Um, Where Did My Weekend Go?

Well the news from the California Speedway Auto Club Speedway is once again not the race itself. Where to begin on this one? Shall I start with the track’s new name or something called rain, or better yet, ‘weepers?’ The nicest thing about the new Auto Club Speedway is its pretty blue colored walls. Ok, I’m making that up. But, the blue walls now make it much easier to identify which cars have scraped the wall. It’s like a Darlington Stripe in neon.

Please remind me again why there are 2 annual events at the California Speedway Auto Club Speedway. Labor Day at the race track is, well, sweaty and if it is going to rain in Southern California, there is a good chance it will be in February. Even though I get the great fortune of attending 2 events there each year, I vote for one event at the end of April just like it used to be. If that can’t be accommodated, then how about late October when it is still pretty nice here as the rest of the country starts to get out the heavy blankets.

I don’t mean to be too harsh on the 2-mile oval in Fontana, but certain thoughts come to one’s mind when they repeatedly see track workers cutting trenches into the race track. Now I guess I shouldn’t complain too vehemently because although I did attend Saturday and left soaking wet after the Nationwide race was postponed, I did not stay all of Sunday.Figuring that NASCAR and the track would use their best judgment and knowing that foul weather was expected all weekend, I took today off. Much to my surprise, the race was started yesterday and when FOX said at 9PM Pacific time that they planned to run the whole race beginning around 10PM, well I jumped into my truck and was at the speedway by 9:45PM.

Boy did I look like an idiot when I called my wife an hour and a half later to say I was on my way back home. It turns out that going to the Auto Club Speedway of to sit in the cold for under two hours can be deemed by some as a huge waste of gas. Not to mention time. But in my defense, after sitting at home watching 6 hours of coverage plus 2 programming 'updates,' I figured the least I could do was see the thing end in person. Or so I thought. For the faithful that stuck it out all day yesterday, I have the utmost admiration. Those were some hearty souls. They were also angry souls. And I should admit that by angry I mean throwing bottles onto the track and letting out primal screams of anger in the parking lot.At least today was sunny and trenches only had to be cut into the track BEFORE the racing began, which I will admit had me a little nervous until I finally saw the field take the green flag. Though maybe the cutting was a little more exciting than the racing itself, but then that is what we have come to expect in California. I only fell asleep once today, so I know I am getting better at watching Fontana’s 500 milers. Congrats to Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart for their respective race wins.

I have to admit, other than the satisfaction of seeing just how well Dale Jr. ran in his 47-lap down but repaired Chevy, that the best part about Monday for me was being able to watch over 600 miles of racing on uncomfortable aluminum bleachers. All of the laps I saw also proved to me that I do indeed have enough stamina to survive sitting in the stands for the entire Coca-Cola 600, not to mention an additional 3-4 green/white/checkers.

Something Is Different Here

I had the good fortune to sit on pit road Thursday night as the Cup series got a rare preseason night test in at the California Speedway. Perhaps it was the fact that it was a night test or one of seemingly 30 different changes that made me think what a different year this is going to be for NASCAR.

Where to begin? Was it the Budweiser decals on Kasey Kahne’s car? Or how about Tony Stewart passing by with Toyota on the hood? Perhaps it was the fact that the #18 Gibbs car, one of the cars with the longest tenured sponsor with the same team was painted yellow as it awaited its new regular season M&M sponsorship. Oh wait, it could just possibly be the fact that the #8 DEI flagship car was now black…and co-piloted by Mark Martin and Aric Amirola. This was underscored to me as the car drove by with a piece of yellow tape over Mark Martin’s name above the door which had ‘part timer’ scribbled on it. Kinda funny, but again, different.

It seems like I might be forgetting a change or two here. Oh yeah, I overlooked the fact that our favorite racing series now has a different sponsor that it did last year, or 5 years ago for that matter. Kind of. I mean the company is technically the same, but again, another difference this year, just like the Busch Nationwide Series. Wow, that one is gonna take some getting used to. I also could have sworn that 3 new open-wheelers drove by me to take to the track.

