Can You See The Real Me?

Can you see the real me? Can you? Can you? —The Who,
“The Real Me” ( Quadrophenia, 1973).
　
　
The picture NA$CAR and it’s celebrity spokesmodel’s PR people would like to paint doesn’t come anywhere near close to reality. In order to find out what NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel is really like, you have to go outside of the NA$CAR box and go to the open wheel folks who “know her best” and that’s what I’ve done. Unlike the NA$CAR controlled media, which can do little more than sing her praises from on high, I went to the folks who had to deal with her in a professional setting on a regular basis and did some research to go with it. It’s not the pretty picture NA$CAR and their controlled media likes to paint.
　
Officials called her the “Queen Bitch”. Her own team called her "Bitch in a Box" for her antics during practice. She would pull into the pits, take off her helmet. Then she would pop up and complain, then sit back down, then pop up again to complain time and time again. The crew members at the front of the car stated “she looks like that clown that pops out of a jack-in-the-box”. 　
What did her fellow drivers think of her?
　
Dixon, Carpenter, Wheldon, and Franchitti all called Danica the Queen of Blockers. “She doesn't hold her line and blocks hard when she was about to be lapped”.

(If you’re not familiar with IndyCar or IRL rules, blocking was prohibited. And yet, Brian Barnhart, former head of racing operations, didn’t seem to see the blocking when it was going on.)
　
This is a comment by Ed Carpenter after the Iowa Corn Indy 250 back in 2008 regarding the blocking:
　
"I just started working with my car, working towards the front but Danica was doing her normal supreme block job," Carpenter said. "She is the new Scott Sharp of the series as far as I am concerned. That is two races in a row."
　
An official on pit lane was assisting Mid-Ohio security during an IndyCar race there. He was a Danica fan at that time. Security was at the gates to pit lane to prevent fans from entering the pits, as the pre-race preparations were starting. Danica walks through the gate, followed by several more people. The official stopped the people in order to check their credentials. Danica turned around and yelled at him, "They're with me, get over yourself!". After that he went over to Dan Wheldon to say “Kick Danica's butt”. Dan replied, "So, you met the real Danica." Wheldon apologized for her actions, stating the drivers appreciate the track workers & officials for all they do. Needless to say from that moment on, that official was no longer a Danica fan.　

One interesting incident, in light of a recent statement about not wearing make-up, comes from when NA$CAR’S celebrity spokesmodel was in the Atlantic Series and her car broke.
　
She pulled off track and was getting out of her car to go over the wall. When she saw the course marshal arrive to see if she was alright, Danica responded, "I'm so glad you're a woman. How does my make-up look?" 　

Of course, IndyCar fans remembers her throwing her team under the car when she qualified so badly. It seems she had to set the car up herself rather than having it set up by a more competent teammate. When she was interviewed, she was absolutely stunned at the boos from the stands. It was the next year she started her move to NA$CAR.
　
Andretti Autosports held an option on Danica's contract for the 2012 season. In January of 2011, she informed Andretti she was going to NASCAR full time in 2012. The deals were all done at that time, but she strung everyone along through September stating she had not made up her mind. A female version LeBron James.
　
Rahal-Letterman won the Indy 500 in 2004 with Buddy Rice. In 2005, Danica was promoted to the IRL. RLR's performance suffered, as Rice and Meira had to work on getting Danica's car set up. In 2006, Danica decided to screw Rahal in another way, by announcing she was moving to Andretti-Green. Shortly after, Rahal-Letterman shutdown their full time IRL program. Before 2007, when Danica joined, Andretti-Green was a powerhouse team, winning titles and the Indy 500 with drivers Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Dan Wheldon, and Bryan Herta. Then, along came Danica and the Andretti-Green team went downhill.
　
First Wheldon left, then Dario, leaving Kanaan alone to set up Danica's and Marco's cars. With the merger of the IRL and CART/ChampCar, the series began to move to an oval and road/Street course series. While Danica was average on ovals, she was even worse on road & street courses. As the series shifted to fewer ovals and her performance fading along with her popularity, she began looking at NASCAR. The money was going to be better and early indications were they were going to glorify her with unending coverage. In 2010, she started running a limited schedule for Jr. Motorsports in NNS and again in 2011. She stated through much of 2011 that she had not make up her mind about her 2012 plans. However, that was all lies, as she had told Andretti in January of 2011 that she intended to leave for NASCAR and not exercise the option with Andretti for IndyCar.
　
And let’s look at some stats. During his 10 years of driving in the IRL/IndyCar, Dan Wheldon led 2,865 laps with 16 wins and 43 podium finishes. During his 8 years in the IRL/IndyCar, Sam Hornish Jr led 3,428 laps got 19 wins, and had 47 podium finishes . During 7 years in the IRL/IndyCar, NA$CAR’s current celebrity spokesmodel led 124 laps with only 1 win and 7 podium finishes. Numbers alone show that NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel does not live up to the hype.
　
Let’s look at the celebrity spokesmodel’s stats for the 2012 season:

