Darlington Raceway

NASCAR Season Midway Review

Well, Kyle Busch capped off the season’s midway point at Daytona with his 10th career win and his sixth this season.

NASCAR’s premier series is in their first full year with the Car of Today, and it has undergone some criticism.  It actually got so out of hand that NASCAR President Mike Helton called a mandatory meeting to tell drivers to basically, “Shut up and drive.”

The first half of the Sprint Cup Series season has provided NASCAR fans with some good, bad, and very ugly races.

On paper, for the most part, this is a record breaking season for competition.  The California race had a record 33 lead changes, the Coca-Cola 600 had 2,580 green flag passes, that was up almost 900 from the 2007 Coca-Cola 600.  The Michigan race tied a track-best 3,204 green flag passes.

NASCAR is getting more coverage than ever.  TV Ratings are up for the most part from last year.  Although some tracks are struggling with attendance, tracks are still selling out.

NASCAR is also going through some economic hardships.  Sponsors willing to fork out millions of dollars a year are few and far between.  Teams are shutting down, Petty Enterprises sold 50% of their company to Boston Ventures.

The competiton is also even, all four manufacturer’s have won at least three races.  All four manufacturer’s are represented in the top 12 in driver points.  There has been 10 different race winners, 11 different pole winners, 74 drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one Sprint Cup Series race, and 46 driver had led at least one lap.  All evidence that NASCAR has accomplished one goal — make competitors and manufacturer’s even.  Chevy no longer has a stangle hold on the field.  In fact, the first Chevy in the top last week at Daytona will Dale Earnhardt Jr. who finished 8th.

Also, Hendrick Motorsports is apparently struggling.  Despite the fact that they only have two wins, and have three of their drivers in the top six in points.  At this point in the season, Hendrick Motorsports drivers had 10 wins.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, and Ryan Newman all led the points standings for the first time in their careers this year.  And, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle are back!  They are both back in the top 12, and Kahne has two wins so far.

And don’t forget.  The most-popular driver is showing that he indeeds deserves the attention.  He ended a two year winless streak with a win at Michigan, he has matched his 2007 numbers already, which is answering the question on how Dale Jr. would perform in 2008 after leaving DEI in 2007.  The answer — Great!

Speaking of DEI, recently, sources close to DEI are reporting that DEI could be sold to Max Siegel for as much as $130 million, which would take Teresa out of the picture.  This is still developing, but could get very interesting.

And, you can’t talk about the 2008 season without talking about Silly Season — 2009 edition.

Rumors have been circulating and some are very tasteful.

Sources yesterday confirmed that Joe Gibbs Racing will go to four teams, and Juan Pablo Montoya would be the driver.  Now, wouldn’t that be a combination.  Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Juan Pablo Montoya.  Add Joey Logano in the 20 after Stewart leaves to buy into Haas CNC Racing with Ryan Newman as a teammate, and you get headlines for the rest of the year.

Sources close to Tony Stewart say that he is expected to announce his future plans as soon as Indianapolis in two weeks.

As Silly Season continues to unfold, and the season heats up for the chase — stay tuned to NASCAR FanZone for all your NASCAR updates.

Race Re-Cap: Busch Dominant In Darlington

This weekend at Darlington broke the mold in so many ways. On the re-paved surface, we got a new qualifying record, a surprisingly low number of cautions and DNFs, and a new race speed record.

I couldn’t have been more off the mark. I picked the wrong Busch brother (Kurt) to win, and in a message board pool, I picked Kyle to finish dead last. I also figured that a lower division nameplate to do well here, I just didn’t expect it to be Ford instead of Dodge. I also said that the kids wouldn’t run well tonight. David Ragan and race winner Kyle Busch proved me wrong.

I was with Greg Biffle’s spotter. He suggested Biffle give up the lead early in the race to “Wild Thing” because there was no way he’d finish it. Once again, the guy who wouldn’t finish it was The #16 3-M Ford. The younger Busch, coming off a controversial 2ndplace finish in Richmond, looked like he was going to use his car up before he ever got to the final lap.

It’s weird to think that the guy with the most wins here (David Pearson) was known for conservation and cunning. The 23 year old from Las Vegas runs more in the tradition of Fireball Roberts (notorious for using up his cars) and Junior Johnson (his racing philosophy was to get up front as quickly as possible…and stay there).

