Lottery winner becomes newest owner in NASCAR

By Brody Jones

One year ago, Joe Denette was at the lowest of lows. He had been unceremoniously laid off from the home building company that he had worked for. But four months later, Denette won Virginia Lottery Mega Millions jackpot of over $75 million. After opting for a lump-sum payout of $47.8 million, Denette started to put the wheels in motion, with assistance from fellow Virginian Hermie Sadler, to form Joe Denette Motorsports and ideally compete in the Camping World Truck Series in the 2011 NASCAR season. The biggest hurdle for Denette was hiring a driver that, not only was a capable driver, but brought sponsorship money as well.
Denette needed to look no further than his own state as he found fellow Virginian Jason White, who in the last couple of seasons has established himself from a journeyman driver to a driver right on the cusp of breaking through into the NASCAR winner’s column with many strong runs with the SS-Greenlight Racing organization over the last couple of years. A native of Richmond, White has been racing in NASCAR since 1999 and prior to his start in NASCAR, he dominated the Virginia go-karting ranks and in a five-year span, won six titles in Virginia and was in the top 10 in three different World Karting Association classes over that period of time.
White had a largely ignominious NASCAR career where he bounced around from ride to ride for many years, but in 2009, White’s career started to turn a corner when he had a pair of top five finishes and four top 10′s. The 2010 season was even better, with White winning the pole for the season-opening race at Daytona and having a stout truck for the duration of the race and would close the year with 3 top five finishes and 7 top 10′s. He also grew tantalizingly close to breaking into the winner’s column on more than a few occasions. Going into 2011, White had left SS-Greenlight and there was much anxiety and panic by Jason White fans, as his future looked to be uncertain until Denette took White, his GunBroker.com money, and virtually the entire #23 team from last season to form a Truck Series team and hopefully provide White with the opportunity to get that first win in 2011.
Some cynics are curious as to the long-term solvency of this organization, but from what this journalist can tell, everything seems to be in place to, at the very least, make it through 2011. The team even has tentative plans to run a 2nd truck in a few events this coming season. Joe Denette partnered up with a very smart businessman in Hermie Sadler. The older brother of Elliott and the current SPEED Channel analyst has run a few race teams in the past and, outside of NASCAR, he owns his own successful professional wrestling promotion. And as for Denette, if you gave Hollywood a story of his last 12 months, they would have tossed the script out the window and dismissed it as “too unbelievable”. But Denette is on track to achieve what most every NASCAR fan can only wish they had the opportunity to do and be his own boss and own a NASCAR team.
In conclusion, this story will be just one of many great stories heading into Speedweeks at Daytona in 2011. Whether or not Denette is successful in this venture, one has to give the guy credit for following his dream and being blessed with the opportunity to do so. One also has to keep their eyes on Jason White at Daytona as he ran so strongly at the track last year and he could very well finally achieve that elusive first win in NASCAR that has been just out of his grasp the past 11, going on 12 seasons of his career. Denette and White, pardon the pun, are both hoping to hit upon a jackpot to ensure a wind-fall of success in the world of NASCAR. Will they succeed? Only time will tell.

Points change - Good or Not?

By Shaun Burke

When Brian France made the announcement we were all expecting, I was ready to jump on here and write a story about how NASCAR missed a great opportunity to make drastic changes in the points structure. My idea was to make positions 30-43 the same, make first place points 15-25% more than second and do away with the top 35 rule. These were the changes I was hoping for but realistically not expecting.
In 2011, Position 43 will be worth 1 point and position 1 will be worth 43 with the winner also receiving 3 bonus points. Each driver that leads a lap will receive 1 bonus point and the driver leading the most laps will receive an additional bonus point. After much deliberation, I now realize that maybe Brian France was right!
Based on 2010 finishing order, the only change in the top 12 would be a swap between Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Every other position would have stayed the same. The final standings would have been a bit closer with Denny Hamlin finishing second by 5 points to Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick would have been third, 7 points out of the lead. Of course, Jamie McMurray would be in the chase and Clint Bowyer would be out based on McMurray’s win total.
The significant changes occur around 35th in standings. Due to the structure of the new points, average finishes are rewarded more and bad finishes are substantially punished. In the old points system, the difference between 35th and 43rd on a given race week was 27 points (assuming no bonus points) or 79% more than last position. With the new system, the difference between 35th and 43rd is 9 points (assuming no bonus points). That is a staggering 900%! What this means is a driver would have to finish 43rd in nine races to pass the driver who finished 35th in one. In the old system, you could finish 43rd in two races and pass the driver who finished 35th in one.
This is the part of the new points system I am most excited about. While it will not encourage drivers to “go for broke” for a while, it should promote some good solid racing in the middle of the pack. Each position you pick up in a race is an entire race’s points on the last place driver!
Over the course of the next few weeks, I will calculate the top 10-12 drivers using the new points system and the new chase procedures. While I know drivers would race differently if the points system had been in place, it is a good way of showing what impact (or lack thereof) the now points system will have.


