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NASCAR Should Avoid Path Of IRL

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I was browsing my usual NASCAR news sources today and noticed something that made me do a double-take. The headline read 'NASCAR testing corn-based fuel, might use by 2011 season' and I had a flash of rage for a minute and had to re-read the story. The piece (it's short) can be found here courtesy of the outstanding Dustin Long. Again, as I've said, I don't like to mix the political side of me with the racing side but there is precedent and it's going to be needed again, so here goes.

NASCAR has no business bowing to the leftist environmental lobby the way the IRL did. The transition was much easier with the IRL since they used methanol instead of ethanol, but corn-based ethanol is probably the worst 'green' fuel to use because of the way it damages farm land, water tables, and lots of other things I've written about in great detail. In fact, if this were 2007, NASCAR would be commended for thinking about switching to ethanol because its negative effects were not well-known at the time. Yet now, the movement has been in the opposite direction of corn ethanol.

Brian France is all too comfortable getting cozy with leftist interest groups. The whole ordeal in the middle of the decade with Jesse Jackson should confirm that. But this is much too dangerous and would have too much of an effect for years to come if it happens. I cannot sit idly by and let NASCAR fall into the leftist environmental lobby's clutches without saying nothing.

Consider this post as the kickoff of "NASCAR Fans Against Ethanol" as a way to show NASCAR that we do not want any part of their desire to appease interest groups that do not have the sport's best interests at heart.

What I’m Thankful For In NASCAR

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:51:00 +0000

- I'm thankful for double-file restarts saving the competitiveness from becoming worse than Formula One. More than anything else, they kept me from falling asleep during races... which happened more than once at the beginning of the season.

- I'm thankful I'm seeing history made in the form of Jimmie Johnson, despite my not caring for Hendrick Motorsports, Chad Knaus, or anything Lowes-related.

- I'm thankful for Kyle Busch being Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya being Juan Montoya and not hiding their personalities. Kyle scared us for a bit at Bristol, but it didn't take.

- I'm thankful for Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski trying to recapture the spirit of 1979 in a Daytona infield thanks to their rivalry in the Nationwide Series. While I'm puzzled at why people defend Hamlin, it made Nationwide races exciting and gave people something to talk about.

- I'm thankful Mark Martin returned to race full-time.

- I'm thankful Michael Waltrip finally took my advice and retired from full-time competition.

- I'm thankful fans still showed up to the track this year despite all the negative news. Thank you, fans. You're the reason why we can still talk, watch, and write about this sport.

Kyle Busch Getting New CC For 2010

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:50:00 +0000

Actually, the last few races of 2009 as well.

Dave Rogers, from the dominant JGR Nationwide team, will take over as the new Crew Chief for Kyle starting at Texas. Hey, as I've said before, if there's anyone thats earned a promotion it has to be this guy. He propelled the #20 to the Nationwide Owner's Points title last season, a feat that got surprisingly little attention. Rogers has worked with guys like Kyle, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano and has won with all of them. Kyle will get back to his winning ways in Cup soon.

NASCAR Changes Part 2 – Points System

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:33:00 +0000

Previously, I decided to change the format of the Chase. Now I'm going to tackle the tricky world of points and points racing.

The biggest complaint about the points - winning doesn't pay enough - will be taken care of with this system. Some favor awarding the winner as inordinate amount of points, but that's not feasible or necessary. However, there are fair points to make: winning deserves a nice bonus.

Other changes I think that need to happen are for the top 5, top 10, and top 20 to be awarded a better percentage of points., top 5, top 10, top 20 receive higher points – 35th through 43rd receive same amount of points, something that's been a popular position to take. It's now reality.

Another complaint as the years have gone on has been the devaluing of qualifying. Back in the old days, qualifying was important. Qualifying was fun. Guys wanted to be the one that sat on the pole and led the field to green. Honest ask yourself, is qualifying as important as it used to be? The answer, of course, is no. That's going to change, because the polesitter will now earn an extra 5 points. Come Chase-time, that's going to be big. Also, I'm keeping the 5 points for leading and leading the most laps in place.

To sum up, I think these changes will be good for the points because you can't rely on the same thing for decades upon end. They need to be updated with the times. Now, you can win the pole, lead the most laps, win the race, and take home 215 points while second place takes home 180 if they don't lead a lap.

Finish Points

Pos. Current TCS proposal

1st - 185 - 200

2nd - 170 - 180

3rd - 165 - 170

4th - 160 - 160

5th - 155 - 150

6th - 150 - 145

7th - 146 - 140

8th - 142 - 135

9th - 138 - 130

10th - 134 - 125

11th - 130 - 121

12th - 127 - 117

13th - 124 - 113

14th - 121 - 109

15th - 118 - 105

16th - 115 - 102

17th - 112 - 99

18th - 109 - 96

19th - 106 - 93

20th - 103 - 90

21st - 100 - 87

22nd - 97 - 84

23rd - 94 - 81

24th - 91 - 78

25th - 88 - 75

26th - 85 - 72

27th - 82 - 69

28th - 79 - 66

29th - 76 - 63

30th - 73 - 60

31st - 70 - 57

32nd - 67 - 54

33rd - 64 - 51

34th - 61 - 48

35th - 58 - 45

36th - 55 - 45

37th - 52 - 45

38th - 49 - 45

39th - 46 - 45

40th - 43 - 45

41st - 40 - 45

42nd - 37 - 45

43rd - 34 - 45

Standardized Start Times A Win For Fans

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:14:00 +0000

Check out my latest post at On Pit Row. Related posts:

Motorsports Authentics On Verge Of Bankruptcy

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Story from Reuters.

