In Defense Of Criticism

Criticism is an American thing.  Study the history of the United States for more examples, the American Revolution, for instance.  People like Roger Ebert have made a career out of it, and entire websites like IGN and the AV Club are built on it.  Yet in the racing world, especially Indycar and to an extent NASCAR, criticism is seen as a bad thing.  It’s the all or nothing approach; with Indycar or against it.  There’s no middle ground.  I don’t subscribe to that theory.  Can I be critical?  Yes.  Because things can and should be done better!  I don’t see how pointing that out is wrong.  I certainly don’t see the need for people to tell me that’s wrong to be critical.  If you want to be super happy and positive that’s nice and I’m happy for you if you but don’t tell me how to think, either.

There is a mentality among some fans that a person is either with the series or they’re against it.   Part of the cause seems to be how much criticism those series face from outside.  Indycar is regularly attacked by NASCAR fans, journalists, broadcasters and even some drivers (Carl Edwards, for instance).  Some from the F1 and Sports Car world also enjoy taking shots at Indycar.  NASCAR, in turn, is regularly snarked by open wheel and sports car fans.  NASCAR also is mocked by the stick and ball sports fans and journalists; even on their partner, ESPN.   It’s understandable why that attitude has developed, but the people who hold it are often the ones responsible for mocking the other side.  I’ve seen many open wheel fans who dislike criticism of Indycar regularly  make fun of NASCAR.  If you’re going to criticize people like me for being critical I have a suggestion: don’t then turn around and criticize another racing series.  That applies to NASCAR, too.  There are NASCAR fans and even journalists who act the same way; NASCAR is perfect and all other racing series suck.   If you’re like me, on the other hand, and capable of independent thought, then it’s all fair game.  I’ve managed to blast Indycar’s dreadful schedule and then turn around and mock the Bud Shootout.

There are people who take criticism to the extreme.  Mainly, I draw the line at the difference between being actively rooting for Indycar or NASCAR to fail and being critical because you care.  Sadly, that means the Crapwagon.com people are not being covered in this defense of critical thinking.  Sorry about that.

Things aren’t perfect in any racing series.  Far from it.  Maybe Indycar really does have momentum but to be honest when a series drops from 17 races to 16; and it’s mainly street courses and motorcycle road courses, I’m not sure that’s the definition of momentum.   In NASCAR it’s true ratings were up last year but there’s less and less teams (real, competitive teams) each year.  Besides the ratings were up last year based off 2010; they were still below NASCAR at it’s height.  Pointing those things out doesn’t make someone a hater or make them too negative.  It makes them honest.  If the flaws and problems aren’t pointed then how will they ever get fixed?  Some say that there’s no point in blogging about it; that it won’t cause anything to change.  That’s very likely the case but then again that logic could be used to say why blog or podcast at all?  Since it’s not going to make a difference one way or another why write?  But those of us who write blogs or even post on message boards and twitter are expressing our opinions and views, with the hope that others will read them and somehow be swayed by them.  While most of the time it may not change anything sometimes getting enough fans to agree on an issue can affect change.  It’s about the best we can do.

It’s become popular among Indycar fans and bloggers to bash critics.  It makes people feel more confident about Indycar’s direction, apparently.  While I understand that many in NASCAR and Indycar are upset with the relentless criticism and mocking those sports get from outside of their sport, attacking all criticism doesn’t really help.  Without criticism how will the the people on the inside of the racing world ever know something’s wrong?  Indycar is planning to race in China; apparently the police state mentality has migrated over too.

Kurt Busch Fired (or “Mutually Separated”): The Day The Bad Guys Died

The headline says it all.  Kurt Busch and Penske Racing have “parted ways.”  While many Busch Brother Haters are cheering and dancing this is a dark day for NASCAR.  Why?  Two reasons.  Firstly an unemployed champion is not good.  One of the biggest positives about NASCAR is that it’s winners and champions are employed and competitive.  Unlike say, Indycar or F1.  Not anymore.  Secondly it’s just another blow to personality and bad guys in racing.  Racing needs villains.  Sports in general need bad guys.  They need players and teams for fans to root against.  Without that there is a lot less excitement.  NASCAR has struggled with a lack of personality for years.  It’s about to get much much worse.  If the Busch brothers aren’t allowed to be “bad guy” then who is?

A lot of this comes back to an issue I’ve discussed twice before.  Racing needs a different type of sponsor.  I understand attracting and convincing them isn’t easy.  But just because it is hard doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile.  Racing has got to attract the extreme sports crowd.  That’s where a fairly large amount of people who might get interested in racing are.  It’s where there are some lucrative sponsors.  It’s also includes sponsors that wouldn’t mind an edgier representative.  Kurt Busch really needs to find an energy drink or hard liquior sponsor.   Or do what LCR Honda does and call up Playboy.   That’s my career advice for Kurt Busch.

