Curtis Turner for 2016 HOF

Curtis Turner for 2016 HOF

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Courage, Bristol, Conspiracies, Deleted Comments, Logano, Dinger, & Other Stuff

Bristol



That had to be the best Bristol race since the introduction of the much cursed Car of Turmoil. Folks actually had to use their skills to navigate around slower traffic and to pass their competitors. None of this “Waah I need a whole race track to be able to pass” stuff. You were able to tell who the racers were and who the drivers were. The racers moved forwards on the track while the drivers depended on attrition and pit stops to move forward. Sure there were some wrecks. Some from blown tires, others from a driver’s lack of skills in close quarters racing, and some from Murphy’s Law. But because the racing was better, you can expect to see the grandstands to be not quite as empty as they have been over the last several years. It was a far cry form the first Car of Turmoil race at Bristol when fans were actually falling asleep in their seats.



Now if NA$CAR would just go back to something that actually resembled a stock car or improved the handling of the current generic race vehicle, they might get some more exciting racing which means more butts in the seats.



You Gotta Laugh



The Queen of Hype’s fans are nearly as demented as the fans of another highly hyped driver. You talk about conspiracy theories? Some have said that Sorenson intentionally “brake checked” her which is why she ran into the rear of him causing her to wreck at Indy during the Busch Series race. When the BSPN analysts have nothing to say other than she was at fault, you know she was at fault. And after 10+ years of racing experience, she could’ve easily have missed Sorenson when his car slid back across the track. All she had to do was slow down. It might have cost her a few positions but she wouldn’t have wrecked her car. I’ve seen genuine rookies miss the same sort of wrecks by simply hitting the brakes. If I can miss a 26 car wreck on an icy, foggy autobahn in Germany simply by slowing down and using my brakes, she could surely miss a car on an closed circuit with sunny warm weather.

 

The infamous shoe “bombing” incident in Montreal is being said to be a concerted effort to keep her from winning. It sounds like Hillary Clinton’s “vast right wing conspiracy” statement. Apparently track security caught the person who did it and tossed them from the track. The fact that her spotter was telling her to be careful and to watch for debris on the track and she hit the shoe anyways makes me wonder if she has a hearing problem or maybe has trouble processing verbal orders or comments. Eury Jr had told her several times to take care of the transmission but that didn’t seem to work too well either. The fact that the track bar came loose tells me it either wasn’t tightened down properly or that she hit the “curbs” either too hard or hit them one too many times.



The shoe incident made for some great commentary during the IndyCar race at Sonoma. The commentators said they needed a caution and that Robin Miller was spotted wearing only one sneaker in the pits and wondered when he’d throw his sneaker out on the track to cause a caution. It was an obvious dig at the Queen of Hype and her inability to miss the sneaker that was on the track at Montreal.



Perfect Record



So far, the Queen of Hype has a perfect record in the Cup Series races she’s run in this season. She’s manage to wreck in every one so far. Not exactly the kind of perfect record you want to have.



Tony Stewart to Compete in 2016 Olympics



With the addition of a new event for the 2016 Olympics and a fine exhibition of his skills at Bristol, Tony Stewart has secured a position and will be team captain for Team USA in Rio De Janeiro in the Helmet Toss Competition.



Focks Snorts Deleting Comments



It seems that the wonderful folks monitoring the Focks Snorts web site doesn’t like comments that don’t praise NA$CAR. Here’s a comment that was deleted regarding the recent penalties:



Sure enough it is typical NASCAR fairness through and through. One team gets their hand slapped and another belted and whipped.





I'm sure it has nothing at all to do with car maker, sponsors and who makes the chase. Nope, nada, none.





Is it a Coincidence that ever since a Childress put a Black #3 back on the track he has been getting nothing but fined? Humm Must be me.





The frame rails pass pre-race inspection but then NASCAR decides to post-race inspect a 10th place car and amazingly finds a needle in a haystack. I proud of you NASCAR and your Due Diligence. Keep it up!





The frame rails are inspected and certified at the super secret R&D facility when the Car of Turmoil (COT) is submitted for the $22,500 certification process. So how could the frame rail be sanctified and blessed at the R&D facility and then fail a post-race inspection? That says a lot about the certification process and it’s reliability and questions the integrity of both the COT’s that have been certified and of NA$CAR and the folks doing the certification.



