NASCAR Freak

A New Policy for Me

2005-06-02T18:46:00.000-05:00

Well, what I am going to do is not post recaps on the blog since I am having a hard time keeping up here and getting burned out. So, for now I will post some news items and a short response to it.

Now, heres a story that might look familiar:
Shane Hmiel Suspened (Again)
Can you guess the reason for it? :)

Now this is stupid. This is the 2nd time in as many years that he has been suspended indefinately violating NASCAR's Substance Abuse Policy. If I was the one deciding the punishment for Hmiel, I would ban him from racing in NASCAR's top three series for 10 years and must undergo drug testing every 2 weeks or random drug testing at NASCAR's disgression. And Hmiel will not be allowed to race for the first 3 years after your punishment is handed out.

Well, what are your opinions on this and your ideas for punishment?

Busy Weekend

2005-05-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

Well, I had a busy weekend. Friday I forgot about the Busch race, Saturday I was watching a charity hockey game in Dearborn and missed the Nextel Cup race, then I was at a birthday party with my mother and missed the CTS event. So look at the links to see the results.

Talladega and Darlington recap

2005-05-09T19:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not posting about the Dega race, I was under the weather and generally just tired. So here is the results for the
Dodge Charger 500,(Darlington) as well as the Busch series Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington, the CTS Dodge Ram Tough 500 at Gateway.

And also the Aaron's 499 (NNC) and the Aaron's 312 (BGN).

And here are some penalties from the Aaron's 499: Caught!

And there are also CTS penalties: More Caught!

And Kevin Lepage is put on probation as well as other penalties.

Live Blogging: Aaron's 499

2005-05-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been toying with this idea, and came to the conclusion: Let's give it a go. NOTE: nascar.com has a free race-day use of their Raceday Scanner, so give it a try. Newest entries will be on top in bold. The race is on FOX. This race is 188 laps long.

The next race will be at Darlington for BGN, NNC. The next Live Blogging race is tentively schedual for July 2nd, the Pepsi 400.

Congradulations to Jeff Gordon on his victory.

Checkered Flag: Jeff Gordon takes the win in the Aaron's 499, Tony Stewart takes 2nd, Michael Waltrip finishes 3rd

GWC White Flag: Stewart takes 2nd

GWC 2 to got: Restart, J. Gordon leads the 42 and the 38

2 to go: Caution, #s 29, 8, 48, 16, 77, 1, 17, all involved in crash; WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A GREEN WHITE CHECKERED FOLKS!!!

3 to go: J. Gordon takes the lead from M. Waltrip

5 to go: M. Waltrip leads, K. Harvick 2ns, Martin Truex Jr 3rd

8 to go: J. Gordon still leading, J. McMurray 2nd, Michael Waltrip 3rd

15 to go: Restart, J. Gordon continues to lead, Jr. 2nd, J. McMurray 3rd

17 to go: Caution, Hermie Sadler didn't make it to the garage area beyond pit road

18 to go: Restart, J. Gordon leads, J. Johnson 2nd, J. McMurray 3rd

23 to go: Caution, debris; pitstops comming

33 to go: J. Gordon still leads, J. Johnson 2nd, E. Sadler 3rd

44 to go: J. Gordon leads, 19 cars on the lead lap

51 to go: Restart, Jimmie Johnson leads

4:30PM Red Flag lifted, yellow out, cars return to work (43 min Red Flag)

25 cars involved in the Big One

54 to go (3:49PM EST): Red Flag (obvious)

56 to got: the Big One happened, looks like only 11 cars made it

62 to go: J. Gordon passes for the lead with the help of Jamie McMurray

64 to go: E. Sadler leads, pushed by J. Gordon by K. Busch

68 to got: Restart, M. Martin leads, now J. Gordon leads

Lap 115: Caution, Kyle Petty stalled, everyone pits; Mark Martin leads

Lap 110: Elliott Sadler and Kurt Busch dead heat for the lead, E. Sadler officially lead

