Z-Line Gone?, Ward Returning, Awesome Bill, & Some Other Things

Z-Line Gone?
　
It appears that Shrubbery’s attempted homicide of Ron Hornaday at Texas Motor Speedway angered Z-Line Designs to the point that they’ve pulled the racing sponsorship across the board. Not just in NA$CAR but also IndyCar. I guess this is sponsorship “black eye” goes rather well with the sunglasses sponsorship.
　
Magical Media Tour　
Once again, the Magical Media Tour took place and we had pretty much a rehash of last season all the way down to Faux King Brian’s “State of Racer-tainment” speech. The lamestream media was quick to take the team and NA$CAR PR sheets, reword them, and sing the praises of the infinite wisdom of Faux King Brian. Same thing as last year.
　
One of the things that came out during His Majesty’s speech was that there won’t be any more secret fines. Gee, do you think that maybe this is an effort to try to remove the 50 feet of tarnish on NA$CAR’s reputation? Faux King Brian said that you can’t denigrate NA$CAR but you can express your opinions about other things. So I guess it’s now OK to call Faux King Brian a bungling incompetent, Helton a over-bearing bully, & the rest of NA$CAR’s leadership & officials whatever you feel like just so long as you don’t denigrate NA$CAR itself.
　
"Now, having said that, you can be critical of things you don't think we're doing well, in particular a race call. You can say, 'I don't think I was speeding; I disagree with that.' We understand that. It's when you go after the integrity of the sport is where we will step in, and they will be public."　

So I guess when a driver complains about the numerous on-track appearances of Ms Terry DeBris, they’re getting into a gray area. They can say they think the appearances by Ms Terry DeBris are a major inconvenience but they can’t say the timing on them sure is funny because they always seem to come out when one of the Chosen Ones is about to get lapped.
　
Much Ado About Nothing
　
NA$CAR and the Kool Aid drinking media all seem to be going gaga over the 2013 NA$CAR model Fusion that Ford’s rolling out. While the nose looks a little more like the car it’s based off of, you can still see the Camry of Today (COT) bodylines in it. Of course, the one issue that wasn’t addressed by the media is a major problem of the Camry of Today. The mechanical issues. Things like all the mandated, sole-sourced parts and the inability of the vehicle itself to turn. Whatever happened the test results from the different tire, suspension, and steering set-ups that were done? Are we going to see a vehicle which will actually be able to turn or will it still be the same non-turning piece of junk we’ve seen before that drivers have complained about til they‘re blue in the face?
　
Happy With TV Contracts
　
It seems that Faux King Brian is oblivious to the complaints of the fans and the networks regarding the race coverage:
　
"We really like our current partners," he said. "My expectation is they want to renew their involvement with NASCAR, and my hope is at the right time we'll figure that out together. If it happens early, it's possible, or it might not. We're having conversations."　

The networks have been complaining for years that they’re losing money because they’re unable to sell on-air advertising time. Privately, some TV & media people are tired of NA$CAR dictating what will and won’t be covered and actually want to give the fans at home a better product. The fans have been complaining about the poor coverage and commentary that the networks provide along with interrupting the commercials for a lap or two of racing before having more commercials rammed down their throats. Just so long as Faux King Brian’s piggy bank is getting full, everything is OK.
　
I’ve got a feeling the Ivory Tower Gang in Daytona is going to be in for a real surprise when the networks are only willing to pony up 20-25% of what they did last time around using the same excuse Faux King Brian has been using as to why the grandstands aren‘t full and the TV ratings are scraping the bottom of the barrel. The poor economy.
　
Ward Burton Returning
　
Fellow Virginian Ward Burton is returning to the track and bringing his son Jeb with him. While the primary emphasis will be on Jeb racing in the Truck Series, if I read Ward correctly, if the sponsorship is there, we could see both him and Jeb racing against each other. I think the last father-son team to race against each other were the Earnhardts on the Cup side of things. So it could be interesting to see how well Ward & Jeb get along on the track racing each other.
　
Of course, with Ward’s return, Faux King Brian will have to get his translator out of retirement so he can understand what Ward is saying. The last time Ward said something that Faux King Brian took any interest in, it took over two weeks for him to figure out just what Ward had said. And Ward was 100% right. “That dog don’t hunt”.
　
Awesome Bill’s Return Raises Questions
　
Even though Bill Elliott appears to have a one shot deal for a July race, folks are raising questions about Slick Rick owning or fielding the car. Slick Rick has given an official explanation. He doesn’t own the car. So, it’s not a 5^th Hendrick car. It’s another satellite team like SHR.
　
But if you delve a little further into the rules, a team could theoretically field a 5^th car for a limited number of races. Such as putting a development driver behind the wheel for less than 7 races which wouldn’t jeopardize the driver’s rookie status. Or, for the non-points events, like when a driver leaves a team but is eligible to drive in the non-points events. The owner of the team the driver left from could field a car for that driver. For example, Mark Martin could drive in a non-points event for HMS providing he meets the eligibility requirements and Slick Rick is willing to field a car for him. Actually, field a car for Kasey Kahne so Mark could drive the #5 car again for the non-points event since Mark would‘ve theoretically been eligible as the driver of the #5 car.
　
Odds of this actually happening? Slim to none and Slim done left town.
　

VW Shooting for #1 Globally?
　
According to VW’s VP for Racing, VW has applied to be an engine supplier in F-1. If this is approved, it will have a global impact on VW’s sales as F-1 is a global racing entity, unlike NA$CAR which is confined to North America. Considering all the bad PR and recalls that have come from Japan the last few years, VW stands a very good chance of becoming the #1 manufacturer in the world. One question that remains unanswered is which VW entity will carry the VW on the engines? Will it be VW itself, Audi, or Porsche?
　
Austin Dillon in the #3 Cup Car?
　
Apparently there’s a rumor going around about Austin Dillon driving a car with the #3 on it in a Cup race and it has some folks foaming at the mouth. They seem to be under the misguided notion that Richard Childress owns the #3. He doesn’t own the #3. NASCAR owns the #3. Along with all the other numbers used by every single competitor. What Childress owns is the stylized #3 that was used on Dale Sr.‘s car. He holds the copyrights on it. So if he should field a car with the #3 on it, that’s his prerogative as the team owner as long as it‘s “blessed” by the Ivory Tower Gang. He could also use the stylized #3 that he has the copyrights on or he could use another font style for the #3 if he wants to.
　
Get Rid of the Top 35
　
Folks have been saying since its’ implementation that they Top 35 needs to go and we have even more proof of it this year than ever. It seems that Tony Stewart has bought the points for the #36 car of Tommy Baldwin Racing to make sure that the Queen of Hype is in the Daytona 500. And he’s also doing a deal similar to what was done at JR Motorsports to keep the QoH’s car in the Top 35 by having Roto-Reutimann filling the seats while she’s busy having temper tantrums and hissy fits because drivers are racing her too hard in the Busch Series.
　
By eliminating the Top 35, it would mean drivers would have top qualify each and every week except for a rain out during qualifying. If you make it great, if not, better luck next week. This would actually create competition, which is supposedly what Faux King Brian says is needed to get fans interest. We wouldn’t have teams sandbagging during qualifying and practice. They’d actually have to find the right set ups for qualifying and racing. Then they’d have to drive WFO during qualifying to make sure they got into the race.
　
But I keep forgetting. This actually makes sense and since it does make sense, it would immediately be disapproved by Faux King Brian and the Ivory Tower Gang in Daytona.
　

Robinson-Blakeney Racing, HOF Tape Delay, Congrats Jerry Bonkowski, & Other Stuff

