Is That Really A Dollar Sign in the Word NA$CAR?

Why is this question asked you say? After reading a recent article on NASCAR.com about the awards that were handed out in New York, I was shocked at how much money was given out for those separate awards. Some of these awards seem either far-fetched or just plain ridiculous. Don’t these drivers make enough money already with their sponsors? Here are some questions that I have about this whole awards fiasco:

1. Why would you get an award for being an announcer that has helped promote NASCAR? You are doing your job and getting paid for it. Yes, it is nice to get recognition for your contributions, but that healthy paycheck, your travel and accommodations paid for and not to mention getting to be at the track calling the race.

2. Chevrolet presented Johnson's wife with a 2007 Corvette? You don't think she drives a nice car already? I wonder what the trade-in value is for that Corvette.


3. Despite getting caught for so-called cheating at the beginning of the season, Chad Knaus still managed to receive the Crew Chief of the Year Award.

4. The engine department at Hendricks Motorsports received $107,000 for their engine building capabilities. Hmmm, I wonder how many people make up that department. Will they get the money or will it be just put back into the department funds? Yeah right but if you have 100 people in that department, each person gets roughly $1000 but then factor in taxes and you get around $720.

5. Are these awards taxed? Do they have to be claimed on their taxes? Not that they would see any difference.

6. Is this why the ticket prices for us loyal fans keep going up every year? It is like when a professional team has a big name on their team and has to pay big bucks to get him, the end result is jacking up the prices for tickets to help pay the payroll. Sound familiar?

7. What does it mean when they say that Jimmie Johnson received a scale replica of his No. 48 Chevrolet made from gold? Are we talking a 1:1 scale, or the diecast scale of either 1:18 or 1:24?

8. Only $50,000 for the Rookie of the Year award given to Hamlin? Heck, the one with the most Budweiser Poles gets $100,000. Is that fair?

9. Kenseth gets $75,000 for the fastest lap. Okay, what does that mean? Which track was he the fastest? He didn't appear that fast all the time. Can we get a little more specific NASCAR?

10. Two punch knockout for Citizen Kahne. He gets $100,000 for having the most poles during the season and then gets $101,000 for the Commit to Win Award. Is it me or do those two figures not look right? Was someone trying to out do the other? Was someone jealous?

11. Oh and here is just something totally outrageous, in that during the ceremony tonight, the NASCAR Foundation will have a Red Carpet Online Charity Auction for fans to bid on clothing and accessories worn by NASCAR celebrities at the Nextel Cup Series Awards Banquet in New York. Who wants a smelly t-shirt? Do I really need a tuxedo so when I go to all my social functions I can say, "Hey check out my new tux, it was worn by Kevin Harvick." Like someone is really going to believe you. Do you get a certificate of authenticity? I do hope that NASCAR does put the money towards the foundation.

12. What the heck is a Drive Thru Pit Award? You get $105,000 for being the most courteous driver when you are told by NASCAR that you are penalized for entering or exiting pit road too fast? Jimmie Johnson got this award. As my favorite comedian, Bill Engvall, says "I believe that the most courteous driver should be the one that throws his water bottle out his window while coming down pit road to serve his penalty and hits his crew chief right on the head." Robby Gordon should have been the winner.

13. Why are the awards given out just for the Top 10 and 11th place finishers? You don't think that some of those other teams below them had their shining moments. How about Fatback McSwain and his contributions to the #21 team? Scott Riggs as possibly the most improved driver or comeback story of the year despite missing the Daytona 500? How about Petty Enterprises? Let’s share the wealth.


Are the paychecks really warranted for these awards? Do they really need to have a dollar figure attached to them? Does it know you accomplished something worthy of recognition by a trophy with your name engraved on it? It just seems that NASCAR is all about the money and trying to be the #1 sports event. Wonder what the old veterans of the sport think?

