Nascar Blog

Nascar is really trying to make it more interesting for the fans this year with a bunch of rule changes, keep up the good work guys, thanks for listening. The latest, they are going to attempt up to three green/white/checker finishes instead of the normal one.

NASCAR is extending its overtime period, and will now make up to three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.

The move was announced to competitors in the driver’s meeting preceding Thursday’s twin 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. The change will affect all three national series, and follows a Budweiser Shootout last weekend that went to the green-white-checkered finish, but ended under caution nonetheless.

Previously, NASCAR had made only one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, and a caution during that two-lap overtime period ended the race. If a caution comes out after the leader has taken the white flag, the field will be frozen and the race will not resume, as was the case with the previous rule. Source: NASCAR to make up to three attempts at GWC

Jeff Gordon says he likes the one attempt because he doesn’t think it will matter at the end like that, there will be wrecks every time and have fuel mileage issues as well. I guess we shall see.

Now, Nascar, let’s talk about the yellow line rule….

I was reading an article on Nascar.com about the some of the drivers opinions on the upcoming changes, and this quote from Jeff Gordon really got my spirits up about the coming season and hopefully a lot better racing.

Jeff Gordon said he was excited about “the biggest restrictor plate since 1989″ because it would give drivers “more power under the hood.” Gordon added that teams also have been told by NASCAR that drivers will have a greater opportunity to police themselves in certain situations in 2010 as well — which he said he welcomes.

“I think sometimes it’s appropriate for them to get involved, but usually the drivers are pretty good at policing themselves,” Gordon said. “I know [owner] Rick [Hendrick] has been part of some occasions when they had to get involved, but I love the idea of, ‘Let’s just go race.’ That’s what this sport was built on, that’s what fans love. That’s what drives this sport and creates advertising and sponsorship opportunities and puts fans in the seats and glued to their TVs at home.

“So I think we’ve got some really cool things in store for 2010. … I think NASCAR is ready to let us put some really great racing out there.” Source: Nascar.com

Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson were talking about the yellow line rule still being in effect, all seem to be glad of that, Dale Jr. said I think if you took the rule away you would figure out real quick why they had it to start with. But Mark Martin had a great idea, repeal the rule for the last lap, and let all hell break loose.

“In a perfect world, no, I wouldn’t have that,” Martin said. “But if we’re really trying to treat the race fans, I’m willing to wreck from Turn 4 to the start-finish line on the last lap — for The Show. I just don’t want to do it the first 10 laps or whenever. I want to get at least that close to the finish before all hell breaks loose.”

That would be a great idea. I’m not saying that they should be allowed to just wreck each other on purpose, but you get people all around jockeying for position and you’re bound to have some wrecks and great action on the last lap. Hell, why not try it out for a couple races, before the chase of course; don’t want to knock anyone out of the championship run, unless it’s Jimmie Johnson.

Nascar is apparently taking advice from the fans and from the drivers early this year with some much needed rule changes. The biggest rule change as of now, they are going to allow bump drafting again at Talladega and Daytona.

Thank You!

Last years racing at Talladega was some of the worst racing there ever, and allowing bump drafting again will put lots of action back into Nascar, I hope. I’m sure we’ll have those guys in the back riding around until the end, but now they will be taking a bigger chance of being collected in the big one if they do. Let’s hope so anyway, that should motivate them to race harder the whole race.

Other rule changes:
Increasing the size of the restrictor plate at Daytona. Let’s hope this really boosts the speed at which they can race there. AS safe as these cars are now, let’s have some wrecks!

They also plan to replace the rear wing on the Sprint Cup cars with a spoiler. I think everyone in Nascar, at least that I have heard, will certainly like this one. This will give them more of the old stock car look and surely affect the handling of the race car. They plan on testing the spoiler in March at Charlotte and will make a decision then of when to implement it. Check out some pics here.

They plan on limiting the number of crew members on Nationwide Series teams. This is probably one of those rules to make it cheaper to run the Nationwide series.

Reducing number of races Nationwide Series teams can run without using a sealed engine

Implementing double-file restarts in the Camping World Truck Series

This is already a good start to the season and we haven’t even started racing yet. Now I’m getting a little excited!

“When I heard NASCAR talk about losing the wing and going back to the traditional spoiler that we’ve all looked at for 50 years, I was thrilled,” said three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, a NASCAR on FOX analyst. “Losing the wing will give cars that conventional stock car look. And a bigger restrictor plate will make racing better and drivers happier. It’s a change that a fan won’t see or feel, but the driver will. It will give them so much more throttle response. It’s like swapping a four cylinder engine for a V8.” From Fox Sports

A couple more changes have been announced at California and Phoenix; the California race that is in the Chase will change from a 500 mile race to a 400 mile race, they say it will help make it an even better race than last years. They are also changing the distance at Phoenix, but this one is going up, from 312 miles to 375, changing the whole complexion of that race.

