July 2008 Archives

Do not be confused by what took place on Sunday in Indy, that was a points race. On arguably the most historic track in racing, NASCAR held 16 ten lap sprints, and now they are the ones with their foot in their mouth. Goodyear was mostly to blame here showing up with a compound that could not even last a fuel window. NASCAR did what they could to ensure the safety of its drivers, but in doing so really pissed off 200,000+ fans, most of which had already left the track by the time the checkered flag dropped. I guess people would rather sit in bumper to bumper trafic that see how this mess was going to play out. I can not blame them, I was frustrated waching from my couch on a rainy Sunday in NYC. I couldn't imagine how i would have felt if I dolled out some boku bucks to witness this atrocious discrace. If you were at all on the fence as to weather you are a fan of NASCAR I hope you had plans in Sunday afternoon, because going to a brunch with "sweetie" would have supplied more action than this race did. I was considering leaving the couch to go see Momma Mia, anything to avoid this action, or lack there of.

Oh by the way the "winner" was Jimmy Johnson and the 48.

Michael Clark (emsea)

Second quarter DOTY is, you guessed it  KYLE BUSCH. Congratulations to him for another trophy for the mantle. This guy is going to need a bigger mantle for all these trophies he is accumulating. Also I would love to get a key installed on by computer that will write KYLE BUSCH when I press it. That would save me a bunch of time. With 7 wins in the cup series KB is poised for a title run, but don't count out veterans like Dale Jr, Jimmy Johnson, and Jeff Gordon. If we learned anything last year it is that the chase format is not always the fairest way to decide on a champion. Gordon and the 24 dominated the regular season only to come up short in the 10 race chase. His huge lead going into the chase was all but erased when the points reset going in to the post season. In the old format Gordon would have a fifth cup on his resume.

Rumor has it that Tony Stewart, a former DOTY recipient, is going to drive the No. 14 Chevrolet in his debut next season with his own Sprint Cup Series team, Stewart-Haas Racing. His sponsor will be the depot but this time around it will be Office Depot, not Home Depot like we are all used to seeing him in. Sponsorship will be shared with Stewarts long time nationwide booster Old Spice.

Good luck Tony, I hope all your ownership dreams are realized.

Michael Clark (emsea)

Hot on the track and in the minds of an elite media panel, Kyle Busch was voted 2nd quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2008 repeating his first quarter honor.

Busch won a total four races in NASCAR’s top-two series, three in Sprint Cup, and one in Nationwide during the period of May 3rd to June 29. He continues to lead the points standings in the Sprint Cup series.

The 23-year-old continued his winning ways with two more wins—which will count in the third quarter—as the premier NASCAR series took a one week break going into the Brickyard 400.

No driver has a comparable record in the motorsports considered by the panel "It's awesome! Just unbelievable what we've been able to accomplish so far this year. We've been so blessed and so fortunate to have everything click like it has,” said the driver of the Gibbs Racing #18 M & M’s Toyota.

The first and second quarter winner added “I love my guys - this whole Joe Gibbs Racing team has worked so hard to give me good cars week in and week out. I know they'll keep working even harder and hopefully we can continue to find the same kind of success in the second half of the season."

Barry Schmoyer, President of the Driver of the Year Foundation, said “it’s rare to see a driver continue on such a torrid pace, and, in a quarter where the Indy 500 winner is a shoe-in, Kyle was considered better.”

In the voting Busch took seven first-place ballots (out of 14 cast), he was on every ballot, with only one vote below second place totaling 103 points. He handily beat Indy 500 winner, Scott Dixon, who drives for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, had two victories earning him five first-place votes for a total of 85 points.

Donny Schatz, who drives for Tony Stewart Racing in the World of Outlaws series, scored one first place vote and was third in the voting with 48 points.

The late Scott Kalitta, the Funny Car driver and two-time Top Fuel driver was the only other first-place vote getter. He died as the result of a crash in qualifying for Super Nationals during the voting period.

A total of 14 drivers scored points in the second quarter voting.

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. Busch will receive a trophy and a Tissot wristwatch to be presented at a later date.

 Another race has been completed and another notch has been scuffed into the belt of Kyle Busch. Pretty soon that belt will be one big notched up mess. Six wins in eighteen races is quite remarkable I must say. For those of you that did not watch the race you may assume that the 18 dominated on route to the checkered flag, and he did, but what is most impressive about Busch's sixth win was the way he darted through the field late in the race capping a remarkable comeback. With about 80 laps to go Kyle almost lost it entering turn 2, he then calmly brought his car to the apron (at 180 mph mind you). Radio transmissions revealed that the power steering was down on the 18, a common theme this year for Busch. It seams that these situations would ruin a drivers day especially at Daytona, but not Kyle. Who need power steering anyway? After regrouping and dropping back to 37th The 18 started his charge through the field. Passing low, passing high, passing with no drafting help, basically just passing everyone between him and the lead. Even the boo birds at the Earnhardt friendly venue were beginning to realize that this kid is the goods, showering him with a mixed medley of boos and cheers alike as he took his customary victory bow. Is NASCAR nation starting to warm up to the villain? Are we being swayed away from the golden boy, Dale Jr? One thing is for sure, race fan love a dominating driver who will relentlessly go for the gold no holds barred. Just take a look at the ambivalence that existed between the fans ant the last anti-hero that rose to the top of the mountain, of course I am speaking of the great Dale senior. Fans could only hold out so long before his dominating racing instincts won them over as well as won him many a checkered flag. So let the Earnhardt Sr. comparisons run amok. Unless this season is a flash in the pan for Kyle Busch he may just be the future of our sport. And how fitting it is that the 88 is now in 2nd in the points, setting the stage for a Shakespearian epic of good vs evil.  How it plays out, only time will tell. How you want it to play out will tell allot about the type of person you are. Do you listen to the angel on your right shoulder or the devil on your left? Right now i am leaning towards the devil!  

    For the 6th time this year a Busch was found in victory lane, and no this time it was not 1st quarter DOTY award recipient Kyle Busch. The older um (perhaps wiser?) Busch brother ended up with the win. Kurt Busch won the rain shortened cup race in New Hampshire. The 2 was not the car to beat by any means on Sunday, but that is not what the box score will read for years to come. The car to beat was indeed the 20 driven by 2005 DOTY winner Tony Stewart. Dominating most of the race Tony was heard saying after the race that the #20 Camery was the best 13th place car you will ever see! Stewart led a race high 132 laps. The story of the afternoon besides the rain delay was the gambling that took place in the waning moments of the race, leading to a rather indeterminate cast of characters to round out the top three. Michael Waltrip took second and JJ Yeley took home 3rd. Kurt Busch will try to build on this impetus and hopefully improve his chances to make the chase, he currently sits in 18th place on the leader board. In my opinion Kurt need allot more then momentum if he hopes to make the chase, or even steal some headlines from younger brother. Maybe a good old fashioned noogie is in order here to re-establish his dominating role as older brother! Five years ago I remember thinking that Kyle would never get out of the shadow cast by Kurt and his cup championship, but my have the tables turned, it takes a storm cloud overhead and a roll of the die to even get a mention in the press for Kurt. And even when he wins, bloggers like me are still taking every opportunity to Mention the golden boy from the desert!

Michael Clark (emsea)