Race	Finish	Wreck	AVG. Finish	% of Wrecks	Start	Avg. Start	% of Finishes on Lead Lap
Daytona Qualifier		1		100.0%
Daytona NNS	38	1		100.0%	1
Daytona 500	38	1	38.0	100.0%	29	15	0.0%
Phoenix NNS	21		32.3	75.0%	30	20	0.0%
Las Vegas	12		27.3	60.0%	12	18	20.0%
Bristol	19		25.6	50.0%	27	19.8	16.7%
Fontana	35		27.2	42.9%	21	20	14.3%

When the announcement was made that she would be the new NA$CAR celebrity spokesmodel, what’s the first thing she talks about? It wasn’t racing. It wasn’t her competitors. It was her branding & marketing. That right there should tell you where her priorities lay.
　
Dave Despain said on Wind Tunnel that she was over-hyped. And Dave would know. He’s been covering and following racing of all sorts for more years than I care to think about. Shawna Robinson, the first woman to sit on the pole in the Busch Series, couldn’t understand what all the hoopla was about. Shawna got her pole at Atlanta back in 1994. If you’ve never been to Atlanta, seen races there, or haven’t been following NA$CAR very long then you don’t know about the difficulties of driving there because of the speed, the need to have a car that handles well, and the driver skill actually required to turn a competitive lap. It may be a 1.5 mile track but it’s not the typical cookie cutter design.
　
And how about more recently in NA$CAR? It seems that the celebrity spokesmodel got in the face of her teammate Cole Whitt, verbally abused him knowing full well he wouldn’t take a swing at her because of her gender, and told him he needed to stay away from her because he’s inexperienced. Whitt? Inexperienced? He’s got quite a few more NA$CAR starts than does his teammate and finished 15^th at Phoenix while the celebrity spokesmodel finished 21^st, 3 laps down. And to add an explanation point to her poor performance at Phoenix, stomped away from the media after the race without so much as a word. Not exactly the image the new “savior” of NA$CAR should be displaying.
　
And what would’ve happened if you had replaced Cole Whitt with say Milka Duno? Would the celebrity spokesmodel have gotten away with the same verbal abuse? I don’t think so. She probably would’ve gotten a shove or maybe even a shot in the snot locker from Milka. It’s easy to get away with using your gender to berate and abuse your male teammate or competitors but try it with another female and see what happens. Especially a female who won’t take any guff.
　
Some folks will say I’m being sexist or a woman hater and they’re entitled to their opinions. Just like I’m entitled to mine. What I’ve done is expose some of the history of NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel and newest savior. Gender has nothing to do with it. If you’re going to buy a “product”, you want to know all there is about it before you purchase it. Would you buy a Chevy Volt knowing that they catch fire when recharging? Or that they could catch fire during an accident? I didn’t think so. So why “buy” into the hype about NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel when there are far better, friendlier, and more honest female drivers around who can be held up as good role models? Drivers like Simona De Silvestro, Johanna Long, Tammy Jo Kirk, Patty Moise, Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, Shirley Muldowney, Louise Smith, Shawna Robinson, Ashley Force & her sister. Drivers who are or were more concerned about racing than about their own “branding & marketing”.
　
And in the interest of full disclosure and to dispel the idea that I’m sexist, hater, or a woman hater, I do follow Simona De Silvestro & Milka Duno on Twitter. I follow Jennifer Jo Cobb on Facebook. I was a member of the Shawna Robinson fan club and my autographed driver’s card is hanging up in the bedroom of one of my nieces as an example to her that she accomplish what she wants with her life. I also use to cheer for Shirley Muldowney as she took down the big boys of drag racing. So adjust your opinions accordingly.
　
To paraphrase Teresa Earnhardt, I have a question for NA$CAR’s new savior. Do you want to be a race car driver or a celebrity spokesmodel? Answer that truthfully and you have the key to her future.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

