Full Throttle

With NASCAR’s premier division enjoying one of the few off-weeks in its hectic schedule news has been somewhat slow.

Between that and my blog software having an upgrade released this week that has thrown asunder my site redesign plans for some unspecified time I offer the following, it won’t make the list of Classic Short Story writers, but its something.

What that something is, you judge for yourself.

In an update to a earlier story despite the best efforts of Kyle Busch - aided by the “noise” provided by his “official band” - Busch couldn’t pull off a win Tuesday night at Slinger Super Speedway. That honor went to home town hero Matt Kenseth who won the 29th Annual Miller Late Nationals, his fourth career win in the prestigious Late Model event.

Want proof some NASCAR fans people are dumber than a sack one-celled protozoa on crack?

I give you Joe Morrison of Pasadena, Calif. (note the hometown it explains a lot) who offered this gem for Jerry Bonkowski’s weekly column in response to a King Richard tribute Jerry wrote last week:

“I consider myself a pretty big sports fan, so I’m wondering how a guy I’ve never heard of (Richard Petty) can be an ‘icon.’ Mickey Mantle is an ‘icon.’ You may feel he’s underappreciated [sic] and would like to shed some light on his accomplishments, but “icon”? NASCAR isn’t relevant enough to produce such a thing”.

To which I’ll add, other than the Rose Parade and little old ladies selling a one-of-a-kind pristine driven-only-on-Sunday used cars just how is Pasadena “relevant enough” to produce anything?

In my many years of NASCAR fandom I’ve seen more than a few references to the sport and it’s multitude of fans attending each week referred to as a modern day Circus Maximus. Well, modern day NASCAR, meet Rome’s modern day Circus Maximus complete with chariot racing tentatively scheduled for three days starting on Oct. 17, 2009.

If I were Brian France I’d be worried, very worried, about competition coming from Rome. (say, is that Kyle Busch’s #18 I spy with the spikes protruding from his wheels as he passes the #88?)

Other than being part of the Roush-Fenway Mongol Hoard what do Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and David Ragan all have in common?

They all got their start in a Roush owned NCTS entry that will eclipse Spears Motorsports as the team with the most series starts (314) this weekend at Kentucky. Since the teams series entry in 1995 Roush has had 28 different drivers 10 of which have at least one win in the series.

A new feature has been added to NASCAR’s online Superstore, shoppers can now use a customization tool to “tailor the products they select” with special images, such as the car number, signature and sponsor logos.

Great news for Kasey Kahne fans, they can replace that Bud logo on a ridiculously over-priced T-shirt with one for InBev.

In more important news to IndyCar and Sarah Fisher fans, she has picked up a primary sponsor for the Meijer 300 at the Kentucky Speedway on Aug. 9 and the Chicagoland 300 on Sept. 7. Dollar General has come onboard to sponsor her self-owned IRL entry.

“It’s great to return to Kentucky with my own team,” she said. “I’ve done well there in the past, and I believe I can do just as well or better with my own team behind me.”

That is all, now back to the redesign wars.

UPDATE: Finally, someone has stepped up and sponsored the best unsponsored driver in Sprint Cup. I wonder if the xenophobes with get bunched panties over it being a Japanese company?

Technorati Tags: Roush-Fenway, NCTS, IndyCar, Sarah Fisher