People much worse than Kurt Busch. Much, much worse

As I’ve said and caused massive amounts of controversy for saying Kurt Busch isn’t even that bad!  Has he committed a felony? No.  He has NO gun charges, assaults, rapes, sexual harassment, hard drug or murder charges.  Has he been a dick?  Yes.  But how many other celebrities fall into that category?  Athlete’s, politicians, “reality” TV stars, actors/actresses, musicians, how many of these people are not the nicest people in the world?  The answer to that would be a lot.  There are people who have built entire careers around being an asshole!  I understand that “just because one person did something doesn’t make it right.”  However my point is Kurt Busch didn’t even do anything that bad! He may have behaved in an unprofessional manner but  it’s much more professional than showing up to an award show drunk or worse, as countless celebrities have done.  Or, say, dog fighting.  Or, I don’t know, actually hitting a journalists?

Could the Intimidator have made it in today's Vanilla Racing World?

Furthermore in the current climate of vanilla, pr clones, how well would most of the famous, great drivers of the past have done?  Would Dale Earnhardt have made it?  Or Cale Yarbrough?  AJ Foyt?  Aryton Senna? Curtis Turner?  Darrell Waltrip?   Or would we have been deprived of them?   People often say racing isn’t as good today as it was in the past.  Perhaps the reason is we aren’t seeing the types of drivers we saw in the past.  There may be a reason why fans are saying that things are worse now…  and it’s not just nostalgia.

Villains and bad guys are needed to keep things interesting.  If it’s just a bunch of non-offensive, vanilla, pr trained clones what’s the fun in that?  As a quick example remember the 2007 Chase for the Sprint Cup.  I’m a huge Jeff Gordon fan.  Even I have to admit that was a fairly dull title fight.  Johnson versus Gordon was way too tame and had no real potential for fireworks.  Contrast that with Stewart and Edwards.  Both drivers who have the potential to be “bad guys.”  Nothing came of it but everyone understood the potential for an explosion existed.   Having villains creates drama; it creates excitement.  The bad guys add storylines to the race.  In my controversial opinion (what’s new?), having villains would draw more interest from younger fans.  Considering NASCAR’s struggles with younger fans that would be a major improvement.

Besides having the villains makes the “good guys” stand out.  When it’s a field full of 43 cardboard cutouts no one cares if Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, or David Ragan are nice guys.  Why does it matter?  They’re no different from  anyone else.  Also how do you know if it’s genuine or just an act if everyone’s being forced to act that way?  Now if there are some real villains than the “good guys” stand out.  Then it actually means something that Jimmie Johnson acts the way he does.  If that happens perhaps he would get more fans and more attention too.  Everyone wins.

Unlike most drivers, he's won a title.

To all the people cheering the firing of Kurt Busch: You have NO right to EVER complain about a lack of personality or bad guys in racing.  None.  You have forfeited that right to complain with cheering the firing of Kurt Busch.  Same with the idiots who threatened to boycott Shell/Pennzoil.  Hate on Kurt Busch all you want.  That’s a great thing.  As Robin Miller has said many times, “Hate Is Good.”   But when you’re cheering his firing or threatening to boycott his sponsors you’ve become part of what’s wrong with racing.  The firing of Kurt Busch should not be looked on as a positive thing.  You think the drivers are boring now, with how hard the Busch brothers have been smacked down, add onto it the Keselowski semi-secret fine, expect double the vanilla, politically correct, public relations trained clones next year.   If you’re into that then you are in luck.  If you are like me and want to see some personality and some “bad guys” in racing, then you’re fucked.  I’d like to end with one final point.  Kurt Busch, if for nothing else, should be thanked for his involvement in ending Jimmie Johnson’s Reign of Terror.    Remember how he beat Johnson at Dover?  Imagine if that  hadn’t happened.  Imagine if Johnson had won Dover and then went on to win, as he did in real life, Kansas.  We may not have seen the great Stewart/Edwards title fight.  We may have been subjected to another year of Johnson boredom.  Kurt Busch did that for us at the least.

NASCAR Secret Fines Strike Again

One of the biggest complaints about most modern NASCAR drivers is they lack personality.  It’s nearly a universal complaint.  Despite this NASCAR regularly tries to take personality out of the series via their rules and fines.  Kyle Busch was a victim last week (how is it that he got treated like he’d been caught dog fighting but Vickers wrecked a bunch of people with no penalty?) and now Brad Keselowski is a victim of a secret fine.  He made some truthful and less than entusiastic comments about NASCAR’s move to fuel injection last year and according to Jenna Fyrer got a 25K fine.  Nice to know NASCAR understands how tired fans are of the PR clone robots… oh, wait….

