"When the Iron's Hot, Strike!"

Danica Patrick, meeting most of the NASCAR beat reporters after the final ARCA practice was washed out at Daytona International Speedway, who kept asking her the same questions shw was asked yesterday--and weeks before, about her motivation to try racing full fendered stock cars.

We called her the "Fame Monster"--and I submit that the attention she'll receive from this race, the Super Bowl commercials, the CSI episode (where she plays a race driver, go figure!), and her long awaited Nationwide debut (whether that's next week here, but definitely at Auto Club Speedway at Fontana on February 20) qualifies her.

With the birth announcements for Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Elliott Sadler and the Kyle Busch engagement--the old-school NASCAR scribes are eagerly awaiting some racing action to talk about, instead of the minutia that masquerades for news in the off season. So too, are we.

"Wiiings Over The Irish Hills--Brian Vickers Wins The CARFAX 400"

Our winner's snapshot is of Brian Vickers' Red Bull Toyota Camry getting fueled after winning at Michigan International Speedway. This happens as part of the post race inspection. As you saw by our Tweets (you did sign up to follow us at http://twitter.com/MSRnet ,right?) Vickers won when then leader Jimmie Johnson's gamble on fuel came up a few laps short. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished 2nd and 3rd.

This is the first ever win for Red Bull Racing in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition. It's Vickers' 2nd career win in Cup racing, and more importantly, it brings Vickers to within 12 points of 12th place Mark Martin (finished 31st) for the post-season championship chase. It will likely help move Vickers' negotiations with Red Bull supremo Dieter Mateschitz along.

Other Notables: Pointleader Tony Stewart finished 17th...and has a 284 point lead over Jeff Gordon (3500 to 3216) who's now second. Jimmie Johnson (three time and defending Sprint Cup Champion) is third in points. Martin has four wins.

The Daly Planet (http://www.thedalyplanet.tv) had two interesting days of live blogging on the quality of ESPN's coverage of Nationwide and Sprint Cup racing. Those who watch that coverage are very vocal about their likes and dislikes. John Daly is a TV veteran who's been on our Race-Talk program before, and runs the blog, where strong feelings are expressed in a manner that's safe for the family--hard to do in the blogosphere. If you have ever been frustrated by the quality of the coverage (or perceived lack thereof), this is your blog.

We are back in the office on Tuesday evening and will be staying close to our base until the last race to the Chase, at Richmond's Action Track on September 12--three races away.

"Matt Kenseth the Man at Auto Club Speedway"

The crowd who did attend the Auto Club 500 saw 50 late race laps of slice and dice hammer and tong racing between 4 time series champion Jeff Gordon, who came up 1.4 seconds short behind the 2003 series champion and Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth. Kenseth, along with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, is now 2 for 2009. That battle again denied Kyle Busch his chance to sweep all three of NASCAR's National Touring Series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck) in a single weekend. The younger brother of 2004 champion Kurt Busch (finished 5th) had to settle for a distant third.

The race had four rain cautions, and some uncharacteristic engine woes for the Hendrick crew of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress racing, was NOT "happy" after smacking the turn one wall; he was credited with 38th place.

Points going into Las Vegas:

Matt Kenseth/385

Jeff Gordon/304

Kurt Busch/294

Tony Stewart/294

Greg Biffle/268

Clint Bowyer/266

Michael Waltrip/264

David Ragan/262

Carl Edwards/260

Juan Pablo Montoya/256

Elliott Sadler/248

David Reutimann/248

We'll catch up with you in Las Vegas. In the meantime, you can catch our weekly "Race-Talk" via podcast, and you will not need an iPod to do it. Just enter this in your browser:

http://msrpk.com/podcast/racetalk.rss

"Army Strong?"

Ryan Newman kinda thinks so...he smiles when he talks about Hendrick Racing horsepower for his #39 Army sponsored Chevy Impala SS. That should put a big spring in the step of his fans. Newman and new crew chief Tony Gibson chat about more than setups...both are outdoorsmen--although I don't think Ryan can sign out the sniper rifle he shot on the range at Fort Bragg to plink whitetails at 2600 feet. He's ready for practice at Daytona on/about February 5.

Boss Tony Stewart says he'll spend more time in North Carolina than he did back in Indiana now that his name's on the door and the checks. Smoke says he is the same driver who won two Sprint Cup titles and has the same get-after-it attitude that appeals to the old-time fan. Tony, however, was polished and charming while talking with us assembled scribes at his shop.

