Over The Wall

Owners and partnerships

  Since when do owners not make money.  In this sport I always knew you had to spend it to make it but I'm starting to think otherwise.  In the the last year or so I keep reading about teams that are looking for investors or partners for there teams.  Rousch has done it, Evernham is doing it, and Yates is looking.  If a team is making money and running on its own, there would be no reason to go looking for some one to split the profits.  I guess my thought is that Nascar is hording all the money and making it so that the teams and owners have to get partners just to keep up.  Racing is a money sport just like all the others, the more money you spend the better you should run.  In order to keep up with the sport Nascar needs to help out the owners and teams so that it doesn't become to expensive to go to the track.  There are only so many sponsors that can put up 20 million dollars a year to see there logo on a car.  Besides the big 5 teams, there are a lot of cars that change sponsors weekly or every other week.  I don't think that is good for the sport but I cant really blame them for getting all the money they can.  In order to get more money into the sport (sponsorship) it has to be affordable.  I think the teams are not getting the sponsor money they need to do everything they want. That's why some of these teams are going out looking for investors. They need the money to compete.  I could be way off on this but its just my thought.  Holla back.

Favorite Victory Gimmick

By: Dennis Terry

Congratulations to Carl Edwards and the 99 team for a long overdue victory in Michigan last week. 

Flipper finally made it to victory lane and more importantly, his coach driver finally get's to shave that ZZ Top-esque squirrels nest growing on his chin... talk about a nasty pit road fashion statement!

Seeing Flipper have an opportunity to take his customary finish line flip for the first time since 2005 got me to thinking about other drivers and their victory gimmicks.

You have Allen Kulwicki’s famous "Polish victory lap" where he would take the checkered flag on a parade lap around the track... BACKWARDS! 

Then there is Tony Stewart's fence climb and mosh pit dive into the front stretch crowd, reminiscent of Trent Cherry's famous 2006 All Star stage dive.

Jeff Gordon cries in victory lane, Matt Kenseth slides through the grass, Kurt Busch does some sort of snow angel thingy that is embarrassing as hell to watch. 

There are countless versions of front stretch burnouts with the car parked on the retaining wall and a couple of drivers still do a parade lap with the checkered flag out the window.

My favorite gimmick, OF COURSE, is the doughnut in the grass like Dale Sr. did at the 1998 Daytona 500. 

Doughnuts in the grass are cool celebrations, but most importantly they remind me of summer picnics, homemade ice cream and Denny Cakes!

So, what’s you favorite (or least favorite) victory gimmick???

1.    Flipper

2.    Tony’s Fence Climb

3.    Kulwicki’s Polish Lap

4.    Burnouts

5.    Doughnuts

6.    Old School Parade Lap

7.  Snow Angel

And, as usual, I know some bloggers are going to think of several that I missed, so hit me with those too!

DT

What if Jr doesnt win

  With all the talk about Jr going to Hendricks and Kyle getting the boot it makes me wonder what will happen if Jr. doesn't produce at Hendricks.  In my opinion I think Kyle is the better DRIVER even though Jr. is probably the better person for the team.  With the success at Hendricks and the reputation they have gained it will be nothing short of failing if Jr. doesn't win races and compete for a championship.  There will be no more excuses for equipment and cars because Hendricks have proven anyone can win in there stuff.  As far as Kyle goes, I think he can win where ever he goes.  I don't really like the kid but I think he can drive. Who ever gets him will get a good wheel man but also some baggage.  I guess time will only tell and we'll all wait until next year to see.  Holla back.

Jimmy, Jeff AND Jr.... Oh my!

By: Dennis Terry

Now that Jr's future is "out of the bag", I've got a few questions that only you fans and time can tell.

First, where does fan loyalty lie in this situation???  Do the "die hard" Earnhardt fans still pull for DEI and whomever ends up driving the #8 Budweiser car in 2008 or do they trash all of their Bud #8 stuff and dawn Hendrick Motorsports apparel and stick with Jr. no matter where he chooses to drive.

Secondly, the "Jr. Nation" has most always been Busch, Johnson, Gordon, Hendrick haters.  Do you think that Jr. is sleeping with the enemy or do you think that Jr. has finally found a solid avenue to a Championship???