Chutzpah, Sponsorship, ALMS, & Rex White

Way To Go Jennifer Jo Cobb
　
While we only heard part of the story, it takes a lot of chutzpah to do what Jennifer Jo Cobb did. It reminds me so much of Ted Musgrave and the #75 car at Homestead back in 1999 when he parked the car and walked away because it was junk. She doesn’t want to sacrifice her self-esteem, self-respect, or her reputation and apparently Rick Ware seems to think she’s got the sort of brass it takes so he’s putting her in a car at Fontana.
　
Finally, USA Today Woke Up
　
It seems that the folks at USA Today finally woke up to the fact that there’s more than just one female driver in NA$CAR. They did a decent article on Jennifer Jo Cobb. To me, she’s a more complete driver than the female Messiah NA$CAR’s been touting. She comes from a racing family, came up through the ranks, is more mature, actually likes being around race fans, signs autographs without muttering or mumbling or complaining, and doesn’t make excuses for a bad race or poor performance. Danica could learn a thing or two from Jennifer Jo Cobb.
　
Sponsorship Rumors
　
I’m hearing that Jay Robinson Racing has got some sponsorship lined up for Fontana. MAXELENCE will be the Primary Sponsor of the #28 car and All American Sports Pouch Beverage will be the Primary Sponsor of the #70. Looks like JRR has been doing some serious searching into various avenues of going green with their sponsorship quest.


Key Motorsports got Preval as their Primary Sponsor at Bristol. Hopefully this will turn into a full-time sponsorship deal for them so fingers crossed.
　
Why No ALMS on TV?

Has anyone been paying attention to what’s happening with Speed TV? How often do we see an ARCA race any more? Or an ASA race? Or any series that the France family doesn’t have some sort of influence over besides Formula-1, Aussie V-8, or German Touring Series? Since ALMS is the main competitor to the Rolex Series and the Rolex Series is suffering financially and fan-wise, simply use the same control on Speed that’s used on them to control just what all is put out there about NA$CAR. You eliminate the competition. Then folks are forced to either watch what’s provided or go elsewhere. In the case of ALMS, fans are watching it on the web. Wow, fewer commercials than on Speed, something like Race Buddy to watch the race, and no special cable or satellite packages to buy. Sounds like a dream.
　
Why No Outrage Over Bristol Tire Situation?

While I’m not surprised none of the lamestream media is saying anything about what happened with the tires, where’s the outrage over the sense of fair play? The teams practice with one tire compound most of the weekend then get issued a different compound for race day. Of course, had somebody been able to do some actual testing at Bristol like a couple of years ago, NA$CAR might have had some feedback on the tire compound and have made changes well in advance. Now that they’ve used about half the tires for the upcoming Sleep Lab 400, brought to you by United Insomniacs Inc., at Otto Klubb Speedway, what excuse will be offered up when they don’t have enough tires for there? The economy? High cost of hotel rooms? High gasoline prices? Fans shopping under the grandstands?
　
Why Are There So Many Unsponsored Busch Series Cars?
　
Lord only knows the Busch regular teams don’t get enough recognition for the efforts. Did anyone happen to notice that when a Busch regular team announces they have a sponsor you’re lucky to hear about it but when a Buschwacker announces a sponsor, it’s splashed all over the front page repeatedly and mentioned relentlessly by the talking heads during the various racer-tainment shows? Or how about the coverage of the Busch practice sessions? Anyone happen to notice who BSPN was locked in on? It wasn’t folks like Scott Wimmer, Derrike Cope, Blake Koch, or Morgan Shepherd. It’s folks like Dale Jr, Mr. Happy, and Cousin/Crazy Carl who are shown. So whomever might possibly step up to sponsor a Busch regular team isn’t going to sponsor a Busch regular team or even a Buschwacker team for $10 million for a whole season when they can put that same $10 million into a sponsorship on a Cup team which stands a better chance of being shown. Sponsors don’t get the Return on Investment (ROI) on a Busch Series team that they can on a Cup Series team. How many folks have rushed out and bought DuPont paint just because they advertise on the 24 car? How many folks have rushed out and bought a Caterpillar bulldozer just because it’s on Mayor McCheese’s car? How many folks know what green effort Jay Robinson Racing has on the C Post of their cars? Not many. So despite the name recognition of the drivers and the lack of coverage and mentions, especially with a Busch regular team, the sponsors aren’t getting back in sales what they had hoped to achieve through sponsoring a team. Why do you think the Navy, Marines, Gain, Red Baron Pizza, Bob Evans, Nesquik, Schneider National, and others have left the sport? They’re not getting back their ROI plus the strong-armed tactics used by the networks and NA$CAR to get them to advertise or be the official product/service/partner/provider of NA$CAR.
　
Just Why Are the Sponsor Mentions Down?
　
I really had a good laugh about this. It’s pretty simple really. Remember at the beginning of the season Focks said they’d be concentrating more on the drivers? That’s one part of the reason. Another part of it has to do with the economy. Sponsors are having to cut back on just how much money they’re laying out. It’s not just a matter of them laying out $20 million for a race team sponsorship, they also are subject to the strong-armed tactics of NASCAR and Focks to buy air-time for commercials or to be the official sponsor of some sort of segment during the race broadcasts which can cost them up to an additional $8 million. Or to be an official product/service/provider/partner of NA$CAR. So that $20 million sponsorship just jumped up to costing them $28 million or more. Who do you think pays for “The Five Knuckle Shuffle” brought to you by Mr Stiffy or the Exlax “Smooth Move of the Race”? Why do you think one car manufacturer is so heavily advertised and shown on so many sponsor graphics during the racer-tainment and we have both Jabber Jaws and The Human Shill yammering away about that one car or truck make so much? Then there’s also the cutback on “mention money”. That’s money paid to the networks to ensure that a team gets mentioned on-air. You don’t pony up any mention money you don’t get mentioned. With all these revenue sources drying up and the unwillingness of sponsors to fork over what almost seems like extortion money to get shown and mentioned on the air, it’s no wonder sponsors aren’t getting shown or mentioned as much. Take a good look at who buys air time during the commercial programming segments which is interrupted briefly by the weekend racer-tainment and how many times that team sponsor’s is shown to include the hood and quarter panels. You’ll see a lot more of the 48 and 24 cars than you will of the 7 or 92 cars. Why? Because the 7 & 92 sponsors don’t buy commercial programming time. It’s really that simple. You pay “protection money” you get taken care of as they say in La Costa Nostra.
　
IndyCar Heading for Trouble?

First there was the announcement that fans would be losing a lot of their internet access to IndyCar. Then came the recent announcement that they’d be using the Free Pass and Double File Restarts that is used by NA$CAR. Obviously, they didn’t learn from NA$CAR’s mistakes. Right now the long time fans are in an uproar, just like the long time NA$CAR fans have been with all of the changes that have been forced down there throats by Faux King Brian. I had high hopes for IndyCar but if they’re going to go down the same road which took NA$CAR from being a multi-billion dollar industry to a multi-million dollar industry, you have to wonder if maybe their new leadership needs to look at some history. Like I say, those who fail to learn the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them.
　
Upcoming Rex White Appearances
　
Rex will be appearing at the 5^th Annual Legends Helping Legends Fundraiser on March 26^th at the Memory Lane Museum in Mooresville NC. The first weekend in June, Rex will be at JB Days for the annual Raymond Parks birthday celebration. Then in August, Rex will be appearing at Lynchburg City Stadium on August 18^th from 6:00 pm-7:15 pm. So if you want a chance to meet one of the class acts of the Grand National circuit and the 1960 Grand National Champion, you’ve got several upcoming opportunities to do so. And tell him I said “Hi”.

Provider Issues, Twitter, Firestone, & Legends Helping Legends

Dish Network & LIN Media Making Enemies Quick
　
In the battle between Dish Network and LIN Media, a lot of stations were cut off from not only Fox but also local news coverage. It appears Dish is not willing to pay LIN Media for a rate increase so LIN Media cut off their service to Dish. This definitely will not help the ratings this weekend and will also serve as an excuse should the ratings be down because of the affected cities. From reading several comments by Dish subscribers, they plan to discontinue service because of this dispute.
　
Championship Worries
　
Back in 2003, the big worry was about having a Cup Series champion who didn’t have a win. This same worry is starting to come up now with the Busch Series as a result of the new rules and points restructuring. As it stands right now, and based on the performance of the Buschwackers over the last several years, this problem could be a very real one for Faux King Brian and friends. If it does happen, don’t be a bit surprised if there’s another restructuring of the points system specifically for the Busch Series.
　
Something to Think About
　
Old Man Time wins the Busch Series race and gets one headline. The Queen of Hype finishes 4^th and gets 11 headlines as of Sunday. Is 4^th the new 1^st? Or is it that she’s been deemed the new Messiah to save NA$CAR from it’s woes of poor attendance, poor TV ratings, poor souvenir sales, and financial problems caused by their previous Messiah not living to all the hype that was generated by him from the Ivory Towers?

And don't fall for the hype. The Queen of Hype finished 4th, which is the highest finish for a female driver in the Busch Series. Sara Christian finished 5th in the NASCAR Stritctly Stock Series in 1949, which is today's Cup Series. There's a big difference between Cup and Busch. So while she did set a record, she hasn't set THE record. Keep trying.
　
　
It’s Official, Firestone is Leaving IndyCar
　
Firestone announced that they will be leaving the IndyCar Series at the end of the 2011 season. This opens the door for a lot of tire manufacturers to step up and fill the gap. It would be quite a marketing coup if Hoosier got the contract. Hoosier tires on race cars in the Hoosier state. The Dallara “tub” being built in the Hoosier state. Lots of possibilities there on the Hoosier connection if they land the tire contract.

