Loose Lug Nuts by Mike Sanders
Let's Start With A Rant, Shall We?
I am not a journalist or member of the media. That's obvious from what I write and how I write. What I am is a schmoe with an opinion and a platform from which to give it. I speak only for myself; I don't pretend to speak for anybody else. That would be extremely presumptuous on my part. What I hate is when the sports media, either local or national, DOES take it upon itself to speak for me, and also to tell me who I should like and who I should dislike. According to the national sports media (and a certain four letter network in particular) if you don't worship Tiger Woods, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Notre Dame football, you're un-American (personally, I despise all three, so I guess that makes me a hardcore Commie or something). Hey, sports media: I don't remember signing a power of attorney document giving you the right to speak for me, so QUIT DOING IT!!! This bubbled to the surface a couple of weeks ago when I was reading the blog of a person (who shall remain nameless) who works as the news editor of a Michigan newspaper and who also writes a NASCAR blog (his profile says he "knows a ridiculous amount about...NASCAR..." umm...okay). The partial title of that particular blog was "Danica Patrick is tied in the points with Tayler Malsam, so where's his coverage?" Promising title...maybe this guy gets it. Ummm...no, he doesn't get it. It was a bait-and-switch. A couple of doozies from the blog:
1. "Maybe I should give him (Tayler Malsam) a call? But then again, how many of you would want to read about it?" Hey dirtbag, maybe a lot of us would like to read about him. Have you actually spoken to any real race fans about this, or are you just going to take it upon yourself to speak for us?
2. "We in the media know Danica is really not that much more special of a driver than many of her lesser-know competitors. But, and this is a really big but, they are lesser-known, and most people don't care about them." Again, who the hell are you to speak for race fans? If you want to speak for yourself, fine; don't say "most people" because you AREN'T MOST PEOPLE!!! And the reason they're lesser-known is because you and your brethren in the media are too damned lazy to cover them, and instead would rather shower undeserved praise on some low-talent semi-good looking (at best) publicity whore.
The Bimbo And The Un-Bimbo
Yes, Danica shall forever be The Bimbo, and Johanna Long is The Un-Bimbo, in that she drives under the media radar, and gets the best out of her underfunded car. I was hoping she was going to win at Daytona this past Friday night; she was in the top 10 with a handful of laps left, but alas, she ended up wrecked on the final lap and finished in 12th. Still, not bad. One thing I'm noticing the last few weeks as I read through NASCAR blogs and news articles is that Johanna is picking up quite a following. Some of the writers and commentors are saying that the main reason for this is that they're tired of The Bimbo being shoved down their throats, and instead of following someone who underperforms in the best equipment around, they would prefer to follow someone who is over achieving. I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course, The Bimbo still has her apologists out there. I had a little back-and-forth with one on Saturday. My point was that The Bimbo was receiving media coverage that was way out of proportion to her achievements on the track. This guy came back with "check the facts, she's 9th in the standings". So, I checked the facts and came back with "the facts are that only 16 drivers have run all 16 NNS races this year, so that puts her in the lower half of the full-time teams, along with such guys as Jeff Green, T.J. Bell, and Mike Wallace. I wouldn't be bragging about that". His retort was the oft-used and very tiresome "well, you think you could do any better?" Oy...and my answer to that, which ended our little internet conversation was "well, if I had been racing competitively since the age of 10 or so, and now had the best equipment money could by, then yes, I would be doing a hell of a lot better".
Junior's Win
When Junior finally won at Michigan, you would have thought world peace had broken out and that cancer had been cured. Alas, no, it was only one win. But the long national nightmare was finally over...or something. I did think it would finally give rest to those incessant "is this the week Junior finally wins?" articles that were increasing in quantity over the last couple of months. But no. The day after his win, I actually saw an article that asked "when will Junior win again"? Jeez, give the guy a break. If he's consistent, his next win will be at Michigan in 2016. As I was watching the end of the race, two things came to mind: first, the TNT booth bozos (who are just about as bad as the FOX booth bozos) spent so much time talking about how great this win was going to be for NASCAR, blah blah...that they completely lost focus on the other cars on the track. So much so that when the 55 car, which had been in the top 10 for literally the entire race, and most of that in the top 5, blew an engine with 5 laps to go (eventually finishing 29th), it was never mentioned, even after the race. The only reason I knew something was wrong was on that the crawler showing the running order and intervals the 5's distance behind the 88 suddenly grew at a very fast rate, and in one cycle he went from 5th to 29th. I kinda figured it was another blown engine for the 55 (the third in 7 races) and I was right, with no help from the guys in the booth. The second thing that came to mind with a handful of laps to go, was that this was the week that there would be no phantom debris caution to bunch up the field at the end of the race. I think the NASCAR officials figured that if they threw a bogus caution with three laps left and Junior leading by 5 seconds or so, the members of Junior Nation that were present at the race would have stormed the booth the officials were operating out of like the villagers storming Frankenstein's castle... torches, pitchforks and all. Anything short of a 50 megaton thermonuclear detonation in turn 3 wasn't going to be flagged, and even that would have been debated.
