Pit Pass Radio

My wife got the job in NC and we are currently looking for a place to live. We need to be in the area just East of Concord. It is so cool that I am going to be living near the hub of the the NASCAR world. I am currently looking for a job in the industry, with an emphasis on the broadcasting side. With the amount of experience I have, I shouldn’t be much of a problem…we’ll see.

I’m very proud of my wife. She has worked very hard for this and it should be a great next step for her. More updates soon…

With my part-time work at the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and a local radio station, my weekends are full. Usually I’m at work when the Cup race is run.  I find myself wishing for rain delays, which would allow me to catch at least a portion of the race (I get off at 5 central). This has been quite a transition for me, as I’m used to being in front of my TV for every race if at all possible (unless I’m at the track!).

Thankfully, my brother gives me text updates…especially on how “our” cars are doing in the race. After such a great run for the 38 at Sonoma, yesterday was pretty pathetic for both the 38 and the 28 at Loudon. Both cars went a lap down early and Gilliland spent much of the day trying to get his lap back. Kvapil and the 28 team evidently missed the setup pretty badly on the flat one-mile oval. I decided that I would just watch the recap on nascar.com rather than my dvr recording of the race. Turns out it was a typically boring race at New Hampshire till the end, kicked off by Jamie McMurray running into the back of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the 88 was trying to get to pit road (YEA!!).

This led to several cars electing to stay out on the track with the rain coming quickly. Most of the contenders chose to pit and lost their ever coveted “track position”. Kurt Busch stayed in front during the final few laps leading up to the red flag for rain, although Robby Gordon, trying to get his lap back, did his best to spin Kurt out.

Eh…ho hum. Not thrilled to see Kurt win a race. It’s better than Jr. winning…but not by much. I guess Michael Waltrip Racing will stay open another week on the “strength” of his 2nd place run. (Write this down…Michael Waltrip Racing will not make it two more years. I believe he will sell his share of the organization and get out. After that, with nobody willing to let him drive for them, he will retire and do TV full time. You heard it here first). I am glad for J.J. Yeley’s 3rd place run. He’s a good guy and they needed that badly.

David Gilliland finished 28th and Travis Kvapil 36th. Not too good. I’m looking forward to Daytona where our cars should be much better.

Time to head back to school. This is the start of the final leg of my (long) college career. I can’t wait till this is all over. My wife is on her way to Charlotte for an interview for her next teaching job. I know she will do great, get hired and we will be one step closer to our new home! I can’t wait to be there.

I have to applaud David Gilliland and the whole FreeCreditReport.com race team for Yates Racing. Starting 31st, the Cully Barraclough led team used great pit strategy and a good racecar to notch David Gilliland’s career best finish, a 2nd, in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“Our strategy was pretty good,” Gilliland explained. “We’ve done a lot of road course testing to try and get our fuel mileage the best we can, and you know, the cautions fell right for us today, too. It put us in a position to be able to run in the top six or seven there, and we were able to stay up there. Our car was good enough to stay up there, which is good. “When you’re back in the back, there’s a lot more stuff that happens and you take more chances coming up through there,” Gilliland went on to say. “Our fuel mileage was good. I was conserving fuel up until we had those last couple cautions and my crew chief just said go ahead and go and give it all you’ve got.”

The 38 team was able to stretch the last two runs to 43 laps each to retain their track position and grab a runner up finish to Kyle Busch. Winning at Infineon is nothing new for Gilly, as he has been racing here for many years in the West Series. He also served as the crew chief for his dad, Butch, as they won races here, close to his hometown of Riverside, California. David survived a few late cautions (during which Cully was telling him to “Save, save save!”, fuel that is. The final restart, Gilliland held off multiple Sonoma winner Jeff Gordon to claim the 2nd spot. Gordon was impressed with Gilliland’s run:

“I wasn’t around him enough to know what he did most of the race, but there at the end he was definitely impressive,” Gordon said. “He was good on the restarts. He would get in there, and I thought he was going to have something for Kyle there at the end. I think actually if all the speedy-dry hadn’t been on the racetrack, he might have.”

Fans of Yates Racing (like me and my brother Mark) are hoping that the team will be able to build on the momentum of this terrific run and have a great 2nd half of the season. Travis Kvapil in the Yates number 28 had a decent run, starting 41st and finishing 22nd. Both teams have had really good performance at times this season, and need to continue the success as they continue to court full-time sponsors for both cars.

Wow! Kasey Kahne does it again! It sure looks like Gillette/Evernham Motorsports has found something as Kahne continues to excel in qualifying and in the races. He took the pole at Infineon Raceway yesterday and has been on an incredible roll since the All-Star weekend in Charlotte. Even his teammate, Elliott Sadler is showing improvement, grabbing the 6th spot for tomorrow’s race.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dario Franchitti. Struggling to make the transition from open-wheel cars to stock cars this season, the 2007 IRL and Indy 500 champ failed to make the field for the race on Sunday. This is the same track at which he dominated, led the most laps, and won last season in an IRL car. With this year’s unification (finally) between IRL and Champ Car (CART, whatever), Dario might be wishing he had stayed put.