Jimmie Johnson won the SpeedTV Mario Andretti (best race car driver in the world) award. The trophy was presented by the feisty native of Montona Italy himself at the media visit at Hendrick Racing. Mario waxed elequent about the cost of racing, confidence, stupidity and cupidity in Formula One.

Johnson and teammates Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are antsy and similarly ready for February 5. This weekend, Johnson will try to win his first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona...and has a pretty good chance to do so with teammates Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, and Jimmy Vasser. If Johnson's team wins...it would be the first All American team to win overall honors since Rocky Moran, PJ Jones, and Mark Dismore did it 16 years ago.

"Buzzie's Kid on Pole; Red Bull 2nd; Champ starts 30th--Cousin Carl 4th..and still no wins for Kevin 'Happy' Harvick"

David Reutimann (son of Northeast modified legend Buzzie Reutimann) won his first pole in Sprint Cup competition for the season ending Ford 400 at Homestead, with a lap timed at 171.636 miles an hour. Scott Speed jumped into the Red Bull #83 car and proceeded to put it on the front row...while teammate Brian Vickers drove the #84 Red Bull car to a 20th starting position (all about the points for 2009--very important for Speed...since he'll be a rookie without any NASCAR testing).

As for the points race...Jimmie Johnson didn't qualify well...but they don't pay points for qualifying. Johnson will start the race 30th...and if he finishes there, he locks out "Cousin Carl" Edwards, who starts from the outside of Row Number 2 (4th).

What is interesting here, is that the #29 car (pictured above) of Kevin "Happy" Harvick, has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2008..."Happy" starts 5th. The other surprising non winners are Matt Kenseth (3rd) and Jeff Gordon (37th).

But Wait, There's (Really) More: The NASCAR testing ban goes into effect on January 1, 2009. Like all other NASCAR rules, it is written in pencil, with a big eraser. To hear major domo Mike Helton explain, the ban will supposedly save teams 100K per test per car--almost 100 million dollars over the entire industry. No tests can occur at NASCAR sanctioned tracks. Will tests occur? The tire supplier--Goodyear--will continue their program, and benevolent NASCAR will jawbone racing boss Stu Grant to make sure all teams are represented fairly--Stu says no problem.

Fairness is supposedly a part of NASCAR's decision loop. Fairness would dictate a rules freeze for 2009. Fairness and NASCAR are, in reality, mutually exclusive terms.

We'll post some comments and snapshots from the Ford 400.

Also...there will be a very trying time for the industry beginning Monday. NASCAR teams are expected to begin layoffs and downsizing once they return to North Carolina. This downsizing will spread--no doubt--to the way the series is covered by print and broadcast media outlets.

"JJ on Pole; AJ 2nd"

Front row at Auto Club Speedway consists of first time Cali pole sitter Jimmie Johnson--with his 4th pole of 2008...under slick conditions the two time and defending Sprint Cup champion put down a lap of 180.397 miles an hour. AJ Allmendinger put his Red Bull car on the front row...he of the go-or-go home ranks. AJ's lap was clocked at 179.659. Johnson car-owner and Hendrick Racing teammate Jeff Gordon was 3rd--179.565. The Dodge Boys have positions 4-6 (Kasey Kahne, Patrick Carpentier and Elliott Sadler). The best Ford belonged to Jamie McMurray, who'll start 13th--178.006.

The Kyle Busch/Carl Edwards incident still on the minds of the beat media...the super secret NASCAR double probation on their minds as they seemed contrite when asked about the Bristol cool-down.

We have some business to transact Saturday. We'll rejoin you on Sunday (race-day).

"The Carl, Bob and Jack Show"--Roush wins at Pocono

Is it better to be lucky than good? You might properly direct that question at "Cousin Carl" Edwards and long-time crew chief Bob Osborne. Osborne called his driver into the pits for a tire stop which put him out of the lead (at the time). Osborne and Edwards had a disagreement on the strategy (or lack thereof). After a 41 minute rain delay, Mr. Osborne's strategy reminded one of another denizen of "Happy Valley"--JoPa. Edwards was in the right place at the right time afterward, and had enough to win over a charging Tony Stewart, who would have won the race if it were 10 laps longer. Brickyard 400 winner Jimmie Johnson was 3rd. I would not have wanted to be on Kyle Busch's plane this evening--the Sprint Cup point leader lost a lot of his lead because his car ran out of gas two laps from the end...as he was running fourth. So the post race show was entertaining with Jack Roush just sitting back like the "Cat in the Hat".

