RaceDriven.com

A 1941 Willys Coppercino, what a sight to see.

2009-07-16T02:34:00.000-04:00

(Photo by me - Brian Vermette)

Welcome to a dose of photography v2.0 on RaceDriven.com. This past January (2009), I took in the 2009 World of Wheels in Boston, Massachusetts and this Willy's was sitting just beyond the line to meet Chip Foose, even though the pictures doesn't give this ride, a 1941 Willy's Coppercino justice, it still is an amazing ride.

The success, surprises and the struggles 19 races into the 2009 Cup Series Season.

2009-07-13T14:48:00.000-04:00

In watching the now NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for over 17 years now and blogging on among others subject NASCAR for over four years, you tend not to be too surprised with some things that go down in the season, however when it comes to the 2009 season, I would call it a season of “surprises”.

Last season (2008) was a year “survival”, drivers, teams and owners had to just survive races in order to finish anywhere in the top 10, let alone the top 5 or even god for bit win a race, but 2009 is a year surprises, and just to keep things in the same area of surprises, I originally thought that I would pick 3 drivers out for each category and talk about them, however that was so last year, for this round, I am going to highlight a few teams that has caught my eye in general.

In the success stories, it’s hard to ignore the success of Hendrick Motorsports, one of the best teams in NASCAR that has had their highs and lows so far in 2009 all across the board. Jimmie Johnson despite a few bad runs this season is my pick to capture his fourth consecutive NASCAR Cup Series Championships in 2009, he is 3rd in the points and has two victories so far including one coming at Martinsville and the second coming at Dover after an amazing duel between him and Tony Stewart in the late stages of the race.

Not to be outdone, Jeff Gordon is in the top 5 in points and one victory with several good runs including a second place at Chicagoland, but don’t forget about Mark “the kid” Martin, despite a bad start, Martin has not only rebounded, but done a complete 180 and now is 11th in points and has four great victories one the season so far including Phoenix, Darlington, Michigan and most recently at Chicagoland Speedway.

However when it comes to Dale Earnhardt Jr., even after a crew chief change, while he continues to improve, he still runs mid-pack, somewhere around top 15 in each race. My advice is simple, Dale Jr. needs to get away from NASCAR for a weekend, if he had a weekend off and just go race in some late-model race and enjoy it, I went and watched a good modified series race last (2008) Father’s Day and it was a blast, no weird calls, just racing and that’s what it is all about.

Joe Gibbs Racing, the rookie Joey Logano is coming along and even though he has a lot of learning to do, he is doing great so far including having one victory in the rain-shortened Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire, but even without the victory, he is doing better than so veterans in the field. Denny Hamlin, the leader at JGR is contending weekly and fifth in points, of course then you have NASCAR’s bad boy Kyle Busch who has had a up and down 19 races with three victories on the season, but not where he was one year ago.

The surprise story has to do more with one of the best teams in NASCAR and one of the newest teams in NASCAR, yes Stewart-Haas Racing. Ironically enough Stewart-Haas Racing is a huge surprise on the season as well, it was only one year ago at this very weekend that Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing where Tony Stewart not only announced that was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing after 10 years and two NASCAR Cup Series Championships, but that he was developing Stewart-Haas Racing, but even I didn’t think he was going to have this type of success so early.

Tony Stewart is one of my favorite drivers, he is very outspoken, but the difference between him and several others drivers that are outspoken is, he can back it up on the racetrack and for 2009 Jimmie Johnson better watch out, there a new contender for the Cup Championship this year, Stewart is first in the points, have three wins in 2009, one coming in the NASCAR All-Star race at Charlotte in amazing fashion, his first career victory as an owner/driver at Pocono after going to a backup car and a victory two weeks ago in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, of course that was after an incident on the last lap with Kyle Busch, which Stewart did nothing wrong in, not to mention a lot of top 5 finishes as well.

Not to be out down, the other half of Stewart-Haas Racing Ryan Newman started out with troubles, but has rebounded nicely where he finds himself 7th in points with several good runs and a contender week in and week out for victories.

Unfortunately you have the teams that is some ways are struggles and point blank has to be Richard Childress Racing and most of that has to be due to just plain bad luck. It would be better if they had no luck at all then this. Jeff Burton runs well in most races, but several times this season has just gotten caught up in someone else’s mess and has ended up with a wrecked racecar. And despite a crew swap, both Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears continue to experience trouble. However not all is lost on RCR, they not only continue to improve, but Clint Bowyer has been there in several races this season and sits just outside the top 12 in points and still has time to get into the chase.

Roush-Fenway Racing, this is not where I expected them to be at all for this five team operation. One year ago, Carl Edwards had three victories on the season so far and higher in points. Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle both find themselves as well not where they were last season, but Kenseth does have two victories so far in 2009, the Daytona 500 and the California race the next weekend, but all three drivers are in the top 12 right now. However Jamie McMurray and David Ragan both are struggling, half the time I don’t even see them on television, unless it’s a through the field rundown.

For a raceteam that needs to loss a team at the end of the season, it will be either Ragan or McMurray, partly due contracts ending.

Finally Red Bull Racing, poles are great to have, starting position means a lot, but you have to back it up on the racetrack and for Brian Vickers, you have to back it up with results and there is none. The same can be said for Scott Speed, he has failed to qualify a few times, of course he has driven Joe Nemechek in a few of those races, but just struggles during some races, but improves at the same time.

What a list, but I have to highlight a few surprises after 19 races that didn’t show up above, first David Reutimann and his teammate Marcos Ambrose. Both drivers continue to impress on the track, Reutimann picked up his first victory in a rain-shortened Monday running of the Coca-Cola 600 and is 14th in points. Ambrose is right there every week, especially with a third place finish at Sonoma, 7-top 11 finish in 2009, that’s improving in only his first full-time season in the Cup Series.

When I look at the first 19 races of 2009, I see a lot of contenders and surprises. Double file restarts are amazing to watch, the racing is good at most tracks, drivers are driving their guts out every time they strap in, however there is one misconception, I have to say that while victories are the thing that everyone wants, we should be not only noticing, but measuring driver success by not only top 5, and top 10 finishes but also those drivers who each week races and finishing in the top 20.

A top 20 finish in the Cup Series is hard to get and drivers should be recognized for it.

Formula 1 needs to drop the budget cap in favor of other cost cuts and improving the racing.

2009-07-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

(Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports)

I consider myself not only as a NASCAR fan, but as a Motorsports fan, I watch several different series throughout the course of a year from most NASCAR series and the IRL IndyCar Series to Road Racing, Off-Road racing and Formula 1, however when it comes to Formula 1, there is a series that has a lot of history, but needs a lot of work done to it to improve the racing greatly, let alone the leadership and rules.

One concept floating around the FIA and Formula 1 is a budget cap. Now I really don’t know too much about it, but as a Formula 1 fan (somewhat), as much as I would like to see Bernie (another guy who thinks he knows best) not running Formula 1 anymore and a new series is born, I would hate to see a series with so much history and known for some of the best racers in the world go straight down the tubes. F1 needs to have its big teams like Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes, Brawn GP and big drivers including Lewis Hamilton in the sport, however the same can be said for Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes and Brawn GP and the drivers, they need F1 too, basically they need each other, so both parties need to work together or else.

The or else part, well for example, open wheel racing in the United States is almost died in my eyes and that is partly due to Tony George, he create a giant split years ago from CART when he didn’t get his way and created the Indy Racing League, fast forward to 2009, first there is no more CART, partly due to a so-called merger, it was a buyout plain and simple, but second, the IRL IndyCar Series is only a few years from dying off completely, the series needs a lot of work to attract more fans and sponsors. Fans and sponsors is what drive’s the sport, just like in NASCAR and without them, there will be no sport.

Now I should mention that Tony George is only one element of it, I’m sure someone else would have come up with the same idea, but the point is, he created the split and now open wheel racing is in doubt and at the same time, there is no CART anymore neither and no history. I had read an article on an interview with Tony George back in December that said (From the article): When pressed about the possibility of being profitable by 2013, George responded, “It has to be, or or there won’t be a 2013. We expect a return on that investment.”

Personally even if the article is false, if a series doesn’t post any profit, it’s not going to stay in business for very long and I don’t see it, but more importantly, if the IndyCar Series goes away, that’s it for the most part for open wheel racing in the United States, of course you will still have some smaller series that still exist. The IndyCar Series right now needs a lot of work and it’s not CART.

The same concept could apply to Formula 1 and the new FOTA break away series, I feel this is the time to stop and work together and not just leave completely, however it’s really simple, the FIA needs to drop to budget cap in favor of working on better racing and more so on other cost cutting ideas for 2010. The FIA also needs to drop the concept of having the World Champion be determined solely on number of victories as well, both ideas, concepts if you will, will not work in this day and age.

The budget cap, there is really no way to police the sport on what each team spends, reviewing books, come on, try again. Teams are going to spend what they want to spend, that’s unavoidable, but cutting costs in other ways will enable more teams to not only complete in Formula 1, but win in Formula 1 and that is the goal here. The manufacturers will have to make cost cutting to their budgets too, they can’t continue to spend this type of money, especially if they don’t see anything, otherwise they will sellout and leave, i.e. Honda, I’m Toyota next, but that’s my opinion.

A few concepts would be:

1. Limit the number of crew members that service the car. Every time I watch a Formula 1 pit stop during a race, I see a mass of crew members all over the car from changing tires to refueling, adjusting wings, and whatever, no, you don’t need it. Limit it to 10 people total. The same for the number of people that each team brings to the track on a race weekend, limit that too by using credentials (if F1 doesn’t already do that).

2. Limit the testing to a few dates during the off-season, F1 has the track open for a 3 day block for every team to attend, of course it’s optional to attend, but they will. No testing during the race season. Now I should mention that in F1, they do have limits on testing, but while you have to allow testing, more restrictions can be applied, but within reason of course.

3. Remove a few bits of technology from these Formula 1 cars, what is a diffuser on the back of the car?

What is KERS? The acronym KERS stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System. The device recovers the kinetic energy that is present in the waste heat created by the car’s braking process. It stores that energy and converts it into power that can be called upon to boost acceleration. – From Formula 1 website

The KERS is an interesting device, but everybody has to use it, otherwise cut costs. I understand that Formula 1 is about technology, but some things have to go.

4. Tires. I liked the softer tires vs. the hard tires, just no rules on them, let the teams use both types during the race, each team has a few sets of each tire, but limit the number of tires per race weekend.

5. Make these rules easier to follow during the race too, it will make it better for the fans watching not only at the racetrack, but at home. Start with the points standings, you’ve got me there.

6. Create a town hall meeting, talk and work with teams, there has to be a compromise, its everyone’s sport, everyone has a say.

These are just a few ideas, just look at NASCAR and other racing series, you would be surprised what type of racing you will have with a lot of the cost cutting in place. Other things that can be done in the series is give the manufacturers something more for their money, which should include better racing, I’m talking about more side-by-side racing, more passing, passing is racing ladies and gentlemen and without passing, you have a parade.

Another way is to race again in North America, preferably in the United States and Canada. Manufacturers sell their products in the US, there for they want F1 here too. In the United States, it doesn’t have to be at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we have several different size venues, just work with a race track or build a street circuit, just don’t ask the government to pitch in money, we don’t do that here in the US, it’s not their job, that is what sponsors are for (and no, I don’t blame Tony George for losing F1, if a track can’t make any money off a race, it’s not going to happen).

