WTF? Wednesday…

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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Welcome to the first edition of WTF? Wednesday™.

A brief synopsis: Every Wednesday, we’re going to go the extra mile (and possibly throw “the flag”) to ask the all inevitable question that is lurking on everyone’s mind. WTF? If it’s smelling funny, and has to do with NASCAR, we’re going to ask it.

On to this weeks column.

Kyle Bush and his manifold of gold

As you may or may not have heard, NASCAR failed the #5 of Kyle Bush after he swept through (again) to Victory Lane in the Busch Race at Kansas.

They “deemed” his intake manifold to be “illegal”. Yet, here it is Wednesday already and there hasn’t been a word about it since Sunday. WTF?

Hendrick says it’s legit, and that it’s no different than other times. In fact, they even sent one into NASCAR and they inspected it for 2 days earlier last week.

So, what’s “good to go” this week may be “illegal” the next? WTF?

Late this afternoon, NASCAR announced a “fine” of $10,000 for Mike Bumgarner, the crew chief for Kyle Bush in the Busch Nationwide Series for violations found post-race at Kansas.

Bruton Smith “may” build a new “Charlotte”

Bruton wants a drag racing venue at his current location in the capital of NASCAR. Cool, he’s done it at Bristol and Texas to name a few. He gets the required zoning, and begins.

All of a sudden, the City Council (we’re talking Concord, not “technically Charlotte”) decided the other night to overturn the zoning for the area, leaving Mr. Smith in the middle of a project which (currently) can’t be used. WTF?

Supposedly the “City Council” wanted to pull the reins on all the “noise” in the area, as it’s building up around the track in terms of both business and residential neighbors. OK, whatever.

So, Bruton laid out the terms for all to see. If that’s the way it’s going to be, and “noise” is such a concern, I want my tracks together. If I need to relocate my venues to another part of town, I will.

Huh?

Mr. Bruton Smith went on to compare it to a stick/ball team building a new arena in town. It’s still there, just in a different location. This isn’t a ploy or a threat. It’s the facts. If he has to move it to another area of town, he will. He’s already scouting land around the Charlotte area, and I’d bet there’s a few communities welcoming the move with open arms.

So you’ll hear about Charlotte closing, but really it’s just moving to another side of town.

The question is, what would the track be like? Would it mirror the current configuration? Let’s hope not.

Bruton Smith has a few things at his disposal now. He’s got raw data from various sources, and I’d be willing to bet that if indeed a deal can’t be reached, and he does build a new facility, that it will be the best one on the circuit. He knows what is working, and where the future is headed. Expect the facilities to be top notch, and something viable for not only today, but for decades to come.

What about the track itself? Would it be the same thing, or could it be something unique? Here’s a chance to shine. Do something that hasn’t/isn’t being done. Make that track even more special than it already is. 1.5 miles in length? Nah. 2 miles? Maybe, but Michigan and Cali-bore-nia already do it. 1 mile? Dover, New Hampshire. 1.75 miles? 1.25 miles? Hmmm, 600 miles is divisible evenly at 1.25 miles, 1.75 is a tick off, but almost another full lap.

With all the data available, the chance to truly make a “Beast of the Southeast” exists. The fans would dig it (who wants another cookie?), the drivers would dig it, and most of all it would be something different.

We’ll see what happens on that front, but for now in terms of this “out of nowhere” deal, WTF?

Kansas

We aren’t in Kansas anymore, but thoughts sure haven’t left there.

Why was a race that had not a chance of ending before darkness resumed? WTF?

OK, if I had paid to be there, I’d want as much show as possible.

“Technically”, if all the remaining laps went green it could have made the distance. NASCAR isn’t that dumb, so they said we’re going to 225. WTF?

The thing is, when has there been an opportunity to restart a race at all? It would either:
a) go way into the night
b) not enough daylight left, and no lights available
c) wasn’t enough left for it to be worth it.

Kansas was what, 12 or so laps past halfway? NASCAR made the call to continue with as much of a show as possible, which was a good call for fans, just maybe not for your driver. Then again, maybe your driver came out better than if it had been stopped? Then again, the one who would have benefited most from not resuming, ended up with the bonehead move of the race. “Hey Smoke, there’s smoke coming out of your tire.” But, I digress.

Then you have the finish. Biffle cut the motor off coming out of 4 on the final lap, to make sure he had enough fuel to do a burn out. He had half a gallon left, by the way, but NASCAR made him walk over to Victory Lane. WTF? Why couldn’t the guy do a burnout? WTF?

