I figured this is as good a place as any to post this. My buddy recently won a Hendrick Motorsports contest and got the fire suit Mark Martin wore at the Texas race. When the Hendrick rep called him he said that he would actually be at that race with some family and was wondering if he could get some pit passes or something. Well, Rick Hendrick personally called him and eventually got him some hot passes that allowed him total access to the garage and pits and everything. I called bullshit on that until I started getting picture messages from him. On Monday he texted and said that this was his seat for the race: The funniest thing he told me was how he was walking by Kyle Busch's garage and crawled under the car to check it out. He then got bitched out by a few crew members. He's kind of an idiot but he should have tampered with that fucker's car while he was there.
FUCK that is awesome. The friend I went to the race with had an inside line to some hot passes from Robert Yates but they fell through on Thursday. We still ended up with pit passes but no garage access. I hate your friend. But yes, Kyle Busch should definitely have been fucked with. He walked right by my friend and I yelled at him for not punching him in the face.
Dale Waltrip was talking about it a couple weeks ago, saying that Khane has already signed with Hendricks for 2011/12, and Martin had renewed his contract through the same period. He was also saying that the rumor around the garage is that Tony Stewart has made Jr. an offer for 2011/12.
Jr. and Stewart ARE friends and have driven for/with each other in Nationwide, so I suppose anything is possible. Speaking of Nationwide and Jr., what do you guys think of the one-off ride for the Daytona race in the Wrangler #3? It looks like it'll be in the new car design too, which is a mix between the COT and the current car (the noses for each make are still unique.) I like the look of the car, at least. Link to relevent article
I suppose I should have been clearer at the beginning of the season when I ranted that I couldn't take another Johnson year that I didn't want a Kyle Busch one, either. Ugh.
I am with you on this. The only exception I can make is that Kyle hasn't shown he has what it takes to win a championship. I am happy to see him win a race here and there, as long as his Cup chances disintegrate under pressure. I think the larger problem we're facing for the whole of the Cup Series is that 2 teams have won damn near every race this year. (75%) I like Denny Hamlin, and I hate the Busches & most of the Hendrick Clan. So this may just be me complaining about my guys not winning, but is it good for the sport to have 3-4 guys win a majority of the races and the rest are just cleaning up the scraps?
I was bored, and figured I'd compare the last couple years to some older ones (1990 because it was the oldest in the dropdown menu at NASCAR.com, and 1992 because it's my favorite and it had the closest points finish) 1990 Dale Earnhardt x9 --Richard Childress Mark Martin x3 -- Jack Rousch Geoff Bodine x3 -- Junior Johnson Bill Elliott x1 --Harry Melling Morgan Shepherd x1 -- Bud Moore Rusty Wallace x2 --Raymond Beadle Ricky Rudd x1 --Rick Hendrick Alan Kulwicki x1 --Alan Kulwicki Ernie Irvan x1 -- Larry McClure Kyle Petty x1 -- Felix Sabates Brett Bodine x1 -- Kenny Bernstein Davey Allison x2 -- Robert Yates Harry Gant x1 -- Leo Jackson Derrike Cope x2 -- Bon Whitcomb 14 winners, 14 teams, Top Drivers won 9-3-3 Top teams won 9-3-3 --------- 1992 Alan Kulwicki x2 -- Alan Kulwicki Bill Elliott x5 -- Junior Johnson Davey Allison x5 -- Robert Yates Harry Gant x2 -- Leo Jackson Kyle Petty x2 -- Felix Sabates Mark Martin X2 -- Jack Rousch Ricky Rudd x1 -- Rick Hendrick Darrell Waltrip x3 -- Darrell Waltrip Ernie Irvan x3 -- Larry McClure Dale Earnhardt x1 -- Richard Childress Rusty Wallace x2 -- Roger Penske Geoff Bodine x2 -- Bud More 12 winners, 12 teams, Top Drivers won 5-5-3, Top Teams won 5-5-3 --------- 2008 Jimmie Johnson x7 -- Hendrick Carl Edwards x9 -- Rousch Greg Biffle x2 -- Rousch Clint Bowyer x1 -- Childress Jeff Burton x2 -- Childress Denny Hamlin x1 -- Gibbs Tony Stewart x1 -- Gibbs Kyle Busch x8 -- Gibbs Dale Earnhardt Jr. x1 -- Hendrick Kasey Kahne x2 -- Evernham Ryan Newman x 1 -- Penske Kurt Busch x1 -- Penske 12 winners, 6 teams, Top Drivers won 9-8-7, Top Teams Won 11-10-8 ---------- 2009 Jimmie Johnson x7 -- Hendrick Mark Martin x5 -- Hendrick Jeff Gordon x1 -- Hendrick Kurt Busch x2 -- Penske Denny Hamlin x4 -- Gibbs Tony Stewart x4 -- Stewart (Hendrick) Kasey Kahne x2 -- Petty Brian Vickers x1 -- Red Bull Kyle Busch x4 -- Gibbs Matt Kenseth x2 -- Rousch David Ruitimann -- Waltrip Joey Logano x1 -- Gibbs Jamie McMurray x1 - Rousch Brad Keselowski x1 - Finch 14 winners, 7-9 teams, Top Drivers won 7-5-4, Top Teams Won 13(or17)-9-3(or4) ------ NASCAR has always had one or two drivers do well per season. As you see, the overall number of winners in our small sample has stayed pretty constant. What has changed is that the number of winning teams has dropped in half (especially if you count Stewart-Haas and James Finch's Cup operations as satellites,) and the number of wins for top teams has just about doubled. Even though you'll see just about as many winners as you would have in past seasons, you already know which teams they'll come from. You probably also have a good sense of which car in each of those teams will win the most, and who will be fighting to win second/third most behind them. That takes a lot of the excitement/unpredictability out of watching.