The point is, the FIA and Formula 1 can help cut costs in several different ways in the series without enabling a budget cap, especially with a few ideas above which I am sure the FIA has already looked at before, but also the point here is, the world doesn’t need another Formula 1 series, it already has one, so I do hope that cooler heads do prevail and the FIA and FOTA can work out several cost cutting measures without a budget cap and not end up having two separate series.

If there are two separate series, it will only be a matter of time before Formula 1 will not exist anymore and formula racing (or open wheel racing) will be no more.

Was the finish to the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona just racing or did Kyle Busch get dumped?

2009-07-09T17:55:00.000-04:00

Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was an encore presentation of Aaron’s 499 at Talladega.

(Photo Credit: NASCAR.com)
As another Saturday night NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at this time Chicagoland Speedway is on the horizon, I’m still thinking more about last Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

Now let me state the obvious, when it comes to restrictor plate racing, most of the time, you get an exciting, heart pumping, yet heart stopping, hard to watch at times race and basically every plate race is an encore presentation of either the previous tracks race or in this case, the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in my eyes was an encore presentation of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega a few months ago.

So let’s get right into it, on the last lap coming to the checkered flag, was the incident coming into the tri-oval between #14-Tony Stewart (who was running in second at the time) and #18-Kyle Busch (who was leading on the last lap) just racing or did Kyle Busch get dumped?

First I thought that the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was just another restrictor plate race, Daytona is handling race track so you have to have more than just speed to win here, with the exception of the finish of the race nothing really surprised me at all. Mark Martin getting tagged up off turn 2 was just simply a product of getting tight up off and another driver was there, Matt Kenseth did nothing wrong and it was a racing deal.

“The big one” as most people call it reared its ugly head again as it normally does during most restrictor plate races and the back straightaway was the hot spot, unfortunately several drivers just got caught up in one person’s mess, which set off a chain reaction.

However, what about Tony Stewart vs. Kyle Busch? I have watched the reply so many times from so many angles, it makes my head hurt, but I see the same thing each time that I saw on the first shot in real time, Kyle Busch came off turn 4 with the lead, Tony Stewart was right there on Kyle’s back bumper, Kyle went to block, Stewart went high, now this is where Kyle Busch should have stayed low, the yellow line didn’t play a factor in the incident, if Kyle would have stayed low, then he might of won the race.

But the first reaction of most drivers is block and Stewart was already to Kyle Busch’s outside, Kyle Busch came up to block, hit Stewart’s left side, which sent Kyle Busch into the outside wall just before the tri-oval and Tony Stewart won the race. I was glad to see that all of the drivers were ok after that both the Big One and the last lap wreck on the front straightaway, from Kasey Kahne having no were to go and slamming right into a basically stopped Kyle Busch to even more a few more drivers slamming into Busch after the tri-oval including his teammate #20-Joey Logano, there was really no place for most drivers to go.

Fast forward to earlier today (Thursday at Chicagoland), Kyle Busch was interviewed in the media center and said "NASCAR should look at it when a second place driver dumps the leader, then black flag his (left out word) and he doesn’t get the win, if he is on him from behind and moves him out of the way, but there is no wreck, then he wins the race, but if you along side of him and you dump him, then they should give the win to the third place guy." (took from the SPEED Live of the video from the NASCAR Media Center at Chicagoland Speedway). Kyle Busch was also asked if last week’s incident, would that be considered a dump in your mind? He siad "It would be considered a dump yes."

Kasey Kahne said that that incident was a long ways from a dump in his mind, they were both battling for the win (there was more in the audio after that). Tony Stewart said he talked to Busch on Tuesday and everything was fine, so he will go off of that conversation and leave it at that.

Personally I am trying to stay objective and my opinion and say what you will, but Kyle Busch has nothing to complain about, Stewart didn’t dump him, if anything Kyle Busch came up on him and wrecked himself, however I see it as, it’s just racing (a racing deal or incident), welcome to restrictor plate racing, I am giving Kyle Busch the benefit of the doubt and the first thing most drivers do in that case was block, so it’s a racing incident.

As for Kyle Busch’s comment that NASCAR should look into this when a second place driver dumps the leader, the win should go to the third place driver, NASCAR already does that, case in point, in January at the Toyota All-Star race at Irwindale Speedway, on the last lap, Joey Logano made a mistake and put Peyton Sellers into the turn 4 wall with a video game move and even though Logano crossed the finish line first and originally I thought he won, Logano was penalized to last place and third place Matt Kobyluck won the All-Star race.

Daytona was Daytona, just like Talladega is Talladega, welcome to restrictor plate racing, did you enjoy the race?

Five wide: Goodwood Festival of Speed, MWR, Gas Tax helping GM and Carrie Underwood question.

2009-07-07T00:17:00.004-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, today I’m talking five wide, a regular column of mine that details five articles, stories or posts throughout the internet that I’ve read within the past few days. The way I look at it, I just re-tweeted five articles that I liked, just in one article and more than 140 characters, anyway, let’s get right into it:

1. Michael Waltrip Racing’s announcement: Earlier today, Michael Waltrip Racing and sponsor NAPA announced that Michael Waltrip would step down as a full-time driver and drive a part-time schedule which includes The Daytona 500 in the #55 NAPA Toyota. This was not a big surprise, personally I think Michael should drive full-time in the Nationwide Series too.

However one of the biggest names (at least in the Nationwide Series) to come along in recent years, Martin Truex Jr. announced that he will drive the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota full-time in 2010 and beyond. It was interesting to see the #56 on his car, that number 56 was the number he drove throughout his early career before coming to NASCAR in what is now the Nationwide Series and teh number was his father's too.

2. Over in England at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed, NASCAR was well represented with several NASCAR drivers and former champions cars making laps around the track and while seeing former Truck Series champion Mike Skinner driving the #83 Red Bull Toyota, former NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace in his #2 Miller Lite Dodge and Hendrick Motorsports driver Landon Cassill driving the #24 T-Rex Chevrolet, it was great seeing photos of Dale Earnhardt’s famous #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet that Dale drove to his last win at Talladega in 2000 drive under the bridge by his daughter Taylor Earnhardt.

(Photo Credit: All three photos from the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England were taken by Peter Fox/Getty Images for NASCAR)

But if you’re not a NASCAR fan, have no fear, other forms of Motorsports including Formula 1 were well represented at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed and Autoblog has the gallery and what a gallery it is.

3. Let me say right from the start, I am currently working on a Coke Zero 400 article, however I just couldn’t resist highlighting what the Daly Planet had to say about the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona that was live on TNT. It looks like it has taken many NASCAR fans a while to come around to NASCAR on TNT, but for the Daly Planet they seemed to have loved the broadcast from start to finish and I have to say, I completely agree.

I hope NASCAR watched last Saturday’s night’s race on TNT, because I want that Wide-Open coverage on all networks (FOX, TNT and ESPN/ABC), it was exactly what the broadcast needed and so was Ralph Sheheen in the booth, welcome to NASCAR Ralph, good job in the booth, now hopefully TNT will give him the job full time in booth next season too.

4. WSJ Column: Higher gas taxes better strategy than CAFE to save GM: Over at Autoblog Green, they highlight a WSJ column on higher gas taxes could help GM, however I was more surprised to see the gas tax on diesel fuel was so high compared to gasoline and no taxes on ethanol. It seems to me that the only way to fix the United State’s dependent on foreign oil may just start with diesel fuel considering its 30% better mileage, the gas tax should be straight even across the board, of course that would require diesel fuel gas tax to drop, gasoline tax to stay the same and ethanol to get the same tax as gasoline and diesel.

What about ethanol, it’s the answer for our dependents on foreign oil alright, but NOT for the auto industry, no ethanol is for motorsports like the IRL IndyCar Series, ALMS, and NASCAR should look at it too. BTW: Don’t touch the gas tax Massachusetts or Federal government that would be a dangerous move in any economy, especially this tough economy we have right now, give automakers and consumers the chance to use diesel fuel and if diesel fuel prices go down, so does transportation prices on our goods.

5. Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood duet? I came across an article here that highlights the talk on Carrie Underwood’s forum here that Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood could possibly do a duet together in the future. Since I don’t care much for rumors nor rarely report on them, you might be wondering why I would even mention it? Well specking as both a country music fan and a especially as a Carrie Underwood fan, just about any duet she does or song she sings sounds good to me, what an amazing voice she has and cute too.

Inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Debate

2009-07-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday night on SPEED, NASCAR unveiled the 25 nominees to be considered for induction into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame that is set to open in May 2010. What a list below and this list has to be huge, those five names that will be inducted in the inaugural class has to be the best of the best of who in one way or another have created and shaped this great sport known as NASCAR, this first class will set the stage for the Hall of Fame for years to come.

Everybody has their own suggestions, but I will say that I was a little surprised that one or two names where left off the list, I mean one name that was mentioned in the media and among a few drivers and crew chiefs before the 25 names were announced was Smokey Yunick, Yunick was a mechanic, builder, and crew chief. The second name that should be on this list in the next few years should be legendary crew chief Harry Hyde.

However, when it comes to picking these five names, most people will find that two names should be a lock, of course they would be 7-time champion Dale Earnhardt and 7-time champion Richard Petty, both would be perfect for the inaugural class just by their records in NASCAR, but the last three, those will be discussed at length, here are the 25 names and it’s very easy to pick at least 10 names from this list for the first class alone.

· Bobby Allison, 1983 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and winner of 84 races
· Buck Baker, the first driver to win consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championships
· Red Byron, first NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, in 1949
· Richard Childress, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
· Dale Earnhardt, won record seven NASCAR Sprint Cup championships
· Richie Evans, nine-time NASCAR Modified champion
· Tim Flock, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
· Bill France Jr., NASCAR president, chairman and CEO (1972-2003)
· Bill France Sr., NASCAR founder and first president (1948-1972)
· Rick Hendrick, 11-time car owner champion in NASCAR's three national series
· Ned Jarrett, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
· Junior Johnson, 50 wins as a driver, 132 wins and six championships as an owner
· Bud Moore, 63 wins and two NASCAR Sprint Cup titles as a car owner
· Raymond Parks, NASCAR's first champion car owner
· Benny Parsons, 1973 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
· David Pearson, 105 victories and three NASCAR Sprint Cup championships
· Lee Petty, winner of the first Daytona 500 and first three-time series champion
· Richard Petty, 200 wins and seven NASCAR Sprint Cup titles -- both records
· Fireball Roberts, won 33 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 1962 Daytona 500
· Herb Thomas, first two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, 1951 and '53
· Curtis Turner, first to win Daytona 500, Southern 500, Coca-Cola 600 in same year
· Darrell Waltrip, winner of 84 races and three NASCAR Sprint Cup championships
· Joe Weatherly, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion
· Glen Wood, as driver, laid foundation for Wood Brothers' future team success
· Cale Yarborough, winner of three consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup titles, 1976-78

I believe it will be even more difficult to pick the second and third class into the Hall of Fame. Since I am a NASCAR fan and have been a fan of this great sport for over 17 years now, I have created my own top 5 favorites of who should be inducted in the inaugural class, of course everybody will have their own opinion and remember that this is my own opinion.

1. Bill France Sr.: Co-founder and manager of NASCAR

2. Dale Earnhardt: In 677 starts, Dale is a 7-time Cup Series champion, has 76 wins from his first victory in the 1979 Southeastern 500 at Bristol, his most memorable victory in the 1998 Daytona 500 to his last victory in the 2000 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Dale has 428 Top 10’s, 22 Poles, known as not only one of the best on Restrictor plate tracks, but is the name is black. One thing I loved about watching Dale Earnhardt on track was he never gave up, whether he was racing for first, tenth or 30th, he gave it everything he had, it was amazing watching him race and you never know what he was going to do next.