Race Fans Are Uneducated (well no not really but others think this malarkey)

For now the tears I shed have dried, until Sunday when I watch the memorial. It’s so weird that its been a week since Wheldons passing it still doesn’t seem real. It seems any moment we will all awaken from this dream, and he’ll be there smiling. But now, in this moment, racing is obviously under attack. The sudden self ordained experts of motorsports have come out of the woodwork. Like distant cousins when you win the lotto. Some have stated racing is ridiculous and that cars going round and round is entertainment for the uneducated masses. Others have said racers only do it for the money. Me personally I have huge issues with those statements. Taking a cue from Daniel Tosh, “let’s take a look at this in this weeks ‘Blog Breakdown’”

Money. Ehhh have you seen the prize money from ALMS? Ya not to much to brag about. I work with several aspiring dirt track guys, and I can tell ya its not about money. It’s about going out in a car and having fun. Granted winnings great, but nothing beats battling somebody cleanly lap after lap. Trying to out smart him corner upon corner. I did it in a go kart this summer and let me tell ya its a rush. After I finally put enough pressure on him to screw up he did. He wasn’t happy I got the better of him. He even bitched about it all the way out to his vehicle, to me that’s winning.

Back to the money topic, some people have said Dan Wheldons accident was a product of the $5 million dollar prize. The only thing the prize money did was get him in the car. He didn’t race any harder then he usually did. If some of these “experts” would do some research they would see that well here’s a shock Wheldon was a damn good racer, and what happened was an accident. Not an overzealous narcsist that a commentor on the LA times wrote.

Race fans being uneducated is something that bothers me greatly. Neat how people who really don’t know why racing exists and what advancements it has given the auto industry, are saying we are uneducated. Motorsports is farther reaching then anyone on the outside could ever begin to comprehend. Passenger safety compartments, safety glass, turbo charging, crumple zones, all came from racing. The cars we lust for were born from racing, the 911, the Corvette ZR-1, any Ferrari. All made in the name of racing. If not for racing we would be driving some horrible crap wagons. If we took racing away then what would the stick and ball guys pimp out? Civics? Oh wait those were perfected through racing too. Ehhh I’m done with that rant.

Should racing be banned…..
Football in between ’91-’06 averaged 4.3 deaths a year. Yet, stadiums fill up 6 days a week. Do I think racing should be banned. NO! When Eric Medlen died in one of John Force’s funny cars. Tire deflated causing the car to shake violently down the strip. Essentialy he was shaken to death. What came of that? John Force made it his mission to make a safer car with the Eric Medlen Project. Now the roll cages are heavly padded and covered by nomex among other safety features. This is exactly what REAL race fans are talking about. Don’t stop make it better, make it safer.

Jimmie Johnsons quote about ovals was taken more out of context than the Danica Patrick Brazil quote. Give me a break folks. “Ehhhhhhh he’s never been in an indycar blah blah blah” Atleast he had the cajones to say something. He’s a racer that doesn’t want to see more drivers hurt or worse killed. Can’t say I blame him.

So what’s next for IndyCar. Well……alot. The ball is in the court with the investigation group. There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered, of not only why, but how can we prevent such an accident from happening again. Several actual race fans not the ones seeking fifteen minutes of fame and internet clicks, and drivers have suggested closed cockpit cars. I’m a firm beleaver in this idea. If done right the cars will look not only bad ass, but fast sitting still. I’m sure two Audi drivers wake up everyday thanking the engineers they went to a closed cockpit car. One concern is the obvious what if the cars upside down, or on fire. I’m sure there’s an easy solution maybe a three piece top with doors. I can envision I just suck at PhotoShop.  Thought of the minute, see how the H1 Unlimited Hydroplanes build thier cockpits. Better catch fences, is another area of improvement. One that doesn’t involve the cars ripping apart. Ballistic glass is one I heard, I say make it close to (I’m sure Tony Johns will like this) what a hockey rink looks like. I’m sure there’s more that can be done in the name of safety, like grass at road courses, tire barriers, and others.

Let’s be honest all that can start Monday. Let’s get through Sunday together first.

Cars 2

In my last post I discussed how when car crazed people see a new car they become instant reviewers. The same can be said for Indycar crazied people.

Earlier this week the Izod Indycar Series via Indycar.com. Posted pictures of 2 time Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon in the 2012 IoT or Indycar of Tomorrow. Ya that’s right I went there. First reaction from the elite in the Indycar Blogosphere was highly critical. A lot of “oh my gosh that car is ugly”, “why doesn’t that car look as badass as the one on display at Indy this year”.

Me personally I’m excited about the car! Heck, I woulda been happy with the Delta wing or the Swift Engineering design. Why? Because, and this seems to be a FACT a lot of fans and writers forget, indycar very much studies Darwin. Indycar is about evolution. From the Marmon Wasps to the Lolas and Reynards of the 90′s to the “crapwagon” Dallara of today. The indycar evolves. 

One good thing is that Indycar isn’t like Nascar in that they used a chassis or platform from the 60′s for 40+ years. Although it is neat to hear how the “Pass in the Grass” Dale Sr Monte Carlo, was Darrel Waltrips Mountain Dew Buick and Pepsi Challenger Monte Carlo.

