Help Sam Ard, Jeremy Mayfield on Race Hub, Musgrave Returning, NHRA Legal Problems, & Blind Drivers

Help Needed ASAP For Sam Ard

Right now, 2-time Busch Series champion Sam Ard and his wife Jo could use some big time help with repairs on their house and getting some major appliances replaced as the ones they have are on their last legs. As you know, Sam is suffering from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and outside of what he gets from the VA and Social Security, they have no other income since NASCAR doesn‘t have any sort of pension or medical plan for those that gave their all. So if anyone out there is in the construction or appliance business near the Pamplico, SC area and can lend them a hand, let me know and I’ll put you in touch with them.

Jeremy Mayfield on Race Hub

Jeremy Mayfield is supposed to be on Race Hub Tuesday night at 7:00 PM. Of course, all it takes is one phone call from Daytona to put the kibosh on it. But should it actually happen, it’ll be interesting to see if the interview is about Jeremy’s legal battles or if it’s an announcement that he’s going to be racing again as there’s been a rumor once again about him and IndyCar.

Why the Big Push on Practice?
　
Think back over the last few years and the Booth Bozos stating week in, week out that somebody had won practice. They were laying the groundwork for this season‘s qualifying. It doesn’t take a marketing genius to figure that one out. Plus, as qualifying is now “important”, it gives the tracks and sanctioning body yet another way to gouge the fan who shows up to watch practice. Some tracks will start charging the fan to watch practice or up the price on the tickets for practice by another $10-$25 over and above what‘s currently being charged, not including the shipping, handling, and processing fees which add another $20 to the cost of the ticket.

And what about the actual times and speeds? Will the teams, media, and fans at home be able to keep track of them independently or will we have to take the word from Mafia Mike in Race Control that the speeds are what they say they are? After all, JPM is still waiting on that printout for his speeding penalty at Indy he was promised. And there have been cases of inspectors ignoring modifications made right under their noses and Race Control moving up positions of wrecked cars on the track to make sure certain drivers made it into the play-offs by moving them up another position or two even though their car was way behind other wrecked cars even before the wreck. So here’s yet another opportunity for manipulation by the sanctioning body to help out their Chosen Ones.

Who’s to Blame?
　
When the 2011 season wraps up and the excuses start pouring out on why the grandstands were empty and the TV ratings were worse than last season, who will be blamed for it? Will it once again be the economy? Dale Jr’s performance? Jimmy Johnson winning 6 in a row? The non-Kool Aid drinking media telling the truth? Or will some new scapegoat be blamed? Think about it, write down your choice on a piece of paper, and tuck it away until after the season and see if you were right. The one excuse you won’t see being offered up? The sanctioning body and its leadership.

Poll Results - Bud Shootout
　
Based on the last poll I ran regarding the Bud Shootout and whether or not the rules changes will affect viewership, 38% will watch it, 28% won’t watch it, 19% won’t watch the Shootout or any other NA$CAR event, and 14% aren’t sure. My thanks to all who participated in the poll.
　
Twitter Traffic
　
According to some Twitter traffic from Bob Pockrass, the 2010 finances were released by NA$CAR’s conjoined twin ISC and they don’t look pretty. “ISC has release its 2010 financials. When looking at base operations, net income down 19% from $90.6M to $73.2M”. “Total ISC revenues down 6.9%; Admissions revenues down 17.9%”.
　
Dustin Long sent this tweet out about the Truck Series:

NASCAR.com streaming of Truck races continues partnership with Speed in having Speed content on the website.
　
The NHRA Could Face Legal Issues 


Unlike NA$CAR, the NHRA is supposed to be a non-profit organization. However, according to Marcus S. Owens, senior member of the law firm Caplin and Drysdale who filed the complaint, “It appears to be operated for the benefit of those who run the show, much the way a business is operated for the people who own the business.” The complaint contends the majority of the NHRA’s revenue is derived from nontraditional sources for a trade association. The NHRA is supposed to be representing the drag racing in and before Congress and government agencies. The complaint alleges the NHRA puts most of its focus on holding public, televised races which appears to violate various IRS rules regarding non-profit organizations.
　
I guess we’ll see how this works out with the IRS or if lobbying and “the greasy palm quiets the wheel” makes the complaint go away.

Ted Musgrave to Run This Season?
　
Based on what Ted has written on Facebook, he’s working on a deal to run the 2011 season using some Roush-prepared Fords in the Busch series. It sure would be good to see Ted back on the track. Ted’s one of the few drivers left who has a set of brass ones to call things the way he sees them and does so. There’s not many drivers who’d park a car and walk away from a ride like Ted did back in November 1999 when he walked away from the #75 car because the team owners wouldn‘t listen to what Ted had to say about improving the car and team performance.

