Brickyard 2008 - Nascar’s Most Boring Race Ever

From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, TN. July 30, 2008
By Joe Dunn / joe@onpitroad.com

When is Nascar Sprint Cup racing, not racing? When they go to Indy with a BAD tire for this track. This is not the first time for tire issues at the Brickyard, but with all the testing they have done, one would expect something better than what we did Sunday.
The problems really came to light during Saturday’s practices when teams reported tires falling apart after very few laps. But both Nascar and Goodyear knew about the problems before that. The last minute response was to haul in tires made to specs for Pocono next week. One has to wonder WHY? The Pocono tire is yet an even softer compound than the Indy tire, which was wearing to the cords, sometimes in as little as 8 laps.
With the longest green flag stretch at 12 laps, I have seen a lot more exciting racing watching 4 cylinders at the local dirt track. As the race progressed, the ESPN team in the booth strived to cover up the smell of this fiasco by telling viewers how much better and more exciting the racing was getting late in the race. I highly doubt that anyone who was actually watching the race seriously believed them, or owners Richard Childress or Joe Gibbs who professed that Nascar and Goodyear were doing a great job of adapting to a situation beyond their control.
In the end, the race came down to a 6 lap shootout, that looked anything like a shootout, but rather follow the leader pace laps as Jimmie Johnson took the uneventful checkered flag.
In the Nationwide Series, last week Nascar determined that the Toyota’s had a horsepower advantage so they issued a new midseason rule requiring restrictor plates for them. All the other teams looked for some relief from the Toyota (especially Joe Gibbs Racing) domination. So how did that work out? By Kyle Busch leading 197 of 200 laps Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis and collecting his sixth win of 2008 in the series.
This week the Nascar Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Speedway for the Sunoco - Red Cross 500 on Sunday, while the Nascar Nationwide Series heads north of the border for the Napa Auto Parts 200 at Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Crossville Raceway will run the weekly racing action Friday with gates open at 5 pm and racing at 7 pm. Next week, the Southern Regional Racing Series will return with the Sears of Crossville $3000 Super Late Model race.
Wartburg Speedway, which has been closed the last few weeks returns Friday with the Shoney’s - Morgan County Pro Hardware $4000 Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series Super Late Model race.
The Thunder Series moves to the Mountain Raceway Park Saturday for the Atomic Speedway - Hall of Fame $4000 Super Late Model race.
I-40 Dragway will having testing and Bike racing Friday night with $5K Super Pro and $1K Footbrake action on Saturday night.

Edwards Peddles to Victory at Gateway Speedway

From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, TN Wednesday July 23, 2008
By Joe Dunn

With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series off this past weekend, Carl Edwards took a break from the fast pace of his normal weekly routine leading to his win of Saturday night’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
Rather than flying his airplane from his home in Columbia, Mo. Carl climbed aboard a bicycle for the three day ride to East St. Louis, Illinois. The reigning Champion of the Nationwide Series got off to a rather slow start this year with his first win coming last month at Milwaukee. Gateway is considered Edwards’ home track and his win Saturday was his second there. Like at Milwaukee, rookie phenom Joey Logano, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing finished second nearly 7 seconds behind Edwards. The win moved Edwards up one place in the Championship points to third.
Earlier Saturday, all eyes were on Kyle Busch driving the Billy Ballew Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series at Kentucky Speedway. But this was not to be his day as Series regular Johnny Benson made a daring 4 wide pass with 32 laps remaining to take the lead and hold it for the win.
This weekend will be a big one for Nascar as all three series head for Indianapolis with the Sprint Cup teams at the Brickyard, while the Trucks and nationwide Series head to the O’Reilly Raceway Park. Tony Stewart is expected to make another major announcement regarding Stewart Haas Racing at Indy with speculation that a deal with Ryan Newman will be announced. Penske Racing announced last week that they will not renew Newman’s contract after this year, making him a free agent.
On the Local Scene, Crossville Raceway will be back to regular weekly racing on Friday July 25 and August 1, followed by a $3,000 to win Southern Regional Racing Series Late Model event on Friday August 8th.
I40 Dragway will conduct Testing and Motorcycle drags on Friday followed by their Bounty Racing Saturday. In addition to the Big Bounty event, there is a Grudge Match scheduled between Howe Motorsports and Brad Shultis.
Wartburg Speedway announced recently that they will be closed until August 1st when they will host the Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series with a $4000 Late Model event.

