Courage, Bristol, Conspiracies, Deleted Comments, Logano, Dinger, & Other Stuff

Bristol



That had to be the best Bristol race since the introduction of the much cursed Car of Turmoil. Folks actually had to use their skills to navigate around slower traffic and to pass their competitors. None of this “Waah I need a whole race track to be able to pass” stuff. You were able to tell who the racers were and who the drivers were. The racers moved forwards on the track while the drivers depended on attrition and pit stops to move forward. Sure there were some wrecks. Some from blown tires, others from a driver’s lack of skills in close quarters racing, and some from Murphy’s Law. But because the racing was better, you can expect to see the grandstands to be not quite as empty as they have been over the last several years. It was a far cry form the first Car of Turmoil race at Bristol when fans were actually falling asleep in their seats.



Now if NA$CAR would just go back to something that actually resembled a stock car or improved the handling of the current generic race vehicle, they might get some more exciting racing which means more butts in the seats.



You Gotta Laugh



The Queen of Hype’s fans are nearly as demented as the fans of another highly hyped driver. You talk about conspiracy theories? Some have said that Sorenson intentionally “brake checked” her which is why she ran into the rear of him causing her to wreck at Indy during the Busch Series race. When the BSPN analysts have nothing to say other than she was at fault, you know she was at fault. And after 10+ years of racing experience, she could’ve easily have missed Sorenson when his car slid back across the track. All she had to do was slow down. It might have cost her a few positions but she wouldn’t have wrecked her car. I’ve seen genuine rookies miss the same sort of wrecks by simply hitting the brakes. If I can miss a 26 car wreck on an icy, foggy autobahn in Germany simply by slowing down and using my brakes, she could surely miss a car on an closed circuit with sunny warm weather.

　

The infamous shoe “bombing” incident in Montreal is being said to be a concerted effort to keep her from winning. It sounds like Hillary Clinton’s “vast right wing conspiracy” statement. Apparently track security caught the person who did it and tossed them from the track. The fact that her spotter was telling her to be careful and to watch for debris on the track and she hit the shoe anyways makes me wonder if she has a hearing problem or maybe has trouble processing verbal orders or comments. Eury Jr had told her several times to take care of the transmission but that didn’t seem to work too well either. The fact that the track bar came loose tells me it either wasn’t tightened down properly or that she hit the “curbs” either too hard or hit them one too many times.



The shoe incident made for some great commentary during the IndyCar race at Sonoma. The commentators said they needed a caution and that Robin Miller was spotted wearing only one sneaker in the pits and wondered when he’d throw his sneaker out on the track to cause a caution. It was an obvious dig at the Queen of Hype and her inability to miss the sneaker that was on the track at Montreal.



Perfect Record



So far, the Queen of Hype has a perfect record in the Cup Series races she’s run in this season. She’s manage to wreck in every one so far. Not exactly the kind of perfect record you want to have.



Tony Stewart to Compete in 2016 Olympics



With the addition of a new event for the 2016 Olympics and a fine exhibition of his skills at Bristol, Tony Stewart has secured a position and will be team captain for Team USA in Rio De Janeiro in the Helmet Toss Competition.



Focks Snorts Deleting Comments



It seems that the wonderful folks monitoring the Focks Snorts web site doesn’t like comments that don’t praise NA$CAR. Here’s a comment that was deleted regarding the recent penalties:



Sure enough it is typical NASCAR fairness through and through. One team gets their hand slapped and another belted and whipped.





I'm sure it has nothing at all to do with car maker, sponsors and who makes the chase. Nope, nada, none.





Is it a Coincidence that ever since a Childress put a Black #3 back on the track he has been getting nothing but fined? Humm Must be me.





The frame rails pass pre-race inspection but then NASCAR decides to post-race inspect a 10th place car and amazingly finds a needle in a haystack. I proud of you NASCAR and your Due Diligence. Keep it up!





The frame rails are inspected and certified at the super secret R&D facility when the Car of Turmoil (COT) is submitted for the $22,500 certification process. So how could the frame rail be sanctified and blessed at the R&D facility and then fail a post-race inspection? That says a lot about the certification process and it’s reliability and questions the integrity of both the COT’s that have been certified and of NA$CAR and the folks doing the certification.



But leave it to Focks Sports to delete a comment which questions NA$CAR’s integrity and criticizes them.



