Full Throttle

The legendary Babe Ruth is said to have “called his shot” during a game. The story of Ruth pointing his bat at the right field bleachers, then producing a homerun blast lives til today. Greg Biffle made good on two “shots” during the Auto Club 500 in Fontana, California. The first was a prediction he would assume the lead from his third row start prior to the 5^th lap, he did so one lap early. His second prediction of winning the race, before what some are calling a disappointing fan turnout, also was spot on as he led a parade of Roush Team cars (four of the top seven) across the line.

Race Notes: There was a major difference from last weeks race. Within 10 aps the field was fairly well spread out in mostly single file order. Minus the high banking and restrictor plates the emphasis shifted to horsepower and handling. And after so many blown engines (66% failure rate) the Hendricks engine shop must be doing a little collective head scratching.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson needs to go back and do whatever he does best, and that doesn’t include giving the call for 43 racers to start their engines. The description “LAME” comes to mind.

Who taught ‘ The Governator” to wave a green flag? I assume he has never performed the exercise previously, I haven’t either. But even this run of the mill fan knows a figure eight motion is called for. Not that wimpy circular thing Arnie did.

The bonehead move of the race must go to Jimmy Johnson’s crew chief. During the yellow for the Kasey Kahne accident Johnson took on gas and no tires, and promptly marched to the back of the field Ultimately Johnson recovered to finish second but with so many laps to the checkers you have to ask, “what were you thinking?”

Biggest question in the aftermath? Just how loud will the crying and moaning be from the Jeff Gordon fans. After running on 7 cylinders the last few laps he was given the black flag with about 5 laps left for running to slow. At the time he was still on the lead lap and headed for a top 20, if not top 15 finish. The black flag resulted in Gordon ending the day in 30^th. Remember you heard it here first. The name calling by his fans directed at NASCAR will be loud and long. Bet on it!

Busch Series Notes: Busch haulers are on their way today to Laredo, Texas, the shipping transfer point for their run to Mexico City for next weekend’s NASCAR race at the Hermanos Rodriguez course. Teams are sending their Mexico City road-racing machines from North Carolina to Laredo, where they will be put on the Mexico-bound haulers. The California cars will then be put on trucks for the run back to North Carolina.

The haulers will run the 700 miles from Laredo to Mexico City in five convoys of 10 haulers, protected by security guards. Each truck driver will also have a personal security guard in the cab.

2005 Auto Club 500 Results

Pos. Driver Starting Pos. Car No. / Mfg.
1 Greg Biffle 5 #16 Ford
2 Jimmie Johnson 8 #48 Chevrolet
3 Kurt Busch 20 #97 Ford
4 Jamie McMurray 15 #42 Dodge
5 Carl Edwards 19 #99 Ford
6 Kevin Harvick 31 #29 Chevrolet
7 Mark Martin 18 #6 Ford
8 Elliott Sadler 41 #38 Ford
9 Ryan Newman 9 #12 Dodge
10 Rusty Wallace 23 #2 Dodge
11 Dale Jarrett 7 #88 Ford
12 Mike Bliss 10 #0 Chevrolet
13 Bobby Labonte 14 #18 Chevrolet
14 Ken Schrader 38 #49 Dodge
15 Sterling Marlin 13 #40 Dodge
16 Scott Wimmer 27 #22 Dodge
17 Tony Stewart 29 #20 Chevrolet
18 Kyle Petty 36 #45 Dodge
19 Jeff Burton 32 #31 Chevrolet
20 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 26 #32 Chevrolet
21 Brian Vickers 2 #25 Chevrolet
22 Casey Mears 16 #41 Dodge
23 Kyle Busch 1 #5 Chevrolet
24 Travis Kvapil 35 #77 Dodge
25 Mike Wallace 33 #4 Chevrolet
26 Matt Kenseth 6 #17 Ford
27 Jeff Green 37 #43 Dodge
28 Jeremy Mayfield 3 #19 Dodge
29 John Andretti 24 #14 Ford
30 Jeff Gordon 28 #24 Chevrolet
31 Kevin Lepage 43 #37 Dodge
32 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 40 #8 Chevrolet
33 Scott Riggs 12 #10 Chevrolet
34 Dave Blaney 42 #07 Chevrolet
35 Robby Gordon 25 #7 Chevrolet
36 Terry Labonte 11 #44 Chevrolet
37 Jason Leffler 39 #11 Chevrolet
38 Michael Waltrip 30 #15 Chevrolet
39 Joe Nemechek 4 #01 Chevrolet
40 Kasey Kahne 17 #9 Dodge
41 Ricky Rudd 21 #21 Ford
42 Randy LaJoie 34 #34 Chevrolet
43 Bill Elliott 22 #91 Dodge

