 500, which caused USAC to flag the race prematurely for the others. Back then, once the leader took the checkered flag, the rest of the field had five minutes to complete the full dstance, or as many laps as they could. But because of that situation, USAC changed the rules for the 1975 Indianapolis 500, stating that once the winner took the checkered flag, that the rest of the field could only complete the lap they were on before being flagged to the pits. Of course, since both the 1975 and 1976 races were rain-shortened, that policy did not really take effect until 1977, which may have been a good thing, considering that was the year A.J. Foyt finally won the race for the fourth time, and had the previous policy been in place, there might have been a disaster regarding enthusiastic fans storming the track after the winner took the checkered flag. 89. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Did you guys hear Coach K whining about fans storming the court? I guess since he is a cranky old grouch, nobody else is allowed to have any fun either. I guess everyone else also has to get a horrible toupee that looks faker than the shark in Jaws too. 90. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How do you all thank jr well fare tomorrow? 91. kup posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Phoenix is one of the worst tracks for Dale Jr. I think #88 will finish around 15th. BTW - is now only one car - #11 - to the back at the start? 92. kup posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nope! Thanx Jayski.Com Kurt Busch to to Backup Car at Phoenix: After a solid first qualifying lap at the Phoenix on Friday, Kurt Busch's #78 Furniture Row/Beautyrest Chevy scraped the wall during the second lap due to a malfunction in the coolant system. The damage (right-front and right-side) was enough that the team will go to the backup car for Sunday. Going to a backup car will result in Kurt starting Sunday's race from the rear of the field. Busch was credited with the 25th fastest. 93. kup posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) My Top 5 team - Phoenix race: (limit 100$ for 5 drivers - Fantasy Live @ Nascar.Com) #48 J.Johnson - 28$ #18 Kyle Busch - 27$ #55 M.Martin - 23,5$ #17 R.Stenhouse-jr - 13$ #51 AJ.Allmendinger - 7$ Other notable drivers (imho) in order of downgrade quality: #11 D.Hamlin - 27$ - engine change #29 K.Harvick - 25,5$ - "price/quality" - P/Q koef #24 J.Gordon - 25$ - P/Q #39 R.Newman - 23$ - P/Q #14 T.Stewart - 26$ - P/Q #99 C.Edwards - 22,5$ - P/Q #42 JP.Montoya - 19$ - P/Q #78 Kurt Busch - 17$ - chassis change #47 B.Labonte - 11$ - P/Q Bonus Fanta: #55 team - Top 5 fastest pit-stops Chevy - winners motor 94. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Kyle Busch will do the sweeo, he will score at least 8 nationwide wins and JGR will score at least 12 overall in Nationwide.What is the most wins in a season between Cup and Nationwide series, I think it is Gibbs with 27 in '08 can anyone confirm this thanks. 95. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where'd he come from??? Wait a minute! Waltrip, you're outta here! 96. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^lol 97. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) June's won at Phoenix twice; what are you smoking? 98. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 10:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah I was gonna say something like that he's been good there till they re did the track and f**ked everything up for him there 99. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have a feeling that Kurt Busch is going to go from all the way in the back to finish in a top 10 position. He's been very good at Phoenix and I think with him at the #78 team that they can become a contender on 10-12 weekends. 100. Alex posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How 'bout them TRD engines? Kyle Busch will join Denny Hamlin at the rear of the field this afternoon after changing an engine this morning. 101. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And I'm not sure it's going to strike again today, but there may a situation regarding the inspection process in regards to what's been going on that might not be the doing of the teams, because appearently, part of the problem is NASCAR's with the laser system they're using potentially being faulty, which may be why some of the teams that are having problems getting through inspection are having such problems. Sure the HMS cars yo can understands, but the #31 RCR and #47 JTG-Daugherty teams having problems getting through inspection? To me, that signals a red flag in regards to the inspection process, because neither of those teams are even competitive, yet are having problems, which tells me that there's a problem with the device NASCAR's using. And a number of the teams are privately complaining about this situation, which I can assure everyone that reads this, bears watching, because it has a direct impact on the on-track competition. 102. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another one, Alex? I'd start counting but I think we may lose count of the number of engine problems this season for TRD, because that makes five, including four with JGR. And let's not forget that Martin Truex, Jr. had an engine failure about 10 laps into the most recent race at Phoenix (last fall), which put him behind all but one of the start-and-parks. And again, this on two tracks not hard on engines, and with Las Vegas, a track that is hard on engines, coming up, that's a very bad sign for the Toyota teams. 103. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "June's won at Phoenix twice; what are you smoking?" His PEER since the 2011 repave and reconfigure is -1.500. 104. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 12:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Which ranks 41st out of 41 drivers who have started at least two races since said repave. 105. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 1:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TRD strikes again. 106. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 1:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) TRD = TURD 107. Eric posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am sure Toyota is happy Pocono isn't a 500 mile race anymore because TRD engines would be going off like Grenades over there. I don't want to know how many TRD engines would blow up for the Coco Cola 600 at this point. 108. Eric posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I forget to mention I wonder if Matt Kenseth is regretting going to JGR since TRD has engines problems that plagued them now since 2012. 109. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I forget to mention I wonder if Matt Kenseth is regretting going to JGR since TRD has engines problems that plagued them now since 2012." I highly doubt he has regrets about going to JGR. Sure they have engine problems right now, but they've still got insanely fast cars. Plus, I'm sure he'd much rather have an owner that treats him like a human being like Gibbs does instead of an owner who treats him like a tool like Roush does. 110. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Waltrips, you are outta here!! 111. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And here's our weekly Danica segment. 112. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) MW, YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!!!! WHY ARE ACTIVE OWNERS ALLOWED TO DO TV?!?!?! 113. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 03.03.2013 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I Don't know what I'm more sick of on FOX's pre-race. Danica-worship or Meyers and M. Waltrip trying to cram the Gordon vs Bowyer down our throats. I know it's a big deal and all, but it was last year. I can assure you, they will race each other fine. 114. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Also, almost every time I watch most races, I get a spefic food craving. It changes with the type of track. Restrictor Plates call for Ramen Noodles and Pretzels with Mustard. Phoneix calls for SUBWAY sandwhiches. 1.5 mile-2 Mile tracks in the day call for Beef Sandwhiches. Short tracks of 1 mile and less call for massive feasts. Night 1.5-2 Mile tracks call for pasta or Ramen Noodles and Pretzels again. Anyone else get that? 115. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Don't complain about the Danica coverage today. It will be showing how bad she is doing rather than her at the front. 116. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Calm down, in a few weeks Danica will be doing so mediocre that Fox will get bored with her and won't even try to defend her anymore. Same thing happened last year with ESPN. 117. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Bowyer still had a problem with Gordon, why wouldn't he get him back the next week at Homestead when they restarted next to each other? Or how about at Daytona when Gordon passed him on the outside and Bowyer had a clear shot to turn him towards the infield going down the backstretch? The feud is over as far as I'm concerned. Sure Bowyer hasn't exactly made it seem apparent by his constant dodging of questions in regards to the Phoenix incident (All he would have to do is say "That's in the past, it's behind me now, I'm moving forward to next week," or something like that.), but knowing how Bowyer doesn't have a history of paying people back on the track, I don't see him getting Gordon back today. I think one of the reasons why they're talking about it so much is because they need a patsy story to cover up the fact that 28 fans were injured at Daytona last week. Those fan injuries couldn't have come at a better time for NASCAR because they occurred the same week as Johnson's 2nd Daytona 500 victory, Danica's 8th place finish at Daytona, Michael Annett's injury, Jeremy Clements' suspension, and the next race just so happens to be the setting of arguably the biggest news story of 2012 in NASCAR. They have five cover-up stories and can "safely" sweep this whole "28 fans injured at Daytona" story under the rug. It's a dirty tactic, but it's working. 118. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What the heck just happened with Kasey Kahne? 119. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Destroyahirismix666 posted Also, almost every time I watch most races, I get a spefic food craving. It changes with the type of track. Restrictor Plates call for Ramen Noodles and Pretzels with Mustard. Phoneix calls for SUBWAY sandwhiches. 1.5 mile-2 Mile tracks in the day call for Beef Sandwhiches. Short tracks of 1 mile and less call for massive feasts. Night 1.5-2 Mile tracks call for pasta or Ramen Noodles and Pretzels again. Anyone else get that? are you sure your not smoking pot before you watch a race? 120. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lol, the 24 had troubles in inspection again. Seriously, how does anybody take anything HMS has ever done seriously? 121. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Same thing happened last year with ESPN." This is true. I noticed that towards the end of the season ESPN was barely mentioning her, in both Sprint Cup and Nationwide races. I recall a few races where they didn't even interview her if she finished mid-pack. *GASP!* Of course, it seemed like their Danica meter got refilled during the offseason, so they were shoving her down our throats in the Nationwide race last weekend, but that should boil over once they start covering Cup races and only cover the 12 Chase drivers, just like they always do. Seeing as how she won't be making the Chase, I'd say the final three months of NASCAR will be a breath of fresh air compared to the Fox lovefest for her. 122. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse puts himself in the wall already. 123. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last week at Daytona, why did the GyroCam always rotate to about 60 degrees??? Seriously, every time they showed that GyroCam, it would rotate to way past the actual banking degrees in the turns! It just got so annoying. 124. RaceFanX posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DW flubbed his traditional start line, he got the "Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let's go racing" but left off his usual 'boys' on the end. 125. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Danica would get praise for running in 36th... 126. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Seeing as how she won't be making the Chase, I'd say the final three months of NASCAR will be a breath of fresh air compared to the Fox lovefest for her." But for now, let's watch her race Stremme for 36th. 127. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lets spend 5 of the first 11 laps following the 37th place driver. 128. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Stremme just flew by the #10 car. Remind me why she's getting air time? 129. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey Racefanx what's up Can I get an update plz? 130. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Lol, the 24 had troubles in inspection again. Seriously, how does anybody take anything HMS has ever done seriously?" Actually, I believe they were just late for inspection. 131. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tough break for Scott Riggs. 132. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 44 in the wall. Caution out. Sucks that it happened to a smaller team 133. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, Scott Riggs blew a tire and slapped the wall. 134. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Scott Riggs blows a tire and slams the wall. 135. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, Riggs in the wall. 136. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Scott Riggs in the wall. 137. AveryNH posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I always felt Mark was awesome at Phoenix. He averages a top ten with a 9.1 avg finish and has been running at the finish at all but one of his events here. And as i type this Riggs poinds the wall, shoot. 138. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Awww, poor hipster watches ): 139. We need more Onion posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Poor Scott, that team looked set to do a full-distance run. BTW that #33 is damn' ugly. 140. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Waltrip, you're outta here! 141. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch is already in the top 10 after starting from the back. 142. 18fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Subway Fresh Fit Danica 500. 143. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This New Car Isn't Working the Racing Still Sucks 144. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (6) (0) "Ryan and Danica need to find out what's in Tony's car" What is in Tony's car that isn't in those other two cars is Tony Stewart. 145. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @144 That could even be a compliment to Newman. He was running 12th at the time whereas Danica was back in 35th. 146. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch spins and hits the wall. 147. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle wrecks. 148. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damnit Kyle. Product of being way too aggressive early in the race. Doesn't look too bad if there is no internal damage to the car. 149. RaceFanX posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No sweep for Kyle this weekend after his Busch win yesterday. 150. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Clint Bowyer and Travis Kvapil collided on pit road. 151. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The racing doesn't suck, Martin's team just hit the set up that good. 152. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm sure that we will have to hear about how many positions Danica has picked up via pit road. 153. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) So yeah, no Chase for Truex this year it looks like, barring a miracle run through Summer. 154. AveryNH posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex broke an axle it appears 155. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex's crew is saying that an axle problem might have resulted in his car stalling on pit road. 156. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm sure that we will have to hear about how many positions Danica has picked up via pit road." "She did a great job pulling out of her pit box." - DW 157. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Toyotas are about as reliable as a Detroit Lions playoff win. 158. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya is not done yet. 159. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jesus, these Toytotas are just dropping like flies. 160. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aw, Dave Blaney!!! Tough break. 161. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stremme dumped Dave Blaney into the wall. 162. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sucks for Blaney. I thought Mark was blowing up too, but I guess he's just on some weird strategy. 163. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now can we see footage of Mikey? "How does it feel to watch all three of your cars have their races go to shit all at once?". 164. Rusty posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can we get David Stremme off the track again? 165. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 42 looks pretty fast when he gets up to the front. This seems like a track he could actually do very good at. 166. Smiff_2 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not gonna lie, this thing's been pretty eventful so far.... 167. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "This New Car Isn't Working the Racing Still Sucks" I think the racing is good so far. Better than Daytona. The slower cars currently running up front are making it exciting! "So yeah, no Chase for Truex this year it looks like, barring a miracle run through Summer." Seriously? We're only two races into the season... 168. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya is driving the wheels off of his car. 169. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Paul has been doing pretty good, so far. 170. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Glad to see the 87 racing the full race, even if he's mainly in the back. Joe deserves to see the fruits of his labor. 171. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Seriously? We're only two races into the season..." Yeah I know, but knowing Truex and his "throw in the towel" attitude, I highly doubt he'll be able to come back from two horrible races to start off the season. lol at Bowyer. "DAMN IT YOU GOTTA TALK!!!!!" 172. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love the racing today. Racing all around the track, nobody can pull away from the rest of the field, and the draft seems to be playing a big role. 173. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How about that guy in second? 174. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almirola is running a very strong race so far. 175. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trust me though Joey, if Truex does come back and make the Chase, I'll be the first to commend him, I promise, lol I agree, I actually like this race so far. Much, much better than Daytona. Hopefully they'll be able to fix the plate package for Talladega, because from what I'm seeing here the intermediate and short tracks look to be in for some good racing. 176. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) David Gilliland is hanging on nicely in 12th place. Judging by the quality of his equipment, I'd say these Gen6 cars are a great equalizer on intermediate tracks. 177. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'd love to see Almirola pull off a Bobby Hamilton style win or two this season. He was good at the end of last year too, so it looks like they've carried it over. 178. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Danica Patrick's day has not quite gone like Daytona." AND WE'RE SURPRISED?!?!?! 179. AveryNH posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul I was getting set to call his number too. Truex is back out I just saw. Instead of him getting tv time Danica gets to complain 180. We need more Onion posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yeley had a huge save after Danican't almost spun him. Nice one JJ, go underfunded teams! 181. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only one start-and-park so far, the #19 of Mike Bliss. 182. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They make it sound like that no other drivers put other drivers in bad situations. The love for Danica is just getting out of control. How much is GoDaddy pouring into these broadcasts to make her sound like a great driver? 183. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Newman wrecks. 184. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Newman hit the wall. 185. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin is the leader again. This race is going to become all about track position at the end. Did Kyle get the lucky dog for the last caution? 186. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nevermind, Joe Nemechek got the free pass. 187. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad just drove around Mark Martin for the lead. 188. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I get what you're saying murb, Truex's give up attitude might hurt him, but there's so much racing left this year. Everyone has a shot right now. Go Bad Brad!!! 189. Smiff_2 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BRAAAAD! Yessuh! 190. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman hits the wall again. He's probably done now. 191. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rocket Man just pounded the wall again, me thinks their day is done. 192. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman can't catch a break. 193. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman's done. Hard ass hit. 194. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Brad can get out front he runs away. Kinda wish they would have taken just lefts. Hopefully they are setting up for a late strategy call. 195. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Strike two, Rocketman... I'll say this about Newman. He may be the closest we have to Dale Sr. today. Him and Smoke, because he's a big, intimidating guy (Logano can attest to that), doesn't like drama, and he owns a farm! If that doesn't say blue-collar, hard-working racer, I don't know what does. He just ran down the track in turns one and two where he crashed. No ambulance for him! Actually the only thing that sets him apart from a Dale Sr. persona is his engineering degree from Purdue, haha! 196. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) no bloomin' onion? damn makes me so glad I wasn't planning on going on a date and going to Outback ...not that anyone would go on a date with me anyway so it worked itself out 197. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michael, its pronounced "crew chief", not "chew crief". WALTRIP, YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!!!!! 198. Rusty posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lmao at Michael Waltrip saying he thinks Tony Stewart is going to win as the camera shows him getting passed for 21st in the background lol. 199. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy you're outta here! So tired of hearing about Bowyer vs. Gordon. 200. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy is actually one of the few parts of Fox I really like (along with the pit reporters). It's the Waltrip Brothers and (to a lesser extent) Larry Mac's cartoonery that make it difficult to watch. 201. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Same here, but I wish they'd shut up about the "feud". I'm sure both Bowyer and Gordon have moved past that episode. 202. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) here is one thing I always liked about Fox and their reporters other than the fact that following the races is animation domination Larry Mac, DW and Mike Joy all have good chemistry, great on-screen chemistry I never saw or felt it with BP and the NBC guys and I dont see it with the TNT guys who does ESPN? is it DJ, Adam Alexander and Andy Petree? 203. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Oh noes! Danica wrecks! What on Earth will FOX do for the rest of the broadcast? 204. We need more Onion posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) KA-BLAM, here she goes... 205. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Danica just got piledrove. Glad she's okay, that was big. 206. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HOLY SMOKE!!! Danica's car is destroyed!! 207. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Danica Patrick Ladies and Gentlemen Danica Patrick 208. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica blew a right front while exiting turn 4. 209. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) GoDaddy girl really waded it up on the front stretch, sounds like a right front went down. 210. NadeauFan91 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Awww, now what is FOX gonna talk about?! 211. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good grief, part of her tire is sitting in the middle of pit road...She almost got the whole side of her car sheered off! 212. We need more Onion posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, it wasn't her fault. Still, you gotta feel bad for Ragan, solid run on the lead lap goes away. 213. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) While I'm glad she's okay, I'm also glad that we won't have to watch coverage of her rolling around in 31st racing Stremme and Yeley in a Hendrick car. 214. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Mike Joy is actually one of the few parts of Fox I really like (along with the pit reporters)." I agree. Mike Joy is a great broadcaster. 215. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Her's and the 34 car are totaled, glad she and David Ragen are both okay because those were some hard licks. 216. Bronco posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hoping that Carl ends the losing streak today, in his sponsor's own race. 217. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) These guys must be running some aggressive camber setups. 218. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (4) (2) Ouch, glad she is ok. But that shows how aggressive they have to set up her car just to run 25th. It's gonna be an expensive year for her team. 219. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior got a nice jump on the restart. 220. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) Dale Jr the biggest Fraud of NASCAR is leading the race. 221. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Danica looks like Michael Jackson with those sunglasses... 222. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) How long til June's told to let Jimmie by or start getting NNS cars? 223. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Oh geez, they reference Vegas as one of her favorite tracks using that top 5 she got on fuel strategy. 224. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) "Danica what happened out there? I lost a tire, and I wasn't even that tight" *giggles uncontrollably* oh man, I need to get laid 225. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth is lurking. Hopefully his engine doesn't go bad this time. Kyle Busch can salvage a top 10-15 finish if he ever gets back on the lead lap. 226. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) MICHAEL JACKSON! I knew she reminded me of somebody with those huge glasses. 227. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tire problem for Gilliland. 228. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dammit! Sucks for Gilliland, he was having a really good race. 229. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Gilliland. I really hope Kenseth or Edwards or Brad or Denny or somebody (anybody!!!) shows up the Hendrick cars. 230. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For the second week in a row all three Front Row cars have trouble. Kyle Busch is back on the lead lap...probably too late in the race to be a real contender. 231. AveryNH posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hate that for David. Everybody is pretty much good to go on fuel. Should be a very interesting restart. 232. The Final Gear posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle back on the lead lap finally. I still believe that he can salvage a top 10 but he isn't going to contend for the win. 233. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale Jr Ladies and Gentlemen Dale Jr 234. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lol, Kurt and Kyle hit the wall at the same time. 235. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Busch brothers nearly simultaneously crash out of the race. 236. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) No way!!! Chad's engaged? I didn't know he actually had a life outside of the 48 team... 237. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) he got engaged during the offseason 238. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) This is getting intense. I am going to be pissed if they throw a deBriS caution... 239. Bronco posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice run for Allmendinger so far. 240. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmie and Brad continue to close on Carl.... *Jaws theme* 241. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad is Carl's best friend, if he and JJ get to fighting it out for second that could give Carl a chance to pull away. Provided he doesn't run out of gas of course. 242. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano's slow. 243. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution out for Schrader. Oh boy! 244. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh god, we just HAVE to have another crazy finish... 245. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Welp. 246. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schrader in the wall. Everything changes now. 247. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Schrader. This changes everything! 248. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT. It was just getting good. Now it's probably gonna be a demo derby. 249. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Overall though, I've enjoyed this race. It's reminded me of an old school race with all the different players. 250. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill is slow. 251. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At least the caution was legit... 252. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Are they really gonna go green? 253. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How was the 88 placed behind the 11? 254. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nevermind, they got him off. That wrecker driver gets the Driver of the Race award. 255. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) That move Denny pulled was sick!!!!! 256. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The winless streak ends for Carl. 257. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If this race is any indication of how rest of the year is going to go, it's going to be a good year. 258. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great 11th place finish for Dinger. Jeff Burton gets a nice 10th place finish with a substitute crew chief. 259. jabber1990 posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) is it just me or does it seem like Phoenix seems to end Carl's winless streaks? 260. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:26 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Great top 15 run for Casey Mears as well. 261. The Great Dave posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Corrections #7 Sany #20 Husky #27 Menards / Serta #30 Sawn Energy / Lean1 #33 MoonShine Attitude Atire #34 Front Row Motorsports #35 Blockbuster #36 Accel Construction #38 Long John Silver's #56 Napa Filters #78 Furniture Row / Beautyreast 262. David posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Did you SEE that move by Hamlin?? Ultimately, it was only for one spot, but it was incredible nonetheless! 263. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Johnson said in his MRN interview that Carl slowed him up on the final restart. Sore loser. 264. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (9) I predicted Carl Edwards to win this race this mourning and I predicted him to finish 3rd in points this year. I'm feeling pretty good about myself. 2 things we know about the Gen 6 car... It has ruined the racing at Phoenix & Daytona! And yes it has ruined Phoenix. That was an atrocious race other than the GWC. 265. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "At least the caution was legit..." Yeah. I thought it was gonna cause everyone to start running out of gas and give someone random the win, but to my surprise everyone's fuel cell held up. Like I said though, I thought this was actually a great race. 266. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great race. 267. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Seems like a really good race with plenty of contenders, at one stage the top 10 all ran a lap within one tenth of each other everyone 27.5 and 27.4, no manufacturer has a massive advantage. Good news for the fords to be so strong on the flat tracks where they have been weak. Flat tracks are almost as important as the 1.5 milers with 3 in the chase. 268. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) "Johnson said in his MRN interview that Carl slowed him up on the final restart. Sore loser." Yep. 269. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jr 4 I'm VERRY happy I was thanking he would get a 15th or so place finish so I'm happy :) 270. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) I know we're only two races into the season, but Tony Stewart is still behind Danica in points and A.J. Allmendinger (who didn't race at Daytona) has the same amount of points as multi-non-points race winner Kevin Harvick. Oh, and J.J. Yeley is 13th in points. I got a little chuckle out of those three. 271. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Brad ran out of gas just as he took the checkers, still this the best start to a season he and The Blue Deuce have had. 272. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) I'm surprised this many people think was a good race. Is it just me? I thought it was awful other than the GWC. 273. Bronco posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Allmendinger 11th in his first race with the new car, with a very underfunded team. 274. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I liked the race I thank it was good :) 275. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Why? You had multiple strategies and passing for at least one position pretty much the entire race. Leaders were close all day and it was easier to pass than last year. Not to mention Brad's run and Casey Mears top 15 along with the GWC where Hamlin made one of the best moves in a long time. 276. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great win for Carl today at Phoenix. I was a little worried about him after his mediocre Speedweeks, but it seems like his team is back on track. His pit crew was flawless all race long, and he didn't let their great work go to waste. It'll be interested to see if he can win more races this year, or if this might be it (a la 2011). 277. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) I like how Jimmie is complaining about Carl's restart when Jimmie himself clearly beat Brad to the line on the restart at Texas last November. 278. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Go cry in the Lowe's trailer Jimmie. 279. Sky Warrior posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) Good race for Jr, Gordon, Burton, Dinger, Mears, and congrats to Carl Edwards for finally winning. Maybe it won't be another 2 years until the next win. Am I the only one tired about everyone complaining about Danica? I'm not her biggest fan, but I do like her for what she's doing, massive corporate backing aside. I agree that she doesn't deserve as much attention as she's been getting, but she really is the first woman in NASCAR to get a fair shot at the men, and that is something. But every other comment, anywhere there is a discussion about NASCAR, is someone whining about how much attention Danica gets. You people are easily 5 times more annoying than the broadcasters giving her the attention! And it's not like she's been telling them to do it, she's just someone trying to do something many of us would give anything to do for a living. So lay off her, because those complaining about her are worse than the broadcasting itself 280. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Phoenix is the track where drivers end their losing streaks. Here's the list.(races since their previous win) Spring race 2009: Mark Martin(97 races) Spring race 2010: Ryan Newman(77 races) Fall race 2010: Carl Edwards(70 races) Spring race 2011: Jeff Gordon(66 races) Fall race 2011: Kasey Kahne(81 races) Spring race 2012: Denny Hamlin(22 races) Fall race 2012: Kevin Harvick(44 races) Spring race 2013: Carl Edwards(70 races) 281. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Get over it five-time, you got beat fair and square. 282. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hard to call 22 races a losing streak, but I guess If you're Denny Hamlin... 283. 83andJoe posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >but to my surprise everyone's fuel cell held up. Well, except Cassill's. #272 - the race gets a B+ from me. 284. Paul posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Phoenix is the track where drivers end their losing streaks." Not to mention ending Jeff Gordon's 480-race streak of being behind Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list in spring '07 ;) 285. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This might be an ominous sign for the field considering how Carl is either red hot or ice cold. Looks like a red hot year for him. The 2 team just keeps posting career best finishes. And they are the defending champs! They will have a good year. Don't know if Back2Back is in the cards this year, but their chances are as good as anyone's and they should be strong for many years. 286. Sky Warrior posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to my local Fox news outlet: Clint's last name is pronounced "Bower" Clint "Bower" didn't hit a pit crew member, he ran one over Carl Edwards drives the Subway #55 car And for the whiners, no mention of Danica 287. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Back2Back? Hopefully we see that instead of "sixpack" at the end of the year. 288. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:00 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "So lay off her" I don't know if you noticed, but most of us aren't trashing her. We're trashing the media for their constant coverage of her running 30th. There's no reason to spend three laps at the start of the race showing her move from 40th to 36th. In my opinion, that's shitty coverage. I understand that the network is probably getting tons of money to talk about her, but it pisses off all of us who have been diehard watchers of the sport for years and years. And one of the reasons why this board is so fun is because we can vent with each other about it. So that's why we're doing it. Again, it's the network that we're bashing, not Danica personally. 289. Schroeder51 posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) I have faith that this year will be better than last year's season. This race showed some real promise. 290. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm with teamplayet 100% 291. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I WAS RIGHT! I WAS RIGHT! I told you guys Jimmie was upset with everyone saying he cheated at Daytona. That the fans were getting to him. Did you hear his interviews shown on Speed? I'm not saying it's right, but I told you guys that upset Jimmie. Prediction for Las Vegas: Jimmie destroys motivated Jimmie = Not good for everyone else. 292. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) So your saying jemmie well win next week?.....shit :( 293. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Woah, for the first time ever NASCAR made the Carribean version of ESPN Sportscente, we get the channel here in Bermuda. 294. I love Japan posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Good race. Much better then Daytona. We actually saw racing today. It was nice. Hopefully Vegas will be good too. 295. Matt L posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'm happy for Carl, after wrecking five cars at Daytona this win has to feel good. David Stremme, Joe Nemechek, & Landon Cassill deserve credit running the distance instead of parking at lap 30. Front Row Motorsports is off to a rough start in 2013. Lots of destroyed race cars already. Hope the #44 team has another car if they want to show up at Las Vegas. 296. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Edwards scores his 20th win and Johnson finishes second to Edwards for the sixth time only finished second behind Gordon more.Johnson scores 7th straight top 5 in phoenix spring race. Kyle has 8 straigth at Richmond in the spring and Johnson has 10 top5 in a row at martinsville in the autumn, anyone know what the record is for most top 5s in a row at an event in nascar. Johnson finishes second after winning the 500 for the second time bucking the trend of poor performances after winning the number 1 stock car race. It is also the third year in a row that a big name in nascar has got their first win with a new crew chief following Gordon with Gustafson and Hamlin with Grubb. Edwards will probably win 1 of the next 3 at vegas bristol or california considering how good he is at them and how streaky he is, failing that he will go winless for 2 years 297. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ILoveJapan, Vegas usually SUCKS, especially when it comes to aero. It sucked with the Gen4 on both configurations and was even worse with the COT. If there is good racing there then I give this new car an A. 298. 83andJoe posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #20 sponsor: Husky Tools #30 sponsor: Swan Energy (no other significant logos) #33 sponsor: Moon Shine Attitude Attire (not "Moonshine") #44 owner should be a link, as he has a page. 299. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lol at "Moon Shine" sponsor on the 33 300. 83andJoe posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #295: There was only one S&P, in fact, that being Mike Bliss (and they actually came back out from the garage after the #44 crashed as they were parking it). 301. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can someone explain to me how the 51 car finished 11th with A.J. But kirt couldn't do shit with that car last year(other then his 9th at autoclub last spring)this excluded his 3rd at sears point 302. joey2448 posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Man what a race! Caution or not at the end, it was shaping up to be a good finish. I can't believe some drivers (Denny Hamlin) are saying this Gen-6 car doesn't drive as well as the Gen-5 car! I mean, they're the drivers, and I've never piloted a race car ever, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but this race today was pretty good, in my opinion. Speaking of Hamlin, what a move he pulled on the final lap! What allowed him to do that was when Keselowski and Johnson slipped up the track in turns one and two, and when I saw the three of them headed towards turn three, I thought they were all going to wreck. But Keselowski backed off and they all made it through, and what a fight for second place. Jimmie got Denny for 2nd by inches! Jimmie won the 2006 Daytona 500, finished second in the 2nd race of the year (Fontana), then won the 3rd race at Vegas. Will he win next week? Johnson, Junior and Keselowski all start their years with top-5 finishes. Also, Allmendinger had a great run in 11th. 303. murb posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Vegas usually SUCKS" Yeah, I never look forward to it. It's funny because it's actually the closest racetrack to where I live, and I drive by it once a year when I go to California, yet I have absolutely no desire to go to a race there. Fortunately though, Bristol is just two weeks away. And judging from the August race, it looks like good racing has returned there. 304. Bronco posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (3) (3) ood to see Carl finally win his race, that too a race sponsored by his wafter all the runner-up finishes that he's had. This is his first finish in the top 4 since finishing 2nd at Homestead 2011. Amazing how predictable Carl's career is, after going winless and enduring a slump last year he's poised for a big rebound in 2013, which will set him up for another championship run in 2014. Carl's 20th win moves him past Kevin Harvick and Dale Jr on the all time wins list. Dale Jr looks to be in for a big year in 2013. Finishing 2nd at Daytona was one thing, but battling for the win and finishing 5th at a track where he's struggled since the repave, is another story. This is the first time he's opened the season with consecutive top 10s since 2004, and his first Phoenix top 5 since 2005. Good to see the concussions from last year haven't slowed him down. Jeff Burton's top 10 finish was the first on a non superspeedway track since Richmond in September. 305. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) haha danica crashed (thumbs up me) 306. Michael posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) NEED SOFTER TIRES that will help passing. 307. Anonymous posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Phoenix Racing must be pretty in Owner Points, with a 7th at daytona with Regan, now a near top ten here with AJ. 308. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) 12345Dude, didn't I say something like that would happen in regards to the racing. The thing with the new car is that it's more aerodynamic than it's predecessor, and with the bigger spoiler cutting a bigger hole in the air, it's going to make the aero-push situation worse. If you notice when Brad was closing in on Jimmie for second, as soon as he got to within 6-8 car lengths, his progress stopped because he hit the turbulent air from Jimmie's car, which caused his car to push, thereby stopping his progress. Last year, that wall was about 3-5 car lengths, now it's 6-8 car lengths. If anything, track position and clean air is going to be MORE important this year than it was last year, because except for that exchange between Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya for the lead early in the race, there was no battling up front all day once five laps in a run were complete. Everyone was pretty much stuck where they were because they could only get so close before the aero-push kicked in, and that was further away from the car in front than before. And speaking of Biffle, is anyone else as unimpressed as I am with how he ran today. Carl Edwards may be the only driver Roush wins a race with this year if this keeps up, and that includes the Nationwide Series. Saying that, this won't be the only race Edwards wins this year. In fact, if he wins five or six times, it wouldn't surprise me, but Greg Biffle was very disappointing to me today. Another thing that concerns me was the number of blown tires in today's race, because, not counting Ryan Newman's second blown tire, there were about five of them. I expected this to be a problem next week at Vegas with the higher speeds, not this week. Also, some of the "disappointing" starts to the season are not surprising, but the one that definately is, is Kyle Busch. The slow starts of Stewart, Gordon, Kahne, Harvick, and Logano do not surprise me at all, though Logano's poor finish today was from a dry gas tank, as he ran near the top ten most of the second half of the race, occasionally cracking it after starting 32nd. If some of those drivers don't get better in the next 2-3 races, there's going to be some concern in those camps. 309. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Michael, do you want to see MORE blown tires, because that's exactly what will happen if they run softer tires. As it was, there were five blown tires by my count in this race today, not counting Newman's second one, which was crash damage-related. 310. Neal posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) Gen6 is batting 0.000. Another follow the leader fest. Several right-front failures. Just you wait, Goodyear is gonna make the tires harder and this new chassis is gonna be COT2.0. 311. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love the scheduling of phoenixs two events on the calendar-second event of the year and second last event of the year.It is almost guranteed to run smoothly with no rain delays and is the most picturesque track on the schedule. It also is intimate due to the officials not having overbuilt during the nascar boom. 85,000 at phoenix= no complaints full house no empty seats. 85,000 at dover in 140,000 seat track = half full with lots of empty seats and advertising over seats to try to hide it. 312. Neal posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the Gen6 car sucks at the 1.5 milers (and I believe it will), I put even money on NASCAR implementing their version of that retarded push-to-pass gimmick that IndyCar loves. If they do, I'm done with NASCAR. 313. ch posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #95 parked as well. Sponsor changes: 7 - SANY Heavy Industry Co. 16 - 3M (Only major logos on the car) 19 - Value Place (No plinker tactical logos) 20 - Husky Tools 30 - Swan Energy 33 - Moon Shine Attitude Attire 35 - Blockbuster.com / Cajun Industries 83 - Burger King / Dr. Pepper (Needs a space) 93 - Burger King / Dr. Pepper (Needs a space) 314. 83andJoe posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:00 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) >#95 parked as well. If they go past the first pit cycle, it doesn't really count as S&P. 315. Sky Warrior posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "#95 parked as well." They had a legitimate problem, they had planned on running the full race to try and attract a sponsor with that pirate design 316. ch posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's too bad for them then. 317. Talon64 posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Amazing how predictable Carl's career is, after going winless and enduring a slump last year he's poised for a big rebound in 2013, which will set him up for another championship run in 2014." Ending the streak at Phoenix again might not be the best thing though. Last time, Carl ended up with 3 wins in 5 races but then another 70 races without a win. So he'll win at Vegas and Fontana then his next win will be at Las Vegas in 2015. 318. BON GORDON posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Boring race overall but good finish. NASCAR will tweak on this Gen-6 car and make it better during the next couple seasons. Jimmie Johnson was being s sore loser when he was asked about the last restart with Edwards. Take second and shut up. Contrast to Carl Edwards. Little disappointed of Jeff Gordon's 9th place run. Thought he would be a little better but track position was key today. Still a Top Ten a guess. 319. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "So your saying jemmie well win next week?.....shit :(" I'm pretty confident Jimmie will lead all but 8-12 laps. This isn't the only thing that's bothering him either. (read my 127 post on nationwide race) He is going to dismantle next week. Las Vegas is going to shape up who is going to be successful this year. It's the first 1.5 mile track, and NASCAR has become a 1.5 mile track series. (which is the biggest reason for the drop in ratings) Just look at the past race winners there. (and how they did during the season) 1998: Mark Martin LV race winner: Finished 2nd in points with career high 7 wins 1999: Jeff Burton LV race winner: Finished 5th in points with career high 6 wins 2000: Jeff Burton LV race winner: Finished 3rd in points 2001: Jeff Gordon LV race winner: Wins title by 349 points! 2002: Sterling Marlin LV Race winner: In my opinion would of won title this year if he wouldn't of gotten injured. 2003: Matt Kenseth LV race winner: Clinches championship with 2 races left in season! 2004: Matt Kenseth LV race winner: Finished 8th in points 2005: Jimmie Johnson LV race winner: Finished 5th in points (was 2nd in points before last race crash) 2006: Jimmie Johnson LV race winner: Wins Championship. 2007: Jimmie Johnson LV race winner: Destroys with 10 wins and wins championship. (interesting fact between 1998-2012 only one other driver has won at least 10 other races other than Jimmie Johnson in 2007. That man was Jeff Gordon in 1998. And don't forget that for the first 26 races there is TONS of testing going on, and winning the race isn't as important) 2008: Carl Edwards LV race winner: Finishes 2nd in points with 9 wins. (1998-2012 most race wins in a season 1. Jeff Gordon 13 Wins (1998) 2. Jimmie Johnson 10 Wins (2007) 3. Carl Edwards 9 Wins (2008) (and remember 1998-2003 there is no chase) 2009: Kyle Busch LV Race winner Finishes 13th in points with 4 wins. 2010: Jimmie Johnson LV race winner Wins championship. 2011: Carl Edwards LV race winner Ties for NASCAR championship! 2012: Tony Stewart LV race winner Finishes 9th in points So remember guys when your watching Las Vegas and falling asleep (even after the millions of dollars they have spent trying to improve the racing) just remember, your getting a sneak peak on who is going to do well this season, and who won't! 320. CBASS posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #42 Target/ Cottonelle #16 3M Novec #9 DeWalt/ Stanley #47 Glad/ Bush's Best/ Scott Products #30 Swan Energy (Lean1 was only an associate) #87 Maddie's Place #7 SANY #32 Safe Skies Patented Luggage Locks #10 GoDaddy.com Website Hosting #19 Value Place 321. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) "The 2 team just keeps posting career best finishes. And they are the defending champs! They will have a good year. Don't know if Back2Back is in the cards this year, but their chances are as good as anyone's and they should be strong for many years." Your being way too modest here. I would say Brad has the same amount motivation, desire, and determination to win as Jimmie Johnson. That's basically the only thing you need in order to achieve what you want in this life (that. There is no doubt in my mind about that. He's at least winning 4 titles. "12345Dude, didn't I say something like that would happen in regards to the racing. The thing with the new car is that it's more aerodynamic than it's predecessor, and with the bigger spoiler cutting a bigger hole in the air, it's going to make the aero-push situation worse" Yes you did CJS. That's why your one of the best if not the best poster on here. Plus you don't soil your pants when you predict something right :) " Also, some of the "disappointing" starts to the season are not surprising, but the one that definately is, is Kyle Busch. The slow starts of Stewart, Gordon, Kahne, Harvick, and Logano do not surprise me at all, though Logano's poor finish today was from a dry gas tank, as he ran near the top ten most of the second half of the race, occasionally cracking it after starting 32nd. If some of those drivers don't get better in the next 2-3 races, there's going to be some concern in those camps." Kyle is going to do anything this year. I wouldn't say Stewart or Harvick are having bad years. They both got un-lucky at Daytona and both had top 5 runs until the sun went down. Like I said in my other post Las Vegas is really going to show us who is going to do good this year. Also why was Speed's victory lane ended so quickly? It better not be because of that are you faster than a red neck! Also, I wonder if someone killed Digger. I haven't seen him. You have to give people who run NASCAR on FOX credit. Who ever came up with the idea of Digger was sure a genius. But don't worry they have a new guy in. He has said that he loves Darrell Waltrip, Mike Joy, and Larry McReynolds on commentary. 322. 12345Dude posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kyle is going to do anything this year." Meant to say: Kyle isn't going to do anything this year. "That's basically the only thing you need in order to achieve what you want in this life (that. There is no doubt in my mind about that." Meant to say: There is no doubt in my mind if you obsess and work your life around something than you will achieve at that said thing. 323. Zach posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Yawn* Las Vegas what a boring track a meen theres like nothing awsome in that tracks races but if you look up to comment 319 i think even how bored and sleepish the race is look whos finishing where. Also i think Jimmie ganna just LOVE this car... His finishes are well... Daytona.1st And Phoenix.2nd wow i cant wait for Las Vegas Jimmies favorite track... (I dont have Jimmie but i hate him sometimes) Well i am glad Carl picks up a win :-) He one heck of a driver who couldnt find his 4 leaf clover for 2 years but i think he can do more then just 1 little win... GO CARL 99! 324. Zach posted: 03.03.2013 - 8:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Opps a said have a meen hate 325. Cant Stand Logano posted: 03.03.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) wasn't much of a fuel mileage race, everybody made it easy, even with a GWC. Well, with the exception of one guy, who wasn't even close to making it. Another example of him simply not being on the level of Cup driver. Daddy can buy him rides, but he can't buy him talent or a extra gallon of gas. 326. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.03.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 12345Dude, I am cautiously optimistic about Brad this year. But they do have motivation cause so many folks talk about how "Jimmie lost the '12 championship more thqn Brad won it". What they fail to realize is that Jimmie had to run an aggressive setup (mechanically and chassis wise) at Phoenix and Homestead cause the 2 team was bad fast in all practice sessions for those races although it didn't translate for the race at Homestead. Plus Jimmie said something about Brad needing to be more mature, to which Brad correctly said he knew JJ said that to try to get in his head and make Brad feel like he isn't on Jimmie's level which made Brad angry, and further enhances Jimmie's arrogant tag within the garage. But I REALLY love what I see from the 2 team for the future. I always try to say the 2 team instead of just Brad because, although Brad is my favorite driver out there, it truly is a team effort with that group. They are close knit group that has full trust in each other and they are also an innovative group. I truly believe they are the team of the future, and they are still young and getting better. I just really like what I see. 327. Evan posted: 03.03.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) * Carl Edwards snaps his 70 race losing streak after killing 5 cars in one Speedweeks. * The Subway Ford would have to win the Subway 400 wouldn't it? Good job. * The shaky backflip from Carl was a little off but he hasn't won since 2011. * I don't have any issue with Edwards winning this one, thought it was a pleasant afternoon of racing, just hope they keep working on this car a little bit and also, these tracks are gonna take some time to get re-worked after their repavings. More the asphalt wears the better the racing will get. 328. Kenny posted: 03.03.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well ill see y'all Friday evening later :) 329. cjs3872 posted: 03.03.2013 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually 12345Dude, I think you were right the first time whn you said that Kyle could do anything. And what I mean by that is that he could go on a tear at any time, because he's good enough to do so, but he could also fall off the tracks at any time because he's volatile enough to do that. And also, in reference to the starts of Gordon, Stewart, Harvick, Kahne, and Logano, that's why I put disappointing in quotation marks, because their starts are disappointing, but in the case of Stewart and Harvick, they're actually running better than their results show, so I wouldn't say thay're having, or are going to have a bad season. But what I did say is that if their slow starts last another 2-3 races, there is going to be concern in those camps. Logano ran surprisingly well today and certainly didn't get the finish he deserved, while Gordon and Stewart were not as good as they usually are at Phoenix, though Stewart did run in the top five when he had the track position, and Kahne dropped back like a lead balloon in the second half of the race, which was the exact opposite of what Dale, Jr. did, as Dale, Jr. led laps and finshed, what to him, was a disappointing fifth. The one camp that really has to be concerned is that of Jack Roush. Granted he won the race with Carl Edwards, but Greg Biffle was not very good, except for the one time he got up front with an off-sequence pit strategy, and Biffle's usually pretty good at Phoenix, and Stenhouse hit the wall on the very first lap, and after that, did what he should have done, and that's log laps, stay on the lead lap, and get experience in the Cup cars. Danica was doing exactly the same thing before she blew a right front tire and crashed, taking David Ragan with him. (And why was Ragan going full bore after seeing Danica crash because that last hit looked much harder than it should have been.) And again, and I hope for that orgainzation's sake I'm wrong about this, but it wouldn't surprise me if Carl Edwards was the only Roush driver to win this year. Certainly Hendrick's "B" squad (Gordon and Kahne) and Stewart-Haas aren't starting the year out very good, but I think they'll get their problems fixed, but I'm not sure Roush will because their cars don't seem to be very good, and they no longer have a chassis guy the caliber of Matt Kenseth to help fix their problems out in that department. Then again, maybe it's a case of Hendrck's "B" squad and Tony Stewart being conservative in the first few races, not wanting to get behind. And Childress was better than I thought they'be, especially with the #31 car, because Jeff Burton had a surprisingly good day, though Kevin Harvick was not as good as many people expected him to be. And another driver that had a surpisingly good day was Casey Mears, who started last, but rebounded to finish 14th. We'll see what that team (Germain Racing) is capable of in the long run next week at Las Vegas. If they finish in the top 20 at Las Vegas, they may be a surprise team this year, at least for a while. 330. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 03.03.2013 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 297. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.03.2013 - 7:21 pm ILoveJapan, Vegas usually SUCKS, especially when it comes to aero. It sucked with the Gen4 on both configurations and was even worse with the COT. If there is good racing there then I give this new car an A. I fully agree with the above. I HATE the looks of this new car, and I don't like what it has done to the continual rapid-destruction of Restrictor Plate racing one bit. But I'll gracefully deal with both of those if we get above average racing at Vegas, and Kansas. I'm really worried about Kansas. I love the track before the repave, but...I'm iffy as to if it the banking change will destroy the racing or not. Also, this was a GREAT race! I can't see why anyone wouldn't like it. Then again, I'm the guy that thinks that last year's California race was one of the five best races of that year! 331. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.03.2013 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Here's an idea to produce better racing. Threaten to slash the drivers pay in half unless they produce good hard racing for the lead. 332. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.03.2013 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The talented driver of the green #10 complained of a loose car in practice so the crew went with Smoke's setup and still complained of a "loose" condition. Tony Gibson is in for a long,long season for sure. He will end up in the doghouse soon if he can't get her car set up perfect where it "feels right". Can't wait to see how she qualifies and finishes at Martinsville . Will be a real hoot and a bummer fer sure on this easy short track. Wonder why this track wasn't on Tony's schedule for her last year ? 333. Scott B posted: 03.04.2013 - 12:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Carl's first trip to victory lane with Jimmy Fennig as his crew chief. I'm thinking it won't be another 70 races till the next win, should be a rebound season. Still wish we'd seen a Fennig-Stenhouse pairing though, I think it would be a good long-term investment. 334. Scott B posted: 03.04.2013 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Also interesting to see Brad playing nice with Edwards at the finish. Remember when those guys weren't friends? 335. Anonymous posted: 03.04.2013 - 12:52 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jimmy Fennig has now won with 5 different drivers. He has no wins between September 2005 and April 2011, but 7 wins since. 336. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.04.2013 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Coming up next Carl Edwards VS CJS in a Backflip Competition lets see who can do the most backflips in 30 minutes. 337. NadeauFan91 posted: 03.04.2013 - 1:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have a feeling that those top five finishers are gonna be the ones we see duking it out when the season winds down, just a hunch. 338. Talon64 posted: 03.04.2013 - 2:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Everyone should be worried that the two best teams in 2012 are the two hottest teams to start the year. Carl had a great car, but I feel like any of the top 5 would've won that race if they'd come out of the last pit stops 1st. Dale Jr. managed to hold on to the lead when he got it but then sort of sank down to 5th when Carl beat him off of pit road. Hell at one point Biffle, Almirola and Montoya looked like contenders and it was just because of track position, but I think the best cars still ended up at the front by the end of the race and the #99's pit crew was the difference. Plus Carl worked that controversial-that-isn't-really-controversial-at-all-Jimmie GWC restart great. 339. murb posted: 03.04.2013 - 2:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Still wish we'd seen a Fennig-Stenhouse pairing though, I think it would be a good long-term investment." I agree, I think it would have been much better to pair Stenhouse with a veteran crew chief instead of having a rookie crew chief with a rookie driver. 340. joey2448 posted: 03.04.2013 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Forgot to mention something. Kudos to the track officials that hurried Landon Cassill's car off the track so the field could take the green on that final restart. Cassill's car was stalled (out of fuel, I think) on the apron in turn three, and it was threatening to add another lap of caution before the restart, which really would have put the drivers at risk of running out of gas, since most were running low. But an extra caution lap was averted because a safety truck gave Cassill a push and really made an effort to get him to the garage fast. The pace car even slowed down a bit to give them extra time. If they hadn't done that, I know at least Keselowski would've run out, because he said he ran out at the finish line. 341. 18fan posted: 03.04.2013 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) What was impressive by Carl was how he managed the last long run. He went out quick and built a comfortable lead, then backed off a little and Jimmie and Brad ran him down, and then he showed he had something in reserve and was pulling away easily from Jimmie and Brad when the caution for Schrader came out. I thought most of the tire problems were due to melted beads, but I could be wrong. Melting beads has been an issue for the last few races at Phoenix, including Jimmie Johnson in the fall last year. 342. Talon64 posted: 03.04.2013 - 3:06 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yeah I think all of the tire issues were bead-related. They actually had a different tire than the past Phoenix races here but I don't think that was the issue. I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but the #51's 6th in owners points through 2 races! Dillon's in the #51 at Vegas and it will be a Finch car, not an RCR one, so it'll be interesting to see how he does there. Then Allmendinger's back in for Bristol and Fontana, then Ryan Truex will make his Cup debut in the car at Martinsville. I wonder how long they'll be able to hold on to a decent spot. I also wonder how Finch feels about having a driver that can come through at the end of the race to get a great finish, rather than the exact opposite of which he was getting from Kurt last year. I really hope Allmendinger ends up running about half the races. In fact it'd be pretty awesome if AJA could also do well in Indycar; the last driver to race Indycar full time and race more than half the races in a season in NASCAR was Tony Stewart in 1998 (full time in IRL, ran 20+ races in Nationwide), something I think AJA's got a chance of doing if he can put up results this year in both series. 343. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "They had a legitimate problem, they had planned on running the full race to try and attract a sponsor with that pirate design" Actually, the 95 team had no plans to run the full Phoenix race, unless something changed in the last couple of days since I was last told. The plan was to park at Phoenix as well as Vegas, BUT the 95 will be able to run somewhere around 24 full races this year. They will do a lot of racing. "So remember guys when your watching Las Vegas and falling asleep (even after the millions of dollars they have spent trying to improve the racing) just remember, your getting a sneak peak on who is going to do well this season, and who won't!" To be honest, you could say that about pretty much anybody who wins any oval race on a non-restricter plate track. The list you provided shows varying states of year-long success that would probably mimic if I were to do a list for, say, Bristol, Atlanta, Richmond, or anywhere else. Still cool numbers to look at nonetheless, though. 344. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "wasn't much of a fuel mileage race, everybody made it easy, even with a GWC. Well, with the exception of one guy, who wasn't even close to making it. Another example of him simply not being on the level of Cup driver. Daddy can buy him rides, but he can't buy him talent or a extra gallon of gas." First off, Logano wasn't the only one. Secondly, in Logano's situation, the car had enough fuel but had fuel pickup issues. We saw the Penske cars have those issues last year, and if I recall, we even saw them have it during one of the Daytona practice sessions. So you can dislike Logano and think whatever you want about him, but it wasn't his fault that the car ran dry today... it was a fuel pickup issue with a car that had the fuel. And frankly, Logano has proven himself to be capable of dominating the Nationwide Series (9 wins in only 22 starts last year was ridiculous), so he's probably deserving of a Cup ride. When it comes to the full 43 car lineup in Cup, Logano is not the least deserving. I'm not a Logano fan, but clearly I'm not completely biased to the point that I'm full of crap, like you are. 345. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And why was Ragan going full bore after seeing Danica crash because that last hit looked much harder than it should have been." Danica hitting the wall was going to cause her car to decelerate at a much quicker rate than Ragan could just nailing the brakes, so it appeared to me that Ragan tried to get by low, which didn't happen because of how hard the 10 came off the wall. He probably lifted being that he was at least 3 or 4 lanes lower than he would've been had he come off of turn 4 normally, but I couldn't tell if he got hard on the brakes at all given the replay angles they showed. I don't think it was a huge fail on Ragan's part, just bad circumstance. Unfortunately, it's a pretty usual sight to see a car get a flat tire off 4 at Phoenix then come careening back across the track into somebody else. I don't think 346. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) well that post cut off abruptly, but you could just backspace "I don't think" because the point was already made. My bad 347. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but I think the best cars still ended up at the front by the end of the race and the #99's pit crew was the difference." and/or the 13 cutting across the 88 to get into his pit stall from the outside lane on pit road 348. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 8:35 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Logano has proven himself to be capable of dominating the Nationwide Series" ...in JGR equipment, just like Kyle Busch, who wasn't even the best driver in his own equipment last season. Take Kyle out of that ride, and suddenly he goes from the best driver in the series to being winless, and I'd imagine the same will happen with Logano this season as he splits time with Brad in the Penske #22. 349. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I totally agree that JGR can be on rails, but Kyle Busch is obviously a championship-caliber Cup driver when his head is screwed on straight, so Joey Logano has to be doing something right to be able to match what Kyle did in that car a year later when he got to take over the 18 in Nationwide. To win 9 races with JGR out of 22 starts, that does say something about ability. There's a reason Brian Scott went 0 for 67 with Gibbs. Heck, Denny was 0 for 12 last year in Nationwide with Gibbs. In my opinion, Logano has clearly earned a Cup ride at this stage of the game, but he will find himself driving for worse Cup teams if he doesn't start performing closer to what the team's capable of. I honestly don't know how many races he's running in Nationwide this year, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he found victory lane. It wouldn't surprise me at all if his numbers are comparable to Brad's in Nationwide, even though Brad is the more accomplished racer (and most would agree better talent) 350. Peter posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:40 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Why are people complaining about this race? I enjoyed this race; sure they weren't in fender rubing duels the whole race, but it was still better than average. I think NASCAR hit a home run with the Gen-6 car....and yes enventually they will start to get racey on the superspeedways 351. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:46 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) It's important to remember that while the Nationwide Series is technically a feeder series to Sprint Cup, the cars drive a lot differently and the races are shorter, thus they are more advantageous to a more aggressive driving style. Denny Hamlin has never been a great Nationwide driver, although his stats from '06-'08 are padded because of the number of races he competed in, and due to the fact that he was always in the number one JGR car, as opposed to the past few seasons when he's been primarily in the number two JGR car. In his rookie season, Hamlin had fewer top fives and top tens than teammate J.J. Yeley of all people, who as we all know is not a great Cup driver. Does that mean that Yeley's early Busch success compared to Hamlin's? No, it just means that that series was a better fit for him. Hamlin's success in Cup only further proves that. There are a lot of great Cup drivers that didn't have a ton of success in Busch/Nationwide because that series didn't best fit their driving style, and the same works for drivers who have had a lot of success in Busch/Nationwide that didn't have the same kind of success in Cup. For whatever reason, Logano still looks lost at times in Cup, as he failed to do in four seasons what Tony Stewart (with less stock car experience) did for 10 straight seasons, which is finish in the top 15 in points. His new ride at Penske is his last shot as far as I'm concerned at being a Cup driver, and while he's better than a lot of other Cup drivers, right now he's just occupying a seat that a more capable driver could be using. I think at this point he's simply a placeholder until a better driver comes along; that is, unless of course he can improve in the next 1-2 seasons and be more of a regular contender for wins. His teammate has already contended for two wins this season (with less Cup experience), while Logano has only contended for top tens. It's a good start for Logano compared to what little he could do at JGR, but he needs to step it up in the next few months to be worthy of that ride. 352. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Numerous garage sources are saying that Reed Sorenson will drive the #43 Nationwide car next weekend at Las Vegas in place of the injured Michael Annett. Sorenson of course drove for RPM back in 2009, and is currently driving the #40 TMG Nationwide car full-time this season. Nothing is official yet, but I think this is a great move. Sorenson is one of those guys who has always run very well in Nationwide, and I love the fact that a non-Cup driver (allegedly) will be getting an opportunity in competitive equipment while Annett is out. 353. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree with most of what you said Paul, my response to a guy who posted as "cant stand Logano" was mostly to point out how ridiculous it would be to think Logano isn't deserving of at least some type of Cup ride. He may have been pushed to Cup too quickly, and he may be driving for a mid or lower tier team within a couple of years if things don't go well with Penske, but I think he's good enough to have something. If you look at every single driver who currently runs Nationwide, Trucks, or Cup, I do look at Logano as one of the 43 deserving to be in Cup. Granted, there's a whole lot of talent in the local tracks who never get a shot and we never know who they are, so all we can really do is look at the top 3 at this point. 354. David posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "There are a lot of great Cup drivers that didn't have a ton of success in Busch/Nationwide because that series didn't best fit their driving style" Jimmie Johnson's Busch Series PEERs in 2000 and 2001 were 0.790 and 0.879, both replacement-level ratings. Point proven? "and the same works for drivers who have had a lot of success in Busch/Nationwide that didn't have the same kind of success in Cup." Joey Logano scored PEERs of 2.159 and 5.136 over the last two Nationwide Series seasons. 355. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 11:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree with you Watto. Logano is deserving of a Cup ride based on the fact that he does have two Cup victories and has had a lot of success in Nationwide. I do think the Nationwide Series is a better fit for him, but based on the sport's current talent level, I'd say he is among the 43 best in the sport right now. David, if you could, could you post Todd Bodine's PEER rating from '02-'03, seeing as how he replaced Jimmie Johnson in the Busch Series? 356. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.04.2013 - 11:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just got done reading the local sports section. Not a mention of Princess Sparkle Pony wrecking but did mention Ryan Newman blowing a tire and hitting the wall. I also heard on Fox that Danica and Jimmie Johnson are headed to sin city next. Are they the only ones that are racing? If so,it's a good move on her part.Guaranteed at least 2nd.Got her best finish of 4th at Vegas and if NASCAR can align the stars just right she has the win in the bag. 357. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.04.2013 - 12:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The National Rifle Association (NRA) will sponsor the Spring Texas race, leaving only the two Pocono cup races without title sponsorship for the 2013 season. 358. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2013 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Watto, if Joey Logano can repeat what he did yesterday, he'll be just fine in that #22 car, as he drove from 32nd to bordering on the top ten until running out of fuel at the end. Like I said, he's a dramatic upgrade from wha they had in that car last year. What he does in that car the next 4-6 races will say a lot about where he'll stand in the points, though I think he'll do about the same as he did last year (15th-21st). At least he doesn't have to worry about Toyota's engine reliability problems any more, which alone may boost him up a position or two in the standings, if not more. And as for Casey Mears potentially ruining Dale, Jr.'s chance at a win, the only thing he could have changed was the line he was in on pit road as he entered his pit stall, but he would still have been in the way. Of course, the unpredictable part about that was how well he ran, because nobody figured he'd be on the lead lap all day after qualifying last, and he finished a more-than-respectable 14th. If Mears is competitive this week at Vegas, his team may be one of the surprises this year, for a while at least. And I think Mears is better than most people give him credit for. In fact, if not for sponsorship issues, he might still be with Richard Childress Racing. And Richie61NYfan, Newman actually blew two tires in yesterday's race, and coupled with Danica's own blown tire, Stewart-Haas had three of the six tire failures (Riggs, Gilliland, and Schrader had the other three), though I'll give Newman a pass on his second blown tire, since that was probably crash damage-related. And as for Danica, I think she was doing exactly what she intended to do, which was to stay on the lead lap and gain experience until that tire blew. Of course, she would have liked to have run better, but given the troubles Newman had, I just think it was poor chassis setup, since both Newman and Patrick ran the same setup and each suffered tire failures. And Tony didn't run as well as he expected to, either, though he did scrape out a top ten finish out of it. 359. kidracer24 posted: 03.04.2013 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey Atwood never had twice the oppurtunities that Logano had. 360. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I don't understand how you can fault David Ragan for getting caught up in Danica's crash. She hit the wall exiting the corner and came across the track into him. Was he supposed to just know that she would do that? Even if he did prepare for her to bounce off the wall (something that none of the other drivers who blew tires this weekend managed to do), he didn't have any time to react. It was simply "wrong place, wrong time" for Ragan, and I don't think it's fair to fault him for getting caught up in someone else's wreck. 361. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2013 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Paul, I'm not faulting Ragan for getting involved in that crash with Danica. In fact, it was almost unavoidable for Ragan to get involved. In fact, Ragan was on the other end of a similar crash two years ago when he blew a tire at that same exact point on the track and got collected by Bill Elliott. The point I was making was that he seemed to be pretty close to full throttle when he got into Danica, almost as if he was accelerating. He certainly didn't appear to be slowing down. But when Danica hit the wall, it was a virtual certainty that he would be involved, but my problem was that he never slowed down when he tried to evade Danica's car. 362. Daniel posted: 03.04.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 44 entered at Las Vegas: -Trevor Bayne in the #21 -Austin Dillon in the #51 -Michael McDowell in the #98 363. murb posted: 03.04.2013 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Denny Hamlin has never been a great Nationwide driver" I saw an interview with Denny from a few weeks ago where he even admitted that his style isn't a good fit for NNS. He also said "I get into too much trouble over there", which is obviously true since most of his stupid moments (the feud with Brad, getting distracted by Austin Dillon last year) have come in NNS. I don't officially consider myself a fan of Denny's (I can take or leave his personality), but I am pulling for him to become what he's capable of. Out of the current group of Cup non-champions, I think he (along with Carl and Kyle) are the most talented, and they all have what it takes to be Cup champions. I'm glad to see that Carl and Denny appear to be finally solely focusing on the Cup Series. We're waiting for you now, Kyle. And as for Logano, as much as I don't like him, yes, he does deserve a Cup ride. Does he deserve to be called a good Cup driver though? It's hard to say. Overall, he's just been okay. He severely underperformed at JGR. I was impressed with his run yesterday though, but then again, he's always been good at Phoenix so it might be smoke and mirrors again. So I don't know. If he can win a legit race again this year and contend for a Wild Card, I'll be impressed. As for his personality, that's a different story... I like the Reed Sorenson super-sub hire by RPM. Hopefully he can do good enough to where maybe they could get him in a second car full time if they could find sponsorship. I'd love to see that. And lastly, this NRA sponsorship thing at Texas must be a bigger deal than we think, because it's on ESPN's bottom line ticker thing. They hardly ever put anything Nascar on there unless if it's race results or if it's about Danica or Jr. Maybe it's because gun control has been such a big issue lately or something. 364. 83andJoe posted: 03.04.2013 - 5:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) LVMS Nationwide entry list is out. 43 cars: -Lagasse Jr back in the #8 -Gaughan in the RCR #21 -Richardson Jr in the #23 -Ty Dillon in the #33 -#40 is TBA -Sorenson in the #43 -Lewandoski in the #51 -Kevin Swindell in the #98 365. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.04.2013 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS , If you look at Danica's in car when she hit the wall you will see she took her hands off the steering wheel as usual. That's why she came down on Ragan I believe.She has to let go of the wheel unlike Jimmie and the rest of the gang etc. She does not have the upper body strength or arm strength to manhandle a out of control car which is why she always gets major damage. Just my opinion.She also can't leap high walls like Ryan Newman either. 366. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hopefully RPM will pay Reed Sorenson this time. 367. cjs3872 posted: 03.04.2013 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Richie61NYfan, she's been doing that for years (letting go of the steering wheel when she knows she's going to crash), and last year, some of the other Cup drivers started doing that after watching her, one of whom is Jimmie Johnson. She doesn't have the upper body strength because she's the smallest, lightest driver in the history of the sport, even smaller and lighter than Mark Martin is, so she adopted the tactic of letting go of the steering wheel when she's about to crash so she won't break her arm (or arms) when she crashes. And to my knowledge, she's never been injured, so that idea works for her and others have adpoted it. And again, I'm not saying that David Ragan wouldn't have been in that crash had he slowed down, because there was virtually no way for him to avoid Danica's car, but he never slowed down, either, or it looks like he didn't slow down. And by the way, that pit wall that Newman jumped on to after his second crash is about as high as Danica's shoulders are. 368. 83andJoe posted: 03.04.2013 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Mike Bliss' 150th Cup start. 369. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yeah, and when Jimmie Johnson took his hands off the wheel after his crash in the 2012 Daytona 500, his car drifted towards the middle of the track where he was t-boned by (wait for it...wait for it...) David Ragan and Danica Patrick. Granted, that t-boning wouldn't have happened had Danica just stayed in her lane instead of veering off into Ragan, but Johnson didn't do himself any favors by allowing his car to drift into the middle of the track like that by taking his hands off the steering wheel. 370. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.04.2013 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Go to TMS facebook page to see why this NRA sponsorship thingy is a "big deal" 371. Watto posted: 03.04.2013 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yeah when Casey went into his pit stall, the thing that might have caught people off guard was that he was still in the outermost lane. Usually when you're around a bunch of cars that are exiting and about to hit your pit stall, you try to give way earlier and turn a lane or two down approaching your stall, but I don't necessarily really "blame" Mears. Jr was probably going to have to lift for him at least a little no matter what. Just one of those deals. I was also really impressed with Mears' run because that 13 car in qualifying looked absolutely awful. I thought they'd better the car and get it raceable, but 14th certainly exceeded my expectations given how horrendous the car looked in qualifying. Granted, I didn't really watch the practice sessions, so maybe they just couldn't get the car to do what they wanted when they went for qualifying speed. 372. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.04.2013 - 7:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes Paul you are correct about Jimmie at Daytona but on the same token he had the whole field behind him too. Can't say as I blame him as had to prepare for many hits unlike Danica who is always toward the back of the pack when she wrecks.She does panic and always dives to the inside the 1st sign of trouble.Don't think she will change either.Gotta admit,when she hits a wall she hits it a ton. 373. JG24FanForever posted: 03.04.2013 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 415th Top 10 for Jeff Gordon .6006% 250th Top 10 for Jimmie Johnson .6234% 20th career win for Carl Edwards,he also overtook Sterling Marlin for 45th on the all-time laps led list. 93rd Top 5 for Carl Edwards,that ties him for 38th all-time with Fireball Roberts and Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards is now the only driver to win on both Phoenix configurations. 374. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.04.2013 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (5) (5) I'm happy about the NRA being involved with NASCAR. Obviously, in light of the recent shootings it would be the absolute politically correct thing to say "Oh no, we will NOT be associated with guns, we must outlaw anybody being able to own guns because, if we pass that law, all guns will immediately dissappear, all criminals will get rid of their guns too, and everybody with violent inclinations will not act on those in any way". And usually NASCAR toes the PC line to the most extreme degree. But on this issue, which is undoubtably as hot as a hot button issue can get, NASCAR has actually taken a logical stance and embraced the NRA in their least popular hour, at least publically. Obviously money is a huge driving factor behind this, but usually NASCAR wouldn't risk a possible PR hit, not matter how misguided it is, for this. It is also gonna be fun to see the media reaction to it. Just saw a segment on BSPN's flagship SportsCenter where they mentioned it, and how it will be taking place less than two months after Mikey ran his Sandy Hook scheme in Daytona. The implication being 1) NASCAR is being hypocritical in how they present themselves cause only Disney (the owners of ABC and BSPN and the destined to be crappy 7th Star Wars movie) is allowed to do things like that 2) the victims at Sandy Hook are the faces on a magazine cover of why we need to throw away the 2nd amendment, they aren't human beings who were tragically taken in a senseless act devastating so many families and 3) the media is even more soulless than I thought, and I knew they had no souls to start with. Good for NASCAR and all agents of common sense. 375. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (6) (3) The NRA is one of those organizations that had a great idea when it first formed, but has since followed the money path and have changed their core beliefs to wherever the money leads them. It was originally formed following the Civil War in 1871 by a few Union soldiers who wanted to form an organization that would help train soldiers on proper ways to use a rifle in case another Civil War broke out. The NRA would remain a non-partisan group that mainly focused on sportsmen, hunters, and target shooters until the mid-1970s when they basically changed over night into an anti-gun control regulation group and began to lobby in support of politicians who were also anti-gun control, and started to align themselves with the Republican Party and became a focal point of American conservatism. I must say I find it a little funny how it's wrong for cigarette and tobacco companies to advertise their products in NASCAR (and pretty much everywhere else), but it's perfectly fine for a glorified gun club to put their stamp all over one of the sport's races. I'm not advocating cigarette or tobacco use by any means, but the only people who are directly affected by those products are the people who use them. Guns on the other hand directly affect the lives of others who are on the receiving end of them. I'm not saying that all gun users are bad, or even that the majority of them are, but I think it's hypocritical that advertising products that harm other people is allowed, but advertising products that harm yourself isn't. That being said, it only makes sense that the NRA would be sponsoring a race in Texas. It'll be a joke organization sponsoring a race at a joke track with a joke promoter in a state that wanted us to vote for a joke presidential candidate during the last election cycle. It's a match made in heaven. 376. Anonymous posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think NASCAR themselves is trying to steer clear of this whole NRA thing, they haven't posted anything about it on their official pages. I wouldn't be surprised if they refused to call it the NRA 500 on their websites or broadcasts come April. 377. Paul posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know that ESPN only refers to races by name if the race sponsor is also an ESPN sponsor. For example, instead of referring to the Nationwide race at Road America last year the "Sargento 200," they would only call it the "NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America," because Sargento isn't an ESPN sponsor. 378. Anonymous posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Carl Edwards is now the only driver to win on both Phoenix configurations." Kevin Harvick already achieved that feat last year. 379. JG24FanForever posted: 03.04.