Actual 2010 Points
1    Jimmie Johnson    6,622
2    Denny Hamlin        -39
3    Kevin Harvick        -41
4    Carl Edwards        -229
5    Matt Kenseth        -328
6    Greg Biffle        -375
7    Tony Stewart        -401
8    Kyle Busch        -440
9    Jeff Gordon        -446
10    Clint Bowyer        -467
11    Kurt Busch        -480
12    Jeff Burton        -589

 2010 - Based on “New” Points
1    Jimmie Johnson    2,403
2    Denny Hamlin        -5
3    Kevin Harvick        -7
4    Carl Edwards        -63
5    Matt Kenseth        -89
6    Jamie McMurray    -94
7    Greg Biffle        -110
8    Tony Stewart        -113
9    Jeff Gordon        -124
10    Kyle Busch        -127
11    Kurt Busch        -132
12    Jeff Burton        -171

Roger Penske’s Folly

By Brody Jones

Make no mistake about this: Roger Penske is one of the sharpest minds and one of the most shrewd businessmen in the world of motorsports. He has won countless Indy Car championships, has a burdgeoning truck rental business, and even owned his own automobile company at one time. But even the best businessmen have their occasional folly or hiccup. And in the world of NASCAR, the biggest head-scratcher is how in the world could Roger Penske shunt aside the future of NASCAR in Justin Allgaier and Parker Kligerman in favor of Sam Hornish Jr., whose stint in NASCAR has been absolutely abysmal? Many in the garage area and in the stands have been baffled and confounded by the fact that Roger Penske ditched two young talented drivers, both of whom fit the Penske mold perfectly, for a driver who has been more well-known for seemingly bringing out at least one caution flag every other race?
Two years ago, Justin Allgaier seemed to be the darling of the Penske organization. People pointed to him as the next big thing and Roger Penske was firmly in his corner. Even back at Bristol when Allgaier got his first win, the Captain couldn’t stop singing the praises of his talented wunderkind. All seemed well in their union. But a few months later, Penske dropped a bombshell by announcing Verizon was not coming back and Allgaier was free to look for another ride. It seemed to many in the motorsports fraternity that Justin Allgaier was destined for stardom, but he got hit with a curveball and his career seemed to be derailed. Thankfully, Steve Turner of Turner Motorsports jumped at the chance to bring Allgaier onto his fledgling team and at least Allgaier was saved the horrible fate of so many other young and talented drivers.
As for Parker Kligerman, the youngster practically came out of nowhere in the 2009 season in the ARCA Racing Series to very nearly win the series championship for Cunningham Motorsports and even won a pole in his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start. Now, while the early parts of his 2010 campaign were pock-marked with a rash of failures to qualify, in the second half of the season, under the guidance of Chris Carrier in less-than-quality equipment, Kligerman started turning heads with a few top 10 finishes in the Nationwide Series and a great run in his Truck Series debut for Brad Keselowski Racing. But due to Penske inexplicably keeping Hornish around, Kligerman has a less-than-certain future. He does have a ride lined up according to his Facebook page that he is set to run the first 15 to 20 Camping World Truck Series races for Brad Keselowski Racing, but by no means is there a guarantee he will get a full-season in the truck.
Looking strictly at the numbers, they only further strengthen the thought process that perhaps Roger Penske has made a colossal blunder. While Sam Hornish Jr. has been an IndyCar legend with 19 career wins and 3 titles to his credit, his NASCAR stats have been disappointing, to say the least. In 129 NASCAR starts, he doesn’t have a win in a points race, only two top 5′s and nine top 10′s. Compare this to Allgaier, with 82 career NASCAR starts, 1 win, 11 top 5′s, and 32 top 10′s with 3 poles along with Kligerman, who in 15 NASCAR races has a pole and 3 top 10′s, which is more impressive considering the fact that he was in less than ideal equipment. The numbers do not lie on whom Penske should have kept. The only two motives one can even fathom as to why Penske kept Hornish Jr. over Kligerman and Allgaier amounts to either the Captain giving Hornish one last chance or his Indy 500 win doing more for Hornish in terms of his marketability.
However, one cannot entirely make Hornish out to be the scapegoat completely. Penske apparently has had a lot of money invested in Sam Hornish Jr. and, make no mistake, his IndyCar track record has been nothing short of stellar. But in NASCAR, he’s seemingly never quite been able to adapt to the degree of open-wheel drivers such as Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, or, to an extent, AJ Allmendinger. At 31 years of age, Hornish could get back in the IndyCar Series and almost instantaneously provide that series with the shot in the arm it desperately needs. But, to give Hornish credit, he geniunely seems as if he wants to succeed in NASCAR and is willing to work as hard as he can to make that happen. But, at some point, Roger Penske has to wonder if perhaps he should have just kept Hornish in IndyCar Racing.

