By Richard Allen

Bruton Smith is up to his old tricks. Once again, he is threatening to move a race away from its long standing location to another track. Most likely, this is yet another attempt by the chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. to gain attention and have a zoning law changed or some sort of tax break or subsidy sent his way.

On Monday, Smith said that there is a 70% chance that the fall race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway will be moved to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. SMI owns both of those tracks but such a move would require the permission of NASCAR.

We’ve seen this performance more times than most Americans have watched ‘Forrest Gump’.  In 2012, there was an attempt to get the state of Tennessee to provide funding for a fix of the track surface at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Heck, one time Smith even threatened to move the entire Charlotte Motor Speedway facility to Rock Hill, SC if the city of Concord, NC would not allow him to build the then proposed zMax Dragway.

Trouble is, he seems to often get his way. But there may finally come a time when his gamesmanship doesn’t work. But the truth, he shouldn’t need it at all.

My advice to Bruton Smith and other leaders in NASCAR is to just shut up and fix the sport if they want better revenues. The seats are not empty at race tracks and television ratings down because of all star formats, lack of race dates in Las Vegas or the relative lack of success of “stars” such as Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or Danica Patrick.

Seats are empty because the races are not intriguing enough to cause people to plunk down the money and dedicate the time to come and see them. But as usual, instead of trying to create better racing on the track, NASCAR and the networks have their water carriers out on social media and television shows distracting everyone with discussions of better formats for a gimmick race rather than doing something substantive.

If Bruton Smith and NASCAR want fans to fill those grandstands seats again, they need to think more of fans and less about TV networks and prima donna star drivers who fly in on private jets and stay in million-dollar motor coaches.

To do that, the first thing that needs to happen is the racing on the track needs to get better. This is something that has been addressed on this website many times. But just to briefly re-cap, there needs to be a loosening of the rules that restrict teams so much that everyone is driving virtually identical cars that run the same speed and rarely pass each other.

Also, the points accumulating mentality has to go. Drivers and teams spend too much time worrying about how many points they might lose if they take a risk that fails rather than the win they might gain if that risk pays off.

But along with those on-track adjustments, there must be a change in the arrogant mindset of track owners. In a time of economic crisis such as we have experienced over the past few years, ticket prices have remained high at many tracks for the seats that are worth having.

Sure, there are discounts offered on lousy seats that are so low fans can’t see very much. Those “family packs” are offered so that the seats closest to the track are filled to give the appearance of a full house when viewed on television during the tight shots the networks use.

If Bruton Smith wants to move a race or if the most visible media  members want to discuss the Sprint All Star Race format, then go ahead. But in the end, neither of those things will solve the problem.

If the leaders of the sport want better revenues, they need to stop talking and start addressing real issues. But fans, don’t hold your breath on that.

 

By Richard Allen

The Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of NASCAR’s ‘Crown Jewel’ events. The race was first run in 1960 and was won by Joe Lee Johnson who earned just over $27,000 for the victory. Last year, the race was won by Kasey Kahne who pocketed over $355,000 for his efforts.

Coca-Cola 600 Quick Facts:

11 currently active drivers have won the Coca-Cola 600: Jeff Gordon(1994, 1997, 1998), Bobby Labonte(1995), Jeff Burton(1999, 2001), Matt Kenseth(2000), Mark Martin(2002), Jimmie Johnson(2003, 2004, 2005), Kasey Kahne(2006, 2008, 2012), Casey Mears(2007), David Reutimann(2009), Kurt Busch(2010), Kevin Harvick(2011)

Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with 21 wins in the Coke 600. Ford has 12 victories followed by Dodge with 8, Mercury with 4, Plymouth with 3, Buick with 2, Pontiac with 2 and Toyota with 1.

Darrell Waltrip has the most Coke 600 wins with five.

Four NASCAR champions won their first Sprint Cup Series race in the Coke 600: David Pearson(1961), Jeff Gordon(1994), Bobby Labonte(1995) and Matt Kenseth(2000).

Dale Earnhardt, Sr. made his first Sprint Cup start in the 1975 Coca-Cola 600.

Most cautions in Sprint Cup history: The 2005 event set a record for the most yellow flags in NASCAR’s top division with 22.

The Coke 600 has been cut short by rain on three occasions(1968, 2003 & 2009).

The 1997 Coke 600 was stopped short of its intended distance because of a 1:00am curfew following a rain delay.

In 1974 the race was shortened to 540 miles due to a fuel crisis.

1993 was the first time in which the race was run at night.

2011 is the only time the race has ever gone further than its intended distance due to a green/white/checkered finish.

155.687mph in 2012 by Kasey Kahne was the fastest average speed ever for the Coca-Cola 600. It took just over 3 hours and 51 minutes to complete the full race distance.

Darrell Waltrip has the most Coke 600 wins with five.

Fireball Roberts won the pole for the inaugural Coke 600 with a speed of 133.904mph. Last year, Aric Almirola posted a pole winning speed of 192.940mph.

So what does a former Daytona 500 winner and current NASCAR Nationwide Series driver do when he’s not racing? In the case of Trevor Bayne, he enjoys an active lifestyle that includes time on the water. Recently, he took to the lake behind a Nautique Boat to do some wake surfing.

Photo credit to Nautique president/CEO Bill Yeargin:

As has been reported by several media outlets, the hauler used by Jennifer Jo Cobb’s Camping World Truck Series team was stolen from the team’s shop. The Rowan County(NC) Sheriff’s Department confirms it has a warrant for the arrest of former NASCAR driver Mike Harmon, who is one of two suspects in the case(this from @BobPockrass). Harmon had served as Cobb’s team manager in 2010.

My question is this- How in the hell does anyone expect to get away with stealing a NASCAR hauler? Look how obvious it is. It has pictures of the driver and the race cars plastered in giant form on the sides. It’s not like stealing a Pepsi truck that could blend in with 10,000 other Pepsi trucks.

Harmon took to Twitter later in the day to defend himself.

@hrmn8ter ”I want it known that I have never stolen so much as a piece of bubble gum in my life. I did not take JJC hauler, there is no video of me any…”

@hrmn8ter “where near her shop. Today she was the windshield & I was the bug, but when we get in FEDERAL court in a couple wks there’s a boulder coming”

 

By Richard Allen

If you’ve followed racing for any length of time, you have no doubt noticed that certain drivers seem to just have a knack for crossing each other’s paths at the wrong time. This season, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano had such run-ins as they came together on multiple occasions until Hamlin was injured as the result of a crash in California. Past history has seen drivers such as Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon or Kurt Busch and Jimmy Spencer seemingly tied together race after race. Two drivers who have emerged as the most prone to collide of late are Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne.

For the second time in as many weeks and for the third time in 2013, Busch got into Kahne(or he didn’t if you accept Darrell Waltrip’s assessment) as the duo battled for the lead during the closing laps in Darlington. Kahne slid into the wall and Busch continued on to what appeared to be certain victory. However, a leaking tire slowed him down in the final laps and dropped him to 5th place at the checkered flag.

This incident came on the heels of the same two drivers getting together in Talladega the previous week and setting in motion the first of three big pileups on that monster track. A very similar incident occurred early in the Daytona 500 when Busch tagged the rear of Kahne’s car to initiate a big crash.

“Instant replay of Daytona. 18 wrecks the 5 (and) we all pile in..,” tweeted Kevin Harvick, who was involved in both the Daytona and Talladega wrecks sparked by contact between Busch and Kahne.

In reference to those prior run-ins, Kahne’ spotter, Kevin Hamlin, got on the team radio in the aftermath of the Darlington mishap to both calm his driver and voice his displeasure with Busch. “Let’s get what we can and stay calm,” the spotter said. “But we owe that mother****er three now.”

Busch crew chief Dave Rogers tried to help his driver dismiss the incident. “Don’t let it frustrate you, bud,” the No. 18 pit boss said. ”It’s big time auto racing. Shake it off. They showed it on TV. If you touched him, it was very light.”

While none of these situations appeared to be intentional, they still happened nonetheless. Be it hard racing or not, the driver on the receiving end is bound to feel as if he has been made a target by the offending driver. It remains to be seen whether or not these two will come in contact again, but considering both drive for top-flight teams and are likely to be racing for wins in the future, it will be interesting to see how potential future situations play out.

But in the meantime, Kahne might want to consider adding a bumper sticker similar to the one below to the back of his car.

 After each Sprint Cup race, NASCAR officials typically take the winning car and a random chosen car or two to be thoroughly inspected at their Research & Development Center in Concord, NC. There seems to be a rather remarkable ratio of drivers or teams who have at some point run afoul of the sanctioning body and those machines to be randomly chosen for closer inspection.

When Stewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Newman said in veiled language that “Someone(meaning NASCAR) had their heads up their asses” in Talladega, it came as little surprise that his car was one of those “randomly” chosen after Saturday night’s race in Darlington.

There were a number of jokes passed along on Twitter and Facebook after the announcement was made that the #39 Chevrolet had been selected. So, in that spirit, I have created a not-so-serious list of things that might have also surprised anyone who was caught off guard when Newman’s was “randomly” singled out.

Those surprised that Ryan Newman’s car was “randomly” selected by NASCAR at Darlington were also surprised when…

1. …Lance Armstrong admitted he used performance enhancers.

2. …female fans cheered for Kasey Kahne.

3. …Republicans and Democrats refused to cooperate with each other in Washington.

4. …Kurt Busch had a “meltdown” after his car’s handling went bad.

5. …Rosie O’Donnell “came out”.

6. …Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds proclaimed that they liked the latest NASCAR change.

7. …the weather forecast turns out wrong.

8. …the government couldn’t produce a balanced budget.

9. …the car driving down the interstate with its left blinker didn’t actually turn left.

10. …their stomach felt a bit queasy after eating at the $4.99 all you can eat buffet located just off the interstate.

11. …every episode of ‘Dora the Explorer’ turns out exactly the same as the previous episode.

12. …news comes out that Lindsay Lohan is in trouble with the law.

By the way, on Tuesday it was stated by NASCAR that Newman’s car and engine cleared post-race inspection at the NASCAR R&D Center.

By Richard Allen

One unmistakable trend throughout this NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been that the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas have been strong in virtually every race. The three cars driven by Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin(who was replaced by drivers Mark Martin and Brian Vickers for four races) have spent a great deal of time leading the pack around every speedway used to this point.

All together, JGR cars have led a total of 1,677 laps this season. To put that in perspective, there have been just over 3,500 laps run in 2013 in all races combined this year. That means the three drivers listed above have led almost half of circuits in the Sprint Cup division. Consider that this dominance has occurred even with one of the JGR drivers(Hamlin) having missed four races and his replacements did not lead a single lap.

To offer some comparisons to show how strong JGR has been relative to other teams, powerful Hendrick Motorsports has led 855 laps this season. That means the Gibbs cars have led almost twice as many laps as the generally acknowledged strongest team in the NASCAR garage area. And keep in mind, HMS has four cars compared to JGR’s three.

Further, Kenseth has been at the front for 781 circuits while Busch has led 740 laps. The next closest driver to those numbers is HMS pilot Jimmie Johnson who has led 455 laps.

Even more telling is the comparison of JGR to other so-called mega-teams. Roush Fenway Racing has led 214 laps this year while Stewart-Haas Racing has showed the way for only 33 circuits. Meanwhile, Richard Childress Racing has led just 16 laps all season.

While leading laps does not necessarily equate to victories(although they have won 5 of the 11 races) or any other form of success, they do serve as an indication of overall strength.  The ability to lead directly relates to factors such as horsepower and handling that eventually provide the opportunity to win.

Whether it be from the horsepower provided by their TRD Racing engines, their engineering work in developing the new Gen-6 car, or their impressive fleet of talented crew members and drivers, JGR is proving to be a force this year on the Sprint Cup Series.

For those who have watched very much NASCAR racing this season, it is not exactly breaking news to report that there hasn’t been a whole lot of passing going on. As a matter of fact, if pit stop exchanges and the first couple of laps after a restart are factored out, the passes for the lead in most races can seemingly be counted on one hand.

So in honor of the apparent new policy in NASCAR that seems to forbid passing the race leader, I have composed a new song. Or rather, it is the rewording of a classic.

To the tune of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult:

“Don’t Pass the Leader”

All our laps are run

Yes, this race is done

This season has been a sleeper

Even when Air Titan cleans up the rain…he can keep the top spot

Come on drivers, don’t pass the leader

Baby feel my wind…don’t pass the leader

Even when he goes too high…don’t pass the leader

It’s not part of the plan

The joy of the sport is done

It was here but now it’s gone

Rockingham and Hickory

Are together in eternity…Rockingham and Hickory

40,000 empty seats at every race….Rockingham and Hickory

40,000 empty seats at every race…Redefine success

Another 40,000 at the next event…We can be like they are

You know, IndyCar

Come on drivers, don’t pass the leader

Baby feel my wind… don’t pass the leader

Even when he goes too high…don’t pass the leader

It’s not part of the plan

 Excitement here is done

Parades just aren’t much fun

Came the last night of sadness

And it was apparent they even ruined Darlington

The garage was opened and Gen-6 appeared

The passing has all but disappeared

The laps went by and yellow flags appeared…saying the ending can be saved

Come on drivers now…and they had no fear

They put on four new tires…then they really started to drive

Until the leader looked back and said goodbye…he pulled away so far

He was in clean air…he pulled away so far

Come on drivers…don’t pass the leader

 And yes, you’re gonna want that cowbell!

Here, Kyle and Kurt Busch were caught in a moment of family time as they discuss Mother’s Day.

If you’re looking for a high end real estate deal, Jeff Gordon is putting his New York City condo up for sale.

It has 3454 square feet with three bedrooms. The asking price for the residence located at 15 Central Park West is a cool $30 million. Gordon and wife Ingrid Vandebosch originally paid $9.67 million for the property.

According to the New York Times story, “the demand for trophy apartments is pretty strong.” So, you better hurry.

Photos provided by Halstead Property via the New York Times.