The Hot Seat

By Dawg Chapman



Unless you're like the guy in the insurance commercial, & live under a rock.
Just why this guy would need insurance always puzzled me, but you get
the idea.

Then you know that as of this writing, a winning Cup seat just become
available, on very short notice. This came about because of a mutual
agreement between Penske, Shell, & Kurt Busch. This strikes me as pretty
significant, because it's probably the only time Bush has been agreeable the
entire season. In a few short months, I'm going to agree to pay my taxes.
It's pretty much the same deal, I expect.

This has to be considers a real serendipitous stroke of luck. Just when some
name drivers had pretty much given up hope of landing a quality ride for 2012,
& were sifting through the available rides. Looking, I'm sure for something
that offered a glimmer of turning into something more than another year of
just hanging on in Cup.

The names most often mentioned are David Reagan, Brian Vickers, David
Reutimann, & Sam Hornish Jr. It's a shame that Clint Bowyer had settled for a seat owned by in his words, "the worst driver in NASCAR." Hmmm, I wonder if there's anything like the "10 second rule" applying to NASCAR contracts? Maybe it could be annulled like a marriage that was never consummated. I really like Clint, but I'll
be unable to pull for him as long as he's driving for Super Shill, but I digress.

One thing that I noticed, was that Elliott Sadler's name was never
mentioned.

I do have a few fantasy picks, & I'm sure you probably do too.

I'd love to see Bobby Labonte, in a good car again. This isn't a put down
of the 47, but as a single car team, they have lots of room for improvement.
Getting out from under Super Shill's umbrella is a good first step, but there's
a lot more steps to be taken before they get to where they want to be. I doubt
Bobby's got time to make the trip. Terry got a similar chance with Hendrick,
late in his career & picked up a second Championship, as a result. Who knows,
maybe lightning could strike twice?

Another good choice, & my personal favorite, would be Robby Gordon.
After 6 Busch years, (sort of like dog years) having Robby on board,
would seem a lot less difficult. Robby's been plowing pretty rocky ground
the last couple of years, & might have a different outlook on being a
little more of an organization man now.

One spot that's empty in Robby's crowded trophy case is for the Indy 500.
If an Indy seat were part of the deal. This could be the perfect win, win
situation for all involved. Another plus that Robby could bring, would be
a ton of very loyal, hard core fans. Way more than any of the other drivers
being considered.

It's no secret, that I think Dave Blaney has been on the short end of
the stick, his NASCAR entire career. I'd dearly love to see what he
could do in a top ride. Again, no disrespect to the 36. I'm happy that
Dave's got a full time ride, that is actually able to race, but...well, you
know.

At this time, it looks like David Ragan his the inside track on the ride,
& of the drivers most mentioned, he's probably the best choice.
One thing is certain, he'll never embarrass the organization, or the
sponsor the way Kurt did.

Whoever ends up in the seat next season, is going to find it a
"hot seat." They're not going to measure up to the criteria that
Shell wants in a driver, so it's sounding like they will be on a one
year contract.

When you consider the alternatives, any driver that's offered the ride,
will jump at the deal. But they need to consider it a year long try out,
& a year like they had this year won't cut it.

Another driver who's in a pretty hot seat, would be Kyle.
I really think both of the Busch Brats should be looking for work
now, but neither his sponsor, or owner was willing to take that
step.....Yet.

I've said several times that "I don't see Kyle as a candy salesman."
One more embarrassing temper tantrum, & Mars/M & M may well
come to the same conclusion.

You can conact Dawg HERE

Silly Season by John "Dawg" Chapman

When I hear the term Silly Season, I tend to think of Adam Sandler, or
Jim Carrey movies. Maybe Happy Gilmore, or Liar, Liar, now that's what I think of as silly.



This years so called Silly Season on the other hand, reminds me more of
Nightmare on Elm Street, any of the Halloween movies, of maybe The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Particularly for anyone unfortunate enough to be involved, with the exception of Cousin Carl, it's been much more scary, than silly.



After Carl re-signed with Roush. That left Clint Bowyer as the top prospect. I have to admit that I was surprised when he didn't re-sign with RCR. After flirtations with several teams, I again have to admit to being shocked, when it came out that he was going to Michael Waltrip Racing. The top free agent going to a third tier team. What's up with that? Either he’s completely sold out, for money. Giving up on contending for wins, & making the Chase, or this was absolutely the only thing out there. I expect it was the latter. Joining this team, puts a driver on the fast track to mediocrity. Just ask Martin Truex. The scary thing about this is that his departure won't leave a vacant seat to fill.



While I'm thinking of Super Shill Racing, right on the heels of getting all their crew chiefs, & car chiefs tossed for the rest of the season. For yet another cheating incident, (I wonder when this is going to become too much of an embarrassment for the Japanese?)


