Turn 3

Martin back to full-time? Why not?

By DAVID GREEN

The notion of Mark Martin coming back to full-time Cup racing status has been a topic of considerable discussion lately, with most of the speculation I've heard and read putting Mark in a Hendrick Motorsports car (the No. 5 soon to be vacated by Casey Mears).

There seems to be a lot of animosity on the part of some toward the idea of Martin coming out of semi-retirement. I'm not sure I can figure that out, but everyone has the right to his or her opinion.

I think there's little question that Mark is at the very top of the list of NASCAR's greatest drivers never to win the Grand National/Cup championship title. He's in very, very elite company, make no mistake, alongside greats such as Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, Davey Allison, Harry Gant, Tim Richmond and Lee Roy Yarbrough.

But all things considered, I rank Martin the best non-champ.

I can almost see him grimacing at the words. Mark has always maintained that he did not need a championship trophy to validate himself as a racer or as a successful person, and I take him at his word. But so much of what professional athletes do is molded by the perception of their fans, it's impossible to ignore the fact that some of the best drivers in the sport never managed to win the title.

The fact that he has come so close so many times (second to Earnhardt in 1990 and '94, second to Gordon in '98, second to Stewart in 2002; third four times, fourth three times, fifth once) is proof that he's worthy. It isn't a matter of being lucky to get close, it's a matter of being unlucky to never close the deal.

If he does go full-time again -- and I hope he does, if that's what he wants to do -- it will be a sort of third time around for Martin, who broke into NASCAR as a youngster back in the early 1980s, but ran afoul of professional and personal problems that set him back and sent him down from the major leagues.

He was down, but not out. And when he returned to NASCAR with Jack Roush in 1988, he was ready to take his place among stock car racing's best. And he was a more content, more self-satisfied person, to boot -- not so much because of racing success, but in a happy coincidence kind of way.

I've enjoyed watching his career, and there are few drivers I've watched for whom I have more respect. Mark is a gentleman and a racer, and that's not an easy pair of attributes to blend.

As for those who reject or resent the idea of him coming back, as I said, to each his own. I can't understand the negativity, but maybe the critics have never had a change of heart or mind about anything. So I won't debate the matter, other than to say I'm looking forward to it -- and to leaving the debate about best non-champ driver to fans of those other guys I listed.

We Won't Wait much longer....

By Mark Young

OK gang, just a quicky........Tony's deal to buy Haas is done.  Management at JGR is aware.  Truex could be going as well with UPS and Bass Pro as sponsors.

I might be a hack blogger and a half step behind but I am "hearing" the same thing some of these other sources are........I just have a real job, dammit

I am not Nostradamus (and don't care if it is spelled wrong) but if Truex leaves and Martin goes to the #5 ( which sounds legit)  You heard it here in blog-land first people......Newman to the #1 at DEI

Waiting On Tony

By Mark Young

Well my friends last week I shared with you all about my weekend camping in the infield at Michigan International Speedway about all the fun I had, things I saw, and people I met.  Another cool thing that happened was that I had the honor of representing That's Racin' as a member of the media with credentials.  This gave me a chance to roam the garage and pit areas, take pictures, and sit in on some interviews that drivers like Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson held before practice on Friday.  But it also gave me a chance to visit with some people I know who are "in the know" regarding our favorite sport.  Boy did I get some good stuff!!  Drivers leaving, drivers staying, teams being sold, none of it solid but from good sources.  The common denominator with all that looms for Silly Season 2008........Tony Stewart.

Everyone has known for weeks that Tony is testing the waters and looking at other opportunities beyond Joe Gibbs Racing.  We also know that JD Gibbs has made it clear that they expect Tony to drive for them in 2009.

There have been other drivers who are at the end of their contracts.

* LaBonte is re-signed with Petty.
* Biffle is all but renewed with Roush-Fenway, likely to be announced this weekend in Loudon.
* Truex could be available but DEI holds an option for 2009.
* Newman is looking at other teams and Penske is looking at other drivers.
* Childress has a 4th ride available with a high profile sponsor already on board.
* Montoya is pissed about the rotating crew-chief situation.  But he says he is sticking it out with Chip.
* The CNC-Haas Automation team (#66 and #70) is supposedly for sale.

That is a pretty impressive list of free agents....or potential ones.  Then on Sunday night ESPN broke out a story saying Mark Martin could be replacing Casey Mears and run an entire season in the #5 car.  That is a really interesting story to break because it is the opposite of what I have been hearing.

