carl edwards

Kyle Busch at Infineon in 2011You 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.)

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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.

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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.

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Tony Stewart 2011 NASCAR Champion

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.

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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?!

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I was doing a little research the other day and something caught my eye that led me to think that maybe Terra Nova is getting canceled.  That, and by virtue of some of that same research, I learned a little bit about a new HBO series called To Appomattox.

Stephen Lang and Jason O'Mara in Terra Nova

"Stephen, is that our new show over there? I don't know, let's go look Jason!"

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The last I saw, the jury is still out on whether Fox’s Terra Nova, the sci-fi series with Steven Spielberg‘s name attached, is going to get a second season or not.

Fox has hem-hawed about renewals for Terra Nova, House & Fringe. But a Fox exec noted that Terra Novawas hunting for itself creatively through the season.” and reports say that the show didn’t meet audience expectations, with its TV ratings putting it outside the coveted range of shows for the network.

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Terra Nova first had a very long production delay because of some creative issues with the production effects, or so they said.  And then the show started off incredibly predictable and thus not that engaging.  Yet as the show developed, so too did the story and I was watching on Twitter where it did start to engage some fans.  But the engagement may have taken too long to take hold!

And another reason we haven’t heard about any renewal is that I think Fox is waiting to see who Alcatraz and Touch will do.  If these two shows become ratings hits, I think Terra Nova is doomed.

But then again, there’s other writing on the wall that isn’t being spoken of on other websites…

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I think Terra Nova Is Getting Canceled!

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NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.com

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…

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Kyle Petty at Texas Motor Speedway - Day 4Kyle 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]

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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.

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NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comThe upcoming NASCAR 2012 Daytona Shootout will be the 34th time it runs.  It’s been through a rule change here and there, so the field has grown a bit…

The Shootout launches NASCAR‘s Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway and is taking place on Saturday, Feb 18th, 2012.

NASCAR drivers qualified for the Shootout (I have such an urge to type Budweiser in front of that…) by the following qualifications:

  • The highest ranked 25 competitors in 2011 NSCS driver points
  • Previous winners at Daytona, including the Daytona 500, Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, and Shootout events

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With that in mind, here is the field for the 2012 Shootout at Daytona:

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54th Annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race

Softer springs, smaller spoilers, smaller radiators, new fuel system and a no-talk rule are all the new rage in NASCAR for this 2012 season…  is everyone ready for some racin’?  I know I sure am…  NASCAR has always been good to me, and the folks within the industry are just awesome to deal with, so bring it ON!

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With the Daytona 500 only 45 days away, well, one of the longest sportings seasons is about to get back underway, and it started with PreSeason Thunder as the teams got to get out on the track and test the new scenarios they’ll be up against when the 2012 NASCAR season commences once again.

Jeff Gordon paced the morning pack today in practice hitting a lap speed of 192.773 as everyone got on-track and practiced their solo and two-car runs, to see how things are going to shake out.

Daytona Preseason Thunder - Day 1 - Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M's Toyota

Kyle Busch, with Joey Logano tailing him, paced the afternoon pack with a 202.402 speed.

And not to mention, how the new fuel injected systems are going to work for the gang.

As teams hit up the track, this is the race, the Super Bowl of NASCAR.  Sure, it’s the first race of the season, but it’s a storied track and many important events have taken place here, in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr during Daytona Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway on January 12, 2012

Coming into today, everyone was looking to get a feel for the smaller spoiler, smaller radiator & larger restrictor plate!  And I presume, they were also possibly playing around with the new radio rule, which is no more chatter between drivers in a race.

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NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comWith NASCAR looking to buy back its digital rights, it looks like NASCAR will be in complete control of itself, come 2013 that is.  That, and if they can afford what ever price Turner wants.

But at least, as I’m guessing, NASCAR will probably be able to improve on digitally sharing their content with the users in different formats, ie: letting Sirius stream to the internet for subscribers and the likes.  I hope.

But I will miss Race Buddy.  That’s an awesome accompaniment to the telecast.

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Aric Almirola News

Aric AlmirolaAric Almirola will be in the No. 43 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) for the 2012 season.

This looks like a great opportunity for both entities to shine.

And for me, it’s an interesting development because I’ve always said from day one, that Almirola, from certain angles, looks like a young Richard Petty.

{RPM Press}

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NASCARThe 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season broke a few records, and it was fun to watch.  On top of that, the local or regional NASCAR series have a new points structure.  Check it out below!

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2012 Record Breaking NASCAR Season

Did you know that the 2011 NASCAR season was the most competitive in the history of the sport?  Yep, check out these stats…

First up, the average lead lead changes and leaders per race records were broken.

There were 27.1 lead changes per race in 2011 and an average of 12.8 leaders per race.

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If you’re counting, there were 131,989 total green flag passes (an average of 3,666 per race), which is a series-high since NASCAR began tabulating passing numbers in 2005. (And 118 of them were Tony Stewart in that last race at Homestead!)

A record 23 races featured a Margin of Victory of under one second.

Five new drivers found themselves added to the list of first-time winners.

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2011 Homestead NASCAR Sprint Cup Tony Stewart Winning Finish

The battle for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship was a battle of the ages.  This race brought the championship down to the last lap, and I’m not just saying that.

NASCAR‘s Ford 400 ended up averaging 6.8 million viewers, netting the broadcast a 4.6 rating. This broke ESPN’s previous record from it’s 2008 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.  These numbers were a 21% increase from last year… but then again, NASCAR fans were a bit tired of Jimmie Johnson always winning.

Then again, you can also see the writing on the wall long before any race finishes, who will clinche the Sprint Cup Championship.

But this year was different than most.

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Most years the top two contenders usually are looking at a mix of different finish potentials to see how they would clinch the trophy title.  But this year, with the new points system put into play by NASCAR, this race came down to those last laps.

Tony Stewart had to win the race to beat Carl Edwards.  But that didn’t seem doable.  Stewart’s track record for Homestead was mediocre, at best, compared to Edwards’ own statistical performance at the track.

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2011 Homestead NASCAR Sprint Cup Tony Stewart Winning Finish

Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR fans were witness to the closing of one of the most incredible season-ending races I’ve ever seen from the sport.  The first and second points contenders were facing off, in the 1st and 2nd spots racing for the checkers.

Going into Homestead, Carl Edwards led Tony Stewart by 3 points.  There were just a few limited options for how Tony Stewart could possibly win the championship.  One of them was winning the race.

All stats pointed to Carl winning.  All the banter from the two during the previous week was entertaining banter, with Tony seeming pretty relaxed while Carl kept dropping notes of confidence.  And both drivers put on such an air of calm confidence, it was crazy!

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2011 Homestead Sunday Tony Stewart Crew

In the end, Tony Stewart won the Ford 400, against all odds, grill holes and predictive statistics.  Even during the weekend, Tony’s practice speeds and qualifying effort all seemed to point to a lackluster performance ability.

But was it a ruse?  I wouldn’t be surprised if we later hear they were playing mind games all weekend.

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