Classic Points Comparison

I'm not going to preface this, as we know what I think about the Chase. But I think it is interesting to look at the points as they stand now, in "Chase" form:

1) #48-Jimmie Johnson 5718 [5 wins]
2) #99-Carl Edwards 5646 -72 [6 wins]
3) #16-Greg Biffle 5641 -77 [2 wins]
4) #31-Jeff Burton 5619 -99 [1 win]
5) #07-Clint Bowyer 5566 -152 [1 win]

And in "Classic" form:

) #99-Carl Edwards 4267 [6 wins]
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson 4254 -13 [5 wins]
3) #18-Kyle Busch 4185 -82 [8 wins]
4) #31-Jeff Burton 3993 -274 [1 win]
5) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3947 -320 [1 win]

Well, would you looky there? Seems the old way is actually CLOSER than the new system.

See what contrivance gets ya? LOL!

• 14 Comments
• points system, The Chase, NASCAR

Yellow Line Revisited: 2003

I wrote something in the x-Files this week where I asked whether NASCAR would have ruled the same way in yesterday's Talladega 500 if it had been Earnhardt Jr. passing below the yellow line rather than Regan Smith. Well, that got the wrath of 88Craig, who was wondering why it is that people always think NASCAR always favors Jr. Personally, I don't think they do, however lots of people do and here is one example of why.

This is the 2003 Aarons 499 from Talladega, a real thriller. Late in the race, Junior takes the lead from Matty Kenseth in a bold move entering turn three. The yellow line is breached by the #8, and NASCAR did not call him on it. I'm not judging anything here, I am just submitting the evidence. Discuss:

• 20 Comments

The X-Files for 10/06/08

“It came with a speed and ferocity that left men dazed. The bottom simply fell out..."
- An account of the stock market crash of 1929 in The New York Times

THE TALLADEGA CITY BALLET
I still am amazed after all of these years by the high speed ballet that is a NASCAR race at Talladega. There is nothing like it. The beauty of it. The absolute precision - and the inevitability. All it takes is a part to fail, a tire to shred or a driver to make a tiny little misjudgment and that beautiful ballet is turned into a mosh pit.

Such was the case in Sunday's Talladega 500 where things went horribly wrong not once, but twice. And when all was said and done, when the pieces were being picked through and swept up by collectors, one man emerged through the debris to claim victory.

Tony Stewart wasn't necessarily the best car on Sunday. He was the best of the survivors. Unavoidable bad circumstances claimed better cars including those of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Denny Hamlin, but such is the business at Talladega. As the old adage goes, in order to finish first, first you must finish."

And to amend the quote "And if you finish second, at least have the judges in your pocket".

BIG ONES
19 cars in two wrecks. Cause? One blown tire and one driver misjudgment. You can have those same two things happen at other tracks and it is highly unlikely you would see such resulting carnage. But this is the restrictor plate reality. So much is out of the driver's control.

Rather than recap the actual incidents here (because we all have seen them innumerable times on the sports shows), I wanted to get into some of the philosophies that fail.

For instance, riding along at the back of the field and coming up late. Matt Kenseth said in an interview that he felt that one of the problems with riding along at the back of the pack all day is that you don't get a good sense of what you can get away with in terms of bump drafting. Sure looked that way when Carl started poking and bumping team mate Greg Biffle entering turn three rather agressively. These are the same three guys who a mere two weeks ago we were praising for their ability to race clean and hard. Fast forward and they are at the front of a wreck that took them and a whole host of other Chase contenders out of the race.

Ultimately, it has been proven over and over again that there is no safe place at a restrictor plate race. The only thing that may be of an advantage is that if you are up front all day long, you and your competitors are familiar with each other's capabilities and tendencies on that given day. There are fewer surprises. Even then, you are subject to...er... luck.

TIRED OF TIRES
First, Dale Jr. has a tire failure in practice and makes a mess. In the race, Brian Vickers shredded a right front while up front causing the first "Big One" on lap 68. Then, Denny Hamlin took one of the hardest hits we've seen in a while when he experienced tire failure while leading on lap 98. Then there was David Reutimann's left rear tire failure that took out in innocent Jeff Gordon.

So what was the deal, Goodyear? Is this a systemic problem like Indianapolis was a couple of months ago?

Not so, say the engineers.

According to the winged foots (winged feet?), the problem was that the teams were "OVER inflating the tires in an effort to produce less rolling resistance. Hmm. We have minimum tire pressures; I guess no one thought to suggest maximums. Any NASCAR video gamer knows this is the speed trick on superspeedways. I wonder if this really was a problem, or if Goodyear is once again blaming the teams for an inherent problem of Goodyear's making.

THE YELLOW LINE
I was watching the Truck race on Saturday. As the battle made its way to the final lap, I heard something from Phil Parsons that I had never heard of before. He said, to paraphrase, that the yellow line is out of bounds except on the final lap. What? Could that be? I had never heard that. Maybe Phil had it wrong.

That quote came to mind when I watched Regan Smith dip the nose of the #01 below the yellow line in an attempt to pass Tony Stewart on the final lap of the Talladega 500. Apparently, Andy Petree had the same notes that Parsons had as he also stated that he believed that you could pass below the yellow line on the final lap - "Anything goes". Later, NASCAR brass came to clarify the notion, saying that they had told the drivers that they could pass below the yellow line "when the checkered flag was in site."

Well Regan, I guess unless you have X-ray vision, you can't see the checkers from the beginning of the tri-oval. Or can you?

Next point would be to say that Stewart blocked him down below the line. That can't work either, as even in that scenario you can't advance your position. Oh well.

Jeff Gordon had some great advice for Regan should he be faced with that situation again - just hold your line and let Tony spin himself across your nose. Then it would be his fault. Sounds like sage advice.

Of course, the big question in every NASCAR fan's mind is what would have happened if the situation were reversed, or if the #01 was the #88. We'll never know. But hey, that's what the blogs and forums are for, right?

DEI DAY
Aside from the bummer that was Regan Smith's ultimate finishing position, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated sure looked like the team of old on Sunday. In fact, I was chuckling on the early laps when the #8 and the #15 drafted out in tandem and pulled from the field. Just like old times!

In a sure sign of our economic woes, the DEI team only has one full time sponsor for 2009 for what is currently a 4 car operation. Paul Menard of the Sideburns is leaving for Yates Racing as we know, so where does that leave DEI? Regan sure made a splash and I gotta admit I have been keeping a wayward eye on Arik Almirola for the past couple of months. That kid has real promise. It would be a shame for his budding career to be snuffed out due to a lack of funding.

So away with you Rusty Wallace rumors and come forth potential sponsors! This team ain't dead yet and the future isn't as dim as some have preached.

NOTES
If it were the "Classic" points system, the race for the Cup would actually be CLOSER than it is now under the Chase system. Ain't that a hoot?
1) #99-Carl Edwards 4267 [6 wins]
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson 4254 -13 [5 wins]
3) #18-Kyle Busch 4185 -82 [8 wins]

For the first time in recent memory, the NASCAR Cup package looked racier at a restrictor plate track than their Truck brethren. In the Truck race, the bottom line was all that really mattered. In the Cup race, the inside, outside and middle all looked like they could work...

With his win at Talladega, Tony conquered one of the handful of remaining tracks on the NASCAR schedule he has yet to win on. The remaining tracks? Darlington, Vegas and Fontana...

It was great to see some old friends poking their noses into the restrictor plate business - Sterling Marlin, Terry Labonte, Ken Schrader all were there, and Joe Nemechek and Bobby Labonte were in position to make waves a couple of times. Great finish for Bobby, who brought home the Petty #43 in 6th...

Like most, I got killed on my fantasy picks this weekend. I had constructed what would seem on paper to be a great team, but you know how it goes. I cursed them all, methinks! My worst week ever... It's all wide open now!

I don't think Carl Edwards will EVER get a Christmas card from Matt Kenseth...

X:)

• 8 Comments
• The X-Files

Just for the Record...

..last week there was a lot of blogging and arguing about Jamie McMurray in which I was in the position of continually raising his record as a driver and sorta kinda bashing him when compared to someone like Greg Biffle. As I said numerous times in these blogs, I really like Jamie. And just to show everyone that I do believe in his talent to a degree, I have picked him as a part of my ESPN Fantasy team this week.

So Misan, just for the record, I really do believe in his talent in certain circumstances, and here at Talladega I expect him to run pretty wwell....

(This means that I have either cursed McMurray's day, or agreed with Misan on something. Both are troublesome prospects... just kidding Misan... it's a joke... LOL!)...

