"Hallow-Dega" Weekend Off To Crazy Start

Happy Halloween everyone! NASCAR, Talladega and Halloween weekend- now that is a scary combination! Stock cars biggest stars took to the track Friday afternoon and there was ction right from the get-go. The cars started right away racing three and four wide, which led to trouble for a few drivers. Jeff Gordon slowed at the front of the pack and pulled out of line, causing the rest of the cars in his pack to check up. That abrupt slowing resulted in Sam Hornish Jr getting rear ended by Carl Edwards and having to roll his backup #77 Dodge off the trailer. Clint Bowyer also spun out after getting hit in the back by Erik Darnell in the #96 a little further back in the pack. The # 9 of Kasey Kahne was the fastest in that first session.

The second session, better known as Happy Hour, was a little more subdued, but NASCAR warned several drivers about leaving a little daylight between their bumpers. Since the restrictor plates on the car's carburators have been downsized, the cars have about 12-15 horsepower less than they did in the spring Talladega race. So since the cars are slower, the mos effective way to draft is to bump draft and stay sucked to each other's cars trough the corners, which is something that NASCAR has always discouraged. They actually parked Michael Waltrip's #55 NAPA Toyota for part of the practice for bumping Jimmie Johson's #48 Chevy in the corners. But, there was no malice intent on Mikey's part. He was only trying to figure out what his car would do in that situation because, like he said, that is what you'll have to do to win the race. NASCAR will also let you make moves like that in the race. They were just trying to keep practice under control. Clint Bowyer and Michael Waltrip were the two fastest cars in the session.

Qualifying was scrubbed today due to heavy rain showers, putting Jimmie Johnson's $#48 on the pole, yet again. But, anyone can win this race tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be my man, Mikey Waltrip. This is his last realistic shot to win one more race before his full time career comes to a close. Seeing that NAPA Camry in victory lane would be really special for him, his team and all the "Wal-Nuts" waching on television and in the stands. But however the race ends, hopefully all 43 cars will stay on the ground. Here is the finish from the spring race earlier this season, in case you have never seen it. It is really something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXwpsaHueUk&feature=related

Several Teams Making Key Changes Early In Preperation For 2010 Season

Yes there are still several more shopping days left before the 2010 Daytona 500 gets underway, but it is never too early to start preparing for the new season at hand. The first team to blink was Richard Childress Racing. This organization started the season out with a bang, winning the Budweiser Shootout with Kevin Harvick's team, but they have since fallen on hard times. Only two of their cars (Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer) cracked the top twelve this season, but they failed to make the Chase cut once Richmond rolled around. This, among other disappointments throughout the season, lead to several key personnel changes in the organization. The most publicized was the movement of Scott Miller from his current position as Jeff Burton's crew chief to director of competition. Many people wondered where Burton's new head wrench would come from, but since the future of Childress' #07 team is still up in the air, Todd Berrier was pulled from that team and he and Miller will take over their new assignments this weekend at Talladega.

Another change that will take place this weekend is a change in manufacturers for Elliott Sadler's Richard Petty Motorsports team. RPM announced a few weeks ago it's intent to merge with Yates Racing next season and become a Ford team, switching over from Dodge. Sadler will help get his team off on the right foot and trade in his #19 Dodge Charger for a Ford Fusion for a week. This will help the team figure out how a Ford drafts in comparison to a Dodge and help prepare them for the Daytona 500 that will kick off the 2010 season.

The last major change in personnel that will take effect after this weekend's AMP Energy 500 is Steve Addington's removal from the crew chief spot on Kyle Bush's #18 Camry. I don't really understand this move, since Bush and Addington won twelve races together (eight last season and four this year) and made the Chase last season as well. They did struggle mightily once the 2008 Chase started and they didn't even make it at all this season. That still is no reason to break up what looked to be a fairly successful relationship. And let me make this clear, I am not a fan of either of these men, but the chemistry was their, so it seems like a poor decision on the part of Coach Joe Gibbs' part. Dave Rogers will move from the #20 Nationwide Series car to Bush's #18 as of Texas next weekend.

What other changes are in store for next season? Drivers need rides, rides need to be filled and sponsors need to be found to keep some of those rides going. Round and round and round they go. Where they'll stop, nobody knows.

FedEx Team Delivers Bigtime In Martinsville

Well, it's finally happened. Jimmie Johnson, winner in five of the last six trips to the Martinsville Speedway, was dethroned on Sunday afternoon. It was bound to happen at some point and a lot of NASCAR fans, myself included, look pretty foolish for handing Johnson the check before the race was even started. But much to my surprise, or is that chagrin, Denny Hamlin took the checkers at his other hometown track. Hamlin, a native of Chesterfield, Virginia, won in Richmond in September and snagged the win at the half-mile Virginia "Paper Clip" on Sunday.