They drop a bomb on the only driver to ever win for them.
Letting David Reutiman know by phone, (what a classy move) that he was
being kicked to the curb. This was apparently sponsor related. If Mikey is having sponsor issues that's really scary for everyone else. I think he even sleeps in the chicken suit. With only 3 races left, David's got about as much chance landing another Cup ride for next year, as I do. This is about like your prom date calling & telling you she's going with someone else. Just as you're starting the car to pick her up.



While he's in no danger of losing his ride, Matt Kenseth is losing his
sponsor, & as yet doesn't have anything else nailed down. This is about as scary as seeing someone in a hockey mask come up behind you as you wait for a bus on a dark corner. Matt not only made the Chase, but was in the thick of it, until Martinsville. Former Champion, multiple winner this season, great driver, all around nice guy. This just shouldn't be happening.



David Ragan isn't so lucky. UPS has decided to cut back from being a
full-time sponsor, & is switching to Carl. He's probably looking at dropping down to the Nationwide series at best. He says he "want's a competitive ride, wherever it is." Sorry David, these are all pretty much nailed down even in Nationwide.



Red Bull announced that they were going to use those wings, to fly out
of NASCAR. That's two cars gone, one of them would have had an open seat. Jay Fry has been trying to put something together to save the team, but if it hasn't happened by now. I don't expect it to. I'm not privy to any inside information, but I haven't even heard a whisper of anything working for Brian Vickers. If he did have any nibbles, Martinsville can't have helped his case.



Another scary aspect to this is that deserving Nationwide drivers like
Justin Allgaier, Brian Scott, Ricky Stenhouse, as well as Trevor Bayne,
have no place to go.



It wasn't long ago that Roush had to cut a team, because of the 4 care
rule. Now they will be down to 3. One of them unsponsored, as of now.
Childress from 4 to 3. Red Bull from 2 to gone.



Look out NASCAR, check out that guy behind you. He has real long fingernails, is wearing a hockey mask, & carrying a chainsaw.



This can't bode too well for you long term.



Dawg



You can contact Dawg HERE jj905@centurytel.net

　

Miscellaneous Miscellany

Richmond Ratings
　
Nowhere close to the all-time highs of a 4.2 in 2002 & 2007. Just remember, that while the ratings were up, they’re not even close to the all-time highs for the fall Richmond race ratings. And the 2002 fall Richmond race was before the TV contracts were negotiated and was shown on TNT. So just how is going to the internet going to affect the TV ratings for next season? I guess we’ll find out next season.
　
Not the Fastest Growing Sport
　
With the number of teams that have folded since Faux King Brian took over, the large number of sponsors that have left or seriously cut back on sponsorship, and the recent announcement of KHI folding and Germain Racing facing some serious financial issues, you have to wonder just how much longer things will continue to go downhill? The only thing that seems to be growing right now in NA$CAR is the number of teams folding, and the number of start & park teams. You know it’s bad when both the Busch & Truck Series show up with short fields or 1/3 of the field is start & parks. Robby Gordon, who had been running full-time, has now switched to start & park in the Cup Series. And the grandstands aren’t getting any fuller either despite the announcement of that NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel will be driving full-time next season in the Busch Series and part-time in the Cup Series. By the time next season rolls around, we may be at least 3 teams short in the Truck series, 2 teams short in the Busch Series, and 1 team short in the Cup Series.
　
De Silvestro to Penske?
　
Simone De Silvestro has been in talks with Roger Penske regarding a possible move to Team Penske. And she would be a good choice as Simone brings Entergy, Nuclear, and Areva sponsor dollars with her and they’re three year sponsorship deals plus options. Helio Castroneves may be able to scrape up a little sponsorship from Brazil but not nearly enough to fund a car for a full season. Briscoe has nothing for sponsorship, so if Simone does make the move to Penske, Briscoe will probably be the driver that Penske drops.

