Well, we’re just a few hours away from the start of Richmond.  Since qualifying was rained out on Friday, the starting order was determined by championship points.  Bill Elliot used the past champions provisional to get the Wood Brothers  entry in the field.  Tony Raines in the #34, Sterling Marlin in the #09 both missed the field.  Also missing the field was Joey Logano in the Home Depot #02.  This was to be his Sprint Cup debut. 

Those three are all listed as DNQs but it doesn’t seem quite right listing them that way since they were unable to turn a lap.  I would imagine that as a team member, this would be frustrating.   I mean, if you work your tail off, you’ve done the best that you can do and miss the field by qualifying, that would suck but at least you know that you did what you could to get in.  Setting the field by points would just be tough on morale.  Again, you’ve done everything that you could.  You think you’ve hit all your marks but no one will ever know because you didn’t even get to run a lap.

At some time in the near future (probably over the off season), I’ll probably do a rant on the whole qualifying system and how it could be improved but we’ve got much better things to talk about this week.  Here’s how the starting grid lines up this week.

I just checked the National Weather Service and here’s the updated Richmond, VA area forecast.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 89. Calm wind becoming northwest between 5 and 8 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. Calm wind.

Looks like, at least for now, the Sunday rescheduled day for the Sprint and Nationwide races should be good.  I just posted the updated ESPN and MRN schedules for both events.  The good news is that both will be covered live. 

Personally, I’m not a big fan of Sunday evening races due to the Monday morning day job but a Sunday evening races beats a Monday afternoon race anytime in my book.

CONCORD, N.C. (Sept. 5, 2008) – MRN Radio will provide live, flag-to-flag coverage of both of Sunday’s postponed NASCAR races at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Air time for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Sprint Cup Series race is 12 p.m. (EDT).  It’s the final chance for drivers to secure spots in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup that will crown the 2008 champion.  Later Sunday, the Emerson Radio 250 Nationwide Series race will air live on MRN Radio starting at 6:30 p.m.

“Although the weather has dramatically altered the schedule in Richmond, we want our many loyal listeners to know that they won’t have to miss a single lap of either event,” said MRN Radio President David Hyatt.

And there will be racing on MRN Radio Saturday.  The network is scheduled to air live coverage of the Camping World 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race from Madison, Ill.  Coverage will begin at 2 p.m. (EDT).

Although competitors in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series were able to practice some on Friday in Richmond, Tropical Storm Hanna settled in over the speedway and forced the postponement of both Friday’s and Saturday’s race.  Qualifying for both series also was washed out, putting a pair of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers on the pole in their respective events: Kyle Busch in the Cup Series and Joey Logano in Nationwide.

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ABOUT MRN RADIO

MRN Radio – now based in Concord, N.C. – is a division of International Speedway Corporation and the primary source for NASCAR stock car racing and related radio programming.  Its award-winning play-by-play coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is delivered via satellite to over 700 radio stations nationwide plus the American Armed Forces Radio Network.  This makes MRN Radio the largest independent sports radio network in America.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
John Singler
News Production
The Motor Racing Network (MRN Radio)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5, 2008

ESPN Networks Will Have Live Coverage of Rescheduled NASCAR Races from Richmond

ESPN will have live coverage of the rescheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock and Roll 400 Sunday from Richmond International Raceway. The telecast starts at 1 p.m. ET.  The race was postponed to Sunday due to effects from Tropical Storm Hanna.

ESPN2 will have live coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race from Richmond that will be run Sunday night. The telecast begins at 6:30 p.m. with NASCAR Countdown, with the race to start at 7 p.m. The race was originally scheduled to be run Friday night.

Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN’s latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.

About NASCAR on ESPN:
ESPN and ABC have comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All programming is produced totally in high definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network’s award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 18 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

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Contacts:       Andy Hall
                George McNeilly

NASCAR has released a revised schedule for Richmond.  Thankfully, they opted not to subject fans to misery tomorrow during the storms trying to wait out events.  Check and adjust your TiVo’s accordingly!

RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY 2008

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES

REVISED SCHEDULE as of 5:45 PM, 9/5/08

Friday, September 5TH

  NNS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS) LINE UP SET, PER THE RULEBOOK

5:45 PM  NNS DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MEETING (TENT)
6:05 PM   NSCS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS – ALL POSITIONS) LINE UP SET, PER THE RULEBOOK
6:00 PM  NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES
6:00 PM  NSCS REGISTRATION CLOSES
7:00 PM  NSCS GARAGE CLOSES
  NNS RACE (250 LAPS, 187.5 MILES) POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY

Saturday, September 6TH

ALL TRACK ACTIVITIES ARE POSTPONED DUE TO TROPICAL STORM HANNA

Sunday, September 7TH

7:30 AM  NSCS REGISTRATION OPENS
8:00 AM  NSCS GARAGE OPENS
9:00 AM  NSCS SELECT PITS
10:00 AM TRACK SERVICES MEETING
11:00 AM  NSCS DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MEETING (TENT)
12:00 N   NSCS ** HOT PASS IN EFFECT – UNTIL ONE HOUR AFTER RACE **
12:30 PM   NSCS DRIVERS INTRODUCTIONS-SECURITY – CLEAR PIT ROAD
1:00 PM   NSCS RACE (400 LAPS, 300 MILES)
2:00 PM  NSCS REGISTRATION CLOSES
3:00 PM   NNS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
6:30 PM   NNS DRIVER INTRODUCTION-SECURITY –CLEAR PIT ROAD
7:00 PM  NNS RACE (250 LAPS, 187.5 MILES)
8:00 PM  NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES
  
9/5/08   ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN EASTERN

Normally, it wouldn’t be a story if a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver lost his temper especially on one of the short tracks like Richmond.  This time, it involved the normally happy go lucky, Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears.  On lap 355, Casey Mears cut up into Michael’s 55 Napa Toyota, pinching him into the wall.  Waltrip, obviously frustrated hits the accelerator, pushing Mears for a good bit down the track.  At the time, Michael was a lap down and he admitted later that he lost his cool.  Well, as soon as I saw it happen, I predicted that a trip to the NASCAR trailer was in Michael’s future.  I was, however, surprised when NASCAR parked him for the remainder of the race.

I consider myself a fan of Michael’s even before and since he left DEI.  This guy can’t catch a break.  Dale Earnhardt Sr. saw Michael’s talent which is why he brought him into DEI in the first place.  With DEI’s equipment, Michael saw his most successful career years so far.  I was hoping that with Toyota’s backing, he could keep that momentum going with MWR but so far, he can’t get ahead of the curve and stay there.

By doing what he did, he assured that his Napa Toyota would be included in the replay reels for Richmond even when he wasn’t going to have a stellar finish.  Good move or bad move?

After watching the race last night, one has to wonder if Kyle Busch made it home safely last night.  It was, after all the 72nd race that Dale Jr. had started only to go home winless.  After Denny Hamlin developed a leak in a right front tire, Jr was able to secure the lead with Kyle Busch running second.  Then, on lap 396 I believe, while the two were battling for the lead, Kyle appeared to raise up into Jr, sending him spinning and eliminating any hope of Dale Jr seeing victory lane.

That’s not where the controversy is after all, it’s racing.  I watched the replay several times and it almost appears that Kyle Busch is in control of his car the whole time.  When the two initially come together, Busch appears to drive ever so slightly up into Earnhardt Jr., at almost the exact spot it would take to spin him without harming Busch.  Fox commentators all agreed that Busch got loose even after Larry Mac initially observed the same front tire wiggle that I did and commented that it worried him.  Even with the incident, Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 15th leaving him third in points.

During the post-race press conference, Kyle Busch was asked about the incident.

"Oh, yeah.  I feel it’s like that.  I mean, everybody probably is racing around the racetrack scared to death of wrecking Dale Earnhardt, Junior, so why wouldn’t I be any different?

You know that was just A product of good, hard racing.  I apologize that that happened, and I hated that it did.  Fortunately he didn’t get hurt and nothing like that happened, so he was able to continue.  He’ll see another day of racing.

You know, to say that I took away a win away from him, you know, it’s hard to say.  And if I wanted to do it deliberately, I would have waited for the last lap where I probably could have still won the race.

You know, there’s a way that it happened and I hated that it did.  We just didn’t give each other enough room getting into turn three and, you know, I didn’t    I didn’t feel like I slipped, but I mean, we just kind of banged simultaneously, and then that’s when I got loose and got corrected and he was gone. "

I was glad to see Mark Martin driving the number 8 DEI car keep Busch busy on the Green/White/Checkered restart so that Boyer could secure the win for RCR in what was otherwise a stellar night of racing at Richmond.

I bet the buzz this week is the Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch incident even up to Darlington.  What do you think?  Leave a comment and let everyone know.

(Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

CONCORD, N.C. (April 29, 2008)-Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) driver Dario Franchitti was re-evaluated this week by his doctors and will sit out this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race at Richmond International Raceway (RIR).  NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader will drive the No. 40 Kennametal Dodge on Saturday for the 400-lap event. 

Franchitti was seen by Dr. Terry Trammel and Dr. Kevin Scheid in Indianapolis, Ind. on Monday.  The doctors confirmed the slight fracture in Franchitti’s left ankle.  Franchitti will be fitted for a carbon fiber brace later this week.  His status behind the wheel of the No. 40 Dodge will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

Schrader is confirmed to race for CGRFS in Richmond only.  Franchitti will also be in Richmond with the No. 40 team.

Source: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates News Release