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Mark Martin added to his record Busch Series win total, pulling away from Kevin Harvick on Saturday at California Speedway for No. 47.

Martin, the longtime star of NASCAR’s top stock car series, was dominant. He led 102 of the 150 laps, including the last 34. He easily held off Harvick in an eight-lap sprint on the 2-mile oval after the last of eight caution flags, driving his Roush Racing Ford across the finish line about 10 car lengths ahead of Harvick’s Chevrolet.

“I knew that Harvick was really fast on the restart,” Martin said, grinning. “I knew I had my hands full, that Kevin was going to do everything he could to win that race. But we just had an awesome car today.”

Busch regular Shane Hmiel finished third, followed by Clint Bowyer, 19-year-old Reed Sorenson, in only his second Busch race, and Carl Edwards.

Martin came back last season from a self-imposed three-year Busch Series retirement and ran five races, picking up his 46th victory in the steppingstone series. It was his first Busch win since the fall race at Darlington in 2000.

The Saturday’s event began in daylight but, with a series of yellow flags and a 26-minute red flag after a brief rain shower slowing things down, ended under the lights. That made for constantly changing conditions on the track. “I was real concerned about finishing the race at night, but this car didn’t seem to mind. It was great,” Martin said.

Harvick, another Cup regular, finished second in Busch for the second straight race. “He got away from me toward the end and there was nothing I could do,” Harvick said. “Too little, too late, but I’m glad to see Mark win on his farewell tour.”

Martin, who will retire from the Nextel Cup series at the end of the 2005 season, is just the latest “Buschwhacker” — regulars from Cup who drive limited schedules in Busch — to beat the Busch regulars.

Cup star Tony Stewart won the opener a week ago in Daytona, beating Harvick for his first Busch Series win. Stewart started from the pole Saturday in the same car, owned by Harvick’s wife, Delana, and was in contention until a flat tire slowed him in the last few laps. He wound up 29th, the last car on the lead lap.

Reigning Busch champion Martin Truex finished 30th after blowing a tire and spinning late in the race.
Read the rest of this entry »

Rusty Wallace, taking a cue from Kevin Costner, has made good on a promise made last year to provide Iowa a sequel. While he has made no claims of Curtis Turner, Robbie Flock, Junior Johnson, or even “The King,” appearing amidst the tall corn of Iowa there will be a place for new legends to be made. And the local officials are very pleased:

One year ago this week, NASCAR superstar Rusty Wallace promised NewsChannel 8 that the racetrack would come to Iowa. “It’s going to be a reality, and it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be beautiful,” Wallace said.

The racetrack will be located next to Newton’s airport, with an asphalt track that will be 7/8 of a mile long. The grandstand will hold 25,000 fans. Temporary seating should boost capacity to 80,000.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve had in a long, long time,” said Jim Greve, of the Newton City Council.

Developers are ready to begin building, and racing could begin as early as next summer, if weather permits, according to Dennis Chalupa, the developer’s attorney.

The city does not have to guarantee the developer’s debt. “We’re not responsible for any part of the loan,” Newton Mayor Chaz Allen said. “Our simple responsibility is to put in water, sewer and infrastructure.”

In return, U.S. Motorsports will work with the NASCAR driver himself to design the first Rusty Wallace Signature Track.