Some of you might say “well what about the air box on the rollover hoop”. It’s not as bad as the current Dallara, and if that’s all that carries over and not the injuries. Then heck I’m ALL for it. Although does anybody find it odd Viso and Saavedra can wreck quite a bit without injury. But Wilson and Mann wreck and they get injured. Like how many licks it takes to get to the center of the tootsie roll pop, I guess the world may never know.

I do challenge the readers to send in what they think the 2012 car should’ve looked like in your opinion. Draw it on a napkin, post it note, or in Microsoft paint. Send it to fujis123@gmail.com ill post em. Give a short discription on power plant and fuel used. Good Luck

Major kudos to Dallara for making the commitment and actually building a plant here for the new safety tubs that are the base for the car. Granted, my employer isnt in the same business as Dallara. But, a foreign owned business building or expanding in the US should be a slap in the face to American companies. Just this week the Whirlpool plant across town just announced a layoff of 300 people. In 2006 that plant had nearly 5000 people employed. Currently the number hovers above 1500. Not to mention the supplemental factories for wire, and steel that shut down because of the layoffs. Back to indycar stuff.

The latest evolution (be prepared I may use that word a lot), of the indycar is no diffrent. Although may not be as earth shattering as Colin Chapman bringing the rear engined Lotus to Indy during the roadster era.  It’s a change and a welcomed change at that. Granted there is some in fighting about the aero kits. With them being put on hold I’m torn as far as reasoning goes. I see one side as if they are put on hold other companies will join possibly. But on the other side of the spectrum, some of the fans feel as if they are being shafted. They should feel that way. The hoopla of the new car was well just that. It was hearlded as the new car that took the fans idea of brand identity, a diffrent looking into consideration. But a few unhappy car owners later they are on hold to 2013. As with the Izod clothing store from my Branson blog, how can Indycar grow, while it pisses on what the fans want? It just can’t.

I have had the utmost respect for Roger Penske. I always liked the “Penske Perfect” look of his cars, and racing operations. Although after reading Mark Donohue’s book The Unfair Advantage. Such a move by The Captain was almost expected. In the 60′s he threatened the SCCA that he would pull out of Trans-Am and Chevy wouldn’t be happy, just so he could run his “modified” Camaro. I would not be surprised if the same conversation happened again. Ironically he’s running Chevorlets again.

I want to see indycar succeed I really do. I firmly beleave they have some good ideas in place. I’m sure I’ll be lambasted by my peers at TLR, and hear things like “I like the Cotman” or “I’m a Bernard pirate”. (If your under 18 and don’t get that last joke please by all means don’t ask me to explain).

Indycar has a bright future ahead of it, and 2012 is shaping up to be a make or break year. If they get someone to win in something without a Honda badge other car companies will come on board. I mean I’m not saying I have some inside info I just see that being a possible deal breaker. I’m not sayin Indycar should fix a race like Nascar allegedly does. Just that if Honda wins all the races the outcome will look much bleaker, for those at 16th and Georgetown.

Building a Good Schedule for a New Car

The 2012 Indy Car Schedule is yet a long long way from complete but here is some news on it. New races could include a race in Quebec City. (Street Course), which could be similar to the F1 track in Monaco. Cleveland could be returning!! With a Friday night race on the new oval track and a Saturday or Sunday race on the Airport Circuit. The Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle could be returning. Houston is a done deal according to Speed’s Robin Miller which sucks but it leaves out Austin which is a great thing. The Octane Racing Group which promotes the Edmonton race and the F1 Canadian Race at Circuit Gilles Villenueve, is thinking about a street circuit in Calgary.  Randy Bernard has talked to Michigan, Laguna Seca, and Road America. The IICS is exploring a race in Quingdao China as a road/oval facility with over 500,000 seats. Some others that have been mentioned are a street courses in Seattle, Vancouver and the Portland International Raceway. Also a 2nd race in Brazil to open the season.

As for returning races. Long Beach has an agreement with the city through 2015 and potentially an extension through 2020. Sao Paulo has an agreement through 2019. Barber has a contract through 2012 RE: Trinity of Boredom. St. Pete will continue to through 2013 w/ an option through 2014. Baltimore ( Labor Day Parade) runs through 2015.

Now that is potetially 18 races but now are friends Bruton Smith and Eddie Gossage come into play I think that Texas, Kentucky, Vegas, Atlanta, and Charlotte should be added. Along with Milwaukee, and Loudon.

So that adds 6 more races to the potential schedule. Sonoma, Mid- Ohio, and Iowa will be removed I think because it doesn’t draw that many fans anyways.

Out of the new races 5 of them should happen

1. Cleveland
2. Michigan
3. Road America
4. Laguna Seca
5. Portland

The others: Edmonton, and Toronto should return the are probably the best street course races of the whole year and plus PT doesn’t have to bitch about not having a ride for those races.

I believe in an 50-50 schedule it needs to be equal because if you go one way it will be terrible and no fans will want to watch.