X:)

• 8 Comments

Today's Podcast: LUCK

Whether by design or not, there was an interesting contrast today on the podcast, concerning the subject of luck.

Rick Mast, in an attempt to explain what has gone wrong with Kyle Busch's Chase dreams, brought up the idea of a mythical "Luck Bank" where we apparently draw out what we put in. In otherwords, he thinks Kyle has withdrawn from this bank too much and now he's got no balance remaining.

In contrast, Michele Rahal was describing Paul Newman's belief that there was no such thing as luck, just randomness. Instead, Newman tried to "make luck" for people by giving them opportunities.

I guess we're *all* just lucky to have a team at Rowdy that can provide such contrasting exesstential viewpoints (along with doll wedding recaps)...

X:)

• 26 Comments
• Paul Newman, michele rahal, Kyle Busch, Rick Mast, Doll Weddings

ALMS Goes Green

You all know I am a big advocate for the idea of "green" racing, specifically, using racing as a platform to accellerate the various technologies that can help us live in real life more efficiently and intelligently. No matter your stance politically, the idea of an "Energy Technology" based economy may be one of the only real answers we have to our current economic condition, and racing is the perfect place to develop many of the fuels and technologies that can get us there.

The American Le Mans Series at the beginning of the year announced the idea of "The Green Challenge", a inner race competition in part sponsored by the Energy Department, the EPA and the SAE. It is open to any team entering cars that run on "Green" fuels, i.e., clean diesel, E10 ethanol or cellulosic E85. The competitors will be ranked by how much fossil fuels they use and how many emissions they produce over the course of the race distance.

This weekend marks the first running of "The Green Challenge" at the season ending Petite Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Current entries into the Challenge are Corvette RRacing (running on the E85 cellulosic) and the awesom Audi R10 TDI entries that have revolutionized the prototype class with their high torque, low noise turbo diesel power. Word is that there are at least two manufacturers not currently competing in the American Le Mans Series who are interested in joining the series in 2009 mainly due to the attraction of the Green Challenge, which will be a part of every race on the ALMS schedule in 2009.

I couldn't find any information on an actual prize being awarded for winning the Challenge, but I imagine that the manufacturers are really interested in bragging rights at this point. NASCAR really needs to pay attention here. The IRL is already on ethanol, and this kind of move puts manufacturer relevancy on the front burner. Consumers may actually start to pay attention to which badges lead this technological revolution, and that may return racing to it's rightful place as a test bed, and as a "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" marketing platform.

More information on the Corvette program, and some quotes from Doug Fehan, who was on Windtunnel last Sunday night, can be found here.

• 4 Comments
• The Green Challenge, Corvette, Audi, alms

The X-Files for 9/29/08

"Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!"

-From the television show Hee Haw

THANK YOU CARL
For all the promise of a slick track and the presumed great racing that would follow, the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas had Carl Edwards to thank for saving us from what would have otherwise been a pretty boring race. But he did save the race, and amazingly his car after attempting the most blatant, daring turn three final lap slide job this fan has seen since 1979.
More on that one later.

It's not as if there wasn't any passing at Kansas. The race had plenty of "comers and goers", with Edwards climbing up a slippery slope and repeatedly dodging bullets not of his making. First, there was his amazing reaction to Brian Vickers on pit road. Without his cat-like reflexes, this incident would have certainly crippled his championship standing. Then there was Matt Kenseth's masterful sliding save. Again, viewed from Edwards' roof cam one sees a different type of reaction - a patient driver watching a spin unfold and putting his car in position where he could react whether Matt went up the track, or down to the infield. Later, there was more pit road beating and banging, and the #99 crew repaired the ensuing fender damage and Carl went about his business clawing his way back up through the field.

Lest one think I didn't see the great performances of Martin Truex Jr., or the consistent run of Jimmie Johnson - I did. But Carl was the most entertaining to watch all day as he repeatedly rebounded from setbacks. One would think that after all of that turmoil; a driver would be satisfied bringing the car home in a solid second place.

But racers don't think that way.

In a move eerily similar to the final lap battle between Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip in the 1979 Rebel 400, Carl overdrove his car deep into turn 3 in one big wishful slide job. And just like Waltrip, Johnson rolled out of the gas on entry and powered through the middle to take the win as his opponent gathered back control of his car. It was fun, it was exciting and thank Carl - for he saved the race from being another utterly boring downforce yawner.