3. Richard Petty: In 1185 starts, “The King”, Richard Petty won a record 200 victories in NASCAR including winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times to his last and memorable victory in the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona which was right in front of the President of the United States Ronald Reagan, a record that will stand for a long time. The King has 555 top 5’s, 712 Top 10’s and is of course a 7-time champion. Richard Petty’s last race, the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta was not only my first race, but also 4-time champion Jeff Gordon’s first Cup Series race.

4. David Pearson: The Silver Fox was one of the best drivers just about every time he came to the racetrack. Pearson is a three-time NASCAR champion (Those were his only three full seasons), has 105 wins that’s spans from 1960 to the 1980 Darlington 500 and is most famous for his 1976 Daytona 500 when he was battling Richard Petty on the final lap as they slammed into each other which ended with Petty and Pearson both wrecked in the grass, but Pearson was able to limp across the finish line for the victory.

5. Junior Johnson: Johnson won 50 races as a driver and 132 wins and six championships. I remember Junior Johnson more from the 1985 NASCAR All-Star race known at that time as “The Winston”, he was Darrell Waltrip’s car owner and the most of the field had already pitted for fuel and tires once their pit window had open and even though DW’s crew chief (Jeff Hammond) wanted to pit, Johnson said stay for now, finally Johnson said ok, bring DW in for fuel and tires. Once Waltrip got back on to the racetrack, Johnson got on the radio to DW and told him to get up on the wheel, of course Darrell Waltrip chased down Harry Gant on the final lap to win the first “The Winston” All-Star race. That was the same race that DW’s motor blew just past the start finish line. Johnson was known for building those short race engine, Junior Johnson was a driver, car owner, builder and more.

One note, for the second class, I would say that Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison will be among the front runners.

So what does everybody think, I know that by the end of the weekend, mostly everybody around will weigh in on who should be the first five names to be inaugural class, but I want to know what everybody thinks including my readers, who would you choose and why?

Seeing Joey Logano win the Lenox Tools 301 in person at New Hampshire was perfect.

2009-07-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

Photo taken by me (Brian Vermette) from my seat in the Laconia Grandstand of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday June 28, 2009 for the Lenox Tools 301 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of #39-Ryan Newman, #26-Jamie McMurray, #20-Joey Logano racing coming off of turn 4 on to the front straightaway.

With a $39 ticket (in the Laconia Grandstand), a headset, a scanner, a small cooler inside a small duffle bag, food and more, this past weekend I attended what I would classify as my first NASCAR Cup Series race. I have been visiting what is now New Hampshire Motor Speedway up in Loudon, NH since 1999 and in that time I have taken in the Friday practice and qualifying, plus a race, a Saturday with practice, qualifying and most likely two race and twice taken in the Sunday Cup Series race, but from the media aspect (with media credentials).

However in doing all of this, I never could afford the Sunday Cup race in the grandstands until this past Sunday when both my father and I (yes a fellow blogger) bought two $39 Speed Zone tickets (regularly $70) in the Laconia grandstands and took in the Lenox Tools 301.

So in this Part 2 of 3, I will talk about taking in the NASCAR experience with the Lenox Tools 301 race itself after taking NASCAR RaceDay live on SPEED (which was in Part 1).

After attending the NASCAR RaceDay live on SPEED, we still had about an hour and a half before drop of the green flag. Unfortunately for everyone that day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, rain was not only in the forecast, but mist was in the air most of the day.

I have to say, I liked the fact that NHMS put in a few more giant screens, but it was hard to see the screen from my seat fully considering it was so far away, but nice touch. One part of the pre-show I was looking forward to was seeing truckasaurus eat a car or two, but watching it on the giant screen isn’t the same, the activities was down in turn 1, but in the middle of turn 3 and 4 where I was.

I love watching a good NASCAR race on television, however there is nothing like watching the race live in person and armed with a headset and scanner, it’s amazing what you can pick up and see right from your seat. Of course you can’t see everything, but the action going into turn 3 and coming off of turn 4 is always an action packed spot and sometimes it was, not to mention that I could also see the entrance to pit road as well and that was a tricky spot for some.

In sitting in the grandstands just before the race began, I was really thinking about a few things, for example:

1. This race would be first more of a race to halfway. I was really looking for halfway at least on Sunday, reason being is that once the race goes past halfway and the rains came, the race would be called. Monday’s (and I think Tuesday’s) forecast was calling for rain, so you can were I am going with that thought.

2. What role would double-file restarts play in this race?

3. What would this race be like once halfway came – the race to the checkered flag?

This race played out just like I thought it would as it would be a race to halfway. In watching the race unfold right before my very eyes on the racetrack, I was listening mainly to the TNT broadcast, but unlike the race fans at home, there really are no commercials, instead it’s a live mike, you can hear the producers, the broadcast guys in the booth and the people on pit road and I have to say, it’s a fast pace with a person calling out what’s next from who’s in the booth and Larry Mac at the cutaway car to the pit reporters and it can change in an instant even while they are talking.

What a good race though, although it is interesting and yet hard to follow everybody while sitting in the grandstands, lap count yes, leader yes, top 7 yes, the rest of the field no. I will say that I need a better scanner, I tried my Radio Shack one and that didn’t work well, so I was forced to my ProScan from years ago, it worked but I needed more.

When Dale Jr. was up in 3rd, you could hear the crowd cheering on their driver, of course some of the same could be said for Tony Stewart leading too. One aspect I loved was the double-file restarts, they made a difference in my opinion in the racing and the results.

The battles between Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch were priceless, what a sight to see them first on the big screen battling into turn 1 and off turn 2 side-by-side, down the back straightaway and right into turn 3. Even at one point, Jimmie Johnson tried to get involved and did. Tony Stewart moving his way to the lead was cool too.

However with every advantage comes a disadvantage when Dale Jr. didn’t get going on one of the restarts that caused a huge pack up behind him and with an impassionate Kyle Busch, fans saw a huge wreck going into turn 1. I did read that Kyle Busch did admit guilt, but I don’t think Martin Truex Jr., the driver he turned around and wrecked didn’t take it well, of course I didn’t think he would neither.

The first part of the race had your usual cautions including Jamie McMurray getting tagged by Kevin Harvick, but what a long green flag run. Personally a caution would have helped get me up to speed and give the broadcast team something to talk about, let alone catch their breath, however once past halfway, the race was on in my opinion, one part due to the different strategies, but more due to rain in the air and area.

Anyway, towards the end of the race, Joey Logano had stayed out, lead laps while saving fuel was a nice sight to see considering he got two lucky dogs and spun right in the front of me on to pit road due to a flat rear tire, good save. I believe that Joey and Zippy are working very well together and it doesn’t surprise me when he did stay out, what a strategy move that paid off in a big way. By the times the rains came again, even I called the race as being over, but when NASCAR called the race and that Joey Logano had won, you could hear the cheers from the track and the fans not only in the grandstands, but where I was under the grandstands trying to make my way to exit, but before I left due to rain, I wanted to know who won.

What a huge win and well deserved win for Joey Logano who became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Sprint cup Series race at 19 years, 25 days old, his crew chief Ziipy and the entire #20 team, hats off to JGR and a win is a win unless a driver either wrecks another driver to win or they do something illegal.

As for our adventure home including our 2 hours trying to leave New Hampshire Motor Speedway, that deserves part 3 of this series, but hint, hint, what a ride home and a nightmare to boot.

(Joey Logano photo credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Taking in NASCAR RaceDay live on SPEED at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in person.

2009-07-01T21:22:00.000-04:00

(This photo was taken by me at the beginning of NASCAR RaceDay live on SPEED, the people are watching the show on the big screen over to the left and yes, somebody brought an American Flag, the flag in the photo, makes the photo really cool.)

This past weekend, I took in the Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, my first Sunday Cup Series race and what a day I had. In this Part 1 of 3, I will talk about one aspect of the NASCAR experience, taking in NASCAR RaceDay live on SPEED a few hours before the race itself (10:30am – 12:30pm, the green flag was at 2:17pm).

In taking in the Lenox Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in New Hampshire, we left the house around 5:20am and got to the track at about 7:30am (which normally is a 2 ½ to about 3 hours driving with traffic), but in getting there so early, we had very few things to do, so after visiting the trailers, finding our seats on the other side of the speedway, we decided to attend the NASCAR RaceDay Live on SPEED.

This is a two-hour show that is entertaining to watch on television, however it is completely different two watch live in person. When you stand there for two-hour’s straight, it’s a long, but exciting to watch.

Before the show, Kenny Wallace starts by getting the crowd going by asking them who’s going to win the race? Who’s your favorite driver - Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Dale Jr. got the crowd going) and so on…

Of course Jimmy Spencer and John Roberts come out as well to entertain the crowd too. Just before the show, two ladies and one guy will come out, pump up the crowd, tell them to look at the moving camera, make a lot of noice and enjoy the show on the big screen on the side.

What a show these guys put on, two-hours of stories, interviews, talking with the fans, drivers, temas, owners, anyone around, everything.

All throughout the show, the crowd was making noice, jumping up and down, waving their hands, showing off their signs which some people had, I didn’t like getting hit by a sign every now and then especially when you are trying to get on television, but it’s fun nonetheless. It took me awhile to really get into it, I don’t normally jump up and down, scream, everything, but I did get into it waving my Dale Jr. National Guard #88 blue and white hat around especially for free stuff. If you get a smile on my face, you’ve got my attention, don’t push it.

During the commercials, the people will come out to pump up the crowd and give away free gifts. I tried so hard to get a Home Depot helmet, I wanted one and signed by Kenny Wallace if possible (not for ebay, but for my collection and to wear the rest of the day), but I just couldn’t get one, however they also throw out t-shirts, hats and beads. Amazingly enough I did manage to catch some red beads, of course I traded them to a cute girl from some black ones (she asked, besides I prefer black ones).

(This photo was taken by me around 12:20pm, 10 minutes before the end of the show, yes we managed to get near the front of the crowd, people left, you move up. From left to right on the stage was Kenny Wallace, Jimmie Spencer, John Roberts and Hermie Sadler.)

By the end of the show, I managed to make my way up to front for the final 10 minutes of the show and love it, however also by the end of the show and since I had been on my feet since about 7:30am, I was beat, but what a show to watching in person, loved it.

Hats off to everybody with the RaceDay show, they do a good job, of course I will say that my father (who was with me, yes he is a race fan and blogger) didn’t like it as much, it’s not his thing and I’m not sure he would do it again, but I would and will if I go back in September or next June.

Is blogging dead, is Lifestreaming the future?

2009-06-29T16:41:00.002-04:00

When I woke up this morning and started reading several blogs, I started noticing your normal Monday morning chatter and yet something different called Lifestreaming.

Let me state the obvious, first, is blogging is dead? Even with the impact of Twitter, Facebook and more, no it’s not dead, one blogger said it the best, “it just needs a reboot.” Blogging though is getting bigger everyday and more and more people are doing, and loving it. I love blogging on a weekly plus basis, not daily though, writing a large number of articles/posts is hard to do, but it’s a passion of mine, not to mention is a good therapy for everyday.

Blogging is writing on just one subject or niche to several subjects or niche regularly, it’s sharing your thoughts (opinions) on that subject, what you thought about it whether its sports, NASCAR, automobiles, celebrities, events, to how to blog period, it’s not for everybody, but it’s fun.

