Mark Wins!!!

Image via Wikipedia

OK, I know I have been very bad at posting so far this year. To be honest, I have just had a really hard time getting into the race season. While I may listen or watch the race when I get the chance, I have not been going out of my way to watch the race.

However, this weekend I had the opportunity to listen from about lap 130 and watch the final lap of the race.

What a race it was.

It was so cool to see Mark Martin finally get back into victory lane. You also have to give Jack Roush credit as he was one of the first people not from Mark's team to congratulate him in victory lane.

Also, it looks like Dario Francitti made the right decision in returning to the open wheel wars as he already went to victory lane and did it at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Daytona is in the books...

Image via Wikipedia

Another Daytona race has come and gone and the 2009 racing has begun. OK, the racing season really begins this week at California since that is when you really see how well the teams are going to perform in the new season.

First of all, I thought FOX could get no lower than how they spit in Dale Jarrett's face at Bristol last year with them totally ignoring his last points race, but the pre-race show was pretty low. Please, someone shoot Digger. Please!! Please!! Pretty Please with Sugar on top!! The idea of the camera is OK and calling it Digger is fine, but that cartoon was not only dumb, it was really dumb, pointless, and had no entertainment value whats so ever even for the little ones.

Next, I guess Brian Vickers is on this weeks most hated from the Jr. Nation drones. After all, there should be no blame on any member of Jr. Nation such as Jr. himself or the spotter who did not tell Jr. that he and Vickers were running for the Lucky Dog spot. Also, is it just me or is Jr. becoming a bigger whiner as he gets older not less. Then again I would have accused Jeff Gordon of that a few years ago until he suddenly matured and has stopped whining. Finally before I step off the soap box, I am sure all the Jr. fans are writing to NASCAR telling them how they should change the pit box rules because their beloved got penalized and rightfully so.

I was really glad to see Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs making it into the race and overall Riggs having a pretty good day. Considering that they were driving for teams that bascially did not exist at the first of the year, it is amazing accomplishment. I was also happy to see AJ Allmendinger have a good run and finish third. Considering how Red Bull screwed him over for painted toe nail boy, he is making the most of the chances he has. I hope the team finds more sponsorship so he can run the entire season.

While Matt Kenseth would not have been my first pick for someone I wanted to see win the 500, he is a deserving winner.

This week in California will be the tell tail sign on how some of the teams are going to do. Dodge won the 500 last year and was bascially a non-factor for the most part afterward. How will this season shape up? We shall see in the coming weeks...

Here are my hopes for the new season...

Image via Wikipedia

In my last posting I made my predictions for the year. While my predictions point to who I think is going to win the championships and a few other things, now it is time to post what I would love to see happen in this new season.

First of all, when the big trophy is handed out in New York at the end of the year, I want Mark Martin to be getting it. I have like Mark from the time he entered Cup the second time and after spending time in the NASCAR world, he probably rated as one of the my favorites. He has come close several times and is probably one of most deserving drivers out there.

Second, I would love to see Earnhardt Ganassi racing have a good year. While I have never been a fan of Chip Ganassi, I think that the DEI part has taken so much abuse from the jr. nation fans that I want to see them succeed despite what everyone says. I think Truex is a good driver and it would nice to see him have some really good runs this year.

Third I want to see Travis Kvapil blow away Paul Menard in his races. He has been royally screwed over this year and I think it is largely because Robert Yats in no longer running the company. Travis already has out qualified Menard in qualifying so hopefully his luck will continue in the races.

Finally, I would love to see some of the new teams to snub their noses at the skeptics. So many people are putting down the new teams saying they are nothing but start and parkers, so I would love to see a couple of them have some really good runs and make a go of it.

So that is what I would love to see happen in this new year...

Predictions for 2009...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I just realized that the season is about to start and I haven't made my predictions yet. The sad truth is I am just not really excited about the season. Normally I count down the days until the shootout, qualifying and the rest of Speedweeks but this year I have barely even thought about it except when talking to the one person I know who is a big fan.

I should be able to watch most of the Daytona 500 so hopefully that will get me energized for the rest of the season.

But here are my predictions and we will see how well I do this year.

Cup Series:

I am going with the same guy I went with last year and could have done it if not for a big mistake at Talladega and that is Carl Edwards.

Do I even bother with rookie of the year with only two full time and one part time it just seems like a waste but I will take Logano.

For most improved driver I will go with Michael Waltrip. It is a hard one to call but that is my pick and I am sticking to it.

Nationwide Series:

This is a tough one. Unless something happens I think it will be between Busch and Edwards with Keselowski being the best of the Nationwide regulars. So will the Toyota power from last year be around this year and make Busch the champion or will something happen. Heck I will go with Carl again just to be consistent.

Truck Series:

Now the truck series is really difficult. After all, there has been tons of changes in Cup do to the economy but that is nothing compared to the up evil in the Truck series.

