Life, Through Tinted Shades

Sports fan can be so fickle. It's not just a case of in motorsport, but in all forms. It's great to support sports, but how die-hard some get always baffles me. Is it that important that it encompasses your entire life. Better yet, that you blindly to the point where even in the face of a bald faced truth, you still can't accept it.

At times, it reminds me of religion. I consider myself an open minded person. Do I believe everything told to me. Hell no? I try to keep an open mind on things, so that I can better understand all sides of an discussion. But there are those that cling to something like their very existence depended on it – and to refute such belief would be tantamount to trying to talk the Pope out of the idea that there is no God.

It is the same with sports. Before I start, let me state, I don't lump all sports fans into this category. I am not out here to make generalisations and to lump everyone into one category. But I do see an unfortunately growing trend.

A recent high profile example is Cristiano Ronaldo. Up until about two months ago, he was adored by the United faithful. Now, with his move to Real Madrid, he is the subject of public scorn by those who once cheered his name. His past exploits forgotten as he 'betrayed' them. The fact he has won everything he possibly can in England is irrelevant, nor is the opportunity to play with one of footballs historic teams.

That is just one example. There are countless others. It's pretty sickening the crap you see on message boards. It sometimes makes me wonder why I bother writing. The internet is a great forum for debate, but a lot of people just use it as a way to bully their point across.You look at the majority of sporting forums and they are full of ignorant people, most who lack such basic things as grammar and spelling skills.

There is no incentive to write a well versed debatable post when it surrounded by such garbage. I don't even bother looking at forum discussions anymore because there just is no point. People either see it as bias and unfair to their favourite team or sports star or just plainly resort to name calling.

It makes you wonder about these guys away from the computer. Before, I'd used to think that these are the sort of people who would never speak out in public. They use the Internet as a faceless way to speak their mind without any repercussions. Lets them feel high and mighty about it all.

Increasingly however, especially with the youth of today, such disrespect for others carries over. Not just in the sporting realm, but in all aspects of life. The attitude of the youth of today is down right despicable. Honestly, I don't remember being like that at all in my day – and that was only about ten to twelve years ago. How things have changed. Like I said at the top, I don't think all people are like this, but it just feels that there is a growing number of people with this narrow minded approach on life.

The most prevalent motorsporting example of this comes from America (see, I had to work in motorsport at some point.) The big 'feud' right now in Nascar is between long time fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Junior and public enemy number one, Kyle Busch.

To recap briefly, this whole thing started with Busch being dropped at Hendricks in favor of Junior. The major boiling point came at Richmond last year, when in a battle for the lead, Busch tapped Junior into a spin, denying him a victory. (At this point, Junior was still on a long win-less streak with the exception of a non-championship win at Daytona at the start of the year.) The funny thing is, Earnhardt himself had a carbon copy incident at the same race this year, spinning Jeff Burton out. But of course, no public outcry there.

Earnhardt Nation cried foul. Queue beer cans on the track (a common thing mind you when someone rattled up the 'Nation and calls for the head of Kyle Busch. Thus began the feud.

Busch became an hated individual amongst a majority of fans. One thing I liked about Busch was that he relished it. He could've been meek and tried to smooth things over. Instead, he relished the role of the bad guy and played it up. He developed his character of the bad guy, but still played fair (depending on who's opinion you gauge) on the track. Theatrical bows followed his victories to the crowd as the Las Vegas native tore up the track. Countless victories followed, while Earnhardt has one solitary championship victory to his name at this point.

His success only riled those who hate him on. But his driving style has seen him garner many fans. Busch's desire to race anything and everything is something that I love about the guy. On numerous occasions, he has raced three times in the one weekend. He wants to race, he wants to win and he is not afraid to use all the track. Busch is probably the only guy who can go three wide on a track all by himself.

Unfortunately, he doesn't always put himself in the right light, which I think hurts him with some of the neutrals. On the track, he is awesome. But off the track he does need some work. The guitar smashing incident at Nashville this year is a perfect example of that. While he had his reasons for it, there was probably a better way to go around it.