With blogging, people are looking for ways to make it easier, using an iphone for one, I am too looking to use my cell phone. I have been blogging here at RaceDriven for over four years now and I have no plans on stopping, but changing with the time is reality which including using Facebook and Twitter as tool, I use Twitter and MySpace, sorry no Facebook.

Second I had never really heard of Lifestream, a service called Posterous or I just never paid any attention to it. Now while I was read several blogs, I came across a posting entitled “Steve Rubel Quits Blogging” over at the Blog Herald, basically Steve Rebel has decided to quit blogging and create a Lifestream using Posterous. His site on Posterous looks interesting and he has it linked to his old blog which he has evolved, personally if that’s what he wants, good luck to him, especially if it fits his needs, personally he hasn't quit blogging, so don't think that.

What is a lifestream or lifestreaming? In its simplest form it’s a chronological aggregated view of your life activities both online and offline. It is only limited by the content and sources that you use to define it. – Lifestream Blog

If you are using social media and online social networking like Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed and more than you have most likely heard about, Lea Woodward says ”Lifestream is like a mini blog - updates on what I’m doing throughout the day, pics to prove it and sometimes random thoughts and feeling that pop into my head.” That’s what it is, that’s what it looks like and while I says good job to people who want to create a lifestream, it’s not for everybody, nor is it for me.

Personally while leaving blogging and just focusing mainly on sharing links (could be using Delicious – bookmarking), photos (maybe using flickr), videos (using YouTube), Music that you are listening to (like last.fm) and most aspects of my day to day life (using Twitter, Facebook, and more which might including MySpace) and more (that’s sharing just about everything I doing regularly) is not for me, I have been thinking about the future as well.

For example, over the past several months, twice I have tried to start a second blog, first one was on New Year’s day using my real name as the URL (BrianVermette.com), the problem was simple time vs. using my name like that.

The second came at the beginning of the month (June 2009) with BrandingBrian.net, that blog was originally to be a replacement for RaceDriven, but after doing some research especially with my advertisers and readers, I decided to remove that idea from the table and was thinking about building a photography blog, but it’s not me neither, so what now?

The lifestreaming seems like a pretty good idea to me however I want something more, something in between lifestreaming and blogging, so even though I use Twitter, MySpace, tried Facebook, but deactivated it, I will continue to blog while working on ways to evolve my online presence, but of course that is what I have been doing all alone through trial and error. My advice, people should try something that works for them and meets their needs whether its blogging, creating a Lifestream or something in the middle like me.

So, what do you think about Lifestreaming? Do you have a lifestream site? Do you have a blog? What do you think is the future of blogging and lifestreams?

Sights set on New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series drivers as the Race to the Chase begins.

2009-06-26T08:12:00.000-04:00

Well here we are again and yet so soon, the Race to the Chase race begins this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the Lenox Tools 301. Over the years, this race has been something interesting at least for the media including the guys on the TV Broadcasts, however for the fans, it really doesn’t say much of anything, unless if your favorite driver whether its Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton (entire RCR that should run well), Kasey Kahne or even Dale Earnhardt Jr. (like mine is), this is races isn’t go time, its means floor it if you want to make the chase after Richmond.

However for the fans, racing at New Hampshire over the last year or two means another exciting Phoenix type race, that in this case means better side-by-side racing (at least in my opinion) especially with this ugly prototype COT racecar with actual passing for 301 laps.

One person asked me, oh what will the extra mile do for the race, of course my response was beside an extra added element for the race promoter’s that makes the race stand out, I added anything can happen in just 1 lap or 1.058 miles including running out of race fuel.

So sense this is the first race to chase race, there are a few drivers that just need to (and I hate to say it, but…) point’s race for at least the next few races until they are firmly in the top 12, of course no one is really safe in the top 12 until they are officially locked in to the chase, then go for just victories. Those drivers include Carl Edwards who is fifth in points straight down to Clint Bowyer, 16th in point’s, of course Clint Bowyer is a favorite in New Hampshire after he won his first career cup series victory in September 2007.

Race to the Chase: June 28 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway, July 4 – Daytona International Speedway, July 11 – Chicagoland Speedway, July 26 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Aug. 2 – Pocono Raceway, Aug. 9 – Watkins Glen International, Aug. 16 – Michigan International Speedway, Aug. 22 – Bristol Motor Speedway, Sept. 6 – Atlanta Motor Speedway and Sept. 12 – Richmond International Raceway.

A few drivers to watch, first has to be Greg Biffle, he won here last September, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and a dark horse (if he can get the car just right would be Kevin Harvick). Now I know that I left out Kyle Busch, with the exception of winning this race back in 2006 even after a long green-white-checker finish, NHMS hasn’t been good to him, Jeff Gordon hasn’t had much luck neither.

Now New Hampshire also marks my home racetrack and this Sunday I will be up at the racetrack as a race fan in the grandstands watching the race (the last two times I was lucky enough to attend as part of Shell’s Best Seat in the Hose program), this should be a lot of fun. Normally the last thing my father and I could afford is Cup Series tickets at $65-$70 per ticket (which is ridiculous), however we were looking for tickets for Saturday’s Modified race and Nationwide Series race price at $45 at the gate, we saw the Speed Zone $39 tickets. $39 for Cup Tickets and on easy pay, perfect we are going.

So with a $39 ticket (regularly $70), a backpack or small duffle bag, water, G2, a headset, a scanner and more, we are there and at 8am in the morning too, that should be fun, of course I have done 8am before, but not in the grandstands, needless to say I will be taking my time getting to my seat, tour everything from collectible’s to displays outside the speedway.

Double-file restarts even at Infineon Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series race prove to be exciting for fans.

2009-06-25T16:01:00.000-04:00

Road course racing in NASCAR doesn’t normally produce good, side-by-side racing with a lot of passing on-track and that seems to be the reason why some NASCAR fans don’t like road racing on the NASCAR schedule. However for this NASCAR fan, I think NASCAR needs to add more road course races, road course racing is a completely different animal from oval racing no matter if it’s at Daytona and Talladega or Martinsville and Bristol or even Charlotte or Michigan, road racing really is interesting to watch.

Road racing shows just how good a driver is not only turning left, but turning right. In a lot of ways though, it also defines a NASCAR Cup Series champion, to be a champion in this series, I believe the driver has to be able to not only master short track racing, intermediate and superspeedway track racing, but a driver needs to also be able to master or survive racing on road courses as well.

Anyway, last Sunday at Infineon raceway had a new element, double-file restarts. Some drivers though that it might be interesting, but others were nervous at to just what was going to happen and in my opinion rightfully so, however most seem to agree that it would be good for the fans and that’s why double-file restarts where inserted in the first place earlier this month in Pocono.
For last Sunday’s short race and I mean short race, the racing had a different flavor to it, the driving throughout most of the race went from a little bit of give and take to “take no prisoners” driving, make the pass anyway you can. In some cases, I say drivers driving way over their heads including trying to outbrake a another driver (competitor) going down into turn 11, what an action packed turn, I will not name any names, but damn, what where some drivers thing (cough…Denny Hamlin).

Another fun corner had to be turn 7a, just before you get to the S’s, unfortunately after a long race, 7a is where JR Nation saw their driver Dale Jr. running good in and round the top 10 to top 15 get tagged by another driver that got hit by I believe Carl Edwards who just drove it in too deep, another driver, there were so many drivers driving in over their heads, it was ridiculous.
For the restarts themselves, originally I was thinking ok this is going to hurt, however that wasn’t the case earlier on in the race, but as the laps wound down, the double-file restarts made for an exciting conclusion to the race, but it also produced some spin outs or taken drivers out, anyway, I like the idea of double-file restarts even on road courses, that yield some good results for most of course.

But what a Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, I thought from sure Robby Gordon had this one or Marcus Ambrose was going to win last Sunday, both cars where at least a 10th of a second faster than the rest of the field, but you also have to have good track position and one key of the race had to do with pitting before the caution comes out late in the race which nailed Robby Gordon, as for Marcos Ambrose, what a good job he did, he finished in third place.

I was a little surprised to see the race come down to Kasey Kahne vs. Tony Stewart. The way the race was shaping out, I thought that Tony Stewart had the upper hand, my god, Stewart had several chances to get at him, meaning double-file restarts. Stewart tried so many times to just get along side, let along pass Kahne, however I have to say that what a great victory for Kasey Kahne and his guys, but that was interesting, as much as I am a Tony Stewart fan, I thought that the right guy won the race, plus great to see “The King” Richard Petty get into victory lane as well as Dodge. Look Dodge can win a race.

I now have to wonder, what are double-file restart’s going to do at the next road course race, yes Watkins Glen, especially with that first turn down hill and then doing up through the S’s, double file will be tough their too, anyway I can’t wait to see that race.

(Photo Source: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images via NASCAR PR)

Five Wide: NASCAR, F1 vs. FOTA’s New Series and Blogging to a simple father’s day car show.

2009-06-23T00:50:00.000-04:00

Well here we are for my third edition, however some of you may be saying third edition, where was the first two? Originally I had been blogging over at BrandingBrian for this column, however I have on Saturday, I decided to changed that blog into a spinoff of RaceDriven (which includes bringing all of the previous posts over where they belong) to BrandingBrian.net, a dose of photography site and future expansion site for me, in less than a day, the change has resulted in been huge.

Anyway, welcome to five wide, a look at what I have been reading within the last few days (mainly this time over the weekend) and what I am thinking about each article.

1. Father's Day, 90210 style: The 2009 Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance: First up, is for all of the Father’s after last Sunday, Happy Father’s Day, I know that my father wanted to go to a car show yesterday, however it was raining, so that didn’t happen, but pictures are always good, so check out the gallery and enjoy some gullwing’s, classic Ferrari’s, classic Mustangs and more…enjoy.

Of course if you want something from the east coast from back at the beginning of June, then check out the photography from the 2009 Greenwich Concours d’Elegance: The British, the Aston Martin gets my attention.

2. BREAKING: Formula 1 Teams Association announces breakaway series for 2010: This really going to happen, eight Formula 1 teams breaking away from F1 to create a rival series? No, we have watched this movie before, someone gets too powerful or I should two people in this case (you know who they are, I don’t need to say it), thinks they are all that and doesn’t want to make things better, but instead run things like dictatorship, instead of making the series better (hint, hint parade), eight teams, in this case Ferrari, Renault, Red Bull, Toyota, just to name a few, have had enough and are threatening to start their own F1 Series, already have a new name, a 17-race calendar and more, and yet this in my opinion isn’t going to happen if the FIA is smart. Otherwise, say goodbye to Formula 1 and the new rival series in a few years, just like CART is dead and so will the IRL by 2013, what a shame and all this because one big ego guy decides he knows best and has money or so that person thinks.

3. Truck and Nationwide Series TV networks Awaiting Rules Changes: I read this one yesterday afternoon and this was spot on, the Truck Series race to me wasn’t that entertaining, I mean when you have less than 15 trucks on the lead lap, that’s sad. As for the Nationwide Series race, I am so tired of the Kyle Busch vs. Carl Edwards show, this is ridiculous to watch, every time these two show up, which is every race in 2009, it’s all about them, I mean I like Carl Edwards, but damn. Well at least they had to start from the rear, but they were in the top 10 somewhere around 60 laps in, I don’t know what ESPN can do with their coverage, but the double-file restarts would help there too (as well as the Nationwide Series.)

4. Share What You Love/Hate About Blogging: I have to say, what I love about blogging is somebody is listening or reading my thoughts on any given subject. Right now, blogs are widely searched for information and it’s amazing what you can read on them and yes NASCAR is one huge subject. The power is amazing too. What I hate about it and one comment in this article hit the nail on the head, which went something like, blogs are like children they demand consistent attention, but too me, it’s not just putting up content a few times a week to several times a day (I prefer a few times a week if possible), it’s the site maintenance, links, answering emails, basically customer service, it’s tough to keep up with. All I got to say is Team blogs, it’s still a good idea.