Does NASCAR Truly Need A Game 7 Moment?

By Brody Jones

There is an old addage that goes along the lines of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” However, if you’re NASCAR, that line of thinking does not apply as they are, yet again, pondering another change to their points system. They want to go from a system that has worked very well over the years to a 43-to-1 points system that seems to be concocted solely in a futile attempt to force a “Game 7 moment” in NASCAR to counter-act the dominance of Jimmie Johnson in the last half-decade. The big underlying problem with this line of thinking is that you cannot force Game 7 moments. They just magically happen. Take last year, for example. The Chase for the Cup had more drama last year than a Broadway production of “Hamlet”. There were three drivers in the final race within 46 points of the title. But, since Jimmie Johnson won his 5th consecutive championship, the forces behind the scenes want to make more nonsensical changes to the format.
Now change, at times, can be a good thing. But in the last six years of NASCAR, the landscape has changed so much that the hard-core fan-base that loyally backed the sport for years have become alienated and disillusioned with the product they once loved to the point that fans have departed in droves. First of all, many long-time fans have harbored a bitter grudge toward NASCAR for instituting the Chase format to keep viewers from departing during football season. The irony of that is, as much as NASCAR was made into a scapegoat for the play-off system, they actually took the idea from the then-USAR Pro Cup Series. Then the change to the COT, which altered the cars from actually remotely resembling stock cars into an unholy abonimation of a brick with wheels combined with the handling of your grandmother’s station wagon and a wing on the back that made the car not just aerodynamically unstable, but a total eyesore as well.
Of course the dominance of Jimmie Johnson has not helped the declining fan base either, as his vanilla personality and the fact that no one has ended his dominance as of yet have played a part in the ratings demise. But truthfully, is it really Jimmie’s fault that he’s just that good? Bland personality aside, the fact remains in the past five years, he has become something of an “unsinkable” commodity and has proven he is the best driver NASCAR has to offer. So what is the point of changing the points system around solely just to try and curb his dominance?
NASCAR has made a few minor changes here and there to the point system devised by former NASCAR PR director, the late Bob Latford. The system, instituted in 1975 was largely consistency-based with 5 bonus points for leading a lap and 5 more for leading the most laps. A few years back, the points system was tweaked after Matt Kenseth only won one race en route to a Chase Championship to place more emphasis on winning races. That points system had worked, for the most part, fairly well and really did not need any tweaking. But NASCAR, apparently feeling as though they needed to “spice things up”, has decided to go with a 43-to-1 point system, awarding a driver 43 points for a win and working down to one point for 43rd position, which would most likely go to an independent, or start-and-park team, depending on your point of view.
As stated earlier in this column, Brian France and Mike Helton want to desperately manufacture their own “Game 7 moments”. But those moments can’t be manufactured like a phantom debris caution, so it seems Mr. France and Mr. Helton are missing the point. You can’t make every Super Bowl a thriller. You can’t force a World Series to go to Game 7 every year. Those moments, when they do happen, are made all the more special because they are not the norm. If they become the norm in the world of NASCAR, initially fans will be appeased, but then, much like the last few years, the boredom and apathy that plagues this sport like a virus will set in again and then what do you do?
In closing, NASCAR is only exacerbating their glaring problems by trying to force their own moments. People eventually will catch on that the great championship races in NASCAR are as pre-determined as professional wrestling, which only further accelerates the downward spiral the series has had in terms of fan viewership. And besides, who’s to say that someone won’t figure out a new way to beat the system and win on consistency again instead of the most races as, playing the devil’s advocate here, it is mathematically possible to win all of the first 35 races and still lose the championship. It’s improbable that would ever happen, but that potential is there. If NASCAR truly wants to create that “Game 7 moment”, why not do an elimination format in the Chase where whoever is last in points in the Chase after each race is eliminated to truly let the best three duke it out for the championship at Homestead each year? Not only would NASCAR fans rally behind the idea, but casual fans who seem drawn to reality shows like “Survivor” would be intrigued as well. But unfortunately, this idea has not been accepted and until then? One can only dream.

NASCAR selects OnPitRoad.com for Citizen Journalist Media Corp

    In early 2009 NASCAR reached out to the internet racing community and invited sites to apply for inclusion in the NASCAR Citizen Journalist Media Corp.  After a lengthy review process 28 sites were selected for the Corp and NASCAR announced those site in July of 2009.
    On Pit Road did not apply for inclusion as it’s owner/publisher (Joe Dunn) was actively working as a photojournalist with Speedwaymedia.com.  When SM was selected as a CJMC site, it provided additional access for it’s writers and photographers.
    OnPitRoad.com was established in 2007 as an auto racing site covering NASCAR as well as several Dirt Track racing tracks in east Tennessee.  The site provided both stories and photos for various racing series. Through early 2009 content on the site was provided exclusively by myself.  In mid 2009, Roger Faulkner joined the site as an assignment writer for select NASCAR races, he continues to serve in that roll. Over the years, guest writers have contributed and in late 2010 Brody Jones of the Roan County News joined the staff.
    While preparing for the 2011 NASCAR season, OnPitRoad was contacted by Ramsey Poston, NASCAR Managing Director of Corporate Communications. “After a lengthy review process, NASCAR would like to invite OnPitRoad.com to be part of the NASCAR Citizen Journalists Media Corps.” wrote Poston, “ We hope you are as excited as we are about your inclusion in this very special group. NASCAR appreciates your unique views and devotion to the sport, and in return would like to get your content out to even more fans by publicly showing our support.  We look forward to working with you, reading your Web site and seeing you at the track!”
    We would like to welcome our new followers and assure NASCAR that we will go the extra mile to uphold the standards that Race fans and NASCAR deserve.  While no major changes are planned for the site, we will be adding some new writers and photographers as we continue to grow.

Thank You,
To the Fans and NASCAR

Joe Dunn

K Automotive Hopes To Be The Little Team That Could

By Brody Jones

Let’s face it, here in the United States of America, we all love a good underdog story in the making. For example, the 1980 U.S. hockey team, the movie “Rudy”, and even in terms of racing examples, the sudden rise to fame of the Keselowski family. First, Brad burst onto the scene out of relative obscurity into a full-time Sprint Cup Series ride with Roger Penske. Now, there is a chapter two to the story soon to be unfolding, with perhaps even longer odds of success than Brad had as older brother Brian Keselowski is planning to go for the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Rookie Of The Year honors in the family-owned K Automotive car.
Brian’s odds admittedly might be stacked pretty high against him without any corproate backing to speak of or any known factory support, plus a fleet of old Penske and Gillett-Evernham cars at his disposal, but the Keselowski family wouldn’t have it any other way. They represent something of an old throwback to the family-run operations of yester-year, going up against these huge conglomerations such as Roush-Fenway, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and others. K Automotive is, perhaps, the last bastion of the days of a relative neophyte trying to break into NASCAR out of basically his own family’s garage. But Brian Keselowski and his family are bound and determined to keep plugging away as Brian strives to carve his own niche in the world of NASCAR.
Judging by comparison of last year’s Sprint Cup Rookie Of The Year Kevin Conway, Brian faces a more uphill climb as, for one thing, he doesn’t have any kind of corporate backing from any major companies like Conway had, and for a second thing, he’s, as of the time this article was written, not locked into the field with a guaranteed spot. He doesn’t have the safety nets that Conway had so Keselowski has more to lose by this bold gamble, but the Keselowskis are used to making gambles like this. Brother Brad made the most of his opportunities in the Keith Coleman Racing car & in a one-shot deal with Germain Racing to land a ride with Jr. Motorsports and launch himself into the stratosphere. And Brian, in 60 Nationwide starts in less-than-ideal equipment compared to the factory teams, has one lone top 10 in 2007 at Memphis, but he has made a reputation of getting the most out of having the least.
The K Automotive organization attempted a handful of Cup races in 2010, but didn’t make any races. But with the prospect of the economy taking a toll on the series, with five teams that were in last year’s top 35 (Robby Gordon Motorsports, the #19 & #98 at Richard Petty Motorsports, and the #12 & #77 at Penske Racing) having either closed up shop or greatly scaled back their plans, this could be the best opportunity for Brian Keselowski to make an impact in the Sprint Cup Series.  There is a very good chance that the entry lists at some tracks, at least early in the 2011 season, could be running dangerously low on entries, so Brian could very well make these races and carve his name into the annals as the 2011 Sprint Cup Series Rookie Of The Year.
In closing, one cannot mock a Brian Keselowski for shooting for the moon. The current racing climate represents his best opportunity to do so and in the United States of America, you are encouraged to dream big, so why begrudge Keselowski for simply trying to pursue a child-hood dream? The fact is Brian Keselowski has an opportunity to do what many race fans would sell their soul to do and that is get behind the wheel of a race car at the highest level of NASCAR and against all odds, make the impossible actually possible. To ridicule anyone for following their dreams is simply un-American. If you’re reading and have a child who wants to pursue a career in NASCAR, look at the saga of the Keselowski brothers coming from almost racing obscurity to get to NASCAR’s highest level and use this to encourage them to follow their dreams and never give up.