CUP CHASERS
Like Dale Earnhardt Jr. a couple of weeks ago, seems that Clint Bowyer forgot his racing rules 101 book at home. Reminder: You can't pass ANYONE on the initial start of a race. Despite the black flag and the setback it caused, Clint was able to join the rest of his RCR team mates in the top 10 when all was said and done. These teams are hitting on all cylinders except for they just don't seem to have the speed of their Hendrick Motorsports badge mates.

Greg Biffle wasn't able to pull off a three-peat. but he was a solid car all day long. The big challenge for him is to get through the forthcoming Talladega mess unscathed and in the top 10. Matt Kenseth showed that he really IS a "naturally talented dreivr" with his skillful turn 1-2 save, but he also showed us the usual patient maturity as he climbed back up into the top 5. And like someone said about Jeff Gordon, a sick Gordon is better than about 95% of the field. Don't bury him yet in this deal.

What is there left to discuss? Oh yeah, that OTHER end of the spectrum. I'll start with...

WITHERING EARNHARDT
Last week, I pondered whether Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s late race fades had something to do with personal training and physical conditioning. Well, seems like a physically whipped June Bug couldn't be roused for his post-race interview. I know the talk has been about the plummet of Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing during the Chase, but what has happened to the #88 team? In many ways, I think Junior is as manic as Kyle Busch is, in this sense: When he's up, he's up. When he's down, you can barely pick him up off the floor. This team is in a spiral, and even though I expect them to be up front at Talladega next week, anything short of a win will relegate Junior's Championship hopes into the afterthought bin.

DANTE'S GREMLINS
It is nothing short of amazing to see the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team falter in such majesty. I don't know what gremlins are running through that shop, but I can't recall any Cup team running into mechanical issues three weeks in a row like the #18 has. Sabotage? No, no. That's my kid talking. It's just uncanny. Even his detractors must admit that having Kyle out of the mix for three consecutive weeks has been something of a disappointment - The show just ain't as fun without him in the mix!

What is dangerous for everyone is that next week is Talladega, and a pretty pissed, pretty aching Kyle Busch may be in a place where he is desperate to reclaim some steam. The problem is, Talladega isn't the place for that kind of mindset. Here's hoping he, along with everyone else, can show some restraint.

Uhh... errr... no. I take that last part back. LOL!

THOUGHTS ON NEWMAN
My mother-in-law was in tears when I told her the news about Paul Newman on Saturday. He was her favorite, well, save for Sammy Davis Jr. But what she didn't really know was the extent to which Newman's motorsports family would share her pain. There was such an outpouring from everyone this weekend, from drivers and car owners across the various forms of racing. But whether you were a fan because of his work on the silver screen or the asphalt ribbon, the common thread we all recognize is that aspect of his character that made him one of the most caring humans on the planet. We are richer for having been touched by him.

My favorite thing about Newman isn't about his racing or his incredibly generous, charitable spirit. What I admire the most and take into my own life was his unending devotion to his wife, actress Joanne Woodward. For any marriage, much less a Hollywood marriage, to have endured for so many years speaks volumes. And my favorite quote? When asked why he never strayed, he replied "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home." Now THAT's a real man.

NOTES
Three races into the Chase, and we're effectively down to three drivers having a shot, barring some three-way disaster. Guess what? This would be the same if we were in the old points system (except that Kyle would be one of the three...sob!):

1) #99-Carl Edwards 4186 [6 wins]
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson 4111 -75 [5 wins]
3) #18-Kyle Busch 4062 -124 [8 wins]

The Dinger was the best finishing Toyota. He also recorded his best ever finish - 9th. How awesome. I am going to miss this combination. Who do we think is in the car next week? Mike Skinner?

Did I really see Bobby Hillin Jr. in the Nationwide race? Wow. He's STILL younger than me!

Another week where we are left guessing what happened during the closing laps thank you ESPN. How exactly did Carl close the gap that quickly with 2 to go? I guess viewers at home will never know...

Best line? Dale Jarrett remarking on Tony Stewart's wild ride through the quad oval grass "That's one expensive lawn mower!"

Speaking of which, was the infield mowed after the landscapers visited the Jack Daniels hospitality tent? Pretty wild....

Silver wheels on Ambrose's car this weekend. What could THAT mean?

Once again, my kid kicked everyone's butt on the ESPN Fantasy racing deal - a whopping 788 points! Makes us all look bad (and, ug, thank you Truex for popping the shifter with your gorilla paws)...