Passing The Time During The Off-Season

So what do you do to occupy your time during the off-season and anxiously awaiting the start of testing and speed weeks at Daytona? It is difficult to realize the 2006 season is finished and now that the crews have some well deserved time off to spend with their friends and family. My Sundays now consist of watching the NFL and getting my honey-to-do-list finished before the snow up here in Connecticut hits. To be honest, I did accomplish some of those things during the races. Yes, yes, I know what kind of fan pulls him/herself away from the TV to work on such things as cleaning out the gutters or winterizing the house? Well, the races in the Chase were not really that exciting to watch and I did find myself channel surfing during the endless commercial breaks. Here are some things that might help you pass the time during the off-season:

1. Put up those Christmas decorations.
2. Get the car ready for the winter weather.
3. Visit the website www.racetalkradio.com and check out the live broadcasts during the week, there is something for everyone to listen to and you can even phone in and be a part of the show.
4. Or do you like to do donuts? Then you have to check out www.doindonuts.com you never know what to expect.
5. For great editorials, go to Dennis Michelson's site at www.stockcarpitpass.com and Mike Harper's Spin Out Zone at www.spinoutzone.com
How about doing that paint project that you have been putting off.
7. Do you have a fireplace? Then what are you waiting for, get out there and start splitting and stacking that wood.
8. If you own a website, like me, make sure you are working on it a little at a time to be ready for the start of the 2007 Season.
9. Possibly do some EBay shopping.
10. Catch up with old friends that you lost touch with in the past.
11. Follow your favorite NFL football team.

There are probably things that I am forgetting so please chime in and share your thoughts. I hope you and your families had a wonderful thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I will be traveling to New Jersey today for the holiday weekend down at my sisters. I will be back next week so I will be taking a break from blogging.

I hope you and your families have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Make sure to eat plenty of turkey and don't forget the dessert.

The Final Streak Of The 2006 Season

It is time to say goodbye to the 2006 season and get ready for the Daytona 500 in February of 2007. Can you tell I am happy that this so called silly season is over and done with? Jimmie has his crown and gets to sit high on the thrown for the next year as the 2006 Nextel Cup Champion; it is still hard to say Nextel. As expected, the race at Homestead was not one of the more exciting races we have had this year. One finds themselves getting bored watching all the drivers, with the exception of Harvick, avoid Jimmie like the plague. No one wants to be labeled as the driver that ruined the wedding. This is one of the many problems with the Chase format. Maybe NASCAR will put on their thinking caps this off season instead of the dunce caps and perhaps come up with a way to solve the issues revolving around the Chase.

Thank goodness we have football to fill the gap during the off season. We can take time to recharge and get ready for 2007. People can now get those home projects started that they have been putting off on the weekends and even perhaps take in some golf, yeah right.

Here are the last bare facts of the 2006 season. It has been a pleasure to write these articles over the season and I do look forward to being back again next year. I am not a writer for any magazine or corporation. I just put my thoughts down here to share with everyone and I am always open to feedback.

- We all knew that Jimmie had a point’s lead of more then 60 points but how many times did we have to hear it in the Countdown To Green pre-race show? That topic was beaten so much it was a well done steak.

- Since when does a Miss Florida get to read the invocation? Is she an ordain minister? How did she make it through her question and answer portion of her pageant when she has to use index cards to read the invocation.

- Bravo to the American Idol winner Taylor Hicks for his rendition of the National Anthem.

- Hard to believe that Ryan Newman couldn't see that rookie strip that went all around the #30 car of Juan Montoya.

- Keep your fingers crossed for some better marketing commercials next year and that the elephant and the spooky girl do not return. What is that slogan? Oh yes, it's the windows. I hope breaking one doesn't mean 7 years bad luck.

- Do you think that Mark Martin would have been a good contestant on the TV game show "To Tell The Truth"

- Can people give it a rest about how it is about time that Jimmie Johnson finally won the Championship? He has only been driving in the cup series for 5 years. How do you think Mark Martin feels after his 24 seasons in the cup series without a championship?

- Welcome to the Nextel Cup Montoya despite the BBQ grill that was lit by Ryan Newman.

