Full Throttle

(NOTE: pictorial comment via the “Half-Vast” Staff of Full Throttle and the ACME corporation. Hover over the underlined sections for full effect)

NASCAR

ISC has announced the signing of a new lease for the use of the land Daytona International Speedway sits on. The new agreement will “keep racing here through the year 2054 and raise the rent they pay for the famed speedway.”

The original lease called for a a yearly payment of $10,000 for use of the 447 acres of publicly owned land and extends the current one that paid the City $20,000 per year. Over the course of the new contract rent will average $750,000 and the payment in 2054 will be $1,090,000.

“I classify this as the greatest public-private partnership in America,” said Bill France Jr., International Speedway chairman. “We took land that had a value of $4,500 and developed it with the help of a lot of people in the area.”

My Two Cents: If the original land was appraised at $4,500 and rent was just over twice its value shouldn’t it follow logiclly that the current lease would follow that pattern? I find it hard impossible to believe, even at 1mil per annum in 2054, the land is only worth $2 million dollars. Twenty times that is probably the case.

Bill France Jr (A/K/A HWSBO) has the chutzpah to call this the “greatest public-private partnership in America?” If this is the “greatest” what’s the worst? The local politicians sellouts whores should be rounded up and horse-whipped for agreeing to this.

This may explain one thing. The Daytona 500 is one of only a couple events that hasn’t had the events name sold out to corporate sponsorship or is “Presented by…” Now we know why.

The “official,” and until now under the table, name of the February event is “The Daytona 500 Presented by the New Smyrna Beach Political Whores.”

International Speedway Corporation, Daytona, NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Bill France Jr., Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle

Shouldn’t the “Rock’em Sock’em Robots” version of Gordon be attending this event?

Mark Martin, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Petty, Darrell Waltrip and others to participate in wrestling matches. Some of the biggest drivers in NASCAR past, present and future will attend a pro wrestling show on April 1

Australian motor racing star Marcos Ambrose will make his American debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia this weekend.

After missing the first three rounds because of concerns about his lack of experience on the fast super speedways at Daytona, Atlanta and California, Ambrose is now ready to go. A two-time V8 Supercar Champion in Australia (2003, 2004), Wood Brothers/JTG Racing are hoping to transform his previous success into a successful NASCAR career.

“I don’t know if this sport is ready for Marcos Ambrose,” said Eddie Wood, co-owner of Ambrose’s Ford F150 in Saturday’s Kroger 250 at the Martinsville Speedway.

“He’s something else. He’s the biggest racing star the country (Australia) has known. We believe he’s going to be all of that, if not more, here in America.”

Ambrose will make his NASCAR debut this Saturday. NASCAR wanted him to skip the first three races until they were convinced his success in Australia would translate to its brand of racing.

“I got here in January and I’ve been ready to race since the day I got here,” Ambrose said.

“I’ve been eager to get behind the wheel and race. The one good thing about waiting for NASCAR is it gave me a chance to watch from the sidelines.

“I spent time in the shop to get a perspective of how these trucks are built, I spent time at the racetrack watching how Jon Wood worked as the driver. I learned a lot about how the truck changes during the race and how a driver and crew chief have to work to make it better.

“More important, I learned no matter what side of the ocean you’re from, success always comes back to one thing - people. It’s people that build these trucks, people that perform pit stops and people that drive these trucks. I believe I’m surrounded by the best people in the business. I just want to do my part.”

Ambrose is one of the most-recognised athletes in his native country. He enjoys rock-star status after winning consecutive Supercar Championships. He will bring his flamboyant personality to the sport, as well as international media attention.

He will be joining a race team with impressive credentials. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest team in the Nextel Cup Series and it’s fielded the most winners in Ford Racing history.

“It’s an honour to be chosen from a long list of drivers who would love to be with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing,” Ambrose said.

“The team provides a career path through NASCAR major series, all the way to Nextel Cup. I’m looking forward to the challenge and the next phase of my career. This is a big move in my career, but it’s the next logical step. We’ve had a lot of success in Australia and it’s going to be fun to see if we can carry some of that over here in the States.”

Ambrose’s toughest competition for rookie of the year honours will probably come from his Wood Brothers/JTG Racing teammate, Bobby East. He will drive the No. 21 Ford.

Ambrose was not only the first driver in seven years to win back-to-back V8 Supercar championships, he was the first Ford driver in 30 years to win four consecutive races. He became the flagship driver for Ford Australia, and it wasn’t difficult for the car company to support a move to the United States.

“Marcos and Bobby are a very important part of our driver development program,” Wood said.

“It’s going to be fun to watch Marcos grow as a driver in NASCAR. And it’s going to be fun to see how his personality catches on. One thing’s for sure, half-way around the world, everyone will be watching.”