Longing For FOX?
As bad as the FOX broadcasts were for mangled camera angles and excessive booth stupidity, TNT seems to be trying out do them when it comes to horrific race coverage. Yes, their camera work is infinitely better than FOX, but the guys in the booth are getting worse instead of better, constantly talking over each other and sometimes not paying attention to the action on the track (which is what I thought they were being paid to do...silly me). And of course, the biggest concern for race fans: the gazillion commercials each race. There have been times when the race coverage is 3 minutes and the commercial time following it is 4-5 minutes. And it's happened more than once. When commercial time exceeds race coverage time, you've got a BIG problem. I know, I know, the bills have to be paid, and the rights fees have to be recouped from ad dollars, but enough is enough. And we're stuck with this TV contract until after the 2014 season. Maybe then we'll get a break. Or maybe not...
Time To Take The Wins Away?
After his dominating performance in the NNS race at Kentucky, Austin Dillon's 3 car failed post-race inspection. The win stood, and there were slap-on-the-wrist point penalties and fines. After winning the pole for the NNS race at Daytona last Friday, the 3 car again failed inspection. His time was disallowed and he was sent to the back of the field for the race; further penalties are forthcoming. In my very humble opinion, if a car wins a race and then fails post-race inspection, the win should be vacated. Everybody else in the field moves up one spot; the car that finished second is now declared the winner, and the original winning car goes to 43rd place. The argument against that is "the car that finished 2nd originally didn't cross the start-finish line first, so he can't be declared the winner". The counter-argument is "how do we know the original 2nd place car wouldn't have won if the original winning car wasn't cheating"? The discussion can go back and forth forever, depending on your point of view, but if wins that were gained because the winning car wasn't legit aren't taken away, what is to keep teams (*cough* 48 *cough*) from cheating every week? Something's got to be done, and that's the easiest and most direct thing. Instead of winners' points, you get 43rd place points for the race. That'll get drivers' and CC's attention, and quickly. Keep the win and only get docked 6 points (such as the 3 car last week)? BFD. Seriously, BFD. Six points can be made up in one week. 46-47 points (which include the bonus for winning the race and the bonus for leading one lap or the most laps)? That'll take a bit longer.
Curtis Turner for 2016 HOF
Showing posts with label Dale Jr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dale Jr. Show all posts
Monday, July 9, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Will Danica Save NASCAR?
First off, does NASCAR, really need to be saved? Short answer, no.....
but it damn sure can use some help. In the short run, I'm sure Danica's
presence will help.
Jimmy Johnson has won 55 Cup races. As well as 5 Championships, in a row
in what is arguably the most competitive form of motorsports in the world.
Just think for a minute about how many times you see Jimmy on TV in non
racing related situations. Versus Danica who's all over the TV, seemingly
all the time.
Surprisingly, the driver next to Danica, that I see the most on TV outside
of the races is Casey Mears, in his GEICO commercials. Personally I liked
the ones with Mike, & Lauren, Wallace, "story with me is, put him in the
wall." See, if I still remember it. It was an effective commercial, but that
ship has sailed.
The jury's still out on whether she's better known as Danica, the racer, or
Danica, the Go Daddy Girl. The real point here is that she IS, known.
The combination of her talent, looks, & a deep pocket sponsor,
( I'll let you sort these into any order you like, ) have all come together
into the 'perfect marketing storm'.
Until she is able to balance this marketing blitz, (or hype,) with on track
performance, many long time NASCAR fans are going to continue to be turned
off. Regardless of how they feel about this, they're not going to abandon
the sport.
On the other hand, she does have the ability to attract new fans.
In this respect, her presence can't help but be good for the sport.
We've all read the stories about how Dale Jr. winning, will give NASCAR
a big lift. No argument here. Every fan wants to see his, or her, driver
winning. As Dale Jr. has the most fans, then it stands to reason that his
winning would be very good for the sport.
That having been said, this sport is bigger than any of it's stars.
It's bigger than the sum of it's parts, but some of it's parts aren't
doing so well.
My opinion is that overall NASCAR's not nearly as healthy as they
would have us believe. The France family, on the other hand, are
doing extremely well, but are they slowly killing their golden goose?
The economy is getting the lion's share of the blame, & there's no doubt
that it's a big factor, but the decline started before the economic
downturn.
NASCAR has a number of things that need to be addressed to help reverse,
or at least stabilize, it's slide. I'll just focus on a couple of them.
They need exciting on track action. Fights, feuds, & wrecks, serve as
distractions. But until they can come up with a way to make the week, to
week, racing on the so called, 'Cookie Cutter', tracks something that
fans look forward to. Then they've still got a lot of work to do.
Running cars that fans can identify with would be a very good start.
The second thing they need, & this is absolutely critical, is financially
stable owners.
As things stand, being a NASCAR owner, in either Cup, or Nationwide
is absolutely the worst job in the sport. You don't see the drivers going
broke, & leaving the sport, but it's common for owners. Kevin Buckler,
& Rusty Wallace were just the last in a long line, & they won't be the last
for long.
