You know what they say, it only takes a few to ruin it for the many.
It seems that after a few incidents with Kyle Busch, NASCAR is pondering the “Boys have at it” stance, and trying to determine where the line should be drawn when it comes to letting the drivers settle things amongst themselves.
It wasn’t just Kyle Busch, but also incidents with Brian Vickers “fencing” Tony Stewart onto a pile of tires at Infineon an then again, Vickers raging vendetta against Matt Kenseth at Martinsville. (If you remember that race, that was a pretty piss-poor move on Vickers part… blatant and arrogant.)
-
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton feels that generally speaking, the self-policing policy is working. It would only be the intent of a few that are making headlines from the sport.
He also pointed out that he’s also aware of differences like retaliations at a small track vs a high-speed track, and takes everything into consideration.
-
At one point, drivers weren’t sure where the line lay, as far as having gone too far with their need for retaliation.
Common sense says one thing, but in the height of competition, it can become an entirely different beast.
[click to continue reading…]
While balancing out pros and cons for keeping KHI afloat, Kevin Harvick had one tipping scale reason to NOT having kept the NASCAR Truck Series team going, it would seem, as Kevin put it,
“When your wife tells you she’s not starting a family unless you get out of the race team business, that’s a pretty big factor in things that are going on.”
No pressure there!
But all joking aside, it was a matter of evolving priorities and timing with other events going on around the NASCAR race industry across the different series that helped Kevin pull the plug on KHI.
So much for all the aspirating rumors!
[click to continue reading…]
Did you know that at one point Dale Earnhardt Jr. was thinking about moving his JR Motorsports operation into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but believe it or not, he cannot do that while he’s driving for Hendricks Motorsports, of all things!
In a (weird) set of rules that (I think) should really be non-exclusive to each other, NASCAR has inadvertently put the ix-nay on Dale Earnhardt Jr. moving into the Sprint Cup Series.
Mike Helton made the point that
“if a driver owns a team but drives for another organization, then the total number of cars for both organizations counts toward the four-team cap.”
Which to me, initially makes absolutely no sense in how the Hendricks Motorsports team cap should affect JR Motorsports desire to field a Sprint Cup Series team.
[click to continue reading…]
Last year, the entertainment product that NASCAR produced was some of the best racing I’ve seen, across all three series, in a long time. Many races were decided by mere seconds as contenders traded paint and hand gestures throughout the season. And in the end, we saw one of the closest points finishes, well, technically, the closest points race, for the championship in the history of the sport, seeing as how it ended in a tie! That tie was thanks in part to the new points system NASCAR instituted last year and Tony Stewart‘s team.
-
When we watch any entertainment venue, it’s usually (for me) the first and last impressions that stick with me. Or, in NASCAR terms, the starts, the restarts and the finishes generate a lot of drama and excitement for me because that’s when the poop can potentially hit the fan.
And NASCAR is cursed with the long-lasting middle section of every race… the time-period that fans call snoozers, nap-time, break-time, do the laundry time, etc.. It’s a little bit different when you’re at the track but on TV, this is the dark period of any race.
But in the end, when two cars are rubbing fenders or Kyle Busch wrecks someone or Kurt Busch (Yes, they’re related: brothers) flips off the world and degrades a veteran ESPN reporter, well, those are the moments that generate the buzz. Those are the moments that send the fans to work on Monday, saying, wow, did you see that?!
[click to continue reading…]
Nothing says class like how the San Francisco 49ers lost to the NY Giants, and seemingly to a tee, the team showed solidarity and support to Kyle Williams, who has one heck of a burden to bear.
Williams flubbed a return in overtime (his second flub of the game) which got NY within range for a field goal. (Williams’ first flub ended in a NY touchdown also.) My first impressions say that his two floundered moves gave it to New York, and that’s a shame. But it is a team sport, and that’s that. NY Giants are moving on to play the New England Patriots in the 2012 Super Bowl.
