NASCAR Bloggers FT Digest

Merry Christmas To All

revinjim — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:51:21 +0000

Santa didn’t forget

We almost let Christmas slip by without offering a wish list for some of our favorite drivers, teams, and NASCAR personalities. I’m not going to let that happen.

Silly season never really ended. Bobby Labonte was released from Petty Enterprises even after avowing his loyalty to that team. So of course, for Bobby Labonte: A full time Interstate Battery sponsorship and a full time ride for 2009.

For Tony Stewart: A four-leaf clover, or a lucky horseshoe, or both, wishing him the best of luck with his new team.

For Stewart/Haas Racing: A full time sponsorship from Interstate Batteries and Bobby Labonte for a third team.

For Scott Riggs: A ride where he will be appreciated. Perhaps the Team Formerly Known As Bill Davis Racing has an opening?

For Bill Davis: A happy retirement after going out on top.

For all Crew Chiefs: A free pass for “pushing the envelope.” We won’t see much of that anyway in ’09, due to lack of open testing, but if it happens, give them a break.

For Mark Martin: A Championship. Why not? He certainly deserves one.

For Kyle Busch: Some love from the fans.

For Greg Biffle: Some love from his team.

For Brian France: A key so he can escape his ivory tower, for a temporary taste of reality.

For All NASCAR Fans: A Merry Christmas, and a great 2009!

From Racedriven – Win a $25 BP Gas card photography Contest.

racedriven — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:14:53 +0000

I’m sure most of us have seen the every changing gas prices daily over the past several months including hitting $4 for a gallon for gasoline at one point this year, so thanks to M80 on behalf of BP, I am running an automotive photography contest with each winner receiving one $25 BP Gift Cards.

I love photography and while I am out and about, I like to take a couple of automotive photos of cars that look cool, where ever its safe and publish them on my blog whether it’s at an auto show, local car show or in just in a parking lot. People have some of the most interesting vehicles and I love seeing them, so to enter the “Wins a $25 BP Gas card Automotive Photography Contest”, just submit a photo or two taken by you (the submitter) of a car, vehicle, something interesting or cool while you are out and about in the United States (for example a Smart car, a Dodge Challenger HEMI, a Camaro, even your own car) and include a brief description including what it is and where you found it, (please follow the rules below in submitting) for a chance to a chance to win a $25 BP Gift card. I will publish the winning entries with first name only and description on my blog.

To enter the contest all you have to do is go to Racedriven.com for full details.

34 down, 2 more to go

Trixie — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:43:37 +0000

That’s right the 2008 season is winding down. With only two races left, it’s Jimmie’s championship to lose. Carl did cut down some of Jimmie’s lead in Texas, but Jimmie and Chad have been here before. I have to admit since Talladega I haven’t been all that excited about the racing. I guess it’s because Tony isn’t a contender and he is closing out his career with Joe Gibbs. I am looking forward to next season. It’s going to be interesting to see how both Tony and Ryan run under the Stewart Haas flag.

I am a little bummed that Kyle Busch didn’t make a better showing in this Chase. I mean he was hotter than habanero pepper and the next thing you know he is out of Chase contention. I still wonder what the Chase would have been like if it weren’t for his bad luck at the beginning of the Chase. I think I would be more into the Chase and it would definitely be more exciting.

Since the season will come to an end in a couple of weeks, I can finally get back to spending time with my friends and family who I have ignored since February as well as all those projects that need my attention. I have to say it’s been one interesting season. For the past two years I have held the Trixies to honor those events that have shaped the past NASCAR season. I am now in the process of reviewing the season and I hope to have them up sooner than I did last year, but you know how life can get in the way. In case you missed the 2006 or 2007 Trixies, you can stop back by The Park and take a gander. If you have any suggestions for the 2008 Trixies head on over and leave me a note.

Have a great week!

Martinsville Qualifying Rained Out

racekitten — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:24:14 +0000

Sorry if I havn’t been on here in a while, I’ve been a bust little kitten!

Martinsville qualifying got rained out last Friday, so everyone at this point knows the drill after all that mess goes down.

The starting grid goes in order by points. Surprise, surprise!

Why don’ we just serve Jimmie Johnson his third Sprint Cup trophy on a silver platter already?

We will also get to see the debut of “media hyped almost as much as Joey Logano”, Scott Speed, who will be driving the #84 car formerly run by AJ Allmendinger.

Oh Wee!

Have a Happy Race Day

-RaceKitten

You Too Can Be Fast And Fabulous!

badgroove — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:41:29 +0000

Hey race fans- just wanted to let you know that you can win a $25.00 BP gas card from TheFastandTheFabulous.com.

Just fill out the form located here.

And while you are there poke around- it’s a great racing blog!

This Week in the NASCAR Blogosphere

badgroove — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:24:03 +0000

By the end of the race at Lowe’s Motorspeedway the Chase will be half over. When the heck did that happen? I don’t know.