While Rusty, didn't technically go broke. He shuttered his team to avoid it.
Thus proving that his eyesight is still plenty good enough to read the
writing on the wall.
Much has been written about the age of the owners, so I won't plow that
ground again. But I will say this, the sport needs is new owners that will
carry on the traditions laid down by people like the Wood Bros.,
Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick, (regardless of your personal feelings about
him) Roger Penske, Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs, & yes,
Robby Gordon. It was guys like Robby, that built the sport, & the fact that
he's the only one left, & hanging by a thread is part of the problem.
Instead, we've gotten Bobby Ginn, George Gillett, & Dietrich Mateschitz.
I'm sure that these guys came into the sport, with all the best of intentions.
But the money pit that NASCAR has become, caused them all to flame out
quickly leaving havoc in their wake.
It shouldn't take a business empire to fund a team. A well run team should
pay it's own way. That isn't the case currently. Some of the blame has to
rest with the owners themselves. But a big part of this is on NASCAR.
Two ways this could happen. One would be to franchise the teams, but given the
NASCAR mind set I doubt this will ever happen.
The other way would be for NASCAR to quit sucking up every dollar they can lay
hands on for their own bank account, & see that sponsorship money goes on
cars. Rather than going be the Official whatever, of NASCAR. In the Go Go
days when sponsorship was plentiful this didn't really hurt so much, now it
does.
With the current leadership, (?) a quote from The Man From Snowy River,
comes to mind. "Not Bloody Likely."
The first two Frances, were into racing. Think back to how many times in the
TV era that we saw Bill France. When Cup raced, he was there.
Currently, Brian seems much more into marketing, & leaving the racing to
others. Second thought, that might not be such a bad thing.
I think that if I were called to the NASCAR trailer, by Mike Helton I'd be all
" yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir". On the other hand, if I were called in by
Brian France, I'd probably have a really hard time not giggling. Helton, seems
like a guy that would have a blackjack in his back pocket. Brian, on the other hand, reminds me more of a guy with a condom in his wallet, & he's carried the same one
for like 5 years.
Bottom line, both Danica, & Dale Jr. have the star power to help NASCAR. But only NASCAR, can solve it's underlying problems.
but it damn sure can use some help. In the short run, I'm sure Danica's
presence will help.
Jimmy Johnson has won 55 Cup races. As well as 5 Championships, in a row
in what is arguably the most competitive form of motorsports in the world.
Just think for a minute about how many times you see Jimmy on TV in non
racing related situations. Versus Danica who's all over the TV, seemingly
all the time.
Surprisingly, the driver next to Danica, that I see the most on TV outside
of the races is Casey Mears, in his GEICO commercials. Personally I liked
the ones with Mike, & Lauren, Wallace, "story with me is, put him in the
wall." See, if I still remember it. It was an effective commercial, but that
ship has sailed.
The jury's still out on whether she's better known as Danica, the racer, or
Danica, the Go Daddy Girl. The real point here is that she IS, known.
The combination of her talent, looks, & a deep pocket sponsor,
( I'll let you sort these into any order you like, ) have all come together
into the 'perfect marketing storm'.
Until she is able to balance this marketing blitz, (or hype,) with on track
performance, many long time NASCAR fans are going to continue to be turned
off. Regardless of how they feel about this, they're not going to abandon
the sport.
On the other hand, she does have the ability to attract new fans.
In this respect, her presence can't help but be good for the sport.
We've all read the stories about how Dale Jr. winning, will give NASCAR
a big lift. No argument here. Every fan wants to see his, or her, driver
winning. As Dale Jr. has the most fans, then it stands to reason that his
winning would be very good for the sport.
That having been said, this sport is bigger than any of it's stars.
It's bigger than the sum of it's parts, but some of it's parts aren't
doing so well.
My opinion is that overall NASCAR's not nearly as healthy as they
would have us believe. The France family, on the other hand, are
doing extremely well, but are they slowly killing their golden goose?
The economy is getting the lion's share of the blame, & there's no doubt
that it's a big factor, but the decline started before the economic
downturn.
NASCAR has a number of things that need to be addressed to help reverse,
or at least stabilize, it's slide. I'll just focus on a couple of them.
They need exciting on track action. Fights, feuds, & wrecks, serve as
distractions. But until they can come up with a way to make the week, to
week, racing on the so called, 'Cookie Cutter', tracks something that
fans look forward to. Then they've still got a lot of work to do.
Running cars that fans can identify with would be a very good start.
The second thing they need, & this is absolutely critical, is financially
stable owners.
As things stand, being a NASCAR owner, in either Cup, or Nationwide
is absolutely the worst job in the sport. You don't see the drivers going
broke, & leaving the sport, but it's common for owners. Kevin Buckler,
& Rusty Wallace were just the last in a long line, & they won't be the last
for long.
While Rusty, didn't technically go broke. He shuttered his team to avoid it.
Thus proving that his eyesight is still plenty good enough to read the
writing on the wall.