Ryan Newman led the field to the green flag, flanked by Jeff Gordon. The beatin' and bangin' didn't take long to get underway, because on lap seven, Matt Kenseth's #17 Ford slid up into the #47 Toyota of Marcos Ambrose, sending the "Tazmanian Devil" around, collecting Kenseth's Ford, as well as Robby Gordon's #7 Toyota. Ambrose received the most damage, having his left front fender sheered off. Michael Waltrip caused the next yellow when his left rear tire blew out, sending the #55 NAPA/Adaptive One Brakes Toyota around off of Turn 2. Not much else happened caution-wise, but the fans were treated to a good ol' fashioned shoving match between Juan Montoya and Jeff Gordon. The drivers exchanged shots, hitting each others cars for several laps, but eventually it settled back down. Sam Hornish, Jr was spun by teammate David Stremme, sending both to the inside wall and Hornish tried to knock the outside wall down only a few laps later. Chase driver Kasey Kahne drilled the outside wall with the back of his car, then the front a few laps later. The final major incident occurred when Scott Speed lost his brakes and destroyed his Red Bull Toyota in Turn 1.

On the final restart, Hamlin led Johnson (like he had for most of the day) and managed to hold the Martinsville Ace off and net his second win at the historic half mile. But for once, I would have preferred Jimmie Johnson as the winner. Not only do I think Denny Hamlin is a dirty dog (to put it politely) for wrecking David Reutimann at Pocono to get the win, putting the kibosh on Reuti's Chase chances, but it was the five year anniversary of the 2004 Hendrick Motorsports plane crash that claimed the lives of ten Hendrick employees and family members. For Johnson to win on that same date five years later, i think, would have been really special. But, it wasn't meant to be and Dirty Denny won the fight. But, although Johnson lost the battle, he may still win the war. The #48 still leads the points over Hendrick teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. Could Johnson really win a record four titles in a row? First, they need to survive the carnage that will happen at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. From NASCAR's smallest track to it's biggest, 'Dega will be sure to please, since the 2.66 mile oval produces such close racing and such huge crashes. This race is gonna be a real barn burner and it should also shake up the Chase standings quite nicely.

This weekends race will also be a big one for me personally. Michael Waltrip is a restrictor plate racing ace, winning all four of his career wins at Daytona and Talladega. Since this will be the Sprint Cup Series' final plate race of the season, and since this is Mikey's last full season, this is his last realistic shot to take one last trip to victory lane and obtain some glory before he drives off into the sunset. Nothing would be cooler than seeing Mikey and the #55 NAPA Toyota team that he owns in victory lane after the race on Sunday. LET'S GO MIKEY!!!

Johnson Cashes In Big In NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's While Other Drivers Bouce Bigtime

Well the only Saturday night race in the Chase was rather uneventful as far as night races at Charlotte go. The night, no the weekend, was dominated by the Lowe's team of Jimmie Johnson, which is no surprise given his career numbers at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. He has won countless races, a few poles and seldom finishes outside the top ten at the track that bears his sponsors name. This weekend was no different. Johnson was fastest in all three practice sessions, he won the pole in qualifying and was hardly ever outside the top five all night. The only action that happened, aside from the usual Sam Hornish spin, was really Juan Pablo Montoya's mid race spin. Montoya had already received damage from being bunched up on a restart and rear ended by Mark Martin, and later in the race, he got loose and lost his #42 Chevy off of Turn 4. After repairs to the Lysol machine, the forty deuce returned to the racetrack, but Montoya never returned to contention.

But other than that, nothing else really happened to spice up the night. Greg Biffle was spun late in the race by David Stremme, who will not be racing a Sprint Cup Series car next season, sending "The Biff's" #16 Ford through the infield grass. On the subsequent restart, Jeff Gordon was overtaken by his teammate Johnson and it was all over but the crying. The fat lady had sang and started warming up for next week. Johnson has won at Martinsville Speedway just about as much as Lowe's. He's been untouchable at the half-mile Virginia Paper Clip. Ironically, despite all the victories and celebrations, the track has also become a very somber place for Hendrick Motorsports. In 2004 a Hendrick plane crashed into the mountains outside the track killing ten Hendrick employees, including Ricky Hendrick, the son of team owner Rick Hendrick. That is the place where the Sprint Cup tour returns this weekend and there is no doubt that the #48 machine of Jimmie Johnson will be right up front, with teammate, and fellow Martinsville ace, Jeff Gordon in close pursuit.