And what was the change that made me think I had fallen, hit my head and woke up in an alternate universe you ask? I’ll give you a hint: it involved the double 8. In our sport, it always takes some time to get used to a completely new entry. When you couple that with the fact that the new entry is being driven by the sport’s biggest star, it is just enough to make one a little dizzy. But then I have an equilibrium imbalance, so maybe that’s just me. Now I could be crazy, but in the SAME night, Junior drove BOTH of his differently decaled co-sponsored cars (for the record, I’m a Mountain Dew guy) as an employee from Hendrick Motorsports looked on. Yep, this new season is going to take a bit of getting used to.

I went to bed Thursday night in an odd daze feeling lost and confused, which usually only happens to me on Mondays and Saturdays. I then realized I had not dreamt any of it. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that there is a completely new car for every race, too? I am going to look on the positive side though and keep telling myself that I WILL get accustomed to all of these new changes by the time we get to Daytona…

...in July!!!!!

Where Did All Of You Come From?

It seems like I read all the time about how popular our sport has become and how NASCAR is such a huge spectator sport. That’s fine; I have no problem with that. After all, how can you argue when you see a small city’s equivalent of people packing the grandstands on TV weekend after weekend? My only concern is where all of the race fans out here in Southern California come from every time the NASCAR show comes to town.

I must admit that I am more than an average follower of NASCAR, but I so rarely meet anyone out here who I can talk to about it. Heck, in my office I routinely had to explain who any driver other than Jr. or Jeff Gordon was. Around here I’m still made fun of for having my magnetic driver’s numbers on the metal filing cabinet outside of my office. Many of my coworkers attended their first race Friday night. My friend one cubicle over has made Jeff Gordon his driver just to tick me off. Now bring up the Lakers or Dodgers with them and you can sit and talk for hours.

Of course you could just chalk all of this up to the people I hang out with, but my point is that by sheer numbers, you would think there would be at least a few serious race fans I should be coming into contact with on a regular basis. It always amazes (and pleases) me when I get to the California Speedway and find several thousand people in their race jackets, shirts and hats. It wasn’t that long ago that I had to go to Phoenix to watch a race. Obviously we have race fans out here on the left coast and to be such a popular sport, it would only make sense. I just can’t for the life of me figure out where they all live.

Make no mistake, I’m glad they are out here or we’d have no racing to attend. As it is, attendance has been an issue in California since we got a second race out here. Maybe I should start wearing my racing apparel more often so that fellow race fans can introduce themselves to me. I know they’re out here. Maybe they all live in some beautiful So Cal Mecca I’m not aware of where race fans gather every weekend to celebrate their beloved sport. If you are reading this, please write me and let me know where you and your 100,000 fellow fans live…please!

Who Cares About The Oscar’s, We’re Racing In California!

As races go it wasn’t too bad today. As California Speedway races go, it wasn’t too boring. You have to commend the FOX broadcasters for not overusing the California/Oscars gimmick. I’ll be honest and say that I really figured they would.

California native Kevin Harvick can’t curse the racing gods too harshly today after losing the chance the race Matt Kenseth for the win when he realized he had a flat tire after a late race red flag. It could be said that all the good luck he received last week has now been paid in full. For the second straight week, the Busch race winner went on to take the Sunday main event. Kenseth is no stranger to California wins and picked up two of them this weekend.

Another great run was had by Mark Martin who may be fast approaching the decision of whether to begin retirement in earnest with a week off or tighten his belts for the remainder of the year. Martin’s first planned off weekend in his as of now partial schedule is the upcoming Bristol event. Since he leaves California with the Nextel Cup points lead, he may quickly have to postpone his time off. Ginn Racing has said they are prepared to accommodate Mark if he decides to run full time this year and would shift Regan Smith, Mark’s backup and successor, to their #39 car. Perhaps Mark will get to try out the Car of Tomorrow sooner than the fall race at Phoenix.