We may be witnessing a driver re-writing the rulebook for how races are won in the new car. Lord knows Busch broke all the old ones. Did you see all that brake dust coming out of his right front? And how about the way he was brushing the wall? I was expecting “Shrub” to bust into a chorus of the Johnny Cash tune “I Got Stripes” at any time. It just didn’t seem like he should win when you also throw in the pit violation and his complaints about his “pathetic” car. Oh, that Dave Blaney’s car could be that pathetic.

Besides Busch, a lot of guys we don’t talk much about should get some credit for a good race. Though the Roush team was plagued with wheel problems, upstart David Ragan finished 5th in addition to Edwards in 2nd. Teammate Matt Kenseth shook loose of a few demons and ended up 6th. Journeyman Dave Blaney ran his best race of the year in crossing the line 9th. Travis Kvapil, who’s making a Cup comeback this year after a solid career in the Craftsman Truck Series finished 8th on a fitting night where he was sponsored by Lafayette Ford, sponsor the #28 back in the Freddy Lorenzen days.

Some the other name drivers deserve a shout out for their performances. Carl Edwards’ finish is amazing when you consider he started at near the back of the field. Jeff Gordon has a great race to vault himself into the top 10 for the point standings. And Dale Jr.? Well, he was consistent again, racking up another top five and ready to strike if anyone faltered.

But above all else, Tony Stewart gets the “Rocky Balboa” Award- fighting, gouging and clawing his way to a respectable 21st after tangling with Elliott Sadler on the 3rd lap.

No- this race was definitely NOT what I expected- however, I was not disappointed with the racing and the thrill of a Saturday race under the lights.

 By the way- Happy Mother’s Day to the two best Moms in the world- my mom, Lenore Pittock of Keizer, Oregon. Thanks for believing in me, and letting me test out my ever-running mouthon your longsuffering ears. Then of course, there’s my lovely wife Lynnae, without whom I would not be a dad to the cutest kids in the world.

To all you Moms- HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY FROM THE BOYS AT ‘THE FINISH LINE.”Zooooom…

 

Consistency is Key

This year for the Sprint Cup Series, consistency is all around us. AJ Allmendinger in the number 84 Red Bull Toyota is finally making races, Hendrick Motorsports is starting to have consistent top tens each week. Jeff Gordon and his DuPont team seems to be picking things up. Don’t forget the sport’s most popular driver who is still third in points after Saturday’s race at Darlington. And Kyle Busch, who is a winning machine right now.

Jim’s Race Re-Cap….

UNOFFICIAL SPRINT CUP POINTS AFTER DODGE CHALLENGER 500

#	DRIVER	CAR	POINTS
1	Kyle Busch	18	1495
2	Jeff Burton	31	1477
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	1391
4	Clint Bowyer	07	1372
5	Kevin Harvick	29	1350
6	Denny Hamlin	11	1349
7	Jimmie Johnson	48	1318
8	Tony Stewart	20	1297
9	Greg Biffle	16	1269
10	Carl Edwards	99	1230

What is up with Smoke?

After some harsh criticism for Goodyear at Atlanta this year, Tony Stewart has did a complete flip on his opinion of Goodyear tires. Stewart actually gave some praise for Goodyear’s tire choice recently, including this weekends harder tire compound at Darlington Raceway - a race track that’s motto “Too tough to tame” speaks for itself.

“I’m the first one to tell them when they screw up and I want to be the first one to tell them when they do a good job, too,” Stewart said.

It only took Tony’s first career win at Darlington during Friday’s Nationwide Series race to give a friendly pat on the back to Goodyear.

There wasn’t many tire failures Friday. The only one that comes to mind was Carl Edwards on lap two of Friday’s race.

Tony wasn’t the only driver that has praised Goodyear’s tire choice this weekend. Jeff Gordon has said a couple times this weekend that he was happy with Goodyear’s decision.

Tonight will be the real test. With the new pavement for Darlington, it has knocked two seconds off the lap times of last year’s events.

Fearless Forecast: Will a Dodge Win at Darlington?

The “Lady In Black” will test the field like no other. It’s funny, I used to think the short tracks were the most challenging, and that the road courses provided unique hurdles of their own. While that’s still true, Darlington has zoomed to the top of my list as NASCAR’s most difficult track.

Because of that, Darlington may have just become my favorite.

This track has handed out more stripes than a prison uniformer. The list of people who’ve tattoed their cars looks suspiciously like the all-star field. Whether ir racing or practice- Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are among the drivers Darlington has collected this week.

