dale earnhardt jr.

So Why Can’t JR Motorsports Move to The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series?

by on January 26, 2012

in nascar, sports

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

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.

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The NASCAR 2012 Shootout at Daytona: The Lineup

by on January 20, 2012

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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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NASCAR 2012 Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway – Day 1

by on January 12, 2012

in nascar, sports

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 Bits & Pieces Perspectives On The Talladega Race This Weekend

by on October 20, 2011

in nascar, sports

NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comThis weekend, we have the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series leagues hitting up Talladega Superspeedway.  Specifically, we’re looking at the Cup Series winding down and who will win the championship.  I have schedules, some thoughts, then point standings and at the bottom, some Talladega-specific stats for the top-12 spots.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

  • Next Race: Good Sam Club 500
  • The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
  • The Date: Sunday, Oct. 23
  • The Time: 2:00 p.m. (ET)
  • TV: ESPN, 1 p.m. (ET)
  • Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
  • Distance: 500 miles (188 laps)

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

  • The Race: Coca Cola 250 Powered by Fred’s
  • The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
  • Date: Saturday, Oct. 22
  • The Time: 4 p.m. (ET)
  • TV: SPEED, 3:30 p.m. (ET)
  • Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
  • Distance: 250.04 miles (94 laps)

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Jimmie Needs to Points Race (Play if Safe)

Coming into the superspeedway, Carl Edwards has a five-point lead over Kevin Harvick coming into Talladega, and Jimmie Johnson‘s mistake that put him into a wall at Charlotte dropped him five spots, down into 8th, and 35 points out of first.  If Talladega strikes at him like it does when those big wrecks happen, we could be writing off Jimmie Johnson’s chances for the NASCAR title for 2011.

Carl Edwards Should Worry

Coming into Talladega, Edwards has the points lead, but this track does not like him.  Looking at Loop Data, this is his worse track, with a driver rating of 67.8, an average finish of 20th.

But that’s how dancing with this track can be.  And it can be ugly to points leaders:

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NASCAR: Kansas In The Books, Edwards Adopts Points Lead from Harvick

by on October 10, 2011

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NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comWith the NASCAR‘s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway in the books, it looked like another points blender event in The Chase, and we’re suddenly starting to see a pattern developing with the top 6 spots in The Chase for the Cup.  And one of those patterns involves the last ten races and a certain blue & silver car team turning it on.

Jimmie Johnson won the Hollywood Casino 400 as he paced the field, while forty-two other cars jockeyed for positions behind the blue & silver Lowe’s Chevy No. 48 car for the entire race.  And Jimmie Johnson winning moved himself 2 more spots up the points standings, putting him in third place, only 4 points out of first.

And after Kansas, there are now only nine teams within one race’s worth of points (43, not counting bonuses) behind the points leader.

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Here’s how it’s looking after Kansas:

1st:  Despite straggling along all day, Carl Edwards managed a 5th place finish and that was good enough to propel him 1 spot up the standings into the points lead.

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With 8 To Go Stewart Looks Strong & Hamlin’s Got Crap Luck [NASCAR]

by on October 2, 2011

in nascar, sports

Two races into NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup.  Can Tony Stewart be called the sleeping dragon which awoke?  Or Denny Hamlin, the little train that couldn’t?

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup 2011One friend I know over at WOMR suggests that like the mythical Phoenix, Tony Stewart has risen from the ashes of his 2011 NASCAR season.  He also thinks that Denny Hamlin is down and done in The Chase.

As far as the Kyle and Kurt, well, he says the leaves are starting to fall off the two Busch’s.

I can’t argue with Leon’s thoughts.  They’re all valid, but as long as any team is within 24 points of the lead, ANYTHING can happen to swap things up.  That for me, is the magic cut off point.

In fact, after race one, the magic cut-off was 48 points behind the lead.  The difference between 1st and last place finishing spots.  But as the contenders progress through The Chase, that number gets a bit smaller each race.  But for anyone outside of 30 points down, I am not holding my breath!

Technically, one has to be within 48 points of the leader to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but realistically, for someone to be 48 points out, they would have to win, get bonus points, and the guy that was 48 points in front of them would have to falter and come in last.  Seriously?

Going into Dover:

1 Tony Stewart 2094 Leader
2 Kevin Harvick 2087 -7
3 Brad Keselowski 2083 -11
4 Carl Edwards 2080 -14
5 Jeff Gordon 2071 -23
6 Kyle Busch 2068 -26
7 Matt Kenseth 2068 -26
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2068 -26
9 Kurt Busch 2066 -28
10 Jimmie Johnson 2065 -29
11 Ryan Newman 2060 -34
12 Denny Hamlin 2028 -66

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NASCAR News From the Week That Was

by on October 1, 2011

in nascar, sports

NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comSo what happened last week that caught my eye in the sport of NASCAR?

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First up, I caught a wiff that Bank of America Charitable Foundation will be giving $1 million to education programs.  This nice deed is connected with their sponsorship of the October race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Any time schools can get money is a nice thing, considering schools seem to take the brunt of budget cuts when money needs to be saved.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Sponsor Swap

Word on the street is that Amp Energy is dripping off the hood of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s hood and will be replaced for 16 races in the 2012 season by Diet Mountain Dew.

When Diet Mountain Dew is on the the hood of the No. 88 Chevy, Amp will be an associate sponsor.

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The NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase Driver Ratings at New Hampshire

by on September 24, 2011

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NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comI don’t know if you heard, but as NASCAR qualifying was charging along, Brian Vickers had the pole, and then, with five cars left to qualify, the rain came.  That’s in this second race of the 10-event final rounds pursuit , the Chase for the Sprint Cup or just called, The Chase!

Juan Montoya had declined to take to the track at that point, with a light drizzle, and Montoya was noted in saying that

“Send out the No. 48, if he’s so brave.”

Talk about nerves being frazzled by weather! I was worried for Vickers, after all their hard work, it might go by the wayside, but then they got qualifying back under way and Ryan Newman ended up snagging the pole.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup 2011Here’s where the Chase drivers sit in the field after qualifying:

Ryan Newman (1st),
Kurt Busch (5th),
Kevin Harvick (6th),
Jeff Gordon (7th),
Kyle Busch (8th),
Jimmie Johnson (10th),
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (12th),
Brad Keselowski (16th),
Tony Stewart (20th),
Carl Edwards (23rd),
Matt Kenseth (27th) and
Denny Hamlin (28th).

(Race Lineup )

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NASCAR’s Chase After Stewart’s Win at Chicagoland

by on September 19, 2011

in nascar, sports

NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comTony Stewart Takes First NASCAR Chase Race on Fuel

Some folk scoff at fuel-mileage races while there has to be something said for them.  Today’s race was a heart-pounder as folks started wondering if Tony Stewart would have enough gas to last the final laps of the rain-delayed Chicagoland NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

But even though Tony Stewart managed his fuel, some others did not.

But first the good news….  behind Tony was Kevin Harvick (with his new-found focus) finishing second and Dale Earnhardt Jr., took his car and put it in 3rd!  Carl Edwards was 4th and Brad Keselowski finished 5th.

The top-15 Finishers:

FIN DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS
1 Tony Stewart Chevy Office Depot / Mobil 1 47/4
2 Kevin Harvick Chevy Budweiser 42/0
3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy Amp Energy / National Guard 41/0
4 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 41/1
5 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 40/1
6 Kurt Busch Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 40/2
7 Clint Bowyer Chevy Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 37/0
8 Ryan Newman Chevy U.S. Army Medicine 37/1
9 Mark Martin Chevy GoDaddy.com 35/0
10 Jimmie Johnson Chevy Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 35/1
11 David Ragan Ford UPS “We Love Logistics” 33/0
12 Kasey Kahne Toyota Red Bull 32/0
13 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 31/0
14 Juan Montoya Chevy Target 30/0
15 Jeff Burton Chevy Caterpillar 29/0

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Questionable Race Tactics Going Into the Chase? [NASCAR]

by on September 17, 2011

in nascar, sports

NASCAR News and opinion from NASCAR BITS & PIECES on Brusimm.comHere’s an interesting bit if tidbits about some dubious game play from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond the other weekend.

It seems that Jeff Gordon is suspicious that there might have been some questionable tactics taking place on-track with the RCR cars near the closing laps of the NASCAR race at Richmond.

The speculation is that as the laps were winding down, Paul Menard‘s spotter was updating him with the track positions of Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick.

With 22 to go Paul Menard was told to go to channel 2 where no one but their team could hear them, and then with 17 to go, he spun, bringing out a caution.  There was speculation that there were on-air questions about whether a caution would be needed and then they went to ch 2, and then the caution.

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