Been a while

Greetings everybody,

Well, it's been about a year since I've been around. I still try and get on the site when I can and it seems that everything's been well maintained(and improved). I haven't logged on in about a year though. Maybe someone here remembers me and my old 'power rankings'.

I've been so entirely busy that I can't even get on a computer but a few minutes every couple days.

Anyway, I just thought I might give Rowdy nation an update on where I've been and say I look to try to post more often.

As some may or may not remember, I'm in high school. I'm going to be a senior this year and I've been taking automotive classes for the past two years now. I have just been accepted into NASCAR Technical Institute out in North Carolina and start in August of 2009 to begin NASCAR/Automotive technology courses.

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Power Rankings-Chicagoland

1.)Jeff Gordon- In 6 starts, he has 1 win(coming in controversial fashion last season),4 top fives, and 1 pole. His average finishing position is 10.2. This team has proven to still be just as competitive without Letarte at the track.

2.)Denny Hamlin- In 1 start, he managed a 14th place finish but this team has been on fire lately and despite setbacks last week, should be good for, at least, a consistent run.

3.)Matt Kenseth- In 6 starts, he has 1 top five which is one of his 2 top tens. He appeared to have the car to beat last season and was leading until contact was made with Gordon. Average finishing position of 11.5. This team is remaining consistent week in and week out.

4.)Jimmie Johnson- In 5 starts, he has 4 top fives and 5 top tens. He also has 1 pole at this race track. Average finishing position of 3.6. This team is also remaining consistent and managing at least top tens everywhere.

5.)Jeff Burton- In 6 starts, he has 1 top five that is one of his 2 top tens and 1 pole. This team hasn't been struggling but they've been off and on lately.

6.)Carl Edwards- In 2 Cup starts, he hasn't managed a top ten although in 2005, he had an extremely fast car until the right front tire went down and sent him into the wall, ending his day. In 2 Busch Series starts, he has 2 top fives and 1 pole. Average Cup finish of 29.5. This team has picked up the ball lately and seem to be getting fast everywhere.

7.)Tony Stewart- In 6 starts, he has 1 win, 4 top fives, and 1 pole. His average finishing position is 12.7. This team is starting to get hot and despite controversy last weekend, they could be on top.

8.)Kyle Busch- In 2 starts, he has 1 top five. His average finishing position is 8.5. This team continues to remain tough (despite next season's departure of Kyle Busch) as long as the equipment holds up for Kyle Busch on the track.

9.)Kevin Harvick- In 6 Cup starts, he has 4 top tens, 3 of them are top fives, and 2 are wins. In 2 Busch starts, he has 1 win as one of his 2 top fives. His average Cup finishing position is 8.7. This team had some bad luck last weekend but they've been picking up the pace each week.

10.)Martin Truex Jr.- In 1 Cup start, he has managed a 16th place finish but this team has been the biggest turnaround since their win at Dover. In 3 Busch Series starts, he managed 1 top ten finish.

11.)Clint Bowyer- In 1 Cup start, he managed a 9th place finish. This team has had flashes of brillance and flashes of bad luck. In 3 Busch Series starts, he has 2 top tens.

12.)Dale Jr.- In 6 starts, he has 1 win, 2 top fives, and 3 top tens. His average finishing position is 14.5. This is a team that just got their crew chief back last weekend and really needs to get a points cushion to remain in the Chase.

13.)Jamie McMurray- In 4 starts, he has managed 1 top ten finish with an average finish of 20.5. This team is coming fresh off a win and has been building all season long. McMurray hasn't always seemed too outstanding on the intermediates but momentum can be everything. He sits 49 points out of 12th and this team has just under 10 weeks to make the Chase.

14.)Ryan Newman- In 5 starts, he has 1 win, 2 top fives, and 1 pole. His average finish is 21.0. This team is patchy but has been getting better. They sit 61 points out of Chase contention.

15.)Kurt Busch- In 6 starts, he has 4 top tens and an average finish of 17.3. This team sits 121 points out of making the Chase for the final Nextel Cup.