NA$CAR Integrity



I know, they have none. You look at the penalties for Paul Menard’s team and that of Shrubbery. Menard’s team get’s fined, suspensions, and docked points. Shrubbery didn’t have any points docked. Why not? All they got was a fine and probation for the crew chief. Menard on the other hand lost his crew & car chiefs until October 3^rd, his crew chief was fined, and the team got docked 25 driver & owner points for a frame rail which didn’t meet specs.



The frame rails have to be certified along with the rest of the Kit Car at the super secret R&D center. So if the frame rails were certified by NA$CAR and were later found not to meet spec, what does that say about the certification process and NA$CAR? You have to wonder if NA$CAR intentionally lets cars that won’t make spec through just so they can nail them later to put money into the NA$CAR Foundation in which NA$CAR only pays out 30% to charity.



Dinger Still in Talks



During the broadcast of the IndyCar race at Sonoma, one of the announcers stated that AJ Foyt was still in talks with Dinger about driving for him next season. I know Dinger’s heart was set on returning to NA$CAR next season but as I’ve mentioned before he’ll be treated like damaged goods. So it would be a much better career move to go to IndyCar next season and maybe return to NA$CAR at some point down the road.



Logano to Penske



By now it’s been announced that Joey the Giraffe is going to Penske. I’m not sure what car he’ll be driving. More than likely it’ll be a 3^rd team car. Why is that? Because Pennzoil has a clause in their contract which states that a champion will drive the car with their sponsorship. The only top tier champion on the Penske team is Sam Hornish Jr. with 3 IRL/IndyCar championships. Logano won the Camping World Series East Championship in 2007. Not quite the same thing or same level as Sam’s championships.

The interesting thing about that is Sam had Pennzoil on his IRL car when he was a champion in the IRL. So there’s already a relationship established between Sam and Pennzoil. Who will Joey’s sponsor be? That remains to be seen.



Using Illegal Parts



Bad Brad said that The Felon’s teams were using illegal parts on the rear end of the car which allow the rear end to “turn”. If true, you have to ask yourself why didn’t NA$CAR’s crack team of officials catch it? When you’ve got Mr Magoo as your head official and the team owner is BFF’s with Faux King Brian, it’s easy for illegal parts to be missed during inspection.



Smoke Retracts Threats



Smoke retracted remarks he made after the race at Bristol about taking out Matt Kenseth every chance he (Smoke) got. Now why would he do that? When you announce to the world ahead of time that your going to take out another driver during a race, that’s considered to be pre-meditated and NA$CAR frowns on that. That’s a big Bozo No-No. Even if an incident occurred that wasn’t intentional, NA$CAR would take immediate action such as parking the driver, like they did with Mr Happy a while back, or bringing them into the pits and make them sit there for a number of laps. So will Smoke actual wreck Kenseth? Definitely. But he’ll probably use Iron Head’s rule. Wait about 4-5 races then take him out.




Courage



If you want to find out what courage really is, you need to read about Danny Pollock, who races sprint cars.

 https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150691199195838&id=86077500837


http://www.dannypollock.com/

Will Phoenix Allow Kurt Busch to Rise From the Ashes?‏

By John "Dawg" Chapman



OK, by now if you were interested, you've probably read several
different takes on what the immediate future might hold for Kurt.

Being as this is kind of a 'slow news' time. I figured I might as well weigh
in, stick my neck (not too far) out, & give you my thoughts on this.

I've read numerous speculations about next season. Everything from his
winning, to even making the Chase.

Can he win? Sure he can, anyone can. Trevor Bayne, & Bad Brad have
proven that. Brad in James Finch's car, no less. Kind of ironic that this
was the first step, leading to his hiring by Penske. that lead to his
breakout season, that in all probability, lead to Kurt's "mutual" parting
with Team Penske & his ending up with Finch.

Kind of reminds me of the cat, that killed the rat, that ate the malt,
that lay in the house, that Jack built. As he'd previously also been
fired from the house that Jack built. It does sort of tie together, doesn't
it? But I digress.

My unequivocal, 100% iron clad answer to both of these scenarios is
definitely.... maybe, on the winning. But I doubt it. As for the second
part, no way Jose. Just look at the cars that couldn't even give that a
good shot in '11, with a lot more going for them.

Seriously, here's what I do see happening, & needing to happen. If this is
going to be the season that he repairs his image, & starts his move back
up the ladder.

To this point in his career, he's been in Championship, or at least
consistent, winning cars. He's been used to teams that had full time
pit crews. Crews who's only job is to hone their over the wall skills,
& pit the car.