Road Courses that need to be added are Sebring, Road Atlanta, Miller, and Watkins Glen. Why? BECAUSE YOU CAN PASS!! DID YOU HEAR THAT TRINITY OF BOREDOM TRACK HATERS!! THE 4 TRACKS ABOVE YOU CAN PASS AT!!  As for street courses Long Beach, St. Pete, Toronto, Edmonton, and Sao Paulo should stay because you can pass at the tracks. Cleveland I consider a race that is untouchable because it is just great. As for short ovals it should be Milwaukee, Loudon, Phoenix, and Richmond. Also there should be a Triple Crown of oval races ( California, Michigan, and Indianapolis).

Schedule breakdown:

10 ovals

1. Milwaukee
2. Loudon
3. Charlotte
4. Atlanta
5. Texas
6. Vegas
7. Kentucky
8. Michigan
9. California
10. Indy

10 Road/Street Courses

1. St. Pete
2. Road Atlanta
3. Sebring
4. Portland
5. Cleveland
6. Long Beach
7. Watkins Glen
8. Toronto
9. Edmonton
10. Road America

WIth that said the here is my proposed schedule for 2012

1. Sebring (With ALMS)
2. St. Pete
3. Long Beach
4. Portland
5. Loudon 
6. Indianapolis
7. Milwaukee
8. Texas
9. Charlotte
10. Watkins Glen
11. Toronto
12. Edmonton
13. Road America
14. Cleveland
15. Kentucky
16. Michigan
17. California
18. Road Atlanta ( With ALMS)
19. Atlanta
20. Las Vegas

Why have the races with ALMS because they run some race weekends with each other and IndyCar tests at some of their tracks, SMI is Bruton Smith’s group and is huge promoters with IndyCar and their main promoter Eddie Gossage. But at least the Twin Ring of Boredom will be gone as a end of the season race.

Great Promoter of IndyCar races

 I also think with Tony Cotman overseeing the ICONIC Project will make some great rules to mix things up by 2012.

In additional news: Matt Kenseth won Saturday nights race at Texas while leading 169 of 334 laps. With Bowyer finishing 2nd. Sebestien Vettel is on the pole for this morning’s Grand Prix of Malysia. In F1 their will be a major announcement on Tuesday and Speed Center will have extended coverage of the annoucement starting at 8ET on Tuesday. Will Power is on the pole for the Indy Car GP of Alabama with Team Penske taking the top 3 of 4 spots.  Kimi Raikkonen tested on Monday and Tuesday with Kyle Busch Motorsports at Gresham Motor Speedway, and Rockingham. Raikkonen will attempt to make his debut in May at Charlotte.

Will he become the next Kyle Busch!! HOPE SO!!

Restructuring Speedweeks: Kill the BS (Literally)

On Sunday, the Budweiser Shootout was held, which funnily enough abbreviates to BS.  Pretty fitting, for a race that has less and less purpose as the years go by.  It began as a race for the previous year’s pole winners, but it has turned into a anyone-can-enter waste of time.  NASCAR runs 36 races in Sprint Cup alone, does it really need a non points race, especially as it has the Camping World Trucks and Nationwide series, all of which are televised live?    The Shootout was pretty interesting this year, I’ll give them that, but still, what’s the point?  To test the track in race conditions, they have ARCA, Trucks, Nationwide, and the two qualifying races!  It’s not just the Shootout that’s a waste of time, but also the qualifying; I mean, what’s the point of running qualifying for the race, since they also run the qualifying races?  Take both of those out, and you free up the first weekend of Speedweeks; where the 24 Hours of Daytona could easily fit in.

The new Start to Speedweeks

I’m no fan of the Grand Am series, or even the 24 Hours of Daytona, but, it makes perfect sense to package that race into Speedweeks.  If you watched the Rolex 24, you would have noticed the serious lack of attendance.  There were some people in the infield, but the stands were bare, and for the Grand Am’s biggest event, it was kind of pathetic.  Packaging it into Speedweeks would be good for getting more attention on the 24 Hours of Daytona, and would give them something to kick off Speedweeks with, as they would no longer have the Shootout.  More importantly, since all the Cup drivers are already heading down there, they could increase the amount of Cup guys who run the Rolex, and turn it into a mini “All Star” event itself, with added sports car and Indycar participation.  It helps Grand Am, which NASCAR owns, it keeps the Speedweeks schedule full, and allows them to kill off a pointless (pardon the pun) race.

Don’t worry about ARCA, it could be run after the 24 Hours ends on Sunday. Just run it Sunday night.  Qualifying might have to take place Friday, but that’s no big deal.   As for Daytona 500 practice, the opening weekend of Speedweeks is too crowded, but they have all week to run the practices.  Sure, that’s a little strange, but it gives them something on track for Monday and Tuesday, which currently is empty.