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kevin Harvick already achieved that feat last year." Failure for me. 380. The Final Gear posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Genius marketing ploy here by NASCAR. The NRA will be marketing this race to the conservative America and that's the population that NASCAR needs to gain back for it's fanbase. The cars have gone back to the old look, NASCAR is starting to run lower series races on "older" tracks (Rockingham, Greenville-Pickens, etc.) and other measures have been taken to grab back conservative America. Say what you want about airheaded decisions by NASCAR at times, but this one was really good. It's free publicity anyway. It helps after Danica only brought your ratings up 6% compared to this big "ratings jump" that was expected. 381. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:12 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) To be fair, if you're TMS are you really going to deny a million+ dollars from any organization just because you don't agree with them? Well, perhaps not the Klu Klux Klan or the American Communist Party, but you're seeing the point. Something tells me the KKK 500 at Talladega wouldn't go down very well... Really, SMI and TMS should be getting all the blame for this if NASCAR is impacted in a negative matter (in the media). NASCAR itself seems to be avoiding talking about this. 382. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So perhaps a Chick Fil A effect? (Not that I endorse their views) 383. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.04.2013 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) I just hate the way the media has made "supporting the NRA" synonymous with "supporting the deaths of little children". It is the easy stance to make now, "Oh, we must outlaw guns, it will prevent future massacres". Not only is that erroneous, it would actually make things worse. For the record, I don't even own any guns. But I know the only thing to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. It's like they say, if you are one of those people that doesn't believe in God or the right to bear arms, if somebody breaks in to your house, the first thing you will do is pray for somebody with a gun to show up quick. I just like that NASCAR isn't trying to dissociate themselves from this. I think it is a good stand by them. 384. Talon64 posted: 03.05.2013 - 5:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "...in JGR equipment, just like Kyle Busch, who wasn't even the best driver in his own equipment last season. Take Kyle out of that ride, and suddenly he goes from the best driver in the series to being winless, and I'd imagine the same will happen with Logano this season as he splits time with Brad in the Penske #22." I don't know, I'm wondering just how good KBM's Nationwide equipment really is. It's only one race, but Kligerman didn't have a very good run at Phoenix on Saturday and he's always ran top 10 in his few starts with Penske in the series. I don't think we really have a good gauge of where KBM is, because they had two of the most talented drivers in the sport in Kurt and Kyle be KBM's only drivers last year. It could be that KBM's cars are crap, and the reason we saw Kyle and Kurt screw up and wreck as much as they did last year was because they had to overdrive the cars to get the good results that they got, despite only winning one race all season. I hope I'm wrong though, and that Kligerman can have a good season. Otherwise I think more blame would go to the driver than the team if the results aren't there, which might not be justified. /overanalysis 385. Talon64 posted: 03.05.2013 - 5:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Kligerman was running about 11th-12th for most of the Nationwide race. What happened around lap 130-135 to put him back into the 20's? 386. JG24FanForever posted: 03.05.2013 - 6:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Most Fastest laps in this race: Brad Keselowski 52 Carl Edwards 48 Jimmie Johnson 21 Mark Martin 21 Kasey Kahne 19 Martin Truex 17 Dale June 12 Matt Kenseth 12 Kevin Harvick 12 Jeff Gordon 11 Quality passes: Brad Keselowski 35 Matt Kenseth 31 Kevin Harvick 22 Joey Logano 20 Carl Edwards 18 Jeff Burton 18 Tony Stewart 17 Jeff Gordon 17 Kurt Busch 17 387. Watto posted: 03.05.2013 - 9:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talon - Kligerman lost his brakes and slapped the wall in 3 & 4. They didn't throw the caution for him and he had to pit under green, losing 2 laps in the process. 388. Allen posted: 03.05.2013 - 9:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pretty sure Hamlin won on both configurations too! 389. kup posted: 03.05.2013 - 9:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hint? Once Nascar denied AT&T sponsor for a car. Reason: conflict with Sprint - main sponsor. Oke - we can eat stuff like this. But! Nascar never denied any sponsor for a car +plus+ for a race. Know why? Guess! We had before and sure will have after such spectacular shows like: Subway race won by Subway car, Lowes race won by Lowes car, etc ... 390. JG24FanForever posted: 03.05.2013 - 10:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Pretty sure Hamlin won on both configurations too!" Nah,guy. Just on the new one,last year. 391. David posted: 03.05.2013 - 10:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "and the reason we saw Kyle and Kurt screw up and wreck as much as they did last year was because they had to overdrive the cars to get the good results that they got" That is the exact reason Kurt Busch posted a replacement-level rating last year in James Finch's cars (0.302 through 29 races). 392. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Lol, Jimmie says Carl violated the restart protocols. I guess the protocol is drivers arw supposed to just roll over for him. And what about the protocols for building cars that conform to the NASCAR rule book, or as Hendrick Motorports calls it, their shop's toilet paper? Since Jimmie has already passed Jeff in championship total, is he trying to pass him in the biggest and most arrogant whiner category too? Man I hate Hendrick Motorsports. I'm gonna go to YouTube now and rewatch the second to last restart where Clint takes out both Jeff and Jimmie ccausing that priceless look of disgust on Rick's face over and over again. How dare he try to get by the cars with 120 laps on their tires with a field full of new tires behind him on a tight short track as quickly as possible. That was their chance to get win #200, everybody else was supposed to just hold back and let them have their moment. Assholes. 393. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "is he trying to pass him in the biggest and most arrogant whiner category too?" You're calling the guy who was smiling and laughing in his interview after Bowyer piledrove he and Jimmie at Martinsville the biggest and most arrogant whiner? Just to be clear, you're saying that he's still a bigger whiner than Jimmie Johnson? He's the same guy who didn't want an extended interview after his win at Homestead because he didn't want to take anything away from Brad's championship moment (unlike Jimmie, who interrupted Brad's interview on SPEED to congratulate him, only to bash him a couple months later for his "unprofessional" ESPN interview), is one of the easiest drivers to pass on the track because he doesn't have an "I'm Jeff Gordon and I own this place" mentality on the track and knows how to "give & take," (unlike Jimmie, who has now twice bitched about other drivers beating him to the start/finish line on a restart), and rarely ever points the blame at another driver for an incident on-track (even taking the blame for an incident at Charlotte 2011 that was David Ragan's fault; unlike Jimmie, who as I've mentioned several times started a shoving match with Kurt Busch at Pocono 2011, was appalled by the fact that Kurt would dare hit His Royal Highness back, and refused to take the blame even after video evidence proves that he his Kurt first). But yeah, I guess because he drives for Hendrick, has a "whiny" tone to his voice, and has had a lot of success, that makes him the most arrogant whiner in NASCAR history. It's popular around here to just scoff at HMS because of their past history of cheating, so at least you'll have a good number of people on your side. It doesn't mean you're right, but at least you'll get a reaction from that remark. Bravo. 394. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nobody is a bigger whiner than Jeff, he even admitted it on Wind Tunnel once. 395. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:52 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, that interview at Martinsville came after Clint Bowyer gave him "his side of the story", which was a bold-faced lie. Car owner and ex-crew chief Tommy Baldwin said as much a few weeks later. He had been asked about that whole situation since it was his car that set all that up, and he really let Clint Bowyer have it in that interview on Wind Tunnel. And your point about Jeff Gordon not wanting to take away from Brad Keselowski's championship celebration is another reason why Gordon's not only one of the greatest champions in the sport's history, but also one of the classiest, because he's been on the other end of that situation three times (1995, '97, 2001) where he celebrated a championship in a race someone else won. Of course, the irony of that was that Keselowski won the championship in a car that Gordon had so many wars with in his championship years, when Rusty Wallace drove it, and that was the #2 Miller car. And about Jimmie Johnson's sullied attitude toward Brad. I think that Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team are still bitter about losing the championship, and they lost it just as much as Brad won it, which may be a part of the reason for the sullied attitude toward Brad. Brad got into their head and what had been the coolest team in the sport, especially under fire, just flat blew it, and I still don't think they've gotten over it. That's why there seems to be so much venom toward the #2 team from the #48 team. 396. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) DSFF, could Gordon's whining an complaining be a simple case of not being complacent with how he's doing, especially during a race, because just about all the great champions are guilty of that, to some degree. Nobody was accused of whining more than Mario Andretti, and in my opinion, Mario was the best racer that ever lived. Darrell Waltrip was another known for whining and complaining, and he stood as the modern-era's winningest driver for 25 years (1986-2011) Dale, Sr., Rusty, Mark Martin, and Jimmie Johnson, to name a few others, also whined and complained to different degrees, but there's no argument that all of them are either in the Hall of Fame, or will be. Sometimes whining and complaining about how things are going is a champion's way of not being satisfied and wanting more. 397. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:07 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) cjs, I know that Gordon's interview came after Bowyer cried wolf and claimed that Ryan Newman torpedoed him into the #24 and #48, but even so, not many drivers would be seen smiling and laughing in their interview after they had the win (and the team's 200th win) taken away from them the way that Gordon was, having lost the race due to David Reutimann stopping on the track and then of course the ensuing wreck on the last restart. But then again, that just ties in with the classiness that he has exhibited throughout his career. When I think of the greatest NASCAR champions (not drivers, CHAMPIONS) of all-time, I would put Gordon right near (or possibly at) the top. The only drivers that I might put above him would be Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, and I might not even put Earnhardt ahead of Gordon in that category because of his aggressive (and sometimes dirty) driving style. And the #48 team has nobody to blame but themselves for losing that championship. They had it right in their grasp, having won at Martinsville and Texas, and leading by 7 points with two races to go. And whether it was the team getting fearful of Brad and the #2 team's unwillingness to back down and running an aggressive car setup at Phoenix and Homestead that knocked them out of the race, or it was Jimmie feeling the pressure of facing a team he knew he couldn't beat and choking at Phoenix, or a combination of the two, the #2 team outgunned the #48 team and were the deserving champions of 2012. If the #48 team wants to be mad at the #2 team and Brad about anything, it's not rolling over for them like so many others have, which I believe makes Jimmie and the #48 team as a whole the most arrogant in the sport. And it's not even close. 398. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:14 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Kurt Busch was known for whining and complaining (and still is), and it eventually got to the point at Richmond in the spring of 2011 where Penske had to change his philosophy about how to setup his race cars. As a result, they went from a NASCAR team that was setup like an IndyCar team, with engineers making all of the decisions on the cars and the drivers just having to deal with the setups of the cars, to a NASCAR team that was setup like a NASCAR team, where the drivers had more input on the cars and the teams had to adjust based on what the driver wanted. You may not like it, but sometimes whining is not only prevalent, it's necessary. Had Kurt not blown up over the radio and Penske decided to make a change, they may have been Chase backmarkers once again in 2012. If not for Kurt's whining, Brad is not your 2012 Sprint Cup champion, and Jimmie Johnson is. Would you guys rather that drivers never whined at all? Because that's what would have happened at one driver not had enough of what his team was doing and spoken out about it. I know quite a few of you guys are Brad fans, and I think it's mighty hypocritical for any of you guys to be complaining about "whiners." 399. BON GORDON posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Nobody is a bigger whiner than Jeff, he even admitted it on Wind Tunnel once." Ha I can name a few that are BIGGER....Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, A.J Foyt, Mario Andretti, Davey Allison and the Busch brothers . Jeff Gordon answers te media everytime they need him too and is one of the bigger class acts of the sport dispite his run-in with Bowyer at Phoenix which was bad. 400. BON GORDON posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ome of ther biggest class acts ever in NASCAR are Richard Petty, Mark Martin, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Benny Parsons, Jeff Burton, the Labonte brothers, and Alan Kulwicki. 401. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 2:19 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Wow, I didn't realize this was the Jeff Gordon fan board. Members of Rainbow Nation unite! Alright, first off, let's explore a few myths about The Great Martinsville Incident Of Twenty Twelve" Myth #1: It was a bonehead move by Clint Bowyer. To realize this is just a myth, you must do something nobody at HMS is capable of doing and put yourself in the other guys' shoes. Believe it or not, there are other shoes in the world besides those belonging to Rick and his employees. You are running 3rd on a double file restart on the smallest tightest track out there. You have two fresh tires and are behind the only two lead lap cars that have 100+ laps on their tires. Everyone behind you also has at least two new tires. You take the green and immediately get a shot in the rear by another car. What do you do? Did Bowyer overshoot the corner? Of course he did. But he had to GO and go quick. If he didn't try something, he was gonna get wiped out. He wound up getting wiped out anyways, but at least he gave himself a chance. Had he braked a split second sooner, he wins. Myth #2: It was a complete lie when Clint told Jeff that Newman knocked him in to the corner. No, Newman didn't drive Clint into the corner, but he did give him a bump as they took the green. The implication being "it is a stampede back here, you better get going". Going in to that corner he was probably more thinking about getting away from the guy who had just bumped him than finessing his way past the guys on old tires. Myth #3: That restart robbed Jeff of his rightful chance to give HMS their 200th win. First off, this is a competition, not a staged Hollywood production despite NASCAR's best efforts. Secondly, by Jeff not winning, it did allow the most appropriate thing to happen a month later. The greatest driver ever to drive for HMS won their 200th race. Myth #4: Jeff is a class act, one of the classiest champions, and handled this defeat with class. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Yes, he put on a good PR face afterwards, but in the wake of the Phoenix incident that occured, Rick came to his defense by bringing up this race, saying Jeff had been stewing over it for months. Darrell even said in the pre race for this race when bringing up that incident that Jeff never got over that race. What a horrible shame Clint overcooked a corner while under heavy duress (insert Watkins Glen '07 joke here) thinking about the mob behind him rather than giving his full attention to The Great Jeff Gordon, 2nd best HMS driver ever. As for being a classy champion, this is the same guy who referred to himself as "an asshole" when discussing his attitude during his championship years IN HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS' OWN DOCUMENTARY! It wasn't even a warts and all documentary like the one SPEED just did for Richard Petty, it was a completely glossed over recount of HMS' history ignoring their mountain of cheating violations, making Rick out to be the victim in his own mail fraud felony case, etc. Actually they also made Jeff look pretty stupid for how he handled his 2002 divorce also. And Pepsi was the sponsor of the doc! I bet they loved seeing their flagship driver since '97 being portrayed like that. And I know what Rainbow Nation is waiting for, me to point out that Jeff is not, in fact, a class act so you can say "What about all the jackass things Dale did during his career?". I don't think anyone has ever denied that Dale was a son of a bitch on and at the track. I certainly haven't. But at least he was authentic and didn't try to hide his faults, even embracing them to create The Intimidator image that made him millions and launched the NASCAR merchandising cash tree. That is what kills me about HMS. They are complete phonies. And hypocrites (for the record, Jeff did the exact same thing to Kurt Busch in '05 at the exact same track). That was the point of my original post. Myth #5: It is complete bullshit that this restart is still being dissected and debated almost a year later. Actually that isn't a myth, it is the truth. It was a racing deal, an honest mistake, and a product of good hard short track racing that can sometimes go awry. It happens. 402. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Car owner and ex-crew chief Tommy Baldwin said as much a few weeks later. He had been asked about that whole situation since it was his car that set all that up, and he really let Clint Bowyer have it in that interview on Wind Tunnel." Actually what Tommy Baldwin was doing there is called "my driver didn't pit when he should have bringing out that last caution to set that restart up, so I need to deflect the blame to Clint". "Just to be clear, you're saying that he's still a bigger whiner than Jimmie Johnson?" Um, actually I think that was the point of my post, that Jimmie is taking that torch from Jeff. I was being biting and sarcastic in that post so I didn't come right out and say it, but I will come right out and say it now: Jimmie has become a bigger whiner than Jeff. "He's the same guy who didn't want an extended interview after his win at Homestead because he didn't want to take anything away from Brad's championship moment" Much like Baldwin, that was a diversion tactic. That was "I would totally not have even been allowed to be in this race after the actions of last week if I didn't drive for Rick Hendrick who has NASCAR completely in his pocket (see: Speedweeks 2012, 48 team, C-posts, and John Middlebrook) and any extended interview will be bad for my PR image cause every question will be tied to last week's actions, so let me out of here". " is one of the easiest drivers to pass on the track because he doesn't have an "I'm Jeff Gordon and I own this place" mentality on the track" First off, insert 1997 Southern 500 joke here. Secondly, he lets people go cause he has long since lost his edge behind the wheel. Only his supreme talent and occasional willingness to turn back the clock (Atlanta '11, Richmond '12) is keeping him relevant at this point. "I think that Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team are still bitter about losing the championship, and they lost it just as much as Brad won it" Wrong. How many right front tires did Jimmie blow last year? If I'm not mistaken, one. At that Phoenix race, they were struggling and the 2 team was bad fast. Also, they had not had their spirit broken by the 48 team's back to back dominant wins as had happened in his previous championship runs (in order: Matt after Texas in '06, Jeff after Phoenix in '07, Carl's priceless reaction to realizing Jimmie, who had been junk all day, finished 2nd at Atlanta '08, Mark after Charlotte '09, and Denny's epic meltdown after Phoenix '10) which threw them off their game. Chad knew they had to push the edge for their setup in that race or else they would enter Homestead in the hole. They had to throw the hail mary at Phoenix and Homestead and they knew it. The 2 team forced them into those mistakes, they were not unforced errors. "could Gordon's whining an complaining be a simple case of not being complacent with how he's doing" No, the way he has been driving over the past decade and the way he handed over the lead dog torch to Jimmie without a fight despite still being in prime racing years tells me he is pretty damn complacent. "If not for Kurt's whining, Brad is not your 2012 Sprint Cup champion, and Jimmie Johnson is." It goes much deeper than that. The truth is Brad was leading a behind the scenes revolution at Penske. He even talked about getting the wheels rolling in multiple interviews in the wake of his miserable 2010 season. 403. Watto posted: 03.06.2013 - 5:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jimmie talking about restart protocols was about Carl not holding speed but brake checking twice before going, which NASCAR apparently warned drivers not to do. So yeah, I guess he was whining or whatever, but too much people looked at that situation without really knowing anything about it. I was looking around twitter on Sunday and countless people were bitching to Jimmie that Carl didn't jump, meanwhile that wasn't even Jimmie's complaint. No, Carl didn't exactly follow the restart protocol, but he worked with a grey area and won himself a race (that he likely wouldn't have lost anyway). I don't blame Jimmie Johnson's opinion about it and I don't blame Carl Edwards. Signed, a Brad Keselowski fan 404. Watto posted: 03.06.2013 - 5:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) about Carl not holding speed and brake checking twice* too many* people I should proofread real quick before posting :) 405. Watto posted: 03.06.2013 - 5:53 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) " (see: Speedweeks 2012, 48 team, C-posts, and John Middlebrook)" Surely if you are knowledgeable about all that went down in regards to that, you'll remember how it was public knowledge how there were more than a couple of cars who couldn't get through pre-practice inspection without working on their C-pillars as well, and yet when the 48's C-pillar was a little off, they weren't allowed to just fix it without repercussions but they were hammered for it. I don't know how often you've found yourself in the Cup garage, or if you've ever been there at all, but it is commonplace for a car to fail pre-practice tech for templates but be given the opportunity to fix it without repercussions. In the Jimmie Johnson situation in 2012 at Daytona, his team was doled out different repercussions than the 20-something other cars who were allowed to fix the templates without any penalties. Frankly, pre-practice tech allows you to fix whatever isn't right BEFORE the car goes on the racetrack... and since Jimmie Johnson's been winning titles, the car has never failed post-race tech because, come race time, it's been right. And as long as it's right during the competition, a little flare on a C-pillar that never sees the track is absolutely meaningless. Welcome to racing, where people build cars to the edge of the rules for speed. 406. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.06.2013 - 7:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) RIP Paul Bearer Manager of the Undertaker 407. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.06.2013 - 9:16 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Wow, my tirade I guess was too foul even for this board... It got deleted. Benjamin Lowe, that's what makes wrestling greater than NASCAR... they aren't afraid to admit it's fixed. The world needs more funny men like Paul Bearer. 408. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.06.2013 - 10:09 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) RIP Percy "Paul Bearer" Pringle. Undertaker should honor his friend at Wrestlemania with a throwback black and grey early 1990s look. Damn what a character. 409. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2013 - 11:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, first of all, I said Jimmie and the #48 team blew that championship not just because of the blown tire at Phoenix, but also because of what happened the following week at Homestead. That was a total team collapse. All they had to do was to make one god pit stop, because they knew it was going to be their last and that Brad had another one to make, and they blew it. Now the mechnical problem they had later made that a moot point because it would likely have happened anyway, but the championship battle ended with that botched pit stop. Now, as for the situation at Martnsville last year, the reason I say that was a boneheaded move was because it was never going to work. Not there. Had he made the same move at a place like Charlotte, or Texas, or Atlanta, and the same thing happened, I wouldn't have been as hard on him because at least it would have had a chance of working there, but that never had a chance of working at Martinsville. And by the way, I do agree that the right driver scored HMS' 200th win. It was appropriate that Jeff Gordon scored their 100th win (at Michigan in 2001 in an epic battle with Ricky Rudd), just as it was appropriate that Jimmie Johnson scored their 200th win in last year's Southern 500. And also, I agree that Jeff Gordon should have been treated more harshly than he was as a result of what happened at Phoenix, not just because of the way he took out Clint Bowyer, who I believe intentionally cut his left rear tire, but also because two other cars were involved. And by the way, Bowyer's saying he never touched him there was another bold-faced lie, because his right front did touch Gordon's left rear. Now, as for the controversy about the final restart and how Cazrl Edwards was brake checking, I've got news for you. Everybody does it. However, there's only one documented I know of in the Cup series whre a driver was actually penaized for doing so, and that was Rusty Wallace at Richmond in about 1993, when he was black flagged for brak checking, but it was early enough in the race where he was still able to come back and win it. But I know of a way that NASCAR can alleviate this, and that is to restart the race earlier, like they used to. If you go back to the 70s and 80s, they restarted the races, even the Daytona 500, in turn four, resulting in much faster starts that had little or no chance to bottle the field up. I can even remember a few years ago when Kyle Busch admitted to brake checking on a GWC restart (at Dover) because he wanted to cause a wreck back in the pack. Most other drivers won't admit it, but usually, that's one of the things they're trying to do on a restart, as well as back up the cars immediately behind them. The way to get rid of that is to start the race earlier and have faster restarts. 410. jabber1990 posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) damn I missed my chance to make these comments I wrote a story once, it had a K&N type series (but more national) they had the Knob Creek Gun Range 225 at Kentucky Speedway, it resulted in a heck of a publicity stunt, it was not only on Spike TV, before they opened up the range to the public a high school band would play "march of the valkaries" as they stormed out of a Chinook then they'd fly away as the last 30 seconds of the 1812 overture would play to live gunfire it was a publicity stunt, it would get people to attend the race that night despite Kentucky Speedway being like an hour away 411. jabber1990 posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) and here is a stat about guns that the news media hides Chicago, we all know it has the strictest gun control in the country. 500 gun-related murders since January 1, 2012, New York City, a city 4 times the size, had like 300 something gun-related murders...... 412. jabber1990 posted: 03.06.2013 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) and jabber1990's Controversial statement of the week: why are guns suddenly bad because one idiot wanted 15 minutes of fame? we have to change our culture because one guy was so insecure about himself he had to sink to something that low for 15 minutes of fame? 413. Eric posted: 03.06.2013 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I actually had a chance to meet Paul Bearer in 1996. This happened just months before Paul was turning his back on the Undertaker for Mankind. I was a wrestling fan at the time. Paul Bearer and the Undertaker were doing signatures at a place in Wisconsin. They were the only 2 WWF Superstars there. I remembered Paul Bearer being friendly at the autograph session and it seemed like a wonderful person outside of the ring. Paul Bearer to me was one of the factors why the Undertaker was a success in the early days of the Undertakers career. R.I.P to one of the legends of wrestling. 414. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "No, Carl didn't exactly follow the restart protocol, but he worked with a grey area and won himself a race" But look at who is whining about it: Jimmie Johnson, driver for the 48 team who has made their success not only working in the grey areas but the flat out illegal areas. Hypocrisy at its finest. Somebody give Jimmie a tissue please. "you'll remember how it was public knowledge how there were more than a couple of cars who couldn't get through pre-practice inspection without working on their C-pillars as well, and yet when the 48's C-pillar was a little off, they weren't allowed to just fix it without repercussions but they were hammered for it." But the 48 team was already on thin ice after the Fall Dega '11 race where Chad was caught on camera telling Jimmie to "crack the car" while celebrating if they win. They deserved less wiggle room. Showing up to Daytona with anything less than a 100% legal car in the wake of not only that incident, but the mountain of violations they had been busted with over the years, was completely unacceptable. But the final appeal for the penalties got heard by John Middlebrook, longtime high ranking GM exec and personal friend of Rick Hendrick. More dirty business for the Hendrick empire. And also, that comment by Chad was the major reason most of us believe they had something illegal on the front of JJ's 2013 Daytona 500 winning car after he "cracked it up" celebrating the win. Jimmie is one of the greatest drivers ever, you think he didn't know that, in the splitter era, that sudden turn from the track onto the grass would destroy the front end? I think he won that race with an illegal car, and I have years of violations to back me up. "DSFF, first of all, I said Jimmie and the #48 team blew that championship not just because of the blown tire at Phoenix, but also because of what happened the following week at Homestead." Homestead was a repeat of Phoenix, the 2 team was absolutely flying and the 48 team was struggling. Again, they had to throw a hail mary to have a prayer of winning the Cup, and they knew it. Remember, in the first 8 cha$e races, the 48 outqualified the 2 in six of those races. The only two they didn't was Loudon when the 48 qualified 20th to the 2's 15th, and Dover when the 2 and 48 qualified 10th and 11th. Going into Phoenix, a flat track which had been qualifying hell for the 2 (they had, two weeks earlier, qualified 32nd at Martinsville) they qualified 14th while the 48 qualified 22nd. With a 7 point lead in the points and knowing the last race was at the best type of track for the 2 team, a semibanked worn out mile and a half (of the Blue Deuce's 8 wins, they include triumps on the old Kansas surface, Kentucky, and Chicago), they had to put in an aggressive setup. Same thing for Homestead. The 2 team qualified 3rd. For a team that didn't win a pole all year, that is huge, and a message they weren't gonna crumble under pressure. And the practice sessions on Saturday were even better/worse for the 2/48 teams. Again, the 48 team had to throw a hail mary, hence the broken gear. Of course once the race started, the 2 car was curiously bad and uncharacteristically botched their pit strategy, yet they still finshed 15th which would have been enough to win the title even had the 48 won (Brad would have been 16th, by KyBu led the most laps, not JJ, so he still wins the title). Much like Bowyer's move that led to The Great Martinsville Incident Of Twenty Twelve, the 48 could either fade quietly into the night or GO FOR IT. " the reason I say that was a boneheaded move was because it was never going to work." Had he braked a little bit earlier and not been quite so rattled by Newman's start/finish line bump, it would have worked. "not just because of the way he took out Clint Bowyer, who I believe intentionally cut his left rear tire" Again, watch the replay. Clint makes contact with Jeff coming out of two, and going into 3 Jeff clearly tries to hook Clint's right rear there, but he fails and sends himself into the wall. His left rear wasn't even down as he was going to the wall. The way he went into the wall was the result of blowing the corner cause he was too busy trying to wreck Bowyer right there. It looked like he may have vut his own left FRONT tire the way he went straight into it. And as for Jeff's "I was fed up with Clint" statement, what exactly was he fed up with? They had The Great Martinsville Incident Of Twenty Twelve, they made contact again at the Fall Martinsville race a full six months later where Jeff once again screwed himself by side slamming Clint after the contact causing him to lose several poitions in the end (this Brad fan thanks Jeff for that btw). Am I missing something? Two bumps at Martinsville, the bumping capitol of the world, then Phoenix. 415. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Actually what Tommy Baldwin was doing there is called "my driver didn't pit when he should have bringing out that last caution to set that restart up, so I need to deflect the blame to Clint"." Even if it was a diversion tactic (which I don't think it was), Baldwin was just throwing Bowyer under the bus that he threw Reutimann under. Bowyer in his interview tried to divert attention on Reuti because he didn't want to be the goat of the Martinsville finish. I love his choice of wording that he used, as he said [paraphrasing] "The #10 car was running around with no brakes for about five laps and finally just stopped on the race track." How's he supposed to stop if he had no brakes? If not for the media realizing that Reuti was only staying out on the track due to the ridiculous top 35 rule (which thankfully was abolished), he might have gone down in racing infamy for staying out on the track. But thankfully, the right guy was blamed for the incident. Contrary to recent popular belief around here, there were no pitchforks and torches and mobs of people calling for Bowyer's head over that incident, or at least not from where I live. "I was being biting and sarcastic in that post" Your sarcasm needs a little work. Plus it's hard to pick up when you mix it up with you usual general insults towards the HMS camp. And it should be noted that Brad was pushing Carl across the line on the final restart, which is why Carl got such a jump on Jimmie. I guess NASCAR made another phantom rule change since August, because they penalized Elliott Sadler in the Nationwide race at Indy (which Brad won) after he "jumped" the restart due to Austin Dillon pushing him across the start/finish line. Carl shouldn't have been penalized, but neither should Elliott, and this is yet another example of NASCAR's inconsistency as far as which rules they enforce. 416. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Now for the important recent news, the death of Paul Bearer, aka Percy Pringle III (who once managed a young promising up and comer in the Texas territories named Stunning Steve Austin), aka Bill Moody (his real name). As a little kid in 1990-1991 who was already enthralled by the ultimate badass Superhero, The Man In Black, The Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt, the arrival of the Undertaker in wrestling, and shortly thereafter his manager, Paul Bearer who fit perfectly with the Taker, this was a HUGE deal for me. The two who worked at a funeral parlor, the "bad guy" who took people and buried them teamed with the mortician (fun fact: Bill Moody had long since been a licenced and practicing real life mortician and funeral home director before auditioning for the role of Paul Bearer) was just awesome. Since the Ultimate Warrior was being scaled back due to issues with the company and the Macho Man also being pushed aside so Hulk Hogan could have the spotlight for another few years even though Hulkamania had long since worn itself out (Savage quickly eclipsed Hulkamania leading to his WM4 title win, he was turned bad and pushed aside, the Warrior eclipsed Hulkamania leading to his WM6 title win, he was pushed aside for the ridiculous "Sgt Slaughter, Iraqi Sympathizer" against All American Hulk storyline (which Slaughter pulled off amazingly, Hulk mailed the whole thing in), Ric Flair showed up in late '91, and IMMEDIATELY showed who the best in the world was, won the greatest Royal Rumble ever to become the champ... and was immediately pushed aside), I had a new wrestling favorite. For the longest time, the Taker and Paul were the only thing worth watching in the WWF. Even though he was constantly put with crappy opponents just because they were huge (Giant Gonzales anyone?), those funeral parlor promos with Paul doing the talking in that AWESOMELY CREEPY voice which allowed Taker to keep that air of mystery around him as he usually just would say, in his deep dark voice, "Rest In Peace". Bret wasn't drawing well as the WWF's top guy, so they pretty much carried the company for a long time. I guess one I will always remember was the buildup to and the match at WM8 between Taker and Jake The Snake. This was like watching a lecture for a course in the highest level of Wrestling Psychology. Beautifully setup, beautifully played out, still fun to watch YouTube. And Paul was very instrumental in adding a new layer of complexity when he turned on the Taker (unbelievable at the time) for Mankind. The trio of Taker, Foley, and Paul gave us yet another top level course in Wrestling Psychology while Shawn was floundering as WWF champ. And Holy Cow, his part in the original Kane/Taker storyline leading to the WM14 match and the kick ass Inferno Match (in Greensboro, I was there, and it was HOT) was one of the greatest storylines ever in wrestling. It gets lost a bit historically cause it happened with at the same time as Stone Cold's ascention to the stratosphere which was the greatest thing ever for the WWF, leading them to heights they had never seen before and haven't even come close to sniffing yet (their non televised house shows at the time pulled more fans than Monday Night Raw does nowadays). But that may have been the greatest setup and debut in wrestling history, which Paul was crucial to (when Taker finally got hold of him saying "tell the truth or I will kill you right now" leading to Paul saying "Kane is alive!" to which Taker was visably shaken, those two always played perfectly off one another). Still gripping to rewatch. And who can forget the return, after a few years of the Biker Undertaker, the Dead Man Taker at WM20. Who led him to the ring? Oh yeah. When he came over the PA system with his "Oh yes!" I became a 6 year old again. Thanks for the awesome memories. You will never be forgotten, and your place in wreslting lore is safe forever. You gave us wrestling fans lots of incredible memories, and may you now Rest In Peace! 417. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.06.2013 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Bearer was truly an unforgettable character who will always have a place in the hearts of wrestling fans across the the world especially me. RIP Paul Bearer You may be gone but you will never ever be forgotten. 418. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2013 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You forget one thing, DSFF. They can't run aggressive gears any more. ten years ago, that statement about Jimmie's team running too aggressive a gear would have made sense, but not now. In fact, Bill Elliott thinks that's why so many of the big names fell out of the 1985 Daytona 500 so close together, because they were running too aggressive a gear combination to try to beat him. (In fact, Elliott has even said so.) Actually, I think Jimmie's gear problem had to do with how he left the pits after either his last scheduled stop, or when he was brought back in. He probably left the pits too aggresively and broke something in the transmision, just like Martin Truex, Jr. did this past weekend at Phoenix. And had Clint Bowyer just ran straight into the back of Gordon on that restart at Martinsville last spring, it probably would have gotten the desired results, because it would likely have knocked Jeff into Jimmie, thus opening a hole for Clint to go through, but instead he tried to make it three wide where such a move is impossible to make, particularly on a restart. That's why I called it a boneheaded move that never would have worked. And Paul, there's a difference between the restart last Sunday and the one you referred to at IMS last summer. In last Sunday's race, Keselowski pushed the leader across first, and since the leader is always supposed to be the one that crosses the line first on a restart, NASCAR would have no problems with that. In the race last summer at IMS you refer to, Austin Dillon pushed the second place car across first, with help from the fact that Brad Keselowski either lifted or got on the brakes to make sure that Elliott Sadler crossed first, hence the penalty to Sadler. That's anoher result of the tactic of brake checking. the leader wants totry to get the secnd place car across first, so he'll either be forced to back off and give him the spot back, or take a penalty. Again, I say that the best way to reduce, if not eliminate that tactic is to restart the race much sooner than they do now. After all, with the double-file restarts, all the leader has to do is to fake that he's getting on the gas to start and then lift slightly, and he's got the second place car trapped, hook, line, and sinker. 419. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They have a set gear ratio, but they can construct the gear differently to lessen weight in that particular area and run lighter grease sacrificing durability but adding speed, which they did. They had to. Again, they could either fade quielty into the night or go for it. The 2 team was coming! 420. cjs3872 posted: 03.06.2013 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, so you mean they were doing the same thing with the transmision that the people at Toyota are doing with their engines, which is building them with lightweight parts, because in my view, that's why these Toyota engines are failing, they're not bilding them sturdy enough. But yet, the king-sized strategy blunder by the #2 team gave Johnson a shot he should not have had, and they would have won the race had it not been for their pit stop blunder, anbd quite possibly the championship with it. A Johnsonwin, had everyone else finished as they did, would have put him within one point of Keselowski, and had Kasey Kahne not had a speeding penalty, not only would tht have given Johnson the title, but Kasey would have gotten third, which turned out to be second in the points. Not only that, but Keselowski might have been forced into an on-track mistake had it been that close. But the plain truth is that Johnson's mechanical misfortune might not have happened if not for the pit road blunder. I think it would have, but we'll never really know. 421. murb posted: 03.06.2013 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Bearer used to scare the crap out of me when I was a little kid!!! Definitely been bumming all day from this one. I've seen a couple shoots from him (out of character), and he seemed like a great guy. RIP Percy!!!! On Race Hub they just played another Kurt Busch radio meltdown from Phoenix this past weekend. The funniest part is that everyone on Race Hub is surprised about it. 422. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Parker Kligerman has to be one of the most intelligent drivers in the sport. I always hear him using analytics in his interviews (including on Race Hub today), and he uses them to answer questions that could otherwise be answered in a more cliched kind of way. And what makes him so cool is that he isn't a jerk about it. Definitely one of my favorite young drivers in the sport, and certainly my favorite active northeastern driver. As much as I like Kurt and want him to have a more positive attitude inside the car, I'm afraid that he just is who he is. I don't remember him being this way years ago before his radio transmissions gained (in)fame while he was at Penske, but I'm guessing he's just always sort of been this way. And here I thought he had matured over the years (LOL at Richard Childress' comments about Kurt on that Outlaw documentary). We haven't talked about it yet, but I was really impressed at Kyle Busch's radio transmission during the Nationwide race at Phoenix. After he screwed up on pit road early in the race by driving through his pit box and then speeding, he was surprisingly cheerful on the radio afterwards, apologized to his team for his mistake, and wasn't being sarcastic or a jerk about it either. I'm not buying into this whole "Kyle has matured" crap just yet, because he did have the best car in that race and probably knew he could work his way back to the front regardless. If he keeps it up and doesn't have any meltdowns throughout the season, then I'll start to believe it. Nonetheless, this is a good start and for his sake, I hope he continues to mature as a driver and as a person. But for my own selfish entertainment reasons, I hope he doesn't change just yet. ;) 423. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Precisely cjs. Obviously the car has to weigh a certain amount, but those mechanical parts can be as light as they want which gives it better performance but less durability. And I agree about the Toyota motors. 