Carnival Game

I do like how Shawn Courchesne described the new points system and the changes for the 2011 season. It’s like a game of 3 card Monte. And he also brings up some very valid points regarding the regional series like the Busch East, Winston West Series, and the Modified Series not being mentioned. Are they also affected by these rule changes? Faux King Brian seems to have forgotten about those series. But then, he can barely remember the Craftsman World Truck Series. Yes, that’s what Faux King Brian called it during his babbling at the HOF in Charlotte.

Blind Drivers Getting a Chance to Drive

While I think it’s interesting that technology could possibly allow blind drivers to return to the roads at some future point or maybe even race, the fact that these two articles disappeared from where they were originally reported from makes me wonder if somebody in Daytona Beach was wanting to make a big PR splash with this idea or if they simply wanted it squashed.

Google originally found them at MSNBC but apparently they removed them from their site, it's not even relocated or in their archives and links from MSNBC's own search engine are broken.

Nothing quite like having a free media to report what’s happening in the world. 

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/motorsport/article1134106.ece?css=print

http://www.suite101.com/content/daytona-hosts-blind-driver-challenge-demonstration-at-rolex-24-a338445  　

Are the Shootout Rule Changes the new Top 35 Rule?

With the latest changes to the Shootout and trying to figure out why the changes are being made, all you have to do is follow the money trail. Any decision Faux King Brian makes is related to money. The “Have at it Boys”? An attempt to get more fans to show up at the track and to raise ratings, which means more money from ticket sales and increased ratings will raise or at least maintain what NA$CAR gets when the TV contracts come up for renewal. The Chase for the Chumps? An attempt to beat the NFL and make money off of tickets and merchandise sales. The Car of Timidity? That put’s a cool quarter million dollars in NA$CAR’s pocket every time a team buys one. So there is little to nothing that happens that doesn’t put money into Faux King Brian’s piggy bank.
　
As to the Shootout itself, let’s look at the money factor. Why would His Highness want Joey The Giraffe in the Shootout? He hasn’t won a Cup championship or a Shootout. So there’s got to be a reason. Look at his sponsor. There’s the #1 reason right there. Home Depot spends millions on NA$CAR-related advertising. Look at his car manufacturer. That’s reason #2. They paid NA$CAR a cool $93 million to get into the racer-tainment business and for favors to be named later. And look at some of the other drivers who have the same manufacturer who got in based on the new rules. His two teammates, neither of whom have won a Shootout or a championship. And look how much money their sponsors spend on NA$CAR-related advertising? Once again, millions that NA$CAR doesn't have to spend.
　
Why have Cousin Carl in the Shootout? Because of the millions that AFLAC spends on advertising related to NA$CAR. What about Bow Wow Bowyer? Hamburger Helper runs the Most Popular Driver contest and their parent company spends a lot of money on their at-track presence with their booths set up in the souvenir hauler area. Kasey Kahne hasn’t won a championship or a Shootout but he’s in the same make of car as the Gibbs Boys. Plus he’ll be driving for Slick Rick in 2012, so under these new rules, Slick Rick will have all 4 drivers in the Shootout. And of course, who can forget the Human Shill? His sponsors spend a lot of money on NA$CAR-related advertising plus his manufacturer not to mention how much he helps promote the Gospel According to Brian.


There was a time when the Bud Shootout was a race that meant a little something because it was an exclusive race with the best of the best competing in it. But as time has marched on under the (lack of) leadership of Faux King Brian, the Bud Shootout has become just another marketing gimmick. No longer is it previous champions, pole sitters, and previous winners of the Bud Shootout racing for a nice chunk of change and the honor of winning the Shootout. It’s now a hodgepodge with Chase for the Chumps contenders, previous Cup champions, past ROY’s from 2000-2010, past Bud Shootout winners, and past Daytona points race winners. The way things are looking right now, there could be 30 cars in the Shootout. Heck, if they’re going to do that, why not make it a 43 car field and “invite” the Busch and Truck Series champions and past champions, the Busch and Truck Series ROY’s for the last 10 years, and if that’s not enough to make a 43 car field, then why not invite the reigning champions from IndyCar, ARCA, USAR, Rolex Series, ALMS, F-1, and ASA? Instead of being the crème de la crème of the Cup Series, it’s now watered down to racers, drivers, has been’s, and wanna-be’s.

Faux King Brian keeps changing the rules to ensure that certain drivers are included in the Shootout in the false hopes that their names will pull in fans to the track to watch the Shootout and boost the TV ratings for those watching at home. Instead, it’s backfired. Fewer and fewer fans and curiosity seekers show up to see it live and more folks who would watch at home are finding other things to do with their time because they‘re dissatisfied with the constant rules changes, favoritism, race manipulation, and commercialism that has turned what was once a great form of racing into little more than a 3-4 hour info-mercial.
　
So what does all of this mean? All the recent changes boil down to making the rules for the Shootout little more than the Top 35 Rule to protect certain advertisers, sponsors, teams, and car manufacturers.