Lap 109: J. Gordon leads

Lap 108: K. Harvick leads

Lap 107: Restart, S. Riggs leads

Lap 104: Pitstops, Scott Riggs leads

Lap 102: Caution out, Bobby Hamilton Jr. blew a tire, pitstops comming

Lap 95: Halfway, J. Gordon leads

Lap 93: J. Gordon pushes by Jr. to lead

Lap 90: Dale Earnhardt Jr leads

Lap 85: K. Harvick leads

Lap 84: J. Gordon lead that lap, but was shuffled back

Lap 82: Ryan Newman leads the field

Laps 73-76: Everyone else pits, J. Gordon blows a RF tire entering the pits, locked them up

Lap 72: K. Harvick leads about a dozen cars onto pit road

Lap 71: 10 cars enter pit road, led by Mike Skinner

Lap 70: Kevin Harvick leads the race

Lap 63: J. Gordon still leads, all but 4 laps

Lap 52: No change up front, J. Gordon leads

Lap 42: Restart, J. Gordon the leader

Lap 38: Pit stops, J. Gordon leads them off

Lap 37: Jeff Green spins midfield, NOBODY hits him, Tony Stewart leads

Lap 32: No change for the lead

Lap 23: Restart, Jeff Gordon leads

Lap 20: Pitstops, Jeff Gordon leads after the stops, Dale Jarrett changes helmets due to comm. problems

Lap 18: Caution, Kyle Petty blew an tire

Lap 11: No change in the top 10, no cautions

Lap 1: Jeff Gordon leads

1:30PM Race Start

1:18PM They have their engines going, waiting for them to being their pace laps.

On This Day

2005-04-29T20:43:00.000-05:00

April 29, 1951:
The late Dale Earnhardt Sr. was born in NC. His father, Ralph Earnhardt, was a short track racer and a factory worker. He followed his father's footsteps in dirt racing, and rose to NASCAR's most presigeous series: The NASCAR Winston Cup (now known as Nextel Cup). In 1979, Earnhardt received Rookie of the Year honors, and followed that up with a NASCAR WC championship, the first driver to do so. Earnhardt went on to win 74 races, 7 championships, and a Daytona 500 win in 1998.

Sadly, Dale Earnhardt died on the same race track that he won on 3 years before, killed in a crash on the last lap on the last turn on the race track. He was 49 years old. May his soul rest in peace.

Denied

2005-04-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

James Finch's Appeal Denied, Fine Raised to $25,000.

On April 25, 2005, the National Stock Car Racing Commission heard and considered
the Appeal of James Finch, Johnny Sauter and Joel Shear concerning three
penalties assessed by NASCAR relative to the No. 1 car following the NASCAR
Busch Series event at Texas Motor Speedway on April 16, 2005.

I am just curious, what is your opinion of the Board raising the fine?

Phoenix Recap

2005-04-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

Congradulations to Kurt Busch on his first win of the season. That win moved him up the points standings from 4th to 2nd. Now, onto the recap:

NNC: As noted in the beginning, Kurt Busch won the Subway Fresh 500, the first in the season. He started in 2nd place, so only an improvement of 1 spot from where he started, but then, you can't get higher than first, can you? :P The pole sitter, Jeff Gordon, finished 12th. The points leader, Jimmie Johnson, started 12th, and finished 15th, ending his string of tho 10 finished at 13. DEI finished 2nd and 4th with Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr, respectively. A surpise finish for Brian Vickers, who started 5th and finished there. Well done. Bobby Labonte finally finished a race, 6th place. His first finish since California, the 2nd race of the season. Tony Stewart, who suffered a 1st degree burn on his right elbow and a 2nd degree burn on his right thigh in Texas after his engine crashed and burned, started 6th but was involved in a pit row incident with Greg Biffle and eventually crashed out, finished 33rd.
Finishing Order Subway Fresh 500
Now, I'm just curious: why is it that they go 500 kilometers at Phoenix, by use miles at everywhere else?

I am going to lay off the BGN recaps for a while, probably return to it after Talladega. So, here are the results of the Bashas' Supermarkets 200.

There were no penalites steming from this race, yet.

The next race will be at Talladega (NNC & BGN) and Gateway (CTS).

Texas Results

2005-04-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I am tired and such, so y'all agre going to have to read the results Here (NNC) and Here (BGN). Sorry for that.

Penalties
Format: Crew Chief, Driver, Penalty, Reason.

BGN:

Joe Shear Jr, Johnny Sauter, 4 race suspension, unapproved carburetor;
Kevin Manion, Martin Truex Jr, $1,000 fine, crew member entered car servicing area without a helmet;
Gregg Mixon, Mark Green, $1,000 fine, unapproved final gear ratio;
Dan Glaus, A.J. Fike, $500 fine, unapproved jackbolt

Johnny Sauter was disqualified for the unapproved carburetor.

Next race: Phoenix (my home town, sorta).

Also, because they will be at my home state, I was thinking about doing a live blogging of the NNC race there. Just curious. What do you all think?

Caption This: NASCAR Style Pt. 1

2005-04-11T19:42:00.000-05:00

For those who do not know about this, I'll post a picture here, and you, the readers, come up with witty, funny, or interesting captions in the comments section. If a caption gets my attention, maybe I'll post it after my race recaps here. Hopefully, you guys can make better captions that what I make up. Well, let's get this party started: A B&W pic of Bobby Labonte that I found.

How the Hell did "Fatback" get under THERE?

Martinsville Review

2005-04-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

Ugh, Bobby Labonte just can't catch a break in NNC. Maybe Bobby should go to the CTS, since he is better there.

NNC: Jeff Gordon took the win in the Advance Auto Parts 500, with Kasey Kahne in tow. It is Gordon's 71st win of his career, only three away from the late Dale Earnhardt's wins (74). Mark Martin finished third, Ryan Newman 4th, and Rusty Wallace rounded out the top 5. Gordon came from three laps down to win, and Jimmie Johnson managed another top 10 after having a tough start. Tony Stewart led the most laps, but was forced to finish 26th after the right front tire on his Home Depot Chevy came off -- wheel, hub, rubber, all of it -- and ended his day with about 20 to go or so. Bobby Labonte was a top 10 driver until his engine gave out on him WHILE HE WAS LEADING!!!! Bobby finished 33rd.
Advance Auto Parts 500 Finish.

CTS: Bobby Labonte became the 12th driver to win a race in each of NASCAR's top three series, and the first time a driver did that at the same track (NNC: 2002, BGN: 1992). Following Labonte was Ricky Craven, driver for the 99 Superchips Ford. Rounding out the top 10 are Ron Hornaday, Todd Bodine, and Chad Chaffin.
Kroger 250 Finish.

Congradulations to all the winners this week. Next: Texas.

Bristol Recap

2005-04-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I missed the Busch series race on Monday because I was at school at the time. So, here is the top 10 finishers of the race:

1. 29 Kevin Harvick
2. 21 Jeff Burton
3. 41 Reed Sorenson
4. 17 Matt Kenseth
5. 40 Sterling Marlin
6. 64 Jeremy Mayfield
7. 60 Carl Edwards
8. 25 Ashton Lewis
9. 20 Denny Hamlin
10. 66 Greg Biffle

Now, the NNC:
Congradulations to Kevin Harvick for his first win of the season. Harvick spanked the field, winning by about 4 seconds. Whether this shows that his team has overcame the penalty at Atlanta, we'll see at Martinsville. The top five finishers were: Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Dale Jarrett. The biggest notable in the top 10 was Kyle Petty, finishing 8th in that race. What a comeback for the Petty Enterprises team.

Well, the next race is at Martinsville, yet another short track. See you then.

Haloscan Removed...

2005-03-30T15:27:00.000-05:00

and a tip: DO NOT MESS AROUND WITH THE TEMPLATE SETTINGS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!! I had screwed up BIG time, so I just picked a new template. So, why did I remove Haloscan: Well, it was, for me, an experiment. Will I bring it back? Maybe.

BGN Nashville Recap

2005-03-28T23:03:00.000-05:00

Unfortunitly, I haven't been feeling well, so here is the article from NASCAR.com:
Sorenson's Win

Oh, BTW, 2 crew chiefs were fine for unapproved nuts :p (think: tires). Link: Crew Chiefs Fined for Unapproved LUG Nuts

Atlanta Recap

2005-03-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lateness of this recap, but I had other stuff to do. I missed the Truck race Fri Night, so here is the top 10 finishing spots:

1) 6 Ron Hornaday
2) 47 Bobby Labonte
3) 04 Bobby Hamilton
4) 46 Dennis Setzer
5) 75 David Starr
6) 1 Ted Musgrave
7) 30 Chad Chaffin
8) 16 Jack Sprague
9) 10 Terry Cook
10) 12 Robert Huffman

Now, the BGN and NNC recaps:

BGN: Carl Edwards passed Jimmie Johnson and lapped car of Clint Bowyer with 11 to go and passing Kasey Kahne for the lead to win the Aaron's 312 at Atlanta. Edwards sat on the pole for the race. The NNC drivers who participated in the race filled out 9 of the top 10 finishing spots, with Mexican Michel Jourdain Jr finishing 10th. Reed Sorenson failed to qualify with his car, but Sterling Marlin, who qualified 28th, gave Sorenson the ride for the day, but Reed had to go to the back because of changing drivers before the race. Justin Labonte and Ron Hornaday were involved in a lap one crash.

NNC: Carl Edwards finished first in his 17th race of his career, celebrating by doing his signature backflip. Pole sitter Ryan Newman fell a lap down, but managed to finish on the lead lap in 14th place. Jimmie Johnson finished a very close 2nd - like 2 one-hundredths of a second - while Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, and Kasey Kahne rounding out the top 5. And, same as lap one in the BGN race, Casey Mears got lose, and several others were involved in the chain reaction, including Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon.

Well, that is all for now. Next week: Nashville (BGN), and the week after, Bristol (NNC).

Fines and Suspensions Discussion

2005-03-16T20:21:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was Judgment Day for Kevin Harvick's team. I wasn't surprised by NASCAR's decision to suspend Berrier, but what got me was that Jimmie Johnson's crew chief - Chad Knaus - and Kyle Busch's - Alan Gustafson - were both suspended for about two races for Johnson's car roof height was too low and Busch's quarter-panel height's too high. Knaus was fined $35,000 and Gustafson $25,000. Berrier got four race suspension and a $25,000 fine.

I believe that Berrier's punishment was right, but I think that Knaus' and Gustafson's was too strict. If I recall correctly, incidents like Knaus' and Gustafson's was just fined, I believe. I could be wrong.

Well, let's see what your all's opinion is on this.

BTW, here is the link: Crew Chiefs Fined

Willing Violation of NASCAR Rules by Harvick's 29 Team

2005-03-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

Berrier in Hot Water

It was found out Friday after qualifying that Kevin Harvick had only 4 gallons of fuel in his car, violationg NASCAR's full fuel tank rule. This was a flagrant attempt by the number 29 team to get an edge over the competition in qualifying. Harvick qualified 4th, but with the infraction, was disqualified and sent to 42nd.

I doubt Harvick was willing in this, but none the less, he will have some punishment against him. I predict that Harvick will have a 25 point deduction, $10,000 monetary fine, while Todd Berrier, Harvick's crew chief, will be suspended for a few races, put on probation, as well as pay a monentary fine. Richard Childress 29 team may also lose 25 owner's points as well. We will find out on Tuesday.

BGN, NNC Recap

2005-03-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

Well, kinda early for me to recap, but I have too much freetime for me. Well, I won't keep you waiting too long:

BGN: Well, I missed the first 40 laps or so, therefore I cannot say a whole lot about those laps. Carl Edwards won the pole for that race and dominated a lot of it, until a cut tire relegated him to 7th, while Mark Martin won his 2nd straight race in a row for Roush Racing at Las Vegas. David Stremme finished a respectable 3rd, and young Reed Sorenson finished 6th, gaining more and more respect from the Busch regulars. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd, again, and will not participate in for a while.

NNC: Pole sitter Ryan Newman had a good run, until the car just went away from him, and thus, finished 10th. Jimmie Johnson came from 9th to take the checkered flag first at the end of it all, trailed by the Busches, Kyle and Kurt, respectively. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 5, while Dale Earnhardt Jr's problems just kept coming, crashing out at lap 12 after a tangle up with Brian Vickers, collecting Bobby Labonte and Ricky Rudd.

Kevin Harvick's team was caught with only 4 gallons of fuel in the fuel cell on Friday when he is supposed to have a full 22 gallons in his car. This was found after he qualified, thus disqualifying his time. NASCAR will determine what punishment the number 29 team will have.

Next week, Hot-lanta for all three of the series. I can't wait!

Race 3, BGN Recap

2005-03-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I think that it was a good race, being that the only time the drivers had any time on the track was on Friday. Some of the road course ringers even had a few problems, as well as the hometown drivers. Now, time for the recap:

Sitting on pole was Jorge Goeters, hailing from Mexico City, making it the seventh time a driver got the Busch pole in their first try. Jorge lead all of the first 25 laps, but a green flag pitstop screwed him over badly. He slowed up too early for the timing line, thus costing him and Jamie McMurray, who was behind Goeters, precious time on the track. That handed the lead to Martin Truex Jr, who would go on and win the race. Other leaders were Kevin Harvick, Adrian Fernadez, Stanton Barrett, and Aston Lewis Jr. Goeters had a strong race, only to have his engine let go about 10 to go, placing him about 38th. Carlos Contreras, also hailing from Mexico, was running fifth until he lost a cylinder and finished 36th.

The next race will be at Las Vegas for the NNC and BGN series. Viva Las Vegas!!!

EDIT: I mistakenly said that all the NASCAR series was racing at LVMS, but in fact, the NNC and BGN series will be racing, the CTS will race next week.

Robby Gordon and Brad Parrott

2005-03-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

Robby Gordon and Parrot in a Get Together

Now, I just learned about this, so there won't be too much about it from me. I am just curious of what other people think about this. This isn't the first time Robby got into a confrontation over something. I'll read about it some more and comment about it after I get more info.

Haloscan commenting

2005-03-03T18:21:00.000-05:00

Well, after fiddling around with the Haloscan codes for the Blogger commenting, I have finally done it. It took me several tries, but I got it. We'll see how it will work out.

Race 2 Roundup

2005-02-28T23:12:00.000-05:00

Well, in my opinion, Dale Junior would like to forget that race all together. With 2 flat left front tires, he obliviously had some kind of fender rub (well, duh!). Well, let's just get on to the recap:

NNC: Well, I feel bad about Joe Nemechek, having his engine let go late in the race, and while leading. Ouch. Greg Biffle ended up winning the race, having to come from a lap down to do it. Biffle said before the race that he will get the lead by lap 5, and sure enough, by lap 5, there was that number 16 in the lead. The pole sitter, Kyle Busch, the youngest NASCAR NC driver to ever win the pole, ended up finishing 23th. Hendrick Motorsports had a bad day as far as their engines went: Joe Nemechek, Scott Riggs and Jeff Gordon all had some form of engine problems.

BGN: Mark Martin started 3rd, and finished 1st in the Starter Bros. 300, making it Mark's 46th win. Pole sitter Tony Stewart finished 29th after having a trackbar break on him on the last lap. Martin Truex Jr blew a tire with about 10 to go or so, sending him into the wall, ending his night. A good run though for Shane Hmiel, who started fifth, then finished 3rd, tieing it with his best finished in his career.

CTS: Steve Park became the 10th driver to win in the NNC, BGN, and CTS in his career, after having a terrible season last year. Park started 25th in that race, and made his way up to the front. Pole sitter Mike Skinner finished 18th. Brendan Gaughan, teammate to race winner Park, started 10, but went a lap down near the end of the race and finished 30th. Gaughan helped slow down Bobby Hamilton a little bit on hte last lap, but I doubt that Park needed it.

Well, the NNC and CTS have the week off, but the BGN series goes south of the border to La Ciudad de Mexico, or Mexico City, for the inagural Mexico 200 at the road course Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.786 mile track that has been configured to handle the stock cars. This is the first time in NASCAR history that a NASCAR-sanctioned race is held outside of the US that pays points.

Well, see you then.

Race 1 Roundup

2005-02-21T19:32:00.000-05:00

Well, as the title says, here is the round up for the NNC, BGN, and the CTS.

NNC: Tony Stewart led for 107 laps, but a late-late race rally by Jeff Gordon relegated Stewart to 7th, leaving Gordon with the win. It was Gordon's 3rd Daytona 500 win, 5th for Hendrick Motorsports. There were 11 cautions, damaging 5 cars, with Scott Wimmer taking the worst of it: tumbling down Turn 4. It's Gordon's 70th win. Dale Jarrett, the pole sitter, finishes 15th.

BGN: After 42 starts in the BGN series, Tony Stewart finally got his first win in the Hersey's Take 5 300. After being sent through the Turn 1 grass after a bump from Carl Edwards sent Stewart there. 6 cautions flew over the race track. The pole sitter, Joe Nemechek, finishes 14th.

CTS: Bobby Hamilton barely edges out Jimmy Spenser for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 after a last-lap caution came out. The pole sitter, Kerry Earnhardt, was involved in a crash that took him out of the running. Wild rides went to Rick Crawford and Chad Chaffin, who all took tumbles at the track.

Well, I would like to hear your thoughts about these races here.

Next track: California (NNC, CTS, BGN)

Budweiser Shootout

2005-02-13T00:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I had typed out my entire response to the shootout, but then the computer shit the bed, freezes up on me before I could post it, so all I am going to to here is congradulate the winners: Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson for their wins in the 1st and 2nd segments of the shootout, repectively.

Welcome to my Blog

2005-01-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

Some of you might remember me from the Arizonian Conservative blog I had here a while ago. Well, I have a new political blog at
My Political Blog

Now, this will solely be on NASCAR. Now, while I support free expression of ideas, there will be some rules on commenting. Now, I wouldn't delete anyone's comments, unless it is deemed to be out-of-hand, and that would be mine disposal.

1. Do not insult. Sounds like common sense, but when you are in the heat of a debate, sometimes you forget the rules or just get too upset over something. There is a saying that goes: "Attack the message, not the messager". Let's just enjoy the debate.

2. Be careful what you link. Now, I don't mind you linking anything to the comments section, but be careful on what it is. Yeah, this might sound stupid to post this, but there are also minors here, and this would go along with number 3.

3. Limit profanity. I don't care about cursing, as long as it isn't like the F bomb every third word or so. I say these kinds of words all the time to my friends, but not here too often. Don't be like "This is f---ing s--t you a--hole." Yeah, excessive, but that is how some of my friends talk.

4. My rule is final. If I delete you comment(s), it is for a reason. Do not complain openly in the comments section or I will delete that as well. My blog, my rules.

5. All rules are subject to change without notice or reason. Self-explanatory. Nothing more.

Well, thank you for visiting this blog. I would like to hear the feedback from my visitors as well, so don't be afraid to voice some suggestions.

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