So three tough questions will be answered this weekend. They are: "Who will win the race?", "Who will be eliminated from Chase contention?" and "Who can eat the most Martinsville Hot Dogs?" The last short track race of the year promises to be a keeper. Lots of beatin' and bangin', rootin', and gougin' should make this a great, great race! Enjoy!

Official Inagural Class Announced For Hall Of Fame

Well, the inaugural Hall of Fame class was announced today and there were almost no surprises. And I almost had it picked out perfectly! I want to offer my congratulations to the five that did get in and each one of them is so deserving to be enshrined in this hub of NASCAR history. The first round of NASCAR legends will consist of Bill France Sr, Bill France Jr, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. All of these men deserve to be in the hall at some point, but I still don't think that both Frances should have gotten in in the first class. Bill France Jr is hall worthy, but pioneers of the sport like Lee Petty, David Pearson and others were a lot more deserving than Bill Jr.

Lee Petty, as I said in my last post, won the inaugural Daytona 500 in a photo finish with Johnny Beauchampe, along with 51 other races, as well as three championships. He was, in a way, NASCAR's first superstar. David Pearson is second to Richard Petty on the all time wins list with 105, second on the all time poles list with 113 and winner of three championship titles. The "Silver Fox" also won the 1976 Daytona 500 after wrecking with his rival Richard Petty just feet from the start-finish line. The difference was that Pearson kept his foot in it and kept his wrecked #21 Purolator Ford running and drove past Petty's wrecked and stalled #43 STP Dodge to nab the win in the last few inches.

Drivers with those kinds of accomplishments, as well as the crew chiefs and mechanics who worked with them, such as Dale Inman and "Suitcase" Jake Elder, are a lot more deserving to go into the Hall of Fame before someone who was NASCAR's Chairman and CEO for thirty one years. Bill France Jr was going to get inducted at some point, but compared to someone like David Pearson, NASCAR's "Silver Fox" should have gotten it first. But, there is always next year. Who will be the next five inductees to receive this great honor? We'll just have to wait till next October to find out!

Difficult Desisions Await Hall of Fame Voting Panel

Well, this is it! At 4pm eastern time today, the five inaugural inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be announced to fans across the country. To be honest, I don't envy the position anyone on that voting panel is in. My five have changed quite a few times since the 25 legends who make up the list of inaugural nominees were announced a few short months ago, so I wouldn't want the pressure of making the final executive decision as to who goes in and who must wait until next year. If you would like information as to who is on the panel, who the nominees are and how the whole process will work, you can go to http://www.jayski.com/pages/hallsfame-nascar.htm.

While my original five inductees have changed from the beginning, after much deliberation, I have narrowed my selections down. I think that the inaugural class will consist of Bill France Sr, Lee Petty, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. Now for the reasoning.

Bill France Sr was the founding father of NASCAR by organizing a meeting with drivers and track promoters in a Daytona Beach hotel and creating the sports governing body. He also was the brains behind the historic Daytona International Speedway.

Lee Petty was the patriarch of NASCAR's "Royal Family", winning 52 races and three championships. He also won the very first Daytona 500 in 1959, beating out runner-up Johny Beauchampe in a finish that took days for NASCAR to officially call.

Richard Petty, NASCAR's King, won 200 races and a record tying seven championships during his incomparable Winston Cup career. That's really all I need to say.

The late, great Dale Earnhardt, known as the "Intimidator", is the only driver ever to tie Petty's championship mark and, in my opinion, the only driver that ever will. He also fought his way to the top of the sport and won 76 races during his 25 year plus career. The "Man in Black" was also a working man's hero. He would race on Sunday and work on his farm on Monday. He also grew up working in a cotton mill and was forced to make his own way in the sport. Starting out on North Carolina dirt tracks he cut his teeth and developed his rough, tough, hard driving style. That is why people were able to relate to him because he was one of them. He was a blue collar worker like most NASCAR fans are and that is why he was so popular. And somebody who was that talented and worked that hard to accomplish what they did should be in the Hall of Fame. You don't win 76 races and seven titles by accident.

Junior Johnson was one of the sports pioneers. He was a moonshine runner turned stock car racer and won the 1970 Daytona 500. He also brought R.J. Reynolds tobacco into the sport as title sponsor of the Winston Cup Series. He won 52 races as a driver before retiring in 1966. He then ran his team, Junior Johnson and Associates, winning 139 races and six championships (three with Darrell Waltrip and three with Cale Yarborough). Even as a small town, country boy, Johnson was a mechanical wizard. He drove his cars, and told his drivers to drive his cars, basically until they broke and if a motor blew or another piece broke, he would fix it and make it better for next time. Junior Johnson really lives up to his nickname, "The Last American Hero."