Speedweeks could use a refresh

Is any of this likely?  Not really.  NASCAR doesn’t seem to understand or care that 36 races plus 2 non points races plus the Daytona Qualifying races plus the Nationwide and Truck series might be a little bit of over-saturation of the stock car market.  The 24 Hours of Daytona could use some help with it’s attendance, and running it as the start of Speedweeks would be a good way to kick start the attendance.  The qualifying for the Daytona 500 is similarly pointless.  You’ve got the qualifying races, that renders the qualifying process redundant.  What’s the point?  Adding the 24 Hours of Daytona to Speedweeks helps everyone involved in NASCAR, Grand Am, and ISC, and since they’re all effectively the same, it shouldn’t be that hard to do.  Come on, Daytona, the solution is simple!

Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

The topic that is not talked about much is the 10 year anniversary of the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. Earnhardt is my favorite driver of all time via watching his races on ESPN Classic and You Tube. One of the races that was special to me was the 1998 Daytona 500 because he won it FINALLY in the year that I was born in it was 13 days after I was born that he won the 500. In 2007 I finally watched I finally watched that race on ESPN Classic.  My favorite moment of it was when he used Rick Mast as a pick on Bobby Labonte to win it.

  On Thursday night after Bud Shootout practice Speed aired a 1 hour special called  “The Day: Remembering Dale Earnhardt.  The show was a chronologial order of events of February 18th 2001 when he died.  The show was great it touched on every key point and more. Here are videos with his interviews with Matt Yocum and Darrell Waltrip  before the race.

Darrell Waltrip interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAkOksfbfLA

Matt Yocum interview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFzfx1u94L8

The final 3 laps or so Earnhardt was blocking for Dale Jr and Michael Waltrip who was going for his 1st win in NASCAR in 462 starts. On the final lap Jr and Mikey checked out on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway while Dale Sr was blocking Sterling Marlin, and Kenny Schrader. Going into turn 3 Earnhardt came down across Marlin’s car and spun out and came up across the track collecting Schrader.

The crash image

Earnhardt hit the wall at approxmently 160mph. Once they slid to a stop Schrader got out of his car and went to Earnhardt’s car to see if he was okay and unhooked the window net and motioned for medical crews to get there quickly. Meanwhile Waltrip won the race with Dale Jr finishing 2nd. They rushed Dale Sr to Halifax Medical Center near the Speedway. Dale Jr found out from the officials and from Richard Childress. He went running to the Infield Care Center with Childress and his step mother Teresa Earnhardt. They got a police escort to the hospital. At 5:16 PM EST he was pronounced dead at the age of 49.

Earnhardt suffered the following

Basilar skull fracture (fatal)

Eight broken ribs on his left side

Broken Left Ankle

Fractured Breast Bone

Collarbone and hip abrasions

2 hours later NASCAR president Mike Helton  made the announcement saying “Undoubtedly this is one of the toughest announcements I’ve ever personally had to make. After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.”

Here is the crash on video

^{http://youtu.be/2hbfXI9bqDo}

^{Earnhardt  had 4 kids Kerry Earnhardt, Kelly Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Taylor Nicole Earnhardt.}

^{Some of his stats}

• 22 year career
• 76 wins
• First win in 1979 at Bristol
• Last win in 2000 at Talladega
• 7 championships

Dale Earnhardt also founded the race team called DEI.  Michael Waltrip is running this car in memory of him.

  

Can You Trust Anything You Hear From a NASCAR Driver?

During Daytona Pre Season Testing, we’ve been hearing a large number of driver quotes about purposed NASCAR rule changes.   Unsurprisingly, all the drivers were positive and supported whatever decision NASCAR plans on making… despite the fact many were just as empathic last year that no changes were needed.  Of course, this coincides with a shift in NASCAR policy.  It’s been known for a while that NASCAR want’s to have everyone who’s officially involved (media, drivers, teams, ect.) on the “same page” (RE: on Kool Aid), and last summer, it came out that NASCAR had sent out major fines to Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman for not being on message about “debris” cautions and Restrictor Plates.  Ever since then, for me, at least, it’s been hard to trust anything that a NASCAR driver says; and pre season testing has only reinforced that.

Read the driver quotes out of Daytona without the names… and try and see if you can tell the difference between the drivers?   They’re all just repeating the same lines, that NASCAR needs a more simple points system, even though that’s never been something they’ve talked about before!  This is despite the fact that last fall, all the drivers were repeating the NASCAR talking points on how no changes were necessary.  And of course, while all the drivers initially said that there was no need for the track to be repaved (despite the fact a huge hole was in it), now they’re all claiming it’s going to be great!  In all forms of racing, driver/team politics and sponsorship affect what drivers say, but in NASCAR, they’ve taken it a step farther, and the results are even more vanilla and boring driver interviews.  I’ll be honest, I really don’t care about all the “interviews” next week, because almost all of them will be exactly the same!