I haven’t posted much to the blog lately, all the action has been on my Nascar Blog twitter account, as I have been wondering if I should even keep the site up. Nascar has threatened a lawsuit saying my site looks too much like theirs and that I am making money off of their trademark. While I’ve been thinking about it, I removed the ads and changed the theme, so that even their bonehead lawyers can tell the difference. But, I have noticed one thing, the negative comments have been coming in to other posts since I haven’t been posting, but, no positive ones. Here are some examples.

From Jeff Patterson:

I have been a diehard Nascar fan since network TV only showed a few of the biggest races, and that is a long time ago. But I am losing my enthusiasm for Nascar racing faster and faster every week. The biggest money and sponsorship goes to a namesake that can’t race his way out of a windtest tunnel, but can win a race at opportune times with the help of Nascar’s wisdom and timely debris calls. That applies to other highly publicized drivers that make good Nascar TV ratings. They are “hot” drivers that benefit from Nascars decisions to call a race. I am especially getting tired of green, white, checkers. I have an idea: lets have qualifying, take the top 20, and just run a green, white, checker. I, myself would find that much more exciting, and surely a lot of my time less wasted. There are still a lot of people out there who believe professional wrestling is REAL, and I think Nascar is banking on that mentality to hoodwink us all for the sake of fat TV contracts. As for me, you can call me a hater, but I call ‘em as I see ‘em. I am going back to my local dirt track, where the real races, and the real drivers DRIVE.

From Namon Jhonston:

NASCAR Sucks. Daytona 500 200 laps only called for rain. Now the 600. Drive damn it. Its a race. Safety, then go be a Nanny.

From Bette Mininger:

Nascar Officials:
I would like to know if Kyle Busch is going to get away with, deliberately, knocking Jeff Gordon out of the All Star 2009 race on May 16, 2009? I would call that dirty driving and deliberate, on his part. Something must be done about Kyle Busch! He seems to think that the end justifies the means. Well, I disagree, and his type of driving may get someone killed. I know that he is a good driver, but lately, he has been carrying it TOO far and to the limit! he drives as if he can do ANYTHING, just to get the win. I am not in favor of these tactics, when the majority of drivers, use more common sense and think of the consequences of their actions toward their fellow drivers. My only gratification, was that Tony Stewart came in and won the race. At least, Kyle Busch’s bullying did not pay off for him.
Please seriously, look into this.
Thank You,
Bette Mininger

From Jumbybird:

I agree, the whole bogity and digger nonsense has to go, Its kinda embarassing to say I love Nascar when this is what transpires on their telecast, and will somebody please tell Larry Mac to shut the heck up! OH GOD, the guy goes on and on and on, while the stuff he says make sense and is informative, THAT VOICE just goes on and on and you don’t have to explain everything, let the pictures and racing speak for them selves.
I have found a work around for them though… play your sound through your home theater system and lower the output of the center channel speaker all the way down…. that way you get the ambient sound and none of the chatter.

And now Nascar says that I can’t use the word Nascar? How in the heck am I supposed to talk about Nascar without using the word Nascar? I guess in their heavy handed way they are probably talking about the title of my website, but Nascar is what it’s about. Maybe I could just change the title to Nascar Sucks. There are many websites about stuff sucking, I wonder if they could sue me over that? I bet I could be on the first page of Google for Nascar sucks in no time.

Oh, and another thing, I wonder how many people, such as myself, went out and enjoyed the 4th of July instead of staying home and watching the Coke Zero 400? The ONE day I would rather Nascar race on a Sunday and they race on a national holiday when the kids expect to be out watching fireworks. What morons.

It has been revealed by ESPN the magazine that two sources of theirs has said that Jeremy Mayfield had tested positive for methamphetamine, otherwise known as meth, during his random drug test at Richmond International Raceway. Originally, Mayfield had told the onsite testing personnel that he had taken two doses of Claritin-D and had called later, on May 3rd, to let them know that he had also taken Adderall-XR that had been prescribed to him by his doctor for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

No one is allowed to say for sure whether he tested positive for meth as of yet because of the court filings, so it is unlikely that we will hear anything from Nascar or Mayfield on the subject for awhile. I myself have known people who have taken meth, a lot of meth, as it is addictive, and it certainly takes a tole on the body, had he been doing it for very long then you would’ve been able to tell just by looking at him. The people I have known end up with rotting teeth, sores on their faces and probably all kinds of other stuff they would never admit too. So, if Jeremy has taken it at all, I would say it wasn’t for very long or very much.