Much has been written about the age of the owners, so I won't plow that
ground again. But I will say this, the sport needs is new owners that will
carry on the traditions laid down by people like the Wood Bros.,
Richard Petty, Rick Hendrick, (regardless of your personal feelings about
him) Roger Penske, Richard Childress, Jack Roush, Joe Gibbs, & yes,
Robby Gordon. It was guys like Robby, that built the sport, & the fact that
he's the only one left, & hanging by a thread is part of the problem.
Instead, we've gotten Bobby Ginn, George Gillett, & Dietrich Mateschitz.
I'm sure that these guys came into the sport, with all the best of intentions.
But the money pit that NASCAR has become, caused them all to flame out
quickly leaving havoc in their wake.
It shouldn't take a business empire to fund a team. A well run team should
pay it's own way. That isn't the case currently. Some of the blame has to
rest with the owners themselves. But a big part of this is on NASCAR.
Two ways this could happen. One would be to franchise the teams, but given the
NASCAR mind set I doubt this will ever happen.
The other way would be for NASCAR to quit sucking up every dollar they can lay
hands on for their own bank account, & see that sponsorship money goes on
cars. Rather than going be the Official whatever, of NASCAR. In the Go Go
days when sponsorship was plentiful this didn't really hurt so much, now it
does.
With the current leadership, (?) a quote from The Man From Snowy River,
comes to mind. "Not Bloody Likely."
The first two Frances, were into racing. Think back to how many times in the
TV era that we saw Bill France. When Cup raced, he was there.
Currently, Brian seems much more into marketing, & leaving the racing to
others. Second thought, that might not be such a bad thing.
I think that if I were called to the NASCAR trailer, by Mike Helton I'd be all
" yes sir, no sir, whatever you say sir". On the other hand, if I were called in by
Brian France, I'd probably have a really hard time not giggling. Helton, seems
like a guy that would have a blackjack in his back pocket. Brian, on the other hand, reminds me more of a guy with a condom in his wallet, & he's carried the same one
for like 5 years.
Bottom line, both Danica, & Dale Jr. have the star power to help NASCAR. But only NASCAR, can solve it's underlying problems.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Robby's Texas Nightmare
What seemed to be just another race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway has turned into a nightmare for Robby Gordon. As usual Robby, as the owner of Speed Energy Drink, sent the check in to SMI to pay for the lot space for his souvenir hauler and as usual it cleared the bank. That is considered to be a binding contract in several states. No misrepresentation on Robby’s part since it was clearly from Speed Energy Drink. He didn’t have a problem at Las Vegas or Bristol, two other SMI tracks, and didn’t have a problem with the ISC tracks at Daytona, Fontana, Phoenix, or Martinsville. Once Robby’s Speed Energy Drink souvenir hauler and show car showed up, that’s when the nightmare ensued.
First, Texas Motor Speedway towed Robby’s Fast 5 show car away. The show car was there as a part of a Universal Pictures promotion for the upcoming Fast 5 movie. What’s odd is that there were other energy drink show cars parked in the same area that looked like they’d been parked there for several months and none of them were towed. And there were the souvenir haulers for the other energy drinks all along the row of souvenir haulers and nobody was bothering the Junior haulers (Amp Energy Drink splashed all over it), the Red Bull Haulers (Red Bull a competitor of Coca Cola’s Full Throttle), or Shrubbery’s souvenir trailer (with NOS in plain view on the trailer).
SPEED ENERGY
Check it out TMS has threatened to take all of our product and tow our merchandise hauler out of the racetrack! WTF
Then they were wanting to haul away the Speed Energy Drink souvenir hauler and confiscate all of the Speed Energy product that there. When Robby made his initial enquiry as to what was going on, he was told by Texas Motor Speedway that the track was sponsored by Red Bull and it was out of respect to Red Bull that they were doing this. Gee, that sure is funny. All of the SMI tracks are sponsored by Coca Cola, who manufactures the Full Throttle energy drink and distributes Monster Energy Drink. So that would mean that SMI violated their contract with Coca Cola by taking on the Red Bull sponsorship at Texas Motor Speedway. But wait, it gets even better.
Robby’s then sent a Twitter message that he didn’t get permission from the sales department to hand out free samples of the Speed Energy Drink.
Texas Motor Speedway
Every brand who hands out samples needs authorization from our sales team. Every sports venue has these rules, and we're not against anyone.
Since when did a salesman get to override a written contract? The worst that Texas Motor Speedway should’ve been able to do is make them keep the free sample behind the counter. At Charlotte and Atlanta, I’ve had samples handed to me from companies who weren’t on track property. And Robby hasn’t had a problem with this at the other SMI tracks prior to Texas. But wait, it gets even better.
Robby then receives a letter from SMI which prohibits his Speed Energy Drink souvenir hauler from all SMI tracks. Gee, could that be because Robby’s Speed Energy Drink isn’t listed as one of SMI’s “valued partners” that the Speed Energy souvenir hauler is being banned from all the SMI tracks? Since when did tracks have the authority to prohibit sponsors from showing off their wares at the tracks? Didn’t NA$CAR approve Speed Energy as a sponsor? Does this also mean that the tracks can ban certain makes of vehicles from racing because they’re not the “official vehicle” of that particular track?