424. David posted: 03.06.2013 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Parker Kligerman has to be one of the most intelligent drivers in the sport. I always hear him using analytics in his interviews (including on Race Hub today), and he uses them to answer questions that could otherwise be answered in a more cliched kind of way. And what makes him so cool is that he isn't a jerk about it. Definitely one of my favorite young drivers in the sport, and certainly my favorite active northeastern driver." You should listen to David Smith's podcast with him, if you haven't already. 425. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) About a year ago, I went and re-watched the entire Undertaker/Paul Bearer/Kane feud from '97-'98 on YouTube. Man, that was a great storyline. All three men were perfect in the roles that they played. Undertaker being the older brother who didn't want Paul to reveal this horrible family secret about him accidentally burning his brother in a fire, Kane being the "sweet little boy" that turned into a big red monster after the fire, and Paul Bearer being the psychotic father trying to use his son to get back at The Undertaker for all that Taker put he and Kane through. I don't think Paul was ever properly recognized by the WWE audience for his mic skills prior to that storyline (although we all remember his shrill voice), but he proved to be a master at the mic during that angle because he was able to talk a lot and be in a major feud. Paul was the perfect mouthpiece for Taker and Kane. He was already great with his rotund figure, white face makeup and black dyed hair, that memorable voice, and of course the urn. And while all of that sounds corny considering that he managed two monsters during his career, it all worked. They got to be monsters in the ring, while remaining mysteries outside of it, and he only added to their mystique by his unique appearance and creepy voice. It was almost intimidating for me as a young fan to see a monster like Undertaker or Kane kicking ass, taking names, putting people in a body bag, and sometimes even setting them on fire, and knowing that as creepy as Paul Bearer was, you were almost glad he was there because he was the only one who could control them and keep them from literally putting other wrestlers in body bags. And seeing Paul raise that urn after every match, and Undertaker getting down on one knee and praising the urn and the power that it held was just a sight to see. Those three guys were all favorites of mine, and it was truly an honor to be able to relive that entire feud. Kane has always been my favorite wrestler, with Undertaker coming in at a close second, and Paul Bearer has always been my favorite manager. From all accounts that I've heard and from the various shoot interviews that he's done, William Moody (a.k.a Paul Bearer) was a very nice man outside of the ring, and was highly regarded by others in the business as being "one of the boys" off camera, which I think is the highest compliment you can receive from your peers. As great as he was, he was always a humble man who would treating others with kindness and remained close to his family and friends until the end. The world lost a good man yesterday, but I think we were all fortunate enough to know him a little bit, whether from afar as fans or up close as being in the wrestling business. It saddens me that we lost William Moody far too soon, but I'd like to think he's in a better place right now. It gives me great sadness to say this, but knowing his life outside of wrestling as a mortician and his wrestling persona working alongside The Undertaker, I think it makes the most sense if I end my post like this: William Moody, may you Rest In Peace. 426. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 7:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You should listen to David Smith's podcast with him, if you haven't already." I have. Very good interview between the two, and that's how I discovered the level of intelligence that he displays. For any of you YouTubers out there, be sure to check out Parker's YouTube channel. He's got some cool "behind-the-scenes" footage of Kyle Busch Motorsports and what he does at the track when he's not racing that I recommend checking out. He's one of those guys that I'm pulling for to succeed in this sport, and I hope that he can post some great results in the Nationwide Series this season. 427. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.06.2013 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think most of us realized just how much he provided to wrestling for such a long time until we found out he died. I was sitting around thinking about him today and realized "Damn he was a part of a lot of memorable stuff". And yes, the Kane/Taker deal may have been the greatest executed storyline ever. Great story, great characters, and great wrestling. 428. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I give a lot of credit to Jim Cornette on that angle being successful. Obviously Taker, Kane, and Paul did their jobs perfectly on camera, but Cornette was the one booking the whole thing and used his extended knowledge of pro wrestling, from his days spent working in Memphis, the Mid-South territory, and the Carolinas, and helped make that storyline seem real. If that angle had happened today, some idiot writer would have tried to make the characters act comical and it wouldn't have had the same great impact it did back them. Thank God Vince McMahon knew what he was doing back then and let a competent booker handle that storyline, and it turned out to be great. And we should all be grateful that Vince Russo wasn't allowed to come up with ideas for that storyline. According to Cornette, after Kane finally debuted and piledrove his brother in the ring, Russo wanted Taker to come out the next night and chokeslam Kane through the announce table. WHAT?!?! The whole concept of the Undertaker/Kane/Paul Bearer feud is that Undertaker wasn't going to hurt his little brother, and Paul was using Kane to attack Undertaker and try to goad him into fighting him and make Taker's life miserable, and this moron wanted Taker to retaliate the next night and basically kill the program. Kane debuted in October, but they weren't supposed to fight until March at Wrestlemania 14. What would they do for the next five months? So to all you wrestling fans out there, just be glad that Russo wasn't booking that program, because it would have been such a letdown. 429. Paul posted: 03.06.2013 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I found this short little tribute video that a fan made in memory of the now late William Moody. Pretty good piece, and I'm not afraid to admit that I got a little teary-eyed while watching it. I don't get emotional over very many "celebrity" deaths, but when it comes to people that I've come to know through my television screen as a fan, I just can't help myself. I've always felt that the wrestling business is like one giant family, and it includes wrestlers, managers, promoters, commentators, referees, and fans alike. Yesterday we lost William Moody at the age of 58, and I almost feel like I lost a family member because of how often I saw him on my TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XrWoG-MTfwo 430. Eric posted: 03.06.2013 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How come no one gave a thumbs up to my post of Paul Bearer on 413? Most of my post from post 413 was a great memory I had of the late William Moody at an autograph session in Wisconsin that William Moody was not in character. What I am not by not character is by how he acted different than he did on television or during a wrestling match. 431. Eric posted: 03.06.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFanForever, You forgot to mention that Kevin Nash as Diesel was also a terrible draw as a champion for almost a whole year when won the belt from Bob Backlund to his loss to Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Kevin Nash was the WWE's top guy for most of 1995. Now grant facing Mabel didn't help his cause for Summerslam of 1995, but Kevin was the top guy the rating and ticket sales were even worse than Bret Hart's was even without the Mabel. I still don't get why Mabel was getting a big push at the time with him Winning King of the Ring and than became part of a Main Event going against Diesel. 432. murb posted: 03.06.2013 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I still don't get why Mabel was getting a big push at the time with him Winning King of the Ring and than became part of a Main Event going against Diesel." lol, Now if we're talking worst wrestling matches ever, that Diesel/Mabel match ranks WAY up there... 433. Eric posted: 03.06.2013 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb, I agree that match ranks way up there for worse Wrestling matches ever. I saw that crapfest of a match in 1995 with on pay per view with my younger brother and I watching it. Its of my regrets seeing. 434. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 12:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You are right, Diesel was a bad draw. Im my opinion, the only member of the infamous "Kliq" (Hall, Nash, Shawn, X Snooze and HHH) worth a dern was Scott Hall. I have tremendous respect for Shawn's in ring performances, but was pretty flat as a character. Scott Hall aka Razor Ramon had awesome mic skills, charisma, and good matches.... as long as he wasn't totally wasted. Which unfortunately wasn't all that often. And The Razor's Edge was the ultimare trampoline move i don't know how we didn't hurt or paralyze each other. The less said about Mabel, the better. Poor Taker had to carry his worthless ass in some angles. The best thing he ever did was become part of Taker's Ministry of Darkness later on. That was SO cool, I hate the way it quickly became aligned with Vince and HHH (the modern day Hulkster without the drawing ability). Speaking of that, I went to the WWE website for the first time in forever to read about Paul and saw a picture of Taker on Raw where apparently he made a return so he could be part of WrestleMania. He looked pretty evil, pretty badass. It would be cool if he brought back the Ministry and sacrificed people again. It was extreme, but cool. 435. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Luckily for me I didn't have to endure Nelson Frazier's Mabel character during the horrible mid-'90s period of WWE, but I do remember him as Viscera and being one of Undertaker's henchmen in the Ministry of Darkness. A 550 pound black man with black lipstick, white eye contacts that covered up the color of his eyes, a blonde mohawk, and wearing a trenchcoat? Yikes! Now that was a scary character. Plus his theme song was awesome. Then after he left for four years, he returned as Viscera in 2004, where his character began to evolve into "love monster," which involved him destroying opponents and going after some of the hot women in WWE, eventually dubbing himself the "World's Largest Love Machine." With this character, he changed his ring attire to what I can only describe as very large brown pajamas, started a relationship with the sexy ring announcer Lilian Garcia, and added a *cough* "unique" move to his arsenal. I won't spoil the details of this move for any of you who haven't seen it, but basically it was a modified amateur back-riding position move. For anyone who wants to check it out, go to YouTube and type in "Viscera squashed Simon Dean lol" to witness this amazing moment. Very funny. Then after a couple years, someone in the creative department decided that he was wearing too much clothing, and so they replaced his traditional long sleeved shirts with black suspenders, and changed his name to Big Daddy V. Apparently he has a number of tattoos on his chest, and his revealing outfit made him look too much like six and a half feet of chocolate pudding, and not as intimidating as he was before. But yeah, he was great as Viscera, both as Undertaker's henchman and as the "World's Largest Love Machine." The Mabel character sucked, but then again the majority of the WWE sucked from '93-'96, so I'm not going to fault him too much for that. 436. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Today is the twentieth anniversary of Davey Allisons final career win. 437. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's Janet Guthrie's Birthday,and the forty-third anniversary of F1 legend,and Triple World Champion,Jack Brabham's 14th and final career win. 438. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 5:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Modern era drivers with 17+ Top 10 seasons. Jeff Gordon--17 (30 in 2007--28 in 1998--25 in 2004--25 in 2009.) Dale Earnhardt--16 Mark Martin--15 Tony Stewart--12 Darrell Waltrip--12 Jimmie Johnson--11 (At least 20 every year of his career.) Richard Petty--10 (His last season with 17+ was the year I was born in 1983 with 21.) Terry Labonte--10 Benny Parsons--10 Bobby Allison--10 Rusty Wallace--10 (He had 17 in his last season.) Dale Jarrett--8 (21-23-22-29-24 between 1997-2000) Matt Kenseth--8 Ricky Rudd--8 (More Than Cale?) Cale Yarborough--7 Jeff Burton--7 (More than Bill?) Kyle Busch--6 (Further proof that he's wasting his talent.) Bill Elliott--6 Bobby Labonte--6 Denny Hamlin--6 (Proof that he's a waste of talent.) Kevin Harvick--5 Carl Edwards--5 (27 in 2008--26 in 2011) Kurt Busch--5 Dale Jr.--4 (He's the reason I decided to make this list.) Greg Biffle--4 Clint Bowyer--4 Dave Marcis--3 Ken Schrader--3 Ryan Newman--3 Buddy Baker--2 Sterling Marlin--2 Neil Bonnett--2 Kasey Kahne--2 David Pearson--1 Kyle Petty--1 (Yes!) Brad Keselowski--1 (23 with his Championship.) Davey Allison--1 (17 total in 1992) Alan Kulwicki--1 (17 total in 1992) James Hylton--1 (23 in 1972) Ernie Irvan--1 Jamie Mcmurray--1 Geoff Bodine--1 (haha!) Michael Waltrip--0 (Highest total was 12 in 1991) This isn't everyone. but,almost. 439. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 7:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Still say Davey is underrated. 440. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.07.2013 - 8:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You only say Davey was overrated was because he could kick Dale's ass on the track. Davey had a hell of a lot of talent and single-handedly carried that Yates team on his shoulders in 92, and he carried them again after Alan Kulwicki died. You have not given one reason yet why Davey is overrated. cjs at least gives reasons for why he says the things he does. Davey was a class act in a classless world. It's too bad he's not around to help run what would have been the Yates, and not Roush, empire. He'd only be 52 if he was still with us, probably still out there racing. 441. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 8:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm watching the 2007 Ford 400 for the first time since it aired,from intro to post race. I got incredibly drunk watching this race. Mainly because I knew Gordon was going to lose a Championship he and everybody with an ounce of logic in their skulls, knew was rightfully his. Really damn good race though. 442. murb posted: 03.07.2013 - 9:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Luckily for me I didn't have to endure Nelson Frazier's Mabel character during the horrible mid-'90s period of WWE" Me neither, but I've gone back and watched video of it, and I wouldn't recommend doing that unless you want a laugh. The whole match from SummerSlam 1995 was featured in one of the recent Botchamanias. "It's too bad he's not around to help run what would have been the Yates, and not Roush, empire." It would have been really interesting to see if he would have lived. But it also would have been interesting to see where some other guys would have been. Ernie never would have taken over the 28, and that means he probably never would have gotten hurt. And I also think he probably would have left Morgan McClure since there was some drama there (I think). So maybe he could have gone to a car like the 5 car instead of Terry Labonte in 1994. Judging from Terry's success in that car, I think an unhurt Ernie could have done even better and probably would have won one of the 1994-1996 championships. And as for DJ, I think he also could have had similar success. I'm assuming that Yates still would have started the second team in 1995, so I guess his career would be unchanged for the most part other than some stiff competition from his teammate Davey. Oh yeah, and if Davey lives, Jeff doesn't have as many championships (sorry 24 fans). Same goes for Earnhardt too. 443. cjs3872 posted: 03.07.2013 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) One thing's for sure murb. If Davey had not been killed, there's no way that Jeff Gordon has nearly as many wins as he does, because Davey would have gobbled up more than his share of them. However, I'm not sure Davey would have cut into the championships that Gordon would have won, and here's why. As good as Davey was, he was far too inconsistent. During the time he raced (1987-mid '93), his 19 wins was topped only by Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace. But Davey finished in the top ten less than half the time, so except for 1992, when he had an obvious equipment edge, I'm not sure how often he would have been a legitimate championship contender, or if he would have even challenged for it again, because to win championships, you need consistency, and he never had that. He had his father's talent and versatility, but he also had his father's curse, which would have doomed him in championship battles and possibly prevented him from challenging in the future. But here's something else. In 1992 and '93, Davey had become a conservative driver, which was evidenced by what happened to the #28 car when Ernie Irvan was brought in. It began to dominate like it hadn't since the latter part of the 1991 season. The 1992 Daytona 500 was a perfect example of this. He won that race because he was conservative, and in truth, he never had to race anyone that day. But the conservative nature Davey was showing was also holding that team back, and when Ernie Irvan got in that car, it showed it's true potential, even winning at Martinsville, something no member of the Allison family ever did, and then destroying the field at Charlotte. So while Davey would have taken away from the victory totals of Jeff Gordon and other contemporaries of his, I'm not entirely sure Davey would have won any championships because he had already gotten into somewhat of a conservative mindset, and was also carrying his father's curse with him, in terms of contending for, and winning championships. However, as Donnie Allison has said, Davey's death robbed NASCAR of the next truly great rivalry, which might have lasted as long as Petty vs.Pearson did. 444. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 11:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872,What would Richard Petty's win total look like if David Pearson ran full-time or Ned jarrett,Fred Lorenzen and Junior Johnson didn't retire in their prime? 445. cjs3872 posted: 03.07.2013 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It would obviously be lower than it is. By how much, I have no idea. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it would be about 140-160. And let's not forget that Cale Yarborough only ran full-time when he drove for Junior Johnson, because he did not drive full time for the Wood Brothers, or in any of the yars after he drove for Junior, and even spent two full seasons on the IndyCar circuit, though he did race in the Daytona 500 for Ray Fox in both of those years. So Cale only raced full-time in eight years himself, though he missed a few races in 1975 due to sponsorship issues. Also remember that Junior Johnson and Fred Lorenzen never raced, nor did they ever intend to race a full season, and Junior lost interest because his big goal was to win at every significant track he raced at. The only question mark was Ned Jarrett. Jarrett, like 1960 NASCAR champion Rex White before him, retired due to not wanting to be told by the manufacturer where and when he could race. Jarrett won the championship in 1965 and couldn't defend it due to a Ford boycott during the middle of that season. That boycott also, among other things, led to Marvin Panch getting his last win ina Petty Enterprises Plymouth at the World 600, as well as Fred Lorenzen running a small engine at the Southern 500, which incidentally was won by Darel Dieringer, driving a Bud Moore-owned Mercury that was not backed by the factory, because Ford was still boycotting the sport officially. It wasn't until Richard Petty (who else?) put his foot down during SpeedWeeks in 1967 when Chrysler was talking about another boycott that the factories finally got the message not to tell drivers when and where they could race. And by the way, the pole for that race was won by Chevrolet, which had pulled out after the 1963 season, and would not return for another four years. 446. loomer posted: 03.07.2013 - 12:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Kyle Busch is going to win a ton of races this year. He started at the back and quickly made his way up to 16th before overdriving his car and wrecking. Pretty impressive considering no one could pass all day. 447. loomer posted: 03.07.2013 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ironically, I just checked Jayski and the #18 was fastest in the first test session at Vegas today. Mark and Truex were 2nd and 3rd. Looks like the Toyota's are fast this weekend. 448. cjs3872 posted: 03.07.2013 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Loomer, that is if the Toyota engines can last, because they haven't showed they can, even on tracks that aren't hard on engines. The Toyotas seem to have an advantage on the rest of the field, at least from a horsepower point of view, and possbly aerodynamics as well. But unless they build engines that can last, it won't make a bit of difference, because they can't win a race if their teams are sitting in the garage area with blown engines, and although the Toyotas are fast, they're also fragile, and unless that changes, the Toyota teams are going to be in the garage area much too frequently with engine problems, and the Chevrolet and Ford teams aren't going to have to worry about outrunning them, because they could win by simply outlasting the Toyota teams, just like the old days. 449. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin was fined for his post-race interview at Phoenix when he spoke out against the Gen-6 cars. How dare he have an opinion... 450. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 1:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Um, murb, was that post directed at me? I did say UNDERrated. I have had this discussion numerous times, but I say he is Top 25 all time just taking his 6 and 1/2 year career as it is, not even factoring in the "what ifs". Which. By the way, include at least 3 championships. 451. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry about that, DSFF, I thought you said Davey Allison is OVERrated, when you said UNDERrated. 452. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Um, murb, was that post directed at me?" Haha, I think that's the second time you've confused NicoRosbergFan with murb. 453. murb posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lol, Yeah, that was Nico. In my post, I too talked about Davey's underratedness. 454. loomer posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Good points cjs, the stamina of the TRD engines will be a major storyline this season. It's absolutely absurd that Hamlin got fined for this: "We learned a lot. I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our generation five cars. This is more like what the generation five was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you. You would have placed me in 20th-place with 30 (laps) to go, I would have stayed there -- I wouldn't have moved up. It's just one of those things where track position is everything." 