About 10 days ago i stated that KyB was my lock for Driver Of The Year so far. Well it turns out that this prognostication was made with pinpoint accuracy. It was announced last Tuesday that Rowdy did indeed win the 1st Quarter driver of the year award. That being said it was one of many reasons why KyB is all over the news and blogs this week. We all remember his infamous spin out of dale Jr with 4 to go in Richmond. His post race  remarks were just as memorable, and quite hilarious. Busch said that he saw the crowd giving him the #1 sign (referring to the middle digits the fans were waiving at him after said nudging of Jr.) even though he was in second place at the time. He then went on to say that the crowd must have indulged in one too Many of Dale Jr's Budweisers, or maybe they were just too Amped up. These references were clever puns at Jr's endorsements. Thats the way to make light of Jr Nation loathing you, make fun of it. Busch said that he was not thinking about the fact that Jr has not won in 2 years, it is not his job to help a fan favorite win, it is his job to win it himself. Right on Kyle! I do however think it was Bushleague (no pun intended) for Denny Hamlin to intentionally cause a caution to help out his teammate who was running second at the time. This caution allowed Busch to restart on the back bumper of the 88 leading to the derailing of the Jr victory train.

Busch follows this controversial week with an impressive win at Darlington. I gotta hand it to the kid, and yes he is one of the few drivers that i can officially call kid, he drives the wheels of the car every week. He must have hit the wall at least 6 times on Saturday night, but still drove right to victory lane following some burnouts of course!

Kyle Busch 1st quarter driver of the year! we can only assume that things would have to go terribly wrong for him to not be holding the award over his head come November..

Michael Clark (emsea) 

Posted by Michael Clark at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, actually, you can, but the season's longest ARCA Re/Max Series race (six sets of tires allowed) does last for a good long while. And it was nice to see the track at Rockingham, NC (The Rock, get it?) open for business again.

So congratulations to rookie Joey Logano who not only looked good for the whole thing, but managed to keep his cool after pitting with only 10 laps left. Maybe we'll see him on the DOTY podium one of these days.

In fact, another driver (warning: segue coming up) who won his first ARCA Re/Max Series race—at Nashville—was Q1 Driver of the Year winner Kyle Busch. It says it on his site; it must be true. Congratulations, Kyle. Keep up the good work!

And on a final note, Full Throttle (a Coca-Cola brand) is taking over sponsorship of the National Hot Rod Association's premier professional drag racing series. It will be the energy drink line's first major sports marketing deal. Full Throttle will take over the sponsorship from Powerade (another Coke brand) in 2009. As part of the deal, Coke will extend its NHRA partnership through 2013.

And there you have it. All the news that fits in my head.

Oh, and Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there. And to all you fathers, sons and daughters, it's on Sunday and you're welcome for reminding you. Try to get something nicer than vacuum filters this year, please.

Posted by Adam Kraemer at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kyle Busch crushed the competition on the track and in the ballots as he won 1st quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2008.

Busch won a total seven races in NASCAR’s top-three series, Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series.

The driver of Joe Gibbs Racing’s #18 M & M’s Toyota Camry was a little surprised upon hearing of his media accolade. "To be honest, I don't know what to say,” Busch said. “Completely unexpected. We've just been going out and driving as hard as we can every week and really having alot of fun doing it. We go out and race for wins and race for trophies, but to also get this kind of recognition for what we've been doing is pretty special."

Although he leads in the Cup standings with a second place this past weekend in Richmond International Raceway, voting only considered results through the previous event at Talladega Speedway.
Busch, who just turned 23, has two Cup wins (Atlanta and Talladega) plus one pole, three victories in the Nationwide Series, and two Truck wins.
Barry Schmoyer, President of the Driver of the Year Foundation, said “I can’t remember when a driver has been so successful across the board in three series simultaneously.”

In the voting Busch took 14 first-place ballots, and none lower than a third
place totaling 142 points. Cup rival Roush/Fenway driver Carl Edwards’ three wins earned him one first-place vote and a total of 72 points.

Danica Patrick, who drives for Andretti Green Racing, whose record-setting first win in top level IndyCar Series for a woman, garnered two first place votes and totaled 51 points in third place.

Ashley Force, daughter of the 1996 DRIVER OF THE YEAR beat her famous father, John Force last week in Atlanta in NHRA’s funny car division was fourth in the voting with 49 points.

A total of 17 drivers scored points in the first quarter voting, including fifth place Jason Meyers, in the World of Outlaws who won three of the first six races.