Watched the All-Star race last night, my first time ever watching one. I will never again watch another NASCAR All-Star race. Seriously, what the hell were they thinking? The spinout competition had to be one of the worst ideas ever. The idea of breaking up the race into quarters and letting them work on their cars at "halftime" (just to keep the field competitive I'm sure) was pathetic. The race was complete, not-exciting bullshit. The only saving grace was that Kurt Busch won, and hate on me all you want, but I get excited when either of the Busch brothers win. Also Logano did real well, and despite my completely overblown hatred for any and everything Home Depot, I like him too.
If it's not one of the Busch assholes, it's Jimmie fucking Johnson. Excuse me, I'm going to go and kill myself now.
Since I saw you post in that "Canadian Day" thread, I know you didn't off yourself. I was extremely saddened by the 9's motor shelling. I hope it's not an ongoing problem with the new Ford motor. So, who is your pick for the "FireCracker 400"? Also, Am I the only one excited to see the Mustang & Challenger body style in the Busch Race? I think it's finally a car that (sort of) looks like its street equivalent. Hope everyone has a great 4th/Canada day weekend.
Those two Penske challengers leading the way down in that Busch race almost made me feel I was watching an old school race. If the Nationwide series keeps this up, they'll finally be out from under the shadow of the Cup series.
So, after this weekend, should we put you on Suicide watch? Seriously, winning all three races takes some SERIOUS talent. (and a bit of luck) I realize the pool of drivers that run in all three series is really small. (3-4ish) This makes it extremely unlikely that any other driver will do this, except maybe Harvick. I have been a Kyle Busch hater for a long time, for every reason out there. But, as he has aged, he's matured a bit. Do you guys see his fan base growing? I for one see some Carl Edwards fans piling on just because of the Brad Keselowski hatred. Is this a turning point in his gaining some fans?
I am still not a Kyle Busch fan. I thought the crowd baiting was still a sign of immaturity. Having said that, yeah that is some serious talent the young man has.
In terms of being the best straight-up wheel man in NASCAR, I think that Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are the top 2. KB's problem, though, is that he hasn't accepted that points racing is okay. If you don't have the winning car that day, riding around in 9th is better than wrecking yourself while trying to match the leader's lap time. I think he's a dick, but he's at the very top of the heap talent-wise.
This has always been my problem with both Busch brothers...they have so much talent, and it's packed into such asshole mentalities. Earnhardt Sr. did it much better. He had all the talent and drove like a man threatening you with a weapon, but he knew how to play the media and the other drivers to his advantage. Kurtsey and Kylie Busch and, more recently, Brad Kesolowski haven't figured that out yet. In NASCAR it's just as important to have the officials and the other drivers at least be neutral towards you as it is to drive well and fast. Kesolowski is reaping the rewards of not realizing that right now; every time he goes near someone, the wreck him. Larry Mac said it best: "I don't need you to work with me, but I sure can't have you working against me." It's even more infuriating because the Busch boys could be true ambassadors for the sport if they weren't such smarmy shitheads.
Does anybody else think that Rusty Wallace is the worst sports broadcaster on television today? The whole TSN crew sucks - except Alan Bestwick - but Wallace takes the 'most bad' prize, in my opinion.
Meh. Who cares? NASCAR has pretty well killed off Grand Am racing now, with just about every GT team fucking off to go race in ALMS next year (my team included). Even Ganasi is looking at saying "fuck you" for the bullshit that NASCAR has pulled in Grand Am.
Really? Everything I've heard about Dale Sr. is that he did it "the right way." But absolutely no one says that he wasn't a dick, or that he didn't dump people. And the man certainly wasn't an ambassador for the sport. People love(d) the man because he was naturally talented and naturally committed. In terms of production, I am in awe of Earnhardt. Seven championships is unreal. But his first came five years after his first race. My memory doesn't serve, but Kyle is in either his fifth or sixth year running the Sprint Cup. Also, he's 25. Senior was 29(!) when he won his first championship. Keselowski is in his second full year racing, I think. Kurt already has a championship, the first in the Chase format. It's so easy to see things clouded. I get that both Kyle and Kurt are dicks. Brad is more of a celebutante than a racer (see his CNNSI column), but all three of the guys are smart. That they don't fit an image of Earnhardt that's softened (he won his first championship five years after I was born) is a product of their attitudes, but also that the grass will always seem greener.