According to Robin Miller of Speed TV, Goodyear, Hoosier, and Cooper are all interested in being the replacement tire company. Miller thinks Goodyear will get the nod.　
　
Twitter Traffic of Interest
　
I don’t know how many folks heard about Jeremy Mayfield’s interview on Speed TV being stopped by Paul Brooks, but here’s a couple of Tweets regarding that from Mayfield himself:
　
jeremymayfield
Paul Brooks, "you won't be able to stop my next interview"
　
jeremymayfield
@beaverlakekid thanks, I'm gonna start telling my side of the story, "everything" they can't control what I say here.
　
I mentioned Jabber Jaws and his remarks about being a fan.
　
Darrell Waltrip
hey twitterville, I have absolutely nothing to do with the tv coverage of the Nationwide series, I'm a fan and follow it just like you do !
　
Just remember what the lamestream whiners said, “if you have media credentials you can’t cheer or applaud”. Not to mention Jabber Jaws own words from the Truck Series days. “You shouldn’t be involved if you’re a fan”. Words to live by there Jabber Jaws. So leave the announcing booth.
　
Jeff Gluck
Danica was pissed she didn't get the free pass there: "F---- lucky dog!!! Keeps biting my ass!!!" or something like that.
　
If you believe the hype she should’ve won the race before the green flag dropped. As to the quote by Gluck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true. Ever so ladylike. Maybe she needs to hang out with Jennifer Jo Cobb and learn how a female driver handles adversity.
　
ESPN Strikes Again
　
In what was supposed to be an article titled “Danica Patrick Talks Crashes, NASCAR”. This would lead you to think that it’s about her racing in NA$CAR. But no, the first two paragraphs are about promoting IndyCar races in Texas and mentioning there might be a crash. Is that what IndyCar fans turn out for nowadays? Crashes? Isn’t that what they say NA$CAR fans turn out for? She spends more time talking about IndyCar than she does about NA$CAR and her Busch Series races. Maybe it should’ve been titled “Danica Talks About Her 2011 Racing Season”. It seems like sort of deceptive way to get some web hits on the article.
　
Another “strike” against BSPN came this past weekend when the Busch Series race was pre-empted by college basketball in a number of cities. If the Disney bunch (Disney/ABC/BSPN) knew this would happen, then why even bother bidding on the TV contract and angering race fans around the country who have no interest in college hoops? Any bets more races get pre-empted as March Madness continues?
　
Oops!
　
Leave it to Speed TV expert and alienator of race fans everywhere to pull one like this. This is from Bob Pockrass on Twitter last Thursday:
　
Kenny Wallace gets black-flagged. He says on radio "They're black-flagging me?" And then he says, "Oh, I never signed in."
　
You’re not a real race car driver if you can’t remember to sign in at the NA$CAR trailer? I guess that’s a good paraphrase of his famous weekly remark.
　
Your Bias is Showing Again
　
During Cup qualifying, the almighty Jabbers Jaws couldn’t give the Fords credit for qualifying well. Any time a Chosen One or his favorite brand of car didn’t qualify well, it was because of the bumps on the track even though the Fords ran over the same exact bumps as everyone else.
　
Astute Observation
　
Erin made a very astute observation about the so-called “journalists” covering NA$CAR.
　
If you cover NASCAR you are an entertainment reporter...and as we've all seen covering entertainment requires no ethics!


And she makes a very good point. As NA$CAR events are held in entertainment venues and by their own admission is sports entertainment, they are entertainment and as such, all the ethical standards of “real journalism” do not apply. That means all of these supposed journalist covering NA$CAR are little more than reporters for shows like Entertainment Tonight or magazines like Entertainment Weekly. This explains why there are so many fluff pieces written or shown on the NA$CAR related TV shows. That’s racer-tainment!

Premature Enunciations

Some of the Kool Aid drinkers are saying that all of NA$CAR’s woes are over now and that everything has turned around and everything is sunshine and lollipops. We’re 3 races into the new season. There is no sports competition to speak of at this point, like play-offs or the start of the new stick and ball seasons. Unlike the Kool Aid Kids, I’m not quite ready to pull the patient off of life support yet just because they’re twitching from autonomous system reactions. Lets see how things go when we’ve got March Madness going on, MLB is playing, and the NBA play-offs are hitting their stride.
　
Robby Gordon on Double Secret Probation
　
It seems that after a shouting match between Robby and driver of the Stiffy Mobile Kevin Conway over money matters, Conway filed a report with the LVPD and complained to NA$CAR. NA$CAR in turn placed Robby on Indefinite Probation. I wonder just how long that will be considering Curtis Turner was banned for life and re-instated and some other folks more recently who were booted for drug use with indefinite suspensions have been re-instated. Will he have to pray to the Ivory Towers, wear a camel hair fire suit, and do thousands of mea culpas as penance?

Plus a few unanswered questions. Just what was a Busch Series driver (Conway) doing in the Cup garage? That sounds to me like he was looking for trouble. No answer out of NA$CAR. So why didn't they both receive the same punishment? No answer out of NA$CAR. Based on my past experience, unless you have Cup credentials, you can't go into the Cup garage if the area is segregated from the other series. But then the lamestream media isn't asking the questions either, which is no surprise. 
　
Upcoming Events
　
5^th Annual Legends Helping Legends Fundraiser at the Memory Lane Museum
Date: March 26, 2011
Location: Memory Lane Museum
Street: 769 River Highway (Hwy 150) I mile west of I-77 Exit 36
City/Town: Mooresville, NC
Time: 10 AM to 5 PM
Phone: 704-662-3673

As of right now, there’s expected to be 40 racing personalities there. That’s on the same weekend as the annual Fontana snooze fest so if you want to stay awake for something a little more interesting, you should come to this fundraiser and meet some of the racing greats who drove when it really was stock cars.

