Looking to Daytona

Exactly right. Teresa obviously knew this was going to happen, hence the discussions with Robert Yates.

I don't know the status of Martin Truex's contract, but I'd look for him to jump to a new team at the first opportunity. Penske wanted him after the '05 season, but he decided to stay with DEI, which I think was mostly out of loyalty to Junior. Now that Jr's leaving, Truex won't be long after.

On a different note, there was apparently no truth to the rumor that today's press conference was about Junior changing his number to 6.7.

BTW, let me add that I think this is absolutely the right thing for Jr to do. He's been driving a Cup car for 7 years and is no closer to winning a championship than he was his rookie year.

 

It seems like Jr and his sister are adamant about not starting a Cup team at JRMotorsports, which is a good thing. It would be foolish to waste the prime of his career on building a Cup team nearly from scratch.

On another board I visit, somebody made a point about how Joe Gibbs will not put a beer sponsor on any of his cars. I don't know if that's true, but, if so, it looks like a lock that Jr winds up driving for Childress. I don't think he should drive a black #3, but I could see him in a red #3.

 

Teresa won't let him out of his contract for this year. She'll look at it as a) it's not good for my business and b) I don't like Jr all that much anyway, so why would I accommodate him?

I see Jr winning races and championships at RCR.

Bobby Ginn has gone on record as saying he would "stretch as hard as we could stretch to do it." I don't think Jr will land at Ginn Racing, but it shows just how hard various team owners are going to push to land him.

 

Darlington Notes

Because of Mother's Day, I'll be surprised if anybody else in this thread saw any of the race until after the 100 lap mark at least. We missed about 50 laps and I didn't start my notes until lap 80 or so. Not to mention that I fell asleep for a good portion of the race. Something about Sunday afternoons makes me sooo :sleep: .

I never even heard of Darlington until I saw the 1991 Southern 500 on ESPN. Harry Gant wore them out that day, which was the first of 4 in a row for him. It's one of my favorite tracks in both real life and in simracing, but I couldn't tell you why. It's also the track where I learned that the old adage is true, that sometimes you have to go slower to go faster.

In the first interview snippet I saw, Dale Jr sounded like a guy who had no idea where he was going to land in 2008, despite reports that he would be driving a #33 for RCR.

BTW, before I forget, F1 ran a single-file parade they call a race today at Barcelona. Massa won, but the bigger story is a rookie, Lewis Hamilton, leading the points. He has 4 podiums (top 3) in 4 starts, unheard of for a rookie. Whenever I think of Barcelona, though, I'll always think of the 9th Doctor at the end of Parting of the Ways.

Doctor (to Rose): Rose Tyler. I was goin' to take you to so many places. Barcelona. Not the city Barcelona, but the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place. They've got dogs with no noses. (laughing) Do you know how many times a day you end up telling that joke and it's still funny."

Not that this has anything to do with anything, but I just had to mention it because of Barcelona.

New Sponsor for Junior?
I hadn't even considered a scenario where Jr has a new sponsor. I don't see why Budweiser wouldn't do everything in its power to hang on to Junior. While I think Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the front-runners to sign Junior, listening them talk about how difficult it would be to start a team just makes me think that they don't want to start a new team for him, but don't want to say such a thing outright.

First Southern 500
I didn't know it took 6 1/2 hours to run the first one, but I did know about Johnny Mantz using different tires than anybody else. I've also heard that Mantz pitted under caution, which nobody else did.

Short-pitting
Short-pitting can really pay off at Darlington because of the tire wear. I think it pays off here more than anywhere else. Cautions aren't guaranteed at Darlington, but they're pretty regular.

Magic commercial
That's not magic, that's sleight-of-hand. That's not magic, it's stupidity is what I think.

Chef Tyler Florence and Applebee's
I assume this is a national campaign from Applebee's and Florence. All I have to say is, pesto on a burger? Huh? Just put some cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion and mayo on mine and call it done. I can't stand pesto. What a way to ruin a good burger.

Crossing Over
You guys know who the master of the cross-over at Darlington was, right? None other than Dale Earnhardt. One of my favorite races was the 93 Southern 500 where Earnhardt, Irvan and Martin put on a great race until the thing went green for a very long time and Mark drove away from them. One of my favorite races of all was the 93 TranSouth 500 when Earnhardt refused to be passed early. That SO... ahem... idiot Geoff Bodine and Mark Martin tried to pass Earnhardt lap after lap and he simply refused to be passed. As I said, that's one of my favorite races ever.

Holding back?
Mike Joy asked if you held back and conserved tires with 50 to go. The answer is obvious. You don't hold back. You race the track all day and with 50 to go, you race everybody else and the track. Silly question.

Hitting the wall
DW was right on about the "new car" holding up when hitting the wall. Jimmie Johnson smacked the wall with about 120 laps to go or so and he wound up leading a good bit.

What does that mean anyway?
Darlington is a Bobby Labonte kind of track? Really? The younger Labonte has 1 win at Darlington, in the 2000 Southern 500. He won it because his pit crew got him out first and 1 lap later, the downpour started and the race was called due to rain. Labonte wasn't the best car that day, or any other day at Darlington. Good yes, the best, no. So, how does a track become a Bobby Labonte track when he's won once? When Mike Joy wants it to be, that's how.

Doubt that he makes it
I don't think Jeff Gordon's car will make it 32 more laps.

That is awesome
The #17 team just changed 4 tires in under 12 seconds. "That's awesome", my 8 yo says. True that, son. True that. Under 12 seconds. Incredible.

Tires, go for the tires
Stay out and not put tires on at Darlington? Even after 5 laps? I would come in too. I've seen too many races lost by staying out in that scenario.

Old video
That old video of the cars racing on the banking and on the apron was really cool.

Harvick makes up 2 laps on the caution
Since he was the only driver 1 lap down and had passed the leader, Harvick made up 2 laps. I think it was Mike Joy who said it didn't seem fair, and I agree. But, then again, I don't like the giving back of laps with the lucky dog rule. I've never liked it and I never will.

Great passing
That was a great pass by Hamlin of Johnson and Newman.

Quit celebrating when somebody wins
I don't like it when DW openly celebrates anybody winning, whether it's Dale Jr at Richmond, or Jeff Gordon yesterday. Cool it on the celebration.

Don't believe the hype
The most over-hyped, under-delivering race on the schedule, the all-star race, is up next Saturday night.

 

I'm going to say it in my write-up of the race, but it's worth saying now.

That wreck with the Busch brothers has something for everybody. :laugh:

No matter whether you hate Stewart, or Earnhardt Jr, or Gordon, or Johnson, or somebody else, that wreck can bring us all together. :thumbs:

 

All Star Notes

One thing I love about Saturday night races is that when I take my nap, I don't miss any racing. Plus, I get to do more simracing, which is always a good thing. :thumbs:

Enough of that, let's get to why you clicked on this thread.

NascarTV, oh wait, SpeedTV
Big event for NascarTV, ahem, I mean, SpeedTV tonight. I saw a piece where Speed was going to devote a bunch of hours to coverage of the race, because it's the biggest Nascar event they've ever covered. How is devoting a ton of hours to Nascar different than any other day? For all the hours they waste covering the Barrett-Jackson car auctions, they could actually show other racing, such as DTM, F3, Aussie Supercars, etc. Instead we get Kenny Wallace, Jimmy Spencer and that other guy I don't particularly care for. I used to like Formula One Decade, but that show hasn't been on for a few years now. SpeedTV ruined the only show I watched regularly, Inside Nextel Cup, by replacing Allen Bestwick with Dave Despain. Not that I don't like Dave, because I watch his show Wind Tunnel every week, but Bestwick was perfect and they got rid of him.

Despite the hype, the All-Star race hasn't always delivered. They keep talking about wild it will be, which will be Krista Voda's favorite word by the end of the night, but it isn't always that way. Usually, the most entertaining race is the Open where they go all out to make the big race.