More Red Ink for HOF
　
This is from the Charlotte Business Journal regarding the France Hall of Fantasies:
　
Attendance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame fell by 35% in July from a year earlier, continuing a trend of declining results. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, operator of the $200 million publicly funded stock-car museum, reported the figures at its board meeting Wednesday. In July 2010, 33,452 people visited the hall of fame. Attendance declined to 21,910 in July 2011, the first month of the new fiscal year. July marked the third month of attendance slips of 30 percent or more in year-over-year comparisons. Those figures offer a barometer of interest in the hall of fame, which opened in May 2010. For May 2011, attendance was 30 percent below the previous year (25,034 visitors compared with 35,090 in May 2010). In June 2011, crowds dropped by 39 percent to 17,604 visitors for the month. Visitors authority board members didn't discuss the hall of fame results during their meeting. A recent update to City Council included questions and discussion of whether ticket prices could be hurting attendance. 　
One thing that’s hurting the HOF is its location. Another thing that’s hurting it is the fact that instead of all drivers, owners, mechanics, crew chiefs, etc. that should be eligible for induction aren’t. Faux King Brian has dictated that the selection process be done by star power and name recognition instead of on the merits and records of those who should be nominated and inducted. If there was a category for advancing racing through inventions or improving existing parts, guys like Tiger Tom Pistone, Rex White, and Banjo Matthews would be at the forefront of the nominees. Geoff Bodine might get in for the use of power steering on race cars. Holman-Moody might get in for developing the standard spindle, hubs, and other parts that have become the standard in stock car racing. So by going after star power rather than actual achievements, Faux King Brian is shooting himself in the foot.
　
Act of Desperation 2
　
In an attempt to staunch the flow of the rivers of red ink coming from the HOF bookkeeper’s page, NA$CAR is having one of the Chase for the Chumps drivers at the HOF once a week from now through the end of the season. Once again, Faux King Brian is either drinking his own Kool Aid or has had one too many “sodas” again.
　
Races Going Online
　
For those folks who have their computers hooked into their big flat screens or have their computer in the same room as their TV will be able top watch the races online for 9 out of 10 of the play-off races. Now, the up side is that it will give more folks access to the races. Folks who don’t have access through cable or satellite TV will be able to watch the races via the internet. The down side is that it will have an impact on the TV ratings. With the large number of complaints about the quality of the broadcasts on TV and the constant interruption with commercials, sponsor plugs, mention money plugs, idiotic graphics that take up anywhere from a third to three quarters of the TV screen, this could very well be the direction that NA$CAR is headed as they’ve been extremely reluctant to use the side by side format for commercials like Versus uses for IndyCar races because it doesn’t allow NA$CAR’s sponsors, not the team sponsors, but NA$CAR’s sponsor to have their type of “branding”. So don’t be surprised if and when you get just as many commercials online as you do during a TV broadcast.
　
Give Bobby Allison His Due
　
For decades, Bobby Allison has been trying to get credit for his win at Bowman-Gray on Aug. 6, 1971 while driving a Ford Mustang from the Grand American Series and beating out the drivers running Grand National Impalas, Galaxies, and Chargers. Under the rules of the day, and with Bill France Sr.’s blessings, Bobby, Tiny Lund, and others would run in Grand National races using the Grand American cars, especially because there was a short field. The strange thing is that Tiny Lund has been given credit for a win in his Grand American car. So why hasn’t Bobby?
　
　
I think this win should be given to Bobby and it’s long overdue. One thing it would do is correct the official records of NASCAR. Another thing it would do is put him in a tie with Jeff Gordon. Now think of the publicity that Faux King Brian could generate with this. Lots of hype and hoopla of the 2 of them together and when the day arrives that Jeff should pass Bobby’s record, then a nice ceremony in Victory Lane showing Bobby congratulating Jeff. And the last thing it would do is deflate the oversized ego of Jabber Jaws with his 84 wins. Something a lot of fans would like to see happen. So Your Highness, there’s one heck of a PR opportunity and photo ops just waiting for you to exploit it by simply correcting a one win situation.
　
Bowyer Going to MWR?
　
The bad thing with Bowyer going to MWR along with their new sponsors is we’ll get even more shilling than we currently do out of the Motormouth Brothers. And considering MWR’s win record, well, I sure hope Clint enjoys being a back marker or consistently running mid-pack. You can bet that Crusty isn’t a happy camper since his sponsor is jumping ship and he’ll probably tell us that somewhere between now and Homestead. But then, can you really blame 5 Hour for jumping ship considering how many times Crusty’s boy has finished a race on the tow hook?
　
8^th Annual Augusta International Raceway HOF Induction
　
Friday September 16th, Augusta International Raceway Preservation Society (AIRPS) will hold it's 8th Annual Hall of Fame Induction and Banquet. This years inductees are Jack Ingram; also known as the Iron Man, Sam Sommers former Cup driver, Jimmy Manese; motorcycle hot shoe, L R Newman of drag racing fame and George Lonergan; Hobby Class star. Also Bruce Brantley of Chamblee GA will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. The Banquet starts at 6 pm and tickets are $20 . Tickets will be, as long as they last, at the door. The event will be held at Diamond Lakes Regional Park off Windsor Spring road in Hephzibah, Georgia, just outside Augusta . This is the site of the former Speedway complex.
　
On Saturday September 17th AIRPS will hold it's annual racing reunion this year partnering with the Charley Norwood VA Hospital to hold a Welcome Home Party for four companies/units of returning Veterans. It's free to the public with a kids zone, car show racecars and autograph session. The Veterans Administration will have a health fair, job fair, school fair and many other information services. There will be a stage with live entertainment for good family fun and all are welcome. Opening ceremonies are at 10 am with event closing at approximately 2 pm. For information call Harvey Tollison at 706-829-6825