“Da rules” state a reasonable speed, and NASCAR said it was. Some of the competitors didn’t think it was, so they passed under yellow. NASCAR said the field was frozen, so that was that. OK, but also if you pass under yellow, don’t you get a penalty? So if that’s true, and Biffle wasn’t maintaining a reasonable speed (almost half the pace car speed as he crossed the line), then wouldn’t Casey Mears have won with Jeff Gordon finishing second? But, the field was frozen and Biffle maintained a reasonable speed. WTF?

Not even the mighty scoring loops of NASCAR got it right. It had Bowyer listed at 1st, followed by Johnson. Talk about a Charlie Foxtrot drill. Anyone want to wager about a slight modification to the wording in “Da Rules” about this for next season? If there isn’t, we have our last WTF?

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Busch Series, Casey Mears, Charlotte/Lowe's, Clint Bowyer, Drivers, Features, Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Hendrick Motorsports #25, Hendrick Motorsports #48, Hendrick Motorsports #5, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Kansas, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Richard Childress Racing #07, Roush Racing #16, Teams, The Chase, Tony Stewart, Tracks, WTF? Wednesday's





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By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Monday October 8, 2007
9:57pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Just as he did a couple months back Ray Evernham has “come clean” over his workplace dalliance with ARCA RE/MAX driver Erin Crocker.

Crocker competed at Talladega in Evernham’s Mac Tools Dodge finishing 18^th and wrapped up the series’ Superspeedway Challenge Title that includes events held at Daytona, Nashville, Kentucky, Pocono, Michigan, Kansas, Gateway, Chicagoland and Talladega.

After the event Evernham said Crocker still is trying to put together a deal to run next season in the Craftsman Truck, Busch Nationwide or ARCA series.

“There could be some partnerships for her to run the whole ARCA series,” Evernham said. “We’re going to do everything we can to help her move on, and hopefully people will take her more seriously when she’s off on her own.”

Ok Ray, for the second time we get it. You’re sorry for being an asshat on the job and your sorry. As a result you’re attempting to make amends by assisting her in her job search for 2008 and beyond.

But I question his dedication to the job at hand. Look at what Ray provided for Crocker to compete with at Talladega:

“The car we brought was not a great car and not a great engine, and we didn’t have time to prepare or work on it,” Evernham said. “We knew we had to finish 20th or better, and we rode around the back and that didn’t work for us. And 40 laps to go, she had to get up there and race. It was pretty nerve wracking.

“I hope that people take notice of the things she has done.”

Ray… what else did you have to do? It’s not like you had one, two or three cars in NASCAR’s Chase.

Granted last Friday there were still 7 events left in the NASCAR year and Dodge provides millions to GEM to compete in and that part of his operation should take priority.

I’ll also concede Crocker only needed to place 20^th or higher to clinch the ARCA Superspeedway title, but still, wouldn’t it have been better to provide the best possible equipment to run during one of the premier events on the ARCA schedule?

I’m of the opinion Crocker could have had “people take notice” in a far more favorable light if she could have won at Talladega vice riding around the back.

Crocker’s job search equation breaks down this way; What would gain more press coverage, an ARCA Superspeedway Challenge Title or the first ever female winner in a major stock car circuit on one of the showcase ovals in America?

Something doesn’t compute.

Ray, you’re not even trying and Erin got screwed again! This time with her firesuit on!

Cross posted @ Full Throttle.

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Filed Under: Marc Boland, Nascar, Talladega, The Soapbox, The Way I See It





Trackback URL for: Ray Evernham “Films” a Sequel

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday October 10, 2007
11:20pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Miller + Coors = Morrs?

Across the yahoo feed came this interesting tidbit. Apparently, in order to go head to head with The Busch Clan, the two manufacturers will be combining to produce their products, and streamline distribution. This little ditty will save an estimated $500 million a year, so they say. Coors already pulled their car sponsorship, moving it to an Official Nascar Partnership, so what could happen to the #2 sponsorship? Hmmm. WTF?

Where’s The Post-Race?

Like this needs little introduction. I just absolutely LOVE a 30 second Victory Lane interview with closing credits slipped in. THEN, to top it off, being cut to a #*$@!#^ informercial. A informercial.

If Dave Chappelle were here, you know what he would say. “Man, ESPN is %#*#$!’ up!”

Yep, that they are. If Nascar wants to know why the television ratings are slipping, they have no farther to look than their broadcast partners. It’s about time Nascar put out some minimum guidelines/requirements for covering its top series’.

So, ESPN, WTF?

One more time, in case they’re hiding out in the cheap seats… W.T.F?