From my standpoint, I'd be concerned with his desire to outdo Earnhardt Nation. Yes, if I was Busch, I would feel aggrieved that a bunch of narrow minded fans were giving him hell for no other reason that he once spun him out. This is Nascar, people get spun all the time. But at the end of the day, Busch is clearly the more talented driver. Earnhardt, while popular, is never going to match his fathers achievements. Kyle needs to rise himself above that and focus on setting his own benchmarks.

People dig at him for not wanting to talk after he's not had a good race. The guy wants to win. I thought America was all about that. They love winners, hate losers. Yet when Busch doesn't want to be chatty after a race, they label him a cry baby and sore loser. I always find it interesting how values that American's hold so tightly are thrown out the window just because they hate the guy.

It was the same again last weekend after Daytona. Busch got in a tangle on the final straight while leading and crashed. He stalked off, not wanting to talk. Those who don't like him bitched and moaned, reciting the fact that he was a cry baby and didn't want to talk.

Here is a reality check. If you have had a good race turned sour, the last thing you want to do is talk. I've experienced this in my sim-racing career. Hell, I've gone through a patch of five races where I've had a great car only to have terrible results. The last thing I want to do is talk about it, and if I do to someone, there is usually an expletive every third or fourth word.

So why should Busch give those who are on his back further ammunition? Had he spoken right there and then, he would've. His decision not to speak, if you ask me, is the best one. Cool down, review what happened, talk in private rather than airing it all to the public.

I'll finish up with returning to the ideal of narrow-minded fans. See, Junior inherited many of his fans who supported his father. The funny thing is, Kyle Busch probably has more in common with Earnhardt Senior than Junior has. Yet, because his name isn't Earnhardt, they don't see it. I think trying to compare Senior's style to Busch would be again, like trying to talk the Pope about God. You would be lynched and locked up for it.

The strange thing is, fans cry out for drivers with character. So often they complain that the drivers are strictly controlled and un-interesting. The greatest example of his is Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon. Both are often accused of being cookie-cutter drivers, very politically correct. But then when someone breaks the mould, he is chastised for it. It's irritating, if you ask me. They want drivers with attitude, but only in a certain shape or form.

Suffice to say, this is a problem that is only going to get worse, one I doubt will ever truly get better. The people I feel for most are the open minded fans. No longer do we have a forum for frank, open discussions. Instead, we are left simply to chat to ourselves as the haters rule the world.

Fifty Years Young

In today's day and age, we expect motor racers to retire early. Gone are the days where they race deep in their forties. Heck, even as some turn thirty, we hear of retirement plans. It is all about getting the young, raw talent behind the wheel.

In Nascar, that is no different. Rookie Joey Logano is eighteen and racing at the highest level of stock-car racing. Right now, the sport has a crop of drivers under twenty-five that have the potential to be long-running contenders for wins and champions.

But on Saturday night, Mark Martin dominated in a fashion to remind everyone that despite being the elder statesman of the Sprint Cup, he still has plenty to give. His victory, his first in nintey-seven races, made him only the fourth driver to win a Nascar race over the age of fifty. He is the first to do so since 1993.

But it wasn't just at Phoneix. Martin has looked as sprightly as those drivers thirty years his junior. Already he has notched up three poles. If it wasn't for issues out of his hands (two engines going up in smoke and a tire blow out), he would be comfortably inside the top-12. Going into the fourth race of the year, he was on the cusp of falling out of the top-35 in points.

After those issues, many wondered if that was it. Had the fairy-tale turned into a nightmare? The veteran responded by remaining ever positive and has steadily notched up the points. With victory over the weekend, he now sits a mere nine points from the coveted twelfth position. Will Mark Martin make the Chase? I think the answer is pretty clear.

His victory was a popular one up and down the pitlane. It was great to see so many different people come and congratulate Martin in pitlane. Team-mates current and old, former team owners and long time competitors. Outside of a Dale Earnhardt Junior victory, one for Mark Martin would be the choice of Nascar fans.

The question still remains - can he finally win the championship. Some still question whether he has that killer instinct to take victories which are all important to the Chase. As the season goes on, I really think he is in with a shot. He is consistently up the front and now with the first victory for the team, they can only move on from here.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well, in Mark's case, there is no need for new tricks when the old ones still impress.