Now, I am just a guppy in this pond we call NASCAR.  I am not one of the big-time guys who travel from race to race.  They have their connections as well, likely further up the food chain than the few that I have.  But let me run down what I have heard and combine it with my gut feel for what is about to happen.........very soon.

1. Tony Stewart is going to leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year.
    - He is going to buy CNC-Haas Racing.  I figure Chevy is going to buy him out of his contract to get him back into the fold.
    - CNC-Haas is basically a satellite Hendrick team.  I bet Rick has some sort of vested interest in this deal.......

2. Martin Truex Jr. will leave DEI and Bass Pro Shops, his sponsor, will go with him.
    - Truex will drive either the #66 or the #70 for Tony Stewart.
            - Bass Pro Shops is heavily involved with Tony Stewart in his open-wheel ventures and we have all seen the commercials with Tony AND Martin.  Sponsor find a driver they like to represent them and they tend to stick with them.

3. Ryan Newman will either go to DEI and become their big wheel OR he will go to RCR and drive the 4th car.
    - I have a feeling that Ryan is tired of playing second fiddle at Penske (first behind Rusty and now with Kurt Busch).  I am more inclined to think that he will go to DEI to be BMOC (big man on campus) rather than fight for attention at RCR.

4. Mark Martin will NOT replace Casey Mears in the #5 car and drive full-time.
    - I have learned that when Mark agreed to come back to racing after his "retirement" he had to agree with Jack Roush to not run an entire schedule of events.
    - I am willing to bet Mark Martin goes to RCR to split time with either Scott Wimmer or a Young Gun, thus keeping his word with Jack Roush.

5. David Stremme will replace Ryan Newman in the #12 car.
    - David has had a great season in the Nationwide Series driving for Rusty Wallace and recently signed a contract to be their test driver.  I bet David walks in and replaces Ryan full-time in 2009.

6. Casey Mears will leave the #5 car and drive the other Tony Stewart car (either #66 or #70)
    - Rick's influence, and likely financial support, of Tony's new organization will have Casey go there leaving room for a higher profile driver for the #5 car.

7. TONY STEWART WILL DRIVE THE #5 IN 2009.

You can call me crazy, that's what I did to my radio show co-host Dave when he mentioned this a while back.  This just makes total sense.  Rick Hendrick gets financial interest in another Chevy team and in return gets a two time series champion to drive his often under-performing fourth team.  Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians you say?  That's what I thought at first but now it makes perfect sense.

As you can see, this all centers around Tony.  Something like going to Hendrick to become another link in the chain is almost like George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees.  People are going to freak out but I think that if this happens it will be a bigger deal than Junior leaving DEI.......

What do you guys think?

Variety is the spice of racing

By DAVID GREEN

There's almost always a number of ways to skin an onion. Certainly, such is the case when it comes to driving racecars. To me, that makes the competition more interesting and more enjoyable.

Over the years in NASCAR's history, there have been drivers who had the reputation of hard chargers -- tough, hard-nosed racers. Many of those drivers also had a tough-guy reputation. Others were known for taking a more patient approach, for using finesse instead of brute force.

Changes in the sport have altered that a little bit, but there are still differences that distinguish drivers.

NASCAR's tough-guy role has been best played by the likes of Curtis Turner, Buck Baker and Dale Earnhardt. Three of the sport's hardest chargers were Junior Johnson, Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough, but each of them had a little different persona in comparison to Turner, Baker and Earnhardt. They seemed to be nice guys who raced hard, rather than just hard-nosed types whose driving style reflected their personalities.

It goes without saying that a driver who cuts nobody any slack is likely to earn the label of "dirty" driver. Some -- such as Junior, Buddy and Cale -- temper that to a great extent by not exploiting the tough-guy image outside the cockpit. Nobody does that better in modern times than Jeff Gordon.

Earnhardt, of course, perfected the "One Tough Customer" role and rode it to a kind of racing stardom that may never be matched. There are all kinds of examples of chinks in the armor, such as the "lucky penny" and Earnhardt's long-sought Daytona 500 victory. But Earnhardt's driving was also multi-faceted. The subtleties of his personality and his racing played a significant role in his popularity, but most fans loved him or hated him because of his image as a bad dude.

My list of finesse drivers is topped by David Pearson, renowned as one of the best at pacing himself and saving his equipment for the money lap. Bill Elliott is another who deserves high ranking in that regard.

Most drivers adjust to the situation, of course. Pearson would gladly set the pace if he could do so without straining, and nobody who saw Elliott make up a nearly two-lap deficit under green at Talladega would accuse him of playing it cozy.

But some drivers perfected the art of adjusting. Bobby Allison was one who gave as good as he got. Allison could race cleanly, or he could beat and bang. Likewise, NASCAR's winningest driver, Richard Petty, is best described as versatile.

One of the most intriguing duels in stock car racing history was the 1960s antagonism between Allison and Petty. Allison was perceived as a serious competitor with a pugnacious side if provoked, while Petty was the quintessential laid-back, "aw shucks," Sheriff Andy Taylor in a driving suit. As drivers, they were much more alike than they were different.

Without a doubt, the driver whose personality was more prominent than his considerable driving talents was "Jaws" himself, Darrell Waltrip.

Nowadays, as technology makes engines and other components more and more capable of taking abuse, it's getting less necessary to take it easy and more difficult to be patient. But some drivers -- think Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson -- seem to have a knack for letting the race come to them.

On the hard-charger side, nobody fits the image better than Tony Stewart, but it's more of an image than reality. Based on driving style, Kyle Busch is a better candidate, but his youth and arrogance make him seem like more of a punk than a menacing guy in the style of Turner, Baker or Earnhardt.

Or, maybe that's just an old-timer's take on it.

Racing From The Infield = Awesome Fun!!

By Mark Young

WOW!!!  I am finally feeling human again.  I had the opportunity to go to the race this past weekend at Michigan International Speedway and camp in the infield and what an experience it was.  Yes it was likely the largest party in Michigan this year, and yes there was a lot of partying going on.  But the thing that I will remember the most about my stay in the friendly confides of MIS was the diversity of lifestyles, the diversity of ages, but the similarity of being race fans.

In case you haven't been to the infield for a race you MUST experience it once.  You get a chance to watch the race from a different point of view than from the grandstands.  Dave, my co-host from our radio show U Want Some? on www.racetalkradio.com, and I walked down to turn two on Saturday to watch the Craftsman Truck race and the view of the banking and seeing the trucks bobble their way through there was amazing.

The biggest thing I brought home from Michigan, other than a big headache, was all of the cool people I met.  I met kids, I met older people, and everything in between.  We walked around the infield and interviewed several folks about racing and their experiences there and the common denominator is tradition.  These people have been going there for years and have made life-long friends from these trips.  They spend the year building buses or planning weekends filled with fun.

With the exception of a few folks, who obviously are narrow-minded, everyone respects the fact that they all have different drivers they root for.  For that I am proud to be a race fan.

I will never forget the things I saw there, the friends I made, and the time I spent in the infield at Michigan.  For those of you who have never done it, you should give it a try.

Tell me your experiences.........

Hotdog Wrapper Capitol of the World

By Keith Ott

First, I hate ovals that turn into fuel strategy races. It’s not that I hate fuel strategy races per se. I just think that, like many fans, I won’t even consider shelling out $300 to go to an event where they race the last 30 out of 200 or so laps. Were it not for Kyle, and the broadcast team, I would have dismissed this race early. I like these TNT guys. It’s almost like watching radio (heard but not seen). Kyle cracks me up with his HD wrappers and heavy oil (broken parts in it) anecdotes, and the whole broadcast team seems to gel. They saved this event, for me anyhow.

The Racing: What racing? I took times for positions 1-10 after 4 different  long green run segments of the event, and here’s the average separation from positions 1-10 in seconds.  The leader/ -5/ -8/ -10/ -12/-15/-18/-21/-25/-28. That’s 1 through 10, on the same lap, and that there’s some pretty exciting racing, I tell you what (Sarcasm off). Imaginary and real cautions may bunch up the field, but a little racing intermingled in there would be nice. Nobody did anything. The leader pulled way ahead, but it wasn’t like he was going to lap the field. This COT races like the UPS truck at 1.5’s. The COT gets a grade of “C­-”, in my book at Michigan. Fix the car or shorten the races. It’s painful to watch.

Empty Seats: At least TNT had the nerve to show them. If NASCAR is so concerned about their image, and what rising gas prices etc. will do to their bottom line, then they might want to rethink ticket costs. A full stadium looks oh so much better on TV.

Drivers:

Earnhardt: Bring it on “conspiracy” nuts. The fact is Jr. & Jr. kept the car up there all day and earned the win. It wasn’t pretty, but they got it done.

Stewart: Maybe he wasn’t the Champ on Sunday, but the donation of his winnings to flood victims, makes him a Champion in my book.

