Folding Spoiler Update, Poor TV Coverage, Phoenix Phibbing, and Other Assorted Things

More on the Fold-Away Spoiler
　
By NA$CAR’s own admission, the spoiler on the #15 truck at Daytona was made from sheet metal which was too thin. Now, if this truck went through inspection when it showed up at the track, why was it allowed to race with an illegal spoiler in the first place? Shouldn’t the NA$CAR inspectors have confiscated the illegal spoiler, put it on the table with the other illegal parts for display, had them run a legal spoiler, and then penalize them after the race as is their tradition? What does this say about the actual inspection process? The spoiler was fine until it folded under pressure and then suddenly became illegal? Or were the inspectors showing some favoritism because of who was driving the truck on the 10^th anniversary? You have to wonder. If this sort of stuff is going on or being missed in the truck garage, what’s being missed or overlooked in the Cup and Busch Series garages?
　
Phoenix Phibbing
　
Despite the fact that PIR and the NA$CAR controlled media announcing that the Cup race was sold out, in radio interviews in the Phoenix area, both PIR and NA$CAR brass said that “there are still plenty of good seats available”. Are these people so ignorant that they don’t think the rest of the racing world will find out the truth about the seating? Or haven’t they heard about the internet or telephone?
　
In one radio interview, Mafia Mike was lobbed softball question after softball question. But then when asked about the date change, Mafia Mike didn’t answer the question and instead did a “bob and weave” saying the Phoenix fans were great, yada yada yada. He successfully evaded the question and the interviewer didn’t bother trying to get a real answer to the question.
　
Thanks to Terry, our man in the stands out west, as of Friday, the reserved camping area was ¾ empty, he was able to park right up front in General Parking, and the place looked pretty much like a ghost town with very little foot traffic in the souvenir hauler area.
　
Short Field at Phoenix
　
There were only 40 cars which showed up at Phoenix for the Busch Series race there and 9 out of the 40 cars that did show up were unsponsored. You can expect to see more of this at future races this season.
　
No Coverage Means No Sponsorship
　
If you watched the Cup Lite race on BSPN, you may have noticed that the majority of the coverage during the race and the post-race interviews went to the Buschwackers. Yeah, let’s interview the Buschwackers and the Queen of Hype because they “truly” represent the Busch Series. Oh wait, let’s interview Reed Sorenson so it doesn’t appear like we’re biased towards the Buschwackers. With the Buschwackers getting the bulk of the coverage during the Cup Lite races and getting the bulk of the post-race interviews, is it any wonder why there are no sponsors willing to step up and sponsor a Busch regular team? And how about BSPN cutting out early for college basketball rather than spend the 5 minutes left to interview some of the Busch regulars. Yeah, we can tell exactly what the home office of BSPN thinks of motorsports coverage. And we’re only half way through the TV contract with them. Can the Busch Series survive this sort of lack of decent coverage and poor exposure through the rest of the contract? God help us.
　
Anomalous Anomalies
　
After the 3 Daytona races were run and they were won by drivers who were ineligible for points, NA$CAR’s Minister of Propaganda stated that it was an anomaly and wouldn’t happen again. And yet at Phoenix, we see it happen again with the Truck and Busch Series races.
　
Where has God Gone?
　
Back when Jeff Gordon and some other drivers were first making headlines in the Cup Series, the first thing that came out of their mouth after a win was “I want to thank God today”. Then Jeffy and the rest quit thanking God all at the same time. This was also about the time that NA$CAR really started to boom coast to coast. Could it be that the Christian beliefs of these drivers was squashed by somebody pushing the PC agenda in order to put more butts in the seats? And why do that when every race starts off with an Invocation? A prayer which thanks God and asks for a safe race? If they’re going to put the kibosh on the drivers thanking God then why haven’t they eliminated the Invocation? I guess we’ll see what happens as Trevor Bayne progresses and see if he’s told to pipe down about his Christian beliefs.
　
Sandbagging During Practice
　
I wanted to make sure I wasn’t nuts about this but apparently I’m not alone. I got e-mails from Erin and a few other people over the weekend noticing the same thing. Drivers are sandbagging during practice in order to get a better qualifying order position. I had heard from a source before the Daytona 500 about a driver doing this but wanted to be sure it wasn’t just a coincidence or me being nuts. After all, I am mad, as in crazy. Then we have Jabber Jaws and his parrot joking about it during Cup practice. I don’t know if they were making fun of it as a rumor, unintentionally letting the cat out of the bag, or giving NA$CAR the finger and revealing it to the fans.
　
On the Ethanol Payroll?
　
Saturday, February 26^th 2011, on Twitter, Kenny “You’re not a real race fan” Wallace said this:
　
Kenny Wallace
Ethanol has been in Gas for 30 yrs! The bad stuff you're hearing is a marketing gimmick from people with agendas. GO American Ethanol.
　
So obviously the “bad stuff” about ethanol eating seals and gaskets was a marketing gimmick from people with agendas and not from manufacturer safety bulletins and recalls warning consumers about ethanol eating the gaskets and seals and possibly causing fires and damage to their engines. The decrease in gas mileage that consumers are seeing and reporting in various forums is from people with an agenda. Anyone get the feeling Kenny’s on the pro-ethanol payroll?
　
More Restrictor Plate Rule Changes Coming?
　
After Robin Pemberton announced that there wouldn’t be any more rules changes at Daytona regarding the restrictor plates and then a different restrictor plate was issued and the cooling system was diddled with, he once again is saying they don’t have any plans right now to change the rules for Talladega but that they’re also still receiving team inputs. Expect the manufacturer(s) with the biggest problems with overheating and not having enough power because of the Daytona diddling to push for changes at Talladega.
　
Another Tim Richmond in the Works?
　
For those not familiar with Tim Richmond, he enjoyed chasing women and boozing away from the track but he managed to pull it together on race day and pull off some great wins. And unfortunately, his lifestyle led to his downfall and eventual death for AIDS. It seem that in a recent interview with Maxim magazine, Brian Vickers said he binge drinks to the point of blacking out and enjoys multiple female sex partners. The problem with binge drinking is it can affect your alcohol level up to 72 hours afterwards. In other words, you could still be under the influence of alcohol 3 days after you stopped drinking. Now, remember how many drivers said they wouldn’t be on the track with a driver who was under the influence back in 2009? How many times has Vickers shown up while still under the influence of his binge drinking? Not to mention the problems with multiple sex partners. Condoms aren’t 100% effective and as he blacks out, there‘s no guarantee he even uses one. And there was one thing in the article that really caused me to raise an eyebrow. “The doctors speculate that racing was a factor: Sitting in a car for long periods, 180 mph wrecks, turning lots of Gs—all these things may have contributed to his condition”. Now, if high G turns caused part of his problem, you have to wonder how many other drivers may have a heart condition and don’t know it.
　

Two Thumbs Up for the Coast Guard
　
We don’t hear much about the Coast Guard or the job that they do. It runs the gamut between drug interdiction and counter-terrorism to wartime operations and rescuing boaters and ships at sea. For the job they do, they’re under-appreciated and underpaid. In a rather odd rescue on February 8^th, they were involved in rescuing a snowmobiler from Lake Erie. Definitely a far cry from rescuing fishing boats taking on water off the coast of Washington state that we normally think of as a Coast Guard rescue. And the Navy talks about it not being a job but an adventure? To the men and women of the Coast Guard, my deepest appreciation for the job you do.