Toyota can also leave California with excitement and optimism. They picked up their first stock car pole Saturday in the Busch Race thanks to Dave Blaney and their first Nextel Cup top ten today with Brian Vickers’ tenth place finish. Vickers was a solid fixture in the top ten all day and showed that Team Red Bull is capable of running well and that Vickers might be able to do exactly what Scott Riggs did after missing Daytona last year.

One notable Fontana absence was Michael Waltrip who was knocked out of making the race by one of the cars he fields, David Reutimann. I did notice however that between the first and second Saturday Nextel Cup practices that both Jarrett’s 44 and Reutimann’s 00 had been outfitted with NAPA decals in front of the rear wheels. With the money NAPA puts behind their Cup effort, I assume they’d like to have a presence at every race, especially when you stop to think that Waltrip’s DNF combined with his 100 point penalty will make it very hard to contend for the top 35 in points this year.

When it comes to points, there may be one team more than any other perennial Cup contender that is a little concerned. Yes, it’s only two races into the season, but I wonder if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is thanking NASCAR yet for extending the Chase to 12 drivers after suffering engine troubles early in the Auto Club 500 that left him 27th in points? A few laps before his engine choked, Martin Truex Jr. blew his motor while running in the top ten. While Paul Menard in DEI’s #15 had a good race, he blew his Busch motor Saturday night.

The DEI camp now heads to Vegas where they had engine troubles during January’s test there knowing that they need to do some work in the engine department. At the time he fell out, Dale Jr. was running well so at least they can feel that their intermediate track troubles are behind them. Truex’s motor issue kept him from again showing what a formidable race team this can become. Since late last year, Truex has had good runs consistently but didn’t get the finishes to show for it through no fault of his own. If a Nextel Cup sophomore is going to win a race this year, I’d be putting my money on Truex.

Next up for the Nextel Cup circuit is the newly redesigned Las Vegas Motor Speedway in two weeks, which is probably the only track on the circuit where you may see something more odd than a sea lion exhibit. Although to their credit, you could pay to take a photo while getting kissed by the sea lion at California. I’m sure that is more than I can say for the showgirls in Vegas. It’s a shame too, because there’s a real good chance that they’d smell better.

Harvick’s Favorite Color Must Be Yellow

A lot has been said about how running without the black and silver colors of GM Goodwrench will help Harvick finally completely break out from Earnhardt’s shadow. Simply put, his Daytona 500 win Sunday puts the exclamation point on that discussion. Taking the checkered flag (although not by much, but more on that in a minute) at Daytona while piloting his new yellow and red Shell/Pennzoil colors in their debut puts Harvick in elite company. The fact that he did so when the Daytona 500 was being run for the first time on the anniversary of Dale’s death made it that much more poetic. Just ask car owner Richard Childress who was so busy cheering for Harvick that he didn’t initially notice that his sophomore driver Bowyer was sliding across the front stretch on his roof. Childress cars finished first, third and upside down.

Harvick had a great weekend when you consider he also won the Busch race. There aren’t too many drivers that can boast of having both the Brickyard 400 and Daytona 500 trophies on their mantle, but now Harvick can. As great as the win was, it didn’t come without controversy, but you’ve heard all about that by now. As big of a Harvick fan I am, I’ll admit that I was really rooting for Mark Martin. After all, think about how many more opportunities to win the 500 Harvick will have when compared to Martin’s dwindling chances.