What about the future of the 8 car?  Will Jr. fans embrace the new DEI/Budweiser driver?  Or will the fans shun and curse the driver that fills Jr's shoes at the team built by his father?

Lastly, for you Gordon fan's, what's up???  Jr. is in the house now, does Jeff and Jimmy still rule the roost or is this Rick Hendrick's way of saying that Jr. is the future of Hendrick Motorsports??? 

And, oh yeah... someone please explain to me exactly who this Casey Mears guy is???

Can you say SUPER TEAM? Let me know what you think!

DT

We're getting there

  Obviously it was disappointing not win the race at Pocono.  Our team hasn't won in nearly two years and that could have been the one.  I'll give Gordon this, he knew, just like Newman knew, that there was only about a lap or two left before that race was over.  I think Newman could have passed a lot of other drivers out there but Gordon is one of the best and he did what it took to keep the lead just long enough to get a win.  Ryan came over and told us that he just about tried to pass with eight tires instead of four.  He said it laughing and even Gordon had an idea Ryan would be racing him hard.  Either way our driver took it in stride and handled with a smile.  We ve got some momentum in our favor and we need to keep it going heading into Michigan.  Another pole would be nice in helping our pit crew with the number one stall and also maybe getting the five bonus points for a lap lead.  At this point we need all the points we can get to make the chase.  I guess the only other thing from this weekend would be the fact that we pitted next to the 11 car and my good buddy DT was changing fronts on his car while I was running my mouth in the rear of ours.  I remember the last stop of the day I kept trying to tell him and his carrier that we were doing 4 tires instead of two in hopes that he would tell the crew chief and screw up there call.  We talked crap all afternoon and had a good time doing it.  Thats about all for now. holla

What a mess we got here

  I'm sure by now everyone who watches racing has seen the footage of our teammate trying to TALK to Tony Stewart during the race on Sunday.  DT has spoken on this issue so I figure I would to.  The shop right now is just waiting to here what Nascar is going to do to Kurt and the 2 team.  What bothers me about the whole situation is that this incident affects more than just Kurt Bush.  On all race teams there are incentives for how you finish, how well pit stops are performed, where you finish at the end of the year, etc.  So by Kurt showing his ass he puts all of us at Penske in a bad situation.  Not only that but it makes guys on our team embarrassed to be his teammate.  I think Kurt has a ton of talent but acting like a two year old isn't gonna cut it anymore.  Oh by the way, we finished second, won the checkers, crew chief of the race award and moved up 2 spots.  Who knows, maybe we can get a little bit of a streak going.  Thats all.

Kamikaze Kurt

By: Dennis Terry

If you haven't seen it, be sure to check out the highlights of Kurt Busch ramming Tony Stewart on pit road during Monday's race in Dover.

Kurt nearly wiped out Stewart's Jackman, Jason Lee, who had to dive onto the hood of Stewart's car to escape serious injury from another one of Kurt's adolescent temper tantrums. 

I know that this will never happen, but I've got to say it anyway, it is time for NASCAR to step up and suspend Kurt Busch for a few races because of his pit road actions in Dover.  When is our sport's sanctioning body going to exercise some control over the drivers who represent all of us???

Here's some perspective for you... Tony Eury Jr. got suspended for six races and fined $100K for having the wrong support brackets mounted on his race car.  If Kurt doesn't receive at least equal punishment for intentionally putting a guy's life in danger then all of NASCAR's safety hype is bogus.

HANS devices, soft walls, restrictor plates and larger cars have all been implemented to make driver safety number one, but what sort of NASCAR safety devices are in place to safeguard crew members from guys like Kurt Busch intentionally running us over??? 

Helmets and fire proof shoes?  I don't think that's going to be enough.  The only protection that crew members really have is NASCAR's responsibility to mandate a sense of control and a priority of safety from each driver while navigating pit road.

I guess we'll see where NASCAR's safety priorities are once we are able to compare Kurt's imminent punishment with what Tony Jr. received at Darlington.

Remember Kurt, your annual salary as a driver is five times what we make our entire careers... even if you can't show any respect for your sponsors, your fans or how you represent Roger Penske, try to grow up and show some professionalism and class as a driver.

You are the 2004 Cup Champion, when can we expect you to start acting like a Champion?

DT