- Farewell NBC and welcome ABC/ESPN.

- Denny Hamlin finishes 3rd in the point standings. He is the only rookie to finish that high in the standings. He knocked Tony Stewart off of that stat when Tony finished 4th in the standings in his rookie season. Just to be fair to Tony, he was under the old points system.

- What happened to Jeff Gordon? Looks like Hendricks dumped everything into the #48. Jeff was running in the back all day and that worthless effort to try and block for JJ was just plain ridiculous.

- Congratulations to Greg Biffle on this 3rd straight win at Homestead. Just one of those important things that got over looked due to all the hype of JJ winning the cup. Like Rodney Dangerfield, Greg gets no respect.


We close the book on this season and now it is time to gather our thoughts about what will happen in 2007. Toyota will be entering the series. Numerous drivers shifting teams. NASCAR possibly changing the Chase rules, again. You never know what to expect in the wild world of NASCAR.

Have a great off season everyone and Happy Thanksgiving.

Woke Up This Morning...

Maybe we need to call in the Soprano's to have a talk with Brian France and NASCAR to get some of the following issues resolved:

1. Is it that the fans have had enough with NASCAR? Perhaps this is true. One problem is that the season is just too long. We start racing around Valentine's Day and don't finish up until close to Thanksgiving. The only other sport that comes close to that length in time is baseball but it is like comparing apples to oranges. These teams are on the road so much that it is no big surprise that most of them have personnel issues on the homefront and then you have the changing of the crew during the season.. NASCAR says it is about family but lets be real, these guys don’t see their families and when the season does end, they are back working in the shops getting ready for testing which starts in about 2 months. Lets face reality though, if they did shorten the season, the tracks along with the teams would lose money.

2. NASCAR has become a big business within the past several years and yes I did say business. It is all about the dollar sign and not about the fans. Did you know that half of the races this season were not sellouts? California, who wanted so desperately a second race and took it from Darlington, failed to sell out both of their races. Heck, even the Brickyard 400 failed to sell out this year and was the smallest crowd in its 13 year history. I am not saying the fans will not show up at the races, I know I will pay the high price of tickets to go see a race or two but it does cost money to go to the races and the prices keep going up. It is even getting expensive to go to the Busch races and you can thank the Busch whackers for that one.

3. Fans watching the races on TV have fallen lower then those of 2005. This years Daytona 500 did have a record viewing audience of over 12.5 million but we do have to remember that this race is like the NFL's Superbowl and is one of the most watched events in any sport. This is in part due to the races starting later in the afternoon and going into the evening hours. People just lose interest in watching it. Also helping the falling of the ratings in the poor job of broadcasting in NBC. I have mentioned it time and time before that Bill Weber is an awful guy to have in the booth and it shows with the ratings. Perhaps with ESPN/ABC coming onboard next year, it will improve, it can only get better.

4. What about having the races shortened from the 400 and 500 miles to 300 miles? We have found ourselves watching a long race of 500 miles and wondering if it will ever end and then we end up starting to channel surf or doing something around the house that is on the "honey-to-do list." Another thing to take into consideration with this is that the engines are taking a beating over 500 miles revving rpm’s of over 9300, you try driving your car like that and see what happens to the family Chrysler Town and Country.

5. Could it be that the fans are just tired of seeing the major teams dominate? We are all not fans of Hendrick, Roush, Childress, and Evernham which have the resources that some of the smaller teams don't. NASCAR did come up with a possible answer with the Car of Tomorrow. There are people out there that doubt it will make a difference but we just have to wait and see. This car is promising to make the racing closer, more exciting, and fun to watch but time will only tell.

All in all, with the COT and its side by side and bumper to bumper action coupled with a shorter schedule and the meaningless laps during the middle of a race could keep the fan base from dwindling down even further. NASCAR needs to make its move quickly. Just a thought, how would the owners of the teams react to issues if they had totalk to Tony Soprano? Silence is golden.