Cup Series <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2411249> Richmond Tonight!!
Pretty good race. It's amazing how much better the show is on a great track like Richmond. Too bad there was so much booing at the end. Kyle is the best wheelman in NASCAR and fans need to start appreciating his talent and desire to win. He reminds me of Junior Johnson, another guy who wasn't too user-friendly but had an obssession with putting his car at the point.
Another great Short Track race! No surprise there. I'm no fan of Kyle, but the kid does have Talent. With both Pasta Boy and 'No Neck' Newman in the top 5, Nice to see Team Smoke have a great finish as well. One more caution flag, and I think Smoke gets the win. To top it all off, Gordo retakes the lead for the Point Standings. Not a bad bounce back after the lap Seven 'Dega wreck. I agree with the Junior Johnson comparisons. The kid wins in anything he touches. From the rumor mill .... My sources tell me that Junior may leave HMS next year returning to DEI in a deal which gives him >50% interest in the new company. Stay tuned, race fans. - Spydertrader
Another great race weekend. Call me a tradionalist, but the Southern 500 belongs on Labor Day Weekend. Whatever they want to call this race, by any name, it provided excitement. At fifty years old, Martin tamed the 'Lady in Black' - while showing everyone he continues to run a championship caliber season. Team Smoke - again finished well placing Smoke only a handlful of points out of the Championship lead. Pasta Boy even looks thinner than Newman now! Johnson and Gordo battled back from falling one lap off the pace for top five finishes as well. Speaking of HMS teams, Junior continues to have difficulty finding his pit stall. Even the 'rookie' Keselowki ran to a seventh place finish. We have the All Star race next weekend. - Spydertrader
Couldn't agree more about the Southern 500. If it isn't on Labor Day, it should be the concluding race of the year. Shouldn't the Cup championship be decided on the toughest track, not a no-tradition track like Homestead?
All Star Week <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2427391> The #31 Team wins the Pit Crew Challenge. Yawn I attended this event (formerly known as The Winston) a few years back (the year Gordo won in his back up car because NASCAR started the race while the rain fell in turns one and two wrecking ten cars before they had raced 1/4 of a lap), and I can honestly say, I cannot think of a bigger waste of time than racing at Charlotte two weeks in a row. While I enjoyed the event, I'd never want to return. It's one of them deals where you think to yourself, "Well, at least I get to say I went once." Darlington loses a race, North Wilksboro closes shop, and the Southern 500 falls on Mothers Day Weekend, but NASCAR feels that running this 'made for T.V.' circus where the rules change every single year, represents a grand idea. Ugh! - Spydertrader
Nice to hear (I didn't watch the race, but did catch a few of the replays) Smoke grabbed his first win as an Owner / Driver Saturday Night. Good for him. Keep a watch out for court filings as Jeremy Mayfield and NASCAR continue to give each other the 'stink eye' over this drug testing nonesense. I've never seen anything quite like it to be honest. NASCAR to ALL Drivers: "We are now testing for illegal and banned substances." ALL Drivers: "What substances are illegal or banned?" NASCAR: "We won't tell you." NASCAR to JM: "You failed a drug test." JM: "What substance?" NASCAR: "We won't tell you." WTF kind of circus is this? Sorta' reminds me of Tim Richmond .... - Spydertrader
Cup Series <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2440501> Congrats to David Reutimann on his first ever NASCAR win at the Cup Level. Way to roll the dice and steal a victory from the big name teams. - Spydertrader
Tony George ousted by own family as CEO of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Humpy Wheeler possible replacement.?.? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/bruce_martin/05/27/Tony_George/?eref=sircrc INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony George, who was able to outlast his open-wheel racing adversaries in CART and later Champ Car, has been ousted as the CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by his own family, SI.com has learned. An announcement by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation will be made Wednesday afternoon that says George's tenure is over after he was voted out of power in a board meeting Tuesday night. The IMS board of directors includes George's mother, Mari Hulman-George; sisters Josie, Nancy and Kathy Conforti, Indianapolis attorney Jack Snyder and George. IMS officials have not issued any comment on the matter but a Speedway source said an official announcement will be made later Wednesday. While George will no longer be in power of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he remains the CEO of the IndyCar Series. He began the Indy Racing League in 1994, which began competition in 1996 starting a bitter open-wheel racing civil war. At that time, teams from CART comprised most of the lineup of the Indianapolis 500, but with the advent of the IRL, those teams boycotted the world's biggest auto race. But with last year's financial collapse, George's sisters expressed concern that he had spent much of the family fortune on propping up the IndyCar Series as well as on dramatic changes to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to accommodate an ill-fated alliance with Formula One. SpeedTV's Robin Miller estimates George has spent more than $600 million during the last 13 years. Rumors about a family takeover by his sisters were heard throughout the month of May at the Indianapolis 500, although none of those involved would go on the record to talk about the Hulman-George feud. George's wife, Laura, lost her job as a staff advisor at the Speedway a few weeks ago. George had turned the day-to-day controls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over to Joie Chitwood, III, who became president five years ago and stepped away from running the IRL in 2005 when he started his own IndyCar team, Vision Racing. The IRL is run by Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, while George remained the CEO. But it was George who finally helped end the open-wheel racing war when he reached an agreement with Kevin Kalkhoven of Champ Car in 2008. Champ Car agreed to cease operation with its teams joining IndyCar. George made the transition easier by giving the Champ Car teams free cars and engines for the 2008 season. Those teams had to pay for their equipment in 2009. George was named president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in January 1990. He attempted to buy CART in 1991 but was quickly turned down by the rival car owners. George also broke with tradition by bringing NASCAR to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the Inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994. He brought Formula One to the track with the United States Grand Prix in 2000. An interim replacement will be named. Former Lowe's Motor Speedway president and general manager Humpy Wheeler attended his first Indianapolis 500 since 1969 on Sunday, and when asked if he would be interested in being a consultant for either the Speedway or the IndyCar Series, Wheeler said, "Yes, I would consider that." Wheeler spent close to 40 years trying to promote the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race as the biggest of the day on Memorial Day Weekend, but even he admitted that was futile. NASCAR may be the biggest racing series in the United States, but the Indianapolis 500 remains an event of historic proportions. "Catching this race and passing it while I was alive would be impossible," Wheeler admitted. "Having to run on the same day was the tough thing. I did think when the races were spread out a little bit and guys could run both on the same day added some drama to everybody's day. That was fun." It was Wheeler's first Indy 500 since he worked for Firestone from 1964-69. Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood III invited Wheeler and his wife to be his guest for this year's Indy 500 as the Speedway celebrates its Centennial. Wheeler was ousted as the president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway and at Speedway Motorsports, Inc. last year. The 2008 Coca-Cola 600 was Wheeler's final race at the helm of the track in Concord, North Carolina. Although rumors were rampant that George was at odds with his sisters, little did anyone expect he would also be ousted two days after the 93rd Indianapolis 500.
Cup Series <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2443983> Eury Jr. Out As Crew Chief