The Weekly Nightcap - Feb 27

Welcome to the first ‘Weekly Nightcap’. I’ll use this as a forum to give my views on multiple topics in the motor racing world that I (a) didn’t have time to get to during the week or (b) didn’t have enough to make a proper article out of it.

This week, I’ll be touching on the impending (?) Honda team takeover, A1GP wanting to be Formula One.. or is that the other way around, BBC’s announcement on Formula One coverage, the banks bailing not only on their customers, but on Formula One and finally on Dale Earnhardt Junior.

Honda buy-out imminent?
This week ends with news that supposedly, a rescue plan for the Honda team is almost sorted. Judging by some of the news reports, it is a case of dotting ‘i's’ and crossing ‘t's’. The buyout option appears to be that headed by Ross Brawn and Nick Fry.

The pair is an interesting way to go. Over the past few months, we have been told that there have been many enquires. Although, according to Honda, none were feasible. It’s hard to believe that the Brawn/Fry bid was the only one that really ticked all the boxes for Honda. If Branson was serious about a Virgin bid, his deep pockets would make more sense than those of a cobbled together bid.

Perhaps the two leaned on their connections in Japan to get across the line first. A number of potential buyers were said to be unhappy with Fry being involved in the vetting process, given that he was tabling a bid of his own. Regardless, 20 cars on the grid is better than 18 come Melbourne.

I want to be like you!
At the A1GP race in South Africa last weekend, series boss, Tony Teixeria, stated that Formula One was looking to become more like A1GP with the recent changes to the sport. Oddly enough, despite this claim, he still has dreams of starting his own Formula One team. While his standpoint maybe that Formula One is trying to emulate his series, his ambitions appear to realise that A1GP will never match Formula One.

Practice, Qualifying and Race, Oh My!
The BBC announced its scheduling for Formula One this week. The great news is that they plan to show extensive coverage, including the practice sessions. The Beeb will offer the sessions online, if of course you are lucky enough to live in the United Kingdom. Ah, fun times. They will also be available on television, via the red button – if you have one. (Yeah, Kieran, I’m looking at you!)

Extensive pre and post race coverage is also touted. The line that caught my attention from Mark Wilkin, producer of the Beeb’s TV and online coverage was that "we want to personalise these guys because we don't know who they are. The British public knows who Lewis Hamilton is now, but there are 17 other drivers that we need to get to know as well."

I’ll believe it when I see it. But, ITV Sport did send the set new lows in my view for overall coverage of the past two years. It can’t take that much effort for the BBC to beat that standard level this year. As long as the BBC don’t follow ITV’s lead and create ‘The Lewis Hamilton Show, featuring a Grand Prix’, all should be fine.

Closure
RBS has joined Credit Suisse and ING as the banks pull out of sponsorship in Formula One. ING announced a few weeks ago that they would be leaving Renault, much to the joy of retinas. RBS will honor their contract until the end of 2010 with Williams, giving the privateer manufacture time to search for a new sponsor. I suppose, when you announce loses of 20 plus billion, another few million down the drain is like a penny in a pond.

I wonder if some lay awake at night and wish the sport still had tobacco sponsorship. Don’t get me wrong, I have no inclination for smoking. I personally don’t touch the stuff. But, it’s a lifestyle choice for some. In their time, they brought some serious cash to the table (and still do in the case of Ferrari.)

Better late than never
Nascar travels to the glitz and glam of Las Vegas, Nevada for the third stop on the Sprint Cup tour. Something I didn’t get a chance to mention last week was Dale Earnhardt Juniors response to what occurred at Daytona.

At the time, Earnhardt Junior didn’t take any of the blame. On one hand, it was to be expected given that he didn’t have an opportunity to assess the situation. On the other, it irked me as a viewer, since he chose to question another rule entirely in the same interview.

The weekend of the Fontana race, we got the see an interview between Earnhardt Junior and Darrell Waltrip. It was a candid and open interview that allowed the viewer a glimpse behind the mask we see on race days from a driver. I don’t think that anyone other than DW could have gotten such responses out of Earnhardt Junior. In it, he took responsibility for his part in ‘The Big One’. It might have been a bonehead move, but at least he can stand up and admit when he did wrong.