Concord Fiasco

So, now that Mayor McCheese over in Concord knows the Bruton Smith isn’t joking, they’re petitioning the Zone and Planning folks to make sure that construction at the current facility can continue. Hmmmm. Guess McCheese realized his meal ticket was on its way out the door, and had a “change of heart”.

WTF? You either stand by your convictions, or you don’t. I guess hit particular eyes are filled with dollar signs. Imagine that. Wouldn’t look to good on a re-elect if you intentionally cause one of your biggest tax payers to hightail it out of town, now would it?

And there ya have it. The WTF’s for this week. Nope, no ‘Dega complaints here. The show went off without a hitch really, and honestly as well as could be expected. Yeah, it snoozed for a good while, but what can you expect? It’ll get better as the information and data on the car comes in. They learned a lot in the last 50 laps, especially about how much they can use that ol’ chrome horn. They know how much they used it, and what it did to the front end. They know better now what to expect with it in a pack with the draft. Patience, Daniel San. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Join the discussion.

Filed Under: Charlotte/Lowe's, Nascar, Penske Racing #2, Talladega, Teams, Tracks, WTF? Wednesday's





Trackback URL for: It’s Wednesday, So… WTF?

By Marc, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday October 16, 2007
7:11pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Kyle Petty has something to say about the current state of affairs in NASCAR and how many of its fans view the sport:

“I really want to know what is it that race fans want,’’ Petty says, noting the fan uproar about racing at Bristol and Talladega, which both used the COT.

“I’m not really sure that they even know what they want. I think they’ve been sold a bill of goods on what racing used to be. Racing wasn’t always 43 cars under a blanket. Racing was Bill Elliott winning Talladega by a lap on the field.’’

There it is, the clear unvarnished truth.

Richard Petty once won a race after going 3 laps down, and his winning margin was 7 LAPS! In case you didn’t catch that, in effect he was 10 laps better than everyone else in the field.

If that were to happen today, there would be an insurrection in the grandstands as the laps wound down. A few brown bottle tossed Jeffy’s way would be mild in comparison. Yet the sky is falling around NASCAR Nation because OMG, someone leads the most laps and wins a race by 2 seconds!

I read a recent suggestion and long discussion the Chase should provide a process of elimination. A loss and you out sort of thing similar to a baseball or football playoff.

Sounds crazy I know, even crazier is the idea was floated by someone who’s “Anti-Chase Mantra” is “why do they wanna make NASCAR like other sports?” You figure it out, I damn sure can’t, and feel no great need to delve into the convoluted logic it takes to hold those two positions.

As you know the fan base discontent doesn’t end there, it touches on the shifting make-up of the financial side of the sport. The flurry of partnerships and mergers this season is unprecedented in the sport.

The deals give each team more money and resources, making the cost to start a team from scratch almost prohibitive. To be a part of NASCAR, someone almost has to buy into a team. The question is, is that a good thing or bad for the sport?

Joe Gibbs has tentative (tentative because the fallout from all the changes are yet to be felt) answer for that:

“To me, that’s a good thing,’’ said J.D. Gibbs, president of Joe Gibbs Racing, which will switch from Chevrolet to Toyota next season. “I’ve got value in my team. Five, six, seven years ago, there was not much value in your team.’’

WOW, value in a race team. What a concept.

In previous days the “value” in a race team was regained the only way possible, via an auction of the assembled parts that were bought by other teams for pennies on the dollar.

If Gibbs is right team owners have equity, something they’ve never had before. Also, it may put on hold any thoughts some may have of starting some type of franchising in NASCAR.

With all the changes on the financial side of NASCAR it’s way too early to make any definitive judgment, that may take years to get any real feel for them.

I’m willing to wait and see, unfortunately many are not, some have already tossed France and NASCAR under the bus transporter.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Damn Good Points, Marc Boland, Nascar, The Soapbox





Trackback URL for: A Public Service Message for Disgruntled NASCAR Fans

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday October 17, 2007
7:28am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

New Driver At Roush?

Ricky Stenhouse of Olive Branch, MS has been drafted into training to become a Roushketeer. Ricky is currently racing USAC (National Sprints and Midgets) for Tony Stewart, and will move into ARCA in 2008 for Roush according to the Roush Fenway PR.

Um, WTF? Doesn’t look to be much room at the top, especially when one considers that Roush has to “get rid” of a car in a little over a year. Needless to say, their current program looks pretty much full, but here comes another one. Something smell a little fishy here? I wouldn’t say fishy, Charlie Tuna, but Roush knows where the sandbox is to play in. Let’s not forget that he plans to move a team over to Yates Racing when the time comes. However, we still wonder what’s going on with this.