Only two drivers that ran the full season last year are in the same trucks for 2009 and that is Colin Braun. While I think Braun will probably win a couple of races this year, I don't think he will when the championship (maybe I am wrong :) ) so I have to go with Hornaday for the championship. It will be interesting to see how Benson and Skinner do in their new rides and if Bodine can run a full season.

So those are my picks and we will see what happens....

Its a New Year with lots of news...

Image via WikipediaHaven't posted a lot over the off season due to being so busy with work projects, but decided it was time to say few words.

First of all, it looks like until the rigs arrive at Daytona for Speedweeks and even afterword, things will be in a state of flux. Probably the biggest surprise of the off season was the recent announcement that Bobby Labonte will be driving for Hall of Fame Racing. Many including myself thought this team was history but now it has a sponsor, it now has a relationship with Yates racing and will be racing Fords.

Meanwhile Petty Enterprises is history as it has combined with Gillette Everham Racing. It is interesting when you look at the successful drivers who also owned their own teams they are now all out of the car ownership business (Yarborough, Petty, Baker, Johnson, etc). In fact the only one left only had moderate success in the Cup series and that is Richard Childress.

There is still a lot of question marks out there as the new season approaches so we will have to see what happens, it ought to be a fun roller coaster ride throughout the entire season off the track.

Finally, last year I made predictions on a weekly basis and had some fun with it. However, it became a chore to insure that I was making my predictions before the weekend started and that took all the fun out of it.

In fact, I was seriously thinking of killing this blog just because I have so many things on my plate right now. However, I have decided to keep posting for the time being and see what happens.

Related articles by Zemanta

• GEM Has Merger Agreement With Petty Enterprises
• Marriage might not be happy, but iconic No. 43 sticks around
• Labonte leaves cash-strapped Petty
• Labonte, Petty Enterprises agree to part ways
• GEM merges with Petty Enterprises racing team
• GEM, Petty Enterprises reach merger agreement

Mansfield Motorsports Park is history for now...

Image via WikipediaIt looks as though another short track is now history. Mansfield Motorsports Park which has hosted the Craftsman/Camping World Truck series for several years, has canceled its entire season and the Camping World Truck race will move to the Iowa Speedway.

We have lost many short tracks over the last few years such as ones I frequented such as Portland Raceway, Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, Washington, and many others. Some have died because people moved close and decided they didn't like noisy race cars even though they were there first, Portland closed because the neighboring horse track wanted more parking (and to date I still don't think they are using the land), and others are closing because of dropping reveune.

With the ecnomy in the tank, we could see more tracks pushed over the edge. Maybe everyone should make an effort to visit their local short track in the 2009 season and see some of the exciting action that they offer.

How did my predictions go???

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via FlickrOK, it is that time to make fun of my predictions I made at the end of last year for the 2008 season. How bad did I crash and burn in my predictions? Well lets take a look and see:

First I predicted Carl Edwards for both the Cup and Nationwide series championships. While Carl didn't win either one of them, he came close to winning both by finishing second. Heck if it wasn't for the chase Carl would have been the Cup series champion.

On the other hand I predicted that Mike Skinner would win the Truck Series championship (and I thought I went for Hornaday until I looked back). After Mike's 2007 season I thought he would have the truck to beat but instead his former team mate Johnny Benson had the truck to beat and finished a couple of positions ahead of Hornaday to take the title. What an outstanding season for Benson and well deserved and I am happy to see him get it.

Rookie of the Year: OK, I predicted Francitti to win the rookie title. Well, at least he last longer than Jacques lasted!! Of course Francitti tucked his tail between his legs and head back to open wheel racing. I just hope that Reagan Smith's rookie title gets him a ride in 2009 since he should have won at Talladega. Hopefully his career will not end up like '88 rookie Bouchard who was without a ride shortly after the start of the '89 season.

Most Improved Driver: I predicted Kasey Kahne would be the most improved driver and after the 600 it look as though that may be true. However after a few good races Kahne back pedled again. Some would say that Jr. was the most improved driver but he only won one race and didn't finish much better in the points than he did last year.

Of course the most improved driver had to be Kyle Busch. While he majorly faltered during the chase, the rest of his season was far superior to the one he had in the 5 car the year before.

Most Improved Team: I picked Michael Waltrip to be the most improved team and in some ways they were. While last year Michael Waltrip struggled to even make races, this year the 55 and the 44 had little trouble making races. In fact David Reutimann did pretty good for himself this past year and was impressive at many tracks. The 00 car struggled with rookie Michael McDowell and by the end of year McDowell was gone and the 00 went on to become another team entirely.

Driver who would not make the chase that made it last year: OK, you can all start laughing your butts off right now. Yes I thought Kyle Busch would not make the chase. I did not think there was a chance that the 18 car would have turned around so fast. So was it the driver or was it something else? Who knows but I was dead wrong but oh well...

Driver who did not make the chase last year but would this year: I picked Greg Biffle and guess what, I got that right!! Not only that but early in the chase he look as though he could be a contender for the championship.

Team that would not make it through the season: Sadly, I got this one right before the season even started as it was only a week later that Morgan-Mcclure basically closed its doors. Of course they said that they would still try to find a sponsor and get back on the track but it never happened and now probably never will.

Team that will be the biggest disappointment during the year: I picked the 88 team for this and in some ways it was and some ways it wasn't. There is plenty of contenders for this title: DEI, Ganassi, GEM, Petty, ....

So thats how my picks went this year, be sure to stay tuned for my picks for next year so we can all laugh about them at the end of next year...

So long 2008...

Image via WikipediaThe 2008 racing season has finally come to an end. Normally you are excited about the season that has just ended and looking forward to the year ahead. Yet, today racing faces some of its toughest challenges since that famous meeting in Daytona so many years ago.

Beyond the 16 cars of the "super teams", only Stewart-HAAS, Robby Gordon and Penske can really say that they are comfortable for the coming year. The other teams are struggling to find sponsorship with one or more of their cars.

This is some of the toughest if not the toughest times the sport has seen. Sadly we may see even more teams have to park cars in the next few months. By this time next year will the Wood Brothers, Petty Enterprises, or Bill Davis still be on the race track?

It is clear the face of NASCAR racing is going to change over the next year.

However, it is how we respond to difficult times that makes us stronger. While our sport may have to change and people in my change, the sport will adapt and in the long run so long as everyone involved in NASCAR learns the lessons of history, they will overcome the tough times and make the sport even better.

So what will the NASCAR world look like in 12 months?

At least we have the Craftsman Trucks and Nationwide...

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeWe have a great championship battle this year in the Craftsman Trucks and the Nationwide series, but the Cup championship is probably Johnson's.

Only three points separate Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday coming into the final race at Homestead. It is one of those situations that I want either driver to win the championship. While I did pick Hornaday to win the title this year, I will still be very happy to see Benson pull it off. He struggled for several years after his Busch Series championship, but this year he has proven that he can drive a race vehicle. With only three points separating the two, no one can hold anything back.

Meanwhile Clint Bowyer has a little more breathing room than Benson as he leads Carl Edwards by 56 points. However, Homestead has been a Rousch track for several years and Carl has been very good on similar tracks this year. Once again I picked Carl to win the championship this year, but I Bowyer is a deserving driver and I will be happy to see him win.

Then there is the Cup race. You knew it would happen one year and this is it. The year that there was not much excitement coming into the final race of the year. With so many teams worried about sponsorship next year, is it any wonder why there is a lack of excitement when it comes to the final race this year? Add the lack of a championship battle and you have a very unexciting weekend.

The irony here is that if there was no chase the point battle would much better this year. In fact Carl would be down by the same number of points as he is in the Nationwide series at 56. I wanted to see Carl when the championship, but it was his own mistake at Talladega that cost him so dearly in this championship. Even with the problems at Charlotte, Talladega was the breaking point. However, you have to give kudos to Carl for trying everything he can to take the champinship and not giving up.

Meanwhile one of the merger dominos finally fell last week as Ganassi and DEI announced they would be merging to form Earnhardt Ganassi racing. I am sure that many of the Teresa E. haters/Jr Nation people are having parties celebrating that they were right and that DEI could not survice without the boy. However, you really have to question whether DEI would be any better off if Jr. was still there. Instead of having one good sponsor, they may have had two but still would have been hurting. Lets face it, the economy is extremely bad and companies do not have a lot of money to throw to race teams right now. Come on, even the mighty Hendrick is laying off people.

So here is my picks for the weekend:

Craftman Trucks:

Winner: Kevin Harvick
Upset: Colin Bruan

Nationwide:

Winner: Carl Edwards
Upset: David Ragan

Cup Series:

Winner: Jeff Gordon
Upset: David Ragan

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ashenfelter: Nationwide title is Bowyer's to lose
• Benson - Hornaday: The Batte We've Been Looking For in 2008
• Carl Edwards Wins Again!, Oh By The Way, Mike Wallace Was There!

Valley of the Sun Part II

Image via WikipediaThis weekend all three major NASCAR series move to the Valley of the Sun for the second to last races of the season.

The major news this weekend is that Johnny Benson will not return next year as the driver of the Bill Davis #23 despite being in the point lead and possibly winning the truck series championship. Some of the unspoken words by Benson seems to indicate there is more to meet the eye than just a moving on.

Then there is the big question mark hanging over many teams as the season comes to an end. With the economy still a question mark, what teams will be still on the race track next year. Even the mighty Hendrick organization is letting people go which tells you how bad the situation is.

But there is races to be won and who are my predictions? Last week I picked Carl to win both the Nationwide and the Cup series races and he did score the win in Cup. How will my picks do this weekend? We shall see...

Craftsman Truck Series:

Winner: Kyle Busch
Upset: Colin Braun

Nationwide Series:

Winner: Carl Edwards
Upset: David Ragan

Cup Series:

Winner: Jeff Gordon
Upset: David Ragan

Related articles by Zemanta

• Benson - Hornaday: The Batte We've Been Looking For in 2008
• Source: Trucks points leader Benson leaving BDR