455. murb posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) "It's absolutely absurd that Hamlin got fined for this:" NAPCAR: National Association run by Politically Correct Asshole Robots 456. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I can see why Jimmie Johnson is the face of NAPCAR, because he fits that description perfectly. 457. JG24FanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Me and my friends have joked for years that Johnson was a Robot. The funny thing is,when he started growing a beard,we all said he was doing it to appear "more human",but my friend Brian said it just made him him look more like an animal. cjs3872,If you think Jeff Gordon is the Jack Nicklaus of Nascar. What Sports counterpart would Dale Earnhardt have? or Jimmie Johnson and David Pearson and Richard Petty? 458. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.07.2013 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of all the criticisms of the Gen6 car Hamlin's was the most tame, but we can't have the drivers going against the party line of the People's Republic of NAPCAR(good one murb) now can we... 459. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Going back the our Diesel/Mabel talk yesterday, I just watched a video that had both guys talking about that SummerSlam match. Apparently, Diesel had a sore back going into the match, and being that he was facing a 500 lb man, told Mabel to take it easy on him. Well there was a spot in the match where Mabel body splashed Diesel and put all of his weight on Diesel's lower back. Since Diesel wasn't that great of a wrestler anyways, it pretty much killed his ability for the rest of the match, although he managed to knock Mabel down with two top rope clotheslines (which is pretty amazing considering his physical condition). After the match, Kevin Nash (a.k.a Diesel) went up to Mabel and started cussing him out for injuring him. Vince McMahon considered firing Mabel on the spot, and according to Nash, even gave Mabel his notice that same night. But being the stand-up guy that he is (despite the fact that he was a part of the Kliq), Nash convinced Vince to not fire Mabel because it was just a mistake on Mabel's part. 460. cjs3872 posted: 03.07.2013 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24FF, I remember sportscasting legend Dick Enberg once calling Earnhardt, Sr. the Babe Ruth of the sport during a broadcasters roundtable discussion ESPN had years ago, as both Dale, Sr. and the Babe used the #3 in their respective sports. Frankly, I consider Richard Petty the Babe Ruth of NASCAR, and if that's so, than David Pearson has to be the sport's version of Lou Gehrig, and botyh monikers fit both on and off the track. Petty has always been outgoing, like Ruth, while Pearson has always been quiet and reserved, like Gehrig was. As for Dale, Sr., I'm not quite so sure about that, though he'd almost be NASCAR's answer to John Unitas, the great Colt QB, and Jimmie Johnson, since you also asked about him, can almost be compared to Magic Johnson. 461. Cornys posted: 03.07.2013 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The news that Hamlin has been penalized is almost enough to make me sick. I liked the race on Sunday, but it still makes me sick to think that he was fined for those statements. I understand making the sport accessible to all genders, races, sexualities (ect.) is a great idea. Not allowing the drivers to speak their minds though? It's not only wrong, it's sickening for this life-long (18 years) fan. 462. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Denny Hamlin has vowed not to pay the fine. He said that NASCAR could suspend him, if needed. 463. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Most likely they'll just deduct the fine amount from his winnings, but yeah I can understand him not wanting to pay that bullshit price for voicing his opinion. 464. murb posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Good for Denny. It's total bullshit. Had Dale Jr, Johnson, Danica, or Gordon said something about the new car, Nascar would either do nothing about it or they would make a statement saying that they are gonna make a shitload of changes on the new car. But Denny isn't one of their cash cows, so he gets a fine. I agree with Cornys. What ever happened to letting drivers say what's on their minds? 465. murb posted: 03.07.2013 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) lol, Check out this quote from Robin "One Of The Most Overrated Crew Chiefs Ever" Pemberton on this issue. Courtesy of Jayski: "Q. Where is the limitation for what drivers can say without facing a fine if they have concerns about the car, whatever? ROBIN PEMBERTON: We give them quite a bit of latitude, but you can't slam your racing, you can't slam your product. That's where it crosses a line." Slamming the product is over the line? What about when Dale Jr bashed the two car tandem stuff? To my knowledge, he wasn't fined. IT'S CALLED CONSISTENCY!!! WHY DON'T YOU TOOLS IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR RULES?!?! 466. Paul posted: 03.07.2013 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Have I ever told you guys how much I love Denny Hamlin? 467. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Sorry murb, that is twice I called you out for a post by Nico. And Nico, we're good bro. A simple misreading. Hell, I misread who wrote the damn post! And for the record yes, Davey could and sometimes did kick Dale's ass on the racetrack. I was definitely afraid of him as a threat to the dynasty. Now for the Denny Hamlin bullshit. You guys know me, I don't like Denny at all. But I am 100% behind him on this issue. I just don't understand the morons who run NAPCAR (I like it MURB, sorry for calling you out for something you didn't type, so I will definitely give you a shout out for something awsome you did type). This makes them look like shit. We are not stupid. We see the races too and see they can't pass. And I don't see how what he said was wrong. The fat cat assholes in Daytona Beach have really lost their grip on this sport, and trying to reclaim it like this only makes it worse. They are just falling further and further from our graces when we are this united behind a driver whose "Fame Has Shot Directly To My Head" antics have really rubbed most of us the wrong way. Ben, you are right. Barring a miracle change up top, this is the year NASCAR will hit rock bottom. 468. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.07.2013 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Disparaging remarks" ~ Bullspit! It is funny how Kyle Busch can proclaim the COT "sucked" in victory lane at Bristol in 2007 without a $25,000 fine afterwards. 469. Anonymous posted: 03.07.2013 - 5:37 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) I haven't been much of a Denny Hamlin fan up till now, but for some reason I wouldn't mind seeing him win this week. 470. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.07.2013 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) NAPCAR hired the leftover script writers after WCW folded. 471. cjs3872 posted: 03.07.2013 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) About the fine handed to Denny Hamlin today. It's not the first time he's been dsciplined for making strong remark about NASCAR, because unless I'm mistaken, he was fined about two or three years ago for making strong remarks about NASCAR. And trust me, the NASCAR of the Bill Frnace, Jr. era would never have fined Hamlin, but instead talked to him and asked why he was so upset. Frankly, I can't agree with him more because what Hamlin said was the same basic points I brought up this past off-season, especially when I saw what the speed of the cars were. (For the record, the top cars nearly lapped Vegas at 190 today) Once I saw that, I knew the racing would be terrible because you can't race these cars at that speed, because as Hamlin and a few others said, you couldn't get close enough to race because the aero-push is only getting worse. NASCAR's trying to make it where they can run side-by-side at these high-speed tacks, but what good is that if you can't get close to the guy you're chasing to race? The drivers may be complaining about the racing now, but I warned everyone this would happen once I saw how fast these cars were going in the Charlotte test. These cars can't race at these kind of tracks very effectively much past 170, and now they're going 190, and may go over 200 at more than one track unless something is done, and these cars can't race at that speed. The way to make the racing better is to slow the cars down. Now I was somewhat surprised at how poorly they raced at Phoenix, because I thought that would be one of the better races, but the last time they raced the more aerodynamic cars, and they were even having problems with aero-push at places like Richmond. Let's hope that doesn't happen again because they only kind of tracks these cars will have a chance of racing well at are tracks shorter than Darlington because of the high speed, and if they can;t race at the shorter tracks very efficiently, they've really got problems. They may have solved one problem, only to create a much bigger one. 472. Eric posted: 03.07.2013 - 8:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know people outside the Internet that are very close to stop following or watching NASCAR because of the Denny Hamlin fine. The fact is they also sick that drivers have to be extremely careful what they say now. Based on what I mention, I feel there many more NASCAR fans out there are very close to leaving NASCAR because of the stuff the upper brass is pulling. 473. Daniel posted: 03.07.2013 - 8:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm one of them. I've been at the point where I don't watch any of the chase races and I'm beginning to get to where I won't watch any cup races. The only series that continues to hold my interest is the truck series. Nationwide isn't terrible, but I really can't stand the cup guys running the series. 474. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.07.2013 - 9:09 pm Rate this comment: (4) (1) Eric and Daniel, you guys are right, and that is where NAPCAR is so freaking stupid, they don't realize this only pushes fans away. 95% of the sport's problems can be traced directly to the offices in Daytona Beach. 475. Anonymous posted: 03.07.2013 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Commisioner Goodell strikes again... oops, wrong sport... or is it? 476. rtcrules posted: 03.07.2013 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Came on today to say Im glad Hamlin doesnt plan on pay the 25K fine. But got reading about Paul Bearer and would rather say something about that. Paul Bearer is one of the WWF/WWE's best characters they ever made. I was at the Summerslam when Paul Bearer turned on the Undertaker. And it is the ONLY rememerable moment from that event. I wont say he made the Undertaker cause he's still a top star 15+ years later but he gave him that push to get him over with the fans. I havent watched wrestling in years, and have watched some bad moments, hell I went to that Summerslam when they were at the lowest point. But I may watch Raw Monday night just to see what the Undertaker has to say. The WWF's downfall in the 90's was they were never able to develop a star to replace Hogan. The Ultimate Warrior was a failure and quickly dumped him as champ, Bret Hart was a great wrestler who could work with any wrestler but didn't have that "it" outside the wrestling world. Lex Luger was never able to pull it off and Vince tried like hell to make it work, the Diesel run was awful, just awful, and HBK caould put on a great show or completly half ass it (I guess he got his act together during his last run with the WWE but I didnt watch it anymore). Until they lucked into a WCW throw away in Steve Austin the Undertaker was the only worker who could be counted on to put butts in the seats at every show. 477. 12345Dude posted: 03.07.2013 - 11:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Message to NASCAR: Your losing a trillions more fans with this bullshit penalty, than with Denny complaining with the new car. People have eyes and can see the car can't race worth a shit. 478. Paul posted: 03.08.2013 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Denny Hamlin has issued a statement saying that he will appeal the $25,000 fine that NASCAR issued to him. I'd like to summarize his whole statement, but I feel there were good points made throughout, so I'll just post the entire thing: "The short of the long of it is I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined. I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship. What I said was one sentence taken completely out of context. Most drivers will tell you that we constantly have our and NASCAR's best interest in mind when speaking. On the other hand, I am a person that worked very hard from the bottom to get where I am today and someone telling me that I cannot give my 100 percent honest opinion really bothers me. Since being fined in 2010, I have been a lot more careful about what I say to the media and I felt this past weekend felt completely in my rights to give an assessment of the question asked. I feel as if today NASCAR lost one of its biggest supporters vocally of where our sport is headed. So in the end, there are no winners. I said today I would not pay the fine. I stand by that and will go through the process of appealing. Trust me, this is not about the money. It's much deeper. I will now shift my focus on giving FedEx and my team what they deserve this weekend: A win." I love the fact that NASCAR didn't even bother talking to Hamlin before giving him this fine. It's almost like the Jeremy Clements situation all over again: A lower-end employee hears the statement, reports it to her superiors in the NASCAR offices, and then they immediately react to the situation by handing down a penalty. Actually, this might be worse than the Clements situation before at least in that case, a NASCAR official called Clements up to ask him if what was reported was true. Now NASCAR wouldn't necessarily have to call Hamlin to know whether or not his remarks were true because they were made over his post-race interview on television. That being said, NASCAR comes out of this looking foolish as they didn't even call Hamlin before handing down the penalty. As cjs pointed out before, this wouldn't have happened in the Bill France, Sr. or Jr. administrations of NASCAR, as they would have talked to the driver first before taking action against him. I get the feeling from his statement that Hamlin has ill-feelings towards NASCAR, and I wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly goes on a tear and starts winning out of spite to the sanctioning body. I'll be pulling for Hamlin to win his appeal (He may not be an HMS driver, but I think he still stands a fighting chance of winning.), and I'd love it if he rubs it in NASCAR's face afterwards. The sanctioning body has abused their power over the past nine years, and it's about time that a top driver stands up against the sport. We've already seen some rebellious behavior from Brad, so maybe this will be the start of Denny Hamlin's rebellion against NASCAR. 479. Paul posted: 03.08.2013 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, in case you couldn't tell, I just discovered that that statement was written by Denny himself. No PR rep making the statement for him. You've gotta love that in today's politically correct and corporate world. 480. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 03.08.2013 - 1:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Based on talk to certain people, Hamlin isn't one of the more respected drivers in the garage. That said, I think most of the crews and drivers are in agreement with Hamlin's stance on this issue. It's more of a respect thing for Hamlin and the rest of the field, instead of money, obviously. I think this could create some serious tension between teams and officials for the next few weeks. 481. Talon64 posted: 03.08.2013 - 2:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) From what I know, there's other major auto racing series won't crack down on drivers for speaking out about and criticizing the on-track product. Drivers in F1 bitch and moan about the tires and raise issues about safety, team managers insult Bernie Eccelstone and some even claim some teams shouldn't be in the sport but there's never any fines or punishment for it. I understand that you can't criticize your employer, although I've always felt that drivers are more employees of their teams than they are NASCAR. They aren't driving for NASCAR; they're driving in NASCAR, for teams that pay their salary. In other sports where that's the case, athletes get fined for criticizing officials but I don't think they're ever really punished for comments relating to the on-rink/court/field product outside of the officiating. It feels like nearly all corners of the fans and media are on Denny's side in this to varying degrees, so it'll be interesting to see how NASCAR handles it this weekend. 482. kup posted: 03.08.2013 - 6:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) 402. DaleSrFanForever posted: = John Middlebrook = Who is who ? ... retired General Motors executive John Middlebrook ... Aha! Clear? GM Chevy won back-2-back Cup seasons: 2003-2012 = TEN in a ROW! NO other Nascar member (engine, owner, driver, crew-chief) can ever do it! "Chase" - is GM eureka. Without "chase" #48 have poor 2 seasons - alike #99. Ah? 483. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.08.2013 - 6:24 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) I hope Denny Hamlin leads every lap and wins by 2 laps in a boring race at Las Vegas. Sweet Justice 484. Scott B posted: 03.08.2013 - 9:39 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Brian France's reign over NASCAR keeps going in the direction it's headed now for another 10 or 15 years, we might see another attempt at organizing a driver's union. I'm interested in what "Coach" Gibbs thinks about the matter, I haven't heard a statement from him. If he backs Denny in fighting the fine, there's a lot more leverage at work. 485. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.08.2013 - 12:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When was the last time NASCAR had a driver's union? 486. Paul posted: 03.08.2013 - 12:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't recall NASCAR ever having a driver's union. They and pro wrestling are the only major sports industries that I know of without a player's/driver's union. 487. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.08.2013 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Curtis Turner tried once and got a lifetime ban from NASCAR (lifted after 5 years, he won the first Rockingham race). They also tried to form one when boycotting the first Talladega race. It went by the wayside when NASCAR got a bunch of nobodies to run the race (including Richard Childress who, 15 years later, would get Dale Earnhardt to drive his cars and forever left the land of "nobodies"). 488. David posted: 03.08.2013 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Curtis Turner tried once and got a lifetime ban from NASCAR" He, Tim Flock, and Fireball Roberts tried to form one with the help of the Teamsters' Union. Actually, how it all started was that Turner's racetrack in Charlotte (yes, the good old Charlotte Motor Speedway we all know and love) was in dire financial straits. The Teamsters agreed to help him out, if he'd do them a favor. They wanted him to organize a drivers' union. So Turner, Roberts, and Flock went to Bill France with their demands, such as larger purses, a share in broadcasting rights, retirement benefits, and a pension plan for deceased drivers' children. France essentially said "to heck with you", and banned them for life. Only when the drivers who had joined, like Ned Jarrett and Roberts, resigned from the union were they allowed to compete again. 489. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.08.2013 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad wins the pole!!! Well, he does get to start first. 490. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.08.2013 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hit in the head by a rock and she who shall not be named gets more attention? Perez Hilton and TMZ should be all over it. More importantly, the cars need to be slowed down at downforce tracks to produce quality racing and Goodyear should bring back softer tire compounds which should emphasize tire conservation. 491. cjs3872 posted: 03.08.2013 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett88fan, they can't really bring softer tires until they slow the cars down, other wise they'd blow them out left and right. What happened at Charlotte in 2005 and what was going to happen last year at Michigan are indicators of that. The big question is how would they slow the cars down? We know they can use restrictor plates, or something similar because they've been doing that as far back as 1970, and that's the most cost-efficient way to do it. But I think NASCAR is hesitant to do that after what happened at Loudon in September of 2000. But I think they need to cut the rear spoiler to six inches high to lessen the effect of the aero-push, because the aero-push last week at Phoenix was about as bad as I've seen it. And if they don't cut the size of the spoiler, we may even see aero-push at tracks like Richmond, which is officially classified as a short track, despite speeds rivaling those seen at Phoenix and Loudon. 492. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.08.2013 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We saw aero-push at Richmond with the late "Gen4" cars 493. joey2448 posted: 03.08.2013 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So...why did they cancel qualifying two hours before it was even supposed to start? Looking at the radar, there's supposed to be an area of clear skies after the rain comes through. 494. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.08.2013 - 9:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Right CJS, the spoiler size needs to be restricted. Short of mandated carb. restrictor plates as "intake sequesters" or some fancy engineering re-branded term, the dreaded areo push remains. We did see areo-push at Richmond around 2005 or 2006 near the late gen-4 era. 495. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 03.09.2013 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The fine was complete bullshit, and I don't even like Denny Hamlin. However, I'm hoping he wins Vegas (only if Brad Keselowski can't, of course) just to smite NASCAR. Wouldn't want drivers speaking their own opinions, would we? Speaking of Denny, his pass on the last lap of this race was the only thing worth watching all day so he was pretty much right. 496. The Long Shot posted: 06.26.2013 - 7:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: 98-Michael McDowell 497. ch posted: 07.18.2013 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #35 Sponsor: Blockbuster Video (for consistency with Daytona) 498. Edwards99 posted: 12.30.2013 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As a Carl Edwards fan, this race was so stressful to watch in the end. With all the fuel mileage and then the GWC I thought I was gonna have a heart attack. But fortunately Carl Edwards won his first race since Las Vegas 2011! 499. RaceFanX posted: 01.14.2014 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Reutimann leads a single lap, the only lap he would lead during the 2013 season. 500. edwards19 posted: 03.07.2015 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) it looked like RFR was gonna be competitive with the new gen 6 cars that more or less debuted in this race. lol so much for that... 501. Rich posted: 12.19.2020 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit road reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter. Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: