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Like Willie Nelson Sang
A couple of happenings the past few days have filled me with wanderlust once again. Yesterday I received my invitation to attend the Myers Brothers Award Luncheon in Las Vegas during NASCAR Champions week. Many of the Sprint Cup awards are presented at this luncheon, and it would be great fun to hobnob with other media types as well as drivers, owners, and NASCAR officials.
Yes, I laugh every time I think of myself as a representative of the media, but because of my National Motorsports Press Association membership, NASCAR considers me as just that. Hey, if Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds, Kenny Wallace, and Kyle Petty are considered as media, I can be too. Anyway, after the luncheon media will have access to the 16 drivers in this year’s Chase. Yeah, Ron Meyer from Fremont, Nebraska could interview 5 time champion-I am assuming he will be-Jeff Gordon. Talk about major cool.
Unfortunately, it isn’t going to happen. Not working in August and most of September left the bank account not quite up to snuff. I am sure my lovely wife would tell me to go if I said I wanted to go-the last few months have been stressful and it would be great to get on a plane, get away from everyday life, and pretend to be important a few days. However, after she would tell me to go, she would stop looking for a much needed couch for our living room. Now Jane puts up with a lot because of me, and no way will I go on a trip and keep her from getting that couch.
So, short of winning the lottery in the next few weeks I’ll be home for Christmas. OK, the Champions week is in early December, and I’ll be home for that too.
The other happening that got me wanting to travel happened at work today. The company has flu shot clinics and health screenings around the country, and today I came across two clinics held in Gaffney, South Carolina. When I saw the first one I thought “I’ve been there.” Matt has been too0-when we went to the Mike Duvall Racing School. When I saw the second clinic I started thinking about how I would love to go to one of the big late model specials held at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney. That isn’t going to happen either.
Oh well, maybe I can go to The Dirt Track at Charlotte this weekend for the WoO finals. No, not in person, but via a www.DirtonDirt.com PPV. Check out the site for information on their Thursday-Saturday programs.
No, I do not like NASCAR suspending Matt Kenseth for two races for his retaliatory strike against Joey Logano. I have already said I think Kenseth deserves a bonus not a penalty, but NASCAR didn’t see it that way. One thing cited was “safety aspects” of the incident. Excuse me, but Joey-I doubt he’ll ever grow up enough to be simply Joe-wrecked Kenseth at Kansas Speedway going over 190 miles per hour. Logano suffered no penalty for his action. Kenseth wrecked Logano at NASCAR’s smallest and slowest speedway. Yes, any wreck has the potential to cause injury, but isn’t the potential greater at Kansas where the cars were traveling twice as fast as at Martinsville?
From my “thumbs” blog, I give NASCAR two thumbs down for this suspension. Perhaps an extended middle digit too. And would like to tell Joey he is damn lucky it was Kenseth doing the retaliation and not Cale Yarborough. Way back in 1979 Yarborough used the noses of Donnie and Bobby Allison for punching bags after Donnie wrecked Cale in the Daytona 500, and the Allisons are 100% tougher than Joey will ever be. Heck, all these guys are in their 70’s now, and they are still tougher than Joey will ever be.
Ah well, the France family owns the sport and they can do whatever they want-even when what they do makes little sense.
Below is my www.DirtonDirt.com Top 25 for the week:
| DirtonDirt.com Top 25 Voting Ballot | |
| Name: | Ron Meyer |
| Date: | 11/2/2015 |
| Position | |
| 1 | Jonathan Davenport |
| 2 | Scott Bloomquist |
| 3 | Mike Marlar |
| 4 | Jimmy Owens |
| 5 | Chris Madden |
| 6 | Shane Clanton |
| 7 | Jared Landers |
| 8 | Billy Moyer |
| 9 | Don O’Neal |
| 10 | Josh Richards |
| 11 | Dennis Erb Jr. |
| 12 | Bobby Pierce |
| 13 | Jesse Stovall |
| 14 | Brandon Sheppard |
| 15 | Dale McDowell |
| 16 | Randy Weaver |
| 17 | Earl Pearson Jr. |
| 18 | Billy Moyer Jr. |
| 19 | Rick Eckert |
| 20 | Chris Ferguson |
| 21 | Casey Roberts |
| 22 | Shannon Babb |
| 23 | Darrell Lanigan |
| 24 | Jason Feger |
| 25 | Steve Francis |
I have to be honest and state that I spent less time preparing my ballot this week than I have any other week this season. Maybe that is why all 25 of my drivers were DOD’s Top 25 as well. Amazing.
One final tidbit-last night Jane told me I have been more pleasant to be around than I have been in years. I don’t get upset at little things and have actually smiled on occasion. She thinks it has a lot to do with my current job, versus the job I left in August-and nope, I do not regret one word I said on that fateful day last summer. It needed to be said, and I am sure I spoke for hundreds of employees and former employees. Anyway, I think she is right. It is fun getting up to go to work in the morning, not girding to go to battle. Even the drive to Omaha hasn’t been too bad-and I go in on Dodge and I-680. I wish I had found a place like this 29 years ago.
And I wish the job wasn’t temporary and ending soon. If anyone knows anyone who needs expensive help willing to work cheap-thank you Social Security, let me know.
Thanks for stopping by.
Under My Thumb
Two thumbs up for Jeff Gordon-his 93rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win gained him a spot in the Battle Royale at Homestead in three weeks.
Two thumbs up for Matt Kenseth-retribution. Too bad it wasn’t the last race of this round of the Chase and kept Joey Logano from advancing to the championship round.
Two thumbs up for the Martinsville crowd-
A; cheering loud, long, and lusty when Kenseth punted Logano
- cheering loud, long, and happily for Gordon
- Streaming unto the Martinsville front Stretch Victory Lane and enjoying the Gordon post-race festivities.
Two thumbs up for Kyle Busch-you expect that teammate Jimmie Johnson would visit Gordon in Victory Lane, but for Busch to do so shows this young man is certainly maturing this year.
Two thumbs down-Logano. No remorse for his actions in Kansas, so to me, Instant Karma’s gonna get you.
Two thumbs down-Logano’s dad Tom having to be wrestled into the team trailer by Crew Chief Todd Gordon. Suspend him, not Kenseth.
Two thumbs down-Kyle Petty. He makes Kenny Wallace look like a genius. Petty gets paid for saying stupid things, while I get nothing for this blog. That doesn’t seem right.
Two bandaged thumbs for Roush Fenway Racing. Add up the finishing positions of Biffle, Bayne, and Stenhouse and divide by three and they averaged a 32nd place finish. That is not even mediocre. If RFR was a college football team instead of a NASCAR franchise, they would be the 2015 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Random thoughts:
-Is there a cooler trophy in all of sports than the Martinsville Grandfather Clock? Gordon has 9 of them. How can you synchronize the chimes of 9 clocks?
-Instead of a typical big trophy that every track gives out, I would like to see I-80 Speedway give out a really nice plaque, but on the plaque have a sealed silver dollar worth several hundred dollars.
-Gordon winning his 5th Sprint Cup Championship in his final season of racing would be the auto racing feel good story of the decade.
-I have never been a great Kyle Busch fan, but my thoughts have changed this season. His injury and then a baby in the family seems to have brought about a different attitude in this talented driver.
-What should be done to Matt Kenseth for wrecking Logano? Well, if I was a NASCAR exec I would do nothing, but tell him that if he wrecked another Penske car this season he would get a $100,000 bonus. And if he wrecked both Logano and Keselowski and kept them out of the championship battle at Homestead, it would be $500,000.
No, I don’t like the Penske drivers. That is obvious. So my bias showed in that suggestion. What really ought to be done with Kenseth? Monetary penalties to athletes worth millions of dollars. To suspend him penalizes the team, the team owner, and most important, the sponsor. Oh, and don’t forget race fans too.
Taking away points is not really going to make much difference at this point in time. I laugh every time I read that NASCAR put a driver or crew chief on probation. So, figuring that NASCAR usually does the wrong thing, they will suspend Kenseth for a race, put him on probation for six months, fine him $250,000, dock Kenseth driver points, and dock Joe Gibbs owner points.
If a driver wants to wreck another driver, he is going to-I said he. Danica Patrick seems to wreck herself when she tries to wreck another driver that has irritated her. Well, unless she is trying to wreck boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
I don’t think you take away retribution, at least if done on a short track like Martinsville. I do think NASCAR should not allow a driver to gain from wrecking another driver i.e. Logano at Kansas wrecking Kenseth. When something like that occurs, put the driver one spot behind the driver he wrecked in the final race standings.
Logano has shown he would wreck his grandmother for a win. I wonder if he would spin out Gordon on the final lap at Homestead for a win.
Thanks for stopping by.
I Am Full Of
Questions-though some of you may have another word in mind.
With just five races left in his career, will Jeff Gordon get a car that is equal to the cars of Joey Logano or Kevin Harvick? Will Gordon’s crew chief Alan Gustafson finally make all the right pit stop decisions during a race? Will Gordon’s crew ever manage to have a mistake free race?
I think the future NASCAR Hall of Famer deserves better than he is getting from his team, and if he is to have a shot at a fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, he will need to get it at Talladega, Martinsville, Dallas, Phoenix, and Homestead.
Do a quick switch. Instead of Matt Kenseth crashing at Charlotte in race one of the Contender Round of The Chase, it was Joey Logano who wrecked and Kenseth who took the checkers. That would mean Logano desperately needed a win at Kansas Speedway to keep his championship hopes alive.
Say Logano came to Kansas with a strong car-a dominant car and led most of the race. However, following a late pit stop, Kenseth’s car was at least equal to that of Logano. Lap after lap Kenseth tried to pass Logano-above all, NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers want to win races. But lap after lap Logano was able to block Kenseth.
Finally, with just over four laps remaining in the race, Kenseth had enough of Logano’s blocking, and heading into turn four spun out Logano. Logano’s chance at a win was gone, and his championship dreams likely went up in smoke, tire smoke as instead of the win he needed, Logano finished 15th. If this had happened, would Logano have stated in a post-race interview that it was just good, hard racing? I think not.
Matt Kenseth is 35 points out of 8th place in the Sprint Cup standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 31 points out of the spot he needs to be in to move on to round three of The Chase. While mathematically it is possible that both could move on without a win, like 5 or 6 Chase drivers could wreck and finish 36th or worse, that would be crazy even for Talladega. My thinking is that at least one of them will see his hopes for a championship end at Talladega. So, which one will advance?
If Kenseth is out of The Chase after Talladega, will he seek revenge and wreck Logano at Martinsville? Will Logano be in a must win situation at Dallas or Phoenix? I think he deserves to go for a spin at least once at Martinsville, but I am not a Logano fan.
Transfer all this thinking to the dirt late model arena. Say in 2016, Jonathan Davenport is once again winning almost every big dollar event, and a frustrated Scott Bloomquist is chasing the 6 car week after week. Late in the 2016 Silver Dollar Nationals, Bloomquist vents his frustration by spinning out Davenport as they battle for the lead. What will Lucas Oil officials do?
Will they send both drivers to the back of the field-Davenport for bringing out the yellow and Bloomquist for causing the spin? Will they penalize Davenport, but not Bloomquist? Will they penalize Bloomquist, but not Davenport? Or will they penalize neither driver, angering all the other racers and a lot of the fans? These two are the sport’s superstars, and put more butts in the stands at a Lucas Oil race than any of the other drivers-officials won’t want to upset either. So, what do they do?
Enough questions. Here is a fact-I didn’t do a blog on Sunday, but if I had I would have mentioned it was Matt and Steph’s 12th anniversary. Congratulations to both.
And congratulations to me-you are still reading The Rest of the Dirt, even though right now is a difficult time for me to blog like I want to. Thank you for stopping by.
NASCAR’s Food City ‘511’-The Real Story
Here is one I definitely did not see coming:
I wonder what kind of an effect this will have on his hall of fame dad remaining in the business. With the Lucas Oil series race rained out at his hometown Batesville Motor Speedway, the elder Moyer ventured into hard tire territory this weekend, racing with the CBC/MARS/ALMS at Davenport and Burlington, Iowa. Moyer finished 20th at Davenport and was nipped at the finish by Ryan Unzicker in Burlington. Billy, the elder, does not have any upcoming races listed on his schedule. That is not unusual, so it probably is not something to try to read anything into.
Moyer Jr’s decision to leave racing indefinitely once again brings into focus the commitment needed to race on dirt full-time. I don’t think money had anything to do with Billy Jr. walking away from the sport, rather it was the seven days a week commitment needed to contend with other top drivers in the sport.
What did I think about the NASCAR Sprint Cup Food City 511 from Bristol? No typo, they “ran” 511 laps, not 500.
-I appreciated all of the support shown Fox announcer Steve Byrnes who is battling cancer. It was great seeing the tributes and all of the signs. Cancer has hit my family several times.
-I enjoyed Jeff Gordon’s children doing the “most famous words in motorsports” too. Too many “stars” of overhyped movies recite those words, badly, screaming like they actually know what they are talking of. Anyway, my daughter says the most famous words in motorsports should be “beer is on sale.”
-I probably got a little carried away with applause when Brad Keselowski managed to collect teammate Joey Logano in an early lap wreck. Both are in The Chase, so finishing many laps down at Bristol merely was a bad day for Penske racing. I couldn’t keep “are you expletive deleted kidding me?” from coming out of my mouth when Keselowski seemed to want to blame rain for his crash though.
-Jimmie Johnson was practicing for Talladega last night. It seemed like every hundred laps or so he was involved in-usually the cause of-an untrack incident. Just like at Talladega though, the six time champion seems to be able to drive away from those wrecks, unlike most of the cars he runs into. As crew chief Harry said to Cole Trickle in “Days of Thunder,”-“I want you to run into the pace car.” “What?” “Run into the pace car, you’ve hit every other damn car out there.”
-Super hyper Darrell Waltrip described yesterday’s 9 hour butt tiring event as “great racing, crazy accidents.” Usually you take what Waltrip says with a handful of salt-not a grain, but he was right. There were weird wrecks starting with Keselowski and Logano, and there was some very good racing-Kenseth ends a plus 50 winless streak; Johnson bounces his car around like a pinball and still finishes second; Gordon comes from two laps down to finish third; and Stenhouse gives Roush Fenway Racing their first top five finish of the year.
-I really do not like tracks where one lane has an incredible advantage over the other lane. Starting on the inside lane at Bristol means losing a position or more almost every restart. And Bristol isn’t the only NASCAR track with one lane having a huge advantage.
-Do you think Cale Yarborough would have sat out Sunday’s restart because of a sore neck? Denny Hamlin, you are no Cale Yarborough. Or Ricky Rudd-didn’t officials have to pull him out of his car with damn near heat stroke after winning a race at Martinsville? Or Davey Allison-drove with broken ribs. Or Richard Petty-drove with a broken neck. Or Terry Labonte-drove with a broken knee. Wow, now do you drive with a broken knee?
-Were all the empty seats at Bristol really the result of the weather?
-Did you feel bad when Austin Dillon had to come to the pits for fuel late in the race, costing him about six spots in the finishing order? Tell the truth. If he deserves to drive a Sprint Cup car numbered ‘3’ I deserve to be a humor writer for New Yorker magazine.
Sorry, Austin reminds me of Paris Hilton’s brother Conrad, the spoiled rich kid who just got to plead guilty to a misdemeanor assault against flight attendants charge, in order to have a felony charge dropped. I wonder if he would have got the same deal if his name was Ron Meyer. And I wonder if anyone other than his grandpa would allow Dillon to race a car with a number made famous by Dale Earnhardt.
-Jeb Burton. There is a punch line there somewhere. Like “assume you will be moved aside when you are laps down and try blocking a six time champion.”
-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got a top five finish at Bristol for the second year in a row. And he did it hurt-outside of the car he is wearing a walking boot as a result of a “farm injury.” No telling what he stepped in. Unlike another Sprint Cup driver, Stenhouse plays hurt. Denny Hamlin, you are no Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
On to Richmond for a Saturday night race. Thanks for stopping by.
Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, Matt Kenseth, And Joey Logano-NASCAR In Richmond
I forgot to mention two drivers in Sunday’s blog. Billy Moyer Jr. had the best weekend of his career. On Friday he won a Comp Cam race in West Memphis, Arkansas and on Saturday he won $10,000 in an UMP Dirtcar special at Kentucky Lake Speedway.
Rodney Sanders continues to win, win, win. On Friday night Sanders won the USMTS feature in Bloomfield, Iowa. Saturday night he showed that he intends to dominate the series ala Ryan Gustin several seasons ago with a $2,000 victory at I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri. With the nickname ‘Rocket,’ he is obviously fast, and if his hometown wasn’t already Happy, Texas they might have to change it.
FOX Sports producers aren’t as quick thinking as racing bloggers. I really thought they should cue up either Jimi Hendrix or Mick Jagger after one of the Richmond tire cautions Saturday night. “Let me stand next to your fire” for the Reed Sorenson caution, and maybe “Don’t ya play with me, ‘cause you’re playin’ with fire” for Clint Bowyer’s barn burner. Things got hot in a hurry. “Genius is initiative on fire.” Maybe so, but on the 15 car it was tire cords, rubber hoses, and a plastic nose piece.
I am not the only person who does not take all of this too serious-hey, I just take it sort of serious. Anyway, after Matt Kenseth made a number of “interesting” moves late in the race, I received an email that stated “Matt Kenseth endorses Pete Ricketts for Governor of Nebraska.” Actually, owning the Chicago Cubs is probably jinx enough for Ricketts without a Kenseth endorsement. I mean today the Cubs lost to Milwaukee 5-3 AFTER Brewer All-Star shortstop Jean Segura was hit in the head in the first inning by a bat Ryan Braun was swinging in the DUGOUT. Not really a good place to be swinging a bat Ryan. Braun stated:
“You never want to see something like that, you know?” said Braun, who exited himself with an intercostal strain in the ninth and is considered day to day. “It breaks your heart a little bit, and obviously it’s never something that’s done intentionally.”
Great to know you didn’t do it intentionally Ryan. I would rather have read “Man, that is the dumbest thing I have ever done. After this season I am going to race B-Mods for a living.” And what is an “intercostal strain?” It sounds like too much swimming in the famed Florida waterway near Melbourne.
No, that has nothing to do with racing-and that has never stopped me anyway, but it was just so stupid I had to tie it in with Pete Ricketts and Brake Check Matt Kenseth.
Other thoughts of the Richmond Sprint Cup race:
-I like Brad Keselowski’s blog a lot better than his racing.
-35 laps after each restart Jeff Gordon had the best car on the track. The trouble is about every 55 laps there was a caution. Nice move by Gordon to come out 3rd after a late lap yellow so he could start on the inside lane. Of course as soon as the green flew Denny Hamlin-with an assist-caused another caution so Gordon’s strategy went awry.
-If Matt Kenseth had not been so intent on blocking Jeff Gordon he might have finished second in the race, instead of fifth.
-I am not a fan of Joey Logano.
-Jimmie Johnson finishing four laps down? Now you don’t see that very often.
-Kyle Busch on four new tires is a mad man. Kyle Busch on four old tires is a mad man. With a few laps to go it looked like he was going from nowhere to Victory Lane.
-Is Tony Stewart really fully recovered from his sprint car accident broken leg? It seemed like the only time he was on TV at Richmond was when he was about to be lapped.
Next week is Talladega, where things get really crazy, and where you will see Tony Anville standing in the front row in the tri-oval all by himself because he bought like 30 tickets to the race. He claims he is also going to go to the Talladega Short Track to watch dirt track racing next Saturday night, but the only way I am believing that is if I get a photo of him taken with the winner of the Southern All-Stars late model race that night.