The Fight For The Fairgrounds

By Brody Jones

Auto racing has long been an institution at the Nashville Fairgrounds, ever since 1904. For 107 years, the motors have roared around the 5/8 mile bull-ring with local legends such as Bob Reuther, Coo Coo Marlin, Flookie Buford, Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, the late Bobby Hamilton Sr., his son Bobby Jr., Willie Allen, and so many others cut their teeth worshipping at this altar of speed. But now, due to some over-zealous city officials, namely Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, the track could very well be razed for a public park, destroying a Nashville, let alone stock-car racing landmark. It’s almost akin to someone melting the Liberty Bell for their own private profit. But for current track operator Tony Formosa, Sterling Marlin, Darrell Waltrip, and city councilman Duane Domini, they refuse to give up the fight to save the track and are fighting to the bitter end.
To give some history on the track for the uninitiated, the track hosted NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984 when the track owner, at that time, Warner W. Hodgdon, had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Along with the facilities not being up to NASCAR standards, the track lost their Cup dates. The facility ran Busch Series and Truck events up until 2000, when the Nashville Superspeedway opened in Lebanon in the hopes of bringing Cup racing back to the Nashville metropolitan area. In the early plans for the 1.33 mile facility in Wilson County, plans for a dirt track, a drag strip, and a paved short-track were in the works. But as plans will be, plans will often go awry, and when the Dover Motorsports staff did not live up to their end of the bargain, that left the future of the Fairgrounds in doubt. While the track ran local-level races, shady financial operations and deteriorating facilities further clouded the future of the track, leading Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to spear-head the effort to raze the Fairgrounds and the track, essentially telling Nashvillians that have long-supported their auto racing that they don’t matter.
The great irony in all of this is the track built ideally to phase out the Fairgrounds in Nashville Superspeedway faces an uncertain future. Sure, the track currently has two dates in the Nationwide and Truck Series, but their sparse crowd attendance is more reminiscent of a bomb scare and leaves the long-term solvency of the track in doubt. On the other hand, while the Fairgrounds only ran about a half-dozen races in 2010, they averaged in the neighborhood of 7,000 paying customers. Plus another problem for the Wilson County facility is, most years, the racing there has been typical of your stereotypical “cookie-cutter” track, devoid of personality, excitement, and close-quarters action. The Fairgrounds still represents these things and this is a big reason why Darrell Waltrip and Sterling Marlin, whose children Steadman and Sutherlin have raced at the facility, have helped step up to the plate to save the very track they cut their teeth on. Longtime Fairgrounds fans probably remember Darrell Waltrip frequently calling Flookie Buford a “back-hoe operator”, but things like that are part of the aura that draws fans to the track, even today.
Armed with the 40,000 signatures of people supporting the speedway, the fate of the track now hangs in the balance of a public vote on Monday night. But this is no longer about saving just another track. No, it’s much more than that. If the vote goes against track, an important part of NASCAR history falls to the mercy of bull-dozers and land-developers and another crushing blow is dealt to the future of short-track racing. But, on the other hand, if the vote saves the track, then a crucial piece of short-track history is saved and Nashville’s proud racing history is preserved. The key components to long-term success are there. Rich history, a loyal throng of NASCAR fans, and being in a major media market, which we all know is what drives NASCAR executives in booking race dates, namely the France family. All these factors would mean that racing will be here to stay in Nashville and keeping the heritage of speed in the Music City alive.
So in just a few days, the fate of not just a short track, but a historical NASCAR landmark, lies in the balance. So if you live in the Nashville area and you do not want to see the Fairgrounds Speedway destroyed by land-developers, I implore and encourage you to make your voice heard by voting to save the track. Every vote counts and if you want to save the speedway, those voices need to ring united, loud and clear, as a stand against Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s nefarious plan to desecrate NASCAR history. NASCAR and Nashville have been a happy marriage for years and go together like peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, along with ice cream and birthday cake. So don’t let NASCAR leave Nashville because Nashville without racing is like a world without sunshine.

Will The Cup Dominance In Nationwide Truly Be Stopped In 2011?

By Brody Jones

A few days ago, it was announced that NASCAR was now enforcing a new rule to where you can only pursue a championship in one series. For example, Carl Edwards can run all the races he wants in the Nationwide Series, but he can no longer accumulate championship points in the series since he is competing for the Sprint Cup championship. While this rule is intended to be a step in the right direction, the big, glaring question in all this hoopla is, does this new rule really change anything? And, to be brutally honest, the answer is a very sad “no”. Last year was a total disaster in the win column for the Nationwide Series drivers with only one full-time driver (Justin Allgaier) winning a race, along with an ESPN analyst (Boris Said). The other 32 races were won by Cup drivers and that trend is not looking to improve in 2011.
In a series where the ever-widening gap between Cup teams (Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush-Fenway, etc.) and Nationwide-only teams (Baker Curb Racing, Tri-Star Motorsports, Team Rensi, etc.) is growing more and more every day, things do not look to improve greatly in the win column for the Nationwide-only drivers. Out of those drivers, the only ones that can most likely make any positive impact in the win column is former Cup driver Elliott Sadler, Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola and perhaps Trevor Bayne. The rest of the drivers in the series are left to fight for a top-20 finish and there is a good chance that drivers that are consistently outside the top-20 in points could make the top 10 in Nationwide drivers points under the new system, only further devaluing and demeaning the driver’s championship and making the owner’s championship, which very few fans really seem to care about, more important than a driver’s title in the series.
Sure, an argument can be made to the extent of “At least Cup drivers won’t run away with the championship.”, but they’re still likely going to win an over-whelming majority of the races and that trend doesn’t appear to show any signs of slowing down unless NASCAR goes a step further and actually puts some sort of limit on how many races in a lower-series that a Cup driver can actually enter, but this doesn’t seem to be in the works anytime soon. They will continue to take sponsors from Nationwide-only teams, leaving them in the precarious situation of having to find “ride-buyers” in terms of surviving from race to race. Teams like Nashville’s Baker-Curb Racing and others were dependent on ride-buyers to survive the 2010 season and the sad thing is a lot of these “ride-buyers” truthfully don’t have any true credentials deserving of a ride in the Nationwide Series, but teams are in dire need of that cash they bring to keep the team going.
However, by the same token, this is the first step that NASCAR has taken to do something about the Cup drivers wreaking havoc on the lower series, which is eerily reminiscent of sixth-graders at the playground beating up on fourth-graders just because they’re “at a lower level than they are”. For years, the Nationwide-only winners on the tour had become very few and far-between due to all the Cup drivers running the full-schedule and winning championships. That would be like a star Major League Baseball player double-dipping in AAA baseball and clobbering the less-experienced youngsters. Hopes spring eternal that this will be the first step in turning the Nationwide Series back into the proving ground for young talent that it once was.
So what exactly is the solution here? Do you limit a Cup driver to 15 Nationwide races a year or do you leave things as is and hope the problem goes away? While NASCAR has made a well-intended effort to curb this influence, in reality, it’s like an Eskimo in need of an ice box. The problem is increasingly apparent to just about everybody except those in a position of power to really do anything about it. One thing the Nationwide Series drivers do not need in terms of a blow to morale is another season like 2010, where teams like Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske, and Roush-Fenway made an absolute joke of the series. But as pessimistic as it is to admit this, it looks like more of the same in 2011 for the Nationwide Series.