But leave it to Focks Sports to delete a comment which questions NA$CAR’s integrity and criticizes them.



NA$CAR Integrity



I know, they have none. You look at the penalties for Paul Menard’s team and that of Shrubbery. Menard’s team get’s fined, suspensions, and docked points. Shrubbery didn’t have any points docked. Why not? All they got was a fine and probation for the crew chief. Menard on the other hand lost his crew & car chiefs until October 3rd, his crew chief was fined, and the team got docked 25 driver & owner points for a frame rail which didn’t meet specs.



The frame rails have to be certified along with the rest of the Kit Car at the super secret R&D center. So if the frame rails were certified by NA$CAR and were later found not to meet spec, what does that say about the certification process and NA$CAR? You have to wonder if NA$CAR intentionally lets cars that won’t make spec through just so they can nail them later to put money into the NA$CAR Foundation in which NA$CAR only pays out 30% to charity.



Dinger Still in Talks



During the broadcast of the IndyCar race at Sonoma, one of the announcers stated that AJ Foyt was still in talks with Dinger about driving for him next season. I know Dinger’s heart was set on returning to NA$CAR next season but as I’ve mentioned before he’ll be treated like damaged goods. So it would be a much better career move to go to IndyCar next season and maybe return to NA$CAR at some point down the road.



Logano to Penske



By now it’s been announced that Joey the Giraffe is going to Penske. I’m not sure what car he’ll be driving. More than likely it’ll be a 3rd team car. Why is that? Because Pennzoil has a clause in their contract which states that a champion will drive the car with their sponsorship. The only top tier champion on the Penske team is Sam Hornish Jr. with 3 IRL/IndyCar championships. Logano won the Camping World Series East Championship in 2007. Not quite the same thing or same level as Sam’s championships.

The interesting thing about that is Sam had Pennzoil on his IRL car when he was a champion in the IRL. So there’s already a relationship established between Sam and Pennzoil. Who will Joey’s sponsor be? That remains to be seen.



Using Illegal Parts



Bad Brad said that The Felon’s teams were using illegal parts on the rear end of the car which allow the rear end to “turn”. If true, you have to ask yourself why didn’t NA$CAR’s crack team of officials catch it? When you’ve got Mr Magoo as your head official and the team owner is BFF’s with Faux King Brian, it’s easy for illegal parts to be missed during inspection.



Smoke Retracts Threats



Smoke retracted remarks he made after the race at Bristol about taking out Matt Kenseth every chance he (Smoke) got. Now why would he do that? When you announce to the world ahead of time that your going to take out another driver during a race, that’s considered to be pre-meditated and NA$CAR frowns on that. That’s a big Bozo No-No. Even if an incident occurred that wasn’t intentional, NA$CAR would take immediate action such as parking the driver, like they did with Mr Happy a while back, or bringing them into the pits and make them sit there for a number of laps. So will Smoke actual wreck Kenseth? Definitely. But he’ll probably use Iron Head’s rule. Wait about 4-5 races then take him out.




Courage



If you want to find out what courage really is, you need to read about Danny Pollock, who races sprint cars.

 
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150691199195838&id=86077500837


http://www.dannypollock.com/

Friday, August 17, 2012

Memory Lane Event, Dinger, Product Testing & Miscellaneous Stuff

Circle This on Your Calendar


On Sunday October 14th all race fans visiting Memory Lane Motorsports & Historical Automotive Museum will have the opportunity to meet with some of racings greatest stars! A special event is being held to honor legendary car owner Bud Moore, and will be a great time for all in attendance! Memory Lane Museum features on display Bud Moore’s original 1982 Dale Earnhardt Wrangler T-Bird that won the 1982 CRC Darlington 500! Also, the museum features many original items used by Bud Moore during his successful racing career. Bud Moore along with many of his racing comrades will be in attendance to meet with fans as they get to see the cars that made these drivers and personalities famous, items only featured on display at Memory Lane Museum.
Other racing personalities expected to be at the event, in addition to Bud Moore, are Bobby Allison (1983 NASCAR Champion), Donnie Allison, Neil “Soapy” Castles, Greg Moore (Bud’s son), Ted Musgrave (Craftsman Truck Champion), Dick Trickle, Rex White (1960 NASCAR Champion), and possibly other racing greats!


Admission to the event is $10.00 for adults, children ages 6-12yrs $6.00, and children 6-under free with adult. Admission covers the cost of museum entry and the meet and greet with the personalities in attendance.


