Back In Service

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

After quite a long drought of nothing, the Thunder Lounge is back in operation.

In addition, we’ve given it a fresh coat of paint, and we’re ready to rock and roll.

Some things you may notice:

Where’s the forums?

For now, we’ve closed the forums. Not like y’all were flappin them gums anyways.

New format.

In light of the new paint job, we’ve also switched formats slightly. We’ve switched to a blog format, and your comments on the articles welcomed and encouraged. Considering the subject matter, there’s going to be a ton of stuff to read and sort though for your enjoyment.

Gallery’s updated too.

We’ve also given the photo gallery a fresh coat as well. Now, if we could just get “The Ron’s” to upload some recent pictures for us, we’d be golden.

Where’s my account?

As much as I would have loved to have spent the next umpteen years decrypting eyeryone’s passwords in order to switch to the new platform, all accounts will need to be registered again.

The registration process is painless, if you really want an account. We recommend registering, as there are still some great member benefits. Did we mention it’s free? As in FREE BEER?

So, in short, welcome to Thunder Lounge 2.0.

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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Saturday May 6, 2006
6:56pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

I’m a little out in left field. Ok, no I’m not.

What’s up with Ol’ DW and saying Stewart is the man to beat these days on short tracks during the pre-race commentary? Personally, right now, I’d put him more like 5th in the running. This would be after Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Dale Jr.

I’ll give Stewart his kudo’s for his accomplishments (ok, a Diet Kudo) thus far in his career. Also on this note, I’ll add that he is a threat on short tracks. However, being tops? No chance.

Greg Biffle, and Matt Kenseth should be on this list as well. Regardless, there really isn’t anyone that’s on this list that could be crowned “King” just yet. Each is a threat when the flag drops, and the advertisded race distance is in laps, not miles.

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Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup





Trackback URL for: Dw’s On Stewart Like Stewart On A Twinkie

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday May 7, 2006
1:43pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Dale Earnhardt Jr mashed the gas all the way to the checkers last night in yet another great race at Richmond International Raceway. In his first win since Chicago last July, Jr passed Kyle Busch (who was also having another great run) with 44 laps remaining bringing rookie Denny Hamlin in tow. Jumping out to a comfortable distance on the last 2 restarts, Jr’s only threat was Denny Hamlin, who never was really close enough to make much of a challenge.

From the beginning it looked to be like a classic Biffle vs Harvick battle shaping up, as Biffle was scored either 1st or 2nd at every 20 lap interval through the first 140 or so laps, with Kevin in the other position. It was some great racing, and a great show.

However, as it’s been the unfortunate case for Greg this year, towards the end of a long green run he and crew chief Doug Richert made the decision to stop under green. This mainly seems to be because of the well known fact that the Roush
camp has been a little short on fuel mileage this year. Their stop successfully completed, the rest of the “Roushketeers” followed suit. All was well, until Carl Edwards was spun by Clint Bowyer as he was entering the pits. Thus killing the green flag pit cycle, and trapping several good cars a lap or more down.

Mark Martin and Pat Tryson lucked out, as the caution flew right as Mark was making the turn towards his pit stall. However,
with some attention to detail, he never ended up stopping, and pulled away down pit road staying on the lead lap.

While from an outside view it might have seemed Biffle was yet again in an unfortunate situation with a dominant car. However far be it a cry for Gerg to throw in the towel. With several cautions falling over the last quarter of the race, he worked his way back through, and came from 2 laps down to finish a remarkable 4th. Had there been a Green-White-Checkerd finish, look out. Biffle was coming, and he was coming fast. This was in part to a 4 tire stop on the previous caution, where he was running 7th. The top 6 stayed out. Regardless, Greg posted his best finish of the year, which was nice to see after their teams unfortunate luck thus far this season.

Then, there’s Kevin Harvick. He led a race high 272 laps, and was the class of the field. According to Kevin, he “Just got tight.” in the late stages of the race. He was passed late in the race by Kyle Busch, Dale Jr, and Denny Hamlin.

Keeping Kevin’s quote in mind, one has to look back and wonder about their call to stay out with just over 100 laps remaining.  Leading the race, he was the only one on the lead lap who stayed out. Granted, Kevin was still able to hold them off on the restart, and still had the dominant car, however what was lost was an adjustment sequence and 4 Mr. Feelgood’s. Of course they would have had to stop one more time, but then again, so would everyone else. Had Kevin came in with the rest of the lead lap cars, he could have very well been the one in the circle at the end. From the outside looking in he ended up one adjustment cycle behind the curve and, as we all know, the racing surface is constantly changing and you have to keep up no matter how slight of an adjustment. Had he been towards the end of the lead lap and needed the track position, that is an entirely different case. However, all that said, he still ended up running 3rd at the line when the checkers fell for Jr. Chalk it up as yet another impressive run by what has been touted, and is really coming to light, as an incredibly improved Richard Childress Racing team. Kevin is much more competitive, as is Jeff Burton. Even Clint Bowyer has had some great runs. Although some of their finishes haven’t been the greatest. Add a tick to the rookie block on that one.

