WTF’s For Martinsville
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 7:28am CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
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???
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
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I was actually reading a message board with someone who wrote an email to Martinsville suggesting that they put in lights. They responded!!!.. and said that they thought it was a good idea, but just wasn’t in their budget. I thought it was pretty funny. As for the race this weekend, I’m hoping Kurt Busch does well. He was unlucky last week and I’ll be upset if another Kendricks car wins. Kurt’s Dodge has been running great this year and I’d like to see him finish well.
FastNetti said this on October 18th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I tried to post this yesterday…
I actually read a message board where a guy wrote an email to Martinsville suggesting they get lights. They actually responded!!!… saying that it would be a good idea, except it wasn’t within their budget. I thought it was funny.
Hopefully Martinsville will go well this weekend, if the weather holds. I’m really hoping Kurt Busch and the #2 Dodge can bounce back after last week. He’s won here before, so there’s still hope!
FastNetti said this on October 19th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Well, I can’t remember the exact figure but I think it was like $12M or something for the lighting at Chicago that is being put in.
Whether that is the total bill, or just what NASCAR was funding I can’t say for sure.
The problem that I foresee with the lights at Martinsville would be the additional power routing/requirements that would come with that, which would add to the cost for sure.
Of course, I really, really would love to see a night race there. How cool would that be? They are right though, it can get a little chilly there at night during their dates, but then again, I remember wearing jackets at Richmond and Charlotte too (in the fall).
I’m not really surprised that they did respond though. Most tracks are good like that.