One of the Few drivers who almost are interesting

To their credit, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, the Busch brothers, and Brad Keselowski often will say what they’re thinking… unfortunetly, the fines levied against Newman and Hamlin have caused them to be a lot more PC.  Hamlin, who was one of the most interesting NASCAR drivers to follow on twitter, doesn’t tweet nearly as much as before, and Kyle Busch has even said (and been secretly fined for???) he doesn’t tweet much due to the fact he might be fined.  At the moment, the Harvicks and Brad Keselowski are the most interesting NASCAR drivers to follow on twitter, but, especially for Keselowski, you’ve got to wonder how long it’ll last.  After all, Keselowski already had to back off a a joke he made about how NASCAR made him ineligible for both the Budweiser shootout and Nationwide Championship in the same week.  If that sort of humor can potentially offend NASCAR, then it’s no wonder their drivers are so boring!

I Can't Stand Dario... but at least we know what he really thinks

Let’s compare the situation in NASCAR with Indycar and MotoGP.  As proven by the less than enthusiastic reaction to double file restarts, Indycar drivers are allowed to speak their mind.  Do I agree with everything they say?  No, and sometimes (RE: Dario Franchitti) they can come off as whinny.  But… that’s their choice.  And by allowing their drivers to express their opinions, there’s a reason to follow their twitter accounts and listen to/read their press conferences.  Can you imagine if Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani, and Thomas Sheckter were NASCAR drivers?  They’d be fined at least once a month… or they’d lose their personalities.  As for MotoGP, their riders are allowed to express their views, as is proven by reading any transcript of a Rossi press conference.  It comes down to this; do you want to read a bunch of sanitized driver quotes that sound as if they were wrote by NASCAR PR people, or do you want to read REAL quotes from the drivers/riders?

The elephant in the room, for me, at least, is how far do these secret fines go?  As Mike Mulhern said last summer, could NASCAR be secretly fining it’s journalists and broadcast partners?  How can you trust anything anyone involved in NASCAR says?  And it’s not like there haven’t been issues with journalists and NASCAR before (RE: Ben Blake).  That said, I would imagine fining or threatening ESPN, Fox, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, or another similar large publication/TV group would be a major mistake, and would end badly.  Look at the backlash Indycar faced from pulling Ed Hinton’s press pass.  With TV ratings dropping by 20%, threatening ESPN or Fox would be an especially bad idea… but then again… this is NASCAR we’re talking about…  But, compared to most other racing press (Indycar, NASCAR, MotoGP, ALMS) the NASCAR press is pretty softball.  From “official” NASCAR writers, how many articles have you ever read that were truly critical?  Some even defend the idea of “phantom” cautions!

The Chief of NASCAR's Secret Police

NASCAR believes that by keeping everyone “on message” and have everyone repeat positive PR spin, they’ll be able to convince everyone that everything’s fine and fix their ratings crisis.  It’s also part of their attempts to mimic the NFL, which NASCAR, and Brian France especially, are obsessed with.  By doing this, they’re killing the personality involved in the sport, and that’s the opposite of what fans want.  In NASCAR, it’s fine, and even encouraged to wreck someone on purpose at over 180MPH, but a tweet that says something they don’t like can get a significant fine.  There’s something wrong with that.  Due to the threat of fines, it’s really hard to trust anything a NASCAR driver says, as what else can they say but what NASCAR wants?  Maybe next, NASCAR should just not allow any of it’s drivers to give interviews or have twitter accounts… because at this point, there’s not much point in them.

It’s Time For NASCAR to Fix It’s Development Series!

NASCAR finally made the first step towards fixing their development series by forcing drivers to commit to one series which the will score points in.  It’s a good first step… but it’s not enough.  NASCAR’s development series may be one of the worst in all of racing, because there’s nowhere else I can think of that allows its top level drivers to participate in the lower tier series while running in the top level.  For next season, there are no restrictions in how many development races drivers run, so the Kyle Busch massacre of Nationwide and Trucks will continue.

It is completely ridiculous that NASCAR allows the Cup driver to walk all over the Nationwide, Truck, and even Modified and East/West series!  The arguments to support it is that the sponsors, fans, and track owners want/need it, but the fact is, Moto2, 125cc, World Supersport, GP2, GP3, F3, British Formula Ford, Indy Lights, Star Mazda, USF2000,  and Formula Renault, all manage to survive without the top level drivers being involved.  Does Lewis Hamilton run F3 and GP2?  How many times did Dani Pedrossa and Ben Spies run Moto2 last season?  Did Tony Kanaan and Will Power walk all over the Firestone Indy Lights series?  How many Supersport races did Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam win?  Answer to all of those questions is no/none.  So why did full time Cup drivers, winners in the Cup series, win races in the Truck, win all but two Nationwide races, and win a Modified race?

Does Sebastien Vettel run GP2??? Didn't think so...

