Sprint Cup 2011: Race 24: Beatin' and Bangin' at Bristol!

A famous Charles Dickens line describes the fate of Stewart-Haas racing entering tonight’s 500 lap demolition derby at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman sits on the poll while Tony Stewart, who blew his qualifying attempt and enters via owner’s points starts 42 down with the slugs and screwballs. With three races left to go, Newman looks close to certain to make “The Chase” in 7^th place with one win. Tony Stewart is clinging to the top ten in 10^th place just 14 points above Clint Bowyer. Newman is poised to run well tonight while Stewart will have to kiss lady luck and race with reckless abandon to improve his prospects. Drivers don’t generally win from deep, deep in the field when racing in Thunder Valley.

The competition for making “The Chase” has two separate paths. The first is which drivers who will remain winless will make the show. Currently, that would involve Dale Earnhardt Jr. (700 pts.) and his pal, Tony Stewart (694 pts.) in the top 10. With Clint Bowyer (670 pts.), Greg Biffle (636 pts.) or more remotely, A.J. Allmendinger (632 pts), all need strong results or a win to make the field. The second path is for the two Wild Card spots, Brad Keselowski who has suddenly become a serious mature driver not the pain-in-the-ass buck toothed kid is red hot and has two wins. He’s almost certainly in. Denny Hamlin would be the second driver to get in with one win in 14^th place. He’s competing with Paul Menard, 18^th and David Regan, 20^th to make the field with one win. Hamlin (635 pts.) is frustrated and not racing well leads Menard (617 pts.) by only 18 points while David Regan (604 pts.) lurks another 13 points behind. Any of these three drivers could secure their fate by winning a second race.

Few tracks demonstrate better the need to eliminate the absurd start and park entries and reduce the field to a committed, competitive field. Three trash heaps did not make the field. They take their trash home without taking a green flag. Meanwhile, the following drivers conspire to destroy the legitimacy of their sport, showing up, running a few laps, getting in the way of competing drivers who start to lap the field very quickly on the fast high banked half mile short track. The potential trash heaps start with the most flagrant offender who will try to elicit sympathy and nice-guy the sports world to death for his situation, Joe Nemechek starts 28^th.  Casey Mears starts 29^th – will he or won’t he? His ride adds a new dimension to start and park foolishness since he has a highly recognized sponsor, GEICO, on his rear quarter panels. David Stremme (#30) occupies 31^st while Michael McDowell the avatar for Phil Parson’s rip-off scheme starts the #66 car in 32^nd.  The next trash heaps are entered in 36^th and 37^th, Scott Speed (#46) and David Starr (#95). The travesty continues with Robby Gordon (#7) who may or may not compete. Terry Labonte used the Past Champion’s provisional to make the field in car #32 in 41^st. He’s engaged in defrauding his sport earlier this year. Will he pull off in this race? He should kiss his almost sure shot at entering the NASCAR Hall of Fame as a two time champion for disgracing the sport that so honored him. Meanwhile, the aged whiner, Mike Skinner (#60) starts in dead last.  All these drivers will take home a decent paycheck for doing absolutely NOTHING adding to the millions paid to non-competitors.  The game NASCAR and its media partners are playing, hoping no one will notice by keeping quiet is a disgusting joke. At a track with limited pit space especially, these teams are trashing up the field diluting true competition. That the sport condones this destroys the integrity of the sport. Such is life in NASCAR since the passing of Bill France Jr.

Here’s how the top of the field lines up:

1-      Ryan Newman, #39, Chevrolet

2-      Carl Edwards, #99, Ford

3-      Matt Kenseth, #17, Ford

4-      Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet

5-      Mark Martin, #5, Chevrolet

6-      Jamie McMurray, #1, Chevrolet

7-      Paul Menard, #27, Chevrolet

8-      Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge

9-      Joey Logano, #20, Toyota

10-  Kurt Busch, #22, Dodge

11-  Marcos Ambrose, #9, Ford

12-  Regan Smith, #12, Chevrolet

13-  Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet

14-  Greg Biffle, #16, Ford

15-  Kevin Harvick, #29, Chevrolet

Meanwhile, Kyle Busch who currently leads the points standings and has four victories heading for the top seed in the chase, winner of last night’s Nationwide race, starts 23^rd. Oh by the way, for those who think he’s not been much of a factor so far this year, Jimmie Johnson is in 2^nd place in points, but his Chase seeding would go behind the drivers who have two or more victories, Kevin Harvick with three wins and the following top ten drivers with two: Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. Does anybody think Johnson might just sneak in a win to put himself higher up, possibly 3^rd in the seedings?