Adderall I have heard more about in the sports world, being an amphetamine, players are taking it to get an edge, I imagine it would be a big help to one driving a race car in circles for three hours as it would help with their concentration. In the ESPN article they offer this quote from a doctor at AEGIS,

On May 3, Mayfield talked with Dr. David Black of AEGIS to inform him of the Adderall-XR prescription. According to the lawsuit filed by Mayfield against NASCAR and AEGIS, Black “expressed doubt that someone of Mayfield’s age and experience legitimately needed to take Adderall.” Source: Sources: Meth triggered positive test

There was a story in Newsweek about Baseball players using the ADD diagnosis to avoid the amphetamine ban, which would allow them to take Adderall, Ritalin and other drugs, and that the number of players diagnosed in one year had jumped from 28 to 103.

As Major League Baseball begins to dig out from its steroids scandal, new kinds of performance-enhancing substances are sweeping big-league clubhouses: Ritalin, Adderall and other drugs designed to help with Attention-Deficit Disorder. According to records MLB officials turned over to congressional investigators as part of George Mitchell’s probe into steroid use in baseball, the number of players getting “therapeutic use exemptions” from baseball’s amphetamines ban jumped in one year from 28 to 103—which means that, suddenly, 7.6 percent of the 1,354 players on major-league rosters had been diagnosed with ADD. Source: Baseball’s Other Drug Problem

So, whether Mayfield is taking meth or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing wasn’t happening here and in other sports as far as being diagnosed with ADD or ADHD, Adderall definitely helps with concentration and gives you plenty of energy, hell, everybody could use some I bet, we are a nation that’s sleeping less and less so we can get things done. I could use a prescription myself, hehe, but, should athletes be allowed to use any kind of performance enhancing drug? I don’t think so.

Or, at least that’s what it comes out to when you figure how many gallons they use a year and how much they spend on R&D. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, you can see exactly how competitive Sprint Cup racing is becoming since Nascar has made all the cars exactly the same, they throw big money at something you really wouldn’t think would make as big of an increase as it does.

Joe Gibbs Racing, a team that owns three top-level Sprint Cup cars, has spent about $1 million a year over the past decade to perfect its motor oil. As a result, its engines have squeezed out an extra 10 horsepower, a roughly 2% increase that can be a serious advantage in Nascar races, where the typical margin of victory is about one second. $10 Million, Just for Motor Oil

The forced similarity of the cars is what’s making Nascar boring, if they could just give them some wiggle room and allow them to make the cars look like they are more stock, it would go a long way to making the racing more interesting. The biggest change that would help the racing every single week would be some controversy, some conflict, people saying how they feel and getting a little rough on the track. Now, I’m not talking about taking somebody out because you can’t beat them, I’m talking about if someone is holding you up, they should expect to at least get bumped out of the way, and if they can’t save it, they shouldn’t be racing upfront anyway. From a post on Twitter:

backedNthefence I miss Dale Earnhardt…more importantly I think NASCAR misses Dale Earnhardt.

I think all of racing misses Dale Earnhardt. I have always been a Jeff Gordon fan, I heard all the wonder boy jokes, all the homo jokes, everyone hated Gordon and Dale’s light hearted ribbing of Gordon was a big cause of it. And I miss Dale Earnhardt. When he was still alive and racing, Nascar was a lot more interesting, I missed his heyday, but I saw him spin quite a few people out to win a race. You may not like it, and you may really hate it when it’s your driver he spins out, but you have to admit, it was a lot more exciting. At least it seemed more exciting.

Am I remembering it too fondly you think? I know I like it when they go full out to win, taking a chance on running out of gas, bumping people out of the way, and I thought it was great when Carl Edwards hit the wall hard trying to pass Jimmie Johnson for the win. Raised my respect for Carl Edwards immensely. When Kevin Harvick was being restrained as he talked to Greg Biffle, ya that was good, would’ve been better had they started wrestling or something, but you can’t have everything.

Which brings up an idea, maybe they could introduce a little rassling promotion to the mix. Maybe they could add Mean Gene Okerlund as an announcer, “Jeff Gordon looks to get revenge on Kyle Busch today, predicts that at one point the Shrub will get mowed over.” “Kyle says bring it on Wonder bread.” Maybe they could even through in Kevin Harvick running across the hood of the 48 team car and tackling Jimmie Johnson mid-interview. “I think Kevin just told him to shove that hammer up his, wait a minute, Jeff Burton was just attacked from behind by Carl Edwards. “I can’t believe you would do me that way…ugh..” “Oh my god, Hammond just punched McReynolds in the mouth, told him to try to push him again.”

Okay, maybe that’s not what Nascar needs, but it sure needs something. Maybe they could offer bonuses for especially good bad behavior.