SPEED ENERGY
Just so you guys know, TMS sent the letter that they gave us to revoke our access to promote to ALL the SMI properties. Which means next SMI track you prob wont get any SPEED Energy. Really?
And how about some of the ads Texas Motor Speedway has used with Dale Jr in his AMP uniform which clearly show the Amp logo and Mountain Dew logo and show the Amp or Mountain Dew car? Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of them as they’re supposed to be a Coca Cola track? Or a Red Bull track if you believe Texas Motor Speedway?
And since the Fast Five movie logos are on the car this weekend, Universal Pictures was expecting some reasonable appearance obligations that Texas Motor Speedway is now interfering with. Will SMI, Gossage, and Bruton stand together when they realize a fight with a major movie studio who has more lawyers than SMI does is the consequence, or will finger pointing ensue?
And how about the actual race coverage? When they showed the Dodge Chargers of the Race graphic, they showed the 2 & 22 cars from a blimp/helicopter shot but the 7 was nowhere to be seen. During the race, there’s usually an accidental shot of Robby’s car usually when he’s near one of the Chosen Ones, he’s in or near a wreck, or he’s being lapped. But no, not a single shot of his car the entire night unlike all the previous race of the season where we at least caught a small glimpse of at least a quarterpanel.
Anyone remember what happened at Las Vegas when Robby Gordon was qualifying? No? Let me refresh your memory with this video clip.
http://youtu.be/UotI8eQynv4
One thing Speed Energy did make clear in a Twitter is that THEY aren’t calling for fans to boycott Texas Motor Speedway
SPEED ENERGY
We would never tell any1 to boycott anything. just showing what is out there. TMS is a great facility & we all want what's best for the sport
So while Speed Energy Drink might not be calling for a boycott, I’m thinking fans might want to rethink their plans involving Texas Motor Speedway, any events they host, any events they sponsor, and also purchasing any goods from any of the track’s sponsors. like Coca Cola, UPS, Dickies, Brookshires, Samsung Mobile, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Chevy, Bank of America, WinStar World Casino, Firestone, and others. Fans might also want to go to the speedway’s web site under the “contacts” section and drop Eddie Gossage, the man who forget to put Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s driver’s uniform in a safe, secure area which resulted in it being stolen, a line and let him know your opinion on this whole deal and your future plans and those of your friends and family members regarding Texas Motor Speedway and the track’s sponsors.
First, Texas Motor Speedway towed Robby’s Fast 5 show car away. The show car was there as a part of a Universal Pictures promotion for the upcoming Fast 5 movie. What’s odd is that there were other energy drink show cars parked in the same area that looked like they’d been parked there for several months and none of them were towed. And there were the souvenir haulers for the other energy drinks all along the row of souvenir haulers and nobody was bothering the Junior haulers (Amp Energy Drink splashed all over it), the Red Bull Haulers (Red Bull a competitor of Coca Cola’s Full Throttle), or Shrubbery’s souvenir trailer (with NOS in plain view on the trailer).
SPEED ENERGY
Check it out TMS has threatened to take all of our product and tow our merchandise hauler out of the racetrack! WTF
Then they were wanting to haul away the Speed Energy Drink souvenir hauler and confiscate all of the Speed Energy product that there. When Robby made his initial enquiry as to what was going on, he was told by Texas Motor Speedway that the track was sponsored by Red Bull and it was out of respect to Red Bull that they were doing this. Gee, that sure is funny. All of the SMI tracks are sponsored by Coca Cola, who manufactures the Full Throttle energy drink and distributes Monster Energy Drink. So that would mean that SMI violated their contract with Coca Cola by taking on the Red Bull sponsorship at Texas Motor Speedway. But wait, it gets even better.
Robby’s then sent a Twitter message that he didn’t get permission from the sales department to hand out free samples of the Speed Energy Drink.
Texas Motor Speedway
Every brand who hands out samples needs authorization from our sales team. Every sports venue has these rules, and we're not against anyone.
Since when did a salesman get to override a written contract? The worst that Texas Motor Speedway should’ve been able to do is make them keep the free sample behind the counter. At Charlotte and Atlanta, I’ve had samples handed to me from companies who weren’t on track property. And Robby hasn’t had a problem with this at the other SMI tracks prior to Texas. But wait, it gets even better.
Robby then receives a letter from SMI which prohibits his Speed Energy Drink souvenir hauler from all SMI tracks. Gee, could that be because Robby’s Speed Energy Drink isn’t listed as one of SMI’s “valued partners” that the Speed Energy souvenir hauler is being banned from all the SMI tracks? Since when did tracks have the authority to prohibit sponsors from showing off their wares at the tracks? Didn’t NA$CAR approve Speed Energy as a sponsor? Does this also mean that the tracks can ban certain makes of vehicles from racing because they’re not the “official vehicle” of that particular track?
SPEED ENERGY
Just so you guys know, TMS sent the letter that they gave us to revoke our access to promote to ALL the SMI properties. Which means next SMI track you prob wont get any SPEED Energy. Really?