Which brings us to a similar topic…

3M Primary Sponsor For Biffle In 2008, Multi-year Deal

3M has worked out a multi-year deal to be the primary sponsor of the #16 and Greg Biffle as per the Roush Fenway PR. While Biffle has not re-signed with Roush, his contract currently expires after the 2008 season, he did say he’s pretty likely (like 80% or so) to resign with Roush. Well, who’s going to be going then? Unless something drastic happens with the Biffle negotiations, the only choice Roush has is Regan. Nice kid, but if Biffle resigns, and you know Kenseth and Edwards aren’t going anywhere, and Jamie fits in there very, very, well too, the kids going to Yates. Which might not be a bad thing, as at least he’ll still have a job.

Either way, Jack’s making all these deals like he’s got more cars than a Mark Martin Ford dealership. Something else is going on that we don’t know. Has to be. So WTF?

Lights at Martinsville Would Be Bad?

Clay Campbell questions the addition of lights for Martinsville Speedway in a Virginian Pilot interview. his big concern is that is can get a little chilly at night in late March/early April, as well as in October. However, it may help out with some of the other things (modifieds and late models), and they have rigged temporary lighting in the past. However, the big deal is that those take up so much room.

Lights wouldn’t make sense? WTF? Just because you have them, doesn’t mean NASCAR would make it a night race. Although, I will admit, it would be really, really cool. The big benefit of it, Mr. Campbell, would be if a race goes late and there is a need for additional light. See: Kansas, 2007 for a prime example. I’ll also cite October, 2001, where it rained enough to keep the race from running on Sunday, but with lights it could have went off without a hitch. (I ate too many hot dogs that day.)

And now, our final WTF of the week…

Michael Waltrip Attributes Recent Improvement To Gibbs

Ruh Roh! Should you have told ESPN that, Mikey?

Yes, indeed, Joe Gibbs has been doing their homework on their new manufacturer for 2008. To be honest, if you didn’t think they were, you need far more help than I can give you. However, did anyone think that information would be disseminated to their new brethren before Homestead? Let me see here. We’ve got 2 drivers in the Chase, so let’s tick off our current manufacturer even more by sharing information with our new friends. Wow. Never would have thought it would be a reality.

Sharing information with the parent company about their own brand, OK, I can buy that. However, that information being disseminated and helping them better themselves now, against their current manufacturer Chevrolet? Inconceivable. Preposterous! Yet, it’s true.

WTF???

3 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Drivers, Features, Greg Biffle, Joe Gibbs Racing #11, Joe Gibbs Racing #18, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Martinsville, Michael Waltrip, Michael Waltrip Racing #00, Michael Waltrip Racing #44, Michael Waltrip Racing #55, Nascar, Roush Racing #16, Tracks, WTF? Wednesday's





Trackback URL for: WTF’s For Martinsville

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday October 24, 2007
9:09am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

My time is short, and my schedule’s been hard, but lucky for you I’m out of cards.

OK, so it’s supposed to be money’s short and times are hard, but hey, work with me here.

Either way, I’m left wondering where the last week went? Wow. I have no idea, although I slept through most of it due to one hell of a cold (or some kind of sinus/respiratory crap).

Richert out a Red Bull

Doug and Red Bull Racing have parted ways, effective immediately. Are they NUTS?
From the sounds of it, although nobody is placing blame, it sounds like RB was the initiating party here.
Um, WTF? Doug is quite the capable crew chief here folks, and miracles don’t happen over night. You’re a start-up team, and with this move your sophomore year isn’t going to be any better either.

Your loss, someone else’s gain. Best of luck, Doug!

Read more of this »

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Drivers, Features, Jeremy Mayfield, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Scott Riggs, WTF? Wednesday's





Trackback URL for: Anyone been baffled in the past week?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday October 24, 2007
10:36am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

That’s right folks. Stick your thermometers in the ground and you may find “it” has frozen over.

In a rare, make that extremely rare, case the National Stock Car Racing Commission has overturned the penalty previously assed to the #5 team in the Busch Series from post race inspections at Kansas.

To be flat honest, NASCAR looked at an exact duplicate of the manifold that sparked the penalty the week before that race. If there were a problem, they would have spoke up then and should have. Hendrick had a strong case for this, and to be honest its being overturned is not too big of a shocker in this particular scenario.

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Busch Series, Drivers, Kansas, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Tracks





Trackback URL for: This Just In: Fire and Brimstone May Be Frozen

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday October 25, 2007
9:38am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

That’s right folks. It’s that time again. The time when Thunder Lounge goes from words to actions, fires up that Earnhardt Smoker, and hits the lights for yet another event at Texas Motor Speedway.