And as a final note, a happy ROUSH Hashana to all!


>


X:)

• 13 Comments
• The X-Files

Dinger Gets The Finger

According to Jayski and the Toronto Star, A.j. Allmendinger was told last Wednesday that he would not be back behind the wheel of the #84 Red Bull Toyota for 2009. I am really disappointed by this if it proves out to be true, which it looks like it is. I'm not going to say it is unfair, or unjust, but I just wish it were different. I think if he was given some time, maybe another season, he would continue to improve. I know everyone's on the Scott Speed trip, that's well and good, but if the owner's pet wasn't waiting in the wings, I get the sense that they may have been more patient with the Dinger.

Maybe if the JGR purchasing the #96 team rumors turn out to be valid we can convince them to put an aspiring young Dinger behind the wheel of that car. The certainly could do worse....

• 4 Comments
• The Dinger

The X-Files for 9/22/08

It snowed last year too: I made a snowman and my brother knocked it down and I knocked my brother down and then we had tea. ~Dylan Thomas

THE ULTIMATE INTERTEAM SHOWDOWN
What an amazing display that was yesterday at Dover. I'm not talking simply "racing"; I'm talking about an exhibition on inter-team competition. Before we can get into the whole rest of the story that was the Camping World RV 400 at Dover, we must pause and wrap our collective brains around what we saw in the closing laps. It was nothing short of stellar.

Consider the stakes. Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards were charged with competing head to head as team mates. They are all in the Championship Chase and they all know that each and every point matters. The balancing act between desire and restraint, the will to win and the understanding that tomorrow, no matter what happens, they would have to work together as siblings in the Roush-Fenway organization all had to managed while navigating the unforgiving confines of the Monster Mile. It was masterful, it was thrilling and it was dynamic to watch. None of the drivers was giving an inch, yet none was truly willing to put the other at risk. It was like watching great friends fencing. It was a situation that maybe only one other organization in the garage has the collective temperament to pull off, but alas, that team doesn't have the collective equipment to put on such an exhibition.

The beautiful irony, the perfection in the universe was on display as I look back to the car that finished behind the Roushkateers. It was driven by a man whose temperament behind the wheel became the template for how a team driver should behave. On some level, Mark "it's A privilege" Martin must have been ever so proud.

THE BATTLE THAT WAS
The final battle was a clinic on how to take away the line of those in pursuit. First, Edwards, with only two fresh tires mind you, held off his team mates for several more laps than most would have expected. Then, as he faded, Matt used lapped traffic to his advantage and took the point before an obviously quicker Biffle. Greg was attempting to get that high line off turn two to work, launching him down the back straight. But Kenseth seemed to be reading his mind and repeatedly took away the preferred line lap after lap. It was only when Biffle finally got along the outside of the #17 on the back straight entering turn 3 that the fight was over, but not before Edwards had closed back in for one final thrust. As they settled into single file for the final handful of laps, I'm pretty sure I heard Jack Roush finally breathe again.

It was an outstanding display. If it had been any other team, or any other combination of drivers from different teams, I'm pretty sure there would have been wreckers, thrown helmets and bruised feelings afterwards.

KYLE GETS FORKED
Well, we can all put a fork in it: Kyle Busch's championship run is effectively done. But before you cheer, bear in mind that this team and driver exceeded anyone's expectations for 2008. That is, except for yours truly. I picked him to win this whole thing back in January, and I must admit that I am disappointed that mechanical troubles kept him from really competing for the title. It is a shame. Unfortunately, I don't think Kyle is going to run fast and angry for the remainder of the season either. He's a bit too manic for that. I expect that he will be his own worst enemy for the remaining races as that is the nature of this kind of athlete. When he's up, he's up, but when he's down, he's really down.

Joe Gibbs Racing sure has picked the wrong time to trip over themselves in the mechanical preparation department. First there was the hind joint debacle last week (no broken part after all, we come to discover. An oversight during car prep). This week, we had the blown engine on the #18 and a leaky rear end for Denny Hamlin (sounds like fun). However you slice it, this is not the kind of bulletproof preparation we've come to expect from JGR. Unless one of the other big teams decides to join them in the land of screw-ups, it's a fair bet that Toyota won't be bringing home the 2008 Cup.