Holy Smokes Mission & Ministry of Lake Norman Fellowship will be serving barbeque and other concession items, proceeds benefit their ministry as they serve the local community in need. Old Timers Racing Club will be selling 50-50 raffle tickets and have drawings for door prizes.

 
Dinger Released, Is that Bad?


By now most folks know that Dinger was released by Penske because of his false positive test results. Is that such a bad thing for him? Not really. The 2nd greatest driver of the 20th century and team owner AJ Foyt has stated that he’ll hire Dinger for the 2013 season in IndyCar. Foyt’s been a good judge of character over his many years of racing and being involved in the racing industry. He’s also been involved with NA$CAR over the years and knows all too well how NA$CAR and the France family work. So for Foyt to be willing to hire Dinger tells me just how much he thinks of what both NA$CAR and Penske have done.


Michael Shank, co-owner of the IndyCar team that Dinger co-owns, has said that he’s looking for sponsors for a car to put Dinger back on the track next season. So it looks like Dinger has a couple of options for his future.


Dinger & Adderall


It appears that in an interview with BSPN, Dinger admitted he took one pill of Adderall that a “friend” gave him. So that tells me that the “stimulant” that Dinger came up positive for was amphetamine and methamphetamine based on the results that Mayfield got when he was taking Adderall which was prescribed to him and tested by “wonderful” Aegis Labs.


And you have to wonder about the timing on this too. Dinger’s contract was coming up for renewal. Dinger has been going through a pretty rough divorce with his wife. His “friend” gives him Adderall and then 2 days later he’s tested by NA$CAR? Coincidence? Sure. Or his supposed “friend” dropped a dime on him after he took the Adderall. Makes me think of an old story that’s moral is “People who crap on you aren’t always your enemy and people who pull you out of crap aren’t always your friend”.


More on the “Active Ingredient” in Energy Drink


Long time race fan Terry happens to have worked as a chemist for a number of years for a rather large company and here’s what he had to say on the “smoking gun” I found in regards to Dinger’s false positive:


Phenylalanine (also sometimes as l-phenylalanine, where the l-signifies as I recall the ability of the pure isomer form to refract light (a symbol of the purity or activity of the pure form), or the chirality around one of the predominant carbon compounds) is a sweetener and here are a few links. It is also a derivative of aspartame:


http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/healthy_eating/artificial_sweeteners.htm
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/phenylalanine-000318.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame



Sorry to get so technical, but that is what happens when one studies darn near 4 or 5 years of chemistry. (I have a Masters in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from W&M).


But then again, with NA$CRAP and the others referring many times to classes of compounds, it can be difficult to be sure we are talking about the same thing. One sure way: get the CASRN (Chemical Abstracts Services Registry Number: like a social security card for a chemical) or the DEA registration number for it. Of course when there is overlap between FDA & DEA, we can surely expect nothing is done correctly. Some drugs are controlled by DEA, and others are regulated; some are by FDA where a health benefit (risk) is also available. DEA usually assigns a registration # (different than a CASRN and depends upon the class of regulation or restriction, based on its potency or ability to do harm (or again benefit) but where substance abuse is also likely to arise).



So unless we can look at the actual report, methods used, limits of detection, purity etc. darn difficult to make any sense of any of it. And that is what gives everyone room for cover.



Hilarious Iowa Stat


Darrell Wallace Jr, Brett Moffitt, and Ryan Blaney collectively have 8 starts in the Busch Series. All finished ahead of NA$CAR’s new "messiah", the Queen of Hype, who has 44 starts in the Busch Series. And who gets the hype? It sure isn’t Darrell, Brett, or Ryan.


Hyped Road Course “Expert” Versus Real Road Course Expert


Watkins Glen saw the media really hyping the Queen of Hype as being a road course expert and yet even with her spotter yelling in her ear to “go wide”, the Queen of Hype plowed into Ryan Truex as his car came rolling back towards Turn 1. Sam Hornish Jr, who’s not exactly a road course specialist finished 3rd. Cousin Carl, who’s known more for winning on ovals than road courses, won the Busch Series race at Watkins Glen. Underfunded Mike Bliss finished 14th. So how can these non-experts miss wrecks and actually finish a road course race and the so-called “road course expert” not? That’s the million dollar question.