In the interest of fairness I emailed Tony that last paragraph. OK, so it was in the interest of irritating him, not fairness. Anyway, here is his reply: “I’m in the front row of the Tri-Oval for the Nationwide race. I’ll be behind the flag stand, 19 rows up, for the Cup race (which is still like the front row when 40 cars come screaming by).” I wish I could afford to go to a NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
“in spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt.” Long ago in spring and summer and fall and winter, if you read certain newspapers your hands would be covered in printer’s ink. I saw it almost as a badge of honor, sort of like the bruise you got when you were hit by a baseball. If you want to blame someone for TROTD, blame the writers of The Sporting News, because I read it cover to cover and always had to wash my hands after, because they were smeared with ink from the paper. You can also blame long ago Omaha World-Herald sports editors Gregg McBride, Wally Provost, and Conde Sargent.
“May the universe conspire”-I’m really not greedy, it does not have to conspire to fulfill all my dreams. Just a dream or two would be OK with me. Make TRODT profitable. Let me write and publish a book. Let me do a screenplay. OK, the last one was thrown in to give the universe a chance to say no to one and to do the others. I can’t write dialog and I doubt much of what I would write would appeal to the important demographics. Hey, you are important to me, just not to advertisers.
Thanks for stopping by.
By The Time NASCAR Left Phoenix
The NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Phoenix seemed to be a series of flirtations. Twice, five-time champion Jimmie Johnson flirted with disaster and both times came away unscathed. Matt Kenseth’s team flirted with disaster, and left Phoenix stricken. I won’t say they choked on the hard to swallow pressure of running for a championship, but they definitely blinked.
Carl Edwards flirted with Lady Luck and rolled snake eyes, running out of gas a lap and a half from the race finish and exchanging a win for a 21st place finish. Lady Luck blessed Kevin Harvick-short of Edwards running out of gas Harvick was not going to win the race, but he ended up in Victory Lane.
The race was confusing to watch because of so many different pit strategies. Cars that were running outside of the top ten would be running up front as soon as a caution flag flew-and there were plenty of cautions, while someone else would lead at the next caution. One of my problems with the NASCAR of recent years is that too often wins are a result of pit strategy, not how good a car or driver is.
With one race left only Johnson, Kenseth, and Harvick have a mathematical chance of becoming the Sprint Cup champion. It is a stretch to see either Kenseth or Harvick leaving Homestead, Florida as champion though. Honestly, it would not surprise me to see Johnson lead the most laps and win the final race of the season, putting an exclamation point on his sixth championship.
Johnson is a nice enough fellow, and unlike some fans, I think it is not a bad thing when someone other than “good old boys” wins the NASCAR championship. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have The Chase figured out, and it this format, the times they don’t win will be much more of a shock than the times they do win a championship.
I am not suggesting another point change, but I am suggesting a shake-up in the ten tracks that host Chase events. Palm trees grow north of San Francisco, so there is no reason the road course at Sonoma couldn’t host an October event. Make the Southern 500 meaningful again by adding Darlington to the Chase schedule. Get rid of Dover. Get rid of Chicago. Make Las Vegas the final event of the season and make the week after the race “Championship Week.” Wow, Kansas, Texas, Phoenix, Sonoma, and Las Vegas in the Chase? Purists would scream about the West Coast bias.
I do realize that tracks view their dates as “traditional.” Sorry, but to me there are only a handful of races that qualify as traditional-the two Daytona races, the Bristol night race, the Charlotte 600 mile race, and Darlington ran on a reasonable date. I am not saying change Chase tracks every year, but do rotate them, maybe every 3-4 years. Otherwise look for Jimmie Johnson to become the first ten-time NASCAR champion.
Tomorrow-my thoughts on the Duel in the Desert and the World Finals. Thanks for stopping by.
P.S. Having said all of the above as a way to keep Jimmie Johnson from winning every championship, I am not sure if anything can keep the Johnson/Knaus/Hendrick combination from dominating.
Cost Per Win Plus Autographs
A recent study showed how much each win cost a major league baseball team in 2013. The lowly Houston Astros spent $432,600 per win. Of course they only won 51 games, so there is probably some correlation between low total payroll and talent on the team. At the other end of the scale was the New York Yankees who spent $2,692,182 per win-and did not make the play-offs this season, so having the highest payroll doesn’t always guarantee the success owners like Hank Steinbrenner expect.
Being a numbers person I wondered how much NASCAR Sprint Cup teams spent per win. According to a 2012 Jacksonville Florida Times-Union article, it costs a championship caliber team $400,000 per week to compete in the series. There will be 37 point races and 2 non-point races in 2013, so factoring in $400,000 per week from the Jacksonville paper’s article it costs a NASCAR team $15,600,000 to make a top notch effort.