The track is a temptress. Drivers can get up to those high speeds, and you’ve got all that banking, but you’ve got those narrow spots where you just can’t do that 3-wide racing that you can in a place like Richmond. Shrub found this out the hard way last night.

Now I’m not saying anything about the mental capacity of the following drivers, but I will say that Darlington does not suffer fools. Given that, I expect a slightly different result than what we’ve seen lately. Young, hyper-aggressive drivers like Klye Busch, David Ragan, A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Vickers will likely struggle here.

Drivers with “controlled” aggressiveness will likely be fine, provided their luck holds up. I’m looking for good efforts from many of the “usual suspects.” Jeff Gordon (7 Darlington wins), pole-sitter Greg Biffle (2 checkereds here), Tony Stewart (last night’s Nationwide winner), Jimmie Johnson (2004 winner) should all do well. I’m even expecting a good race from Dale Earnhardt Jr., who believe it or not, has not won at Darlington.

History is also on the side of some other veterans. Former champ Bobby Labonte was won a race on the 1.366 miler, Mark Martin has had tons of Nationwide success at the South Carolina, Ryan Newman finished 4th here last year, Kasey Kahne has won poles galore, and Newman’s teammate Kurt Busch has cracked the top 5 in qualifying. Make no mistake that this is very much a track position race. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the guys that I mentioned earlier who are young and perhaps overly aggressive.  

I find it interesting that the Dodge boys always qualify well where speed matters. There are 3 Dodges in the top 10, and some at the back of the field who got there by being too quick and losing control.

A Dodge will win today. “What?” You Say? This is why I call it the “Fearless Forecast.”I mean everybody expects the likes Junior, Smoke, Gordon and Jimmie to do well. There’s nothing fearless about that.

It will be too easy to overlook the veterans like Martin, Labonte, and maybe even Jeff Burton. But I think Kurt Busch is overdue. You’ll note he’s been curiously quiet since Daytona, running with a ton of bad luck since. Not only will he do well, but so will Labonte and Newman.  The Penske duo, however, have the best equipment of all the Dodges.

My top five (in no particular order) are as follows:Junior, Smoke, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Greg Biffle. And the winner will be……

Kurt Busch! That’s why I call it the “Fearless Forecast.” Either I will look like a genius or a raging fool!

 

Tony Stewart wins at Darlington

After multiple tries to tame the “Lady In Black,” today was the day for Tony Stewart.  Tony Stewart pulled away from Clint Bowyer, the Nationwide Series Points Leader who now leads by 112 points over Kyle Busch in the unofficial points standings. After Tony Stewart crossed the finish line with four-fifths of a second lead of Clint Bowyer, he broke his career winless drought at Darlington.

“It’s this team behind us and this team at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Stewart said. “We just took it easy in the beginning and tried to bide our time and take care of the car and take care of the tires and have something for them when we came to the end.”

Mark Martin brought out the caution on the restart with 3 laps to go when he stalled his car, triggering a six car pile up on the front stretch.

Carl Edwards experienced more bad luck this weekend, blowing a tire on just the second lap of the race, ending the night earlier than expected.

“They dropped the green, and I was ready to race,” said the defending series champion, who finished 43rd as the first car out. “I got loose and hit the wall. I guess I cut a tire down. . . That was a bad mistake, and I learned my lesson there.”

The race had eight leaders.  Stewart led the most with 90 laps, Matt Kenseth had 35, Bowyer with 13, Rowdy led a total of 6 laps, Kelly Bires led 2 laps, and Ambrose, Ragan, and Jeff Burton all led one lap.

After 8 cautions, a green-white-checkered finish, and 11 lead changes, the headline reads, “Tony tames Darlington.”

Keepin’ It Off The Wall: Waltrip starts number 700 this weekend

Another member is scheduled to be placed in the record books for making 700 starts.

Even though Michael Waltrip only has 4 Sprint Cup Series wins - including a Daytona 500 - he has made 699 starts since he debuted in what was then the Winston Cup Series at Charlotte in May 1985.  He drove the Number 23 Mell-Gear car for Dick Bahre.  He went 278 of the 400 laps and had to end the race in the garage with transmission troubles.

“It’s not something I am necessarily going to celebrate,” Waltrip said of his 700th start. “I would have liked to have had more than four Sprint Cup victories by now. At the same time, I am thankful to be able to show up every week and do what I love to do.”