My Yates Racing guys qualified in the back (Gilliland 31st, Kvapil 41st). Here’s hoping that they can play the strategy game and get those cars up close to the front. How about the CHP sponsorship on the 28? Is that cool or what?

I’ve decided to re-start my blog. Yes, I know this only is for my sake, but I’ve missed the opportunity to write about things that interest me. The main reason that I have not written in a while is …school! I returned to college in August 2007 to finish my undergrad work and it has taken up a lot of my time. The positive side is that I have maintained a 4.0 since I’ve been back, so that is good. The bad part is that, with all the required writing, it’s hard for me to get motivated to write for fun. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep this going even though I return to school next month.

I will be writing about my favorite sport, of course…along with other things that interest me. I hope you will stop by from time to time and be sure to leave comments!

Steve

Hendrick Motorsports has officially become the New York Yankees of NASCAR. Yes, the rich do get richer. Does that mean that things always work out the way you want them to when you have it all? Of course not. The Yankees are certainly struggling this year and Hendrick Motorsports’ mega-star Jeff Gordon missed the Chase in ‘05.

The coolest thing about yesterday’s announcement to me was that you got to look ‘behind the scenes’ into a relationship that has been growing for many years. How many people knew the story about Earnhardt signing a ‘contract’ Hendrick had scribbled on a napkin back when Jr. was 15? Rick’s “I was scared of your Daddy…” line was priceless.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a member of the Earnhardt Nation. That said, it’s refreshing to see something “out of the blue” like this come together to keep you excited about the future of the sport. These plastic drivers with stock responses every time a microphone is put in their face is for the birds. Without interesting characters involved it’s not nearly as fun to watch.

By the way, if I have to listen to another placid, politically correct interview with Kurt Busch (no doubt scripted by his anger management team) I may puke.

Hendrick Motorsports….the dream team of NASCAR, with so many questions still unanswered. What number? I keep thinking of the Bud commericial where “He changed his number!!!!”. Can you change an ‘8′ tatoo into a ‘5′? I don’t believe there is any way Teresa Earnhardt will give up the #8, but then again, I didn’t think the Hendrick deal would happen either.

Sponsor? I can’t see anything but a re-joining of Budweiser and Hendrick and the millions that come along with it. Funny, you hardly ever hear Jr. mention his major sponsor, even in victory lane. You do hear him over the radio during the race say, “Man, I could sure use a cool Bud after the race!” or, “Make sure you’ve got a cooler of beer iced down when this thing is over!”. I will be surprised if Budweiser lets Jr slip away.

Will we see the switch happen before the end of this year? It’s awfully early in the season to make this kind of announcement (although this kind of thing is slowly becoming the norm). If either driver’s Chase status seems in jeopardy, yeah I could see it.

I’m sitting here waiting for Dale Jr to enlighen us as to whose cars his rear end will be sitting in for ‘08 and beyond. All speculation points to Hendrick Motorsports and the 5 car, sending Kyle Busch who knows where. I must say that I’m surprised. Let’s see what happens…

Possible scenarios:
1. The obvious fit would be for Jr. to go to Richard Childress Racing. I do see him being very hesitant about driving the #3 though. In interviews since the announcement, he’s been saying that he just wouldn’t “feel right” about racing the number his dad made famous, at this point in his career. Jr. always talks about wanting to race that number many years from now. Sounds like he wants to get a championship or two under his belt first. That said, if he pulls out on the track at Daytona in a black #3 car, the Junior Nation might hurl themselves onto the track in jubilation...

2. Joe Gibbs Racing would be a great fit too, but I agree about the Budweiser issue. Make no mistake, Bud WILL follow Jr wherever he goes and I just don’t think Gibbs will take on that sponsorship because of his faith. The upsides are that JGR has won multiple championships with different drivers and could expand to four cars easily. Jr. gets along well with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. I just don’t see it happening.

3. I agree that Hendrick Motorsports won’t work either. Too many egos in that organization already AND, as was stated, they are full. NASCAR is about to restrict organizations to four teams max, and with the signing of Casey Mears, they have their alotment for the foreseeable future. Do I think they will talk, yes. Do I think anything will come of it, no.

4. Ginn Racing. Bobby Ginn has done some amazing things since buying the MB2 ‘also ran’ team last year. Signing Mark Martin away from Ford to drive Chevys was something I never thought I’d see happen…and it’s worked out well for both (I was at Daytona in February when Mark missed winning the Daytona 500 by a couple of feet). They have Hendrick engines. Ginn could throw a ton of money at Jr…but he has said it’s not about the money. He wants to win championships.…and that’s the one thing that Ginn Racing can’t offer right now, a history of winning championships.

Those are the Chevy teams I think are in the running for Jr.’s services, with Childress the clear favorite. Write it down…you will not see Dale Earhardt Jr. driving a make other than Chevrolet. As far as Mikey’s team…I don’t think anyone wants to touch that situation with a ten foot pole. If Mikey and DJ keep missing races there may not be a MWR next year.

One thing’s for sure, once Jr. signs with someone, it will definately send shock waves through the garage area and you will see other drivers and teams making major moves as a result. Should be fun to watch.

What’s next? I tuned in to NASCAR Now on ESPN earlier this week and heard a breaking story…once again the subject was Michael Waltrip. Mikey. The king of publicity, media and sponsor hound…and ring-leader of the gang that can’t shoot straight.

Seriously what is going to happen next? Will we tune in for this week’s race at Texas Motor Speedway to find that Michael Waltrip Racing is closing it’s doors immediately due to “circumstances beyond their control”? Nothing would surprise me at this point. You have to wonder what’s around the next corner with MWR and specifically, Mikey himself.

Waltrip basically threw away his season as a driver last year while trying to get his brand new mega-operation on its feet for 2007. He may have been occupying the seat of Bill Davis’ #55 Dodges in ‘06, but his heart definitely wasn’t in it.  All the focus was on this new team and being the flagship for Toyota’s entry into Nextel Cup (and Busch Series) Racing. It doesn’t seem to have helped the initial effort here in ‘07.

As has been well documented, Waltrip’s #55 team was busted for an illegal fuel additive found in the intake of the Toyota and the team was forced to rip the decals off of teammate David Reutimann’s backup car for Michael to use in his 150 mile qualifying race. Waltrip ran into former teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Chevy during the race but was somehow able to recover well enough to make the Daytona 500.

He has failed to make a race since.

Not good for the sponsors who pour millions and millions of dollars into organizations like MWR  so that they can have those sleek rolling billboards present each sunday at the track and, more importantly, in front of national television cameras. You have to wonder how much patience Waltrip’s sponsors will have for this situation if the team continues to miss races week after week. Not to mention Toyota, the manufacturer that has been looking forward to their debut in the Cup Series for several years.

Now, as if Michael Waltrip needed more bad pub…he crashes his Toyota SUV about a mile from his home this week. Having seen the pictures of the wreck, it’s amazing that the guy was not killed…or at the very least severely injured. Thank God he wasn’t.

A witness reports that Waltrip got out of the vehicle with cuts on his arms and blood on his forehead, and started walking in the direction of his Sherrills Ford, N.C. home. Reportedly Waltrip hadn’t been drinking, but fell asleep and ran off the road early last Sunday morning around 1:30.

Look, I think Michael Waltrip has been an asset to the sport over the years. I think most people were glad to see him get his first win in 2001’s Daytona 500 after so many years of futility. The win was overshadowed, of course, by the death of Dale Earnhardt and though he has been able to win two other Cup races on restrictor plate tracks, including another Daytona 500, he never been able to break through and become a consistent threat to win each week on the circuit. It’s hard to see how this inconsistency in performance coupled with a brand new three-car operation and a new manufacturer is the recipe for success.

It’s not like his two other drivers are faring much better this season. Former champ Dale Jarrett has struggled to make races and has already used 4 of his 6 allotted past- champion’s provisionals. DJ sits 34th in points headed into Texas. David Reutimann is a Cup rookie and is 43rd in the standings. It should be pointed out that the other Toyota teams have been struggling mightily as well.
OK, how does Michael pull out of all this? He’s dead last in points (27 points in the red after his penalty at Daytona). His hopes for even mediocre success this season are gone. I suggest he get out of the driver’s seat of the #55 and focus 100% on being a car owner and fixing what is wrong at MWR. Drivers at this level certainly don’t like being forced out of the seat, but at this point, I think Micheal should swallow his pride and take the proverbial bullet for his team in hopes of getting things on track for 2008.

Otherwise, history might lump Michael Waltrip Racing in with other owner-drivers who have had to close the doors of their race shops because they struggled handling both roles while attempting to compete at a high level in modern Cup Series racing. Those would include Brett Bodine Racing, Rudd Performance Motorsports and DarWal, Inc…run by another guy named Waltrip.

Imagine this. You’re working hard on a Tuesday. It just happens to be the Tuesday prior to the Daytona 500. You get a call from your brother in Florida and he says he’s thinking of taking off on Thursday to go to the Duel races.

Later he sends you an instant message saying that one of their company’s vendors might be proving a couple of tickets to the Daytona 500 for their use. The boss, knowing how big a race fan your brother is, decides to give him the tickets.

Your brother says, “If you can get down here you can go with me”…

That’s what happened to me last week! I still can’t believe I attended my first Daytona 500. Not only that, but the seats we had were terrific…right in the center of the tri-oval just a few feet down from the start-finish line, about 12 rows up…not only for the 500, but for the Busch race on Saturday.

To top it all off, this year’s Daytona 500 turned out to be one for the ages.

I’ve been following NASCAR racing for almost 30 years and have covered the sport for my radio show…but never did I believe I would have such an awesome opportunity. I’ll write more about my experiences and the carnival-like atmosphere of the Great American Race. It was an experience I’ll never forget!