Matt Kenseth has 7 wins in 2013, so Joe Gibbs Racing spends roughly $2,228,571 per win, though Kenseth is liable to win more races as the season winds down. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not won a race in 2013, and won just one time in 2012. By my calculations it costs Hendrick Racing $31,200,000 per Earnhardt Jr. victory.
I don’t have an actual estimate on how much it costs to race a dirt late model in one of that national touring series, but I have heard the figure $250,000 per season bandied about. At roughly 40 nights racing that figures out to be $6,250 per race. A second place finish at all but a dozen races a year does not pay that much, so to make a living racing a dirt late model you have to have a good sponsor-maybe more than one good sponsor, along with good fortune. Driving a late model on dirt is not an easy way to make a living, though most of us which we could do just that.
www.DirtonDirt.com will be showing both nights of the NDRL Pittsburgher 100 this weekend. Cost for a two package is $35.99, while either night can be had for $19.99. Crate late models and modifieds will be support classes at the event, and their races will also be part of the PPV.
According to the NDRL website, drivers like Josh Richards, Billy Moyer, Jimmy Mars, Scott Bloomquist, Steve Francis, Dale McDowell, Rick Eckert, Shane Clanton, and Gregg Satterlee will be on hand. Friday’s 50 lap feature pays $10,000 to win, while the 100 laps A main on Saturday pays $25,000 to the first place finisher.
Finally, back to NASCAR for a brief rant. A friend who went to the Sprint Cup race in Kansas last Sunday stated that many drivers totally ignored fans clamoring for autographs during the hours preceding the race. So now NASCAR drivers are becoming like stars in the NFL and NBA, too good to associate with the riff raff who pay damn good money to see them up close and personal. As a matter of fact, I do get somewhat surly when I hear such stories. Without the fans who love the sport, most of these drivers would be mechanics, truck drivers, or working on the line at some manufacturing plant, NOT living in million dollar mansions at Lake Norman.
Others feel this way. Here is a link to an article in the Charlotte newspaper:
Responding to the article on his NASCAR radio program, Chocolate Myers went off on “these 20 and 30 something drivers who don’t know a damn thing about the sport before they came into it” and told them to “go to Caraway Speedway where no media will be, you’ll only have to do 1 or 2 pictures, and your foundation won’t be what it is, and you’ll have to fly commercial, and have a camper instead of a motor coach” so “the next time somebody asks you for an autograph or photo shut the you know what up and do it so you can keep your 6 or 7 figure job.”
Myers is a former Dale Earnhardt crew member and an NMPA award-The Myer Brothers Award is given in honor of his family. The award has been given since 1958, and past recipients include Ned Jarrett, the Wood Brothers, ESPN, Dale Earnhardt, and the 2012 winner, Jeff Gordon. My point is that the man does have credibility; he is no blogger that is easily ignored.
Anyway, as Myers said, shut up and sign the autographs.
Thanks for stopping by.
NASCAR Math: 3 Paper Clips = $200,000 Plus More Dirt
Although I have written about him recently-mainly to incite one reader-I am not a big fan of Matt Kenseth. Actually, I am not a little fan either. Still, I was surprised when I found out the engine from his Kansas win failed to pass inspection and the Joe Gibbs racing team was hit with a huge penalty.
Apparently a connecting rod in the engine was too light. I am techno challenged, but experts have claimed that this was likely a quality control problem on the part (JGR engines are provided by Toyota Racing Development) and would not have provided a competitive advantage. The rod was 2.3 grams light-about the weight of three small paper clips. The neighboring rod was actually 4 grams overweight.
So, JGR did not realize it had an illegal part, and the part was not responsible for Kenseth’s win. Of course there should be some type of penalty, but a week after issuing bizarre penalties to Roger Penske teams, NASCAR officials issued Kenseth insane penalties. Kenseth was docked 50 points-more than what winning the race got him, plus the win does not count for seeding in The Chase or to secure a wild card spot in The Chase. Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Radcliff was fined $200,000 and suspended for six races. Joe Gibbs had his owner’s license suspended for the next six races.
The penalties for JGR and Penske Racing are simply absurd. Hit the drivers with a 25 point penalty-plenty severe-fine the crew chiefs $25,000 and put them on probation for six races. The severity of the penalties, especially if they are abated in the appeal process, makes NASCAR makes NASCAR a joke with no punch line. Only in NASCAR-and maybe the Pentagon-do three paper clips cost $200,000.
Matt talked last night about going to the baseball games in Omaha on Saturday, but coming home in time to watch the Sprint Cup race from Richmond that night. While Richmond is one of the better tracks on the NASCAR circuit, I am not enthused at all about the race. Two weeks ago I did not watch the Sprint Cup race at all. Last Sunday I watched less than 25% of the race. I want to watch racing, racing where the winner is decided on the track, not in the pits or in some boardroom in Daytona Beach. Maybe I’ll just watch UMP modifieds from Kentucky on XSANTV on Saturday night.
