Week 20 Commentary

The Brickyard 400 is one of the top stops on the circuit each year, and this year did not disappoint. Juan Pablo Montoya had it won until he was nailed for speeding on pit road.

With Montoya out, it was settled between Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson became the first back to back winner of this event.

Although for the most part, there was not a lot of shakeups in the standings. But, a couple of top teams got hit with a couple of bad finishing racers, and paid a heavy price.

Crank McTanken, of all people, led the way this week and gets himself a bucket at Wing Shack. Crank was all cranked up, andhe led The Big LeBowski, Chevy Intimidators*, fast charging Danielle Hall and The Gas Man.

Those who had a bad week (Ky Busch and Earnhardt, Jr.) were MotorCare Racing, Flat Tires Racing*, The Blue Deuce, Raising Cane and Boy Racing, Inc.'s entire stable.

In the standings, Brady Bunch continues to show the way. Danielle Hall dialed in and coming to the front with only one spot to go, while Team Taser, BMF Lugnuts and Ricky Racer round out the top five.

Gaining this week were O Racing, The Big LeBowski, Snookbabe, Chevy Intimidators*, Burke and The Gas Man. Those who are not start and park who found themselves in gasoline alley during green flag conditions were CEBO, Flat Tires*, MotorCare Racing, Team Collin, Two or Five*, Lil Boy^^, Big Boy^ and Mama's Boy.

Although we were just there, we head back to Pocono this week for the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA. The green flag is scheduled to drop at 2:18PM on Sunday.

When John Roberts, pictured at left, Jimmy Spencer and Kenna Walla get through with the pre race on Speed, you need to have your picks in. So, remember, pick early and then adjust later so you do not get locked out. ESPN now has rece coverage rather than TNT.

Good Luck and stand on it!

BAHL

Brickyard Photos

We had a former league member at the Brickyard who got some great pics.

Here are few. I will post more in the days to come. Enjoy!

Jeff Gordon waiting out rain for qualifying.


Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle enter pit road.


The front of Mark Martin's Chevy after the race.

Mayfield Deal Quite Puzzling

Here is a report from FOX Charlotte on the Jeremy Mayfield saga:



Until proven otherwise, I am sticking with Mayfield on this deal. Am I missing something? Why would NASCAR be so out to get this guy? Ray Evernham indicated his releasing of Mayfield from his race team was only due to performance issues, nothing else.

Anybody got some insight on this or have any thoughts they would like to share? Hit the comment box and let your voice be heard!

Week 19 Commentary

With all the goings on a Chicagoland, which is quite unusual, the scores for the Conway NASCAR League were in the tank as Mark "The Kid" Martin outclassed the field.

Danielle Hall, who won the week and flat out has the hammer down, was closely followed by ORacing, Team Hot Stuff* (where did they come from?), Fitz Racing* and RW Racing. Even Fraser Sells Orlando posted a sixth place finish.

Among the top teams with issues this week were Flat Tires Racing (off last weeks stellar run), DFL Racing,who won two weeks ago, Glynn^, Team Collin and The Blue Deuce, who did manage to hold firm in the points.

The Brady Bunch* still runs point, with The Blue Deuce, Team Taser, rising fast Danielle Hall and one of our western representatives, Ricky Racer.

Big gainers this week were few and far between, with O Racing moving up 8 spots and GBR88* 5 spots. Slipping up out of the groove were Team Collin, NJ Motorsports, Man in Black Racing*, Sweethang and Flat Tires Racing*

A good time was had for the Saturday night race fans at The Wingshack. Several beers were had, which may be why I did lose a friendly wager to BMF on what is probably deemed common knowledge to most sports fans. But, Luckydog^ and I did win the Wingshack trivia contests, so it all comes out in the wash.

There is NO RACE THIS WEEKEND. Could they have waited until pre-season football started for an off week? Anyhow, we get back together for The Brickyard 400 on July 26.

We have identified August 16th for our midseason party, which will be held at the Wingshack.
Stay tuned for further info on this, but it is during the race at Michigan, so you won't miss much as you mingle with the crowd.

Study up on your notes over the off week or read Common Sense by Glenn Beck. Have fun anyhow and we will see you at The Brickyard.

Week 18 Commentary

"If Tony hits you, you needed hittin" quipped Tigger a few years back. He was correct!

Restrictor plate racing on the superspeedways is always a thrill, and the events at The World Center of Racing this past weekend was just that. Finally, someone had the stones to take out Kyle Busch, who up until this point did exactly what he wants with no regard for his fellow racers. So, congratulations to Tony Stewart for winning the Coke Zero 400 and and for punting the punk in the wall.

Although the accident involving Mark Martin had an impact, since most of damage caused by Kyle Busch happened after the start finish line, we did not have much of an impact on the scoring. Brady Bunch* and The Blue Deuce* are running nose to tail atop our league standings.

No Ones Beatch and Fitz Racing* shared top honors this week, so they should stop by The Wingshack for their free beer. Other with strong runs were Flat Tires Racing*, Smoke's Fury and Tippy Twister.

Among those who are not start and park having headaches were RKDK*, GBR 88, Toga Phil Racing, Chief Racing and CosmoD*.

There was not alot of major moves made in the standings this week, which is surprising for plate racing. Among those moving up were Tippy Twister, O Racing, No Ones Beatch, Smoke's Fury, Man in Black Racing*, Flat Tires* and Fitz Racing*.

CosmoD* began a free fall, while NJ Motorsports, Glynn^, Motorcare Racing, RKDK* and Team Collin all fell several spots.

Our race schedule presents us another Saturday night race as we run the Lifelock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. The new restart rule should bring some needed excitement to this race.

Please note that the boxes have changed for Chicagoland!!!!

The green flag drops at @8:16PM EST. A review of the Orlando Sentinel indicates television coverage begins at 6:30PM EST with "NASCAR Live on TNT". Therefore, picks should be in by 5:30PM EST. Pick early, adjust later and do not get locked out!

After Chicagoland, we will then be off a week before we head to Indianapolis.

Before we leave the high banks, see Tony take the checkers one more time!

The Business of NASCAR

Tonight, on CNBC, host Darren Rovell takes a look a the new realities of NASCAR, given the recessionary time we find ourselves living in. Please see a pair of promotional videos for the special below:



Sprint Cup points leader and new team owner Tony Stewart, fresh off his Firecracker 400 victory, weighs in:



This recession has been brutal to the Big 3 with manufacturer support dwindling. Seats are empty as the consumer has pulled back of discretionary spending and we appear heading to a point where we race electric cars with #18 Toyota Prius of Kyle Busch wrecking the #26 Ford Fusion Hybrid of Jamie McMurray as they raced up into turn two at Darlington at speeds reaching 75MPH. Talk about empty stands? Good grief!

More information on the special can be found by clicking HERE. CNBC usually does a great job with these specials, so be sure to tune in tonight at 9PM EST.

Happy Independence Day

Nothing like spending the Independence Day holiday at The World Center of Racing with a couple hundred thousand hard working Americans.
It was 25 years ago today the The King Richard Petty won his 200th race in his red, white and Petty blue Pontiac Grand Prix with President Ronald Reagan in attendance.
Pictured; Ned Jarret, President Ronald Reagan, Richard Petty and Mike Curb.

NASCAR Nationwide Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr walking down pit lane to go qualify the Fastenal #5 Chevrolet.


A look a the main front stretch grandstands.


Pole sitter and eventual winner Clint Bowyer pits the #29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet.

Week 17 Commentary

Yet another rain shortened race where a team with no shot of winning takes the checkered flag. First, it was David Reutimann and now Joey Logano. Logano seems nice and he is no doubt talented but he had about the 25th best car on Sunday, but rain strategy won day. Good for him, bad for us fans.

DFL Racing led the way for the Conway NASCAR League this week. DFL saw a collection of drivers in his mirror, including Mangler, The Lug Nuts* and Chief Racing. Flat Tires Raceteam*, found an air pump and crossed the stripe in second place.

Gaining on the day were CosmoD, Team Collin and Bigtime Racers.

Those in the garage area for the week included some top teams, thanks to the cocky Kyle Busch. Since apparently no one in the garage area wants any part of him, I may travel my happy ass down to pit road this Saturday afternoon and, among other things, voice my displeasure to him for putting 4, that's right, 4 of my cars behind the wall. Yes, I got points bludgeoned by this asshole. I wish Truex would have yanked Busch out of the car after the race, but for some reason, a fist has yet to find his nose.

Joining me behind the wall were CEBO, Man in Black Racing*, The Big LeBowski, O Racing and Lil Boy^. Those who had poor days but avoided the points free fall were James Hall Racing, Crank McTanken, Team Hot Stuff and WHS Racing. Several other teams, including former champs Luckydog^, Big Boy^, Glynn^ and Oiler^ were limping around the track.

Got some emails and see the message box where folks are getting locked out. As we have noted several times, picks need to be made 1 hour before network television coverage. The Orlando Sentinel TV Time notes NASCAR on TNT Live began at 12:30PM. Hence, picks should be in at 11:30AM. Not to call out anyone but the message box message was at 12:20PM and the emails I got were also well after 11:30AM.

Unfortunately, this is by far the best option Racescore affords us, so we have to live with it. We have made every effort to illustrate the rules to everyone, and went over it yet again here on the blog just a few short weeks ago.

Error on the side of safety. Make picks, say on Friday or after qualifying, or early on raceday. Then, if you get a wild hair, come back to make a change. If you get locked out, no big deal, you are already posted in the clubhouse. It is not difficult.

PHOTO VIA NASCAR.COM OF DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY COKE ZERO 400

And this week, we have a Saturday night race as the good ole boys come back down to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the running of the Coke Zero Firecracker 400 Saturday Night. Green flag at 8:19PM.

It looks like an injunction clears the way for suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield to field an entry. The case surrounding him seems suspect from the outside, so until I know different, I'll be pulling for him.

And what happened to TNT's Bill Weber? Check out the link to The Daly Planet at right for more details and a comment section.

Cap and Trade my exhaust pipe and as Punch would say, keep the shiny side up!