Kathy's Pit Stop

Trick or Treat - No points to Cup drivers in 2009 for Nationwide Series?

Trick or Treat!  There are many things being thrown around for the new Nationwide Series, one of the interesting tidbits is the possibility of a new rule that would state any driver ranked in the top 35 in Cup points could not earn points competing in the Nationwide race. 

Depending on which side you're on, it could be an evil trick or a treat.  I like the idea!  While it's nice seeing your favorite Cup driver race in the lower series, it doesn't do any good for the regulars in the series.  No word on how the points would be dished out if Cup drivers are in the race, but at least they're looking at it and hopefully implement it.

Your thoughts?

Water found in the tanks of some cars after Atlanta race

NASCAR is having the water found in the gas tanks of some cars tested to see if they can find out how it got there.  They have supposedly tested the underground tanks and there was no water there, nor in the pumps, but the water got into these cars somehow.

At first it was Denny Hamlin's car and Dave Blaney's that the water was found, then Biffle, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton's car were added to the list.  The water, which was way more prevalent in Hamlin's car, caused a vapor-lock which made everyone think Hamlin ran out of fuel.

Right now they are testing everything that has to do with the delivery of the fuel, but don't have any answers as of yet.  The water that was found was not clear, it was brown, causing more confusion, but nothing is known as of yet until everything is checked and after this water is tested.

It is thought to be a problem at Atlanta Motor Speedway only, so there are no concerns from NASCAR going forward to Texas this weekend.

Your thoughts?

Johnson wins and closes the gap

Jimmie Johnson won at Atlanta and closed to within 9 points of Jeff Gordon, also in the top five were Edwards, Sorenson, Kenseth and Jeff Burton.  Vickers was the top Toyota finisher in 10th followed by Waltrip in 11th.

The race was slowed by 14 cautions, including a red flag when Gilliland and Martin got together, both were ok after the hard impact, but their cars were trashed.  Most of the cautions seemed to be tire problems, with an engine problem or two thrown in, except for the Gilliland/Martin wreck and the last two cautions.

Hamlin ran out of fuel on the restart on lap 322 and Martin Truex ran right into the back of him hard, wrecking his chances for the win.  Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch also got some damage during the melee, but were able to continue.  That set up a green-white-checkered finish that unfortunately ended under yellow.  On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s rear tire came off and he went up into the wall hard, collecting McMurray in the process, talk about a fluke thing, not sure if something broke on the car or if the wheel may have been left loose during the last stop.

Of course, the finish wasn't the biggest controversy of the race, that came after the caution before when Hamlin ran out of fuel, it seems that not everyone was happy or understood where they should be on the restart and the lineup was a bit jumbled because of it, but that's NASCAR for ya, I won't repeat what I heard one driver say about it over the radio.

Your thoughts?

Biffle grabs the pole for Atlanta

It looks as if getting married had a good effect on Greg Biffle, he got a top ten finish last week and starts on the pole this week. 

Turn four looked to be a problem for a lot of drivers, Bobby Labonte tried to explain that it was because of the age and it's more slick there than on other parts of the track and other drivers eluded it to the tires.

Jarrett, Vickers,Nemechek, Waltrip, Riggs, Andretti and Allmendinger of the get in on time guys made the race, going home were Reutimann, Lamar, Hornish, W. Burton and Skinner (in the 36 formerly Mayfield).

Mayfield had a guaranteed spot, although he didn't qualify well and Blaney had something break on the car during his qualifying run, lots of sparks flying out from under the car, but he has a guaranteed spot and he made the race.

With all the sliding in turn four, it'll be interesting on Sunday.  Hopefully Atlanta provides us with another great and close finish.

Kenseth's comments on his and Edwards altercation

I'm sure by now everyone heard about the little altercation between Kenseth and Edwards after last weeks race. 

Edwards apologized on Tuesday for the incident, saying he shouldn't have shown his anger towards Kenseth, but that trouble had been brewing between them for a while.

Yesterday, Kenseth made a statement about the whole thing -

His behavior has been real erratic lately, honestly. You don't know what to expect with him. That's the thing that's a little bit troublesome. One minute, he has so much respect for you, and he's real friendly and everythings so much fun. The next minute he wants to kick your butt and he's swearing at you. It's a little scary. You never know what you're going to get. I thought it was good in a way that the cameras were there because a lot of us see that, and nobody else does because he kind of puts on a different front.

Most of what the fans see is a happy-go-lucky guy, he always smiles in his interview and of course he has his trademark backflip when he wins. 

If we are to believe Kenseth, there seems to be two sides of Edwards, kind of like Jekyll and Hyde.  Whatever problems exist over there, Roush obviously needs to step in and help them work it out, I know that he usually lets everyone work things out themselves, but it just doesn't seem like these two getting along and won't any time soon.

Your thoughts?

What's going on with Team Red Bull?

They knew it would be an uphill battle, two young drivers and new manufacturer and yes, they've struggled, but there seems to be more going on over there than meets the eye.

First we had the rumors back in early September that they might be switching manufacturers possibly to Chevy.  That rumor floated around a bit and then was denied by Team Red Bull, yet the rumors kept floating around despite the denial.  Then they came out with this statement in a USA Today article...

The rumor keeps coming up, but we are staying with Toyota," Team Red Bull vice president of competition Guenther Steiner said Friday. "We don't want to want leave Toyota, we want to stay with them and I hope I have to say it for the last time now."

OK, rumor denied, the team will stay with Toyota and move on, no changes expected.

Then there was the rumor earlier this month that they wanted to buy Yates shops, because they needed more room to start their own chassis and engine departments.  But Team Red Bull had this response...

"Robert Yates did contact us awhile back to see if we were interested in talking with him about purchasing his building or his teams. We weren't - so the conversation ended there. We're committed to building our team from scratch and making our cars competitive. We don't have plans to buy anyone else's team."

That one was kind of strange especially with the fact that Yates decided to retire and hand everything over to his son, but another rumor denied here.  Seems like things would stay status quo over at Team Red Bull as they state once again how committed they are.

Then just yesterday we learn that Crew Chief Doug Richert and Team Red Bull part ways, effective immediately.  They say it was an amicable split, but that's usually just what teams seem to put out to the media.  Usually when it's an effective immediately thing, things didn't end well.  Now Vickers will have a new crew chief this weekend at Atlanta and for the rest of the season. 

Put all those things together and it's easy to see things aren't going well over there.  It just seems like somethings up over there and maybe there may be some truth to some of these rumors floating around.  With the rumors and the immediate changes, just says that somethings going on, we just don't know what it is and can only speculate.

Whatever it is, they sure like to keep it quiet and we probably won't hear of anything until the end of the season.

Your thoughts? 

Green gone, Mayfield in - smart move?

OK, admittedly, I'm not a fan of either one of these drivers and it's their choice as to who they want to drive the car, but Mayfield?  Green has kept the car in the top 35 (31st in owner points as of now), which guarantees them in the race, so why the immediate switch?  Do they really think Mayfield is going to get them higher?  I don't, in fact there is a possibility that they could drop out of the top 35 by the end of the season.  I think their problem is more equipment and driver, not just driver and they seem to want to pin it all on Green.  I guess we'll see by the end of the season if they can stay in the top 35 or not.

With Mayfield out of the 36, there will be two drivers "filling in", Mike Skinner will drive Atlanta and Texas and Benson will drive Phoenix and Homestead, I think they'll have a better chance of making the races with them.  As far as what will happen next year is up in the air as it seems like Davis is selling the team.

Your thoughts?

Johnson wins Martinsville - Looks like a two man race now

Johnson was able to hold off Newman to win his third Martinsville race in a row.

The race had a record number of cautions, as lap cars caused lots of problems for those on the lead lap.  Although Gordon did have some bad luck on a pit stop, it was early enough to bounce back with as good as they had that car set up.

Now Gordon leads Johnson by 48 points and although Bowyer had a top ten finish, he's 110 behind Gordon.  It looks like it's a two man race for the championship right now with Gordon in the lead.  While 110 points can be easily gained in a race, it would take bad luck on Gordon's part for Bowyer to have a chance and it just doesn't seem like Gordon's luck will run out any time soon.

Lap cars and a lot of beatin' and bangin' had some tempers flaring, although I have to say that most drivers did keep it in check, but that didn't mean they weren't mad.  Who's mad at who?  Take your pick, most would probably point the finger at the lap cars that held up the lead lap cars for apparently no reason other than to be in the way.  Gilliland, Elliott, Green, Waltrip and Jarrett were lap cars that got in the way a lot.  Because of the numerous cautions some were able to get back on the lead lap and not cause any more problems, but when they were a lap down, they caused lots of problems, they could have easily moved over for the lead lap cars and still kept their position.  Unfortunately, that goes along with short track racing, but is aggravating to drivers and fans alike.

Your thoughts?

Nationwide Logo Unveiled and Steve Hmeil leaves DEI

Nationwide unvelied the logo for the new NASCAR Nationwide Series today.

From the press release...

“The logo is simple yet extremely effective in delivering a completely new look to the branding of the series,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s chief marketing officer. “It’s good to be able to place a ‘face’ to a name now.”

"Nationwide is pleased to be able share the new NASCAR Nationwide Series logo today," said James Lyski, chief marketing officer for Nationwide. "Over the next several years, Nationwide intends to make this series the finest entertainment experience in racing."

The quest for the inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Series championship will begin on Feb. 16, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway. The series, which features 35 races at 26 tracks located in 20 states and two countries – Canada and Mexico – is exclusively broadcast on ESPN2 and ABC.

I haved to admit, they are are right about it being simple.  I guess it looks ok, I think the only thing I'm not too thrilled about is that box.  Not sure what it's there for, maybe it's part of the regular Nationwide logo.

The full press release and video of the unveiling can be seen at nationwide.com.

In other NASCAR news, Steve Hmiel and DEI have "parted ways" effective immediately.  What that means for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and DEI this weekend and the rest of the season no one knows.  Surprising news since it was stated over and over again that he wasn't leaving DEI and then this abrupt announcement.

Your thoughts?

Busch or Earnhardt Jr., who will gets their first championship for their new team first?

OK, first I have to credit Gretchen with bringing this topic up, thanks Gretchen!

This will probably pit fan against fan, but let's see if we can be civil here.  :)

Who do you think will win their first championship with their new team first, Kyle Busch for Gibbs or Dale Earnhart Jr. for Hendrick?

It's hard to tell for me, too many unknowns and I don't think I could pick until I saw them perform with their new teams first.  I think Earnhardt Jr. will have an easier time to adjust to his new team, although he won't be use to all the extra practice time and everything.  Kyle Busch, on the other hand, is not just going to a new team, but a new make of car too, which I think might have an impact on performance.  I think a lot is going to depend on how much the Gibbs organization works over the off-season to get things ready.

Your thoughts?