5. What In The (Expletive) Is Going On?!?!, from the NASCAR Insiders, yes it’s on NASCAR and the Monday morning chatter, just read it, that’s all I am going to say.

Well, until next time, have a nice day and be sure to check back not only here at RaceDriven.com for articles/posting, but also check out my new site over at BrandingBrian.net, a dose of photography site, it’s a sight to see.

Tony Stewart's Unique Hearse and "Off Track with Tony" video series.

2009-06-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Every wondered what cars are in a NASCAR driver's car collection, well Armor All has put together a new series of videos called "Off Track with Tony" that includes a tour of Tony Stewart's Car Collection including that Unique Hearse (picture below), a tour of Stewart-Haas Race Shop and more.

While you are checking out Armor All "Off Track with Tony" video series, be sure to go over to my other blog RaceDriven.com to enter the Photo Contest "Win 1 of 2 Armor All Complete Car Care Kit Gift Packs", the contest runs from now through Friday July 31, 2009, open to all United States residents.

What a dream car collection, although I didn't think Smoke would keep his 2001 Daytona 500 #20 Home Depot car that he wrecked on the back straightaway, but it doesn't surprise me that he has a 1957 Chevy, a 1979 Pontiac Transam (I perfer the 1977 Pontiac Transam), a GTO and if you are looking for a picture of his Unique hearse, check out the one below. Last year at the 2008 Speedway Expo is Springfield, MA, I took this picture, believe me when I say it. the picture doesn't do this hearse justice.

Photo taken my me (Brian Vermette) at the 2008 Speedway Expo in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Carl Long’s penalty reduced to 8-race suspension, but NASCAR still in danger water.

2009-06-18T15:31:00.002-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentleman, well I guess third time is a charm, the reason why I say that is this is the third time I have written on this Carl Long penalty from the first article I wrote here on RaceDriven called “NASCAR: Should we expect that this record penalty against Carl Long will be the normal penalty for everybody?”, then at the beginning of the month (June 2009) after the NASCAR appeals board heard the penalty and only reduced the suspension to the Cup Series, I wrote on this for a second time in an article I called “NASCAR and the appeals board gets it wrong with the Carl Long penalty.

So here we are again for the third and last installment because there’s no other options, since then after an unsuccessful appeal with the appeals board, Carl Long filed a final appeal with the Stock Car Racing commissioner Charles Strang and that final appeal was heard on Monday in Chicago, yesterday, the commissioner ruled and only reduced the suspension from 12-races to eight races, but the fine of $200,000 remains.

After hearing everything and reading the appeals stuff, here is where I stand as NASCAR fan:

First to me it doesn’t matter who the driver and team is, so Carl Long was just that person who made a mistake. NASCAR can’t play favorites, every driver and owner should be treated the same (we will see how true that is later).

Long’s engine was too big, even though it was only .17 cubic inches over, that still is too big and ultimately it is his responsible for his car and that includes the used engine that he purchased back in January, not the engine builder and it’s his job to make sure everything including the engine is correct with the rule book.

Second the penalty, a penalty that was and is warranted here, however not this extreme. Looking back at the penalties over the past year, NASCAR hit the mark on most of penalty from the $200,000 fine (NASCAR had fines the #66 and #70 teams $150k), so $200k fine is right in line. Docking the driver and owner 200 points each is right in line too, however here’s where the penalty goes wrong, the 12-race suspension that has been reduced to 8-races, that suspension includes the driver and owner, not just the crew chief and that’s where I am having a problem with it.

That brings me to my third point, the suspension in my opinion to include both the driver and the owner is very dangerous for NASCAR, if another team does this, NASCAR could have a serious problem on their hands 9what am I talking about, they already do), like it was mentioned before, if Chad Knaus for example makes a mistake, you could see (and will most likely see) not only Chad Knaus suspended for 8-races plus, but also the driver Jimmie Johnson and owner Jeff Gordon. NASCAR hasn’t suspended the driver and owner before and they shouldn’t have started here either.

This is a ticking problem (I would have used other words, but this is post 911, however you know what I am saying), I just hope NASCAR fans don’t see this result if another team does it.

Fourth, in light of this, NASCAR should be more transparent and before someone does something wrong again, we know that will sometime in the future, NASCAR should release what the penalties are going to be period, no surprises, just black and white.

Now finally in my opinion, the penalty should have been: $200k fine, docked 200 driver and owner points and 6-race suspension for the crew chief, not the driver or owner.

Now as for Carl Long, there are no more appeals, also the $200k fine is right on, so now it’s time to accept the penalty and move on.

To NASCAR, you have made your bed, now it’s time to lie in it and next time, I wonder who is going to get this penalty next, on the other hand don’t want to know.

And NASCAR wonders why they have a drop in TV ratings and attentions, NASCAR fans can’t stand this closed policy, fans just want NASCAR to be clear and fix a few things including these penalties and the ugly COT car just to name two.

It’s never over until it’s over – perfect example Joey Logano wins in Kentucky and Braun wins in Michigan.

2009-06-18T01:26:00.002-04:00

You always have to say, what happened and in this case, in both the Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway and the Truck Series race at Michigan, both races showed that even thou a driver dominates the race, the race is never over until the checkered flag is waved and you cross the finish line.

Let’s start with the Truck Series race at Michigan International Speedway, lost in all of the talk of GM cutting support to both the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series, there was an interesting race going on on-track for the Truck Series, however when Kyle Busch is leading and dominating the race, some NASCAR fans tend to change the channel, but I’ve learned that is not a good idea, because a race can change in just one lap and it sure did when a lap car racing on the middle to bottom trying to get out of the way of the leaders lead to Busch going below, which slowed Busch down, that lead to Colin Braun going to the outside, making the pass and going on to capture his first Truck Series victory and Roush’s 50th Truck Series victory.

Amazingly enough later that night in the Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway, a similar thing happened and yet to the same person, NASCAR’s bad boy Kyle Busch lead 162 laps, however in the final laps, Joey Logano made the pass that may where waiting for and went on to win his second Kentucky Nationwide Series race in a row.

Joey Logano NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Interview – Kentucky Speedway If Kentucky Speedway were a lady, Joey Logano would be proposing because the two certainly have a major love affair going on. He’s now run two Nationwide Series races on the 1.5-mile track, both times he captured the pole position, then wound up in victory lane. Last year Logano won when Kyle Busch crashed. This time after an eight-minute red flag following Mike Bliss’s wreck, the 19-year-old blew by Busch with 10 to go and then drove away to a 1.6 second win, over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who led 162 laps to Logano’s 20.

Joey Logano: Yeah, I was sitting there in the red flag and I was thinking what do I need to beat Kyle Busch. That’s one of the hardest things in NASCAR. I was sitting there thinking and I knew I had a really fast racecar so I just kind of sat there and I thought about it, got the green state within a car length and got closer and closer, finally I was able to work around to get to him, he went off the track a little bit at the same time and I was able to get there. That’s the only way I was going to be able to pass him was to have a run and have him slip up a little bit, so that’s what I was able to have, got underneath him once he got that clean air his game, it seems, was gone.

All that happening, after Logano had to make a come back, from an early race pit road speeding penalty.

Logano: I just had to be patient, that was the biggest deal but you had to be aggressive at the same time. You get back there and that’s how you get caught up wrecks so you know get by him as quick as I can but don’t put my car in a really bad position. For the most part I was just smart getting up through there, knowing how good of a car I had.

Coming home third, another guy who was busted for speeding, Brad Keselowski.

Brad Keselowski: Either the cone was not in the proper place or the speed trap was not calibrated right because there’s no way when you go all the way down pit road, at the same speed, that you can be speeding in one and not the other. You’d be speeding in all of them, much like if you were going down the freeway at 45 than you’re going to be speeding in every segment. And I know I held a consistent speed down pit road so something was off on that last box.

On the night NASCAR issued what has to be a record 27 speeding penalties. Nailing Carl Edwards at one point three times but for those who said NASCAR had to have some sort of technical glitch, Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash explained.

Joe Balash: We’re very confident in our scoring system on pit road tonight. We didn’t see any issues with the data. There were a number of pit road speeding penalties tonight. Not all penalties were in the same location. They were spread out throughout pit road and some of the pit road speeding penalties were very close.

Finishing fourth was Brendan Gaughan and right behind him fellow rookie Justin Allgaier.

Justin Allgaier: We had to come back from some adversity; we got caught speeding on pit road. It was really unfortunate because we were actually getting past when we were a bunch of us speeding so we just ran out of tires and car right there at the very end and it’s a shame because we felt like we should have really finished third but to come out of here fifth, getting the points we’ve gotten, all in all a great night and glad to be done with Kentucky but ready to come back here too as well.

Sixth to 10 at the finish were Jason Leffler, Michael Annett, Burney Lamar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kelly Bires. Eleven to 15: Erik Darnell, Trevor Bayne, Scott Lagasse Jr., Steve Wallace and Kevin Conway. Carl Edwards came home 30th but losing three laps because of the three speeding penalties and now trails Kyle Busch by 137 points in the battle for the Nationwide Series Championship. Brad Keselowski is third minus 208 and just 10 behind him is Jason Leffler. There have now been nine Nationwide Series races at Kentucky Speedway, with Joey Logano the first repeat winner and the first, to get two checkered flags in a row.

Logano: To win two for two here that’s really cool for me and the whole team here. I guess that’s the first time anyone has ever done that here. It’s pretty neat, you know we got two poles two wins, perfect record here so that’s pretty cool. – Nationwide.com

After reading the interview above, I have to say that I was very surprised that there was 27 speeding penalties issued during this race, two or three to Carl Edwards along. Of course for Carl Edwards, I am thinking that either NASCAR had a problem down at the end or Edward's tack was set wrong, honestly not all of the penalties were in the same spot, but 27 speeding penalties is alot, are these drivers really going to the ragged edge on the pit road speed? I'm thinking they are, but NASCAR does need to look at the data and explain it to the drivers and the fans this weekend at The Milwaukee Mile of what they saw.

Just remember NASCAR fans, in racing, the race is never over until the checkered flag flies and you cross the finish line, congratulations to both Colin Braun for winning his first Truck Series victory and to Joey Logano his second straight Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway, now it’s off to The Milwaukee Mile for a Truck Series and Nationwide Series double header, while the Cup Series is turning both left and right on the road course in Sonoma, this should be interesting with the Cup Series double duty drivers.

Five wide: NASCAR, Pony Cars, Alternative fuels and the Boston Globe, what a five wide this week.

2009-06-18T00:49:00.000-04:00

In the course of a week, I read several articles from life stories, NASCAR news, Motorsports, the auto industry and more to politics on a daily basis, today, in this edition of “five wide”, I want to share what I am reading along with a few thoughts on each article, welcome to five wide…get it five articles, five wide.

Pony cars coming to NASCAR: Fox Sports is reporting that NASCAR looks to be bringing pony cars to the NASCAR Nationwide Series with the new Nationwide COT car. You know the Ford Mustang and the Dodge Challenger, however Chevrolet will not be running the Camaro, instead it will be the Impala and Toyota doesn’t have a two-door coupe, so they will run the Camry. One question: Why the Nationwide Series and not updated cars in the Sprint Cup Series?