At least I thought that was it. Then the demonstrative behavior started, which to me, seemed rather disappointing.
While the team was backing him up and told Williams to keep his head high, the media was reporting on TV that coach Jim Harbaugh was evidently upset enough and was declining TV interviews immediately after the game. I found that disappointing. His would have been the first best example of losing gracefully. Whether he later chatted with the media, I’m not sure.
But then it seems, Twitter erupted with death threats directed at Kyle Williams.
Seriously folks… death threats? Because one man flubbed a few times and seemingly gave the game away all by himself?
[click to continue reading…]
The newest team member for NASCAR’s Miss Sprint Cup publicity awareness team is Kristen Beat, who is joining the squad for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
She hails from El Cajon, CA and once held the title of Miss San Diego. She has a Communications degree from the University of San Diego, and works within the broadcasting industry. Kristen was the youngest-ever credentialed on-air reporter for the X-Games.
She grew up racing motocross and spends what idle time she has by surfing, working out and making healthy food.
[click to continue reading…]
Below are some random NASCAR news bites about David Reutimann, David Ragan, Johnny Benson, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, and a quickie on Robby Gordon’s Dakar Rally run!
After getting ousted by Michael Waltrip Racing, David Reutimann landed on his feet, so to speak, and landed a ride with Tommy Baldwin Racing, joining Dave Blaney in that Sprint Cup stable.
-
David Ragan was another driver that landed on his feet after being ousted by Roush Fenway Racing. Ragan will be driving for Front Row Motorsports for 2012. He’ll now be the teammate to David Gilliland.
Not his best shot at fame and glory, w/ no disrespect to the team, but I think we’ll be seeing his name every weekend anyway.
Bob Jenkins owns the team.
-
Last time I heard, though Johnny Benson was plotting a return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2012, it appeared as if the deals he was hoping for fell through, and he will not be competing in the 2012 season.
-
[click to continue reading…]
I thought I”d pull together some NASCAR bits and pieces of news and toss them out there and see where they land… maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. (So I’ll count those items as reminders and apologize if you already knew these news bites!) Check it out…
-
Kyle Petty put up is Isle of Palms, South Carolina house for sale. It’s a 4,100 sf residence and he’s listing it for $4.5M. You should check out how the other side was living! (And all this time I was feeling bad for the non A-lister drivers!)
[WCNC: Kyle Petty's $4.5M SC home for sale]
=
We all know (I presume) that Aric Almirola is taking over the no. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports ride from A.J. Allmendinger.
A.J. Allmendinger is piloting the No. 22 car that was hastily evacuated by one Mr. Kurt Busch… because Busch apparently wants to have more fun than making millions.
=
[click to continue reading…]
The TV show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan will be visiting Daytona International Speedway on February 17-18 to film a NASCAR-centric episode. And one lucky dog-owning NASCAR fan from the Daytona region could find themselves showcased in the episode alongside two NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers.
Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan will be filming an episode focused on NASCAR and will include Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick for the first segments, and a fan for the third segment.
Kevin Harvick and his wife DeLana will be featured with their Chihuahua, Little One (LO), and Greg Biffle will select animals in need through his charity, the Greg Biffle Foundation.
How You Can Be On The Show:
[click to continue reading…]
Johnny Weir Is Coming Back
Johnny Weir Announced on Jan 19th that he is returning to the world of competitive ice skating, with his eye on the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and the chance to get on his third Olympic ice skating team.
But as IceNetwork put it,
“For Weir to take part in the 2013 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he would have to either compete in the regional and sectional championships or receive a bye as a result of skating in an international event, or some combination of the two. His inclusion in the Grand Prix Series can only be as a host country selection.”
-
As a side note, Weir got married on New Year’s Eve to Victor Voronov.
I wonder if he has himself an uphill battle or if he’ll be once again accepted readily into the sport? He has the potential… it will be interesting to see him go at it!
[IceNetwork: Weir Returning to Competition]
[click to continue reading…]