And how about some of the ads Texas Motor Speedway has used with Dale Jr in his AMP uniform which clearly show the Amp logo and Mountain Dew logo and show the Amp or Mountain Dew car? Isn’t that a bit hypocritical of them as they’re supposed to be a Coca Cola track? Or a Red Bull track if you believe Texas Motor Speedway?
And since the Fast Five movie logos are on the car this weekend, Universal Pictures was expecting some reasonable appearance obligations that Texas Motor Speedway is now interfering with. Will SMI, Gossage, and Bruton stand together when they realize a fight with a major movie studio who has more lawyers than SMI does is the consequence, or will finger pointing ensue?
And how about the actual race coverage? When they showed the Dodge Chargers of the Race graphic, they showed the 2 & 22 cars from a blimp/helicopter shot but the 7 was nowhere to be seen. During the race, there’s usually an accidental shot of Robby’s car usually when he’s near one of the Chosen Ones, he’s in or near a wreck, or he’s being lapped. But no, not a single shot of his car the entire night unlike all the previous race of the season where we at least caught a small glimpse of at least a quarterpanel.
Anyone remember what happened at Las Vegas when Robby Gordon was qualifying? No? Let me refresh your memory with this video clip.
http://youtu.be/UotI8eQynv4
One thing Speed Energy did make clear in a Twitter is that THEY aren’t calling for fans to boycott Texas Motor Speedway
SPEED ENERGY
We would never tell any1 to boycott anything. just showing what is out there. TMS is a great facility & we all want what's best for the sport
So while Speed Energy Drink might not be calling for a boycott, I’m thinking fans might want to rethink their plans involving Texas Motor Speedway, any events they host, any events they sponsor, and also purchasing any goods from any of the track’s sponsors. like Coca Cola, UPS, Dickies, Brookshires, Samsung Mobile, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Chevy, Bank of America, WinStar World Casino, Firestone, and others. Fans might also want to go to the speedway’s web site under the “contacts” section and drop Eddie Gossage, the man who forget to put Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s driver’s uniform in a safe, secure area which resulted in it being stolen, a line and let him know your opinion on this whole deal and your future plans and those of your friends and family members regarding Texas Motor Speedway and the track’s sponsors.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Highest Paid Drivers, Restrictor Plates, Media Attacks, and Other Junk in the Trunk
Tell Me Again Why They Can’t Help Sam Ard?
After the recent release on Forbes of the 10 Highest Paid Drivers in NA$CAR and the 10 teams worth the most money, I have to ask why they can’t step up and help out Sam Ard and his wife Jo? I will give Dale Jr and Mr Happy a sprout because they have helped out. But how about the other 8 drivers? It cost about $200,000 a year to keep somebody with Sam’s afflictions alive and maintain a minimal lifestyle. Let’s face it, Sam isn’t going out for dinner every night or hitting the dance floor on the weekends. He’s not out drinking “sodas” and hunting palm trees or rear ending somebody while driving and texting. He’s bed-ridden and will be for the rest of his life. Considering these drivers spend that much on fuel for their multi-million dollar corporate jets every year and live in estates worth mega-millions, how hard would it be for the remaining 8 drivers to kick in $200,000 a piece? And considering the value of the race teams listed, how hard would it be for just one team owner to help out the Ards? And consider the positive press and PR they could get out of it for helping out one of the legends and doing what the France family and NA$CAR won’t do. That alone would be priceless for them. How much positive press could Ford get if one of their teams helped? But no, something that could be a really big “feel good” story with the high dollar drivers or team owners helping Sam out won’t happen and instead it’ll be left up to the long time, die-hard fans who remember Sam and his contributions to NASCAR to help out.
Restrictor Plates
I had a question that would probably require a massive number of e-mails, snail mails, and phone calls to NA$CAR to actually accomplish the desired results. The question is, “Could somebody please put a restrictor plate on DW’s mouth?”.
Media Attacking Each Other
After Trevor Bayne’s win, some members of the media cheered. Well, it seems that Faux King Brian’s army of Kool Aid drinkers find that to be unacceptable and say that anyone with a media credential shouldn’t be cheering or rooting for any driver. If that’s the case, how come they aren’t attacking Jabber Jaws, Larry Mac, Crusty, Drab Brad, and other network analyst and commentators for their weekly cheerleading sessions for Faux King Brian’s Chosen Ones, the drivers of the teams they own, and the sons or brothers they have who are on the track? After all, they also have media credentials. Is there some sort of double standard here within the ranks of the media? Using the Kool Aid Crowd’s own word, they deem this behavior as “unprofessional”. Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along about the Booth Buffoons? And what’s hilarious about this is that one of them doing the attacking is the same guy who turned over Hambone Hamlin’s twitters to NA$CAR. Now there’s a real trustworthy journalist for you. First rule of journalism is to protect your source.