GM's cuts in Truck, N'wide heighten carmaker stress: General Motors is cutting manufacturer support to the Nationwide and Truck Series teams. This isn’t a surprise to me at all, the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series both have issues and at the same time, GM has to make cuts, however I have to wonder, how long will Ford and Toyota continue in these two series? I’m not sure if Dodge still does manufacturer support in the Nationwide Series, but none in Truck Series.

Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy: IT'S A FUEL PROBLEM, NOT A FUEL ECONOMY PROBLEM: This article was published back in April, however I believe it should be repeated and all I am going to say is “Let's get something straight. Oil is a poison.”

Diesels finish 1,2,3 again at 24 Hours of Le Mans!: Personal I’m a fan of the Audi, however it was nice seeing the Peugeot win too and it also shows that diesel in motorsports is not only possible, but completely do able and that is cool to see, of course if only NASCAR would look at ethanol or bio-diesel to run in all their series, that would be huge and huge for the manufacturers as well. Can you imagine a NASCAR COT racecar running on 100% ethanol made with waste or corn stock, just one question: what would the racecar sound like? To some racing fans, the sound of a V-8 gasoline engine is part of racing, no one wants silence at a racetrack.

Boston Globe's future remains uncertain as negotiations continue (read about here) I understand that jobs on the line here, however should the Boston Globe really be saved? First Boston already has the Boston Herald, do we need two newspapers in this economy and are people really buying newspapers anymore? I know in this household, it’s only the Sunday newspaper we get now, if we want weekdays, we will buy the newspaper online instead.

Any thoughts?

Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, and Rascal Flatts takes top honors at 2009 CMT Music Awards.

2009-06-17T01:11:00.000-04:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, if you are a country music fan, chances are this is your night, it’s the 2009 CMT Music Awards in Nashville and it is a star-studded night with most of country music’s elite (including Taylor Swift, Trace Adkins, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley just to name a few) coming out to enjoy a night filled of awards that unlike most award shows, these are voted on by the fans and some incredible performances.

As a country music fan, when I watch the awards shows, the biggest part that seems to pop out at me has to be the performances. I mean what is better than seeing Carrie Underwood back in 2007 perform “Before He Cheats”, Rascal Flatts in the show perform one of my favorite songs “Life is a Highway” or even better, last year watching Taylor Swift do an amazing performance of “Picture to Burn”, what’s next?

However when I describe the 2009 CMT Music Awards I have to say that the show wasn’t about the performances to me tonight (I mean granted the performances were good, but not like in years past), but rather the night was mainly about the who won what awards, and that’s not normally me to say that.

You know I had to ask the question of what’s next and yes I was warned a head of time of Taylor Swift’s “Dream” – NFL player, rapper (yes I saw the photos, but who is T-pain?) and being in the already released Star Trek movie and above all else hosting the CMT Music awards. It doesn’t surprise me that the show started off with one country music’s raising stars (and a huge favorite of mine) Taylor Swift, but the rap video, the dreams, was a little over the top for me and then of course in the same category you had Bill Engvall (normally very entertaining with me), but over the top as well tonight.

Nevertheless, the performances are still key here, just like at most award shows and one that caught me by surprise had to be Sugarland singing “Love Shack” with the B52’s. That wasn’t what I expected at all, but not bad either, it worked, especially when you have Jennifer singing Love shack, what a voice. I have been really getting into Keith Urban as of late from his performance at the 2009 Daytona 500 to me buying his 18 kids album and his specials on another network, I can even see him singing “Country Girl” with Jason Alden.

One performance that I liked came from Lady A when they performed “Lookin’ for a good time’, the performance was something of a live video if you will because it was the same right down to Hilary wearing that blue shredded dress.

However like I said in the beginning, for 2009, the award show was mostly about who won what award and there were a lot to give out, but with country music, you always have those few categories that even before their names and songs are called, you pretty much have know who’s going to win from Sugarland wining Duo Video of the Year for “All I Want To”, Brad Paisley winning Male Video of the year for “Waitin’ in a women” to Rascal Flatts winning Group Video of the year for “Every Day”. In all three categories from Duo, the first Duo I think of is Sugarland hands down, and the same goes for Brad Paisley in the Male category and especially Rascal Flatts for group of the year, all three are the best in their categories.

On the flip side you have a few categories that are closer starting with Female Video of the year with Taylor Swift winning for “Love Story”, yes I believe in Love Stories. The category was a tossup because you can’t out Carrie Underwood “Just a Dream”, see’s amazing in that video. And of course Collaborative Video of the year, there were a few choices in there as well, but a sure fire pick had to be Brad Paisley with Keith Urban “Start a band”, good music video and song.

But what would it be an awards show without a few surprises starting with Breakthrough video of the year, the Zack Brown Band “Chicken Fried”, that one is huge for them. My father loves this song, he has it as a ringtone on his cell phone or Wide open county video of the year won by Kid Rock for “All summer long” (although I will say that I voted for Taylor Swift and Def Leppard, but the Kid Rock song even got my father’s attention as well and that’s not easy to do.)

Right down to CMT performance of the year which went to the performance on CMT Giants: Alan Jackson, Derks Bentley, Brad Paisley and George Strait for “Country Boy”. I watched this CMT Giants one and saw the video, it’s always cool to see some big names come together and sing a country song.

(Photo Credit: Gloriana Website)

One award I left off is a little personal to me, everyone has their favorites and while mine does include mainly Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, it also includes a new band that I believe will be big this time next year, Gloriana, they won the “Nationwide on your side award” for one great song “Wild at Heart”.

Well every show must come to an end and this one award is huge, Video of the year that no one know the results of because fans were still voting for it right up to the last minute and the top honors goes to Taylor Swift for “Love Story”. Perfect! Of course if Carrie Underwood for “Just a Dream” that would have been just as perfect!

Now I leave you with two things:
First Taylor Swift performing “You belong with me”, good song, However I am more use to the white dress for Taylor and it would have helped if the telecast didn’t screw up during this performance with the audio. And on the same grounds, Taylor Swift and Def Leppard recreating their CMT Crossroads by performing “Pour Some Sugar On Me”. I liked the CMT crossroads. But not the rap video with T-Pain.

Second, what is award show without at least a performance by Carrie Underwood, what gives?

Mark Martin and Chevrolet grab victory from Johnson and Biffle in LifeLock 400 at Michigan.

2009-06-14T18:33:00.001-04:00

(Photo Credit: NASCAR.com via Yahoo Sports inside Gallery)

In the Irish Hills of Michigan lies the 2-mile D-Shape oval known as the Michigan International Speedway. Michigan Speedway is known for a few good races here and there, but mainly the racing on the track is long (green flag runs) and stretched out, but ends up becoming a nail bitter of a finish thanks to what turns into a fuel economy races.

The Michigan Speedway also sits in what was in some cases known as the “Big 3” automakers backyard, however earlier this weekend as one of the “Big 3” Chrysler exited bankruptcy and was taken over by Fiat, Chevrolet (who is in bankruptcy now) announced that they are making “NASCAR-wide” cuts. The NASCAR cuts include the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series teams will loss factory support and that will not be it, it is unknown if Chevrolet will cut some support in the Cup Series, but to this NASCAR fan, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few Chevy teams were cut, but that’s my opinion.

The automakers though still do believe in “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday”, I even believe that automobile manufacturers do sell more cars because they are in NASCAR, of course that slogan has to include Toyota.

Anyway, earlier today’s LifeLock 400 marked the one year anniversary of NASCAR’s Most popular Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr’s last victory, yeah as Junior fan I really didn’t need to be reminded of that, of course Dale Jr. is one of the most talked about stories in NASCAR and so is Kyle Busch which you can read about here at my second site BrandingBrian.net in an article I call “It will always be Kyle Busch with his fans vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. with JR Nation, for 2009 anyway.”

As for the race, Vickers on pole is nothing new, of course some new would be the rumors that Red Bull might be switching to Chevrolet, I really don’t believe this one, but I would be surprised if in 2010 Vickers and Speed were in Chevrolet’s considering Chevy’s cuts, but in the Cup Series, manufacturer support is good, but not going to shut down most teams if they don’t have it, it will mean cutting costs in other areas.

The LifeLock 400 was really nothing more than just about any other NASCAR race at Michigan Speedway, long green flag runs, finding your grove, but at the same time passing high, middle and low with 3 wide racing. I know some fans find Michigan boring and sometimes it is, but it does define racing, passing a huge part of racing and there was passing. Fans will not see short track racing here, but it’s not really a sleeper race neither, it all depends upon how you define racing.

However Michigan is also known for fuel economy races and today was no different. The first 140-150 laps is to get your racecar handling, fast and up in the top 5, all so you can save fuel by coasting into the corners, lifting on the throttle more, treating your gas petal like it has an egg underneath it (not a magnet, come on it’s a joke…), kick the transmission into neutral and even shut off the engine under caution and coast so you can make it to the end of the race without stopping and here’s where the nail biting comes from, you don’t know who has saved enough fuel and who hasn’t.

I have to say, I thought Jimmie Johnson was going to win the race, but he was two laps shy and ran out just past pit entrance, Greg Biffle comes up next taking the lead, while Mark Martin is coming on, but saving fuel, white flag is out, but then down the back straightaway Biffle runs out, Martin goes low, makes the pass, saves enough fuel and wins the LifeLock 400. What a great sight, seeing Mark Martin, Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports win this race, although it is interesting to see Chevrolet win this race, lead in the manufacturers championship and yet they say they will do cuts, although again not surprised to see support cut in the Nationwide Series and Truck Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
When it comes to Dale Jr. today, I was watching his progress, however I am going to stick by what I said before and see where he is after Chicagoland, but I do like seeing a new crew chief on top of the pit box, sometimes change is needed and in this case change was needed and there is some improvement.

I will say that Junior really hasn’t gotten worse from last year so much as everyone has gotten better and not everyone can finish in the top 10, top 15’s in the Cup Series are hard to come by too and 14th was it for Junior today, of course 13th was all Kyle Busch could muster today as well.

Double-File restarts
Double-file restarts to me are more for the fans, mostly they don’t do too much, but they do have some of an impact on the racing, it makes it interesting for drivers because now they racing the drivers lined up underneath them for position and this rule change also helps the fans know who is racing who and who is on the lead laps, so far good change here.

Of course I should mention that next Sunday at Sonoma (Infineon Raceway), the road course will have double-file restarts, oh boy that will entertaining and I predict someone will go off at the top of the hill for sure after a restart, can’t wait.

And Johnny Benson, get well soon.

It’s over in Dover for NASCAR on FOX for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, but how did they do?

2009-06-13T00:15:00.000-04:00

I know that I am a little late to the party, however you know me, I like to make a grand entrance, anyway, in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the first 13 races from the Daytona 500 to the Dover 400 are broadcasted on FOX. Over that time, while the racing has been good to watch with the exceptions of a few races that just didn’t go so well, the TV ratings have seen a double-digit drop in most cases.

I have to say, in watching all 13 races which included a rain-shortened Daytona 500 won by Matt Kenseth, the Monday rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 won by David Reutimann to the Southern 500, Phoenix cup race, both won by Mark Martin, and the Aaron’s 499 that included two Big One’s, Carl Edwards fling through the air into the outside catch fence and a last lap, tri-oval pass for the lead with Brad Keselowski capturing his very first Cup Series victory, the television broadcasts have been pretty good, of course some better than others.

In watching all of those races, I have to say that first the announcers actually had magic in the booth sort of speck from Mike Joy who towards the end of the 13 races really started calling out cautions, wrecks and taking control. Joy knows his NASCAR and was entertaining. For Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds doing Color Analyst, every TV broadcast team, not to mention radio teams in NASCAR needs a former crew chief and a retired driver in the booth and these two know exactly what they are talking about, they have been there winning races and championships.

