NASCAR Talk

Can you feel it? It’s Speed Weeks and I couldn’t be more excited! Not only do I get to watch non-stop NASCAR coverage on Speed Channel over the next 2 weeks, but the first race of the season is this weekend. That’s right! The Bud Shootout will run this weekend in Daytona (airs Saturday Feb. 9th at 8 PM ET on Fox) , and while it may not be for points, I find it to be one of the best and most exciting races of the season. Maybe it’s just because it’s the first one and it’s been a long winter, or maybe it’s the format, but whatever it is gets my motor running.

This year, 23 drivers are eligible to participate. There were 18 different Budweiser Pole winners last season and 5 drivers who have one the event before that are considered “active”.

Eligible drivers based on 2007 pole award(s):

1. Jeff Gordon (7)
2. Ryan Newman (5)
3. Jimmie Johnson (4)
4. Clint Bowyer (2) *
5. Kasey Kahne (2)
6. Kurt Busch
7. Carl Edwards
8. Martin Truex Jr.*
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Greg Biffle
11. Casey Mears
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
13. Jamie McMurray
14. J.J. Yeley *
15. Reed Sorenson *
16. David Gilliland
17. Dave Blaney
18. Michael Waltrip
* - First-time participants

Drivers eligible based on being past winners of the Shootout (years won in parentheses):

19. Tony Stewart (2001, 2002, 2007)
20. Dale Jarrett (1996, 2000, 2004)
21. Mark Martin (1999)
22. Ken Schrader (1989, 1990)
23. Bill Elliott (1987)

Who is going to win the race? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and keep reading after the jump for some more fun statistics about the Budweiser Shooutout.

NASCAR, Budweiser Shootout, Budweiser Shootout statistics

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Sorry about the lack of posts so far this month, but we’ve had some major technical difficulties all across the network here. In fact, this is the first time I’ve been able to even get to the site to post anything. Hopefully everything is all cleared up now and I can get some updates in. Check back soon for your NASCAR news as Speed Weeks begin!

Testing, testing, 1 - 2 - 29! The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have moved along from Las Vegas to testing now at California Motorspeedway. The Preseason Thunder has been heating up for the driver of the #29 Chevy for Richard Childress Racing, Kevin Harvick. In the fun and the sun of California, Harvick took some time away from the track to talk with the NASCAR media about his team’s outlook for 2008.

Happy Harvick answered questions about the Car of Tomorrow (including what it should be called now that tomorrow is actually here) and tires from testing in Daytona, Las Vegas, and California. He also talked about his Daytona 500 win last season and how he could repeat it in just a few short weeks. There was also a question about Kevin’s thoughts on Hendrick Motorsports domination, and Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in particular.

It looks from the teleconference that Richard Childress Racing has been working hard over the off season to make some strides and close the gap with the Hendrick teams. Don’t take my word for it, though! Check out a transcript of the teleconference after the jump.

NASCAR, Sprint Cup Testing California, Kevin Harvick Teleconference transcript

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The 2008 racing season is so close, I can almost taste it! SPEED channel and the Craftsman Truck Series released the TV schedule for the Craftsman Truck races of the 2008 season. It is important to note that some of the listed races will be broadcast on a tape delay and if you plan on listening to the race live or attending the event at the track to check the times to make sure you don’t miss the race. The entire season’s TV schedule is listed after the jump, along with the channel it will be broadcast on and at the time the TV coverage begins.

NASCAR, Craftsman Truck Series, Craftsman Truck Series 2008 Schedule, 2008 Craftsman Truck TV Schedule

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Preseason Thunder rolls on for NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers with testing at Las Vegas Motorspeedway this week and then California at the end of the week. The best part about these testing days is all the time the drivers make for fans, sponsors, and the media. There are teleconferences scheduled for every day this week with some of the biggest and brightest stars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Arguably the most popular driver in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his turn on the microphone and answered some questions today for a teleconference for the NASCAR media.

Find out what Junior thinks of his new team, hear about the first time he met Jeff Gordon, and also how he feels about Daytona and its history. To see what he has to say about those topics and many more, you can read the entire transcript after the jump.

NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr. Teleconference Transcript

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Here’s a quick look back at a compilation of the Daytona testing over the past couple of weeks. It doesn’t include everything, obviously, but it’s a nice clips package. Enjoy.

NASCAR, Daytona Preseason Thunder highlights

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a brand new show coming out on ESPN called “Shifting Gears”. Here is a promo:

NASCAR, Shifting Gears show, ESPN Shifting Gears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr. Shifting Gears show

Racing season is gearing up with the annual running of the Rolex 24 race at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. The 24 hour long team racing event has always been popular with NASCAR drivers, and this year is no exception. Several of your favorite NASCAR drivers will be sharing duties with their various teams behind the wheel over several hours throughout the race. The NASCAR drivers expected to race are Jimmie Johnson, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Boris Said, Michael McDowell, Scott Pruett, Bill Lester, John Andretti, A.J. Foyt IV, Tony George, Brent Sherman, David Donohue, Buddy Rice, JC France, Colin Braun, Marc Goossens, Andy Pilgrim, Anthony Lazzaro, Jack Baldwin, Andy Lally, Max Papis, David Murry, Chris Bingham, and Joe Varde.

Parts of the event will be broadcast on both Fox and SPEED channel throughout the day. Check your local listings for times in your area.

NASCAR, Rolex 24, Rolex 24 at Daytona, NASCAR Drivers in Rolex 24

Someone at the NASCAR headquarters must have heard my request. Okay, so I’m sure I’m not the reason behind the change, but I am definitely pleased. I am, of course, speaking of NASCAR’s decision to keep start times earlier than 2 pm ET for their Sprint Cup Sunday races for 18 of their competitions. I had a lot of trouble keeping track last year of what time a race was on and I found myself either missing the start or having plans before the race starts if it were later in the day. Now if only I can get them to choose one network and stick with it so I’m not frantically hitting the guide button on my remote with only seconds until the green flag is scheduled to wave. That is not likely, so I guess I’ll just have to refer back to this post to figure out what’s going on.

For your convenience (and my own…I won’t lie), I’ve compiled the starting times of all the races and what network they will be broadcast. To see my list, keep reading after the jump.

NASCAR, NASCAR broadcasts, NASCAR 2008 Sprint Cup Broadcast Schedule

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(Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and CEO gave his annual “State of the Sport Address” Live today from the NASCAR Research and Development Center. It has become a tradition for the France family to give a look back at the past year and to look ahead at what’s to come for the following racing season. According to Brian France, 2008 looks to be a strong year for the sport.

He highlighted major construction and events that will happen throughout the year, as well as mentioned some interesting news stories from 2007 to see how they will shake out (most notably, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s move to Hendrick Motorsports from Dale Earnhardt, Inc.). France made it seem like it will be an exciting year for everyone involved.

To read a transcript of Brian France’s “State of the Sport Address”, keep reading after the jump.

NASCAR, State of NASCAR Address, Brian France, Brian France Press Conference

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Here’s a well done NASCAR commercial set to the tune of Johnny Cash’s song “Ring of FIre”. Hope you enjoy it!

NASCAR, NASCAR commericals

I found a quick interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. from testing in Daytona talking about his off season and his “love” of photo shoots. Enjoy the clip!

NASCAR, NASCAR interviews, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr. interview

So as I was reading the always great Go Teams Go NASCAR Forum, I came across a post of posters who were spewing venom about a recent article by David Poole of the Charlotte Observer. I headed over to check it out and sure enough, most of his “myths” are definitely his opinion and his opinion only. Let’s take a look at a few here and set the record straight from your ordinary average NASCAR fan.

1. “The top-35 rule is killing the sport’s smaller teams.”

I wouldn’t say this was a myth at all. I agree with this statement. I’m in the camp that thinks the 43 fastest cars in qualifying should make the field no matter if they are #1 in the points or #101. That would definitely shake up the Chase and keep drivers and teams on their toes. As it stands, cars that have to qualify to get in a race are so far behind on impound race days because they have to run a qualifying set up while cars who are guaranteed a spot can rest easy and qualify in their race trim. Level out the playing field and make everyone qualify every week. Maybe that will knock the wind out of some of the bigger teams and get those one car operations back in the game.

2. “The lack of personality among NASCAR drivers is killing the sport.”

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard this mentioned before, let alone it being the second biggest myth that needs disputing. I do think this statement is a myth, so it does belong on a list of myths, but perhaps not quite so high on that list. I think there is plenty of personality in the garage. Anyone who watches interviews or the SPEED channel can see that. Part of this myth may come from the fact that NASCAR frowns on any sort of temper flairs or opinionated commentary, which makes it hard for some of the guys to be themselves fully on camera. However, you can’t say that Tony Stewart or Kevin Harvick show no personality, just to name a couple. They seem to always be able to speak their minds with little to no problem.

3. “The Chase for the Cup is killing the sport.”

I’m on the fence about this one. I do think that the Chase is favoring the bigger teams and that’s hurting things. However, it all comes down to strategy and there are just a few teams who have that head game all figured out. I would like to see some other drivers have a chance once in awhile (I’m looking at you, Hendrick Motorsports), but teams who work together deserve some sort of credit. Afterall, racing is a pretty individual sport and it’s rare to see really solid teamwork. I do agree that the Chase format needs some more tweaking, but maybe that will come with time.

4. “Open-wheel racers are killing stock-car racing by taking away rides.”

I guess I’m not sure about this one, either. I’m not a huge fan of open wheel racing, so it does seem sort of like favoritism when these guys get brought over with little to no experience in stock cars and get put into a well established team and ride. I don’t want to take anything at all away from these very talented drivers, but I do wish teams would make them spend a season in the Craftsman Truck series or the Nationwide Series before just hopping straight into a Cup car. I’m sure Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin were saying the same thing when their rides were swiped away and all the bigger teams turned to open wheel racers to sub or drive for them instead of the veteran stock car racers.

5. “NASCAR’s new fans are killing the sport for its longtime fans.”

Now this is one statement I agree is a myth. It’s probably because I consider myself a new fan rather than a longtime fan. Sure, I remember every now and then watching a race with my brother when I was little and cheering for Richard Petty, but I didn’t really start watching and loving NASCAR until I married my husband 5 years ago. I am a new fan, but I think I have a somewhat longtime fan mentality. I’m not watching because it’s the passing fad or I just want to see crashes. I love knowing about the cars and the strategies and following my favorite drivers and rooting against those I don’t like. I appreciate that it’s a sport and it takes an entire team to win. I do, however, really enjoy the interviews and back stories of the drivers and crews and I watch SPEED Channel all the time. So I don’t think we’re killing the sport…are we?

6. “Racing just isn’t like it was in the “good old days” and that is killing the sport.”

Racing isn’t like it was in the “good old days”. It’s a multi-million dollar corporation now. The “stock cars” aren’t so much stock anymore. However, it’s safer and I think that’s a good thing. I think some of the new rules and regulations aren’t helping grow the sport, but is it really killing it? It’s still fun to watch and cheer for my favorite driver, so I don’t know if it truly is dying.

Let me know what you think about these myths. Is NASCAR dying? Leave some comments. Just a note: your comment may not appear right away because we’re having issues with our spam filter, but it will be up as soon as I fish it out and approve it, so no worries! Comment away!

Last weekend, the Craftsman Truck Series invaded Daytona for their turn at Preseason Thunder and got in some testing time on the track. There were plenty of drivers and lots of things learned by all the teams who participated. There were definitely some surprises and some things that were expected to come out of the weekend, so let’s take a look at the results.

On day one of testing, Erik Darnell piloted the #99 to the fastest speed in the morning and Brendan Gaughn in the #10 took the top spot in the first day’s afternoon session. Andy Lally (#7) also was in the top five for both sessions. The afternoon session ended up on a sour note with a crash that took out Colin Brown’s #6 and Joey Clanton in the #09 for the entire weekend (Kyle Busch was also involved). Brendan Gaughn also got a little overzealous in the bump draft turning David Starr #11 into #59 Ted Musgrave.

Day two was much less eventful with Erik Darnell once again the fastest in the morning session and Jon Wood in the #21 in the afternoon. Justin Marks #9 was also fast in both sessions, landing in the top 5 both times.

Day three, the final day of testing, Justin Marks managed to be the top car in speed. After examining all of the times for all three days, Erik Darnell was the fastest of all the cars.

To see a list of drivers who participated, keep reading after the jump.

NASCAR, Craftsman Trucks, Craftsman Truck Testing Daytona

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I’ve been trying to post all day and it keeps eating my posts, so this is just a quick post to let you know that I really am trying to update but I keep running into technical difficulties. Hopefully the will be resolved once and for all very very shortly. Thanks for understanding and I hope I can get up lots of posts tomorrow and catch up on all the Preseason Thunder news we’ve missed so far this week.