Watering Down The Bud Shootout

By Brody Jones

No one likes watered-down beer. And with the recent announcement of this year’s qualifications for the 2011 Bud Shootout, the taste of the fact that 30 drivers are now eligible with such “deserving” names as Kevin Conway, Derrike Cope, and other names that haven’t been a factor in NASCAR in at least 10 years, the taste for the Bud Shootout for fans now has to be like watered-down alcohol. Monty Roberts, the creator of the Bud Shootout (then known as the Busch Clash) back in 1979, has got to be spinning his head around and around like Linda Blair in “The Exorcist” at how horribly devalued his creation has become in just the span of 3 years. For 30 years, the event was basically for pole-winners, making the event mean something special in terms of bragging rights and money. But in the last three years, the NASCAR brain-trust has managed to completely screw up what was once a meaningful kick-off to Speed Weeks.
The beginning of the demise of the Bud Shootout started in 2009 when the first unnecessary changes were made due to Budweiser no longer sponsoring the NASCAR pole award, thus the event had to move away from being tied to the sponsor’s competitor. The top 6 drivers in points for each manufacturer were deemed eligible along with past series champions. Never mind that the pole-winner formula had been working very well for 30 years and wasn’t broke, so what was the point of fixing it? These changes made 28 drivers eligible for the race. Things only got more convoluted and ridiculous last year when all past Daytona winners & Bud Shootout winners were deemed eligible along with the top 12 in the Chase the previous season, the previous season’s Rookie Of The Year, and former season champions. 27 were deemed eligible but only 24 raced.
We now go to 2011′s criteria, which is just completely and utterly asinine and has officially devalued the race to where it basically means nothing now and may as well just be another points race. 30, yes 30, drivers are now eligible. The criteria includes the previous decade’s Rookie Of The Year winners, the top 12 in last year’s Chase, previous Daytona & Shoot-Out winners, and previous series champions. The France family may as well just tell every team and driver that “Hey, you’re eligible for the Bud Shootout just by having entered a NASCAR race!”. What’s the next criteria to “increase fan interest”? Picking lucky fans out of the stands so long as they don’t have any hit & run or D.U.I. convictions? Where and when is it going to end?
Whether you’re pro-NASCAR’s brain-trust or against them, the fact remains 30 drivers being qualified for what is intended to be an elitist race is an absolute travesty and injustice to what the race was always intended to be. So how does NASCAR fix this? The K.I.S.S. formula would work here. No, not dress up in black and white make-up while lip-synching “Love Gun”, I’m talking about the “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” formula. You revert back to the original criteria of the race being for pole winners and former Bud Shootout winners only to once again make the race mean something and to differentiate it from other races on the schedule (most notably the All-Star Race). You try to keep the amount of entries around 15-20 (maybe up to 24 if you really want to push it.) This would eliminate people with no legitimate credentials for the race making the event. I mean, I wouldn’t try to get in a NASCAR stock car and enter a 500-mile race just because I’m friends with a driver, now would I? I think not! This is part of the problem the Bud Shootout has run into in recent years.
In closing, the Bud Shootout may currently be a hollow shell of its former self, but it is definitely not too late for a reclamation project of some sort for the race. All it would take would be some simplification for what has become a far too muddled and problematic criteria for the race. The real question is does Brian France and Mike Helton want to listen to “actual” NASCAR fans instead of casual “focus-group” fans or do they want to continue screwing up this once-great race? The ball (or keg of beer, in this case), is currently in their court. Now what route they choose to partake will be the great $64,000 dollar question.

Statement from Gary Baker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 5, 2011


STATEMENT FROM BAKER CURB RACING OWNER GARY BAKER

“Contrary to rumors circulating, Baker Curb Racing has not ceased operations. We did temporarily layoff some employees while we map our 2011 plans. As with any other offseason, we also continue selling excess and outdated race equipment. As of today we are still operating with the intent of racing at Daytona next month and continue discussions with several prospective sponsors. We remain optimistic that we will have our 2011 sponsorships finalized within the next 10 days.”



A story posted earlier at On Pit Road regarding the closing of Baker Curb racing was erroneous.