As the carnage of the last lap unfolded and I, along with the rest of the country, waited for the yellow flag to be flown, all I could think about was a Talladega spring two or so years ago. If you remember, that was the race where Jeff Gordon benefited from a last lap caution that kept Dale Jr. from winning although he had all the momentum and actually passed Gordon just after the quick caution was thrown. Unlike that Sunday afternoon though, there was no one throwing water bottles onto the track this time. I don’t envy the split second decision that NASCAR officials had to make. This was one of those times when throwing the yellow would have determined the winner of the sport’s biggest event instead of just forcing teams to change strategy. The whole idea behind the green/white/checker rule is to allow the racing to end under green instead of yellow and that is what we got. What we didn’t get was consistency, but with the wrecking happening behind the leaders when they were so close to the finish line, I guess the non-caution was inevitable.

Regardless of how you feel about the 500’s ending, it was a great way to start what will be an exciting year for Nextel Cup. The addition of Toyota, several new teams trying to make the show every week and the looming debut of the Car of Discontentment (sorry, I mean Car of Tomorrow), ensures that this will be a watershed year for our favorite sport. If the season continues anything like race #1, we’re in for a heck of a ride.

Next up is California when we get to see how well the Dodges’ new nose and those eight Camrys really run.

Shell To Become Primary Sponsor of the RCR #29 Monte Carlo For 2007 And Beyond

Sorry I haven’t posted to this blog since Bristol. We’ll just chalk it up to the fact that it took me this long to recover from three straight night races at Thunder Valley, ok?

People are still talking about the announcement at Talladega last weekend that Shell will become the new primary sponsor of the #29 RCR Chevy. In many ways, the most appropriate place to make the announcement that Shell has joined forces with RCR’s top ride is at Talladega. After all, it was the site of Dale Earnhardt’s last Cup victory and marks the turning of a page for Richard Childress Racing.

Although GM Goodwrench will be the primary sponsor for a few select races next year, the last visible physical link to the former 7-time champion is over. Harvick himself was quoted as saying that running the new yellow Shell #29 gives him a chance to truly establish his own identity in the car he took over under less than ideal circumstances in 2001. Although no one really speaks about it, as long as GM Goodwrench is on his car, Harvick is in the unenviable position of being the steward for the black #3. Switching to Shell Yellow will free him from that at a time when he is hotter than he ever has been. The timing couldn’t be better.

It’s also an example of how things can come full circle. DEI’s first Cup car was sponsored by Pennzoil, which will now grace the hood of the Intimidator’s old ride. Whatever your feelings are about seeing the end of the black RCR Chevy, it’s great news that large corporations such as Shell still see NASCAR as a viable marketing option. After all, it’s the sponsors and their dedication that keeps the wheels of our sport moving.

Mark Martin Wins Bristol Truck Race

Mark Martin used early pit strategy and then held the field off in tonight’s NASCAR Craftsman’s Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mark was followed to the line by Todd Bodine, Ted Musgrave, Johnny Benson and David Starr. Martin had the truck to beat and never really faced a challenge. The victory now gives Mark Martin a win at Bristol in all 3 of NASCAR’s top divisions. It’s a distinction he also holds at the California Speedway. Something tells me that when he enters the NCTS full time next year, he may add to those honors, especially given the fact that he holds the record for most wins in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Another notable piece of truck news at Bristol was announced by Kevin Harvick. He signed a new sponsor. AES Human Resource Solutions will sponsor Harvick’s #33 Chevy Silverado driven by Ron Hornaday, a two-time NCTS champ and series win leader, for the remainder of this year and all of 2007. Harvick confirmed that Hornaday will be his truck driver next year as well. Despite having no sponsor for most of this year, Hornaday has two victories in the truck series and sits 9th in points.

It’s great to see the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series continue to attract new team sponsorship. The series continues to increase its fan base and consistently provides some of the best racing each and every weekend. Top name Nextel Cup drivers are also entering the truck races from time to time and with the current truck series regulars who are former Cup drivers, it provides easy name recognition for NASCAR fans who do not watch the truck races as regularly as they do the Cup events. The addition of Mark Martin to the entire race schedule next year will also provide a big boost in fan attention to the series. Assuming that Martin wins at the 50% ratio he is winning this year (4 wins in 8 races), most fans will have plenty to cheer about.