Kenseth: You snuck into another good finish. BTW, officials are part of the game in every sport. Stop whining about getting a position back. The man was doing his job. It wasn’t like he set up a lawn chair in front of you.

Kahne:  It’s official. He’s done so well recently I had to officially add Kahne to my spell checker. I just couldn’t ignore the red underlines any longer.

Biffle: Get with Earl. Your Karma isn’t right. Make a list.

 

That’s it for me. What was your take?        

Just When You Think

By Keith Ott 

Just when you think that NASCAR might lay off making asses of themselves, if just for a bit, they just have to open up their mouths one more time. “Y’all better lay off picking on the COT, lest ya find your butt in a heap o’ trouble, ya hear?” was the word, more or less, put out by Mike Helton to the drivers. What does that mean? They’re going to assess a fine for bad mouthing a car; take points? In all major sports, you can certainly expect to be fined for bad mouthing an official or a call, but a car isn’t human. It’s a machine. It has no feelings, and they are independent owners and drivers. It’s called free speech. NASCAR has taken micro-management of the sport to a new (low) level, thought control. I guess that that encouraging speech, for allowing more driver emotion and spontaneity, that NASCAR made, has a new face value somewhere south of the dollar (if that’s possible). It tells me a couple of things. For one, this COT, outside of safety, sucks ass, and NASCAR knows it, and is worried about it. It also says volumes about how little NASCAR really knows about the fans. I’ll pluck down some dollars to watch the stars race a shitty car, but you make them race that POS, and then take words out of their mouths, well, I might have to think on a new sport. This Navy guy is kind of in favor of that free speech clause.

Just a short one tonight.    

The 2nd Coming of Kyle....Petty

By Mark Young

This past weekend at Pocono we saw the first presentation of the year from TNT and to say the least I was very impressed.  Granted, the swarm of thunderstorms that has made a saturated mess of the Midwest knocked out my dish around lap 50 and I had to listen to the radio for an hour or so, but it didn't take long to figure out TNT hired a gem to be their color commentator.  Kyle Petty has found where he belongs and it isn't in a race car.

U Want Some?

In my opinion Kyle Petty is a race fan's dream in the TV  booth. He feeds off of what is going on around the track.  He gives Wally Dallenbach, who I really didn't care for with NBC, information to feed from and Wally does the same in return and has made Wally a better commentator as well.

The ride along segment that Wally used to do as a gimmick to scare the chit out of celebrities had more  credibility to it with Kyle driving along side comparing racing lines.  Other thean when Webber asked Kyle about the Bobby LaBonte contract issue we never heard Kyle talk about his team or the manufacturer he races for (take note Darrell).

I saw a note on another website this morning that said Kyle was so good because he didn't have a great racing career.....Bull Crap!!  Kyle is an honest person, very much like Dale Jarrett, and that is what makes him a great TV commentator not because of his stats..

Kyle has had a very disappointing past couple of years as a driver......we all have seen it.  I have gone on to mention in my radio show that perhaps it is time for Kyle to get out of the car.  Listening to him present the race on Sunday solidified my thoughts three-fold.

Kyle Petty the driver needs to step aside and let Kyle Petty the commentator take over.  He, like D.J., is a breath of fresh air that we haven't had since Benny Parson left us and Buddy Baker wasn't invited back.  We all know the wonderful things Kyle and Patty Petty do with the Victory Junction Gang Camp,anyone who thinks otherwise has serious issues, but Kyle Petty the race driver needs to let another person step in to help carry on the Petty racing legacy and let us remember him as a great person, a great color commentator, and a person who drove his very best behind the wheel of our favorite past-time.

Nobody will think any less of him if he were to gracefully step out of the car and continue his wonderful legacy in front of the TV cameras and microphones.

POCO-NO? POCO-YES!

By Keith Ott

 

Finally, I can say I saw racing at Pocono. Not epic, tell the Grandkids racing, but at least there was some semblance of action on the track. They had me worried. My lap 24 notes contain such tidbits as, “It’s a waste of asphalt; boring, etc.” Early on, when they were strung out, and a phantom debris caution popped up, I started looking for “Ol’ fluffy “(My best nap pillow) to ease my pain. But, then something happened, and they started to race. I still think it is way too long, and, like all races it had its lulls, but I never got to use Ol’ Fluffy. 