The points going into Watkins Glen:

Kyle Busch--3059

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.--2883 (-176)

Carl Edwards--2874 (-185)

Jimmie Johnson--2859 (200)

Jeff Burton--2833 (226)

6-12

Jeff Gordon

Kasey Kahne

Greg Biffle

Tony Stewart

Denny Hamlin

Kevin Harvick

Clint Bowyer 2512

Matt Kenseth is 13th at 2501 points.

We'll resume live blogging from the IndyCar event at Infineon Raceway outside Sonoma, California.

200th Post--Tire Debacle at Indianapolis

From left to right: Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson and Rick Hendrick, flanked by the winner's trophies after a controversial Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Controversial, because there was either a competition caution called by NASCAR...or a standard yellow flag...every 14 1/2 laps. Reason: The right side tires were wearing down to the cords too quickly. Goodyear did test here...but the rubber from all those days of practice and qualifying didn't stick...and the diamond ground track was blamed for that wear. Goodyear and NASCAR did what was necessary to insure safety when the situation evolved. The fans didn't like all the cautions...and there were parallels drawn to the 2005 US Grand Prix debacle...when Michelin wasn't allowed to substitute a tire...and withdrew its fleet of cars...leaving six to contend for the win.

Goodyear makes a very stout passenger tire--I'll attest to that. But here, they need to step up the program so something like this does not happen again. A "W" is a "W" and Jimmie Johnson will be happy with it once this settles down.

Top 5

Jimmie Johnson/48 (best Chevy)

"The Carl" Carl Edwards/99

Denny Hamlin/11 (best Toyota)

Elliott Sadler/19 (best Dodge)

Jeff Gordon/24--4 time winner

Other notables:

Earnhardt Jr--12

Tony Stewart--23rd

Jamie McMurray--6th (best Ford)

Kyle Busch--15th

Points going into Pocono:

1. Kyle Busch/3004-100 bonus points
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr./2751-85 bonus points
3. Jeff Burton/2733-40 bonus points
4. Jimmie Johnson/2689/85 bonus points
5. Carl Edwards/2684/65 bonus points

Monday Afternoon Update:

There is more than enough blame to go around. NASCAR does not get off scot free--Indianapolis is their biggest race as far as attendance goes. You might think that a full blown test in July could have been added (as the May 2008 test at Lowe's was) so all of the chassis problems and tire problems could have been revealed and resolved. It's not the ideal situation to be finding out about problems in front of 200,000 plus fans (more paid attendance in the seats than at any other NASCAR venue). That dog failed to hunt. And the new car still needs work.

Goodyear has a rich racing heritage with enough NASCAR, CART, NHRA and Formula One wins to fill a large trophy room. Heritage is the operative word here. Ever since Sir James Goldsmith tried a hostile takeover of Goodyear, the company has been treading on eggshells as far as their auto racing program vision. A racing program is not a short term payoff item (which is attractive to bean counters and traders in Goodyear stock). It has a longer term payoff which is not easily measured--but the payoff exists. The blame at Goodyear does not fall at the feet of racing boss Stu Grant, Racing Tire Marketing Manager Greg Stucker or NASCAR Tire Engineer Rick Campbell. It is properly directed at the top management. If the Goodyear CEO would have the same zeal for racing as, for example, an Edsel Ford, I could assure you that the Akron Tech Center could produce the kind of tires that could win in every form of auto racing--as they did when Leo Mehl ran that program. Take the handcuffs off the racing division--and you will see results. Want proof that this approach works? A lot of Michelins are sold from their sports car involvement--any racing car that can complete a road race on one or two sets of tires has a good tire. The 2005 situation with Michelin at Indianapolis occurred when the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone, and the teams wouldn't work together. The fans then, like yesterday, didn't get what they paid for.

I'm wondering how many people saw the performance at Indianapolis, and decided not to put Goodyears on their vehicles. That would be a shame--because the company, as I said before, makes a very stout street tire (Eagle RS-As are on most police cars--and you know what they go through).

I'll leave you with a two part question: Who do you blame the most for Sunday's Brickyard fiasco? And why?

We'll rejoin you from Pocono.

No, you can't get these Chevy Impalas at your local Chevrolet dealer!