Ambrose recently completed a solid test at Rockingham Speedway and has been spending some time at the Woods Brothers facility most days to ensure he learns as much about his environment as quickly as possible.

His custom seat was finalised a couple of weeks ago and the team has been “tweaking” the rest of his Ford F-150 truck to make sure it fits like a glove this weekend.

Only five spots on the grid will be available this weekend for drivers of Ambrose’s oval experience and about eight drivers will be vying for those positions.

“I’m excited about the first race, but I have to qualify first,” said Ambrose.

“There are just five available spots up for grabs this weekend and there will be eight guys trying to fill them.

“I have to be right on the money, there will be no time to ease into this. There is no doubt that NASCASR will be making sure I am quick enough and doing the necessary things out on the track.

“They have their way of doing things and I have to adapt to the US racing system. They will certainly be evaluating me and will not give me a full licence until they are totally satisfied that I can do the job. That’s the way it is and the way it should be.”

V8 SuperCars, Australia, Marcos Ambrose, Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle

Whap-Whap-Whap… There… do ya hear it now?

It’s the sound of NASCAR’s black Helicopters hovering over my casa. You might ask why.

And well… I might dare to tell ya, but the helos have scared the cat. The dogs have quit chasing their tails because their gone!

No not the dogs. The tails! It’s the damnedest darnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Both dogs gnawed their tails to a stump as if they were prime rib bones. And at every “Whap” heard they scurry deeper under the bed.

And the leaflets, they are a foot deep, and there’s another helo drop occuring as I write. The yard looks like, like Bristol in a snow storm. If ya know what I mean. The print is too small to read from the safety of the house and the furniture piled before the window but the heading is in plain view. It says “Summons!” In bright “NEXTEL Cup Yellow” print.

It started so simply really. With a simple word. A one syllable word of four letters. Starting with “S” and ending with “hit.” (Geesh I’ve gotten so scared I can’t type it!) It was uttered as grease splattered on my… my, nevermind. Let’s just say somewhere “south” of the beltline, (Please don’t ask why) as I was frying up a cheese, sausage, onion, and chunky peanut butter omlette. (Again, don’t ask!)

Anyway, no sooner had the pain subsided some crackpots from something called “Family Policy Network” called ranting about “the word” I used screamed and NASCAR “fights and bad language” becoming “all-too-common.”

Whatever else they had to say was drowned out by the Whap… Whap… Whap of the helos! As I admitted I”m scared. But not without ammo to fight back.

These crackpots are overstating their case a bit. Fights aren’t “common,” in fact they only occur once, maybe twice a season. And if they are classifying Jeff Gordon’s little $10,000 dollar shove a “fight” they are making the point for me, they are indeed, crackpots.

As for the language, NBC solved that problem by utilizing a 5-7 second delayed broadcast. No clue why Fox hasn’t done the same, but if they are experiancing the same “terror” I am at present it should soon follow.

And another thing. These crackpots can’t even claim they “speak for America.” And I have the proof in an AP-ipsos poll that was just released this very day.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans questioned last week

This has to be nominated as the least shocking headline of this NASCAR week: Spencer to drive for BAM Racing at Martinsville.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jimmy Spencer will replace rookie Brent Sherman for this week’s race at Martinsville Speedway, BAM Racing said Tuesday.

BAM general manager Eddie Jones said the team wanted a veteran behind the wheel at Martinsville, one of the trickiest tracks in NASCAR, and Sherman has no experience at the Virginia facility.

Anybody buying that reason?

I’m not and I bet the Bam sponsors aren’t either and Jimmy will be in the seat longer than one event. Sherman says he welcomes the chance to work and learn from the veteran Spencer. Here’s hoping Jimmy teaches the kid the “pointy end” of a race car goes forward, not sideways or backwards.

Bam Racing, NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle

Kentucky Motor Speedway is quick to file a law suit trying to find a sympathetic judge to award them a NEXTEL Cup date. In the process they call NASCAR and ISC every name in the book, (law journals and otherwise).

Yet they haven’t any qualms about accepting the cash this provides them as a result of not having a Cup date:

Hall Of Fame Racing, Penske Racing South, MB2 On Weekly Test Schedule:

Four NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams are scheduled to test at Kentucky Speedway Wednesday, March 29.

Tony Raines will practice with his No. 96 Texas Instruments DLP HDTV Chevrolet, yesterday

Steve Wallace, son of retired NASCAR star Rusty Wallace, will make seven ARCA Series starts in 2006. Wallace will pilot the No. 61 with sponsorship from the Hantz Group and Nu South Lemonade.

Wallace is slated to run seven ARCA/REMAX races this season, including Nashville (April 15), Kentucky (May 13), Michigan (June 16 and August 10), Gateway (July 28), Talladega (October 6) and Iowa (October 15). Wallace has five previous starts in the ARCA Series, with one win.

ARCA, Automobile Racing Club of America, NASCAR, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle

Kurt Busch elbowed Matt Kenseth aside with just five laps remaining to win Sunday’s gruelling Food City 500 at the half-mile Bull Ring named Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch recovered from a flat tire to take the win, surviving a hard challenge from Kevin Harvick in the final four laps to score his first win for Roger Penske and the #2 Miller Lite Dodge team.

A clearly unhappy Kenseth finished third (but not as unhappy as J. Gordon who he punted out of the way) followed by Carl Edwards and Bobby Labonte, who posted his best finish thus far for the #43 Petty Enterprises team.

Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne completed the top ten.

The best rides of the day were turned in by Labonte under the pressure of missing the 35^th place cutoff. His 5^th place jumped the Petty crew 6 spots and they will be assured of a starting spot, at least for one week. Biffle should also be happy after having early problems, but his 7^th moved the #16 to within 48 points of the Chase cutoff.

The hard luck (or talentless?) driver of the event had to be Brent Sherman. Out of 18 cautions he was involved in one way or another in about 5. Obviously a very hard day, and lesson, for the rookie.

Out of 170,000 or so on hand, including fans and crewman, there was one guy whose luck stood ahead of everyone. This un-named lucky sole was in the right place at the right time to grab the rear valance panel of Dale Jarrett as it sailed over the fence and landed at his feet!

I would hope track officials made arrangements for it to be autographed by Jarrett. If I hear of it being sighted on Ebay I’ll be disappointed. Of course that won’t preclude me from bidding on it. It would look mighty fine hanging behind my wet bar and compliment my Mark Martin “used Goodyear” coffee table.

And what would Bristol be without drivers quotes? Here are a couple choice selections.

“I showed him my displeasure,” Gordon said of the shove that sent Kenseth back on his heels. “I get fired up, too.”

“If [Truex] wants to settle it, [he can] settle it in the bus lot later on,” Stewart said of Truex’s attempted retaliations.

“I’m not going to take it out on the race cars when we are on the track,” Harvick said of Busch, still seething about being taken out by Busch last week at Atlanta. “If I have to, I will take it out on him. He took a cheap shot at me last week, and that isn’t something that goes over well.”

Lovely… you can bet “things” won’t be forgotten next week at Martinsville.

UPDATE: Normally I enjoy reading David Poole’s articles, (And BTW he has a brand new blog, Life in the Turn Lane) but in this piece he went off track a bit. First he notes Bristol’s, shall we say, “ambiance:” “If NASCAR gave out every penalty that’s deserved for “aggressive driving” in a race at Bristol, it’d take a week and a half for somebody to complete 500 laps.” He follows that up with: “Dale Jarrett rides for five laps with a taillight panel dangling off his Ford and NASCAR lets him go until the metal flies off the car, into the grandstands and lands at some guy’s feet. All’s well that ends well? No. Flying sheet metal is dangerous. Jarrett should’ve been black flagged long before the projectile launched.”

You just can’t have it both ways. First noting the impossibility of calling every aggressive move is correct, it would never happen. But let’s do a little rewrite of Poole’s second comment.

“If NASCAR gave out a black flag that’s deserved for every taillight panel (or one of a dozen other similar panels) dangling off a car in a race at Bristol, only a handfull of cars would be on the lead lap at the checkers.”

Not to mention it isn’t sheetmetal, that panel is a single piece of fiberglass. Not that it is any less of a hazard but any one of a dozen cars had similar damage during the event. It’s only an issue because it ended up as a valuable souvenir for the aforementioned “Mr. Lucky.”

NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Bristol Motor Speedway, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle

Not sure this means much beyond showing where all the cash is in F1. While it is generally conceded Toyota has the biggest budget in F1 this list of F1 testing mileage generally follows along the lines of cash flow. Excepting Super Aguri of course as the newest kid on the block.

Teams Testing KMs (since Nov 28, 2005)

Pos Team Cumulative KMs

1 Honda 27,495.19
2 McLaren Mercedes 25,530.64
3 Renault 22,286.54
4 Toyota 19,054.93
5 WilliamsF1 17,860
6 BMW Sauber 13,898.5
7 Red Bull Racing 9,210.339
8 MF1 7,569.898
9 Toro Rosso 5,873.2
10 Super Aguri 508.97

The list was compiled by Williams F!. Hmmm… See anyone missing? Guess Ferrari’s “anti-espionage shield” works very well.

F1, Ferrari, Formula One, Honda, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Super Aguri, Toro Russo, MF1, BMW Sauber, Williams F1, Renault, McLaren, Mercedes, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle