NASCAR: February 2008 Archives

...Jeff Gordon, who admitted after Monday's finish of the Auto Club 500 that his engine blew up in the final lap before Sunday's white flag stopped the race.

Gordon, by the way, wound up finishing third.

I couldn't have made that up if I'd wanted to.

Congratulations, also, to the top spots, Carl Edwards and the two-time consecutive Driver of the Year winner, Jimmie Johnson.

Must feel awful to leak oil all over the track prior to the start.

I'm just sayin'.

Okay, to start: a big congrats to Ryan Newman, who, I might add, was our Driver of the Year winner in 2003. Nice job Mr. Newman.

And some nice work by Kurt Busch, too, for his help. It's like they say: Behind every successful man is Kurt Busch.

Or something like that.

Second, and this was pretty cool, the New York Times last Tuesday published an article on the physics of bump-drafting. Really. And if you ever wanted to see a close-up of two suspension springs in Dave Blaney's garage, well, now you can.

And looking ahead (because we must), this coming weekend is the Auto Club 500 at Fontana. Last year's winner, for those of you not paying attention, was Matt Kenseth, who actually had a hell of a weekend, winning the Busch series race, too. Coming off a 27th place finish at Daytona, is he in a good position to do it again? Only time will tell.

Though I'm gonna say "probably not."

Well, that's all I got right now. Can't beat the Turducken story. Maybe with a lobsturducken. Maybe not.

Hello all,
Michael Clark here ready to blog away!
First things first, the Budwieser Shootout on Saturday night left me thirsty for more!! A few notables from the race, obviously the main storyline Dale Jr in the new  88 National Guard car for Hendrick is going to be a force this year. Usually when i see the 24 and 48 in Dale Jr's rear view i get this "oh no" feeling, now they are pushing him to victory. It must be said that although Dale Jr looked dominant on Saturday night, he did get by with a little help from his (new) friends.
How tough does Tony Stewert look in his Toyota Camry? Smoke was driving the wheels off the thing in the last 20 laps. Toyota is doing something right in the horsepower dept. The 20, with little to no help from the other racers was able to stay up front all race. In fact if the yellow flag had not been waived i don't think the 88 would have got by him.
Gotta love that double file restart the shootout employs.
I just can't stop looking at the 9 car, which looks sharp as an arrow in that new skin.
Mark Martin in the 8 could have a great year. He and Martin Truex Jr.  could  give DEI  life after  Dale!
Sorry  Carl  Edwards, i have followed your career since the truck series, when it was win or go home, you won, did your famous back flip, earned sponsors, and the rest is history. I love the back flip and all, but as a New Yorker i can no longer in good conscience root for you.  Ever  since  Roush  racing teamed up with  those Fenway  folks, i have been unfaithful. That goes the same for you Kenseth , Biffle, and Mcmurray!!!
thats all for now,
looking forward to the twin 150's, and of course the Great American Race!!
Michael Clark (emsea)

Michael Waltrip has every right to be the most relaxed man on the planet right now. I’ll try to explain why.

The thing is, this might be the most harrying week of the season for anyone who doesn’t drive for Hendrick.

Even after this past weekend’s qualifying runs, only the number one and two cars – Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip – have locked their places for the main race. (There’s a reason why Johnson won the DOTY award twice.)

The rest of the field gets decided in two Duel 150s on Thursday. As if that’s not enough pressure going into a race I recently heard described as the “Super Bowl of NASCAR,” only the top 35 in owner points from last season are guaranteed a spot. Waltrip was not one of those 35.

In case you don’t know the rules for Daytona 500 qualifying, let me fill you in: The Daytona 500 field is composed of the top 35 in owner points from last year plus the two highest-finishing cars from each of the Duel 150s not already in the race. In addition, four cars not otherwise qualified after the Duels are added to the field based on qualifying speed from this past Sunday, unless a past champion not otherwise qualified claims the 43rd starting position.

In other words, a past champion who a) wasn’t in the first 35, b) didn’t get a top-four time this past Sunday, and c) doesn’t get a top two time in his respective race this coming Thursday, could still claim the 43rd spot, knocking out ninth-fastest driver Boris Said, who’s No. Four among those not already locked in.

Really.

Reread my first sentence. Make sense now?

A few other notes:
a) Lewis Franck got to see Dale Jr.'s stand-up comedy debut.

b) ChampCarWorldSeries.com has an interesting article about the upcoming season from Justin Wilson.

c) Tony Shumacher won the NHRA season opener for the Top Fuel class. My grandmother informs me that he only won because I wasn't in the race. Thanks, Grandma. And thanks for the cookies.

Hi, I’m Adam Kraemer, the newest contributor. A few things I'm thinking about today:

NASCAR Drivers are eager to get back and we can’t wait either! You always know when the season’s about to start up because the sponsors kick it into high gear. Just look at Hershey’s Dale Sr. tribute, Ritz cracker’s partnership with Roush, the Gillette Young Guns thing, and – my personal favorite – Carl Edwards wearing the Claritin blues. (He’s actually an allergy sufferer, they say, and we're happy he's not driving drowsy. See pic above.)

Speaking of partnerships, contributor Lewis Franck has his own blog. Check it out here. Good luck with the blog, Lewis!

There's also a good discussion on ROWDY.com going on about who is your favorite driver. Who do you like in 2008? 

I’m also thinking about the so-called “Car of Tomorrow.” A few drivers said last year that their crews were stretched a little thin having to keep two separate cars in condition. This year, it’s all CoT all the time, so things might run a little smoother. Harvick – I’m lookin’ at you.

Speaking of the CoT - apparently now called the "winged car" or something - the Budweiser Shootout's tomorrow. Click here to see the lineup. I can't wait.

And for those of you who like non-American races, you’ll never guess who took the fastest F1 times in Bahrain (where the rain falls mainly on Spain). Okay, maybe you’ll guess. Of course you’ll guess - Kimi Raikkonen, testing out Ferrari’s latest, the cleverly named F2008.

Oh, and if any of you are in Pomona, Calif., right now, you’ve got a much better chance than the rest of us to see the National Hot Rod Association. I suggest you head over to the raceway. And send me some photos!

Nice meeting you. See ya’ next week.