With Crew Chef's that had worked their way up through the ranks
to become CCs on top cars. Engineers, shock specialists, etc,etc, etc.
With his current team he doesn't have that luxury.

Much has been made of the fact that the team gets it's equipment from
Hendrick, just like Stewart-Haas. While the first part is true, I seriously
doubt the just like Tony, part. As Hillary's book pointed out. In Africa,
It takes a village, to raise a child. Well in Cup, It takes a team, to field
a car. I do have to wonder about the current strength of the team that
surrounds Kurt.

I'll have to admit that I don't know very much about Nick Harrison, his
current CC. His Cup record is not very impressive,( nor are his meager
Nationwide stats.) Actually, it's about what you'd expect for a car that
up to this time has been basically a field filler operation. Nick wasn't
CC, when Brad won with this team. He's has had 47 starts, over 2
years.
　
With 0 top 5, 0 T-10, finishes, 0 poles, & only 11 lead lap finishes.
With an average finishing position of 29th, last year. While finishing
30th in owners points. This could very well not be as much a reflection
on his abilities, as much as the circumstances he's found himself in.
They had 26 finishes of 25th or worse. This is for sure going to
improve. Just how much improvement we see depends on more than
just Kurt.

James has already made a big change, by putting Kurt in the car. I think
now, & I do mean NOW, he needs to look at every one in the organization,
top, to bottom. With the shrinkage going on in the Cup, & Nationwide
garages, some very good people are available. With fewer people, each, &
every one needs to be the best he can get. He very well might already have
them, that's for him to decide.

Kurt has repeatedly stated that he wants' to have fun racing. While I've
obviously never been exposed to racing at this level, I doubt that it's
meant to be fun. While I'm sure it can be fun at times. It's also pressure
packed, & the way he's dealt with that pressure, is in large part what got
him where he is. Anyone who thinks that he won't be under much pressure
with this team, isn't looking at the big picture. He really can't afford any
cracks in his composure next season, & it's a very long season.

Marty Robbins, used to do it for fun, but that was another time,
& he had a pretty good day job to fall back on.
If he really wants to have fun, then perhaps he needs to buy a dirt late
model, & go be the big duck, in some little puddle.

Let's hope his work with a sports psychologist, wasn't just damage control.
But, a serious attempt to get at the root causes that brought on his
problems. Because he's going to have a lot of new frustrations to
deal with. How he's able to deal with them, will be the difference between
this being his first step back to where he wants to be, or his current
situation becoming the new reality. So far in both their NASCAR
careers, the Busch Brats, have made 'Busch self control'. into
one of my favorite oxymoron's. Right behind NASCAR credibility.

He's going to need to deal successfully with his issues in public, & treat
the media with respect. Keep his radio conversations, professional.
Then if he wants' to go back to the motor home, & take 'em out on the
crockery, so be it. Pull this off, & I believe he can climb the ladder again,
but it will take some time.

One thing that can be a blessing, or a curse, will be the scrutiny that
Kurt will be under. Handle it correctly, & I believe that the team will
start to pick up some sponsorship. Probably not national companies,
maybe, but small, & mid-sized companies that need the TV exposure
that Kurt, in the 51 car is sure to garner for them. More money, well
spent, should equate to better performance. Once this starts, it should
feed itself.

As far as winning races, this team has proven that it could do it, against
long odds.

If I were in James's shoes, here's what I'd try. I'd enter a second car for
the plate tracks. David Ragan is a very solid plate driver. I'd hire him for
all 4 plate races. That way Kurt would have a good, experienced, team
mate to work with. As Daytona's the best paying race of the season, if the
second car made the field. That would go a long way to funding it for the
rest of the plate races. A good finish for it would just be icing on the
cake. This should give the best shot at a win. Maybe a long shot,
but not as long as winning the first one was.

I expect that if Kurt, & James were to stay together for say, 3 years.
Then we might see them in the Chase, or at least giving it a good run.
But it's just too big a leap for 1 season.

I'm looking more for steady progress, of the baby steps variety next year.
A move from 30, to 20, in points, with 4-5, T-10 finishes, & maybe a T-5
or 2 would be a very good season, & it's doable.

I wouldn't be surprised if this deal has an escape clause, so that if Kurt
were to get a better offer, he could take it. Who knows, with the pressures
on teams now, that could come before the season's out. Personally, I'd
love to see them stay together. They could be good for each other, but
that's asking a lot.

This whole deal is going to be a real test, for both Kurt, & The team, but
it can be done. One thing I can absolutely guarantee.

It's not all going be fun.