Greetings From Richmond

Some criticism of NASCAR revolves around the lack of resemblance of the race car to the model you can find at your local Chevrolet dealer. These pictures were taken outside the NASCAR officials trailer--and be assured there is NO Car of Tomorrow template that will fit the Impala on the left. It is, of course, the pace vehicle for the race, #26 of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season. There is a template for the #11 Chevy Impala on the right, the "lame duck" Car of Tomorrow of Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing. The drama revolves around Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who has to finish at least 5th and hope Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick fall out early. If Happy Harvick finishes 32nd or higher...Jr gets to play out the string and leave with a win. The hi-jinks could occur if all the locked in drivers play "checkers or wreckers"...to try to get that last win for the seeding. That may be moot if Jimmie Johnson (the polesitter) wins. Jeff Gordon (starts 2nd, has 4 wins and leads the points) could tie Johnson for wins with 5.

We'll update this as events dictate.

Update/Short Takes

The polesitter, Dale Earnhardt, Jr spun a few moments ago...thought he had a flat, but spun and brought out a caution...a problem for Jr, none for the leader Kurt Busch. Jeff Gordon was running second when the flag flew.

Short Takes

Any semblance of co-operation and congenality between Formula One teammates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso went out the window, when Hamilton inherited the pole after ignoring team strategy...Alonso won the pole, or so he thought--the FIA took it, and manufacturer's points away, so Hamilton started the Hungarian Grand Prix from the pole. Hamilton won, and pads his lead to 7 points...as the series takes a three week break.

The swan song at Michigan turned soggy...rain delayed the start of the final IndyCar race there (for the forseeable future)...so the battle continues between Dario Franchitti, and Scott Dixon.

"The Lash of NASCAR Justice--Car of Tomorrow Style"

• Both of Rick Hendrick's top teams (24--Jeff Gordon/Steve Letarte; 48--Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus) were whacked 100 owner/100 driver points...and hit up for a $100,000 fine. Mr. Letarte and Mr. Knaus won't have to fight traffic at a Nextel Cup event until August 15th when they return to work at Michigan.
• The rules that they violated are NASCAR rules, and not easily available for inspection by observers such as yourselves. Mike Helton, NASCAR President told me one time at Daytona at a public news conference, that the rule book was a proprietary document and wasn't made available (like the National Football League, Major League Baseball, NCAA Sports, etc. It makes John Darby's job (Nextel Cup series director) even more difficult--I give Darby style points for trying.
• This business fosters an attitude that the "rules are what we say they are", even though they are in print somewhere. Another famous "sporting" organization has a rule book, too.
• So I guess that the Car of Tomorrow rules are like "Wrestlemania" and the standard car rules are like "Friday Night Smackdown".
• Again, when you have an organization with some sporting elements and more entertainment elements, the entertainment elements will win out, because they bring in the most money and can be manipulated to produce drama. What would have been dramatic about Jeff Gordon winning at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point?

"Winged Wonder" Bombs at Sears Point

Gordon, Johnson and teams about to taste the lash of NASCAR Justice

Doubtless you've heard that the Nextel Cup series point leader, Jeff Gordon, and the defending series champ, Jimmie Johnson were not allowed to qualify their "Cars of Tomorrow" at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point because the cars didn't pass NASCAR pre-qualifying inspection. Seems the Hendrick braintrust of Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte interpreted rules on the right front fender dimensions differently than did NASCAR. This situation got me thinking:

• When they first introduced the cars, the NASCAR powers-that-be bragged about having RFID (radio frequency ID chips) on the chassis, and that there were nine (count 'em) laser measurements that would insure uniformity. Are Hendrick Motorsports lasers less accurate than NASCAR's?
• Or is this a return to a historical use of the inspection process, to try to level the playing field? Throughout NASCAR history, the "room of doom" has been used to keep big-mouthed drivers quiet, and negate advantages found by team engineers worthy of the name (the late Smokey Yunick would have sided with both Knaus and Letarte), which might have tilted the balance of competition to those teams. Just to remind you, the Hendrick Racing team has won all of the Car of Tomorrow races except for Dover, where Martin Truex won. It is not called the "Room of Doom" for nothing.
• Or is this a way to generate publicity, by handicapping the series' most successful active road course driver?
• If in fact it was a violation of such epic proportion, than why weren't the teams banned from the NASCAR garage area, and told to go home?

A "smackdown" moment, to be sure.

"The Rich Get Richer"

Dale Earnhardt, Jr is now ready to make a pile of cash for himself at Hendrick Motorsports. In case you missed it, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are solidly in the NASCAR Top 12...with Gordon piling up points so he could be with his wife when she gives birth any day now...and still not lose the point lead. Johnson, as you will recall is the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion. (Enough for my MOTO tendency--MOTO=Master Of The Obvious).

