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Carl Edwards should not be listed as the winner of the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week.
His car was illegal.
He drove to the checkered flag in a vehicle that was outside the NASCAR rulebook.
NASCAR basically said he wasn't the winner of the race by taking away not only 100 championship points but the 10 point bonus for victories which is used to see the "Chase."
But rather than strip him of the win completely, as should have been done with the victory awarded to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - the second place driver but the first to cross the finish line in a legal car - the win stands.
That's been NASCAR's policy for years. There have been numerous times when the "winning" car was found to be cheating. Yet despite fines and penalties the win stood.
That does nothing but hurt the sport's credibility.
If a player hits a game-winning homerun with a corked bat, he doesn't keep the homer on his record nor does his team get the runs scored from the blast added to its game total.
Only in NASCAR can an athlete drive what amounts to a corked bat to victory lane.
It's time to change that policy or be faced with the prospect of even less of a credibility factor than Tony Stewart claimed last year.
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All the hype and talk is over and Speedweeks 2008, highlighted by the 50th running of the Daytona 500, is now history.
And overall, things are off to a good start.
We saw competitive racing all throughout our week in Daytona with the Budweiser Shootout, the Twin 150s, the truck race and the Nationwide season opener all putting on good shows.
That was an excellent lead-in to the 500, which had a few stretches of boredom thrown in (show me a 500 mile race anywhere that doesn't), but built up to yet another exciting conclusion.
I didn't think we could get two years in a row with the 500 coming down to the wire but we sure did and I'm sure NASCAR as well as FOX were thrilled. Every race can't come down to a photo finish, just like the Super Bowl can't be won on an overtime field goal every season or the World Series decided by a walk-off homer. But the 500 has produced back-to-back nailbiters.
The pre-race show was a bit lame (Chubby Checker, Michael McDonald and Kool & The Gang just don't define one of the biggest sporting events in the world in my book) but Trisha Yearwood's National Anthem and the Thunderbirds' flyover brought chills.
As did the last lap finish and the storyline of Tony Stewart messing up to pave the way for the open wheel protege Ryan Newman to win "The Great American Race." And to se "The Captain" standing there in Daytona's "victory circle" was equally a thrill.
Kudos to Daytona to getting the season off on a strong note. One down, 35 weeks to go boys and girls.
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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his sister Kelly weren't all too pleased at Texas Motor Speedway's attempt at humor with their billboard campaign that depicted Junior with Reason No. 88 to have NASCAR fever as "Step Mom."
Ya think?
This whole deal between Junior and DEI is tiresome and ridiculous. The media continues to try and make a story about this rift and truth be told, I've written about it and discussed it on several radio segments so consider me part of the guilty party.
There was such a furor made over the fact that there wasn't any Dale, Jr. stuff on display at DEI during last week's media tour stop it was laughable. It was explained that in order to accomodate the media for a luncheon, some of the historic No. 8 cars were moved out of the showroom.
It was also explained DEI does not have the license or rights to sell anything Dale Jr. or Budweiser-related in its gift shop.
Now while I believe DEI management could have stopped a lot of this he said, he said stuff by pointing out those logical facts from the start, I don't have any problem with the team trying to downplay its past somewhat as it tries to move forward.
I have a friend who went through a divorce and has gotten remarried. I don't remember seeing any photos or memories of the ex at their new house last time I visited.
DEI is trying to move on as is Dale, Jr. himself. They should be allowed to do so.
And note to Texas Motor Speedway, I think the rest of the billboard campaign is as lame as the one the Earnhardt's objected to.
But homor is subjective, or lack of it, is subjective right?
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You'll hear much about the history of the Daytona 500 in the coming days as we count down to the 50th anniversary running of "The Great American Race."
If you're a long-time NASCAR fan, you know how the inaugural running of the race in 1959 ended in a photo finish with Lee Petty finally being declared the race winner over Johnny Beauchamp three days later when NASCAR studied the photo of the incredible run to the finish line.
But there are some names from that first race you may not be so familiar with, drivers who were part of that historic 59-car field that christened the mammoth 2.5-mile superspeedway.
They weren't superstars of the sport but pioneers just the same.
Fritz Wilson, Larry Odo, Shorty Rollins, Ken Rush, Larry Frank - journeyman drivers who didn't get rich or famous but strapped into a racecar for the pure love and challenge of the sport.
One of the names in the 1959 rundown may sound familiar - "Tiger" Tom Pistone, who led much of the race and finished eighth. The uncle of this reporter went on to win a couple of Cup races in his career and was probably known more for his antics than his driving skills. Who could forget a guy who bolted an oxygen tank into his car for the 500, afraid he would wind up in Lake Lloyd in a crash. Did I mention Tiger can't swim?
It's amazing to me that more than 50 years later people remember guys like Tiger as well as some of these other pioneers of the sport. And so they should.
As we get ready for the golden aniversary of the Daytona 500, these guys should forever be remembered for the golden memories they gave us all.
(**Shameless plus - "Tiger" Tom Pistone will be Dave Moody's guest on "Sirius Speedway" Friday afternoon, January 11th at 6 p.m. ET)
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I will all but guarantee the television ratings for Sunday's NEXTEL Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway will be down, continuing a trend that has gone on pretty much all year.
The Colts and Patriots put on one of the best games in NFL history Sunday afternoon in a contest that will no doubt lead the sports TV numbers this week and crush the NASCAR Dickies 500.
And NASCAR will have no one to blame but ABC.
Sunday's race was about as riveting as it could be down the stretch with a late race side-by-side battle between Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, complete with championship implications.
But by starting the race at 3:30 p.m. ET, only diehard racefans were watching the finish with most every other sports enthusiasts' sets tuned into the NFL battle of the unbeatens.
Start that race at noon and it's over well before the fourth quarter of the NFL nightcap kicks off.
Networks say they want later start times to ensure the west coast audience can tune in at a reasonable hour. We've had these 3:30 green flags for nearly two years now and guess what - it's not helping.
I have no doubt we'll see more Saturday night races in the future during the Chase as the networks finally realize going head-to-head against the might NFL is ratings suicide. Until then, a step in the right direction would be to start the Sunday afternoon races earlier in the day.
If you live on the west coast, is a 10 a.m. start time really that bad anyways?
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One of the best kept secrets in NASCAR is the annual Toyota All-Star Showdown held this past weekend at California's Irwindale Speedway.
It's a short track racing fan's dream and although the event has changed since its inception, it's still a great showcase for grassroots racing and the future stars of stock car racing.
The main event is now a showdown between what's known as the NASCAR Busch East Series and the NASCAR West Series, both featuring full-bodied stock cars that compete on the two regional tours of NASCAR.
More and more NEXTEL Cup operations are using these circuits as development training grounds, which have replaced the role the Busch Series used to fill.
This year's Showdown champ was young phenom Joey Lagano, who has been on a tear all year and has a bright future as part of the Joe Gibbs Racing operation.
The current trend of using established open wheel stars as Cup pilots has blocked the road for some of these young stars to work their way up to NASCAR's premier division. But this event, and the regional tours, still offer the opportunity to gain valuable experience and exposure.
Although NASCAR has helped take a bite out of the grassroots and local racing scene with more Saturday night races, this event and the Grand National series concept are assets.
Let's hope it grows and that the young and talented drivers who made their mark this year have a chance to work their way to the top very soon.
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You may not know who Ray Cooper was, but if you are a devoted race fan, you sure knew his work.
Ray, or "Coop" as all who knew him called him, was a part of the racing community for pretty much his whole life. He was an award-winning writer and journalist and most recently a manufacturer's representative for Dodge Motorsports.
Ray was one of those guys who was just always a part of the scene, someone you kind of took for granted you'd see at the next stop on the NASCAR tour and a fixture in the media center at every race weekend.
It's hard to believe that in such a short period of time, he's no longer with us, losing his battle with cancer Friday night.
What's even harder to swallow is how someone can be gone in almost an instant, and that was certainly the case with Ray. He sat with our table during one of the dinner stops on last January's annual NASCAR Media Tour in Charlotte, was at every race I covered in the first half of the season and then suddenly, he was gone.
His illness stopped him from going on the road in mid-summer and here it is, only ten months from when he sat and laughed with a group of us media types on the tour, he's gone.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. And his memory is another reminder to us all to cherish those who are close to us in this life, whether they be family, friends or just "another" member of the racing community.
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It's hard to believe that drivers could be bored racing at speeds near 200 mph.
But after hearing most of the comments after Sunday's UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, that was exactly the case.
It's a sympton of restrictor plate racing for drivers to simply try and save their cars, hang back and stay out of wrecks to be in the hunt for a win at the end.
Jeff Gordon played that strategy to perfection - but even he was bored by it.
He should have imagined watching it.
It's not the COT's fault much of Sunday's "race" wasn't much more than a single-file parade. NASCAR will no doubt play with the COT's aerodynamic package in time for the next plate race, which happens to the the Daytona 500 next February.
But to me the new car wasn't the blame, it's the plate.
The cars are so equal, it makes no sense for a driver to risk damage by pulling out of line to race three or four wide - until it actually matters in the closing laps.
I don't have an answer on how to fix it. The plate is here to stay. And unfortunately so will races like Sunday's when the total distance is 500 miles but only 30 or so really matter.
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Night racing used to be a special time in NASCAR. When there were only a couple of races held under the lights, the excitement level was definitely up several notches. Bristol, Richmond, Charlotte and Daytona holding Cup races in primetime made the sport seem even more exciting than usual.
But then television came into the picture and just as it dictates the direction of other sports because of the big money the networks pay for the rights to broadcast events, TV wanted more late starts and night races for prime time ratings and ad revenue.
Now we have Darlington, California, Homestead and Chicagoland with night races on the schedule. In honesty, in this case more is not better.
Too many night races have taken the uniqueness out of the picture. From a media standpoint, newspapers miss their deadlines for the morning edition when races run late as do local television stations, which can't get highlights into the evening news.
Weekend night racing is also killing weekly short tracks, who make their bread and butter on Friday and Saturday night shows in the summer. But when the Cup Series is running, these tracks feel a tremendous loss of attendance as fans stay home in droves to watch the big boys on television rather than come out to the local bullring.
My guess is that we will see half of the Cup schedule become prime time affairs at some point, again at the direction of television. All of the Chase races are heading to Saturday nights at some point, when NASCAR and the networks realize there is no way to compete head-to-head for ratings against the NFL on Sunday afternoons.
And the August Bristol night race, once the toughest ticket in NASCAR, will become just another race under the lights.
That's a shame.
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As Budweiser leaves its role as NASCAR's official beer, giving way to Coors Light, several things will take getting used to beginning next year.
The Bud Pole Award will cease to exist, replaced no doubt by the Coors Light Pole Award, which just doesn't have the same ring to it.
The Busch Series will no longer be sponsored by Anheuser-Busch and although NASCAR was confident it could find a suitable replacement sponsor, one willing to pony up $30 million a year to back a circuit that has lost its identity in the last five years, there isn't anyone close to forking over that kind of dough.
There are reports that Subway, once considered the leading contender, backed out because of the quick service restaurant competition already in the series as team sponsors with the likes of McDonald's, Arby's and Checkers/Rally's are already in the sport.
Coors Light was rumored to maybe step up as the Busch Series title sponsor as well, no doubt at a reduced rate unless NASCAR is prepared to call its number two series something like Grand National again and go without a sponsor.
Budweiser's absence could also mean the end to the Budweiser Shootout, which started as the Busch Clash. The annual exhibition kicks off the season at Daytona and was originally open to pole winners from the previous season.
The format has been tinkered with over the years to invite pretty much everyone and their brother to compete in a race that is broken into segments, includes a pit stop and is in truth confusing. NASCAR already has one of these races on the slate with the All-Star Challenge in May. There's no need for two.
I say let the Bud Shootout rest in peace. Open the season at Daytona with Daytona 500 qualifying and the annual ARCA 200 on the same day. The Shootout is just an added expense to teams and another rich get richer event that has lost its appeal over time.
With an already ten month schedule, the loss of an exhibition race won't matter much.
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I've been hard on New Hampshire International Speedway in the past.
When the track first hosted NASCAR racing, it was a boring, single-file place which was infamous for being where Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty tragically lost their lives.
New Hampshire offered nothing but a beautiful setting and as time went by, I always hated the thought of going to the track - not once but twice a year.
But owner Bob Bahre has never stopped trying to make NHIS better. Not content to just have built the track and landed a pair of Cup weekends, Bahre listened to the drivers, NASCAR and maybe more importantly the fans - who have packed the place since the first Busch Series race was held at the "Magic Mile."
Improvements have been made and the racing has gotten better. In fact with the COT in the equation, I'm actually looking forward to Sunday's Sylvania 300.
There are rumors Bahre is considering selling NHIS to either the Fenway Sports Group or Bruton Smith, which would no doubt send one date to another track.
Smith wants to switch the September Loudon date to Las Vegas if he can buy from Bahre, which would be a great place to have two races a year but not at the expense of New Hampshire.
The racing is good, attendance is strong and the track hits several major media markets - all criteria NASCAR is after.
It makes no sense to take a date from New Hampshire.
Now Pocono on the other hand........
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I'm not sure bringing Tony Eury, Jr. as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief next season at Hendrick Motorsports is the best idea.
I realize the closeness between the two, their relationship as friends and relatives. But if Junior is truly committed to winning races and championships as he said he was in his move from DEI to Hendrick, I believe a new crew chief would better serve his goal.
The track record Hendrick has with its personnel is impeccable. Whenever the team needs a new chief to call the shots for one of its teams it finds them, whether it's in a fill-in situation such as the suspensions of Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte caused, or when one of its team members are put into full-time crew chief roles.
Dale Jr would have been better suited to have Hendrick align him with one of its current personnel. It's a fresh start for Junior with a new team, car, crew, sponsor and number. Dragging along his old crew chief is baggage that I think he'd be better off without.
The likes of a Darian Grubb or Alan Gustafson would have helped Junior make the transition to Hendrick and the way that team works, hardly something you can argue with based on the past success as well as what the team has already done this year.
If Junior is going to make a change in his professional life, he shouldn't have let his personal relationships get in the way.
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Last week's visit to Bristol Motor Speedway was the best in a long while. The three nights of racing with the Craftsman Trucks, Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Series were some of the most exciting I've seen at the track in more than ten years.
The new track surface and layout actually made two and three wide racing possible and the drivers all three nights showed it early and often.
But I'm reading and hearing some of the experts saying Bristol is now not its old self anymore and that the salm bang, shove a guy out of your way to pass aspect has been lost and with it the "charm" of the track.
I don't get that view at all. These are the same people who complained last year's Bristol August night race was a single file parade and that drivers were holding back to protect their spot in the Chase.
Did anyone miss having 15 or 16 caution flags Saturday night? I sure didn't and to me, the last several 500-lap races at Bristol have been nothing more than demolition derbies. Now we have a place where drivers can actually use their skills and pass one another, not just ram their way to the front.
The truck and Busch races had better finishes than Saturday night's Cup event. But there was still plenty of action in the 500-laps from where I sat. I think Bristol is better and will only improve as the surface ages. Don't count me among those who miss watching 100 or more laps of caution whenever NASCAR comes to "Thunder Valley."
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Dale Jarrett's name has been in the news this week with talk about a pending retirement.
I hope it's true.
DJ is a champion driver, one of the sport's best personalities and a continued legacy of one of NASCAR's first families, following in his father Ned's footsteps.
But unfortunately, Jarrett has joined the ranks of athletes that have stayed around their sport far too long and past their prime, tarnishing the accomplishments made.
I realize there's a lot of money on the table to be a full-time NEXTEL Cup driver these days and walking away from the sport has to be a difficult decision.
But the situation Jarrett finds himself in should help him make up his mind.
Despite the denials, Toyota will certainly be shifting some of its support from existing teams like Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing to support the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing stable. MWR is all but certain to be downsized to a two-car effort, especially in light of the well-documented struggles of 2007.
And longtime sponsor UPS, which together with Jarrett helped form one of the greatest driver-sponsor relationships in NASCAR history, can't be pleased with the recent performance. How could they when Jarrett has missed more than half the races this season while arch rival FedEx reaps mountains of publicity and success as young Denny Hamlin's sponsor.
MWR's Ty Norris recently said he was recently at a UPS summit and that "UPS says things are going well."
They must have been talking about a drop on packing tape costs because there's no way anyone at UPS could be saying that about their NASCAR efforts.
DJ has a future in television and just as he did behind-the-wheel, he should follow his father's lead to the booth.
That would be the best thing he could deliver to UPS in a long time.
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Lost in the Brickyard weekend news shuffle last week was the "revelation" that Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker had a personal relationship.
In other headlines ripped from the pages of the obvious, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is joining Hendrick Motorsports, Tony Stewart is a smart aleck and Bill Weber is the worst announcer on television.
Evernham decided to "come clean" about the relationship, which everyone who spends anytime covering the sport knew about a year ago, only when his public relations minions decided to shuffle a few chosen media members away for a little personal chat last Friday.
Those mouthpieces, some at the World Wide Leader in Sports, if you catch my drift, then wrote stories about how Ray felt sorry for poor Erin and how moving to another team would better her career.
I'm sure Jeremy Mayfield spit Mountain Dew out of his nose in laughter when those stories hit the airwaves.
The bottom line is whatever Evernham and Crocker want to do in their private lives is their business. But here's a little tip, constantly being together in the garage, at functions, even holding hands at some points, is probably not the best way to keep any personal relationship a secret.
The way Evernham's team has performed this year is the bigger story in my mind, with total collapse probably the headline.
I have no interestest in whatever Ray and Erin want to do together that doesn't involve a race car.
Although I have to admit watching a prominent NASCAR team owner parade around with a woman less than half his age, both pretending nothing is going on and the relationship was purely professional, was just a little bit creepy.
Ray should be holding the hands of Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs as their seasons go down the drain.
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