NASCAR Thread.

[JohnBM01]

"WindTunnel with Dave Despain" is going to have a Mother's Day special asking who is better: Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Sr.? As much as I like Jeff Gordon, I still think Dale Earnhardt Sr. is one of NASCAR's finest. I wouldn't necessarily put him over Dale Sr. even if Gordon finishes with 10 Cup championships (3 more than Dale Sr.) before he's done.

Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Sr. Who's better in your view and why?

 

[mwoodski]

Sr., by far, he won at Bristol, after being five laps down, pitting on the backstretch, and long before the "Lucky Dog" rule. Plus, Sr. liked to "rattle peoples cages."

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Earnhardt Jr. confirms DEI exit
By Glenn Freeman Thursday, May 10th 2007, 15:15 GMT

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has confirmed that he will leave the team set up by his father at the end of this season.

The 32-year-old made the announcement at the base of JR Motorsports, the team he owns and that runs in the Busch Series.

"After a year of intense negotiations we have decide it is time for me to move on," said Earnhardt. "It is time for me to compete on a consistent basis now."

Earnhardt has won 17 Nextel Cup races with DEI, including the Daytona 500, although a championship trophy has eluded him so far in his career.

He confirmed that he does not have a deal in place for 2008 yet, but he is also keen to make sure that the team he is leaving behind can continue to compete at the top level.

"As far as a team is concerned, we will make that decision at a later date," he added. "It depends on what team wants me.

"It is important for me that DEI remain successful and to keep my father's legacy alive. It has been a privilege for me to drive for DEI and will continue to be through the rest of this year."

Earnhardt had made it clear earlier this year that he wanted majority ownership of DEI, but he revealed that it had been too difficult to work out a deal.

"I will say we weren't really close in getting what both sides wanted," he added. "I'm going to miss a lot of the great relationships and the individuals that work there."

From Autosport.com (maybe Sub Req'd)

 

[Jim Prower]

Poor, poor Jr. Can't get the company his own father founded. that ain't right.

 

[Sting]

I get the feeling Teresa Earnhardt is nothing but a conniving wench. I'm along the same lines as Jim, the company should have gone to the Earnhardt children, especially Jr since racing is his passion, just like his father.

Now I'm a Jeff Gordon supporter, but I really hope Jr stays in the Nextel Cup, it'd be that little more dull without Jr on the grid.

Maybe now he's left DEI, Hendrick will get rid of Kyle Busch for his major screwup not long ago and bring Jr into the Hendrick fold. He'd be competitive and it'd be interesting to see how some idiot fans would react to Jr and Gordon being teammates. But then, I'm going off and dreaming again.


EDIT:
Read the article on NASCAR.com, some quotes

"I've always thought RCR just because of the Childress-Earnhardt relationship," said (Darrell)Waltrip of Richard Childress Racing, where the elder Earnhardt won six of his seven championships. "I have personally have always thought the racing world would be right if Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the black No. 3 car."

Richard Childress Racing always has been considered the most logical place for Junior to go. Childress and Dale Earnhardt were extremely close, and Junior has maintained a relationship with the car owner.

RCR, which owns the No. 3 should Junior ever want to drive it, can add him as the fourth and final team NASCAR permits each owner. It would team him with Kevin Harvick, who replaced the elder Earnhardt following his 2001 death, and has openly invited Junior to join the organization.

This would also be a dream to see. Jr driving the black No. 3 Chevrolet. Oh god the faint possibility of it is awesome.

 

[JohnBM01]

It's official... Dale Earnhardt Jr. will leave DEI by the end of this season. It's very likely he's staying in NASCAR. So granted he does, what team do you think would want him? I'd imagine he'd be one hell of a free agent. I'm a Jeff Gordon supporter as well, but can you imagine if Hendrick Motorsports pick up Dale Jr.? Hendrick is pretty much the of-the-moment team in the series. Or what if Dale Jr. starts his own team and is a driver-owner like Adrian Fernandez? This is HUGE news. Stay tuned this postseason or if Dale Jr. announces where he wants to go if he doesn't make the Chase this season.

This is something to definitely stay tuned about.

 

[TS]

This is the beginning of the downfall of DEI, not surprised though, I figured that after not winning a championship after 8 some years at DEI, he would do something like this.

I get the feeling Teresa Earnhardt is nothing but a conniving wench. I\'m along the same lines as Jim, the company should have gone to the Earnhardt children, especially Jr since racing is his passion, just like his father.

Agreed, I\'m sure if Sr. was still around, he would\'ve given him the company with or without her consent.

Maybe now he\'s left DEI, Hendrick will get rid of Kyle Busch for his major screwup not long ago and bring Jr into the Hendrick fold. He\'d be competitive and it\'d be interesting to see how some idiot fans would react to Jr and Gordon being teammates. But then, I\'m going off and dreaming again.