Last weekend’s race at Talladega provided Tony Stewart with his first win of the season, his first win there in a sprint cup car and ended his 43 race winless streak. And his win was not without controversy as Regan Smith was the first to cross the line- albeit below the yellow line. Regan’s win was not a win as NASCAR penalized him to the end of the lead lap stating that you can not advance your position while under the yellow line. Some believed Regan was robbed some believe he cheated. Either way it was an exciting finish to the race. As said by our very own Revvin’Jim:

It really feels good when a favorite driver finally wins after being second six times at Talladega, and his first win of the season. There will be those who think Ragen Smith was cheated, but according to the rules, he did begin the pass below the yellow line while he had the option open to move to the outside, but that doesn’t justify him being penalized sixteen positions. A win is a win and it feels good. –Live On Type Delay: The Amp Energy 500

NASCAR.com tells us today that GEM has removed rookie and previous open-wheeler, Patrick Carpentier, and replaced him with the duo of Mike Wallace and AJ Allmendinger to drive for the number 10- effective immediately. Mike Wallace will take the wheel at the race this Saturday night at Lowes.

RaceKitten reports that tomorrow there will be an announcement out of the StewartHaas Racing camp:

NASCAR reports that there will be an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that the U.S. Army will be the primary sponsor for Ryan Newman’s #39 Chevy car with the newly formed Stewart-Haas racing next season. - Stewart-Haas Will Be Sponsored By The US Army.

Mike at OneBadWheel brings up the interesting point that had the format of the Budweiser shootout not changed we would be in for a very interesting field including Travis Kvapil, recently rideless Patrick Carpentier and Brian Vickers among others:

Last Saturday’s Talladega qualifying reinforced why it’s such a blunder. Travis Kvapil was the surprise winner of the pole. Sure, Yates Racing has put a car on the front row at Talladega in five of the last seven races, but Travis Kvapil was still a surprise. Under the old rules Kvapil would make the 2009 field for the Bud Shootout. He would join other surprise pole winners like Patrick Carpentier, Joe Nemechek, Paul Menard and Brian Vickers.– NASCAR IS BLOWING IT ON THE SHOOTOUT

I know personally I think Kvapil has a lot of talent that is just starting to show through and his pole and performance at Talladega (before being involved in the BIG ONE) exemplify his true talent. I also agree that this is killing the Bud Shootout.

One of my favorite NASCAR blogs, TheNascarInsiders.com, have had several great posts this week alone. One of the importance of aerodynamics at super speedways like Talladega:

Another example of superspeedway dominance is Joe Gibbs Racing. All three Nationwide Series superspeedway races this season have been won by a JGR Toyota, as have the last three Cup Series restrictor plate races. Part of their success has been the strong Toyota engines, but I promise you they also have very good bodies on their Camrys.–Hey, Nice Body

But the best advice The Insiders give us this week comes from an article about drivers and fear:

So to all those aspiring to be the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, let me offer some free advice. Leave your fear at home. In my book, its okay for a driver to run out of talent. It’s not okay for him to run out of balls.- Want To Be A Driver? Check Your Fear At The Door.

And finally I will end with some words of my own…because I am not above shameless promotion. Not to mention I think it makes a good ending to this post:

However, after last weekend’s win at Talladega, the fact that my driver and crew chief will not be together anymore basically stood up and smacked me in the face! Between crew chief Zipadelli’s emotional post race interview and the videoconference where Tony stated that the final race of the season, Homestead-Miami, will be the hardest race for both he and Zippy no matter where they finish. That made me really sad to hear. It really makes a melancholy ending to the season…a season frankly I don’t want to end because then I have no reason NOT to face it.- Sad Thoughts On The Upcoming End of An Era

Don’t forget this weekend the race is on SATURDAY night. I am sure it won’t disappoint!

Goings on at Amy’s Bad Groove

badgroove — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:17:44 +0000

Here are a couple of excerpts from Amy’s Bad Groove this week:

In I Have Stupid (NASCAR) Questions, I laments over the fact that she has questions about NASCAR she is afraid to ask…for fear of looking stupid:

Anyway I have been a NASCAR fan for years (as in since childhood)…and I have a couple of questions that I can’t find an answer to…and I don’t really know anyone who would know the answer that I feel comfortable asking. I mean my dad is a NASCAR fan but not as much as me…because how many times do I have to explain to the man what the “lucky dog” is (probably the same number of times he has to explain to me what a saftey is in football)?

Then in Comparing Apples and Oranges, I compare my experiences this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and AutoClub Speedway (California Speedway):

Parking is ample and free at both facilities. I will say that it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot at Las Vegas. Lets just say we had time to watch some guys set up a table, grill their entire dinner, watch them sit at the table ad eat said dinner, then pack up…all while waiting to get out. At California we were out of the lot far quicker and probably sitting down to dinner at a diner in the same amount of time that it took us just to leave the parking lot at Las Vegas.