Kyle Busch Sweeps at Chicago

From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, Tn Wednesday July 16, 2008
By Joe Dunn

When Rick Hendrick announced last year that he was releasing Kyle Busch to make room for Dale Earnhardt Jr, a few sports writers, including myself, predicted that Busch would be the driver to watch in 2008.
Many fans viewed Kyle as reckless and arrogant, and still do, but the one thing that no one can deny is that he is an extremely talented driver. That talent showed up again last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, as he won his fifth Nationwide Series race of 2008 on Friday night. Leading 101 of the 200 lap race, Busch finished 10 seconds ahead of Denny Hamlin.
On Saturday night Kyle started on the pole and led the first 43 laps, turning the lead over to Carl Edwards. Busch never fell further back than 13th and retook the lead on lap 121 where he would lose that lead only two times for a total of 10 laps until a late race caution on lap 246. Following that caution, defending series champion Jimmie Johnson got past Busch for what appeared to be the race winning move, but a final caution with 4 laps remaining would set up a final chance for Busch. On the restart Johnson attempted to hold back Busch by not accelerating at the line, but a determined Kyle countered by pushing Johnson across the line and charging to the outside keeping Johnson pinned low and getting him loose. Kyle easily cruised to his seventh win of the season.
The official announcement of Stewart Haas racing came Thursday during a press conference at Chicagoland Speedway. The name change takes effect now, but Stewart is under contract with JGR through the end of the season. There is still much speculation about a second driver, with Ryan Newman being the top name being circulated. Newman acknowledged over the weekend that he has discussed the possibility with his good friend and fellow Indiana native Stewart, but no decision on his future has been made.
Local racing action this weekend includes the O’Reilly USCS Sprint Cars Friday night at Crossville Raceway, along with local classes. Gates open at 5 pm with racing at 7 pm.
I-40 Dragway will having testing and Bike racing Friday night with $5K Super Pro and $1K Footbrake action on Saturday night.

NASCAR Silly Season is in Full Swing

From the Crossville Chronicle - Crossville, TN. Wednesday July 9, 2009

By Joe Dunn
Last year the big story in Nascar all year was Dale Earnhardt Jr., where he stay with DEI or move to another organization. The speculation ended early when the big announcement came in May that he would drive for Rick Hendrick.
As the 2008 season began all eyes were on Jr. with anticipation of a banner season for Nascar’s most popular driver. But now, halfway through the season, it is Kyle Busch, the young gun ousted my Hendrick to make room for Jr., who is getting all the attention with six wins so far. But the biggest rumor of 2008 involves not Busch, but his teammate, 2 time Champion Tony Stewart, who is not at all happy with the switch to Toyota. With a year left on his contract, Stewart has made it known that a move Should include at least partial ownership.
Chevrolet is serious about wanting Tony back in their product and it has been said that they are willing to ‘buy’ the last year of Stewart’s contract from Joe Gibbs Racing. It is expected that Stewart will make an announcement soon that he will be joining Haas CNC racing as a part owner with Office Depot and Old Spice as his title sponsors. In the second Haas-CNC/ Tony Stewart Chevy will be Ryan Newman with Jack Daniels as the title sponsor. Jack Daniels is rumored available as it appears that UPS will leave Michael Waltrip Racing to join Richard Childress Racing on the 07 car of Clint Bowyer.
Last week Hendrick announced the release of Casey Mears from the 5 car at the end of the season, and then followed that up days later by introducing Mark Martin as Mears’ replacement for 2009. As Martin leaves Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, Martin Truex is unhappy with his equipment and may be looking elsewhere. Is all that just a coincidence, or is it part of the reason that DEI is reported to be “For Sale’? It seems that Teresa Earnhardt has contracted with Bear Sterns of New York to find a buyer for the company.
For those of you who are long time Nascar fans, mark Friday July 18 on you calendar as “Old School Racing” comes to the Motor City Motorplex in Nashville. Some of the greatest drivers of all time have been slated to compete in this long anticipated inaugural event. They include names such as; Harry Gant, Sterling Marlin, Geoff Bodine, Dave Marcis, Jack Ingram, Larry Pollard, James Harvey Hylton, Charlie Glotzbach, Joe Ruttman, Ronnie Thomas, Tommy Houston, and Randy Lajoie. Drivers will be available for autographs between qualifying and race time. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 6:15 pm and the green flag drops for the Shootout at 8:45 pm
If you cannot make it to Nashville, RacersReunion.com, will bring the July 18th event live to the web with the veteran racing analyst Randy Pemberton in the broadcast booth with many special guest that will bring the fans racing stories that may never be heard again. Fans not attending the event will be able to view it live in it's entirety along with some special surprises at www.RacersReunion.com
Tickets for the event start at just $15.00 and can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com Track Info: www.musiccitymotorplex.com