You mean there's only 1 car out there?
Who was the teenaged girl that said "Gentlemen, start your engine!" before the Open?

Open Lap 1 Wreck
I was going to say that somebody needs to tell Montoya that you can't win a race on the first turn of the first lap. Then I remembered that he came from the F1 world, where you can indeed win a race on the first turn of the first lap. :smilewinkgrin:

Boris Said Ouch
Tough break for Boris on that wreck. There's really no right or wrong decision for him. Obviously he made the wrong call, but Boris did the right thing in committing to a line expecting the 49 to have moved out of his way, but the 49 didn't move. This has happened to me in simracing many, many times. Things happen really fast and you just pick your line and hope you made the right call. Sometimes it's impossible to make the right decision. If you want to have an understanding of what happened to Boris, start simracing and that situation will happen to you eventually. Simracing is not the same as being out on the track, but you do gain a tiny bit of understanding of how difficult a call that was for Boris to make.

Nascar Day
Somebody's asleep at the switch on the Nascar Day commercial. Nascar Day was yesterday, the 18th. Today is the 19th. Doh!

Phantom Caution #1
Other than to bunch the field up, I don't know why Nascar threw this particular caution. I'm setting the over/under on "debris" cautions at 4. Here's #1.

Excitement
DW just said that the most excitement has been the starts and restarts. I'll go one better and that starts and restarts have brought the only excitement so far.

Excitement Part Deux
Great racing by Msrs. Edwards, Truex and Sauter. 3-wide coming off turn 2? Now that's what I'm talking about.

Mark Martin introduced
Uh, Mark? Hello, Mark? Anybody know where Mark is? Paging Mark Martin. Mark Martin, your party is waiting on the frontstretch at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Mark has a look on his face of, "Do we really have to do this? Can we just get in our cars and go racing?"

Bang on my drum all day
I just polled my sons, ages 8, 5 and 4 about the drummers dressed up as crewmen swaying and banging on their drums all day. I was careful not to prompt them on their answers. My oldest said they looked stupid. My middle child said they looked dumb and stupid. My youngest thought it was cool. I don't know what this means, I just thought it was funny.

The Usual Suspects
I noticed that the usual guys got booed. Jeff Gordon, Kyle and Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson all got some boos. Did Smoke get booed? My kids were making noise, so I couldn't tell if Tony did or not. I also heard boos for Matt Kenseth of all people. Yeah, that Matt Kenseth. Being the android that he is, he probably didn't even notice.

Who won the fan vote?
Kenny Wallace? He won the fan vote? Kenny Wallace is popular? My problem with Kenny is that somebody told him one time that he was funny, so now he goes out of his way to try to be funny and falls flat. He just laughs like a hyena. That is one unfunny dude. The only thing that he'll ever really be known for is helping Dale Earnhardt win the 2000 fall Talladega race. My middle son said, "He's the one that's always slow." Now that's funny. :laugh:

Going for the record
I don't know if there's a record for the longest singing of the national anthem, but Bebe Winans sang it like he was going for the record. At the beginning, the accompaniment kept making me think he was going to break into "O Holy Night." I timed him starting at 8:09:50 and ending at 8:12:40. 3 minutes?! Are you kidding me?

She's got goosebumps
Krista Voda has goosebumps. I've got something similar but different. Eye-rolls.

Great moments in the all-star race
DW blowing up after winning in 1985. What Mike Joy neglected to say is that most people think DW had an oversized engine and he clutched it after taking the checkers.

DW getting spun by Rusty. Incredibly dirty driving by Rusty. After getting spun, DW said, "I hope he chokes on his $200,000."

Last lap of 1992. That last lap was very exciting. No question.

That's it? There are only 3 great moments? Here are some great moments they missed, in no particular order. Except for the first one.

Pass in the Grass in 1987. 'Nuff said.

Earnhardt outdueled Martin in the last 2 laps of the 93 race.

After DW and Earnhardt wrecked in the 95 event, Mike Joy said, "I hate him." I don't know if it had anything to do with it, but Mike Joy was let go after the 95 season from TNN.

Michael Waltrip slipping by Labonte and Earnhardt in '96. In Victory Lane, Michael looked like he thought he was in a dream.

Jeff Gordon running out of gas in '98.

Junior winning as a rookie in '00.

Ryan Newman saving his car after Junior almost turned him around in '02.

Kenseth outdueling Newman, which I think was '03, but I might be wrong.

Best piece
DW just said that the teams were bringing their best piece. But, during the Open, DW said that most of the teams were saving their best cars for next week's 600. Which one is it, DW?

Fast Laps
Larry Mac said that Matt Kenseth just ran his fastest lap of the race. After 4 laps. Settle down there, Larry Mac.

I'm Johnny Sauter
I think that if Johnny Sauter ever got up front and started running with Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, etc., he'd look around, say, "Wait a minute. I'm Johnny Sauter", and would fall back like everybody expects him to.

Gordon's the one to beat?
If they were driving the new car, I think Gordon would be the one to beat. I don't think he's the one to beat in this car.

What's wrong - what's right
This race is showing us everything that's wrong with the old car and everything that's been right so far about the new car. Clean air is everything for these cars, which is the problem we've had for years. Mark it down, the winner of this race is the guy who gets out in clean air.

Matt Kenseth is from where again?
Mike Joy is telling us yet again that Matt Kenseth came from Wisconsin, raced against his crew chief, blah blah blah. Why is Mike telling us this? The only people who are going to be watching anything on SpeedTV are people who already know the story. Mike has forgotten who his audience is, I think.

Clean air
In 3 segments, the guy with the clean air has won each of them. I'm just saying.

I forgot about that guy
Mike Joy just mentioned that Kenny Wallace is in the race. Who knew? Raise your hand if you remembered that Kenny Wallace was in this race.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Kyle Busch wrecks his brother. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :laugh:
That wreck has something for all of us to love. No matter whether you hate Stewart, Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson or somebody else, that wreck brings us all together.

This is important, why?
What difference does it make that Harvick's truck driver won at Charlotte on Friday night? What can you possibly take from that truck race that you don't already know and apply it to tonight's race? It's like applying what you know from winning a foot race to the next day's bicycle race.

It's the air
Mark Martin just ran his fastest lap of the night, but that will all end once he gets into the dirty air behind Johnson.

Yes, it really is the air
Although the Tators said nothing about it, I remain convinced that the all-star race was about who had clean air and who had dirty air. I guess that some drivers like Gordon and Stewart complained about tires, and thus, so did the Tunnelheads last night, but I believe that race was won based on who had clean air.

Best burnout in Nascar
Kevin Harvick - Best Burnout in Nascar

 

For the 2nd year in a row, 3 of the biggest events in racing are all on the same day.

The F1 Monaco Grand Prix is on SpeedTV at 6:30am CDT. I found this great article by Steve Matchett, former engineer at Benetton on the mid-90s and current F1 Tator for SpeedTV.

http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/37526/

Even if you don't like F1 racing, Monaco is a special event. It's highly improbably that Lewis Hamilton would get his first win at Monaco, but he's already done improbable things this year and I think he'll win at Monaco.

The Indy 500 is on ABC and even if it's lost some of its luster over the years, it's still a big event. I've heard Dan Wheldon's name as the pre-race favorite, but I'm going to be contrary and go with Tony Kanaan to win.

Finally, the World 600 is on Sunday night. There is no sure thing in racing, but Jimmie Johnson winning this race in the "old" car is as sure as it gets.

 

Junior signs with MWR

Did you guys hear that Junior signed a deal with Michael Waltrip Racing? When asked why he went with Michael, Junior said, "Michael Waltrip Racing offered one thing that nobody else could offer. Sunday's off."

:smilewinkgrin: