The Official Race Thread

[Little Whiskey]

last night, as part of the all star festivities, they held their anual pit crew competion. Martin Truex Jr beat Kasey Kahne to take the crown. the compition consists of heats, each team must change four tires, fill the car with gas then push it down the pit road. fastest wins. Its nice to see nascar recognize some of the behind the scenes guys. it kinda pisses me off that truex could find time in his busy schedule to root his team on. these guys give their heart and soul to him week in and week out and root him on during the race, without any fame or glory. now it is their turn and he can't make it. SHAME!!

[FavreChild]

LW, they told us that we had an average speed of 100 mph on the oval. They made us sign about a bazillion disclaimers, and they told us ahead of time that we'd be going as fast as the real drivers do, and riding up next to the wall, and that we'd have to climb in through the IROC window and all that stuff. We knew what we were in for! Also, they sort of did a "test lap" on each track to make sure the riders were okay with the speed. Then you would give the driver the thumbs-up to go full speed. I thought it was frickin' sweet - but there were some people who didn't like taking the turns or driving up next to the wall. No one freaked out, though.

I'm not a complete NASCAR dummy - I know the CocaCola 600 and the Brickyard and the major races, and who the major drivers are. I just don't watch them.

When I was little, I always watched the 500, though. I remember liking the Andrettis, Arie Luyendyk, and I would root for Lyn St. James 'cause she was the only chic. I haven't followed IRL much lately, so I don't know about many of the drivers other than the big names - Andretti, Cheever, Castroneves, and of course Patrick.

I got my picture taken sitting in the car that won the Milwaukee Mile last year - NOT a replica - I think Hornish was the driver...?

[Little Whiskey]

so now that you are pumped up on racing again, are you going to get tickets to the bush or truck race at The Mile??? not the same as a cup event, but a good time. make sure to tune sat night at 7pm for the all star. your boy needs all the help he can get!!

[FavreChild]

OK, I will try to remember.

(Or at least try to remember to look up how he does so that I can be ready when you quiz me.)

[Little Whiskey]

FC, i'm counting on you. i won't be able to watch the race since we are going up north this weekend and it is on FX, no cable in the cottage. ahh but maybe it will be a good excuse to visit the local establishment. BRILLIANT!!

[GBRulz]

FC, that's very cool about getting to ride in that car!

I used to attend more of the local races. State Park Speeday and also Marshfield are two of my old stomping grounds.

I follow my friend Scott Wimmer, whom I have known since high school, but other than that, I'm not big on the NASCAR circuit.

[Little Whiskey]

GBM, i've always liked wimmer since his earlier bush days. (mostly cause the wisconsin thing) but since he has moved into cup, he has driven for subpar teams. when he took over for ward burton on the 22, bill davis was going thru a feud GM, because of his dealings with Toyota and helping them into the sport, so he had to switch to dodge with poor factory support. Then davis fired him and he is driving for Morgan Mclure, who just doesn't have the funding to give him top notch equipment.

so that means we need to pick you a new driver.

from what i know about you from the forums. I would suggest for you Carl Edwards. while he is not a member of the EC gang, he does have a small town attitude. He is from Columbia MO, but you would swear he is from BFE. Just a real down to earth guy. He climbed his way up thru the ranks. he went out and worked his butt off for every opportunity that he has gotten. His trademark is his backflip, when he wins a race. He drives the OfficeDepot 99 Ford. Which didn't have a sponser when he took the car over, from jeff burton. He is an up and comming driver. Last year he finished second in the overall points standings. As this is his second season racing, this would be a great time to jump on the Carl Edwards band wagon. what do you think??

[HarveyWallbangers]

Sports talk . . . with Jaime Pressly
By Zach Bodendieck - SportingNews

The actress, model and NASCAR nut talks to Sporting News about her love of racing:

TSN: How did you become a NASCAR fan?

Pressly: I was born and raised in North Carolina, that's how. It's like basketball in North Carolina -- everybody just kind of knows about it because it's there.

TSN: How fast do you drive?

Pressly: My dad sold cars my whole life, so I love cars--and I love driving fast.

TSN: How many tickets do you have to your name?

Pressly: I don't have any, actually. I didn't get out of tickets; I just haven't gotten any. I am very aware when I'm driving, that's why.