All in all it was yet another incredible race at Richmond last night. If you’ve never been there, you’re missing out. Don’t pass by the Frozen Custard stand either. It’s an incredible treat.

Jr’s run last night brought back memories of his first win there, as I sat watching him battle with his father in the closing laps. That was also another great race, and one I’ll remember for a lifetime.

Read the full run down at Nascar.com: Read More

Read the story on Fox Sports: Read More

More on Greg and Kevin’s runs at Nascar.com: Read More

Technorati Tags: nascar, nextel cup

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Trackback URL for: Jr. Takes The Checkers, Harvick Ends Up Third.

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday May 7, 2006
2:51pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Recently over on The Big Lead it was made note that the ratings for the rain delay coverage from Talladega last Sunday crushed the ratings of the Miami Heat/Chicago Bulls playoff game by a whopping 7.2 to 3.6 million viewers. While the author seems relatively surprised by this, it isn’t a shock to the Nascar world. Currently Nascar is the second most watched sport in the nation, playing second fiddle only to the NFL which is in their off-season until August when pre-season starts.
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Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup, The Soapbox





Trackback URL for: Nascar Rainout Ratings For Talladega Crush The Miami/Chicago NBA Playoff Game

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday May 7, 2006
3:47pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

As it’s been written on numerous occasions, with much of it being speculation and possibilities, nobody knows what in the world Toyota is up to. As it’s well known, Michael Waltrip is currently the only driver that’s out in the open about being on board with Toyota next year as they make their debut in Nascar’s top series. As recently discussed on SceneDaily, as well as many other Nascar publications, the options are out there but still nobody knows what Toyota is up to.
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Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Nascar, Nextel Cup, The Soapbox





Trackback URL for: What Is Toyota Up To?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday May 7, 2006
6:56pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Kyle Petty, along with his wife Patty, and several guest speakers will announce a sponsor backed promotion where if Kyle is voted into the Nextel All-Star race in two weeks at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Petty’s sponsors will contribute a minimum of $250,000 to the Victory Junction Gang. Also, any money earned through the race will also be donated, to include the coveted $1,000,000 prize for being first to the checkers.
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Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Nascar, Nextel Cup





Trackback URL for: Vote Kyle, Reward Victory Junction Campaign Kicks Off Tomorrow

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday May 8, 2006
12:09pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

According to a quote from John Darby, Nascar’s Nextel Cup series director, as reported by the Roanoke Times, the current 22 gallon fuel cells will be reduced to 17 gallons for 2007.

This was in response to questions regarding the decision to run a 16 gallon fuel cell at Charlotte’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway later this month for the All-Star weekend, as well as the events for the following weekend including the Coca-Cola 600 which is Nascar’s longest race distance on the schedule.
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Filed Under: Busch Series, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Fuel Cells Will Be 17 Gallons In 2007

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday May 8, 2006
6:41pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

We’re going to step out on the limb of speculation on this one. However, there are certain things in place with this that could potentially unfold. We’ll explain why.

We’ve all read about the track up in Iowa that retired Nextel Cup driver Rusty Wallace has designed. It’s a 7/8 mile track, located around Newton. Note the length, that’s important.
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Filed Under: Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Nascar in Iowa?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday May 8, 2006
9:02pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Dale Jarrett’s crew chief Slugger Labbe is on the list to be slugged with penalties, fines, and a possible suspension over the confiscation of a sway bar from the UPS Ford Fusion.

Their sources report the fines to be heavy, and a possible suspension as well. Also included were possibilities of DJ being docked driver points, and Robert Yates being docked owner points. Most likely the point deductions would be 25 points each for DJ and Yates.

Expect fines and penalties from this past weekend sometime Tuesday.

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Filed Under: Nascar, Nextel Cup





Trackback URL for: Slugger About To Be Slugged

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday May 9, 2006
8:33am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

According to an official release, Kasey Kahne will be selling tickets at Kansas Speedway on May 16th.

Kahne’s schedule for the day includes a tour of the ticket office facilities, training on Kansas Speedway’s ticket sales procedures, and some on the job training.
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