NASCAR announced penalties and fines from the past race weekend today.  Among them, JR Motorsports and Haas CNC Racing.

The No. 66 car driven by Scott Riggs and the No. 70 car driven by Johnny Sauter were found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20-3.1.3A (wing mounting locations were not as specified by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book). The infractions were discovered May 24 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

As a result, Riggs and No. 66 car owner Joe Custer have been penalized 150 championship driver and 150 championship owner points, respectively, as have Sauter and No. 70 car owner Margaret Haas.  Both the crew chiefs and the car chiefs for the two cars – Bootie Barker and Derick Jennings for the No. 66 and Dave Skog and Thomas Harris for the No. 70 – have been suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, suspended from NASCAR until July 9 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Additionally, Barker and Skog have each been fined $100,000 apiece.

The penalty also includes NASCAR’s confiscation of team 66 Serial Number HMS 12 06 415 race car and team 70 Serial Number HMS 04 08 507 race car.

NASCAR announced today that Tony Eury Sr., crew chief for the No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Brad Keselowski, has been fined and placed on probation as have two members of the JR Motorsports team that were involved in a post-race altercation in the pit road impound area following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 24.

Eury Sr. was fined $1,000 and placed on probation until June 25, 2008 for violating Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 9-4A (the crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of his or her driver, car owner and team members) of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rule Book.

Additionally, JR Motorsports crew member Michael Sandlin will serve a one-race suspension from the NASCAR Nationwide Series and is suspended from NASCAR until June 4, 2008. He has been placed on probation until October 15, 2008 and also has been fined $1,500 for violating Section 12-4-A. Sandlin failed to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation.

Jordan Allen, another JR Motorsports crew member, also has been placed on probation until October 15, 2008 and fined $1,500 for being in violation of Section 12-4-A. Allen also failed to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation.

For the second week in a row, Kasey grabs the checkered at Lowes Motor Speedway.  Last Saturday night, in a race that came down to pit strategy, Kahne won the All-Star race after being voted in by the fans.  The win tonight proves that Kahne’s All-Star win wasn’t just a fluke.

I just received an interesting, albeit very short, release from Kentucky Speedway.  According to the release, Kentucky Speedway chairman, Jerry Carroll commented on the speedway hosting a Sprint Cup event in 2009.  “Our group is confident that comments made by Bruton Smith, and, our agreement, will continue to come to fruition.”

I can only guess that given SMI’s reputation of buying tracks for dates, Carroll has been getting some questions about the logic behind the deal.

Now, this poses a problem.  There are currently 36 dates on the calendar and, numerous times, drivers have commented that they would like to have more time off, not less.  This all but eliminates the possibility of adding an additional date to the calendar.  So, this means that one of the current dates would need to be moved.

It makes sense that only the SMI tracks are candidates for losing a date.  Looking at the list, I can’t see one that would be a good candidate to drop a date.  Now, the last time the Bruton Smith needed a Cup date, he bought Rockingham and he and Bob Bahre each took a date from the track effectively killing it.  That is, until Andy Hillenburg bought it last year and brought ARCA racing back to the track.  In case you’re keeping score at home, Texas Motor Speedway and New Hampshire were the tracks that benefited from the Rocks death.  New Hampshire was purchased last year by SMI.

I can’t help but wonder how Bruton Smith will pull this one off or if he even will.  As I mentioned yesterday, I’m not quite sure if this is good or bad for Kentucky Speedway.  Only time will tell.

Well, I haven’t decided if this one’s good or bad yet.  This is especially close to my heart as I live in Kentucky so, this is my home track in essence.  Man, oh man….  Humpy retired yesterday and this was announced today, coincidence?  I can’t help but to think of North Wilkesboro and Rockingham when SMI purchased both of them.  We all know how well that one worked out for the pair of NC tracks.  North Wilkesboro sits in ruin and Rockingham was saved only last year from the dozers.  In the interest of being fair, I’ll reserve judgement until more info is known.  I’ll post the full press release below for your review. 

jc

Courtesy: Kentucky Speedway Media

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 22, 2008) – Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE:TRK) has agreed to purchase Kentucky Speedway from Kentucky Speedway, LLC. The agreement was announced today by O. Bruton Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc.  The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Kentucky Speedway, which opened in 2000, hosts one NASCAR Nationwide Series event, one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, one IndyCar Series event and other racing events each year.  The speedway is located in Sparta, Ky., approximately one-half hour south of Cincinnati, Ohio. The speedway is easily accessible via modern highways.

Located on approximately 820 acres, Kentucky Speedway features a 1.5-mile tri-oval speedway, with chair-back grandstand seating for 66,089 spectators, 50 luxury suites with seats for approximately 2,000, 100 private RV spaces, 200 reserved camping spaces and 1,000 unreserved camping spaces. Kentucky Speedway regularly hosts near capacity crowds for its Nationwide Series events.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for our company to grow into a new market in a modern speedway facility. We continue to be committed to investing in the motorsports industry,” said Smith.

Smith added that he has offered Jerry Carroll, who was instrumental in the development of Kentucky Speedway, the opportunity to remain involved in its future operations.

Kentucky Speedway will join an outstanding lineup of SMI facilities. The company also owns and operates Atlanta Motor Speedway; Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.; Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.; Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in Loudon, N.H.; and Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth, Texas.

With this acquisition, the company will own race tracks in the West, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Southwest, including four of the nation’s top-10 metropolitan markets.

The breakdown includes: the sixth-largest market (Infineon/San Francisco); the fifth-largest market (Texas/Dallas-Ft. Worth); the seventh-largest market (New Hampshire/Boston); the ninth-largest market (Atlanta); the 24^th-largest market (Cincinnati); the 25^th-largest market (Lowe’s/Charlotte); the 41^st-largest market (Las Vegas); and the 92^nd-largest market (Bristol/Tri-Cities).

"While it is with sadness that I announce my retirement from Speedway Motorsports and Lowe’s Motor Speedway, it is time for me to move on to other things," said Wheeler. "I have devoted my entire life to racing and I don’t intend on leaving it, just serving it in different ways."

Any with those words, probably the greatest promoter ever in NASCAR calls it quits.  Humpy Wheeler announced his retirement today.  Humpy did state that he wasn’t leaving the sport and would start back up the "Humpy Show" which aired on Speed Channel earlier this year.

In reading some of the press surrounding the announcement, it appears that Humpy’s retirement is not completely his own idea.  SMI boss Bruton Smith didn’t even attend the press conference where Humpy made the announcement.

Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR

During the pre-race to the Sprint All-Star Race, Dale finally did it.  Dale Jarrett that is.  He drove the UPS truck sending the crowd wild.  It even looked like the big guy even shed a few tears.  Dale, who hasn’t raced since Bristol, declared the All-Star as his final with him retiring from the car and moving on to the broadcast booth.  I’ve really enjoyed watching Dale over the years.  Sadly, he’s one of the few remaining good old drivers and, I’m going to miss him. 

Dale has the perfect combination of class and skill.  Something that is often missing from the young guns today.  He’s the son of two time NASCAR Grand National Series Champion Ned Jarrett, so genetics didn’t hurt him either.  Dale entered then Winston Cup racing back in 1984 when he was just 27 years old although he didn’t race a full schedule until 1986.  Over the years, he’s driven for some of the greats.  The Wood Brothers, Cale Yarborough and he was the first driver recruited to drive for the brand new team formed by Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs back in 1992.  In recent years, he drove for Robert Yates Racing and most recently, Michael Waltrip Racing.

Dale’s a three time winner of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.  He won his first back in 1994 and went on to win in 1996 and 2000 as well.  In 1999, he won the Winston Cup Championship.  All in all, he’s had 668 starts with 32 wins, 163 Top 5’s and 260 Top 10’s.  That puts well over half of his starts as tenth or better finishes.  Boys and girls, I don’t care how you count it up, that’s pretty damn good.

One of my favorite moments in NASCAR was when Ned Jarrett was calling the 93 Daytona 500 and the excitement and pride in his voice as his son went on to win the race.  During those final laps, Ned stopped being a sportscaster and was a Dad, coaching his son onward to the checkered.  Take a few minutes and check this video out of it.  I watched it live in 93 and I’ve seen it probably a hundred times since but still enjoy watching it every time.

Dale Jarrett’s 93 Daytona 500 Win

I’ll miss Dale in the car but I can’t wait to see him in the booth.

Thanks Dale!

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

This past Saturday was the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Stars night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  As in past years, drivers not in the “big show” by virtue wins, past champion provisionals or by being a past All-Star winner participated in what was this year named the “Sprint Shootout”.  In the past, this has been an incredible little race, the real epitome of “go or go home” and has proven to have some incredible finishes.  My favorite one in recent years was in 2005 when Brian Vickers wrecked Mike Bliss just short of the checkered to snatch the win and thus, the transfer into the feature race from Bliss.

This year was another good one.  After netting the pole, Elliott Sadler’s night ended early when A.J. Almendinger took him out in lap 10.   Almendinger went on to win the race and advance to the feature.  Patrick Carpentier’s night was another short one.  He took himself out in turn 2 on lap 2.  The most impressive finish of the night was Sam Hornish Jr’s.  He had problems early on but went on to grab a second place finish.

Driver and team introductions are always a favorite part of the night for me.  No surprises there.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. was cheered and Kyle Busch was boo’d.  The Sprint Fan Vote winner ended up being Kasey Kahne.  Personally, my choice would have been Kyle Petty but, I couldn’t vote because I’m no longer a Sprint Wireless customer.  I could have went into a Sprint store but I didn’t feel like the hassle.  Now, I would have preferred a web voting method or a text message method open to all wireless carriers but I can’t complain too loud since it is, after all, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The Sprint All-Star race consisted of four 25 lap segments.  Fan Vote winner Kasey Kahne started out dead last.  There were zero cautions other than the ones between segments.  This almost seemed impossible with one million dollars on the line and no points to worry about.  It came as no surprise that Kyle Bush won the first segment.  He was strong, leading all 25 laps of the segment.  After all, this type of race seems to have been made for him.

On lap 39 in the second segment, Kyle’s Toyota started developing engine trouble and he lost the lead to Carl Edwards.  Carl then went on to win the second segment.  During the ten minute break between the second and third segment, Kyle’s team declared his night over due to the engine trouble.

After the break, Carl started the third segment leading but quickly lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. who went on to lead laps 51 through 64.  Greg Biffle was able to take the lead from Jr. when the handling went away from the 88 Chevy.  Greg went on to win the third segment with Jr. finishing second.

After the third segment, there was a mandatory pit stop.  Drivers and teams could elect to do a stop and go but the starting order of the last segment would be determined by the order they left pit road.  In an incredibly bold move, Kasey Kahne’s team opted not to take any tires and came out with Jimmie Johnson who did the same.  Starting order for the final segment was Johnson, Kahne, Hamlin, Biffle and Kenseth.  Out of the gate, Denny Hamlin took the lead and held it until lap lap 83 but became the third JGR car to develop engine troubles during the event.  Tony Stewart had swapped an engine after practice requiring him to move to the rear of the pack at the start of the race.  Kahne then took the lead and went on to stretch out that lead and bring it on home making him the first Fan Vote winner to win the All-Star race.

Here’s the finishing order for the main event. 

Courtesy: NASCAR Media Services

Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

If you attend a NASCAR event in order to get a little peace and quiet, you’re in the wrong place.

A particularly appropriate phrase comes to mind, but another Southern writer has already coined it. I’m not quite egomaniacal enough to compare myself to William Faulkner, but I am just brave enough to blatantly “borrow” from him, as NASCAR is the perfect contemporary definition of “The Sound and the Fury.”

Faulkner basically stole that line from William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” so I don’t feel all that guilty about my own random act of plagiarism.

Much ado has been made lately about the declarations of derision greeting driver Kyle Busch under the following conditions: 1) During driver introductions prior to any race in any series in which he is competing; 2) during victory lane celebrations after every race he wins (this happens a lot); and 3) pretty much anytime Busch is present at a NASCAR venue.

To make a long story short, Kyle Busch generates a lot of noise, not much of it positive.

In ballparks and stadiums all across the country, fans are more than willing to express their opinions of a particular player or team loudly and at great length. Cheers and spirits simultaneously soar in Indianapolis, for example, when Peyton Manning is introduced before a Colts game; galleries erupt each and every time one of Tiger Woods’ clubs makes contact with a golf ball.

Conversely, if an athlete is doing badly, spectators are quite prepared to let him know about it by opening up the cage and letting that boo-bird fly. After some of his experiences as a New York Yankee, I’m sure Alex Rodriguez would substantiate this statement.

We can pick and choose our favorites and foes, and hail or hiss them according to our moods and their own professional peaks and valleys, but generally speaking, the guys being booed are the losers. The underachievers. The ones who don’t quite deliver the goods.

Kyle Busch does not fall into this category. In fact, he regularly offers same-day delivery in all of NASCAR’s top three levels  — the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and of course, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He finishes what he starts. He is a winner.

This fact is not applauded. Rather, it is acknowledged with the loudest, most vociferous chorus of contempt conceivable from fans at every racetrack, every week. No one else’s disapproval rating even makes a blip on the radar screen. Once again, Busch blows away the competition.

Here’s the question: If Kyle Busch is an extremely gifted racer, which he is, and if he has the ability to go out on the track and compete for the win each week, which he does, where’s the love, people? Why all this negativity?

It hasn’t been so very long ago, after all, that a driver by the name of Dale Earnhardt was often criticized for being too brash, for racing too aggressively. The boo-bird flew shotgun with Earnhardt for years (probably because the poor thing was too intimidated to attempt an escape). He represented a villain, of sorts, until some whippersnapper named Jeff Gordon turned up and began taking him regularly to task on the track.

Suddenly, the worm had turned, and the bird flew the coop and followed it. Earnhardt was suddenly (and yes, deservedly) revered as a hero and an icon and the “greatest driver who ever lived”, while the guy winning all the trophies became the most reviled racer on the circuit.

You know, sort of a “boo”merang effect.

How time flies. Nowadays, the formerly villainous Gordon is enjoying his own turn at hero status and is the most successful active driver in NASCAR. He has already become a racing legend. His teammate Jimmie Johnson is the defending two-time champion.

Another of Gordon’s teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is NASCAR’s most popular driver, hands down. Still, a different guy has taken the lion’s share of the checkered flags so far this season.

It could almost give you reason to believe that in terms of NASCAR popularity, maybe it’s not the fact you’re winning that counts. Maybe it’s whom you’re beating that really matters.

So if Kyle Busch’s honorary mascot turns out to be the boo-bird, at least for the time being, is that really such a bad thing?

Nope, because despite much flapping of wings and almost constant squawking, together they’re flying high.

If you’ve ever been told that you have a face for radio and you love stock car racing, listen up.  I’m working on the final details for getting a weekly podcast together.  I have two hosts signed on (myself and another secret one) but I’d like to add a couple of more people to the roster for discussion panels.  You don’t need any big audio equipment to join in.  If you’re interested, post a comment to this article and I’ll get in touch with you with the details.

I thought I’d chime in here with my opinion, mainly because it annoys me that this is even being considered and also because I’ve been so quiet lately.  Several news sites, blogs and even Dale Jr. himself have made the comparison of Kyle Busch to the late great Dale Earnhardt.  This is because of his aggressive driving style of win or go home every lap.  After all, it was Dale who used to say that second place was the first looser.

As a huge fan of Dale’s, even back in the early days when he was fairly disliked by fans and fellow drivers alike, I think I take some offense to this.  Why do I just think that I take some offense, well, I’m not exactly sure.  As I set here, I do see a lot of the same characteristics in Kyle that pulled me to Earnhardt.  I guess it could be because I was about 11 years old when Dale entered the NASCAR scene back in 1979.  I’m a different person (although, the wife might not agree) than I was then.  Those same qualities that looked so cool back then may just not hold the same regard to me that they did.  Even the good book (Bible) tells us "When I was a child I spoke as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." I Cor. xiii. 11.

Kyle and Dale share a similar driving style, especially when considering Dale’s early days.  Dale would come up behind you and, if you didn’t get out of his way, he’d move you out.  If he wrecked you, he’d chalk it up to "That’s racin" or "Didn’t mean to spin him out, I just meant to rattle his cage"  In Dale’s early days, he would either win or wreck.  He just didn’t seem to like middle ground.  Kyle is similar but if not for the CoT, he’d have more DNFs this year than wins.  Kyle should write NASCAR thank you letters every week for the CoT.  I have lost track of how many saves he’s had that could have been attributed to the new car.  Heck, even last week, the way he was getting into the wall, he should have been out halfway through.  I personally don’t think that Kyle has gotten better as a driver, it’s just the car is so much more forgiving than the old design.

Now, personality is one place that they diverge.  Dale had that winning smile that, even if he had just caused the big one, you could look past that.  After all, he was Dale.  He embraced the nickname Intimidator and went on to basically invent motor sports souvenirs sales with that image.  During the driver introductions at Darlington last week, Kyle was harshly booed by the crowd.  He took his sunglasses off and pretended to wipe a tear from each eye.  Not quite the same.  Kyle is trying to live the "bad guy" image and not quite pulling it off.

In these days, I don’t think there will ever be another larger than life personality as big as Dale Earnhardt.  It seems like that every time some young gun comes along, he does good for a few years and then vanishes to the back of the pack.  I think the days of twenty year driving careers are over.  Once these guys loose their marketing appeal, they’re done.  Unless, of course, you’re Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Gosh, I miss Dale.  Although, I’m not sure he’d like what’s happened with his sport since he left us.