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07/07/07 Pepsi 400 Recap

"Magic" McMurray breaks his 166 race winless drought with a win at Daytona in the last Pepsi 400 by .005 seconds with help from Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, on the last lap.  McMurray had faced a challenge early on when he was black flagged and forced to do a pass through penalty under green for passing below the yellow line.  Kyle Busch finished the very close second place in the second closest finish in NASCAR history only behind an ever so famous Darlington finish involving another Busch.

Surprises of the Race:
1.)Jamie McMurray wins with Roush Fenway Racing cars placing 1st,4th,6th,8th,and 12th.  McMurray has showed strength on restrictor plate tracks in the past but not many expected this win..
2.)Kasey Kahne finishes 9th.
3.)Clint Bowyer, driver of t he #07, finishes 7th on 07/07/07.


Unshocking Results:
1.)3 Hendrick cars in the top ten with all 4 placing 2nd, 5th, 10th, and 19th.



Heartbreaks:
1.)Dale Jr. finishes 36th after incidents earlier in the race.
2.)Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlins incident together.
3.)Mark Martin finishes 17th after his 2nd place finish in the season opening Daytona 500.
4.)Kevin Harvick finishes 34th.



The Race to the Chase:
9.)Kevin Harvick +181

10)Martin Truex +166
11)Clint Bowyer +151
12)Dale Jr. +49
2040

13.)Jamie McMurray -49
14.)Ryan Newman -61

15.)Kurt Busch -121

Jamie McMurray and the 26 team find themselves right back in the thick of things with less than 10 weeks until Richmond.  Ryan Newman with his #12 team are still on the prowl and Kurt Busch and the #2 team are looking to rebound and are back into a one race gap on points.

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Bring the Manufacturers Back

With the Car of Tomorrow's entrance into NASCAR, one of the major concerns is the lack of difference between the manufacturers.Manufacturers are and always have been a major factor in the sport and many 'old school' fans choose their driver based on manufacturer.

Thinking about the Car of Tomorrow and the way that NASCAR works, I had an idea for bringing the manufacturers back.Obviously, it wouldn't be cheap and with the COT becoming the next big thing, it would be hard pressed to implement it in Cup. My idea was to try to take it back to the way it used to be when manufacturers actually had aerowars and horsepower wars.There would have to be some ground rules, however, because of some advantages which certain manufacturers have over others.

Number one:Budget caps.Each manufacturer may build a unique body, engine, and chassis within a certain budget cap so the current manufacturer with the most money wouldn't thrash the competion and no one manufacturer could have a runaway in all the fields.The model however must actually represent a street model For example, a NASCAR Fusion should look more similar to a street Fusion.

Number two:All would have to meet minimum requirements and have maximum limits.Basically just regulating a fair and a safe atmosphere.

Number three:The engine rules would be close to what they are now.The current engines (No fuel injection)would be used and teams have to follow a certain base but may put their own spin on it for competition's sake.

Where could this take place? Possibly the Craftsman Truck Series and the Grand National Series.These two series have no current plans released to transfer the COT. Why not bring the manufacturers back and have a little test?

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Pepsi 400 Power Rankings

Well, Daytona is a pretty hard track to rate because things can happen so quickly that some results come out of nowhere.Here goes nothin'


1.)Jeff Gordon-In 29 Daytona (points race)starts, he has 6 wins, 10 top fives, and 16 top tens.He is usually masterful on restrictor plate tracks and knows how to keep his nose clean.His momentum didn't seem to take too much of a shot after losing his crew chief last weekend so look for him to be up front.Average finishing position is 14.2

2.)Denny Hamlin-In 3 points paying Daytona races, he has been a victim of circumstance and never managed even a top ten. He did, however, win the Bud Shootout in 2006.This team has been on the ball recently and should continue this weekend.Average finishing position is 25.0

3.)Matt Kenseth-In 15 starts, he's accumulated 1 top five and 5 top tens.The last few restrictor plate races the 17 team has had good cars but things always seem to bite them at the end. If things go his way, he could be a contender.Average finishing position is 20.1.