The Big (One) Debate

Matt Kenseth took his and Jack Roush’s first Daytona 500 victory in the rain shortened season opener in Florida. As the lights went down the rain began to fall. Nascar hoped to restart the race, but the rain continued to persist, bringing an end to the 51st edition of the ‘The Great American Race’.

The main talking point regarding the 500 will remain Dale Earnhardt Junior. The fan favourite started strong but a pair of pit lane mishaps saw him go one lap down. Driving like what can only be described as a pissed off teenager, he got into the rear of Vickers’ when the Toyota blocked him all the way down to the double-yellow line. The action resulted in the ‘Big One’, taking out numerous cars, included those who had been in contention all day.

While the majority of fans are already sweeping it underneath the carpet, those who hold a more neutral view are scratching their heads as to why Nascar didn’t dish out a penalty. A similar incident occurred only 24 hours earlier in the Nationwide, where Jason Leffler received a five-lap penalty in a similar incident. Yet, no penalty was given to Earnhardt Junior.

I don’t believe it was intentional. Trying to wreck someone at a Super-Speedway is just insane. Earnhardt, more than anyone, knows the pain that a massive wreck can cause at those speeds. The problem is, Earnhardt was not in the best state of mind. Anyone watching the race could see that he appeared more agitated following a pair of pit-lane issues.

Yes, he was fighting to get in position for the Lucky Dog, but as the day showed, blocking people was the norm. He could have afforded to lift ever so slightly, given that nobody was tucked up behind him either. The result of the incident saw many good race cars wrecked. Patience is the key in any race.

Ironically, in his interview after the incident, Dale Junior was questioning whether to have the rules looked at in regards to Vickers’ move. Not exactly the most ideal time to bring that up.

But as I said, it is likely to be swept under the carpet. In Earnhardt Nation, Junior can do no wrong. Regardless, even more pressure has been put on a driver who is already carrying an already massive on his shoulder in the 2009 season.

Junior Breaks His Duck

Dale Earnhardt Junior finally took a long awaited victory at Michigan.

It may have been via a fuel strategy, but given Junior’s form in 2008 it is no less deserved. On a number of occasions, the sport’s most popular driver has challenged for the victory but fell short. However, Sunday saw a change in luck for Junior.

It was day where he didn’t necessarily have the best car, but a daring strategy saw him come up trumps. It isn’t the first time that Hendricks have taken the gamble with fuel. The team which dominated 2007 has struggled to replicate its form. This has led the teams to go an unorthodox direction with fuel strategies. It worked for champion Jimmie Johnson earlier in the year. Up to this point it was Hendricks’s only win of the year. Since, Junior and Gordon have scored top-10’s because of their ability to stretch their fuel.

Junior finally broke his duck when the race finished under yellow. The situation looked dire for the #88 a few laps before. Whilst coasting to save fuel, a yellow came out. The race distance would go over the 200 laps to allow a final attempt at a green flag finish. Earnhardt Nation held its breath while their man saved fuel. Half way into the final lap a spin brought out the yellow leaving Junior to cruise home to a popular win.

Championship leader Kyle Busch recovered from a torrid weekend at Pocono to finish 13^th. It could’ve been so much more for the #18 who led early on. Matt Kenseth and Brian Vickers were another two driver’s left rueing what might have been. Both drivers are making a late push for the Chase. Former champion Kenseth, who at one stage looked out of it, now stands just 14 points out of the coveted final spot.

This weekend the Sprint Cup heads to Infineon for the first of two road courses on the calendar. Last year F1 convert Juan Montoya took his maiden Nascar victory. The road courses always see a strong showing from the former single-seaters and will also see a host of a road-course ringers show up, adding more pressure to the go or go-homers.

Kahne Victorious At Charlotte Again

Sunday’s motorsport bonanza ended with the Coke 600 from Charlotte.

NASCAR prepared for its toughest test. The race started in daytime before transforming as the sun went down before finishing under the lights. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, drivers had to contend with an extra one hundred miles.

The race was a test of how a team could adapt to the changing conditions. Some faired well and ran good all night while others waited for their time to pounce. One such person was Tony Stewart. The #20 struggled to keep on the lead lap early on. But as the night wore on the orange Toyota powered it’s way to the front. His chance of a first victory at Charlotte went up in smoke with a tire blow late into the race.
One more his team-mate Kyle Busch was the man at the front. However the #18 team was beset with issues. It is something the team will have to deal with if they intend to win the Chase. Any lesser driver wouldn’t have pulled off the sterling finishes the Las Vegas native has. Dale Earnhardt Junior was top dog at Hendricks. His own chances of victory suffered when he hit the wall and was rear-ended by JJ Yeley. Despite this he still game home with a top-five along with team-mate Jeff Gordon. Both men got good fuel mileage from their Chevy’s to limit the damage of their misfortunes.

All this allowed All-Star winner Kasey Kahne to pick up his second win in two weeks. As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Kahne snapped a long-running winless streak last week and the confidence it has instilled in the GEM Dodge team is showing. Kahne is showing signs that he could recapture is 2006 form. Time will tell, but the team is off to an excellent start. The result seems him sneak into the top-12, ahead of the ever impressive David Ragan in the #6 Roush Ford. Ragan, who endured a crash-fest rookie year, is proving that Jack Roush was right to back him for a second year. Seeing the #6 running back at the front brings back memories of what Mark Martin did with the car.

The NASCAR circuit heads to Dover this weekend. A return to day-time racing is a welcome change with the time zone difference! It will also be the last race broadcast by Fox. I’ve grown to enjoy the Fox team commentating and will be interesting to see how it is handled from here on out. I think Darrell Waltrip will be missed most of all.

So we’ll have to tighten those belts one more time at Dover!

A Month Under The Lights

It’s been a while since I pulled up a Nascar round-up. The main reason for the delay is the late night races that are on the schedule over the last while.

The last three weeks have been night races with the fourth, the Coke 600 at Charlotte this coming weekend. Adjusting to this schedule has been a pain in the arse. I tried to stay up for Richmond in vain. Midnight to 4am races are pretty taxing. The race was dominated by Denny Hamlin. Lady Luck decided against letting the youngster record his second win of the year with a tire blow out near the end.

The race will be remembered for the contact between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Junior. The former has endured the wrath of Earnhardt Nation since. Clint Bowyer snuck through to take his second career victory.

Kyle Busch was dominant force at Darlington. The tight confines of the track didn’t stop ‘Wild Thing’ from overtaking anywhere on the track. Even a penalty for a loose nut, which put him to the back of the pack couldn’t stop Busch. The youngster, who was promoting the new Indiana Jones flick, provided a swashbuckling performance to win the race. Common sense was to the front for me to watch Darlington with taping it. While I hate the idea of watching races re-live like this, it’s better than nothing.

The third consecutive night race was the All Stars race on Saturday night. A non-points race which Kasey Kahne, who only made the race after been voted in by the fans, walked away with the one million dollar cash prize. Dale Jarrett stepped back into the car one last time and even drove big brown truck before the race got off.

The common thread through all these races was the force that is Kyle Busch and Toyota. The Gibbs team were beset with mechanical issues at the All Stars race. But, better to get them out of the way now than have them this coming weekend.

Busch is also in the spotlight over his tangle with Earnhardt Junior. As I said before, he is now incurring the wrath of Earnhardt Nation. His former Hendricks team-mates Gordon and Johnson can give him tips on that. I noticed that the pair of them, Busch and the open-wheelers received a less than appreciative applause from the fans at the All Stars.

I love the way the Kyle is handling it though. He admitted after the race it wasn’t intentional and that he wasn’t thrilled that it occurred. In most cases, that should be enough and everyone gets on with it. But now when the other driver is Earnhardt.
It’s just the way things are over there. I read plenty of times about the Nascar.com journalists having their inbox’s filled with such comments that are really... well.. narrow minded.
But Kyle just feeds on the crowd, the hate. It’s like a pantomime where he is the villain, one which in public he is happy to play. The team bow at the All Stars driver intro’s – I loved it. It’s just a shame that in all likelihood most pre-race interviews are going to see that this issue cropped up. Earlier on the season I enjoyed his comments and playful attitude over things.

Whether Earnhardt Nation likes it or not, Wild Thing is here and he isn’t going away.

'Dega Lives Up To The Hype

Ooh what a race. I have to say that Talladega was edge of the seat watching racing.

The COT provided the perfect platform for the bump racing that occurs at the Super-Speedway. We had cars running two, three, four and at times even five wide. It was an accident waiting to happen and the fact that the ‘big one’ came in the final few laps is a testament to the driving qualities of the field. It had everything including slingshot overtaking moves that fans of Ricky Bobby would know all about!

Kyle Busch picked up his second win of the year on a day where he didn’t necessarily have the best car under him. He was not without his problems on his way to victory lane. Busch went a lap down after missing his pit-box under green-flag pit’s, forcing the young contender to come around again to make his stop. He took advantage of the lucky dog on a caution which allowed him to return to the lead lap. A driver of his calibre took full advantage and quickly found himself up amongst the mix.

His team-mates both had cars capable of winning, with Stewart and Hamlin leading on several occasions. Stewart’s day took a turn for the worse with a cut tire before been involved in first of two late crashes. Hamlin pushed everyone and their mother to the front but didn’t appear to have a car capable of leading on its own.
The top ten featured unfamiliar faces after Busch, with Montoya pushing him to the line for second. David Ragan and Brian Vickers ran up front all day and were rewarded with fourth and fifth respectively. Robert Yates driver Travis Kvapil came home sixth, a great result for the team which for many a race has come to the track sponsor-less. Fan favourite Dale Earnhardt Junior finished tenth having been involved in the same incident with Stewart. The accident put paid to his own hopes of breaking his own winless streak.

It was an awesome race to watch. Within a lap you could fall from first to twentieth and back up again the following lap. It was that sort of race. We had familiar faces intermixed with new players to the front. If there was ever a race to sell NASCAR as a sport – this one would be it.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Kyle Busch. He appeared to a touch behind his Gibb’s team-mates. Busch fell off the lead lap after missing his pit stall when boxed in. ‘Wild Thing’ kept his head, stayed with the leaders and got his lap back before moving his way to the front. After a few races where he was off the boil, Busch firmly reminded the establishment of his ability.

Three And Easy

After Bahrain, it was a double-header of Stateside racing. Television scheduling over here saw the NASCAR live with IRL shown afterwards. Useful thing the IRL not being live, given the rain delays incurred.

Carl Edwards notched up his third win of the season at Texas. The #99 featured in the battle for the lead throughout and took his opportunity when presented. The revitalised Jimmie Johnson came home in second position, given credence to the talk that his team have overcome recent difficulties. The same cannot be said for team-mate Jeff Gordon who had an unbalanced car from the first day of the weekend. Gordon struggled heavily before spinning out trying to stay on the lead lap. Dale Earnhardt Junior started from pole but NASCAR’s most popular driver faded as the day went on.

Kyle Busch put last week’s troubles behind him to finish third, bringing momentum back to his Chase charge. It was a good day for Gibbs with Hamlin and Stewart finishing fifth and seventh respectively. The every present Richard Childress team who announced this week they would be expanding to a fourth car next year had all their drivers in the top eleven. The NASCAR circuit moves on to Phoenix on Saturday night.

PC's Driver of the Day: Carl Edwards. Over the last few weeks the likeable native of Missouri has had to deal with the shadow of his 100 point penalty after victory at Las Vegas. The #99 team has come out fighting since and got justly rewarded. It's a reminder to the rest of the field that he means business.

COT Proves a Point

It may have his critics, but the Car Of Tomorrow, or Car Of Today, or whatever people fancy calling it now proved its worth during qualifying for the race at Texas.

Rookie Michael McDowell who is piloting the #00 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing survived a massive, massive shunt during his qualifying stint. I heard about it but I didn’t actually see it till the pre-race show now. Personally I was surprised that he got out of it unscathed after such a smash. It’s a perfect example of how far car safety has come over the last few years. Not only did McDowell get out of the car safely, but he will be competing today in the race.

Below is a video of the actual crash he had.

IRL Round-Up

At the same time the second round of the IRL season was run at St. Petersburg. The first race off the ovals promised to close up the gap for the ex-Champ Car drivers and the addition of rain spiced things up. Newman/Haas/Lanigan driver Graham Rahal, son of Champ Car legend Bobby, came through to become the youngest winner in open wheelers. This was also Rahal’s first IRL start having missed out at Homestead due to lack of parts to repair his damaged racer. Even before the rain the street course showed that the discrepancy between the two groups of drivers will not be a factor. Champ Car converts Will Power and Justin Wilson both qualified in the top three. The rain brought out the strategic minds and Rahal pipped the vastly experienced Castroneves after eking out his fuel mileage to the flag.

Paperclip Racing

Martinsville – the paperclip. The track is completed at speed in twenty seconds. 500 laps of mayhem around the half mile circuit and NASCAR didn’t disappoint last night.

There were a grand total of eighteen yellow flags before Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin took victory. It’s the second of the season for manufacture Toyota. Hamlin took advantage of a different strategy to beat the Hendricks team to the line. At one stage it looked like the #11 FedEx car had made the wrong call when he got himself out of sequence with the lead bunch. Weather threatened to play a part in the race but it was limited to spits and spurts.

Hendricks saw an upturn in fortunes on a track that they have been long dominant on. However the team which was nigh unbeatable at times last year has yet to win a race this year. Not that they should be worried. All but Mears are now into the top 12 – which after 26 races will be locked into the Chase. Earnhardt Junior continued his impressive form since the move to Hendricks. He might not have won a race yet, but you get the feeling it’s only a matter of time for the man with the biggest fan following.

Championship leader Kyle Busch had an afternoon to forget. Spun around by his own brother earlier on he struggled to find the right balance in the car before car issues sent him to the back. It was amazing that for the majority of the race we had all 43 cars out on track. There was plenty of bumping and grinding, but that’s what Martinsville is all about. Of course if you plan to get someone back, you’ll get nicked for it. Just ask Matt Kenseth who got held for two laps after deciding to get his own back on David Gilliland.

Dario Franchitti enjoyed a better than he’s previously had. Although he went much of the race without been mentioned, the Scot finished 22^nd. Still not enough to earn him a spot in the Top-35, meaning he’ll once more have to qualify on speed at Texas, but it was an improvement for him in a season where he’s struggled to impress so far. Jamie McMurray, a man who was outside the Top-35 drove his way back in with a car that rarely left the top ten all day. Regan Smith is now the man on the bubble after Hornish fell out along with David Reutimann, who took over from Dale Jarrett in the #44.

Talk about a tight pit lane. If Formula One thought they had it bad with eleven cars maximum, not that we ever actually that, in the old Monaco pits on race day – just have a look at Martinsville. 43 cars into a tight pit lane with just enough room to breathe. It too saw its share of incidents with a couple of collisions as people tried to exit as others entered.

Mister Consistency Jeff Burton takes the lead of the championship going into this weekend’s race at Texas. I’ll find myself multi-watching dependant on start times with the IRL from St. Petersburg. Add the Bahrain race on Sunday morning and it’s another engine-revving packed weekend of sport coming up!

PC’s Driver of the Day: Jeff Gordon. Slightly late to start his feature for NASCAR. Despite not coming away with the grandfather clock (NASCAR have some of the coolest and unique trophy ideas), Gordon was a dominant force on the half-mile. The four time champion ran into problems after getting caught up in when Almirola spun Labonte, dropping him down to near the rear of the field. Gordon drove with the determination and skill long associated with the former champion to drag his #24 Chevy back to the front and keep Hamlin honest. Had the fates swung a different way for Gordon he might well have won it.

Start Your Engines!

Been give or take eight years but finally I got to watch NASCAR live again. Sunday was the showcase event of the series – the Daytona 500.

I have fond memories of the Florida circuit. Back in 1999 I had the chance to tour the track during a family vacation. Even before then I had an interest in Nascar via computer games but to actually be there and see the place, it was something else. The closest thing to a racing circuit I had seen before them was Mondello Park, which isn’t exactly the greatest track in the world over here in Ireland.