Cool Deal
　
LVMS and the USAF did something pretty cool with the large enlistment ceremony that was done at LVMS before the race. One of my son’s friend’s had her son swear in as part of the ceremony and she’s a very proud mom. I don’t blame her either. So thanks to LVMS for providing the time and space for the enlistment ceremony of these fine young folks who will be serving our country and keeping us safe. Too bad Focks didn’t have the gumption to show this. It would’ve been more interesting than hearing the English language get repeatedly butchered or the continuous yammering of Jabber Jaws.

Assorted Pieces and Parts

Going back to the Ethanol Odds and Ends, this came from Unkle Phil, a former racer and long time racing fan:

I used to run an IMCA modified out here at Canyon Raceway Park. I could buy $45.00 worth of gas, as it took twice as much Alki. (alcohol-MM) at twice the cost. The al. ran cooler and developed half again as much power. God halp you if you did not drain the carb at the end of the night.

 Based on Phil’s experience with alcohol, there is a definite problem with water absorption, which is also an issue with ethanol since it contains alcohol. And like everyone else I read about how special tankers will haul the ethanol to the tracks. When the tankers sit overnight, there will be condensation which will accumulate inside the tanker. How is this going to be taken care of? Will several gallons be drained off at the start of every day to make sure the water is removed? If so, what will be done with the contaminated fuel? This is a bit of a recycling issue that needs to be addressed. Or will they use some sort of special water absorbing filter to remove the water so that when the teams fill up the dump cans they only get ethanol and not a mix of water and ethanol? And how often will the tankers be replaced so that any type of corrosion won’t get into the fuel as a result of the water contamination? Lots of questions but no answers from the Daytona Beach Palm Tree Hunter.
　
One stat I saw a couple weeks ago said there were 40 fewer Service Master cautions in 2010. I’m curious how many Ms Terry DeBris cautions there were for 2010. Were there more or less versus 2009?
　
I just got word that the fabricators at MWR are being paid $500 a week with the economy being used as the reason. Normally, fabricators make at least twice that. If MWR would like to respond, by all means do. And in plain English without the double-speak of some PR person replying.


One title for an article I saw mentioned something about the races needing to be treated as big events. Actually, the races need to be treated as races and not sports entertainment or some marketing gimmick which they currently are now. The races need to be about racing and actually contain racing instead of long, drawn-out parades. The race has a sponsor, the green flag has a sponsor, the checkered flag has a sponsor, the cautions have a sponsor, the pit stops have a sponsor, the pit out has a sponsor. About the only things that don’t have a sponsor is the drivers’ own “pit stops” prior to or after a race. But I’m sure that’ll be coming some time down the road. Something like the Pine Bark Butt Wipe Fastest Flush or the Colonel of the Urinal Shake and Dance brought to you by Richard Slimmins “Shaking to the Oldies“. Cute little jingle singing “No matter how much you shake and dance the last drop always goes in your pants”. Or maybe drivers passing gas. The Foulest Flatus brought to you by Roust Air Freshener. “If the drivers are a rippin’, there’s no need to be trippin’. And who can forget the drivers burping? The Biggest Belch of the Race brought to you by Burper’s Bird Seed. “If the birds are burping, you know it’s a Burper”. How about if they catch some crew chiefs, crewmembers, or NA$CAR officials picking their noses on camera? The Nastiest Nosepick brought to you by No-Snorz Nasal Strips. “And the winner of today’s Nastiest Nosepick goes to NA$CAR official Rufus Rumjug with his double-digit cleaning of his hand-picked proboscis”. The possibilities are endless. They could get sponsors for everything. Scratching their crotches, cleaning their ears with car keys, picking their underwear out of the cracks of their rears, ear wax, nose hair, nail fungus, drool, you name it, they could find a sponsor for it. And imagine going to pick up the check at the awards dinner in Vegas with the film rolling of that award winning moment. I’m sure the wives and parents sitting at home would be so proud seeing their husband or son managing to get two fingers in there trying to pick for some “gold nuggets” or scratching their crotch in a manner that would make a big league baseball player envious.


