He may not have any Cup wins, but Clint Bowyer is sitting pretty heading into this weeks race. He is currently in 9th place, 223 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is in 13th. The top 12 make the year end Chase.
Bowyer says he is aware of his place and will drive to keep his position. Bowyer to me is one of the pleasant surprises of the year.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Dale Jr. Appears To Be On The Outside Looking In - 8/28/07 Column
With two races remaining Dale Earnhardt Jr. is apparently going to fall short in his effort to make The Chase again this year. Is this becoming a yearly event, or with his change of teams taking affect next year will Earnhardt Jr. have a new lease on life?
He may have finished fifth at Bristol, but he still remains more than 150 points behind the 12th spot in the Nextel Cup Chase now held down by Kurt Busch.
In an interview following the race at Bristol, Earnhardt Jr. didn't seem that upset with the possibility of not being able to gain entry into The Chase he instead stressed the importance of winning a race this season and moving on.
I believe Dale Jr. deserves another pass for this season. Next season however Earnhardt Jr. is on the clock. Next year there will be no excuses. His Stepmom won't be looking over his shoulder and he will be part of a dream team with the best of everything.
Jr. fans don't get down with this disappointing season, instead expect big things to come and in the immortal words of Chicago Cub's fans, "Wait til next year."
He may have finished fifth at Bristol, but he still remains more than 150 points behind the 12th spot in the Nextel Cup Chase now held down by Kurt Busch.
In an interview following the race at Bristol, Earnhardt Jr. didn't seem that upset with the possibility of not being able to gain entry into The Chase he instead stressed the importance of winning a race this season and moving on.
I believe Dale Jr. deserves another pass for this season. Next season however Earnhardt Jr. is on the clock. Next year there will be no excuses. His Stepmom won't be looking over his shoulder and he will be part of a dream team with the best of everything.
Jr. fans don't get down with this disappointing season, instead expect big things to come and in the immortal words of Chicago Cub's fans, "Wait til next year."
Sunday, August 26, 2007
I Want To Hear From You
Feel free to send your questions and comments to me on NASCAR, The Chase or anything you are curious about. E-mail me directly at Rick.Limpert@gmail.com.
Edwards Gets Second Victory of the Year
Carl Edwards earned his second victory of 2007 by winning the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Saturday night. Edwards dominated most of the evening and defeated Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth, but remains in 13th, one spot out of The Chase. Two more races remain before The Chase Field of 12 is set.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth, but remains in 13th, one spot out of The Chase. Two more races remain before The Chase Field of 12 is set.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Not A Misprint: Kahne Wins and ESPN Drops The Ball
Kasey Kahne held off a late race surge by Jason Leffler to win Friday Night's Busch Race at Bristol.
We saw Kahne celebrating in Victory Lane and that is all we saw of Kahne's victory as ESPN lost its satellite feed of the race with about 3 laps to go. After the race ESPN did reair the final laps so we had visual proof of Kahne's victory.
Drivers were pretty much in agreement that the improved resurfacing of the track is great for racing at Bristol.
We saw Kahne celebrating in Victory Lane and that is all we saw of Kahne's victory as ESPN lost its satellite feed of the race with about 3 laps to go. After the race ESPN did reair the final laps so we had visual proof of Kahne's victory.
Drivers were pretty much in agreement that the improved resurfacing of the track is great for racing at Bristol.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Racing for the Chase
With his win on Tuesday Kurt Busch moved into the Chase, now sitting in 12th place.
It will be a mad dash to the Chase from this point on, Bristol should be real interesting.
Here are the drivers and their spots that could change either good or bad heading into this weekend.
8.
Kyle Busch
2881
+157
9.
Clint Bowyer
2779
+55
10.
Kevin Harvick
2773
+49
11.
Martin Truex Jr.
2757
+33
12.
Kurt Busch
2724
---
13.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2561
-163
14.
Ryan Newman
2553
-171
Burton Must Remove "AT&T" from Car
It is not the most interesting story, but it is a story nonetheless. I'm just about sick of it and I don't even understand the whole thing, but a District Court Judge has now ruled that Childress Racing must take the AT&T logo off the #31 car starting with this weeks race at Bristol.
In short, Cingular, the sponsor Burton had on the car at the start of the year was "grandfathered in" and was allowed to remain a sponsor even though Nextel/Sprint are the sole telecommunications company allowed to have their logo displayed in any NASCAR arena.
Cingular merged into AT&T and now having an AT&T logo for the remainder of the year is too much for Nextel/Spring and NASCAR to handle. While Cingular was ok, AT&T is too much of a competitior for Nextel/Sprint ti have in close proximity.
It will be interesting to see what Childress Racing and Burton have on the car this weekend.
In short, Cingular, the sponsor Burton had on the car at the start of the year was "grandfathered in" and was allowed to remain a sponsor even though Nextel/Sprint are the sole telecommunications company allowed to have their logo displayed in any NASCAR arena.
Cingular merged into AT&T and now having an AT&T logo for the remainder of the year is too much for Nextel/Spring and NASCAR to handle. While Cingular was ok, AT&T is too much of a competitior for Nextel/Sprint ti have in close proximity.
It will be interesting to see what Childress Racing and Burton have on the car this weekend.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Kurt Busch Wins Rain Delayed Race
If anyone ws paying attention, on Tuesday Kurt Busch won for the second time in the last three races. It is believed this was the first Tuesday ran race since 1973.
Ricky Rudd has given indication he will retire at the end of the year.
Ricky Rudd has given indication he will retire at the end of the year.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Are We There Yet? - 8/14/07 Column
Are We There Yet? NASCAR Races Just Keep Going and Going
When you are nestled up in front of your television watching the weekly NASCAR race do you find yourself fighting the urge to take a nap? Can you anticipate when the next Domino’s commercial will air?
The time has come to think about the possibility of shortening some of these races. Yes, the true hardcore fan does sit there with his/her favorite adult beverage and make a day of it. But with every race now having a prerace and a pre prerace show then the actual race followed by some post race commentary and results you will have to invest close to 7 hours on an average race day.
With the conclusion of the second Pocono race a week ago I think there has to be some discussion among NASCAR officials to shorten some of these races. I am realistic and realize that in this day and age this cannot be done.
On the side or reducing the laps in some of these races, teams would save on fuel, engines and other parts. Multiple events could be held in a day, eliminating those fans disguised as empty seats during those Truck Series races. Fans would get more bang for their buck, and there would be less pit stops and more than likely fewer crashes.
On the negative side for the sport would be fewer opportunities for sponsors names and logos to be seen. Television networks will have a much harder time selling those expensive ad spots for a Busch or Truck Series race than for the Nextel Cup Race package. This in fact would kill the golden goose, since it is the sponsors and television that have brought NASCAR to the verge of becoming one of out major sports.
A quick solution would be to try this shortening of some of the dog days of summer races. Pocono, Dover, are just two that this could work at. These races seem excruciating long, and I can’t watch an entire event.
Even the drivers admit that the races drag for the fans who watch on television. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says that adding a few 300 mile races into the mix might make things more exciting. "It would eliminate some of the boring middle laps," adds Jr. New fans especially find the length of races disturbing. During a recent radio call in show in Tennessee a young fan asked why the races don’t end sooner and why are the yellow flags so long?
NASCAR has many problems it needs to address in the coming years. They can’t be short sighted and have blinders on just because the sport is bringing in mega dollars right now. They need to be proactive with the length on some of these races, NASCAR claims to be all about the fans, let’s hope they listen to our concerns a little.
Rick C. Limpert is Nothinbutnascar.com's columnist. He has been a freelance writer and photographer for over 8 years. His works have been featured in numerous print and online publications. To reach Rick with a question or comment his main e-mail is rclimpert003@yahoo.com.
When you are nestled up in front of your television watching the weekly NASCAR race do you find yourself fighting the urge to take a nap? Can you anticipate when the next Domino’s commercial will air?
The time has come to think about the possibility of shortening some of these races. Yes, the true hardcore fan does sit there with his/her favorite adult beverage and make a day of it. But with every race now having a prerace and a pre prerace show then the actual race followed by some post race commentary and results you will have to invest close to 7 hours on an average race day.
With the conclusion of the second Pocono race a week ago I think there has to be some discussion among NASCAR officials to shorten some of these races. I am realistic and realize that in this day and age this cannot be done.
On the side or reducing the laps in some of these races, teams would save on fuel, engines and other parts. Multiple events could be held in a day, eliminating those fans disguised as empty seats during those Truck Series races. Fans would get more bang for their buck, and there would be less pit stops and more than likely fewer crashes.
On the negative side for the sport would be fewer opportunities for sponsors names and logos to be seen. Television networks will have a much harder time selling those expensive ad spots for a Busch or Truck Series race than for the Nextel Cup Race package. This in fact would kill the golden goose, since it is the sponsors and television that have brought NASCAR to the verge of becoming one of out major sports.
A quick solution would be to try this shortening of some of the dog days of summer races. Pocono, Dover, are just two that this could work at. These races seem excruciating long, and I can’t watch an entire event.
Even the drivers admit that the races drag for the fans who watch on television. Dale Earnhardt Jr. says that adding a few 300 mile races into the mix might make things more exciting. "It would eliminate some of the boring middle laps," adds Jr. New fans especially find the length of races disturbing. During a recent radio call in show in Tennessee a young fan asked why the races don’t end sooner and why are the yellow flags so long?
NASCAR has many problems it needs to address in the coming years. They can’t be short sighted and have blinders on just because the sport is bringing in mega dollars right now. They need to be proactive with the length on some of these races, NASCAR claims to be all about the fans, let’s hope they listen to our concerns a little.
Rick C. Limpert is Nothinbutnascar.com's columnist. He has been a freelance writer and photographer for over 8 years. His works have been featured in numerous print and online publications. To reach Rick with a question or comment his main e-mail is rclimpert003@yahoo.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)