4.)Jimmie Johnson-In 11 starts, he has 1 win, 5 top fives, and 7 top tens.This team has remained consistent but somewhat had up and down luck recently.Hendrick definitely has the equipment to get it done.The 48 won the 500 last season without Knaus.Irony?Average finishing position of 12.2

5.)Jeff Burton-In 27 starts, he has 1 win, 6 top fives, and 8 top tens.The 31 team has been maintaining but not really gaining too much as of late.RCR's restrictor plate program has improved and Harvick did win the Daytona 500 so, who knows.Average finishing position of 17.0

6.)Tony Stewart-In 17 points paying starts, he has 2 wins, 5 top fives, and 9 top tens.The Joe Gibbs Racing stable almost always seems ready to tangle at restrictor plate tracks and he had one of the cars to beat at the season opening Daytona 500.Average finishing position of 17.2

7.)Carl Edwards-In 5 starts, he has also never managed even a top 10.He has had several decent to strong Daytona runs in Cup and Busch (as well as a CTS win in 2003) but has never capitalized in the end of a Cup series race.This team will probably have some crew changes this weekend or at least a few behind the scenes changes after the jack incident at Loudon. Average finishing position of 30.0 after a 43rd place finish 2006 Daytona 500

8.)Kevin Harvick-In 12 starts, he has a win from earlier this season, 3 top fives, and 5 top tens.This team has started to regain some steam recently and could very well want 10 more bonus points.Average finishing position of 14.9

9.)Kyle Busch-In 5 starts, he has managed a 1 top five finish in a points paying Daytona race.He was strong in the Bud Shootout earlier this season but yet another Hendrick team could be facing a crew chief penalty after the 5 car was found too low after Loudon.Average finishing position of 23.6

10.)Martin Truex Jr.-In 4 starts, he hasn't been able to mangae a top ten finish and DEI's restrictor plate program has lost some of the shine it once had but this is a strong team looking for another good run.Average finishing position of 27.0

11.)Clint Bowyer-In 3 starts, he has 2 top tens.This team could definitely use a few more good runs as they've fallen to 11th in points and they're now in the danger zone for making the chase.Average finishing position of 11.3

12.)Dale Jr.-In 15 starts, he has 2 wins, 6 top fives, and 9 top tens.As I said with Truex, though, DEI's plate program has lost some shine.Don't count the 8 team out this weekend when Eury will be making his return.Average finishing position of 12.8

13.)Ryan Newman-In 11 starts, he has 2 top tens, 1 being a top five.Penske showed some plate strength in the Daytona 500 earlier this season and this team wants a win badly.Average finishing position of 20.7

14.)Jamie McMurray-In 9 starts, he has 2 top tens with 1 top five.Roush Fenway Racing definitely has the engines to get something done and McMurray seems to excel where some of the other Roush drivers don't at places like plate tracks and road courses.Average finishing position of 27.9

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Sometimes 2 Is Better Than 4

Denny Hamlin was cheated from victory multiple times this season by his crew, only to win a race (over the man who had beaten him on those multiple occasions, Jeff Gordon) from a call by the man atop Hamlin's pitbox for 2 tires.


Surprises of the Race:
1.)Jeff Green finishes 6th and his teammate, Johnny Sauter, finished 14th
2.)Tony Stewart only finished 12th
3.)Greg Biffle finishes 31st
4.)Ford had their first very competitive COT in the 99 this weekend. 4 Roush Fenway cars made the top 16.



Unshocking Results:
1.)Hamlin wins after a great record in COT races and at Loudon
2.)Gordon finishes 2nd
3.)Truex Jr. finishes 3rd
4.)Johnson finishes 5th
5.)Burton finishes 7th
6.)Kenseth finishes 9th



Heartbreaks:
1.)Carl Edwards finishes 13th after having one of the fastest cars on the track but his pitcrew dropped the jack under green flag pitstops. The team rallied back as far as they could. Look for possible changes in the crew by next weekend.

2.)Dave Blaney won the pole and finished 29th, a lap down.