Speaking of baseball, yes it was chilly last night in Lincoln. I thought of taking a blanket, should have taken a blanket, but did not take a blanket, a lack of action I regretted. I enjoy baseball though, and sorry Randy, much more than I do watching sprint cars in action. Nebraska has a great hitting team, but until they get some pitching, their record is going to remain mediocre. A slew of pitchers gave up 15 hits to Kansas State, walked 8 batters, and hit 4 other batters. Nebraska trailed 8-1 after two innings, but came back to take the lead 9-8 in the fifth inning. Unfortunately NU pitchers gave up 5 runs in the sixth and seventh innings and the Huskers lost 13-8.
I just checked the http://www.Dirtondirt.com Top 25 poll, and it does differ from mine. Four of my Top 25 were not included when the ballots were combined, and yes, enough of the other 18 voters added Chad Simpson to their ballot to secure a spot in the Top 25 for the Iowan.
I have been chastised for not including Simpson on my ballot, but I believe emotion overrules logic in a case or two on all of the ballots. It does with me on three different drivers-one up, one down, and one not around. The strangest things might trigger my emotion, but as some promoters know, I have a very long memory.
I submitted my ballot before I knew of the Jason Feger suspension, and others must have too as he remained in the Top 25. I am not sure how I will consider Feger in the next ballot. Much of his ranking came because of the Illini 100 victory, and he has now been DQ’ed in that race, but is appealing the penalties.
Some of you might think I am a hypocrite regarding Simpson. Too bad. I mean that as politely as possible. Some of you might think I am a hypocrite for my low ranking of Darrell Lanigan. I downgrade Lanigan for not competing outside the WoO, but it is doubtful many Lucas Oil drivers will be racing with the WoO during that sanction’s Tennessee Triple Header this weekend, even though the Lucas Oil series is off. My problem with Lanigan is not his skipping a regular series race put on by another sanction, it is skipping big dollar events like the North-South 100 or the NDRL race at Paducah, both not far from where he lives. Yeah, the man can race wherever he wants-and I can rank him wherever I want.
Matt and I flirted briefly with going to LaSalle Speedway in Illinois on May 10th and 11th for the Spring Shoot-Out, two complete Lucas Oil shows. Yes, we love the Lucas Oil late models. LaSalle is about 420 miles from Fremont, but mostly interstate highway. With Matt behind the wheel the trip would take a lot less time than MapQuest says. Unfortunately family priorities are making that a no-go. Instead, we are thinking of Lakeside Speedway on the Tuesday before the Silver Dollar Nationals for a Lucas Oil/USMTS show. We also love the USMTS.
Thanks for stopping by.
Some Photos And Words I Didn’t Pay For, Plus More On Silver Dollar Nationals III
Edwards Struts Down Kansas Speedway pit row
- As “clean” a car as Roush Fenway could put on the track.
In this election year I want to play fair and at least acknowledge the opposition, in this case, Roush Fenway Racing. Tony Anville has access to the garage area and pit row at Kansas Speedway, mainly because he is worth more than some NASCAR car owners. Anyone he took photos of Carl Edwards and the car of Sunday’s winner Matt Kenseth, and since he thinks I won’t use them, I decided to use up some of cyberspace and share them with you.
Below is on email from Scott McBride regarding Silver Dollar Nationals III Fans Fund:
“I figured I would break my Fans Fund silence. I’ll try not to ramble on too much.
To me, the best way to insure at least some success is to open it up to any team that didn’t participate in SDN 2 or isn’t in the top 10 in Lucas Oil points. This would include any regional/local or national talent.
Hypothetically, we set a goal of $750 to invite one driver. Once we hit that goal, we commit to inviting the top vote getter. Then as the next $750 rolls in, we invite the next on list and so on. Yes, there will probably be guys that won’t come because of schedules and family commitments. But that’s out of our hands. We could simply invite them, if they turn us down in good terms. Then no harm no foul.
After the voting is over and we know how many drivers would be willing to come, then maybe we could work on product certificates and or fuel cards for them.
Two things I believe we need to make this work
1. Be able to use the SDN name
2. A little promotional help from I-80 would go along ways.
I’m committing $25, who knows how expensive the next year will be.”
Scott will become a first time father in 2013 and will learn that it is not just the next year that will be expensive; he can count on the next 25 years being expensive.
I think Scott’s idea would work great if the SDN was more like the USA Nationals in Cedar Lake, Wisconsin. That race is 25 years old and has long been one of late model racing’s crown jewel events. It hasn’t always been WoO sanctioned, so it has a history with racers like Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, and Brian Birkhofer who don’t run many WoO shows, but do run CedarLake. Actually there were plenty of independents and Lucas Oil drivers at the 2012 USA Nationals.
That has not happened with the SDN, and even an event like the Lucas Oil sanctioned Knoxville Late Model Nationals had less than a handful of WoO drivers on hand. I think you could offer some drivers several thousand Fans Fund dollars and they still would not accept an offer to run in the SDN. If a driver like Darrell Lanigan will not race in the North-South 100 at Florence, Kentucky, only minutes away from where he lives, I am not sure what would get him to race in a Lucas Oil event in Nebraska. I think it is futile to spend time trying to get such drivers to come to I-80 Speedway.