TSN: Who's more fun to party with -- rock stars or athletes?

Pressly: Partying with a rock star is way more fun than partying with an athlete. I don't really party with athletes.

TSN: Joy, your character in My Name is Earl, would like which driver?

Pressly: I think she'd pretty much like every driver because they have money. And they're famous. I mean, she's after Earl's money, and she thinks she's a star in her own right. I think any of them would do for her.

TSN: So who's your favorite driver?

Pressly: Jamie McMurray.

TSN: Many people probably now consider you the most attractive NASCAR fan. Thoughts?

Pressly: I would never say that, but if someone thought that, it's a huge honor and compliment.

[chain_gang]

I have couple drivers I like, Kenseth mainly cause I'm such a frickin homer, and Denny Hamlin. Used to like Gordon when he used to spin people all the time at the end for the win, but now he's a wuss. Bristol Race is one I'd like to see in person. I went to the Michigan 400 a few years back, and it was alright. But I'll be honest I mainly like watching the wrecks. If they don't have any I get a little bored.

I prefer Indy racing though. Love going down to the milwaukee mile for the race at the end of july, A.J. Foyt 225. Now that Danica Patrick is a chick I'd like to take home, lol.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Stewart is never at fault for anything, apparently.

[Little Whiskey]

FC, i am waiting for the race recap. I was able to break away to head off to the tavern to watch the race, but since it was under rain delay, i had to leave. So all that i know is that Johnson won, but why didn't Kenseth finish. I assume he was involved in a wreck, but why and how. Sorry McMurray didn't make it.


chain-gang, gordon isn't a wuss, his is a puss, or a siss. always was, always will be. I think he might be dating TT, just ask Tank for sure

[chain_gang]

Stewart is never at fault for anything, apparently.

Yeah, sure seems that way, wish somebody would get the balls to jack him right in the damn face. Of course if you hit one of the babyfaces of racing you'll probably be banned for life.

[HarveyWallbangers]

FC, i am waiting for the race recap. I was able to break away to head off to the tavern to watch the race, but since it was under rain delay, i had to leave. So all that i know is that Johnson won, but why didn't Kenseth finish. I assume he was involved in a wreck, but why and how. Sorry McMurray didn't make it.

chain-gang, gordon isn't a wuss, his is a puss, or a siss. always was, always will be. I think he might be dating TT, just ask Tank for sure

Stewart crashed Kenseth on a turn when they were in 3rd and 4th with about 20 laps to go. It was somewhat debatable. Maybe Kenseth was blocking him a bit, but sometimes it's best to let up a bit--even the God, Tony Stewart. He got him in the left rear and spun both out. The worst is Tony's reaction after the race. Like chain_gang wrote, I wish somebody would smack the little guy across the head. Here's the report:

Kyle Busch, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray and Greg Biffle couldn't avoid the carnage. Stewart did slide through, only to get hit by Mayfield's careening car.

Irritated with the wreckage, Stewart drove by Mayfield and revved his engine in anger as he passed. Mayfield then stopped by to assure Stewart he wasn't at fault.

``I just told him I didn't have nothing to do with it,'' Mayfield said. ``We're cool.''

Although Stewart returned to the track, his night ended early in the final 20-lap sprint when he ran into Matt Kenseth to send them both into the wall.

`He put me in the wall head-on,'' Kenseth complained on his radio. ``He must have drove across the bottom, and he just wrecked me. Then he flipped me the bird.''

Stewart vehemently disagreed.

``That's a pretty demented view in my opinion,'' Stewart said. ``I think he screwed up on this one. If he thinks I did that and that was my fault, he's screwed up in the head.''

[Little Whiskey]

sorry FC, i guess Mcmurray was in the race, since his car won a race last year. turns out he didn't fair any better than the rest of his teamates. Only GBM's Carl Edwards was the only rousch car to finish.

I watched the replay of kenseth/stewart wreck. it looks like (and also suggested by the crew of Nascar Victory Lane) stewart cut a tire and pushed the two of them into the wall. I don't really ever give stewart the benifit of the doubt, but i think this was a tire failure intead of a brain failure.

I heard that stewart and Robby Reiser (kenseth's crew chief) went after it after the race. anybody have any more insight to this??

[HarveyWallbangers]

I watched the replay of kenseth/stewart wreck. it looks like (and also suggested by the crew of Nascar Victory Lane) stewart cut a tire and pushed the two of them into the wall. I don't really ever give stewart the benifit of the doubt, but i think this was a tire failure intead of a brain failure.

If this is true, why does he go out of his way to blame Kenseth for the crash?

[FavreChild]

Thanks for bailing me out with the summary, HW (altho I woulda pasted in the same stuff).

All I saw was the qualifier - and when I saw that my boy wasn't in that, I figured he was already in the "real" race. But I didn't get to see that part. There was a lot of pre-race coverage w/ your boy Jeff Gordon and some BBQ guy. (See? Just proving I watched *some* of it.)

Fights are fun. NASCAR - the soap opera for men.

[Little Whiskey]

harv, don't get me wrong i'm not sticking up for stewart. He is creeping very close to taking over the my #1 hated spot from Gordon. it is just from the replay i saw (nascar.com and nascar victory lane) it looked like a cut tire. he was on the bottom of the track, and just shot up the track. he was 1/4 past kenseth, if he wante to rub kenseth to spin him, he would hit them in the rear quarter panel, not the front end.

[chain_gang]

This is quite an interesting read from espn.com


Richard Petty: Racing not a sport for women



CONCORD, N.C. -- Richard Petty didn't think women belonged on the race track when Janet Guthrie became the first female driver to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 in 1976.

Thirty years later, his opinion hasn't changed.

"I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity.

"But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."

Petty, a seven-time champion and NASCAR's all-time winningest driver, was one of the many people who gave Guthrie a cool reception when she came to Lowe's Motor Speedway for her first NASCAR event.

Guthrie had failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 when track officials persuaded her to come to North Carolina and try to make their race, then known as the World 600.

In her book, "Janet Guthrie A Life at Full Throttle," that was released last year, Guthrie recounted the icy reception she received from other drivers when she came to Lowe's for the '76 race.

"When I shook hands with Richard Petty I thought I'd get frostbite," Guthrie wrote. "Later, he would be quoted as saying of me: 'She's no lady. If she was she'd be at home. There's a lot of differences in being a lady and being a woman."'

In the three decades that have passed, Petty has grown to appreciate what Guthrie accomplished. She competed for underfunded teams at a time when NASCAR did not have the programs that are currently in place to promote women and minorities.

"I've still not changed my mind about women racing," he said. "The deal with her ... she came in before you had any diversity deal. She come in just as herself and done a decent job. She come in the hard way, because no one really welcomed her in.

"She said, 'I'm here, I'm going to do it,' and she was able to get it done. You have to admire her for that."

Guthrie remains the only woman to compete in the Coca-Cola 600, and NASCAR has not had a female racer at the top level since Shawna Robinson ran seven events in 2002. The only woman even close to making it to the top is Erin Crocker, who will compete in Saturday night's Truck Series race in Ohio driving for Ray Evernham's development program.

So while Danica Patrick prepares to make her second start in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, the NASCAR event will go off with an all-male field.

But NASCAR remains convinced that it will have a woman at the top level in no time.

"I think there is a woman driver out there who will break through," spokesman Jim Hunter said Thursday. "There will be the emergence of a contending woman driver. When? I have no idea.

"But I do know there are a lot of women drivers in the pipeline today, running sprint cars or whatever, who are wanting to make it to this level."

Kyle Petty, who currently runs the two-car operation built by his grandfather and father, said he would never rule out having a woman driver. He also pointed out that Petty Enterprises was one of the first teams in the garage to employ female engineers and mechanics.

But he said his father will never budge on his belief that women don't belong behind the wheel -- even if Kyle Petty's daughter one day decides she wants to be a racer.

"His position is not going to change because that is who he is, that is part of who he is," Kyle Petty said. "That's just a fact of life. That's how he was raised, when he was raised, the era he was raised in. And that's just the way it is."

[chain_gang]

I think he needs to wake up a little and realize that times have changed, and if a women is good enough to be out there she should be. I mainly watch Indy for Danica anyways.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I say keep chicks out of sports--unless it's an Olympic sport for women. We need all the gold medals we can get.