In its’ 42nd year, the DRIVER OF THE YEAR title is unique. A panel of 17 leading journalists from across the U.S. and a fan vote on Speedtv.com determine the winner. In quarterly voting, points are awarded on a declining 9, 6, 4,3,2,1 basis. Gordon will receive a trophy and a Tissot wristwatch to be presented at a later date.

Posted by Driver Of The Year Admin at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Kyle Busch is looking like he was born with a steering wheel in his hand. Coming back from a lap down last week at Talladega for the win. The most memorable moment of the race was in the waning laps of the race when Kyle went "slideways" into Jamie McMurrey, almost ending both their days early. Busch was aided by the dynamics of that magical wing on the back of his #18 Toyota. Busch cruised to victory after race favorite and former Driver of the year award recipient Tony Stewart's race day was ended in metal bending fashion.

How about Juan Pablo Montoya and the 42 team taking it up a notch on the big restrictor plate track, with a second place finish!! way to go JP. I am sure this is the way it was supposed to be when you made the switch from open wheel racing. It took a year or so for him to get his bearings, now JP is looking confident in his stock car. This is bad news for the rest of the field, if Montoya can drive this good on a consistent basis. We all know what he can do on the road courses, and he has shown some signs of life on the short tracks as well, add restrictor plate dominance and we will have a championship caliber team...

I am sitting here watching the pre-race for Richmond on speed channel and am psyched up for the Saturday night race!
"hey uh huh one more Saturday night!"- bob weir

Michael Clark (emsea)

Posted by Michael Clark at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last Friday i made a bold prediction from the north woods of Roscoe NY, (I was away all weekend on tour with one of my bands, They Might Be Giants) that Juan Pablo Montoya would win the Mexico City race on Sunday. Little did i know he was not even racing in the nationwide series race. So of course he did not win as predicted. So before i get bombarded with comments about this i thought i would ridicule myself, and be the first to draw blood.

In racing news Kyle Busch won the road race south of the border in Mexico City on Sunday. Kyle is now trying to decide weather he should stay all in. He is poised for a title run in the Nationwide Series, but is pondering weather or not to race the full schedule. If he does race he will most likely win the title.
Kyle is in third (-66) in the NWS, and is in second place (-80) in the Sprint cup standings. Oh and by the way he is leading the Craftsman Truck series by 35 points. This kid is a monster! I would love to see him win the triple crown. Don't quote me on this but i believe that has never been done before. And if it has, no worries i am getting used to the taste of my foot!!

Michael Clark (emsea)

Posted by Michael Clark at 4:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I know everyone was thinking that with 50 laps to go, Jr. and the 88 team were finally going to make it back to victory lane. I know I was. While watching the race at one of my favorite watering holes, my mind could not help but to think that he was poised for the win. Then just as I was leaving the bar I saw mark martin and the 8 (oh sweet irony!) pass the 88 for the lead. I thought to myself "no big deal we got 50 to go, its not over yet". However by the time I got home, a 5-minute walk, the 88 was in like 12th place. Apparently I missed all the pit strategy drama. The leaders all came in to play it safe while others opted to go for it. The gamble. The 48 team loves to roll the dice. Chad Knaus and JJ are quite fortunate while rolling the die; very rarely do the laughing bones read snake eyes for them. So yet again the 48 is successful in the fuel mileage game. That’s what I like about them, they are not afraid to go for it. Way too often Tony Eury Jr. and crew play it safe. Which is why they are 3rd in the standings at the quarter season mark, but it is also why they have not won a points race in 2 years. The big picture is definitely what it is all about, but come on boys, lets go for the gold, let it fly, roll the dice, grow a pair, or any other cliché you can think of that translates to taking a chance.  Not to worry Jr. nation, Talladega is right around the corner. We can only hope the magic of the draft can propel Little E back to glory!

This weekend the Sprint boys are off, which means all eyes are on the Nationwide series in Mexico City. I am going out on a limb here and gonna say Juan Pablo and the 42 team are a favorite. Stock car fans were given there first taste of what J.P. is all about last year south of the border. So the 42 will win this weekend, even if he has to wreck his own teammate to do so..