The pit reporters did a good job with Dick Berggren, Matt Yocum, Steve Byrnes and Krista Voda, all four reporters where on top of changes to the cars, pit stop times and tell the fans at home what the drivers where saying about their cars.

And yes even having Jeff Hammond hosting the pre-show and doing updates throughout the race while at the same time while using the cut away car to explain any problems that teams or drivers maybe having with car from lug nuts to engine, transmission and fuel filling. And of course keep the turn cam at the race tracks as a matter of fact every track should have cameras in the turns to show the action during a race.

However in every broadcast, there were a few things that they could change, and did for the most part towards especially at Darlington.

First has to Chris Myers as host, enough already, nothing personal here, but from a NASCAR fan here, just leave Jeff Hammond in the Hollywood Hotel and the cutaway car to explain problems and let Mike Joy do his job of calling the race.

Second has to be Dinger. At first I was fine with Dinger, he was suppose to be a little gopher that sometimes pops up out of this hole on screen, screams as cars flash by him and jump back down into the hole, however it’s not entertaining to have animation cartoons, this isn’t Saturday morning cartoons, I don’t need this before or after a race and especially during a race. But I will say that Dinger is not the reason for the lower ratings.

Third, every time I turn around or in this case listen to the broadcast, I hear a plug for a sponsor being put into anywhere they can find it and how many commercials do fans need to watch.

As for the declining ratings, it really not NASCAR on FOX’s broadcast, it’s not Dinger neither, but simply NASCAR fans are finding different ways to watch races and to listen to them. Also NASCAR use to be a hot trend, now those people that follow the latest trends have moved on, but NASCAR should be concerned with their current fan base instead of trying to change everything, of course working on the COT could help and the double-file starts are helping.

Now what about NASCAR on TNT for the 6 races…last week at Pocono with the exception the guys in the booth did a good job, but wait there’s 5 more races to go, good luck fans and no more junk.

It will always be Kyle Busch with his fans vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. with JR Nation, for 2009 anyway.

2009-06-13T00:05:00.000-04:00

Week after week, it’s very rare that the media doesn’t talk about Kyle Busch and/or Dale Earnhardt Jr. for anything from performance issues and anything else for that matter, however over the past few weeks in NASCAR, the talk has seem to have included Kyle Busch making unique statements about either Dale Jr. or JR Nation (Dale Jr’s fans which includes me) and Kyle’s comments are normally taking a smack at Junior.

However now we have more every since Kyle Busch smashed a Gibson guitar trophy that he won after of course winning for the first time I think at Nashville Superspeedway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last weekend. I have watched the video a few times, who could miss it on television these days let along pictures of it on internet, oh wait here’s one in this posting and what a sight it is.

My reaction to Kyle Busch’s new victory lane celebration: Personally as not only a NASCAR fan, but also a country music fan, I am bothered by it, I am more of a person who goes for tradion. Gibson Guitars are American Made works of art, when you get one no matter if you buy one or be so lucky to win one like in this case you don’t smash it and I take offense to that whether its Kyle Busch or another driver.

The idea that a driver or something with the team would find this entertaining or a good way to celebrate is wrong in my opinion, I have no idea if I am the only one or not, but this is how I feel. It would be like somebody winning a Cup Series race Martinsville for example. The winner receives a beautiful grandfather clock, would sight, what a heavy clock too and then smashing it into pieces. Granted he said he did it (smashed the guitar) to give every member of his team a piece, it’s a piece of the victory, in that case buy one for each person, but nope we have to smash it and with the grandfather I wouldn’t like it one bit neither.

The same could be said if you win a Daytona 500 trophy, an Indy 500 trophy, you get the point, it doesn’t matter it’s wrong to me. Basically which side are you on: Is it tradition and respect vs. it’s the winner’s trophy and he/she can do what they want with it? Like I said for me, I didn’t like, you’re suppose to save the trophy, treasure it, not smash it or attempt to anyway, but that’s it.

One thing on Kyle, I believe Kyle Busch has a chip on his shoulder (not only for Dale Jr,) because he was let go from Hendrick Motorsports to allow room for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but I think he shouldn’t, Kyle Busch should be happy driving for Gibbs, if you think about Hendrick did he a favor, Kyle Busch wasn’t much at Hendrick Motorsports at that time, now however while Denny Hamlin is the senior driver at Gibbs, Kyle Busch is the best in the stable (most victories included), of course he needs to act more professionally, for starters, do interviews whether he wins, losses or wrecks.

As for the aftermath, Kyle Busch’s comments at Michigan: Kyle said he don’t regret it, he thought it was fun. He said Friday that he only heard one negative comment about it up at the late model race at Berlin Speedway, from a fan in Berlin Michigan “hay don’t go out and break any more guitars.”

"Everybody else out there -- 99.99 percent of them -- were for it. They thought it was great. I'm not going to speak on behalf of (team president) J.D. (Gibbs) but I believe he told me he thought it was cool and that his kids were blown away by it, like they thought it was awesome," Busch said. "It was fun," he said. "A lot of people enjoyed it, thought it was different. Sport's not so vanilla. A lot of people hated it. I guess those are the ones with 88 tattooed on their arms -- or maybe stills 8s. I don't know which."

Which let to a comment about him and Dale Jr, said Busch: "I've got no issues with Junior. It's his fans that are crazy."

Now it was Dale Jr’s turn as he was asked by a reporter to comment: "I think the guy is just trying to direct a lot of people to his website or to his column and generate ad revenue for said website I suppose," Earnhardt said. "I really don't see how that argument really is that relevant to anything and I don't even know really what kind of problem he has or what kind of solution he wants. I don't really get into it. My fans will handle themselves. They're good people."

All I really have to say is, first I don’t agree with it (smashing the trophy – Gibson guitar) and second, Junior is right, his fans can take care of themselves, I can take care of myself.

- Hat tip to Blog of tomorrow for the comments, of course I heard the audio too. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR via NASCAR PR)

Photo contest “Win 1 of 2 Armor All Complete Car Care Kit Gift Packs” on RaceDriven.com

2009-06-12T15:20:00.003-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentleman, one thing that I like to watch is the behind the scenes videos of a drivers home, especially with their car collection, there is nothing better for a car guy than seeing a drivers or for that matter a celebrities car collection, so the people at Armor All and with their driver Tony Stewart have created a new series of videos called “Off Track with Tony”, where they have created videos of his car collection including his Unique Hearse, the Stewie Awards, a tour of his Stewart-Haas Racing shop to a tour of Tony Stewart’s property.

And while you are there, don’t forget to enter the Armor All sweepstakes that allows fans the chance to win a VIP race weekend with Tony. The sweepstakes runs through August 31, 2009.

After you look at “Off Track with Tony” video series and enter the Sweepstakes, I have a treat for you, thanks to Matter-Edelman PR and Armor All, today I am starting a contest, a photo contest where anybody in the United States can enter, all you have to do is submit a photo of either your favorite car in your collection or one they’d like to add to their collection (a real photo please) and the top two winners will each receive one Armor All Complete Car Care Kit Gift Pack.

All photos received will be published on RaceDriven.com (including my photo gallery) and/or BrandingBrian.net.

Each Armor All Gift Pack includes Armor All Original Protectant, Armor All Glass Wipes, Armor All Ultra Shine Wash & Wax, and Armor All Tire Foam Protectant.

The rules are simply:
Send an email to racedriven@gmail.com, please use “Armor All Gift Pack Photo Contest” in the subject line, the email must include:

1. A photo of favorite car in your collection or one they’d like to add to their collection (real photos please) 1MB limit on the photo please and it has to be taken by you. (I want to keep my email account and I don’t want any copyright issues)

2. Please include your mailing address. Your address will not be shared with anyone outside of Racedriven.com. (If you have sent in a contest entry with RaceDriven.com before, you must sent a new one to enter this contest, I don’t keep the entries once the contest is over and the winner receives there prize.)

- I will email you if you have won a Armor All Gift Pack to confirm your mailing address.
- Only one entry per shipping address, per email address per person.
- Contest is open to United States residents only.
- Contest starts Friday, June 12, 2009
- Contest ends Friday, July 31, 2009 at 12:00pm.
- I will choose two winners (from the photos), each winner will receive one Armor All Gift Pack.

Thank you and good luck to everyone. Please email me if you have any questions, concerns or comments and don’t forget to visit the Armor All Owner Center for tips, tricks and the art of car care.

Five wide: From NASCAR sponsorship and Blogging successfully to General Motors.

2009-06-11T14:14:00.000-04:00

Just about every day at one point or another, I will launch my browser to logon to the internet, click on my bookmarks and start launching sites to see what is new. Some would ask, what about RSS reader? A lot of times, the RSS reader isn’t the best way of going for me, I want to read comments, read the sidebar and etc., so I prefer visiting the site and reading articles from there.

Anyway, in the course of reading a lot of articles on a daily basis, today I want to share what I am reading along with a few thoughts on each article, welcome to five wide…get it five articles, five wide.

1. Hard Times for NCWTS Sponsorships, I have been saying for the past year that the Truck Series has a sponsorship problem, however now in the Truck Series it has gotten to the point of buying a ride or rent a ride as Ed Hinton put it last night on NASCAR Now. The Truck Series needs help, of course the future is unknown, what about merging the Truck Series and the Nationwide Series?

2. 13 Things I’ve Learned about Successful Blogging (This is Problogger’s 5000th post) One of my favorite sites to visit that has nothing to do with racing is ProBlogger.net, the site gives a lot of advice on blogging, how to make your site better and how to engage with your readers better. If you have never been to ProBlogger, it’s worth a look.

3. An Open Letter To GM In this open letter to GM, The Auto Prophet thinks that “Despite your decision that keeping Pontiac around is not a good business plan, I am asking you to consider saving some of Pontiac's product.” I agree with this posting, The Pontiac G8, the Vibe and the Solstice should be saved. However I have something to add, the G8 should replace the Chevrolet Impala. The G8 design is better looking and it would make a good police car. As for the Solstice, a two-seater sports car still has a good market, and as the Auto Prophet says, it could be an all electric car.

4. Chevrolet builds 1.5 millionth Corvette, with all of the auto industry bankruptcy talk in the past month; Chevrolet has built their 1.5 millionth Corvette. The Corvette is a white convertible with a red interior and a black top and as a person who loves the look of a Corvette, that’s cool to see.

5. NASCAR's most penalized driver is ... in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. As you read that list, think about that for a moment as you watch race #15 in the Cup Series season at Michigan International Speedway. I have to admit though, I never really thought about who has received what penalty whether it’s speeding, lug nuts, entering or exiting pit road and the results where interesting.

Don’t forget that the 24 hours of Le Mans is this Saturday and Sunday live on SPEED, check out the Audi R15 pictured below, what work of air, yes I said air.

(Image by Eric Gilbert via Motorsport.com)

By the way, this is my personal opinion, no one asked me to do this.

Fiat completes takeover of Chrysler, so now will the Tano Nano and the Fiat 500 come to the U.S.?

2009-06-10T18:18:00.000-04:00

First, we have been hearing about this deal between Fiat and Chrysler being in the works for weeks now, however even I don’t expect this deal to be done quite so soon, let along Chrysler being out of bankruptcy so soon, however according to New York times, once the supreme court declined to hear a challenge of the deal by three Indiana state funds and several consumer groups, that cleared the way for Chrysler to exit Bankruptcy, keep in that Chrysler was only in bankruptcy for 42 days and once done, Fiat put pen to paper, signed the deal and wired the money.