I think it is also next to impossible to get drivers who run the UMP Summernationals Tour to also race in the SDN. They have just spent a month on the road, they are tired, their equipment is tired, and they are looking for down time, not another race 600 miles from home.
Another problem with enticing name drivers to the SDN is there are now so many regional races they can run that pay $3,000-$5,000 to win. Some drivers will look at an SDN entry list that includes Owens, O’Neal, Bloomquist, Francis, Birkhofer, and Mars and figure they will be lucky to get a top ten finish. That makes the regional race they have a shot at winning very attractive-close to home, less expense, and a good chance to make money.
Finally, it would not surprise me if the WoO scheduled against Silver Dollar Nationals III. They did against SDN II, but that event ended up being cancelled by the promoter.
Yes, I have changed my thinking on this from a few years ago. Part of that came from the difficulty we had trying to get drivers to commit to SDN I, but mostly the change resulted from seeing who did not race in other big money events.
I am having a difficult time believing Fan’s Fund dollars can attract a name driver to SDN III. With SDN I we gave Brian Birkhofer $400, because several other drivers backed out and he is the most popular driver in the Midwest. He was coming anyway. We gave Billy Moyer Jr. $400 because we thought if the son came, the father might also come-and it worked. But no way do we get the Hall of Famer by offering him $400.
So, that is why I am thinking Fans Fund needs to go for numbers, not names. Right now this is just my opinion. Nothing is etched in stone. Others might agree with Scott and want to go in that direction. Maybe someone else has a totally different idea that is workable. I would like to hear more ideas, and have more volunteers to help raise money, and set up something firm so everything is a go on New Years Day.
Thanks for stopping by.
NASCAR Visits Kansas, So Does MLRA. Lucas Oil In Ohio
Rich Auburn rancher Tony Anville-he calls his spread Ponderosa II and drives a Lexus with the license “NASCAR1”-has tickets to both annual Sprint Cup series events at Kansas Speedway. He emailed some of the details of his day, including that the WestwoodBaptistChurch was preaching their gospel at the track. This is the goofy one family congregation that protests at military funerals. Anyway, they were carrying signs that said “God hates NASCAR.” I’m not sure if this came from the Old or New Testament, or maybe God isn’t pleased with the quality of what NASCAR calls racing these days.
If either Brad Keselowski or Jimmie Johnson wins the NASCAR Sprint Cup title this season, they both can look back on this race for having dodged a bullet. Keselowski was inches away from being caught up in someone else’s wreck, and Jimmie Johnson spun out and hit the wall, but with multiple pit stops on several lengthy yellow flags, his crew was able to repair his car and get him a top ten finish.
I didn’t watch the entire race, but it seemed like there was a yellow flag flying every few laps in what I did watch. I was beginning to wonder if I was watching Sprint Cup cars or just sprint cars in action.
Keselowski remains at the top of the Sprint Cup point standings, followed by Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne. I will admit to openly rooting for Kansan Clint Bowyer to win the championship.
Anville annoyed Hendrick Racing fans sitting around him by openly cheering on Matt Kenseth to victory. Several of his emails touted the talent of Roush Fenway drivers, but he must not have checked out www.nascar.com or he would have found that the two RF drivers are 9th and 11th in the standings.
While Rick Hendrick’s Sunday announcement of Dale Earnhardt Jr. being cleared to race at Martinsville was premature, it is official today. Earnhardt will be back behind the wheel of the 88 this weekend.
I was totally wrong about no one not named Anderson, Stovall, or Philips winning the weekend features at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City. No one with those names won either of the features. On Friday night Kyle Berck won the $3,000 to win preliminary feature, and on Saturday the $5,000 winner’s went to Will Vaught.
This race was the last MLRA to be officiated by Harriett Chancellor and her husband “Cowboy.” I haven’t always agreed with how the series was operated, but to run a tour with races in four or five states takes a lot of time and effort. Hopefully MLRA drivers will do something nice for the Chancellors at the series banquet in November.
I was correct in predicting that the winner of the Dirt Track World Championship in Portsmouth, Ohio would come from a handful of name drivers. Jimmy Owens iced an already rich 2013 cake, winning the rain-shortened (to one day) event. He had already clinched the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series crown-worth $75,000, so the $50,000 Owens picked up Saturday night should make for cozy Tennessee winter.
Apparently the second half of the DTWC was run on a one groove track. Maybe the Portsmouth track prep crew needs to take a look at the video below. Thanks to Matt for the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uUpirSqyH9I
Owens won 7 Lucas Oil events and finished second in 11 others. Overall he had nearly 50 top tens for the season. No doubt he will return to the series in 2013 trying to win his 3rd straight championship, but I wonder if Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist will be on hand to do battle with Owens. Bloomquist seems to have to spend more and more time with his chassis building business, and I wonder if the driver of the Zero car will limit his efforts to the really big bucks events, skipping the now common $10,000 to win shows. Billy Moyer picks and chooses his events, and I can see Bloomquist doing the same.
Thanks for stopping by.
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