These are only a few reasons as to why I believe these men should be in NASCAR's inaugural class. All of the drivers on the list of nominees deserve to be in the Hall of Fame and they will be at some point. There is no doubt in my mind. But I believe that the five drivers that I have talked about here help to bridge the past and the present of the sport of NASCAR and that is why they would make a great first class.

Despite The Chase, There Are Still 43 Drivers On The Track

I realize that the twelve drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup are the twelve best drivers on track for the most part. But just because thy are running for the title from Loudon to Homestead, that doesn't mean that the other 36 drivers on track should be excluded from coverage. If they do something great, they deserve just as much recognition as a Chaser. The Price Chopper 400 at Kansas this past weekend saw a record nine Chasers finish in the top ten and during the post race interviews, ESPN talked to the top 3 finishers, as is tradition, and the rest of the top ten, except for the driver that finished eighth. David Reutimann was mentioned at the end of the broadcast, but he was never interviewed. ESPN talked to Ryan Newman who finished 22nd one lap down all because he is in the Chase and several of the Chase crew chiefs without even so much as a mention of Reutimann's name. The driver that finishes 22nd and the crew chiefs are never interviewed, but just because they are Chasers, they are automatically more important than the driver who proved that he can run with the best drivers in the sport and that his win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and run at the top twelve were no fluke by being the only non Chaser in the top ten. There are still 43 drivers on the track and the fact that only the top twelve are recognized during broadcasts is a smack in the face to those of us fans who are rooting for those drivers outside of the Chase cutoff. If the Chasers are so stinkin' important, then put them on a track by themselves.

Stewart Follows Yellow Brick Road to Kansas Victory Lane

Well, we're not in Kansas anymore. Literally. NASCAR's once yearly stop at the midwestern oval wrapped up yesterday afternoon and it was an exciting one. The action didn't take long to start, as just two laps after Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr took the green flag, Joey Logano lost his #20 Home Depot machine off turn two. It was only single car spin and nothing that four fresh Goodyears couldn't fix. A few laps after the restart, Paul Menard spun his Menards Ford off turn two, the same spot where Logano lost his car. The difference was that Menard held his brake pedal, keeping his car in the middle of the track, while Logano rolled his car to the infield grass when he spun. Menard's car created a slight road block that collected the cars of Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip, Bobby Labonte and David Ragan. All the drivers, except Labonte were able to continue, but Mikey would later fall out of the race as well.

There were almost no wrecks after this point, aside from Brian Vickers going for a spin off turn four during a round of green flag pit stops. The race was dominated early by Dale Jr, who led the first 41 laps with his National Guard Chevy. Then during the first round of pit stops, a lug nut was left off the left rear tire, prompting NASCAR to bring him back in to replace it for safety reasons. Greg Biffle then emerged as the favorite to win it all. Crew chief Greg Erwin put two right side tire on the #16 Sherwin-Williams Ford and it came to life instantly. Later, it all came down to fuel mileage. Who would have enough gas to make it to the end? Would a Chase driver win or would some falter? We'll never know, since the caution came out for fluid on the race track, possibly oil from Junior's #88 which had just suffered a possible broken oil pump. Now tire strategy would come into play. Would drivers take two tires or four? Several driver elected to take four, even Biffle, whose car was so dominant on two tires, and a few, including Tony Stewart took a gamble and bolted on two.

On the final restart, Stewart's #14 checked out on the rest of the field, but not without a challenge. Jeff Gordon was also shot out of a proverbial cannon and closed in to within a half a second of Stewart. But Tony's two tires trumped Jeff's four and the Office Depot Chevy returned to victory lane and to Chase contention after a rough first two races. Biffle maintained to grab a third place finish, Juan Montoya finished fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Kasy Kahne nabbed sixth, Mark Martin seventh and David Reutimann grabbed a hard fought eighth place finish to be the only non chaser in the top ten. Ninth and tenth were Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards respectively. Mark Martin still has the point lead, albeit a slim one, over Jimmie Johnson by 18 markers and Juan Montoya can still play spoiler, being only 51 in third and fourth place Tony Stewart can still overcome a 67 point deficit to become the first owner/driver champion since Alan Kulwiki in 1992. Now on to the Auto Club Speedway in Southern California to help make the Chase picture a little bit clearer.