We’ll take a quick aside here and ask a quick question to Mr. Bruton Smith. Laid Back what? We’ve got the drop on that by miles, so where’s the love? Hey, we kid because we care, and we’ll keep a plate warm for ya.

Back to the topic at hand, once again Thunder Lounge will be in the infield at Texas Motor Speedway for another weekend of fun and entertainment.

You can only walk through the souvenir trailers so many times, and play so many games of cards. So grab your cooler, and come check out our live DJ, and live music featuring Texas’ own Randy Brown!

If you’ve been there, you know Mardi Gras can’t even compare to the crowd and fun to be had when Thunder Lounge takes over the entertainment duties. Come one, come all, and we’ll see you next weekend!

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Filed Under: Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series, Nascar, Network News, Nextel Cup, Texas, The Chase, Thunder Lounge, Tracks





Trackback URL for: See Atlanta, Keep On Driving To Texas

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday October 25, 2007
5:05pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

There’s something that has been on my mind recently. It’s killing me, really.

We know that the dominoes have fallen, and that Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Busch, and JJ Yeley will all test with their 2008 teams. That makes perfect sense given the fact that the Car of Tomorrow test at Atlanta will not really yield any information which will benefit teams for the remainder of the 2007 season.

So let’s keep that in mind for a minute as we ask the question: “Will Gibbs show up with Toyota’s?”

The test will be taking place this coming Monday and Tuesday, and is NASCAR’s way of trying to remove a little blindness going into the 2008 season and finally running the COT on a track longer than a mile. Talladega excluded, of course, but we’re talking about the staple of tracks on the schedule. The down force ones.

With the fact that there won’t be much to gain for Phoenix from this test, which is why you’re seeing drivers being allowed to test with a new team, could Gibbs bring Camry’s to the test? Maybe I’m off my rocker, and I’ve seen nothing even hinting to the possibility, but what do they have to lose? Loss of manufacturer support for 3 events? I doubt there’s anything that could save help them by then.

What is left is everything to gained from doing so. Anything that can be gained on 2008 is something to be cherished. Even with all the similarities between manufacturers with the COT, there are still enough differences to drive the need for information.

Michael Waltrip recently came out and mentioned to ESPN that Gibbs is a partial credit for his teams recent performance gains. Of course as soon as that hit the wire the Gibbs folks were in a full denial campaign. I’ll have to cry foul on that one. It is not believable that they haven’t touched a Toyota part, tested Toyota equipment, and at the same time discussed that information with TRD. It’s quite plausible that Gibbs hasn’t given up any of the really juicy details yet, but to think there has been no communication or preparation on Gibbs part is one of the biggest crocks of the year.

So, will they bring Camry’s, or won’t they? Could they pull a Bill Davis and try to mask it with a bowtie on the front?

2 comments. Add your 2 cents!.

Filed Under: Atlanta, Joe Gibbs Racing #11, Joe Gibbs Racing #18, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Car of Tomorrow Tests At Atlanta

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday October 29, 2007
3:55pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

While Jimmie Johnson and his gaining of ground may be what you had in mind for the big story of the weekend at Atlanta, we’re sorry to disappoint you and let you know that the story out of Atlanta is instead the first official runs for Dale Earnhardt Junior and Tony Eury Jr under the Hendrick Motorsports banner.

Pictured are the duo, prepping for runs this morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Junior knocked it down with a 5th and a 15th in 2 different cars. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images) Fastest in the morning session was Kyle Busch in the #18 Chevy for Joe Gibbs.

Get ready for it folks, it will be the most talked about story this week.

Not water in the gas (Hamlin, Blaney, and Biffle), not gaining ground in the points (Johnson on Gordon), but how Dale’s week went.

You’ll notice in images from the test session(s), that he’s smiling. Heh, after a year like he’s had I would be too upon stepping into a ride of that caliber and quality. Not to mention to be able to hear Tony’s voice on the radio again.

Note that the red and white firesuit has Adidas across the front. The car is listed as the #5, and has a special paint scheme on it to commemorate the first car Hendrick put on the track (as All-Star) back in the day. It was Dale’s idea, and Rick ate it up. For you Junior fans out there, take a good look at this. If anything, it’s at least a glimmer of hope and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Atlanta, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Drivers, Hendrick Motorsports #5, Hendrick Motorsports #88, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Teams, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Johnson Gains Ground On Gordon, But Dale Jr Steals The Headlines