Beyond the entire Chrysler going into and coming out of bankruptcy in only 42 days, Fiat completely the takeover of Chrysler, what is going to happen next, for example when it comes to Chrysler building and selling cars and truck, the dealer network, what is going to happen with that part?

Second, one of the biggest questions on the internet right now has to do with the Tano Nano, not so much if Fiat brings the Nano to the United States, but who is going to buy it?

Tano Nano (Credit: Wikipedia)

As a consumer, I wouldn’t buy it at all, this is a cheap little car that doesn’t look all that appealing nor would I think that American’s would buy it either, granted that the Nano will have to be redesigned for the U.S. market and price tag will go up for sure, but I really don’t see this car in the US market long term. People should remember that the Smart is currently sold here in the United States, however what was once a very popular car, now isn’t so much, partly due to gasoline prices in my opinion, of course gasoline prices will change and change regularly.

However while I don’t believe in the Tano Nano, you might be surprised to know that I do think that this new deal could bring a few of Fiat’s cars over here to the U.S. starting with the Fiat 500. The Fiat 500 is sort of like the Mini Cooper and of course each vehicles has an S model as well. Mini Coopers have held their own in the United States, I do see a Mini Cooper around in Massachusetts from time to time and it’s a great pocked rocket. Very easy to add more power.

2010 Fiat 500 C (Credit: NetCarShow.com)

So the Fiat 500 could be completing vehicles against the Cooper in sales, people do want something appealing, somewhat cheap, easy to tune and good fuel economy, no, the Nano doesn’t fit here. I will also say that the Fiat 500 looks simpler to the Cooper as well.

I might consider buying a Fiat 500 if it came to the states. The Fiat 500 is sort of like a Mini Cooper, I believe that there is too much different between the Cooper and the 500. If Fiat could bring a good supply of the Fiat 500 and Fiat 500 S to the US that could contend with the Mini Cooper in sales, who knows, I would be interested in seeing the Fiat 500 in the US.

Would you buy either a Tano Nano or a Fiat 500? On the Nano, MyFordDreams and The Auto Prophet both have an opinion, check it out.

Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and double-file restarts – yes it’s an all NASCAR column.

2009-06-10T13:30:00.001-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentleman, as I sit here on a Wednesday afternoon watching the replay of the Pocono 500 on television from this past Sunday, however I am thinking about Kyle Busch at Nashville, the double-file restarts and Tony Stewart winning at Pocono.

Kyle Busch smashing a guitar?
Last Saturday night was shaping up to be just like so many NASCAR Nationwide Series races, Kyle Busch leading the race and in most cases dominating the race, the ESPN announcers cheering him on as they are part of his fan club, the fans waiting for just about anything to happen, the TV Broadcast following the too early to cover points fight between Busch and Edwards, but no one covering the a driver’s car on fire heading into the garage and of course Kyle Busch winning the race.

So what the headline, well leave to Kyle Busch to make a statement in his car that everyone was going to get a piece of that guitar, that’s not a bad thing to say neither that crew deserves a lot of credit, and yes they do, NASCAR is a team sport, not driver only, however no one was expecting Kyle Busch to take the trophy, a beautiful Gibson Guitar painted up that any driver would love to win and smashes it on the ground in victory lane and give pieces of it to his crew.
It should be said that unbelievably Kyle Busch asked Sam Bass and Gibson if he could smash it and from what I understand according to Kyle they approved it.

In the Nationwide Victory Lane interview from Nationwide.com,
Kyle Busch said: “We had a good day that went smooth today and we didn’t have any issues, you know we have had smooth days that were going great the past few weeks, just at the end it comes to something taking us away. So it was relief today, I mean I was actually nervous coming down to the end of the race because I wasn’t sure, something might happen. You never know, it would just be a never-ending saga really. But finally we were able to knock the monkey off the back and get a win here, for me especially to get my first Nationwide Series win at Nashville and my second guitar I won an archer race here, it’s been a long time since that day and it was very cool. “

Now the winner at Nashville always gets a custom painted Gibson guitar that every driver takes great care to get home safely. That is until Busch, who took out his acts in victory lane and did his best impression, of a rock star.

Busch: Yeah, I always said if I win here man I’d smash that thing. So I had to stick to my word man it’s karma or something I guess. So I won here so I tried to smash it up. Ozzy (Osbourne)’s done it right? I think Ozzy’s done it too; I think KISS has even done it. I mean everybody’s done it except racecar drivers. All them sorry saps they take it home in one piece and put it on the shelf. I’ll break that thing up and spread it among the team so everybody’s got a piece. He’ll have to do that by cutting it up with a saw because the man who customized the guitar, artist Sam Bass pointed out.

Sam Bass: “That shows what a quality product Gibson makes. Because that guitar did not break, the neck did not break in a half and it’s probably still playable if you plugged it in.” - Thanks Nationwide.com

The smashing of the guitar has gotten a lot of fans attention, most fans are calling this disrespect, while others are defending him, so where does this NASCAR fan stand?

Personally, a trophy that you receive by winning a race such as the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, Indianapolis 500, a Martinsville Cup Series race to a Nashville Nationwide Series race deserves respect, it says you won the race, first to cross the finish line, and with the competition so competitive, races are hard to win these days and that trophy a perfect way to cap off a good race day for the driver, the team not only at the racetrack, but back at the show, the owner, the sponsors and all the people that make it possible, so if a driver smashing a trophy whether it’s a Gibson Guitar or a grandfather clock from Martinsville Speedway, that to me is disrespectful.

I understand that the trophy in this case is Kyle Busch’s, but that’s still disrespectful. So where do you, the fans stand with any driver smashing trophy after the race in victory lane to give to your crew, is that disrespectful to the tradition or is it the winner’s trophy and they can do what they want with it?

The Pocono 500:
First, last Thursday, NASCAR announced in a press release that they are making a rule change and listening to the fans, so they have added double-file restarts to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race starting this past weekend at Pocono Raceway. (Originally I wrote this before the race, “NASCAR adds Double-File Restarts in the Cup Series – Part One: First reaction.”, check it out)

You know I have to say that any rules change that NASCAR makes sometimes just makes say what? However when it comes to adjusting the COT which they haven’t done yet or make an overdue change like in this case adding double-file restarts, I am all for it.

The Pocono 500 a race that needs to be shortened to 400 miles and that is known for sometimes producing some good race, but at the same time just ending up being a long and drawn out race that can be boring at times as well. But wouldn’t you know it, the race would mainly be a long, drawn out with few caution flags and green flag pit stops. Pocono is a 2 ½ mile racetrack that on a long green flag run can just go almost forever.

However there were a few things that caught my eye during the race:First the double-file restarts: This was a good place as any to try out double-file restart and while it didn’t have too much of an impact on the final results, the rule change did enable for some more exciting restarts. I noticed that the leader mostly started on the outside instead of normally starting on the inside, however it didn’t matter.

Anyway, it was better having the lap down cars behind the lead lap car instead of lineup next to them and on the restart, you know who was racing who, the driver were racing the drivers next to them period and that made for some better restarts and enabled drivers to make moves and sure enough there were some three-wide starts to boot. As a fans, the double-file restarts worked, however it will take a few more races to really see what it can do.

Second, the television broadcast: This was TNT’s first broadcast in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and that meant that NASCAR on FOX was over. With the NASCAR on FOX broadcast, there were some positives and some negitives, first had to be dinger, I mean I am fine with dinger popping out of his hole from time to time, looking at the cars coming at him and jumping back in the hole, however the negative had to be all of the dinger animation shows, so many times we say dinger, enough already.

I will say that I did like the NASCAR on FOX crew from Mike Joy, Larry Mac and Darrell Waltrip in the booth, they have magic in the booth to the pit reporters, the only thing is just live Hammond in Hollywood Hotel along with car next to him to explain things.

However in watching the broadcast, I dreaded the NASCAR on TNT broadcasts, but with the exception of the announcers, Weber, Dallenback and Petty, (their just no magic in that booth), I enjoyed the TV Broadcast. The pit reporters where great, right on top just about everything, no weird animations yet and going through the field several times including before lap 20. Hats off to TNT having a free racebuddy on NASCAR.com, I used it, it was worth it especially during the commercial, I watched the action on track while seeing commercials on TV, wow what concept.

Tony Stewart:
Who would have thought that only 14 races into the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season that Stewart-Haas Racing would be this competitive week in and week out, while I supported Tony Stewart and his move, even I didn’t see him winning races and leading the points so early in the season, I mean Smoke really put the right people in the right places at Stewart-Haas Racing, what a change.

Tony Stewart not only won the NASCAR All-Star race and came ever so close to winning several times this season including a few second place finish, one being latest weekend at Dover with dueling with Jimmie Johnson in the final laps, However who would have known that after a harsh practice crash, going to a backup car and starting 43rd at Pocono that smoke would rocket his way up through the field, passing car after car, making the right changes on pit road would set Stewart up to win this race.

The biggest point of the Pocono 500 had to be on the from the race off of pitroad, beating Carl Edwards after the last stop for some including Smoke to that final restart to the finish, save fuel by letting off the gas petal a ways away from the corner and coast in not using the brake petal and seal the deal, Tony Stewart winning the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway.

After the final restart and everyone faned out, it was interesting seeing Smoke on-board that he was saving fuel by rolled out of the throttle very early before the corners, coasted in and then gently applied the throttle again only to do it all again in the next corner, what a way to say fuel.

Of course Tony did come over the radio at one point and say I hate racing like this, for the most part I hate seeing it, but it was needed for the victory. At one point I thought that Tony Stewart had gotten some advice from Carl Edwards who has won a few fuel mileage races in the past, but what a victory, Tony Stewart wins the Pocono 500 and in turn picking up his first victory as a driver/owner. Great job Smoke.

Smoke must have taken lessans for the Carl Edwards who has won his fail share of fuel economy races including Texas last fall and Homestead.

800hp biodiesel 1965 Chevy Impala created on Pimp My Ride is worth a second look.

2009-06-08T00:37:00.000-04:00

In blogging for over 4 years, I have come across several different topics that are amazing to read about let alone write about, however there are always those few stories that raise about all of the rest that are worth a second look and one of them that I blogged about back in April 2007 over at my first site (Blog) RaceDriven.com is the famous 800 Horsepower 1965 Chevrolet Impala powered by bio-diesel fuel.

I remember watching this pimp my ride episode when it first aired, I wrote this:
“This was on the first cars in a while that I liked on this show, so much so that I would want something like it as my daily driver or classic. I like the concept, the technology, the look, the entire package and the fact that this impala can go 0 to 60 in around 3.5 seconds, plus get 25 mpg to boot (according to the show). All I can say is, you will see more cars like this either with Biodiesel, Natural gas, ethanol, a hybrid and etc. and that's cool.”

Up ‘til then, there were very few bio-diesel powered muscle cars out there especially one’s that look like this, however this one to me is one of my favorite because it showcases that muscles cars can not only be green and run on alternative fuels and yet still have a lot more horsepower and torque. I’m always looking for that next vehicle that gets me away running on gasoline and this is in the running in general of course.

With seeing this muscle car, can you now imagine Ford, Dodge or General Motors (Chevrolet) putting a diesel engine inside a Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro or someone putting a diesel engine inside a Dodge Viper or Dodge Challenger, that would be cool and it might be the only way to keep the muscle cars around long after the new CAFÉ standards take effect. This was worth a second look.

(Read original posting over at RaceDriven…)

(Photos Credit: GAS