The Race to the Chase:
8.)Harvick +248
9.)Ky. Busch +182
10)Truex +175 < Points ahead of 13th
11)Bowyer +128
12)Jr. +127
1985
13.)Newman -127
14.)McMurray -184

As you can see, the race to the chase is stretching out and beginning to look like it's going to be set.

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Article by Dave Woolford

Alright, I wouldn't usually do this but I wondered upon this article written by Dave Woolford on a forum that I am a member of and it really was an amazing thing to read. I thought it was worth posting on here for all points and purposes and it is one of the many reasons that I'm a proud fan of Carl Edwards and all the other drivers who take time out of their busy schedule. This article was written by Dave Woolford for the Toledo Free Press as you can see below.



AUTO RACING
NASCAR stars shine off track for Ohio boy
By Dave Woolford
Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
news toledofreepress.com

It was a weekend that will forever go unmatched in the life of 12-year-old Dakota Williams, the events of which couldn't have been any more heartwarming had they been planned with the utmost detail.

Dakota is a young man who was born with muscular dystrophy. He is confined to a wheelchair and is ventilator dependent. Dakota, along with his father, Wayne, and mother, Heather, were among the guests of a company that rents an infield suite at Michigan International Speedway for the purpose of entertaining customers on race weekends

When Wayne was invited to attend the NASCAR Nextel Cup Citizens Bank 400 two weeks ago at MIS, he requested a ticket for his son, stating that, because of his son's special needs, there would be the need for an elevator to get Dakota up to the suite, located just behind the pits.

That proved no problem. The family was going to leave from their home in London, Ohio, the morning of June 17, but left, instead, the night of June 15 and stayed with friends when they discovered that there would be a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on June 16 followed by a free Montgomery Gentry concert at the track.

Dakota is a big country music fan.

On the way up to Michigan, the Williams family stopped at a Wal-Mart store and purchased a miniature, No. 99 Carl Edwards racecar. Why Edwards?

"It was kind of odd how we picked that car. I guess I thought we might have a chance to meet him," said Wayne, who claimed to be a "mediocre" NASCAR fan whose favorite driver was Greg Biffle. That since has changed.

When the concert ended that Saturday night, Eddie Montgomery wiped his sweaty brow with a towel and then threw it into the audience. While fans tugged and pulled to gain possession of the towel, a slightly inebriated fan standing near Dakota, said, "Hey, this young man deserves that towel more than anyone else in this place "

Everyone agreed and Dakota got the towel. A short while later, an MIS representative asked Montgomery if he would autograph a picture for Dakota. Montgomery graciously agreed.

The next day at the NASCAR Nextel Cup race, the Williams family was fortunate enough to have "The King," Richard Petty, visit their suite before going up the stairs to the roof for a better view of his race team.

With people mobbing Petty for an autograph, Wayne waited until Petty climbed the stairs to the roof and then asked Petty if, when he had time, he could sign an autograph for Dakota.

"I kind of felt sorry for Petty because everyone wanted his autograph or their picture taken with him," Wayne said. "I didn't know what to call him, Mr. Petty? Richard? Or what, but when he saw Dakota, he came right down the stairs, signed an autograph, had his picture taken with Dakota and the smile on Petty's face was very genuine.

"Dakota didn't know who he was. I told him he just got his picture taken with a legend."

After the race, the Williams family hung out by the narrow opening in the fence that leads to the driver's privately parked motor homes.

They were in awe: "There goes Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wasn't that Tony Stewart? Hey, there's Jimmie Johnson."

"It took a while to kick in that we were seeing all these famous drivers," Wayne explained. "My wife said, ‘There goes Jeff Gordon, let's ask him for his autograph.' I said, ‘He's too far up (in notoriety). He won't stop.' "

But when Gordon saw Dakota, he motioned to the fellow driving the golf cart Gordon was on to stop. Gordon walked over to Dakota, signed his autograph, offered Dakota a picture and spent about five minutes with him. "Gordon was just awesome," the elder Williams said.

It gets better.

"We waited and waited to see Carl Edwards [who had just won the race]," Wayne said. "It was so hot, but Dakota wanted to wait. We definitely knew Edwards was in his motor home. Then we saw him come out and we waved to him. Carl motioned for us to come to his motor home. We looked at the guard and he said, ‘Go ahead.'