“So I think I have mixed emotions because I will be a little bit sad about not putting up more numbers than I have, but glad that I have the ability to do what I do.”

In fact, Waltrip’s last win was at Talladega in 2003.  He had 2 wins in 2003, 1 in 2002, and the Daytona 500 in 2001.

The Owensboro, Kentucky native will go for his 5th career win this weekend at the Lady in Black.  In an interview, he spoke of the new track surface.

“I think the last time Darlington was paved was in 1995,” Waltrip said. “I remember that because I was in the Pennzoil car. We wrecked almost every other lap. The same thing will basically happen on Saturday night. You are going to see a lot of cautions because of all of the grip. In the past, it was all about self-preservation. Now that’s no longer the case. Guys will be going for it.”

At Darlington, Waltrip is 14th on the All-Time starts list.

Pull Those Belts Tight! (The Darlington Edition)

Up Next: The Dodge Challenger 500, Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina. Saturday, May 10, 2008, 7:20 PM EDT, 4:20 PM PDT. Broadcast on FOX-TV with Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip. Radio broadcast on MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Track Facts: The “Dark Lady” is a 1.366 mile oval track with 23 to 25 degree banking in the turns, plus 3 degrees of banking on the front stretch and 2 on the back stretch. The track is shaped like a tear drop on it’s side, with one side a bit narrower, because a local land owner refused to sell a part of his lot to build the race track. Grand stand seating holds 63,000 fans.

The first race at Darlington ran on September 4, 1950. Johnny Mantz won it in a Plymouth on truck tires. Apparently the surface was rough and though Mantz was slower running car, he made it by going with tires meant for trucks. NASCAR used to run two races a year until 2005- the Southern 500 and the Rebel 400- which would run on Labor Day weekend. Old school fans clamor to get that date back for racing here.

Track Records: David Pearson, “The Silver Fox” is the leading winner at Darlington with 10. Mark Martin has won 8 in the Nationwide Series, 1 in Cup competition. Jeff Gordon is the leading active winner with 6.

Pearson is the “Pole King” with 12. Ward Burton owns the fastest qualifying time at 173.797 m.p.h., a lap time of 28.295 seconds in March of 1996.

“The Intimidator”, Dale Earnhardt has run the fastest race in 3 hours, 34 minutes, and 55 seconds, on March 28, 1993.

The oldest winner was…..yes, it was Harry Gant. “Mr. September” began that magical 1991 run at this track in September, 1991 at the age of 51 years, 7 months, 22 days. The youngest winner? Terry Labonte (Bobby’s older brother) took the checkered flag at the age of 23 years, 9 months and 16 days in September of 1980.

15 caution flags came out in March of 1995. The fewest yellows? None came out September of 1963.

If you ask insiders, racing at Darlington requires discipline. The new surface will make for higher speeds like you’ll get at a super speedway, but it’s narrow, so the passes have to be fast. Small wonder that a smooth racer like David Pearson was a big winner here. When names come up for who has the best chance of winning, names like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle come up. “The Biff” won two in a row in 2005 & 2006. It’s also not hard to imagine Jeff Burton or Ryan Newman making a good run.

One of NASCAR’s most memorable finishes occured here when Ricky Craven beat Kurt Busch in a photo finish- .0002 seconds in 2003. David Pearson’s 1974 Rebel 500 finish was a big enough deal, you can catch on on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s T-V show ”Back In The Day.”

This track combines some of the best elements of speedway and short track racing. When we have action at Darlington, it’s big.

This race should not disappoint.

NASCAR Terminology- A NASCAR For Dummies Primer

Slingshot: Unfortunately, I won’t have the eye-pleasing visual like Tom Cruise did when he demonstrated “The Slingshot” on Nicole Kidman’s leg in “Days of Thunder.”  It’s a manuever in which a car following the leader in a draft suddenly steers around it, breaking the vacuum; this provides an extra burst of speed that allows the second car to take take the lead.

Scuffs: Slang terms for tires that have been used at least once and saved for further racing. A lap or two is enough to “scuff” them in. Most often used in qualifying.

Stickers: Slang term for new tires. The name is derived from the manufacturer’s stickers that are affixed to each new tire’s contact surface.

Be sure to check me out later this week for the “Fearless Forecast” where I predict this Saturday’s winner. I’ll also weigh in before then with thoughts on the big buzz of the week- the Kyle Busch/ Dale Earnhardt Jr. incident last week at Richmond.

Until then- Keep it off the walls!

See ya!