As for the argument that the “Sponsors/Teams/Race tracks need the Cup drivers,” I’d argue that is bogus, and wouldn’t be an issue if NASCAR would look outside of themselves.  Attendance at the Nationwide and Truck isn’t setting any records anyways, so I don’t see how taking Cup drivers out could make it much worse.  TV wise, the only people watching Nationwide or Truck races are the hardcore fans, and they would still watch.  Look at it this way, Nationwide races have about 1/4^th the ratings of a Sprint Cup race (around 1.2), and I would guess that a large portion of the “hardcore” fanbase, with some random ESPN viewers thrown in (which would be the same either way).  Truck ratings are about 0.6-0.8, but they’re on Speed, which doesn’t get nearly the airtime, especially in sports bars and restaurants. As long as Nationwide stayed on ESPN, with or without Cup drivers, I don’t see that big of drop in the ratings, especially as that would allow the series to become something other than Cup Lite.  Maybe for a year or two things would be down, but in the end the series would be a lot stronger than it is now.  As for sponsors, that’s only an issue because they’ve been given the option of having Cup drivers for so long.  If that weren’t an option, then a lot of them would be able to adapt to having Nationwide only drivers, but as it’s an option, they’d prefer a Cup driver.  Sadly, it may have reached a point where many sponsors have become addicted to Cup drivers… and some sponsors might leave… but then again, it won’t get any easier if NASCAR waits another 10 years, they’ll be even more dependant.  If NASCAR needs more help… contact people involved in GP2, Moto2, F3, and 125cc MotoGP!

I don’t even understand why Cup driver want to run these races.  The NASCAR season is incredibly long as it is, with over 38 Cup events (36 races, 2 non point’s events, and the Daytona qualifying race)!  The drivers earn a little extra money, but they’re not getting a ton of money out of it, and anyways, it’s not like Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are broke.  More importantly, NO driver has ever won the Cup and Nationwide title at the same time.  Not only that, but if you look at the championship standings, a majority of the top 5 in Cup do not run very many, if an, Nationwide or Truck races. This has been proven year after year!  Carl Edwards came close in 2008, finishing 2^nd in both series, but notice… he didn’t win either. By running a large number of Truck/Nationwide races, a driver is not helping themselves to win the Sprint Cup Championship.  What do Cup drivers get out of it that MotoGP, F1, and Indycar drivers don’t?  I believe in MotoGP, running full time in multiple series is banned, or at least severely discouraged, but I don’t believe there are any rules specifically banning it in the various F1 feeder series or Indy Lights, it’s just no one does it.

The current solution is to force driver to commit to one series, so that they can’t win the championship in Nationwide while running the full Sprint Cup season.  That’s a start, but it doesn’t do nearly enough.  Besides, a ton of Cup drivers run (and win) Nationwide and Truck races without running for the full season; in fact, that’s what the majority of them do.  There’s nothing in this ruling to prevent a Cup driver from running every Nationwide race; it simply prevents them from winning the title.  It also raises concerns that the champion of the Nationwide series will not have actually been deserving.  The fear is that the Nationwide series champion might be winless, or only have one or two wins, and only a few top 5’s, because the Cup drivers are expected to sweep most of the races anyways.  While I understand and share that concern, I also think that Elliot Sadler and Aric Almarola will be able to win multiple races, and be legitimate champions.

Bet Discount Tires is happy about hearing this announcement only a month before the season starts...

Another concern is, why did NASCAR wait so long?  I’m all for banning Cup driver from participating in the lower tier series, but how can you spring it on race teams barely a month before the season starts?  Seriously, how can NASCAR treat their teams this poorly?  The sponsors have signed up with teams expecting a title run are going to be pretty disappointed, and it’s completely unnecessary, because they could have announced this last year, or even over last summer!  It’s not like Cup drivers in Nationwide hasn’t been a problem for years!

NASCAR needs to do two things.  First, ban full time Cup driver from running any lower tier series, and secondly kill the Truck series, and send its top teams up to Nationwide, and bottom teams down to the K&N East/West touring series.  I understand that there are a number of Truck series fanatics, but the fact is, NASCAR is struggling to support all 3 series, and would be better served by combing the two lower series.  Besides, if Cup drivers are banned, and the top truck teams are brought up, then Truck fans will be able to see many of the same things they love about truck racing in Nationwide, but with a stronger field.  The fact is, both Nationwide and Truck series are struggling to put together quality fields, with both series being overrun by field fillers and Start&Parks, so by combining them and sending the top Truck teams to Nationwide, NASCAR can clear out many of those teams, and try and send them down to the touring series.    Besides, by no longer having to pay out purse money in Trucks, NASCAR would be able to increase purse money to both the touring and Nationwide series, helping to make those series more appealing for smaller teams, and keep them from moving up too far and becoming start/part teams.

Moto2, an example of a successful development series!

NASCAR’s made a decent first step, but it’s nowhere near enough.  It’s beyond ridiculous that Cup driver win so many lower tier races, especially as almost every other feeder series in the world manages without the top level drivers/riders being involved.  Banning the Cup drivers and combining the Nationwide and Trucks series are the two best thing NASCAR could do, but they are difficult, and thus, unlikely.  We’ll see how having the driver committing to one series works out, because it may slowly start to persuade drivers to focus on one series, but I don’t think it’ll keep very many out. At least with Almirola and Sadler in good rides, the Nationwide Championship shouldn’t be a complete joke.