Okay, it may just be me, but, wasn’t Digger only mildly kind of funny the first hundred or so times? Now they are selling backgrounds for your phone for only $1.99. $1.99!! Let me tell you how to avoid that charge, pause your DVR on your favorite picture of digger, walk over to the TV set and take a picture with your phone and set it to your background. At Daytona, they actually played a Digger cartoon. I haven’t watched the pre-race since then, if the race starts at 1:00 pm on Fox, I tune in about half an hour later just in time for Gentleman, start your engines!

Fox would have the best coverage of Nascar if it wasn’t for all the extra cutsy crap, like Boogity, boogity, boogity, aw, shut up. I mute it whenever Larry McReynolds starts talking about DW synching up those seatbelts. I mean I love their coverage, Larry and DW’s insight into how the car’s run, and how they’ve run in the past is great, just get rid of Digger and the cutsy crap.

Oh, and as I tweeted earlier, the announcers like to hear themselves talk and act like they know exactly what’s going on, I don’t know how many times they’ve talked about drivers gaining positions when they are actually losing them, and today, Mike Joy answered the Aflac trivia question for us. The question was how many drivers had their first win at Martinsville, I believe, if not it was something similar, and Mike Joy says, “It’s a long list; there are 8 drivers on this list.” Duh huh!

It looks like Nascar has decided to make a late rule change, for 2009, the last 20 laps will be a single file restart after a caution, previously it had been the last 10 laps. The lucky dog rule remains the same, the first car one lap down gets to go back on the lead lap after a caution, except for the final 10 laps.

“We just felt that for the cars that had earned their way up to the top during late stages of the race, it will give them a better opportunity to compete for the win,” Tharp said. “So instead of a single-file restart with 10 to go, that will now be with 20 laps to go. The beneficiary rule is still intact as it was; there is no beneficiary inside of 10 laps.” Source: NASCAR changes the rule on single-file restarts

Personally I like it, I think it makes sense as we have certainly seen lap cars get in the way of lead lap cars and allow the leader to get away from the field, thus knocking down the chances for competition among the lead lap cars. That certainly makes the end of some races less exciting, although, I don’t think it will affect too many races. What do you all think?

This is not going to be a long post, here are my 12 picks for the drivers who will make the chase for the cup this year.

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Kyle Busch
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Mark Martin
5. Tony Stewart
6. Greg Biffle
7. Carl Edwards
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Martin Truex Jr.
11. Juan Montoya
12. Clint Bowyer

Who do you like?

Nascar has released the schedule for the 2008 season.

02/09/08 Budwesier Shootout Daytona International Speedway -/– -/–
02/17/08 Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway -/– -/–
02/24/08 TBA California Speedway -/– -/–
03/02/08 TBA Las Vegas Motor Speedway -/– -/–
03/09/08 TBA Atlanta Motor Speedway -/– -/–
03/16/08 TBA Bristol Motor Speedway -/– -/–
03/30/08 TBA Martinsville Speedway -/– -/–
04/06/08 TBA Texas Motor Speedway -/– -/–
04/12/08 TBA Phoenix International Raceway -/– -/–
04/27/08 TBA Talladega Superspeedway -/– -/–
05/03/08 TBA Richmond International Raceway -/– -/–
05/10/08 TBA Darlington Raceway -/– -/–
05/17/08 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge Lowe’s Motor Speedway -/– -/–
05/25/08 TBA Lowe’s Motor Speedway -/– -/–
06/01/08 TBA Dover International Speedway -/– -/–
06/08/08 TBA Pocono Raceway -/– -/–
06/15/08 TBA Michigan International Speedway -/– -/–
06/22/08 TBA Infineon Raceway -/– -/–
06/29/08 TBA New Hampshire International Speedway -/– -/–
07/05/08 TBA Daytona International Speedway -/– -/–
07/12/08 TBA Chicagoland Speedway -/– -/–
07/27/08 TBA Indianapolis Motor Speedway -/– -/–
08/03/08 TBA Pocono Raceway -/– -/–
08/10/08 TBA Watkins Glen International -/– -/–
08/17/08 TBA Michigan International Speedway -/– -/–
08/23/08 TBA Bristol Motor Speedway -/– -/–
08/31/08 TBA California Speedway -/– -/–
09/06/08 TBA Richmond International Raceway -/– -/–
09/14/08 TBA New Hampshire International Speedway -/– -/–
09/21/08 TBA Dover International Speedway -/– -/–
09/28/08 TBA Kansas Speedway -/– -/–
10/05/08 TBA Talladega Superspeedway -/– -/–
10/11/08 TBA Lowe’s Motor Speedway -/– -/–
10/19/08 TBA Martinsville Speedway -/– -/–
10/26/08 TBA Atlanta Motor Speedway -/– -/–
11/02/08 TBA Texas Motor Speedway -/– -/–
11/09/08 TBA Phoenix International Raceway -/– -/–
11/16/08 TBA Homestead-Miami Speedway -/– -/–