It was great to sit down and enjoy the race on Sunday. It didn’t dissapoint either with hard and fast racing. Everyone took it nice and easy during the opening stages before things got manic in the last 50. Congrats to Ryan Newman who broke a long run without a victory to win Penske their first restrictor plate victory in the series. A great result for his team-mate Kurt Busch who started last and had a whole host of problems during Speedweeks and the race itself.
Toyota and Joe Gibbs will feel it was a race lost with their three drivers extremely strong. Kyle Busch having to back off to ensure he didn’t pick up a penalty for going below the yellow line cost him a shot along with been able to bump draft his team-mate Stewart. Even powerhouse organisation Hendricks’s ran into trouble with only Dale Earnhardt Junior finishing in the top ten.

If Daytona is anything to go by it’s going to be a great season in Nascar this year. With Sky showing it on a regular basis I hope to give more regular commentary on the stock car series. For anyone with questions regarding the sport, especially those unfamiliar with it let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them!

All The Eights

Yesterday came the much anticipated announcement of what number and sponsors would grace Dale Earnhardt’s car for 2008. Anything to do with DJR’s move to Hendricks’s has followed a tidal wave of media attention and yesterday was no different.

He failed to agree a deal to bring his coveted number ‘8’ from DEI. The old adage of never work with family, or at least step-family rings through over that whole issue! That the moving on his long time sponsors Bud meant that it was all change on the outside and allot of getting used to for the Junior Nation. As many have pointed out, tattoo parlours will be busy in the close-season.

Numbers were thrown around with the only guarantee that an ‘8’ would be in it. We learned yesterday that he will adorn the ‘88’, which had been acquired from current owners Robert Yates Racing. The next best choice of number. Along with the new number it was announced that Mountain Dew and its energy brand Amp, along with the National Guard will sponsor the new 88. Both schemes were presented to the media yesterday.

This just gives you an idea of the impact that Junior has over there. To draw comparisons, think Beckham. The press conference was televised as well as shown on the NASCAR website. Within half an hour of the announcement the website already had as section set up to buy the new 88 merchandise. Before the night was out the first pictures of the gear were up. Talk about quick work. Reminds me so much of the Beckham move. Who would seriously think we would see LA Galaxy jerseys over here for sale, let alone people buying them. (Still haven’t figured that one out). Given the style of the font, I wonder whether HMS will have a new one for next season. The 88 font is very similiar to that found on the 18 Joe Gibbs cars. Usually amongst the big teams they tend to carry the same font through. This one is completely different to that carried by the current four HMS cars. However it could be a simple case of Junior having his own style.

Never has a move in motorsport generated this sort of hype and attention. Now that all the pieces are settling into place there is little left for Junior to do than wait for 2008 and let his skills in the stock car take centre stage.

Why You Shouldn't Leave Before The Chequered Flag

While this blog is about Formula One, this one piece of international motorsport news couldn't escape me.

At a recent race in Texas in the NASCAR series there was an accident which involved Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Junior. Both cars limped back to the pits to be repaired. Here is where the similarities end however. Bush went home, with his team later citing a 'miscommunication' for the mix-up. His team stayed on and worked hard to get the car race worthy for the last few laps. They succeeded but found out they were lacking a driver.
Enter Busch's crew chief, a friend of Junior, who asked him if he would be interested in driving the car for the last few laps. Now remember, this is for a different team, a different crew and it would not earn Junior any more points, in fact he would earn Busch's car more points. (NASCAR has a complicated points system I won't go into now!)

Junior said yes. Without hesitation. That's class. He recognized that the crew had worked hard to get the car going and he did them the service of putting it back out on track. Where else in the world of motorsport would we such such sportsmanship? Shame on Busch for his early exit. One must ask why was he in such a hurry to leave? Given the amount of money these drivers earn he could've stayed around. If I was a driver that's what I would've done. Junior stayed and look at the impact he was able to make. It even ties in with the example set by Michael Schumacher in his time where he spent day and night in the Ferrari garage with the mechanics.

The publicity of the lesson is sure to not be lost on Busch though. He won't make the same mistake twice. As for Junior, his actions will only enhance his reputation as a class act and a top bloke in the NASCAR paddock.