In Chase Race 2: DOVER, I go over Tony Stewart and Team Home Depot’s efforts for the day:

Best radio communication of the day between Tony and his crew was when Tony stated that he was trying to move up through the field but there were “6 SCUD Missles” he’s “trying to avoid right now.” That made me giggle.

And finally I update my not-so-stellar attempt at taking part in a real fantasy racing league, with Fantasy Racing And Football Pool Update.

New Hampshire Weekend Review

revinjim — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:47:24 +0000

There is never any way, in the US at least, Formula One is going to steal NASCAR’s thunder. The racing world was amazed as 21 year old Sebastion Vettel became the youngest driver ever to win a points Grand Prix race in the history of that series. He did it at Monza in Italy, driving for Red Bull Racing’s Jr league Scudaria Toro Roso, which isn’t supposed to do better than the top teams. This is the same team that was known as Menardi before 2006, and was a historical back marker.

As big as that news was to many fans all over the world, the big news in NASCAR was Kyle Busch having a broken car and losing the points lead in the first round of the Chase for the Championship. For those who may have missed the race, or want to relive it, Rev’ Jim’s RantsnRaves presents the race “Live on Type Delay,” including unnecessary commentary that we hope is as fun to read as it was to write:

Sometimes it seems that New Hampshire Motor Speedway needs something like Joey Chitwood to make it more exciting. It looks like a big Martinsville, but races like a small California. It is rumored–actually expected–that Bruton Smith, the new owner will reconfigure the track, perhaps add some more banking, to change the way the track is raced. I don’t know how much change we really want to see. As it is, it is a thinking man’s track, because it presents a very real challenge in passing and in saving brakes and tires. It definitely emphasis’s a team effort, and it really doesn’t make any difference if it is the Sprint Cup car or the conventional car racing on the track–we expect to see a single file line of cars through most of the race.

But what makes it exciting today is that it is the first race of the Chase, and things can happen. Last year, we expected the Chase teams to be cautious, and they weren’t. They took off racing each other hard, and raced aggressively throughout the event. Clint Bowyer, in his first Chase for the Championship got his first career victory at the end.

The rain has moved out, the track is being dried, and it looks like the race may start on schedule. The anticipation is building. ..read more

Meanwhile we’re trying to figure out what some of our other bloggers at The Digest are doing. Amy’s Bad Groove promises a post race report, and the other two parts of her personal experiences at Auto Club Speedway a couple of weeks ago are up. She also has some good pictures of her nephew.

Diecast Dude watched the same race RevJim did, but it’s hard to tell that from his entry on Restrictor-Plate This, titled A Dull Race=An Interesting Chase. He also provides us with a decent news wrap up, with which we shall call a wrap on this post.

NASCAR’s 2008 “Regular Season” Ends

revinjim — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:00:07 +0000

Cross posted from Rev’ Jim’s RantsnRaves:

NASCAR’s regular season for 2008 ended with a great shootout between two of the best drivers in the sport. The entire season had its share of similar exciting moments, as well as some huge disappointments.

Dodge started out on a high note, with the Penske and Gillett-Evernham teams making a strong showing at the Daytona 500, resulting in a victory by Penske’s #12 team and Ryan Newman. After that they sort of disappeared from the radar screen. Kasey Kahne and the GEM # 9 Dodge team had some brilliant moments, and it looked like Kahne could be a championship contender, but a late season string of bad luck over just a few short weeks virtually put that team out of the running….read more

Every fan has his or her favorite moments of the season, and probably has a pretty good list of least favorite moments. The “Spin heard around the world” in the first Richmond race certainly got the fans fired up, no matter who they held as their favorite driver. The Brickyard race was, on the other hand, shockingly disappointing.

We can expect more excitement over the next ten races as the championship is decided and the other teams attempt to stay in, or get into, the top thirty-five in owners points which would guarantee them a spot in the first five races of next season.

I would like to see some posts here from some of our other NASCAR Full Throttle bloggers on what they think of the regular season as a whole.

In the meantime Amy’s Bad Groove explores the implications of that final regular season race at Richmond:

The race at Richmond was a battle royale even for Team Home Depot. To maintain a position in the chase team Home Depot had to score 35 or better. Thanks to Tropical Storm Hannah the Saturday night race was postponed until Sunday afternoon and qualifying was a wash. This however, was a good thing because it meant team Home Depot started 8th because they were 8th in points…read more

While you are visiting Amy’s Bad Groove, be sure to read her first person account of the race weekend at Fontana. So far, she has posted part one and part two.

Trixie’s Trailer Park has a good preview of the 2008 Chase for the Championship here.

If anyone has any information on the whereabouts of Tim of Do You NASCAR, it would be greatly appreciated. He hasn’t posted anything since the Watkins Glen race.

This Weekends Race…

racekitten — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:34:22 +0000

I just got this email through NASCAR.com

Due to inclement weather from Tropical Storm Hanna, tomorrow’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway has been postponed until 1 p.m. Sunday. The Nationwide event will now be run at 7 p.m. Sunday.