If he did that, the beer bottle throwing you saw at Talladega would be a much more regular sight.

 

[WallRunner]

It's official... Dale Earnhardt Jr. will leave DEI by the end of this season. It's very likely he's staying in NASCAR. So granted he does, what team do you think would want him? I'd imagine he'd be one hell of a free agent. I'm a Jeff Gordon supporter as well, but can you imagine if Hendrick Motorsports pick up Dale Jr.? Hendrick is pretty much the of-the-moment team in the series. Or what if Dale Jr. starts his own team and is a driver-owner like Adrian Fernandez? This is HUGE news. Stay tuned this postseason or if Dale Jr. announces where he wants to go if he doesn't make the Chase this season.

This is something to definitely stay tuned about.

As a member on a nascar forum I'm on (H8Gordon) said:

"If Jr. goes to HMS, We will be seeing Sr. rise from the dead and give him a kick in the butt"

Very interesting news this is.

From,
Chris.

 

[Sting]

Haha, great quote there.

 

[JohnBM01]

There was a quote I remembered Teresa Earnhardt saying to Dale Jr. And it goes like this:

(indirect quote) "Do you want to be a race car driver or a celebrity?" -Teresa Earnhardt

Let's get something straight. I never was a Dale Jr. fanatic, but he's a hell of a racer. Any team that looks to pick him up is one to win one heck of a sweepstakes. ESPN's NASCAR reporter, Mike Massaro(?) was talking about Dale Jr. perhaps being in any form of racing... even F1. In my view, all the #8 fanboys will be think "he'll so pwn Alonzo and Raikkonen!" if this happens. Also be a dark day for world motorsport. If he were to go elsewhere, here are some possibilities of where he MIGHT end up:

* Rolex Sportscar Series - Suntrust Racing (DP)
Can you imagine Dale Jr. racing for Suntrust Racing? They already have a superstar in Max "the axe" Angelli(?). This would mean more star power for a Daytona Prototype team like this one.

* American Le Mans Series - Corvette Racing USA (GT1)
Some sports reporters were thinking "what were you thinking doing this?" when Dale Jr. wanted to race a Corvette (then) C5-R a few years ago. Imagine if he races for them for a full ALMS swing even if today's GT1 is dead competition-wise? My only issue would involve any sort of adjustment phase for Dale Jr. in a much more sophisticated race car than a Nextel Cup stock car.

Where do you think he could end up if he left NASCAR for another motorsport?

 

[Loon]

So anybody else catch the Darlington race?

Quite a good race I must say, very exciting the majority of the time. Jaun Pablo Montoya with a great save, Paul Menard and Tony Stewart seemed to hook up for awhile and pass one car after another. Newman and Stewart getting into a bit and Newman blowing a tire. Labonte hitting the wall pretty hard with only a few left to go, and good ole' Virginian native Denny Hamlin taking the win. Very good race, can't wait to see the Nextel race tomorrow.

 

[Earth]

I caught the last 30 laps, it was a good race. It's great to see Montoya Sideways coming out of turns 2 and 4 almost every lap

Looking forward to the cup race today

 

[Loon]

Looks like it's going to be reschelduled. Rain delays suck...

 

[TS]

Looks like it's going to be reschelduled. Rain delays suck...

Yeah, 2nd one in a row too.

 

[Loon]

Yeah, 2nd one in a row too.

Yeah, first Richmond, now Darlington, I sure hope this trend doesn't continue.

 

[JohnBM01]

Nothing like Saturday night racing... except when it's a washout. One of the reasons why I've loved road racing is because when it's dark and rainy, at least most sportscar racing series will still be able to race at night. But these cars are not for racing in the rain or speedfreaking on a wet oval (dangerous). Look at this in a funny way- at least the racing will be on Mother's Day. So if you didn't get Mom anything (granted you believe in Mother's Day), at least give her the gift of racing as NASCAR tries to tame the Lady in Black. I wonder what the Lady in Black's mother thinks of her... ^_^ Tough oval. Probably going to be tougher after the rains.

Here is a quick FACT OR FICTION section in case you're interested:



The Dodge Avenger 500 @ Darlington - FACT OR FICTION?

1.) The winning make at Darlington will NOT be a Chevrolet.

2.) Jeff Gordon will finish 20th or lower.

3.) Juan Pablo Montoya will finish in the Top 10.

4.) The highest-placed Chevrolet will be that of Hendrick Motorsports.

5.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. will either finish lapped or out of the race.

6.) The race will finish with 15 or more cautions.

7.) Jimmie Johnson will not finish in the Top 5.

8.) At least one Dodge Avenger CoT will finish in the Top 5.

9.) Tony Stewart will not finish.

10.) The race will finish in a green/white/checkered (regardless of whether or not the race finishes under caution).



Happy early Mother's Day to all of you!

 

[Loon]

1. Fiction
2. Fiction, even though I'm not a big fan of the guy, he is pretty good.
3. Fiction, I just don't think he can do it here, it'd be a huge win if he did though.
4. Fact.
5. Fiction, I don't think he'll be lapped, and as long as he doesn't wreck he's good.
6. Fiction
7. Fiction, he's another contender, if he's not in the top 5 I'd bet top 10 then.
8. Fact, I'd just like to see it happen.
9.Fact, I bet him and Newman will get into it again.
10. Fact

 

[ND4SPD]

Wow, another awesome race, and congrats to my favourite driver for winning the race when the odds were against him. I still can't believe that the Hendrick team is dominating the COT races!

 

[Loon]

I agree, good race.

2 things I'm glad to see...

1. No trash was thrown this time.👍
2. Jr. isn't giving up, good to see he's still going to try his hardest to finish well.👍

 

[TS]

Gordon was lucky that they didn't have a green, white, checkered finish, because as soon as he pulled into Victory lane, the engine blew up, Hamlin put up a hell of a fight toward the end, but couldn't get close.

 

[JohnBM01]

Congratulations to Mr. Jeff Gordon. You have to admit that it's pretty cool when you can do a smoky burnout with steam billowing from the bonnet/hood. I'm shouting out to Ryan Newman on a killer job racing his Alltel Avenger around Darlington. Also, I'm giving Dale Jr. some love for his efforts finishing the same place as his number- 8.

Some of the "WindTunnel" comments on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s announcement ranged from "I'm still supportive of Dale Jr. regardless of where he goes" to "Boohoo. Golden Boy can't always get what he wants." Where do you stand on this issue, NASCAR fans?

 

[Loon]

Where ever Jr. decides to go I'll follow, I'll support him no matter what team he goes to. I do wish they could have came to some sort of agreement though, family should stick together.

 

[JohnBM01]

I forgot to mention all of that comment of "can't always get everything." Here's the full comment from one of the "Fired Up" callers:

(indirect quote) "Boo hoo... golden boy can't always get what he wants. Maybe win some races and a championship or two, THEN make your move."

Person "A" would say that he/she still supports Dale Jr. wherever he goes... even if it's for a non-Chevy team. Person "B" was illustrated in this post. Who do you trust on the topic of Dale Jr.? Here is another question I'm offering: Out of 100%, how much...

a.) ...is Speed Channel hyping up the Nextel All-Star Race?
b.) ...of this race is actually going to be worth the hype?

What do you think?

 

[TS]

Speed over-hypes anything they air that\'s NASCAR related.

 

[mwoodski]

Definatly worth the hype. If you've never seen it, you're missing out. It's an all out, no holds barred race, what's not to love? Plus, all the cool paint schemes.

 

[m.piedgros]

January 28 2007 0500 hours Central Standard Time. Dallas, Texas, USA.

A certain member of GTPlanet awakes to watch the coverage of the 24 Hours of Daytona after having watched every second and listened to the classical music that was being played instead of the race commentary on Grand-Am's useless website and the joke of a radio show on at 1100 hours that ended up being primarily Spanish..

We join this member of GTPlanet as he flicks on the Speed Channel. Coverage resumes, they go to brake.

111-110 DAYS UNTIL THE NASCAR NEXTEL CUP ALLSTAR RACE!

AGH! Give us 111-110 days of notice for Sebring, Daytona, Le Mans, Petit!!! Or at least do it if this race is gonna get it.

If you have ever watched Sebring, Daytona, Le Mans or Petit than you are missing out. They are all out, no holds barred races!!! As far as paint schemes go, well... there is always cool paint schemes in racing.

Okay, okay. My original point was the race was DEFINIETLY over-hyped to the max. But NASCAR = CASHCOW so Speed should play it out as far as they can.

m.piedgros

 

[JohnBM01]

Kevin Harvick won the much-hyped Nextel All-Star Challenge on Saturday night. Most of the fans I've heard on "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain" had some people fired up about how much of a bore most of the action was. One person even hinted that the only highlight of the deal was the Busch brothers wrecking with that hothead Kyle Busch. In the end, it's just an All-Star race. Was it worth the hyping up? This is the subject of my latest Sound Off.


John Sounds Off: Hyping up the All-Star Race... Necessary?
I only saw the first minutes of the pre-race show, then highlights on ESPNEWS. I wasn't very interested in this event because it was an All-Star Race seemingly overhyped by the Speed Channel. People like to make the statement about "living up to the hype." It was said a few years ago when Danica Patrick was placing high and consistently. Most people are either still fans of hers (like myself) or more like just another fad (like I view the increasing numbers of Hummers on the road no matter what anyone thinks). Even from the start of this year, I've been watching shows until commercial breaks. I've seen programs like "Pinks," "Forza Motorsport Showdown," and a few races. Some of the first commercials is a countdown to the Nextel All-Star Challenge. I'm sorry. I only care about the Coca-Cola/World 600, not an All-Star race. You're not going to sell me on any All-Star activities while I'm a racing fan. I had no interest in watching this race. To make things even worse, some shows after commercial break has a graphic saying "Only (a NASCAR car number) days left until the Nextel All-Star Challenge." If you want a real All-Star race to hype, it's called the Race of Champions whereas racers from a variety of disciplines (even NASCAR) compete against stars of different series. Maybe ratings for Speed Channel were dropping, so they had to hype up an All-Star race just to get things back up and running. It's very okay to celebrate racing in the Charlotte area. Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of my favorite oval race courses. However, this is how I've viewed Speed hyping up this deal. Speed nixed World Rally Championship coverage. I think they could have had coverage of the Paris-Dakar Rally with same-day coverage (I'm okay with the Barrett-Jackson Auction). But to hype up a NASCAR All-Star race like the world revolves around NASCAR is a damned shame. Maybe we should hype up Michael Jordan being a Grand Marshall at the All-Star race. Maybe we should have hyped up when bands play at certain NASCAR venus like if Fall Out Boy, Nickelback, Sugarcult, or any other rock groups I get tired of hearing of start performing. Maybe we should hype up a Talladega race and showcase how fans react when someone like Jeff Gordon wins there over any member of the Earnhardt family. It's just ludicrous.

I'll watch NASCAR. I love Jeff Gordon. I respect Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards. But if you're going to hype up any race or event of NASCAR's, then make it a real race rather than something like this. The world doesn't revolve around NASCAR. I don't need to be seriously in the know when some event like this All-Star deal takes place. But when events like the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans roll around, no hyping. Speed shows ALL those events live (then breaks them up with something NASCAR-related most of the time). They are big races. Even when the Eldora or Knoxville Nationals take form, not much in the way of hype. I'm not real big on sprint car racing, but I respect the history and significance of these two events. Speed doesn't have their priorities straight. Good news is that the All-Star Challenge is over and that life goes on. I just hope that they don't start a new countdown for the next All-Star Challenge. And... oh, yeah... what about Formula One in America? It's a privledge to see these cars and stars compete in our proverbial backyard. Why not give them some attention? Or are you still thinking of the 2005 race when six cars were out on track? If you're going to hype up an event, make sure it's one people will remember for a long time and not useless garbage like this. I know there are NASCAR fans over a great and vast landscape of America. But who wants to stay in the know of an All-Star race when there are more important races going on for a championship? NFL doesn't overhype its Pro Bowl. The NBA doesn't hype up the All-Star game to an incredulous degree. Major League Baseball doesn't overhype (well, maybe not as much) their All-Star Game. College football doesn't hype up the Senior Bowl and Hula Bowl. College basketball doesn't overhype the skills contests and such. So why NASCAR and why Speed for dragging this out a number of months? It's pathetic. Maybe Speed needs to realize that the world doesn't revolve around NASCAR. And the motorsports world isn't exactly the American Southeast... and then everybody else. Priorities need to be straightened better than what's been shown all year so far. I'm not saying this is a classless act, but something that should have been hyped a lot less than what was shown month after month until this race came around. Who cares about the Nextel All-Star Challenge when stuff like the Indy 500 action and other racing series) are trying to settle their respective championships?

I hope something like this is never hyped up again for as long as Speed covers NASCAR and attempts to break from its shell by covering motorsports without sucking up to or hinting NASCAR elements. Take when one of those ugly Hummers at the Dakar Rally was tagging the rear of some other machine as they called it "bump drafting." Speed needs to get their priorities straight and actually notice that NASCAR is not the only motorsport in the world. And the hyping of an event like this All-Star race is preposterous and otherwise stupid on many levels.

What did you think of all the hyping up for a race like this and how the actual All-Star race ended up after all this hyping up?

 

[JohnBM01]

According to ESPNEWS, there was a report that NASCAR will exclusively use the "Car of Tomorrow" for all races in 2008 rather than have 2007 and 2008 as development years. What do you NASCAR fans think about this move?

 

[thebtspecial]

I think it's a smart move. It has got to be expensive running two different types of cars.

 

[Camaro SS]

damn.

toyota has a nascar:



<-=EDIT=->

that's a camry, btw.