Tag: Tony Stewart

Bristol. They tinkered with it and made it a race track instead of a bang’em and rack’em horsepower brawl. The re-surface in 2007 removed the groove and put racing over banging. The push and shove inner lane was opened to full track grip giving more lines for drivers to ride. For racing, passing and team strategies it was all good.

Fans, however, fell true to stereotypes and were not impressed with drivers doing their jobs and racing without wrecking. Fans wanted to see the faster guy bump and shove the slower guy out of the groove. If that meant a spin into the wall and sour tempers in the garage then that was just foam on the beer. (more…)

The NASCAR season is into the late half and so far, by design or luck, it is shaping up for big races. The “Chase” is winding with a few aces being held to the chest. The ingredients have been mixed and all that is left is to toss it in the oven and watch it rise.

There has been drama and controversy to keep the fans talking. Kurt Busch, for example, with media trouble and a race suspension from NASCAR trying to break him back inside the corral.  A.J. Allmendinger is another with a mark on substance abuse, suspension and a sanctioned rehab program. The continuing saga of Matt Kenseth making a jump for 2013 keeps some speculation in the conversation. (more…)

Off track drama is like glaze on a steak. It is an additional aspect that flavors the conversation but rarely takes the focus away from the main course. However, as NASCAR made the return to Daytona for mid-season racing the off track activities overwhelmed the run of the race.

Tony Stewart gave it a run to shift attention back to the race as the defending Cup champion drove from the back of the pack to the win as if saying all that mess is nothing because Smoke is here…

But it is something. In a span of two weeks two drivers were the center of bomb drops in the garage, arcing in from totally different directions but both resulting in an exit in some way, shape or form. (more…)

New pavement. New speeds.

Practice brought blistered tires and low lap times.

Now it is a wonder the place is even in one piece. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lead and drove to the win. It is possible for miles around people in their homes were calling 911 about earthquakes. The epicenter was the Quicken Loans 400 as the #88 Diet Mtn. Dew/The Dark Knight Rises/National Guard Chevy crossed under the checkered flag.

He started in 17th. He made it to the front and of the 16 lead changes he was in front for 93 of the 200 laps.

His last NASCAR Sprint Cup win was 2008… At Michigan. (more…)

NASCAR and the races have been taking a little fan heat with talk of not enough excitement.

There is not enough close racing. They aren’t bumping and banging like they used to. There isn’t enough action.

Yeah yeah yeah….

Driver’s want to finish. Owners want to finish. Sponsors don’t want their logo in the garage and out of the spotlight. The points are tight.

Yeah yeah yeah…

Well fans, we give you Dover. A big smash up, some engines blow, a pit action near miss, Johnson in clown hair…

What more do you want? (more…)

You would think the folks from MUFON should be getting calls from Southside Virginia as the area just east of Danville and a rock throw from the North Carolina line was occupied by “greys” and UFOs. The UFOs, or “Unidentified Fast Objects”, were hypothetically occupied and operated by NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series drivers. The “greys”, in this particular context, were often seen moving about in the larger groups of UFOs…

An invasion it may have been but it was not extraterrestrial. For several years, NASCAR teams descend on Virginia International Raceway and take over the rolling, countryside road course to test their ability to build cars that can, amazing as it may sound, turn right as well as left. This visit to VIR has become somewhat of a tradition as the season winds close to the road courses of Sonoma and Watkins Glen. NASCAR rules and regs do not allow teams to test set-ups at “sanctioned” tracks (as in the ones they will be racing on) except on specified times and days associated with the race schedule at that venue. However, there is no such rule concerning testing at a facility that is, in many ways, very similar to the sanctioned and scheduled  raceways.

Open the gates and man the flag stations, we’re making right turns in 750 horsepower machines that have the handling characteristics of a lead-lined brick. (more…)

Sunday racing was a full day. A wake up with Formula 1 followed by the showcase Indy 500 and close it down with NASCAR at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

F1 gave us a spin or two and a Kobayashi bunny hop at Monaco. A good start to the day. From Monaco to Indianapolis the racing went up a notch and was matched up in Charlotte with the Coca-Cola 600.

There might have been a phone call. “I’ll do it if you do it!”

We’re referring to Dario Franchitti and Tony Stewart. It is odd that on the same day two defending champions encounter the same incident, and relatively speaking, at the same location. Coming into the pits at Indy, Franchitti is clipped by E.J. Viso and is spun sideways in the pit stall. The extra time and damage check put him to the back of the field. Skip ahead to the Coca-Cola 600 and here comes Tony Stewart to the pit stall only to have Brad Keselowski make the bump sending “Smoke” around facing traffic. (more…)