“This will be the biggest thing that ever hit the state of Iowa, eventually,” said Larry Clement, of U.S. Motorsport Corp. “I mean it’s going to be huge.”

The next step in the process is to determine who will race on the track. Negotiations are under way with several sanctioning bodies. “We know what happens around these race tracks, and we know the impact it has, and we’re just extremely excited to bring this to Iowa and Newton in general,” Clement said.

With the the city having no financial responsibilities, with the noted exceptions, it sounds like a go to me. It will be interesting which sanctioning bodies sign up. I’m thinking Craftsmann Truck Series, USAC Modifieds and maybe Champ or IRS. [Update: You can add IMCA to the list of possible sanctioning bodies to sign up. And it may be the first considering many of it’s events are held in the mid-west.]

The only queston that remains: Will the site of the track be host to images of Dick Trickle complete with cigarette dangling from his mouth, or Elmo Langley looking as if he were ready “rebend” a few fenders like gave Bobby Allison, “Tiger Tom” Pistone, David Pearson, and Buddy Baker in his day?

Time will tell, legends never die, it could be a few will appear out of the tall corn of Iowa just as the movie!

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Steve Park completed his comeback from a serious head injury sustained in 2001, capitalizing when leader Mike Bliss ran out of gas with six laps remaining Friday night for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race victory.

The win at California Speedway was Park’s first since taking the checkered flag in a Winston Cup race at Rockingham in February 2001, making him the 10th driver to win races in each of NASCAR’s top three professional series.

The 38-year-old Park sustained a serious head injury in September 2001 in a crash at Darlington. “I never doubted,” Park said. “Other people doubted me, but I feel great and I can win races. I just needed an opportunity.”

Truck owner Michael Gaughan, father of fellow truck competitor Brendan Gaughan, gave Park that chance.

“I thought I was going to be pretty much done with my career and they gave me another chance,” said Park, whose best previous finish in a truck was third last spring at Las Vegas. “We thought we’d win some races last year, but we got shut out.

“I hate it for Mike Bliss. He had the truck to beat and we were trying to reel him in.”

Former series champion Jack Sprague, who broke his left heel in a fall at home last week, started his truck to get the championship points, but gave up the seat to Bliss, another former series champ, during the first pit stop.

Bliss then drove from the rear of the field to grab the lead and appeared on the way to an easy victory, leading Park by half a straightaway on the 2-mile oval at the start of lap 95 of the 100-lap event. He suddenly slowed, though, and Park’s Dodge swept into the lead, holding a nearly 2-second margin over runner-up Bobby Hamilton, the defending series champ and winner of the season-opener last week in Daytona.

Hamilton wound up second, 1.229-seconds — about 20 truck-lengths — behind. He was followed by Ricky Craven and rookie Todd Kluever, making only his second truck start. Bliss wound up a lap behind in 22nd.

David Starr, who led a race-high 57 laps, was caught up in a three-car crash on lap 78.
Read the rest of this entry »

Diversity and the inclusion of minorites in auto racing has been a subject with a long history in all its forms. NASCAR’s recent efforts have included signing a women (the third to compete in an entire season) to compete in the Busch Series and the Series moving a race date to Mexico City. Along with that move they enticed Mexican natives Adrian Fernandez and Michel Jourdain Jr to join the Series. (note the local press hasn’t been very kind with their native sons.) NASCAR took alot of heat when reacting to pressure from a conservative legal watchdog group and racing fans when it decided to cut its funding of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. At the time NASCAR President Mike Helton said the organization “supported the Rainbow Coalition’s work on diversity issues, we do not endorse many of Rev. Jackson’s political views or any other political views.” As it should be unless your Max Mosley or Bernie Ecclestone, lord and masters of Formula One, who seam too delight in the political side of racing “Eurostyle.”

All of which brings me to today’s “good news” minority story. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius with the Kansas African-American Affairs Commission has awarded Kansas Speedway with its Distinguished Service Award.