Robinson-Blakeney Racing
　
Jay Robinson has partnered with Troy Blakeney to form Robinson-Blakeney Racing, LLC. There are currently 4 cars in their stable. 3 of the 4 are being converted from Ford, Dodge, & Chevy to the make they’ll be running once the season starts. There’s no mention of any support from the car manufacturer or their racing division. Based on the cutbacks and shift of engine support to JGR, you have to wonder who will be supplying their engines.
　
HOF Ceremony on Tape Delay
　
Knowing full well in advance when the Bondo-Jackson show was going to be on and scheduling around it, NA$CAR decided to go with a tape delay of the official induction ceremonies to the France Hall of Fantasies, that wonderful place that‘s caused a nation-wide shortage of red ink.
　
By going with a tape delay, it gave the NA$CAR Media Group a chance to edit out such things as Faux King Brian mumbling, stumbling, and bumbling through his speeches and not showing Cale trying to shut Jabber Jaws up once and for all with some 200 MPH Tape for the benefit of the fans at home.
　
Monster Pulls the Plug on Ricky Carmichael
　
It seems that after a long-time relationship with Ricky Carmichael, Monster Energy Drink pulled the plug on him in favor of the most disliked drivers in NA$CAR. Neither Robby Gordon nor Carmichael really fit the image of the demographics that Monster is going after. Foul-mouthed, disrespectful, whiny, spoiled punks. Looks like Monster finally got a match made in hell, I mean heaven for their sponsorship. Or is it a personal services contract such as they had with Robby Gordon? Guess we’ll find out when they start whining about not getting sponsorship money from Monster.
　
New Manufacturer Joining NA$CAR in 2013?
　
The word I’m hearing from my open wheel and road racing sources are saying that either VW or Hyundai will be joining Brian’s Big Top Circus in 2013, thus part of the reason for running the obsolete throttle body injection (TBI) system. VW has previously stated that they weren’t interested in NA$CAR because they wanted to be able to show off their technology. This means we might see yet another change to the fuel injection system being run if VW shows up. Hyundai, the owner of Kia, is a Korean owned company and as far as I can find out doesn’t make a V-8 of any sort for their cars. This would put them in the same boat as the foreign owned manufacturer currently competing under Brian’s Big Top. Special, purpose-designed engines that they don‘t make for their street cars. But then, all the manufacturers are doing that now for NA$CAR. Maybe the manufacturers need to push for production-based engines while they’re pushing for identifiable bodylines?
　
Either manufacturer would be showing up at the perfect time when the TV contract talks would be under way (2013) and could use the same tactics used by the current foreign-owned manufacturer to buy their way in to help clinch the TV contracts by coughing up a ton of commercial & advertising money like their predecessor did. This would put the Motormouth Brothers in a pickle as they are already “owned” and would be forced to shill for a brand that doesn’t own them. Such a dilemma.
　
Lotus to Use Internet to Introduce New F-1 Car
　
In sort of a first, Lotus will be using the internet to roll out their new F-1 car on February 5^th at 6 PM Eastern Time. After a 2 year hiatus from F-1, Kimi Raikkonen will be joining Lotus and doing the 2 days of testing at Jerez on February 7^th. You can see the new car roll out at
　
Peugeot Pulls the Plug on Racing
　
Because of the decline in worldwide sales, Peugeot is pulling the plug on their racing efforts. They will not be competing in Le Mans, WEC Championship, or other events. In the case of the WEC, it leaves Audi to run unmolested in that series. And with no LMP1 cars being run, that leaves the field wide open there. Originally, they had announced they would furnish cars for “privateers” but even that seems to have gone to the wayside.
　
Austin Track to be Completed in August
　
It looks like the Course of the Americas (COTA) will be finished in August which should allow it to be on the FIA's World Motor Sport Council 2012 calendar. Right now, Current cost estimates put the cost of the track at $350 million and a capacity of 120,000. So it looks like F-1 will be racing there this season.
　
FIA Bans Reactive Suspension
　
Even though the FIA originally approved the reactive suspension that Lotus developed, they now have done an ASO and disapproved it after Ferrari couldn’t figure out how to make theirs work and complained to current FIA President Todt (German word for dead) and former Ferrari Team Leader. Doesn’t take an Einstein to figure this one out.

More Changes Coming for Daytona 500
　
One of the changes in place is a lowering of the rear bumper and there will probably a change to the pressure on the radiator and the grill opening yet again making it even smaller than it currently is all in an effort to force teams to pack race again and not race Brokeback style.
　
Bristol Green Promotion
　
Honestly? It smacks of desperation as they try to ride the coat tails of NA$CAR’s Celebrity Spokesmodel in the hopes that some folks will be gullible enough to buy tickets to help fill the ever emptier grandstands at the track which has been experiencing declining ticket sales ever since the introduction of NA$CAR’s generic race car and the reconfiguration of the track. Before the introduction of the generic race vehicles and the reconfiguration of the track, Bristol had a waiting list for tickets for the Cup race and never really sold out for any of the lower tier races. Since the reconfiguration and use of generic race vehicles, fans has disappeared in droves for all the races there. So is NA$CAR’s celebrity spokesmodel really going to put butts in the seats? I don’t think so.
　
Congrats to Jerry Bonkowski
　
Jerry has been voted onto the Board of Directors of the National Motorsports Press Association. When I congratulated Jerry on Twitter he wrote back: “Thanks, Mike. I have some big shoes to fill ... but I have big feet already, so that helps LOL”. Glad Jerry still has his sense of humor. I’m sure he’ll do a great job.
　
　

　
　
　
　
　
　

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