Some have offered up the excuse that the Queen of Hype had nowhere to go. I’ve seen several drivers in the past cut across grassy areas on road courses to avoid wrecks on both road courses and oval tracks. Apparently driving through the grass is something that is beyond the Queen’s capabilities as she’s wrecked numerous cars on ovals which could’ve been avoided simply by going down through the infield grass on the ovals tracks. Instead she prefers to run head-on into other cars on the track or the retaining walls. I’ve seen Robby Gordon go airborne through the “bus stop” and through the grass to avoid an accident and keep on going. Ron Fellows, a road course ringer, didn’t have any problems making it through that first turn on the first lap and he got beat by drivers who aren’t road course ringers. The Queen’s rookie teammate made it through the first turn and managed to finish 24th despite tearing up his car going into the “bus stop” later in the race.


It’s high time the media stopped making up excuses for the Queen of Hype and call it like it is. She is, at best, a mediocre mid-pack driver out of the 15 competitive cars that run every weekend in the Busch Series.



Product Testing: Harco Brands Cleaning Wipes


I don’t do product testing very often but when I do I like to put things through their paces. I had never heard of Harco Brands cleaning products until a box of them showed up on my doorstep. Each one came in a plastic container and contained 30 wipes. So I put them through some home-style testing. The first one I tested out was the HarcoHome household cleaner. My grandson left us a bit of a surprise when he got into some maple syrup and left it on the cabinet doors and kitchen floor. The wipes did a great job of removing the sticky mess. So I decided to try them on the range hood above the stove. They did an excellent job of taking care of the sticky grease that had accumulated on it. Nice not having to keep using and rinsing a cleaning rag or sponge repeatedly to remove the mess. I also used the wipes on the refrigerator where my grandson had left an assortment of fingerprints and also on his high chair after he had eaten lunch and made a mess.


One product called HarcoMarine Miracle Wipes were originally designed for use on boats but as I don’t own a boat, I put them to use on some other things. They’re designed to be used on decks, galleys (kitchens for you landlubbers), plastic, fiberglass, vinyl, and other materials. Since we have a fiberglass tub and shower, I used them on that and they did an excellent job of cleaning them up. As I have a fiberglass cover on the bed of my truck, I decided to give them a try on that as they’re designed to remove bird droppings and they worked as advertised. Since the car washes tend to miss a spot between the cab and bed cover, I had an slight accumulation of mold and the wipes did a great job of removing the mold. I also had an old printer in my office and used the wipes to remove the accumulation of sticky fingerprints my grandson had left on it when he was trying to help me print out some paperwork. The lemon scent makes them pleasant to smell.


Since my disability I’m somewhat limited on the mechanical work I can do so I got my son to lend me a hand on testing out the HarcoAuto Miracle Wipes. He put them through their paces on several repair jobs involving his truck, lawnmower, and weed-eater. They did an fantastic job of removing the grease and oil that were on the equipment and they removed the dirty grease and oil that my son accumulated on his tools and hands during the repair jobs. He said that the HarcoAuto wipes worked better than Gojo and other hand cleaners on cleaning his hands and because they were in the form of a wipe they made cleaning up his tools particularly easy.


Being an artist with a grandson and pets around, I can’t exactly use oil-based paints or paints that need to be thinned out using petroleum thinners or turpenoid products and can‘t use varnish because of the fumes and toxicity. So I use acrylic paints. My grandson likes to use markers and crayons when he creates his “masterpieces”. And there are times when my grandson and I collaborate on an art piece. Usually when he spills some paint I’m using or grabs a brush and applies some of his strokes to a canvas, floor, or table top. I used the HarcoPaint wipes to help clean up the spilled paint, marker strokes on a plastic table top, crayon marks on an oak table, and dried paint on some of my paintbrushes. Being a little more environmentally friendly than thinners and petroleum products, the paint wipes did a great job of cleaning things up. As my grandson says, “Good job Gumpy”.


I also found that they are multi-purpose. The Auto & Pro Wipes can be used in the garage. The Pro & Paint wipes can be used to clean up printing and paint messes. The Marine & Household wipes can be used in cleaning up greasy or sticky kitchen messes and can be used in the bathroom. Nice to have something that can do more than one cleaning job. Like any product, be sure to read the labels and follow the instructions. For tailgaters and campers where space can be a premium, you might be able to save some space since some of the wipes can be used for the same cleaning job.