"Carl came up to us and asked Dakota how old he was, if he had a girlfriend and spent at least 10 to 15 minutes talking to Dakota while signing the car we got at Wal-Mart."

It gets better.

Edwards then asked the Williams family if they could hang on for a couple more minutes, saying he had a souvenir in his motor home that he wanted to give Dakota.

When Edwards reappeared, he apologized, saying, he would have given Dakota the trophy he had won that day, but he had already given it to his father. After all, it was Father's Day.

But Edwards had something else that he laid across the tray on the front of Dakota's wheelchair. It was the fire suit Edwards wore during the race. He had signed it across the chest. It said, "Dakota, You're The Man. Carl Edwards 2007 MIS Winner."

When he handed the fire suit to Dakota, Edwards said, smiling, "This is worth about $5,000. You'd better not sell it."
The Williams family was awestruck - again.

"There was no one there with him, just us," Wayne said. "He didn't do that for publicity. He did it because he wanted to. To get his autograph and then for him to do that ... Wow

"My wife was not a NASCAR fan. She is now. She found her driver. We're all fans of the 99 now, but Biffle is a close second.

"Everyone at the track was so generous and super nice. It was just an awesome experience."

At day's end, Dakota was so tired that his father took him out of his wheelchair and laid him on the floor of the family's van for the trip home. Dad was well aware that there were at least 99 reasons why there would be a repeat trip for the August NASCAR Nextel Cup race at MIS.

(Go here for picture: http://www.toledofreepress.com/?id=5856 )

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Roush Fenway Racing Better Than Roush Racing

Well, there hasn't been a terrible lot in the wild world of NASCAR that has suited me enough to post a blog within the last day. No, I don't really care about Ted Musgrave's suspension and, on that note, I think that it was a bad call to suspend him despite the obvious danger of the situation. That topic, however has been beaten to death in the past 48 hours so I decided to write about an announcement that interested me as a Roush Fenway Racing fan and an Edwards fan.

Many people have questioned Jack Roush in the past year because of his organization's troubles over the past season. Some people questioned his motives to sell a 50% stake of his team to a baseball owner. Some people wondered if he was really the great owner who some of us have always believed he was. Some people wondered if he still had the thrill to go racing and the oil pumping through his veins. The announcement today just goes to show that the famous Cat in the Hat is still the genius that many have always pinned him to be.

The announcement which was made today by Jack Roush, Carl Edwards, and John Henry was a simple announcement to some fans. This weekend the #99 Ford Fusion piloted by Carl Edwards will be sponsored by the Boston Red Sox with help from Lumber Liquidators and the Gilette Young Guns. This announcement, however, is bigger than many people think about upon first glance. It may very well be the first of many relating to the involvement of sponsors of the Boston Red Sox sponsoring cars fielded by Roush Fenway Racing and vice versa.

It just so happens that Lumber Liquidators (the principal sponsor making the Red Sox car possible this weekend) has a sponsorship program with Fenway Sports Group. Don't believe me? http://www.fenwaysportsgroup.com/sports/press-release/spec-rel/070506aad.html . Well, now they have a sponsorship program with Roush Fenway Racing that could possibly show up on an ARCA car, a Craftsman Truck Series truck, a Grand National car, or maybe even a Cup car fielded by Roush Fenway in the future. This one deal is only the beginning of sponsorship possibilities for the organizations. Now John Henry just has to extend his pitch a little bit. "Hi, I'm John Henry. Are you interested in sponsoring my baseball team? How about my NASCAR team?".

It turns out that Jack Roush made a brilliant move. Jack Roush sold half of his company, Roush Racing, to a man who owns a baseball team. At the time, many people wondered if the Cat in the Hat's hat was a little too snug. It's obvious now that Jack is the genius he always has been and always will be. The Red Sox will help with the sponsorship while Jack Roush gets back to the racing side of things in a way that most owners can only fathom and it's all because of the deal he made with a man who owns a baseball team called the Boston Red Sox.