The Broadcast: Maybe it’s just me, but I found the TNT team refreshing. No damn, Boogity’s; no comic book rat running amok; no GameBoy3D. They came to show racing, and I think they pulled it off pretty well. They did try to sneak in an overhead in-car cam. I have a 60” HDTV and I couldn’t figure out why I was supposed to be excited by the shot. “Yep, that there’s his helmet, can we move along now?” But, if that’s the worst they can come up with, I’ll feel blessed. The broadcasters were pretty decent. Anybody who doesn’t like Kyle Petty in the booth can KMA. He’s becoming one of my favorite driver/announcers. Kyle leaves the “I” at home. He tells us about racing without ever throwing in an, “I did this, or remember when I, or a boogity.” I did think there could have been better “through the field” coverage, so I’ll watch for improvement there, but overall it wasn’t half bad.

Drivers:

Busch – Live by the sword, die by the sword. When you push the envelope to reap rewards, you have to expect days where it just doesn’t pan out.  There was no spotter error there. He just tried to put an 18ft car in a 16ft hole. But, wtf was going on later when, with no points to gain, he races “Franken-car” like he’s on the lead lap and causes a caution?

Burton – Summa Cum Laude graduate of the Matt Kenseth under the radar school of driving. He’s just always there.

Earnhardt – Jr. & Jr. argue like they’re married, but, unless he gets “Hamlinated,” he’s gonna have a good points day. Didn’t like the last two tire stop, but, hey, they don’t pay me to make that call.

Kahne – The Kahne-ettes are walking tall. Who saw it after last season? A downside of his success could be an abundance of children named Kasey. If he keeps this up, he may even get some man fans.

Keselowski – I like this kid. He wasn’t in this race, but, since I had to work on getting his name right, he’s listed here. Great win in Nashville driving for, who else, the NAVY. Standing up to Hamlin’s arrogance showed me that this kid may be the real deal.

Hornish -  Can we end the open wheel experiment now?  It wasn't all his fault, but I kept hearing a line from "Days of Thunder."   "Go out there and hit the damn pace car." "Why?" "Why?  Because it's the only thing you haven't hit yet."

 

There are too many drivers to list them all. You name ‘em and I’ll give you my take on their day. All in all, a much better race than I expected. 

What would Jerry do?

By DAVID GREEN

I always try my best to look for the silver lining, to see a half-full glass, to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. I don't always do a very good job, but I try. It's getting harder and harder to be positive, in an overall context and specifically with regard to stock car racing.

With that, I depart for today from the Pollyanna "Glad Game" (those of you too old to remember the adolescently delicious Hayley Mills will be completely mystified by that allusion, but -- hopefully -- curious enough look it up) and hereby offer a rant of sorts.

Anecdotal evidence is whimsical, but I know a fairly large number of old-school race fans who are anywhere from mildly aggravated by to completely done with NASCAR. It isn't very hard to see why. In fact, there's so much ammunition for this debate that we'll focus on just one subject:

Cheating.

There's more attention given to "cheating" in NASCAR these days than in traditional country music lyrics. Is that because there is really and truly a tremendous volume of nefarious goings-on in the race shops and wind tunnels and laboratories and racetrack garage areas? I suspect the answer is no. There's just more buzz about incremental, inconsequential things. The frenzy is driven by both NASCAR and the media.

NASCAR is making simple things complicated, making mountains out of molehills, meting out ridiculously light punishment (especially from a historical perspective) for the rare-as-hen's-teeth truly serious infraction, and creating an ongoing non-story in the process. It rivals the TV series Seinfeld in the "much ado about nothing" category.

It drives the likes of The Observer's David Poole to pulpit-pounding apoplexy. Poole's prose provokes a response from the late Smokey Yunick's daughter, Trish, but I suspect her efforts were wasted, because her defense of her father's reputation is based on the notion that "cheating" is purposefully doing something that is clearly and specifically prohibited by an official statutory regulation.

Ignorance of a law is no excuse for breaking it. To the true believers of the contemporary "NASCAR is full of cheaters" presumption, interpretation of a law is also an inadequate defense.

What I know about football is small even in comparison to what little I know about everything else, but I have often heard knowledgeable football people observe that officials could call holding on every snap if they wanted to. Is that because offensive linemen are low-life criminals who have authority issues or a shortage of ethics or character?

I suspect it is instead because the subtleties and nuances of blocking defy satisfactory statutory definition, which means that coaches, players and referees must, by necessity, work in a (cue the ominous danger music here) "gray area."

It's kind of like trying to address the millions of possibilities that exist in the construction, set-up and adjustments in a modern racing car. It's impossible to avoid the (danger music) "gray area."

Maybe there's method in their madness. After all, Seinfeld was enormously popular.