EUR-OUT
Speaking of manic, it looks like the psychology applied to Dale Earnhardt Jr. by Rick Hendrick didn't really do much to improve the team's communications. It really is time for Cousin Tony Eury Jr. to move on. Of Junior's 18 wins, only two have come with Eury Jr. atop the pit box. The remaining 16? The "other" Eury, Tony "Pops" Eury Sr. Now, no one's going to get the old man out of retirement, but maybe someone over at HMS should be looking at that kind of pairing. Junior needs a firm hand of someone he respects, someone who he looks up to - not a peer he can berate or question. A Doug Richert, Jimmy Fenning or Harry Hyde type who can calm him down and not agitate him when the car goes south.

Also, can someone out there in Junior Nation tell me if they know if Dale Jr. has any kind of physical training regimen going on? I am starting to wonder if part of the reason he seems to fade and lose focus as the races drag on is because he isn't as physically honed as Carl, Jimmie or Kyle. Just a thought...

NATIONWIDE AND TRUCKS
The Nationwide race was another Kyle Busch / JGR runaway exhibition, so the story there wasn't up front. The story could have easily have been the rebound of Brad Keselowski during the race. For the first half, Keselowski, who will make 2 Cup starts later this year in the #25 Hendrick Chevy, seemed like he couldn't get out of his own way. Then there was the scary incident in the pits where the car fell off the jack and pinched the extremities of a couple of his crewmen. Ouch! But, with a couple of well timed cautions and some strategy, Brad was able to bring that boring-as-white-bread looking car home in third. Great job.

Perhaps the other story at the Nationwide event was the whopping number of "start and park" entrants. I counted 8 to go along with another grouping of cars lacking sponsorship altogether.

The Craftsman Truck event at Las Vegas on Saturday Night was a real barn-burner that had one of the best finishes of the season. Erik Darnell and Mike Skinner went at it after a green/white/checkered restart with Skinner taking the win by a couple of feet at the line. It was an instant classic. I have really come to like what they have done to this track in Vegas.

But alas, the truck event also was impacted by the economic realities of the day, as only 30 trucks showed up for a field of 36. Sigh...

NOTES
Attention aspiring broadcasters. If you are interested in ever being one of those on-air technical experts like ESPNs Tim Brewer, the first thing you must do is get a serious manicure! Anyone ever notice the impeccable finger nails and cuticles on the be-spittled one?

Not since Dave Marcis has a driver been so difficult to put a lap down. At least that's what I think of when I watch Robbie Gordon. Maybe he borrowed old Dave's wingtips...

After his outstanding run for much of the race on Sunday, I am thinking that David Reutimann is joining David Ragan on the short list of next first time winners. He would have bagged another top 10 this week if not for a "pitting outside the box" penalty late in the race. He looks about ready to break in!

Can someone please clue in the idiots at ESPN that their job late in the race is to freakin' CHRONICLE the action?! Last week, they out and out missed the pass for the win. This week, they nearly did it again; instead drifting back to cover what was happening around 8th place instead. In addition, they also missed what happened on the last restart when Martin fell back so far behind Biffle. They never did explain that one. Please please please stay with the action, folks!

Ok, I gotta brag. I picked the top four in the ESPN Fantasy league this week, and if Reutimann hadn't messed up his last pit stop, I would have had another in the top 10. That comes out to a whopping 812 points! Yes sir...

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and for indulging me with last week's X-Rant. I still think the points are screwy and unjust. I'll live with it, though. I'll just add in something my brother-in-law asked me yesterday: How is it that Greg Biffle wins the first two Chase races and he's not the points leader?

Sigh. Can't win.

X:)

• 9 Comments
• The X-Files

Frye Remains a Red Bull!

It was announced today that Jay Frye will be staying on as the General Manager at Red Bull Racing despite Stewart/Haas' attempts to lure him away for next season. This is great news for RBR fans. Jay is one of th best organizers in the sport and this will help keep those Toyotas pointing in the right direction. I am pretty psyched!

Now if they would only figure out what thy are doing with Dinger for next season. My hope is that they retain him for another season and give him a chance while putting Scott Speed into a part-time Cup program married to a fulltime Nationwide ride. If they are NOT going to re-sign Dinger, they really need to let him know ASAP so he can figure out his 2009 plans before everything drys up. That would be most uncool...

• 7 Comments
• Red Bull Racing, Jay Frye, Dinger