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The Car of Tomorrow:The New Era of NASCAR

I'm fairly new here so I've never really gotten a chance to write about the Car Of Tomorrow like I would have liked and with the recent surge in topics about how the 24 and 48 teams' cars fit the templates but they still were penalized, I thought I would give my take on the COT and any changes that I believe could be made.

The COT was born for two reasons. It was born for two great reasons and they are the reasons that the car will endure. Safety and competition are the only reasons that the COT exists. The car is perhaps the safest thing to be in when hitting speeds of 200 mph at tracks like Michigan. The car has also reduced aero advantages as much as humanly possible between manufacturers. Each manufactuer is given a specific nose and rear quarter windows but that's the end of it. The fenders are an aero-advantage and thus a no-no as we've seen this previous weekend.

The COT is meant to put the racing into the hands of the driver even more. The purpose is to have the chassis become the main component of adjustability rather than the aero package or coil binding. This allows things to fall more towards the drivers and crew chiefs. This will supposedly level the competition.

The COT also looks much more similar to the street cars which they represent than we have seen in recent years. The COT actually appears similar to a Ford Fusion in many ways.

I am a huge supporter for the COT for some of these reasons.

I do have issues with the COT, however. Going back to the manufacturer differences, why not

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The Cheatin' Kind

Today, penalties for Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were handed down for infractions made at Sonoma. Both the 24 and 48 teams were fined $100,000, 100 driver and owner points, and their respective crew chiefs were placed on suspension for 6 weeks. This penalties, in my mind, did not fit the crime or the situation and should have been more severe if NASCAR truly wants to police the teams.

Let me start out by saying this: I am not a fan of Rick Hendrick or Jeff Gordon and I never have been. Rick Hendrick has never appealed to me as an owner and I think that he has pulled some schemes in his day (as all owners have) and I don't particularly like the man or his team. I am able to admit that the man is one of the best owners in the garage, though.

As for Jeff Gordon, he has never appealed to me as a driver. I've never been a fan of his attitude or his sometimes dirty driving that no one seems to point out. He has always been an overly aggressive driver to me despite what many believe. I also don't believe that he is the greatest driver despite his win column and his championship column. The kid came in at a time when the competition level was down, Hendrick Motorsports was up, and so was Ray Evernham on his pitbox for a while. In spite of me not believing that he is the greatest to ever wheel a race car, I will admit, he is ONE of the best to ever wheel a race car.

Now that I got that all out of the way, back to the original topic. The penalties do not fit the crime or the situation. How many times in the past three years has HMS been caught cheating? Better yet, how many times in the past three years has the 48 team been caught cheating? A few years back they showed up with 'super shocks' at Dover and were penalized, last year at Daytona, and now this. Chad Knaus is one of the best minds on pit road but sometimes he lets his ingenuity get the better of him. Sometimes he colors outside of the lines too much and if NASCAR truly wants to police the sport, he should be sitting longer given his history of taking things too far.

The 24 team was found to have a problem in the Bud Shootout which they won earlier this season. They weren't penalized for it and maybe it really was a mistake but first that and then this. How many consistent times does someone hear of a Gibbs car, a RCR car, a Roush car, an Evernham car, or any other car/team cheating? It's actually a pretty rare occassion. Many teams are found occasionally but never so much as the Hendrick cars have been in recent years. I'm not calling the Hendrick crew chiefs huge cheaters but I do believe that they need to get the message sent to them. They've gone too far outside the box and then tried to treat it as no big deal on several occassions. My point is that cars can go fast and rules can be bent without failing inspecition. How many races has HMS won this season and passed inspection?

My final note is that this penalty didn't fit the situation because, maybe it wouldn't be fair, but the point of a penalty to is to punish the teams. Can anyone else see how 100 points will hurt the teams in 10 weeks when the Chase starts and they have their respective crew chiefs back in place and are leading the points standings(as they would as of now) with 4 wins a piece? I don't know what they could have done differently. Maybe they could have taken bonus points but something should have been different but this was NASCAR's decision and this is the way that it goes.

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