Earnhardt Jr needs to bring Anheuser-Busch a championship. He has a personal services contract with the company. The #8 sponsorship is still with Frau Earnhardt at DEI. For how long, we don't know. If A-B jumps the sponsorship to Hendrick (where it used to be with Ken Schrader on the #25), they can leverage that into a big blitz.

Junior needs to win a couple times this year, preferably in the next few races, and get back into the top 12. That will bring momentum to the new Hendrick team, and enhance his reputation as a racer's racer.

This still has more implications...Kyle Busch is looking for a new 2008 team...he'll have no trouble finding it...and it may (as suggested by my advertisers and other commenters) end up being a swap, with Busch going to DEI. You can bet that spite would fuel that effort (it is a powerful emotion, if harnessed properly), if it should come about. Though our laptop woes preclude us from live blogging at the US Grand Prix...we'll still comment on what is happening there.

Pocono Spring 2007

The pit picture is that of the Nextel Cup pointleader, Jeff Gordon. Not a lot of room behind pit wall; even less on pit road itself...so it is no wonder Kurt Busch was whacked 100 points for getting close to a crewman at Dover...the other half of Team Penske, Ryan Newman, has his 3rd straight pole...and would like nothing better than to complete a Penske Racing IRL/NASCAR double...

This was a busy pit on Sunday, when the boss of that pit, Steve Letarte, made a call that put Gordon on a different strategy for fuel and tires (good thing, since the brakes were a bit flaky and that upset the balance of the car) and that put him in the lead...just enough to hold off Newman for the win on lap 106 of a 200 lap race...when the skies opened up as only they can over the Pocono Raceway.

Would you rather be lucky than good? Gordon now has enough points over Matt Kenseth in the Nextel Cup Championship, that he can take off with no real worries.

NASCAR getting nasty?

Tony Stewart gets whacked in the wallet and put on probation for suggesting NASCAR throws "debris cautions" to affect the outcome of races--

AT&T can't replace Cingular on Jeff Burton's #31, even though that brand is morphing to AT&T--

The anti-trust lawsuit between Kentucky Speedway is proceeding apace--

Some boneheaded spectators showered Jeff Gordon with beer cans after Gordon notched win number 77, passing Dale Earnhardt's career victory total--

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Chip Ganassi back to back at the 24; Jeff Gordon 3rd

The Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Salvador Duran won overall honors at the 24 Hours of Daytona Grand-Am Rolex series classic on the Speedway's 3.56 mile road course. That car completed 668 laps in 24:00:55.002. Montoya is a NASCAR Nextel Cup series rookie, reunited with racing maven and team owner Ganassi for 2007. Not a bad result for JPM. Pruett has 7 class wins at Daytona (most of any driver) and now has 13 Rolex series wins. JPM joins a list of nine other drivers to win a sports car race at Daytona, and the Indianapolis 500 (for the record, they include Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Arie Luyendyk, Bobby Rahal, Mark Donohue, Al Unser Sr. & Al Unser Jr., and Dan Wheldon.

Gordon impressed a lot of observers with the 3rd place drive. The Wayne Taylor machine got behind and the team (Gordon, Taylor, Max Angelelli, and Jan Magnussen) clawed its way back to the lead lap, before a late race brake pad change knocked them off the lead lap.

Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish had a long race...finishing 9th...some 40 laps down to the winner. Props to Hornish for getting road racing experience the hard way...it will pay off.

The Indy Racing League will test here Wednesday and Thursday. We'll blog some stuff your way.

Paul Kaminski

1/28/2007

Overnight at the 24 Hours of Daytona

For the record, people who report on the 24 DO get some sleep. So do the drivers; that's why the teams have multiple drivers.

Rain is a great equalizer in endurance racing. We've just had a downpour...the cold front is blowing the rain away.

Of the visiting racers (from NASCAR, IRL, Champ Car) only Jeff Gordon & 2005 IRL champ Dan Wheldon have a shot for the overall win. Wheldon runs 3rd...Gordon's team 4th. If you call Scott Pruett a NASCAR driver---his team leads after 19:15 of the 24 hours.

This ain't over until it's over (thanks, Yogi Berra). One thing we know--Chip Ganassi's Lexus-Riley cars are stronger than rent money.

Paul Kaminski

1/28/2007