The Pitfalls Of A Second Date At Las Vegas

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

With every advancement in dates for a NASCAR track, someone loses out. Las Vegas hosting two races per season would not be an exception to this. In order for the folks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to benefit from a second date, someone will lose out. More than just one “someone” as well.

As it stands now, that potential loss lies at the feet of SMI’s recently purchased New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which is unfortunate.

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Filed Under: Las Vegas, Nascar, New Hampshire, Sprint Cup, Texas, Tracks

Tagged As: Bruton Smith, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, SMI, Texas



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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Tuesday February 26, 2008
10:44am UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

We all know Bruton Smith bought New Hampshire, renamed it to fit within the SMI namig Scheme (New Hampshire Motor Speedway), changed the logo, and is spending money in addition to the $340 million price tag for the track.

What has run rampant since is that Bruton Smith didn’t necessarily buy the track, but bought the two coveted Cup dates that it had for the sole purpose of moving one of those dates to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Oh, that would be $170 million for each Cup date, if you’re counting.

Was it worth it for SMI, and will it be worth it for Las Vegas in return? It very well could be, and a profitable move at that.

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Filed Under: Las Vegas, Nascar, New Hampshire, Sprint Cup, Tracks

Tagged As: Bruton Smith, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, SMI



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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday November 7, 2007
8:53pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Menard To Get New Crew Chief

So it looks like Paul Menard is going to get a new Crew Chief for 2008, as Dave Charpentier moves up to become the Technical Director at DEI. Well, if the rumors are to be believed.

The only question I have, is how long will it take for the #15 to fall out of the Top-35? Lest we forget that if it weren’t for the Ginn Fiasco, they wouldn’t be in the Top 35 as they were the beneficiary of Sterling Marlin and his effort in the #14.

You know, there’s a reason that a lot of drivers/teams in the garage make comments over the radio about Paul Menard. To be honest, if you thought Tony Stewart was off his rocker or out of line on his Sirius show a couple weeks back, you’re sadly mistaken. He is far from the only one out there with those feelings. Nothing against you personally Paul, you’re a great guy, but could you be over your head a little bit here?

So, WTF is going to save the #15 from the Top-35 cut-off in 2008?

New Hampshire Gets A Facelift?

DW seems to think that New Hampshire could be ripped up and the resulting reconstruction could end up the product of Richmond and Bristol gettin’ it on.

That’s right, a 3/4 mile, high banked short track. Maybe not 36 degrees, but far from 12 or 14 we would imagine.

On top of that, expanding the current 100,000 or so capacity as the stadium builds around it.

While that would be pretty darn cool, is it really something that could happen?

New Hampshire has sold out 26 consecutive dates. Not many tracks can boast consecutive numbers like that. Richmond can, and I’m pretty sure Bristol is in the ballpark as well, but the question at hand is how fast will that number continue to increase?

Here’s the deal.

The majority of speculation is that one of the New Hampshire dates will be petitioned to be moved to Las Vegas for the 2009 season. Most likely the one in September. You know, the date that has kicked off the Chase since its inception in 2004.

However, we have another problem here. The fall date at Texas also coincides with the opening weekend of deer season in Texas. What’s a good ol’ boy to do?

Further speculation is that if the date is moved from New Hampshire to Las Vegas, then in turn Las Vegas and Texas could swap dates. Which would run the schedule out like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Homestead, with a Texas sized party to kick the whole Chase off.

Then again, maybe New Hampshire keeps both dates? While Las Vegas is a great facility, Bristol makes more revenue. If New Hampshire did get a facelift, while it would take some time to build up the capacity, it could generate more revenue than Vegas. Interesting thoughts all around, that’s for sure.

So, WTF is going to happen with New Hampshire?

Speaking Of Racing, Where’s The Leader?

“I’m a hundred miles away, son.”

That’s exactly what the leaders were saying at Texas this weekend. It was almost a given that if you got the lead, you’d end up with a 20+ car length advantage.

Was it the surface? Is the “soon to be extinct” car just that bad in traffic these days? While we have much love for our home track at Texas, the show wasn’t as stellar as it could have been. We’ll leave judgment out of it, and just wonder… WTF happened to the show(s)?

And there you have it. Your WTF’s for this week.

With two weeks to go before the season winds down, we’re going to give a shout out to all those folks that have been working the grind with little downtime since Daytona last February. We, as fans, thank each and every one of you for the job you do to support our sport. From the hauler drivers, to the crew members, to the souvenir drivers/sales folks, to the drivers, and everyone in between we give you a hardy Thunder Lounge salute and thanks.

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Filed Under: Las Vegas, Nascar, New Hampshire, Nextel Cup, Texas, Tracks, WTF? Wednesday's





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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday June 28, 2007
1:47pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Well well well now. According to Roush Fenway, they have secured Lumber Liquidators as a sponsor for New Hampshire, as well as Gillette.

Both being sponsors of the Boston Red Sox, they plan to leverage their NASCAR sponsorship of Edwards to expand awareness of their association with the Red Sox as their sponsors.

Is that so?

I wonder if Jack isn’t secretly stewing over this. Why, you may ask?

Lumber Liquidators being the primary sponsor of Todd Bodine and his (gasp) Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series.

We all know how Jack just “loves” Toyota, and is just so buddy-buddy cozy with them. Yeah, OK.

Granted, money is money these days. He’s taken on Viagra, so there’s the standard. Not that is hasn’t helped many a folk out there, but try explaining what it is to an 8yr old. Thanks Jack, just what I needed. At least that can slip under the rug now.

However, I still can’t help but wonder if on the inside Jack is a little steamed.

We do have an example of what he was after, and so many other Owner’s in the garage as well, when he inked the deal with Fenway. Marketing leverage, and additional reach. At the same time, we can see how Fenway is benefiting too. Interesting, and not much different overall. Still have a sponsor on the car, etc. The real power comes in the abilities and method of distribution for the partners involved, and exposing each other to additional outlets.

As a side note, anybody still taking notice that on average more Toyota’s that are involved in accidents on track can thank a Roushketeer? Hmmm… interesting.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Drivers, Nascar, New Hampshire, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #99, Teams, Tracks





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