Michael Clark (emsea)

Posted by Michael Clark at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So another Carl Edwards victory, followed by another back flip. When will it stop? I am setting the over/under at 7 back flips, and i am taking the over. I am beginning to feel that the only way we will see an end to this is if Mr. Edwards suffers an ankle sprain on a back flip gone bad. That might be the only way Carl can be stopped. He certainly is not going to get stopped on the track, especially at these cookie cutter tracks, or the 2 mile ovals, or the restrictor plate tracks. Crazy Carl is looking as good as a loaf of wonder bread to an Atkins dieter. The man just loves driving, and driving is his job, and well lets face it he is pretty good at his job. The 99 is -184 in the standings, sitting in 9th place. Imagine if he was not docked that 100 spot earlier in the season, he would be in 4th place, and poised for an intransigent run at the title. Not to say that his title hopes are out of reach, i am just playing the what if game here. You may remember i called out Carl in week 1, stating that i can not root for anything that has to do with  Fenway Park, and i am now eating crow with egg on my face. I feel it is time for a new approach, what if i jump on the 99 bandwagon? Will that then start a repugnant chain of events filled with DNF's and blown motors? Maybe, then again maybe not. I chose Carl to win in my fantasy racing league last week and next thing you know he is back flipping in Texas. I would like to believe that Carl's win had little to do with his driving skills, and a whole lot to do with my prognostication.

Michael Clark (emsea)  

Posted by Michael Clark at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

... Michael Waltrip on last night's "This Week in NASCAR" on Speed TV.

After watching the now legendary clip of Michael McDowell barrel-rolling for longer than my last goldfish lived, Steve Byrnes answered a viewer question about some yellow reflective paint visible on the bottom of the car as it flipped.

Waltrip then mentioned that one of the owners had mused that maybe he should start putting advertising on the bottom of his cars. Waltrip's comment (I'm paraphrasing): "I told him no one would ever get into that car." Good call.

Posted by Adam Kraemer at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So it was a nice long break from the norm for the last few weeks, but i was glad to see the boys get back to racing. Martinsville, as always, was a great race. Congrats to Jamie McMurray on is 8th place finish, he needed a good finish to avoid the void. He is also racing for a spot next year in the Roush Fenway stable. He better bring his A game if he wants to stay in his current ride, because i can pretty safely say that Kenseth, Biffle, And Edwards will be back next year. This leaves Jamie in direct competition with David Regan for that 4th ride. Jamie is now in 30th in the points standings so he can breath a little easier during his qualifying run this week at Texas.

Denny Hamlin is showing us all that he can win in other states besides Pennsylvania. Denny was not the car to beat on sunday, but led the one lap that matters the most.

The 48 is looking like they are back on track and in championship form. JJ is now 12th in the standings, expect him to move up from there.

So i am going out on a limb here and am calling for the 88 team to find their way back to victory lane. Jr has looked solid all year and is poised for a great starting position in the chase, but you know he just wants that win so bad. Dale is a smart dude and keeps his sights on the big picture, his patience pays off this weekend.

I would also like to wish Goodyear good luck this weekend. The tire manufacturer is on the hot seat ever since the Atlanta race, where Tony Stewart publicly pimp smacked them in his post race interview.
"Its all about the tires"

Michael Clark (emsea)

Posted by Michael Clark at 2:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The number two, apparently, is not nice to Matt Kenseth when it comes to Texas (see article at NASCAR.com). This upcoming weekend's race theoretically could see his fourth second-place finish in his last five starts at the track. So if you're raising a glass to him, make it a double.

That said, congratulations to Denny Hamlin for his win at Martinsville this past weekend. I only got to see about an hour of the race, but reports say he really used his strategy well.

I did, however, get to see - get this - a MotoGP race in which numbers one and two (Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli), who had been seriously leading most of the race, got into each other on the last lap, slid off the track, and let Mika Kallio win. That's gotta hurt. (You can read about it here, but mind the expletives.)

And, of course, I can't let you go without some more business news:

1) Coca-Cola has become an IndyCar Series sponsor through 2010. “We’ve been involved in the Indianapolis 500 and the Indianapolis Speedway. This just involves us with the entire series, not just the one race,” Coca-Cola spokeswoman Susan Stribling said. (That's here.)

2) This is big: Richard Childress Racing will expand to four cars next season with General Mills as sponsor, a partnership that leaves Petty Enterprises searching for financial backing for its famed No. 43 for just the second time since 1972, according to the AP. For those of you worried, however, Petty's pretty sure Bobby Labonte's gonna stay with them, though his contract is up this year, too. It should also be noted that all three of Childress' drivers are currently in the top 12. I didn't see you note it... That's better.

And that's all from me.

Posted by Adam Kraemer at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)