2008 NASCAR running thread

And, fun detail, Kenseth running out of gas ripped his ticket to the banquet out of his hand and gave it to Kyle Busch.

Kenseth and Junior miss the black-tie affair. Good food, horrid speeches read stiffly off a teleprompter. Though I would like to hear Tony's this year.

 

I realize they have the big banquet in New York for the sponsors, but that thing makes the Heisman Trophy look like a "let-your hair down event."
It's kind of like a Nascar race, but without the racing and just a lot of thank yous. Thrilling.

 

To be fair, Dan, the banquet is the fourth day of a LOT of hoopla. There's a luncheon, several parties (including one at Tiffany & Co.) and a bunch of other activities. I covered one banquet week, and finding time to write between all the activities was hard to do.

And the party AFTER the banquet makes the televised portion seem even more boring. And I didn't even see the good stuff.

 

Been a long 41 weeks, including the 37 race weekends I actually worked.

So now, I'm listening to the DBT's play "Daddy's Cup" and finishing off the last beer of the night.

Made it through another season more or less intact.

Congrats to the 48 and 99 teams for stellar performances down the stretch.

I am so donezo for this year ...

 

Can Brian France possibly break something else that didn't need fixing in the first place? Stay Tuned.

 

Disagree. Given that Young Busch wouldn't have won the championship under the classic points system, I have no problem with him being out of the running in this one.

That said, I think the old Chase and new Chase systems should be melded. Keep the bonus points for wins in the first 26 races, but bring back the laddered points after Richmond. Twelfth place gets 5,000 points with five-point increases up to the top spot at 5,060, and once you've done that add in the bonus points for wins. Rewards both consistency and winning.

 

And the bad news starts rolling in with Hall of Fame Racing confirming what we already suspected: layoffs, end to its alliance with Gibbs and possible sponsorship issues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_nascar_hof_layoffs_1

The lovely and talented Jenna Fryer goes in-depth on NASCAR's economic issues:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-inthepits&prov=ap&type=lgns

Jayski roundup: Hall of Fame Racing shop is for sale; Wood Brothers laid off 25 people; Menard to drive #98 for Yates, which laid off many today (including #28 crew chief Todd Parrott) and could still be a two-car team at Daytona; 23 laid off at Petty Enterprises Boston Ventures, which still hasn't cobbled together full sponsorship for the #43 next year; 16 laid off at Stewart Haas Racing (could be the old 66 crew getting relieved of their jobs since that car supposedly picks up DEI's old 8 personnel as it becomes Ryan Newman's #39 ride).

And here is the new Ford Fusion, approved by NASCAR a year early:



Still looks like it ate a Gillette disposable razor.

 

Don't be surprised when GM's not the official vehicle supplier to Daytona International Speedway in 2009 (and possibly at other ISC tracks with GM deals, depending on when those contracts expire).

Also, the testing ban may be extended by teams to all tracks, not just NASCAR tracks.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/autoracing/article913922.ece (scroll down to second item slugged NOT TESTY).

 

Brant James rocks.

 

Brant James DOES rock.

This entire GEM-Petty deal does not.

Blount's take


There's just something horrifically wrong about NASCAR without the King.