I guess when you make crappy products, this sort of thing will happen. In all seriousness though, I remember saying years ago that this was a bad idea when you a complete standardization of racing apparel and diecasts. The market worked better when there were competing companies that actually made items worth buying. Maybe it's because I stopped collecting, but the diecast business doesn't seem to be as booming as it was. I haven't bought a new racing hat in over a year because the older ones I have are better. I think it's time to declare MA a failure. My fear was oversaturation of a few certain drivers, and that's what happened. There really are fans of drivers other than the top 5 most marketable and when those fans can't find anything to buy to support their drivers, they go away. Add to that less people watching and paying attention to NASCAR now, this really shouldn't surprise anyone.

What’d I Tell Ya

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:09:00 +0000

It's still too early to crown a champion. Tony Stewart stormed back into title contention with a win at Kansas, Juan Pablo Montoya made another impressive statement, and the 5/48 show got a little bigger as they proved that, yes, they're human. On no... Related posts:

Everybody, Overreact Right Now!

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:44:00 +0000

Jimmie Johnson dominated Dover yesterday to record his 4th win of the year and move 10 points behind Mark Martin in the championship. However, is this really the end of the championship? I think not, there are 8 races left. A lot of media types have already written their 'fourpeat' stories because Johnson won yesterday. The same way Martin won at Loudon and everyone proclaimed he was the man to beat. Things changed in one week? Really? I must have missed the part where the last 8 races of the year were a foregone conclusion. Johnson dominated yesterday, yes. He also won the first race at Dover so it's not like he has been an also-ran there and magically found something. That would be Martin's win at Loudon. Johnson is a five-time winner at Dover.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's actually talk about this championship a little. The way I see it, there are only 8 guys that have a chance now. Not by margin, but by place. I'm only including 8th-place Jeff Gordon because he is who he is. Realistically, the only guys that can run well enough in the final stretch of the year to take it all are Martin, Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart. I was worried about Smoke since he wrapped up a spot so early and rode around for a month, but they showed they're still going to be a factor. Busch and Montoya have shown they can go toe-to-toe with anyone. If I had to give an edge I'd give it to Montoya, who is riding a huge wave of confidence and the #42 team looks the best they have all year. Not dissimilar to the way Busch's #97 team looked in the first Chase in 2004. Next up are 3 speedway races in a row - Kansas, California, and Charlotte. These races will decide who still has a chance this year. Right now you'd have to look as those same 5 guys mentioned before as the ones to watch at those races. After Charlotte, we'll know who the real contenders are.

The (Real) Arrival of Juan Pablo Montoya

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Consider me on the bandwagon that thinks Juan Pablo Montoya could be champion this year. It's been fun this year and really since the summer, when JPM's consistency became better and better. The way the team was racking points and running in the top 10 showed that they had a plan. This team has to be considered as much of a surprise as anyone. A lot of media (myself included) didn't think EGR would be good. If anyone, I figured it would be Truex in this position. Not the case and I think that's been a good thing.

Montoya's season really arrived when he dominated the Brickyard this year. Despite not getting the win, he showed that he could - and would soon. That hasn't been accomplished yet but consider me surprised if it doesn't during the Chase. Another good thing I like is that this team hasn't peaked yet. They could indeed be peaking now. How improbable is that - a team made up of an absentee owner and an owner that's only around when his other teams have an off weekend, a team that combined fielded three times as many teams a season ago, sponsorship issues, rated below many other teams on their manufacturer pecking order, and they could celebrate in Homestead as the 2009 Sprint Cup Champions.

NASCAR Changes Part 1 – Chase Format

admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:16:00 +0000

I'm advocating a return to the Chase format as it stood in the first few years. The Chase for the Cup should only include 10 drivers. In years past, of course, it also included anyone within a certain amount of points of the leader after Richmond. I always that idea was faulty as well. I still dislike the idea of 12 drivers in the Chase because I think that's still too many. For me, being worthy of being a champion should be a smaller pool than what we have. With that in mind, here's what I'm proposing:

Go to 10-race, 10-driver format

- Re-seeding reverts back to tiered standings plus race win bonuses

1. 5050 points + 10 points per win

2. 5040 points + 10 points per win

3. 5030 points + 10 points per win

4. 5020 points + 10 points per win

5. 5010 points + 10 points per win

6. 5000 points + 10 points per win

7. 4990 points + 10 points per win

8. 4980 points + 10 points per win

9. 4970 points + 10 points per win

10. 4960 points + 10 points per win

That formula then produces the points standings going into the first race of the Chase.

I thought I would incorporate win bonuses in order to still provide an emphasis for winning during the 26 races before the Chase. Tell me the battle for 10th in any year wouldn't be less intense than a battle for 12th. I think 10 is the best round number in these matters. The Chase will be more prestigious enacting this change.

Coming next in this series, a revamped points system.