Closing the Barn Door After the Horse is Gone
Rather than black flagging the co-owner of Motormouth Motorsports before he crossed the finish line or DQ-ing him after the race for his truck being out of compliance with NA$CAR’s rules, the win still stands. However, the crew chief has been fined $25,000 and the team docked 25 points. For some reason, no fine was issued or points taken away from The Human Shill with the official excuse being that he’s not running for points in that series. Now keep an eye on this folks should we see other Truck Trash come over from the Cup Series and their trucks don’t meet the rules after a win. Will they receive the same treatment or will they be fined and docked points? And also, pay attention to what happens to a regular Truck Series driver whose winning truck doesn’t meet the rules and what’s done to him, his crew chief, and team owner. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Who’d Have Thunk It
Despite being the perennial back markers running just ahead of the start & parks, Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland managed to put a car into the Top 3 at Daytona. Over the winter, Bob Jenkins spent some money on cars and engines to make the team a little more competitive this year. You can call it what you want to. Luck of the Irish, the restrictor plate crapshoot, or whatever you want to, the fact that this underfunded underdog team came in 3rd can’t be refuted.
Daytona Opinions from the Fans
Terry from Delaware: What a joke. That is not a race; that was pirouhet (sic) choreographed dancing.
Russ from Virginia: My guess is that the afterglow of a shiny new winner wears off the slide will continue.
Unkle Phil: I was glad to see Trevor Bayne win in the Daytona 500, now maybe DW will shut the f*ck up about Dale Jr. and Jimmy Johnson; that is if he ever does shut-up. I was disappointed in the fact that there was not an interview with the Wood bros.; that was bull$hit as I have listened ever since I was a kid, prior to television, about the Woods bros. pit crew in the Indianapolis 500 of the radio.
Joe, Flash’s Cohort: Yeah I was screaming loud enough for the neighbors to hear but what the hay i don't care this doesn't happen but once in a great while. That kid has a lot of driving smart's not to have anymore experience than he does usually the rookies are the first one's to cause the wreck's. I thought for sure tantrum Tony or Junior was gonna nail him driving like nobody else was on the track and junior told one of the media after the race he didn't care he was going to drive like he wanted and everyone better get use to it and tantrum had nothing to say must have been pouting in the trailer.
Submariner Bill: That was a VERY satisfying outcome. Seeing a Woods Brothers car in victory lane, with that paint scheme on it... How sweet.
If I recall correctly, Michael Waltrip who turned not one but two cars causing big wrecks, and then in the interview blamed it on the cars he turned. Awesome. The crowd looked bigger than last year.
Dean from Tenn.: Well another 500 has come and gone and I must say in my opinion it ranks up there with one of the worst. All of this 2 car pushing crap has got to go. Its bad enough when you've got Na$car, pit crews and such determining the outcome of a race, but now we how 2 car- hook ups. Please give me back the day when the best driver decided the outcome and not Na$car, crews, 2 car hook-ups and such. The only thing good about today's race was the Wood Bros. winning again, more so than Trevor, which he makes my point I've been saying for years. Here you have a totally inexperienced driver, but, put him in a good car, point him in the right direction and bingo, we have a winner.
As you can see, a variety of opinions and observations about the Daytona 500. These weren’t solicited by me either, so don’t think I went looking for strictly one-sided views.
Something to Ponder
If there really are 75 million NA$CAR fans and every single one of them tuned in to watch the Daytona 500, they still couldn’t match the NFL’s ratings of 111 million viewers for the Super Bowl.
Seating Figure Disparity
The seating capacity for Phoenix is 76,812 and yet the Arizona Republic newspaper said the track sold out the “50,000” seats. So if there’s 76,812 seats in the grandstands and they only sold 50,000, that means there’s a disparity of 26,812 seats. And I know for a fact that not all the seats were sold out. Tickets for the Cup race were being given away all the way back here to the East Coast. So that’s not a sell out.
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| The plaque Sam's holding was recently sold on E-Bay to pay medical bills |
After the recent release on Forbes of the 10 Highest Paid Drivers in NA$CAR and the 10 teams worth the most money, I have to ask why they can’t step up and help out Sam Ard and his wife Jo? I will give Dale Jr and Mr Happy a sprout because they have helped out. But how about the other 8 drivers? It cost about $200,000 a year to keep somebody with Sam’s afflictions alive and maintain a minimal lifestyle. Let’s face it, Sam isn’t going out for dinner every night or hitting the dance floor on the weekends. He’s not out drinking “sodas” and hunting palm trees or rear ending somebody while driving and texting. He’s bed-ridden and will be for the rest of his life. Considering these drivers spend that much on fuel for their multi-million dollar corporate jets every year and live in estates worth mega-millions, how hard would it be for the remaining 8 drivers to kick in $200,000 a piece? And considering the value of the race teams listed, how hard would it be for just one team owner to help out the Ards? And consider the positive press and PR they could get out of it for helping out one of the legends and doing what the France family and NA$CAR won’t do. That alone would be priceless for them. How much positive press could Ford get if one of their teams helped? But no, something that could be a really big “feel good” story with the high dollar drivers or team owners helping Sam out won’t happen and instead it’ll be left up to the long time, die-hard fans who remember Sam and his contributions to NASCAR to help out.
Restrictor Plates
I had a question that would probably require a massive number of e-mails, snail mails, and phone calls to NA$CAR to actually accomplish the desired results. The question is, “Could somebody please put a restrictor plate on DW’s mouth?”.
Media Attacking Each Other
After Trevor Bayne’s win, some members of the media cheered. Well, it seems that Faux King Brian’s army of Kool Aid drinkers find that to be unacceptable and say that anyone with a media credential shouldn’t be cheering or rooting for any driver. If that’s the case, how come they aren’t attacking Jabber Jaws, Larry Mac, Crusty, Drab Brad, and other network analyst and commentators for their weekly cheerleading sessions for Faux King Brian’s Chosen Ones, the drivers of the teams they own, and the sons or brothers they have who are on the track? After all, they also have media credentials. Is there some sort of double standard here within the ranks of the media? Using the Kool Aid Crowd’s own word, they deem this behavior as “unprofessional”. Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along about the Booth Buffoons? And what’s hilarious about this is that one of them doing the attacking is the same guy who turned over Hambone Hamlin’s twitters to NA$CAR. Now there’s a real trustworthy journalist for you. First rule of journalism is to protect your source.
Closing the Barn Door After the Horse is Gone
Rather than black flagging the co-owner of Motormouth Motorsports before he crossed the finish line or DQ-ing him after the race for his truck being out of compliance with NA$CAR’s rules, the win still stands. However, the crew chief has been fined $25,000 and the team docked 25 points. For some reason, no fine was issued or points taken away from The Human Shill with the official excuse being that he’s not running for points in that series. Now keep an eye on this folks should we see other Truck Trash come over from the Cup Series and their trucks don’t meet the rules after a win. Will they receive the same treatment or will they be fined and docked points? And also, pay attention to what happens to a regular Truck Series driver whose winning truck doesn’t meet the rules and what’s done to him, his crew chief, and team owner. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Who’d Have Thunk It
Despite being the perennial back markers running just ahead of the start & parks, Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland managed to put a car into the Top 3 at Daytona. Over the winter, Bob Jenkins spent some money on cars and engines to make the team a little more competitive this year. You can call it what you want to. Luck of the Irish, the restrictor plate crapshoot, or whatever you want to, the fact that this underfunded underdog team came in 3rd can’t be refuted.
Daytona Opinions from the Fans
Terry from Delaware: What a joke. That is not a race; that was pirouhet (sic) choreographed dancing.
Russ from Virginia: My guess is that the afterglow of a shiny new winner wears off the slide will continue.
Unkle Phil: I was glad to see Trevor Bayne win in the Daytona 500, now maybe DW will shut the f*ck up about Dale Jr. and Jimmy Johnson; that is if he ever does shut-up. I was disappointed in the fact that there was not an interview with the Wood bros.; that was bull$hit as I have listened ever since I was a kid, prior to television, about the Woods bros. pit crew in the Indianapolis 500 of the radio.
Joe, Flash’s Cohort: Yeah I was screaming loud enough for the neighbors to hear but what the hay i don't care this doesn't happen but once in a great while. That kid has a lot of driving smart's not to have anymore experience than he does usually the rookies are the first one's to cause the wreck's. I thought for sure tantrum Tony or Junior was gonna nail him driving like nobody else was on the track and junior told one of the media after the race he didn't care he was going to drive like he wanted and everyone better get use to it and tantrum had nothing to say must have been pouting in the trailer.
Submariner Bill: That was a VERY satisfying outcome. Seeing a Woods Brothers car in victory lane, with that paint scheme on it... How sweet.
If I recall correctly, Michael Waltrip who turned not one but two cars causing big wrecks, and then in the interview blamed it on the cars he turned. Awesome. The crowd looked bigger than last year.
Dean from Tenn.: Well another 500 has come and gone and I must say in my opinion it ranks up there with one of the worst. All of this 2 car pushing crap has got to go. Its bad enough when you've got Na$car, pit crews and such determining the outcome of a race, but now we how 2 car- hook ups. Please give me back the day when the best driver decided the outcome and not Na$car, crews, 2 car hook-ups and such. The only thing good about today's race was the Wood Bros. winning again, more so than Trevor, which he makes my point I've been saying for years. Here you have a totally inexperienced driver, but, put him in a good car, point him in the right direction and bingo, we have a winner.
As you can see, a variety of opinions and observations about the Daytona 500. These weren’t solicited by me either, so don’t think I went looking for strictly one-sided views.
Something to Ponder
If there really are 75 million NA$CAR fans and every single one of them tuned in to watch the Daytona 500, they still couldn’t match the NFL’s ratings of 111 million viewers for the Super Bowl.
Seating Figure Disparity
The seating capacity for Phoenix is 76,812 and yet the Arizona Republic newspaper said the track sold out the “50,000” seats. So if there’s 76,812 seats in the grandstands and they only sold 50,000, that means there’s a disparity of 26,812 seats. And I know for a fact that not all the seats were sold out. Tickets for the Cup race were being given away all the way back here to the East Coast. So that’s not a sell out.
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