Sam Ard Donations Can Be Tax Deductible
If you’re looking for a tax deduction for next year, you can donate to the Sam Ard Care Fund through Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) at:
Samuel J. Ard Care Fund
M.R.O.
Smith Tower Suite 405
555 Concord Parkway South
Concord, NC 28027
Ramo Stott Memorabilia Still Missing
Still no word or any leads on the Ramo Stott memorabilia that was stolen from the Stott household in Iowa. There is still a reward for the arrest and conviction of the dirt bags who stole it.
Spinning the Ratings Numbers
NA$CAR’s latest “spin” has to do with the ratings numbers. If they moved a race from one weekend to another, but there was still a race on, then the numbers are still valid. For example, if race #5 of this season is measured against race #5 of last season, then the numbers comparison should be valid. However, because the race locations may be a week earlier or later than last season, the numbers are being skewed to show that this season race at Talladega for example is up versus last year’s race even though they’re not on the same weekend. “Flip it on full spin cycle boys, we want those numbers to look good”.
Nielsen Media Research estimates there are 115.9 million television households in the U.S.A. "Household Rating" is an expression of the percentage of households tuned in to any show at a given time. Therefore, a 1.0 rating would equal an average of 1.159 million households were watching during the program.
2012 HOF Nominees
The announcement was made for next years HOF nominees. And once again I’ll say that Raymond Parks Jr and Red Byron should be inducted. They should’ve both been inducted in the first class. Without the financing of Raymond Parks Jr’s moonshine, Bill France Sr would’ve had to fold up his tent and gone home. In the tradition of real sports, Red Byron should’ve been inducted in the 1st class as he was the first champion. But as this is about family oriented sports entertainment and Faux King Brian doing his best to sever the ties of moonshine and the South to the origins, revising history, and making of what was once a sport, both of them lost out.
After those two, here’s where it gets tricky. There are a lot of worthy folks on the list. The Wood Brothers who revolutionized the pit stop. Two time Grand National and American Motorcycle Association Champion Joe Weatherly. Two time champion Herb Thomas, who’s career was ended early thanks to Carl Kiekhaefer because Herb changed teams and Kiekhaefer was irate about it and had Herb intentionally taken out during a race in Shelby NC after which Herb was never quite the same. Two time Grand National champion Tim Flock who was blackballed by Bill France Sr along with Curtis Turner for trying to form a badly needed drivers’ union which is still needed today is another worthy candidate. There are some sentimental favorites for me on the list. Fireball Roberts, NASCAR’s first real superstar, who was my hero as a kid. Hometown hero Curtis Turner. NASCAR’s original Golden Boy Fred Lorenzen. Cotton Owens who was a success as both an owner and driver and was selected as one of NASCAR’s Top 50 drivers. But despite the accomplishments and contributions of some of these early legends, they won’t make it in because they don’t have the “name recognition” or “star quality” that Faux King Brian is lusting after. Some still have the heavy taint of “redneck”, “Southerner”, and “moonshine” to their names and legends which the Revisionists, PC crowd, and Faux King Brian despise so much. We have one driver who could be selected because of his ethnic background, and no, I’m not going to mention his name because that would be used by Faux King Brian‘s Diversity Program as yet another sham showpiece and actually dishonor the driver. Pick who you want and vote for them. Drop an e-mail to Dustin Long as he’s one of the voting members and let him know who you think should be in the 2012 class and why.
IndyCar Moving Forward
While the dinosaur that is NASCAR still continues on with it’s generic race vehicles and will eventually embrace 1980’s engine technology with the TBI (Throttle Body Injection) system, IndyCar is bringing in engine manufacturers who are using current, state-of-the-art engine technology and will be moving away from their generic 1980’s Dallara bodies to a variety of body styles next season. According to Autoextremist owner/writer Peter De Lorenzo, “Because the buzz at Long Beach wasn't about how great the ALMS is, it was about how many quality teams from the ALMS and Grand-Am were seriously considering giving IndyCar a shot in 2012”. This could boost the car count for IndyCar to levels where they could actually have to resort to “go or go home” qualifying procedures and hurt the Grand-Am Series, which is owned by NA$CAR, because of it‘s dwindling car counts under the “leadership“ of Jim France, Faux King Brian‘s uncle, and the real lack on interest by NA$CAR in the Grand-Am Series and the incorporation of NA$CAR‘s “techniques“ to generate artificial excitement. What’s it going to take to get NA$CAR into the 21st Century, run relevant engine technology, and have race vehicles that actually resemble their street counterparts? A walk-out by the Big 3, which they have threatened to do if NA$CAR doesn’t get off their slower than molasses rear ends and start making the cars readily brand identifiable as either a Mustang, Challenger, or Impala.
Another Woman to Drive in the Indy 500
Conquest Racing has announced that they will be fielding a car for Pippa Mann. This means that the Indy 500 field will have 3 female racers and one female celebrity in the field. Folks don’t know it because Pippa’s not a celebrity but she was the first woman to sit on the pole at IMS and did it in the Indy Light cars. Pippa will be joined by drivers Simona De Silvestro and Ana Beatriz and female celebrity the Queen of Hype.
IndyCar to Bid Bye Bye to the QoH Next Season
It’s looking like the Queen of Hype won’t be back in the IndyCar Series next season based on what sources are telling me. She’ll be spending next season promoting her branding and marketing in NA$CAR full-time instead of the current part-time branding and marketing schedule she’s had the last two seasons. If the branding and marketing schedule on BSPN turned your stomach the last 2 seasons, just wait til next season when it‘s all Danican‘t all the time on BSPN.
No Problems at Talladega for Robby
Robby had his Fast 5/Speed Energy show car and souvenir hauler at Talladega and didn’t have a single problem with his show car being towed, being banned from the I$C tracks, or being accused of “ambush marketing” which is also used by a home improvement company, a car manufacturer, a certain cell phone provider who is the only one allowed thanks to the exclusivity agreement, and the “fine” folks at Focks who employ ambush marketing every time they shill for one certain auto manufacturer who owns Jabber Jaws, certain drivers who are brand names by themselves, the official fuel provider, the official tire provider, and every time they slip in a logo for the Cup and fuel provider on either the roof cam, in-car, or rear cam views with the driver‘s name and car info.
Speaking of which, anyone happen to notice which driver’s fans are being targeted by American Ethernol with the roof cam shots?
SCCA Action at Long Beach
In the SCCA World Challenge race at Long Beach, female driver Shea Holbrook won the Touring Car division. Joey Hand co-piloted the Team BMW RLL M3 to the ALMS GT win at Long Beach. So far he has won the Rolex 24, Sebring, and Long Beach - 3-for-3. Looks like Joey could have a banner year if this keeps up. Can or will anyone step up to the challenge?
US Forces Still Involved With Japanese Relief Efforts
About the only thing we’re hearing about now in the media is the occasional reports about the nuclear reactors that were damaged during the earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan but our troops are still there helping with various relief efforts. Now that roads are re-opened, helicopter efforts launched and recovered from the USS Ronald Reagan have been scaled back. Our troops will continue to assist in the relief efforts there until the Japanese government can fully take over for our troops. Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said the U.S. aid underscored the importance of the two nations’ military alliance. “At no other time have I felt as proud of our alliance with the United States,” Kitazawa was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying. So while things may be scaling back some, we’ve still got goodwill ambassadors on the ground lending a helping hand.