“I’m proud that Kansas Speedway continues to be a corporate model for other companies to follow,” speedway President Jeff Boerger said. “We’ll continue to work hard to increase our participation with minority-owned businesses throughout Kansas because we are committed to equal economic opportunities for everyone.”

Over the past four years, Kansas Speedway has steered more than $6 million to minority businesses in the Kansas City area. During the construction phase alone, Kansas Speedway paid out more than $44 million to local minority-owned businesses involved in the construction of the track.

The speedway has also been recognized by the Minority Supplier Council and was recently named Corporation of the Year. All very impressive for a bunch of supposedly, red-necked, beer-swilling, racist, pot-bellied baffoons wearing “I love NASCAR T-shirts.”

As NASCAR moves into the land of Fruits & Nuts here are some of the stories making the headlines:

Crew Chief to call race strategy from long distance. Instead of sitting on a pit box for Sunday’s Nextel Cup race, Michael McSwain will be making his calls on race strategy by long distance. Ricky Rudd’s crew chief underwent surgery Friday to repair a disc in his back, but the team has arranged cell phones and radios to keep McSwain on the job.

New NASCAR Rules Debut in California: Shorter rear spoilers, softer tires and a new qualifying schedule will greet the Nextel Cup drivers when they hit the 2-mile oval for two practice sessions Friday. {And I might add, when the “real” season begins - ed

Craftsman Truck Series. Reutimann fastest in practice: Perhaps buoyed by a visit to Toyota Racing Development in Costa Mesa, David Reutimann posted the fastest speed Thursday in preparation for tonight’s American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway.

With the recent penalties handed out for pit road speeding here is an interesting article, “Speedometers on NASCAR Stock Cars,” by EDDIE JONES, General Manager, BAM Racing (Ken Schrader

I guess the new NASCAR drivers of Mexican decent need a little primer on bump drafting. Even if it is on the streets of Mexico City.

Drivers who have no trouble weaving racecars through crowds of competitors at 150 mph apparently were no match for the Mexican capital’s streets yesterday. A news conference to promote the NASCAR Busch Series race to be held March 6 in Mexico City was supposed to feature Adrian Fernandez and Michel Jourdain Jr., the best known of 10 Mexican drivers who will compete.

But traffic delayed the stars, and only little-known driver Jorge Goeters appeared.

The news conference ended abruptly when a local newspaper reporter took the microphone and demanded to know how professional racers could be so delayed by regular traffic.

“Aren’t they better drivers than all of us?” he asked, drawing a smattering of applause.

Fox’s Daytona 500 Ratings Tops For Nascar

Fox Sports coverage of the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon produced a 10.9/23 preliminary national rating and share, also pulling in 18.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research data.

That matches the highest rating recorded for a Nascar race, matching the rating for the 2002 Daytona 500 on NBC, which produced the same rating, but 18.8 million viewers.

Nielsen estimates that 35.3 million viewers watched all or part of last Sunday’s Daytona 500 on Fox. Eight of the Top 10 metered markets posted double-digit ratings increases compared to last year’s race, and the nation’s top five markets delivered their best rating ever for a Daytona 500 on Fox. New York posted a 5.5/12, Los Angeles earned a 5.3/14, Chicago, a 9.0/19, Philadelphia, a 10.4/18, and Boston an 8.6/19.

My Two Cents: Those numbers are remakable considering the previous high was by NBC, a network that has considerably more affiliates than Fox, yet they pulled the same numbers. The most amazing numbers of them all come from a least likely source. Ratings jumped 32 percent from last year in San Francisco (5.8 vs. 4.4).

You can almost hear Mr. France screaming in full tilt jubilation.

Cross posted @ Sports Blog

Dave Laurence of Racing Underdog has posted this years first “Kangaroo Court.” A feature started last year (I believe) that looks at the previous weeks NASCAR action and places any on/off track “offenders” in the “underdogs” docket. Reprinted without permission, but with great admiration:

The Court is now in session. This week