But let’s get back to the main point. The races themselves. If they truly are races, then they need to be treated as such and not some freaking carnival with the drivers and crewmembers being shown off like sideshow freaks. Fans want to see real side by side racing and not cars running side by side because the aerodynamics don’t allow passes to be completed. The folks paying subscription bills to cable or satellite TV companies aren’t paying to see just one or two cars for 3-4 hours during the brief interruptions of the commercials. They’re paying to see all 43 cars racing for 3-4 hours. The remaining fans in the stands aren’t buying tickets to see a 43 car parade for 490 miles only to be interrupted during the last 10 miles by some racing. They pay to see 500 miles of beating and banging, donuts on the door, chrome horn usage, real passes done through the use of horsepower and skill, and drivers using strategy like a chess master. Despite the fact that fans have been screaming for this loudly the last few years, it continues to fall on the deaf ears and the blind eyes of the occupiers of Daytona Beach’s Ivory Towers and continues to get worse. When you have the Head Honcho being totally surprised that somebody would dislike his 10 race playoff, you have to wonder not if but when NA$CAR will be closing its doors due to the cluelessness of the folks in charge.
　
After seeing the interview that Jennifer Jo Cobb did on CNN, I have to wonder why is it that a well-spoken, hard working woman who’s worked her way up through the ranks and followed in the family business of racing isn’t the female face of NA$CAR? Her background and how she followed the family tradition would attract both male and female fans. Because of her beliefs, she’d be a great role model for young girls. And as she doesn’t through temper tantrums, doesn’t have a mouth that would embarrass a sailor, and is friendly with fans, she’s definitely more classy the Queen of Hype. And since she is well-spoken as well as being easy on the eyes, I’m surprised some major companies specializing in women’s products haven’t jumped up to sponsor her. I think that clothing companies, perfume makers, and other companies are missing out on a great opportunity. And with her family’s history of racing, I would think that some racing parts companies would step up as sponsors. But then I forgot. She’s not the new savior of NA$CAR. She’s not being hyped and promoted to high heavens by the Beach Boy Bubbas. The Queen of Hype is. I hope Jennifer Jo does well in her 5 Busch Series races and finishes well ahead of the Queen of Hype. Maybe then she’ll grab some sponsors’ attention. And as she’s one of the few folks in a Ford in the Truck Series, I’ll be rooting for her since I’m a long time Ford guy.
　
The fine folks at Save the Speedway have started up a new site to bring folks news in addition to history. It’s called Speedway Digest. This is what Steve Wilson of Save the Speedway said about the site:
　
Save The Speedway has launched Speedway Digest as a way to help other historic speedways get their message out and to help them out. We will also be following NASCAR throughout the season and document the history of NASCAR and the tracks they race on.
　
Rick “The Sign Man” from Save the Speedway has done an amazing job documenting the history of North Wilkesboro Speedway and hopefully other tracks and supporters of other historic tracks can take Rick’s lead in documenting their tracks’ history. You can check out Speedway Digest at
http://speedwaydigest.com/ 

　
Two thumbs up to the 315^th Air Wing for the humanitarian efforts in delivering over 40 tons of supplies to Haiti and Grenada. The humanitarian aid delivered to Haiti consists of 76,000 pounds of medical and school supplies, clothing, food and furniture donated with the assistance of Haiti Lifeline Ministries, Inc., a non-profit organization located in Hesston, Kan. These items will be utilized by the Lifeline Orphanage and provide assistance to the children who call it home and the surrounding community. 7,000 pounds of aid consisting of medical and educational supplies, clothing, furniture and dry goods were delivered to Grenada to help children and their families start the new school year. Naturally, the lamestream media seems to have missed this effort so to the folks of the 315^th Air Wing, many thanks from one old veteran for your efforts.