Other drivers of note show Clint Bowyer (#33) starting 16^th, Denny Hamlin (#11) starts 20^th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) starts 22^nd.

While Hurricane Irene hammers folks to the east, the weather should be perfect for racing tonight, clear skies with temperatures in the low 60’s.

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Sprint Cup 2011: Race 23 -- Back to Motown

First, here’s to the “Thunder from Down Under,” Marcos Ambrose, who not only won his first Sprint Cup race last Sunday at Watkins Glen but he also nabbed a Nationwide Trophy for another road course victory at Montreal. Now, like Juan Pablo Montoya, when will he get his first oval win?

The victory is a much needed boost for the fortunes of Richard Petty Motorsports who’ve only seen victory lane with departed driver, Kasey Kahne.

NASCAR security should be checking to see if Boris Said is in the stands at Michigan today or if any of his Said-Heads are armed. The reason, Greg Biffle, the subject of Said’s fury after a run-in on the track last week, sits on the pole. Biffle is generally a strong chase contender in desperate need of some solid performances if he’s going to participate this year.

The top starters have a characteristic heavy Roush presence and other Michigan top performers atop today’s starting field. The one noteworthy exception is Carl Edwards starting in 22^nd perhaps showing the wisdom of racing in both Nationwide and Sprint Cup when the races are at separate venues the same weekend is not a good idea.

Here are today’s top starters:

1-      Greg Biffle, #16, Ford

2-      Matt Kenseth, #17, Ford

3-      Ryan Newman, #39, Chevrolet

4-      Denny Hamlin, #11, Toyota

5-      Mark Martin, #5, Chevrolet

6-      Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge

7-      David Ragan, #6, Ford

8-      Dale Earnhardt Jr., #88, Chevrolet

9-      Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet

10-  Jamie McMurray, #1, Chevrolet

11-  Paul Menard, #27, Chevrolet

12-  David Reutiman, #00, Toyota

13-  Kurt Busch, #22, Dodge

14-  Kasey Kahne, #4, Toyota

15-  Martin Truex, #56, Toyota

16-  Marcos Ambrose, #9, Ford

17-  Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota

18-  Tony Stewart, #14, Chevrolet

19-  Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet

20-  Trevor Bayne, #21, Ford

The pressure is on Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart who are winless so far this season. They must maintain or improve their current position in the points standings at #9 and #10 or lose out for their seed in to fight for the championship. Clint Bowyer is in 11^th, 28 points out but is likewise winless. Denny Hamlin, 12^th in points with one win and Brad Keselowski who gained four positions last week and owns two wins would be the second wild card, 14^th in the standings. Paul Menard is in 15^th win one win. He probably needs another win to get in as a wild card with today’s race, Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond remaining. Marcos Ambrose and David Ragan in 22^nd and 23^rd each have a win but must move up into the top 20 to be eligible. They have two hurdles to jump for their participation, another win and moving into the top 20 which the points differential should allow with good finishes. If Hamlin moves into the top 10 in points, he’ll open up another wild card spot. He’s 33 points out of the top ten. Keselowski is more likely to remain a wild card given he has more than a 50 point deficit to make up to enter the top 10.

The usual gang of slugs has shown up to accept their NASCAR welfare checks. Among those going home is Erik Darnell who possibly could have been a competitor, but is a marginal team at best. There are at least five sure bets to pull off the track including #60 Mike “the whiner” Skinner; #87 Joe “the wreck” Nemechek; and #66 Todd “the clod” Bodine. We report gladly, that Robby Gordon’s surrogate, Johnny Sauter did not make the field.

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The 2011 Orioles have all but assured the fans of Baltimore they will lose at lease 90 games but after tonight’s loss are now on pace to lose 100. If one were to lay odds on the outcome at the end of the season, the smart money would go on at least 100 losses.

Okay, they’re not the 1988 Orioles that lost 107 games and started the season with a 21 game losing streak. Statistically, it’s hard to imagine a season that bad would be repeated; however, expectations were very low for the team which was clearly in rebuild mode. 1Perhaps the most painful year was 1986. Earl Weaver had been coaxed out of retirement the previous season to attempt to put the fire back in a team that looked complacent. 1986 started off well enough, but with an aging nucleus and having players who clearly were as far from the Oriole Way (an obsolete concept on how players prepared for their game) most notably druggie 2^nd baseman Alan Wiggins. August 6, 1986 will be an eternal dark date in Orioles history. A steamy humid night with thunderstorms in the air, the Orioles hit two grand slams but lost 13-11 against the Texas Rangers. They collapsed from 2^nd place hot in contention to last place. Weaver had never known a losing career nor finishing in last place.

In hindsight, as horrible as those painful seasons in the 1980’s were, nobody had a clue just how bad, bad could be. Last year’s Orioles were dreadful, no question thing, heading toward perhaps a historically bad season playing .278 baseball, 15-39 upon the dismissal of hapless manager, Dave Trembley. In early August, Buck Showalter was hired as skipper. Suddenly, the young team with some firm leadership came together going 34-23 for the last two months, a .596 pct.

Following GM, Andy McPhail’s blue print, raise the pitching buy the bats, with what appeared to be a strong young rotation finding its pace, the team added Derrick Lee at 1B, J.J. Hardy at SS, Mark Reynolds at 3B, and Vladmir Guerrero at DH. None of these players were likely superstars but all were proven offense generators who’d upgrade the team. However, after winning five of their first six games, quickly the promise of a team that was looking like a sure bet to finally have a winning season, familiar frustration get in getting progressively more frustrating as the season progressed. Brian Matusz who showed so much promise was dispatch to the DL. Brian Roberts suffered a concussion against Boston from a head first slide on May 16^th seeming to gut the team of its spark. All young starters spare Jake Arrieta spent substantial time in Norfolk or Bowie. Arrieta struggled more going deeper into the season heading to the DL for season ending elbow surgery. As June passed into July, it was looking clear, the Orioles were heading to their 14^th losing season. Mark Reynolds lived up to his reputation, hitting lots of homeruns but also striking out frequently. J.J. Hardy has proven one of the season’s few bright spots hampered by some nagging injuries, but Derrick Lee was a total bust aside from showing the team how first base is fielded properly. He was traded to Pittsburgh. Vladmir Guerrero gets his hits but his power and RBI bat are gone!

A sickly revelation is setting in throughout Birdland. This is not an up and coming young team right on the verge of being a winner. It’s a team with huge gaps and many unanswered questions. This much is known, the Orioles could claim the following players as a strong nucleus: Shortstop, J.J. Hardy; Centerfielder, Adam Jones; Right fielder, Nick Markakis; and Catcher, Matt Wieters. With no return in sight spending most of the season on the disabled list for the second season in a row, Brian Roberts, once the team’s most solid and predictable player provides nothing certain any longer. Not a single young starter has proven himself as a sure major league pitcher, though Jake Arrieta looks the most promising. Enduring season ending elbow surgery quickly throws up the caution lights. Brian Matusz, Brad Bergessen, Zach Britton and Chris Tillman are much less certain prospects than they were in April. The bullpen has been a disaster through out the year. Left field looks like a position much in need of an upgrade, Luke Scott is out for the season, but is a serious liability in the field. While Felix Pie might be a five tool player – now more than ever, he shows he couldn’t tell a hammer from a screwdriver. Nolan Reimold is currently getting the chance to prove himself, but has hardly eliminated any doubts.

Given such a dreadful history and destroying the hopes raised last year, the situation looks as bad as it did when Andy McPhail arrived, but if good baseball men like McPhail and Buck Showalter can’t get the Baltimore Orioles in winning form, the grounds for optimism are arid. Should the team stick with McPhail and Showalter or have another management shakeup? Should the current team by blown up and built from scratch again? How much real talent is in the pipeline in the minor league system? If rebuilding is once again called for, what players could the team move who’d get value in return?

It’s another lost summer in Camden Yards, but can anyone see Orioles Magic poised for a comeback. Kids would have to be in college and have a good memory to recall when the Orioles last had a winning season. Baltimore was without football for a shorter period of time than the Orioles’ long run of futility. It’s to the point now where only magic appears as what’s needed to win.

Start brewing up the magic potions.

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Union Terrorism

It is time for Americans to fight back against union tyranny and terrorism.

Phone lines cut in Pennsylvania, an open shop contractor in Toledo, Ohio suffered a gunshot wound after suffering from vandalism and intimidation, tires slash, windows broken, workers stalked by union goons – all this is in the name of union activity. That a private contractor, John King, would have been attacked at him home shot in his left arm, fortunately just a single shot, under these terms paints a much bigger picture. The Union Movement, in these cases electronic workers, take the left-wing notion of the ends justify the means, and quite simply are guilty of DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

Cutting phone lines not only disrupts service but in so doing prevents live saving communication including 911 calls to go through as well as necessary communication in the name of public safety. Trespassing and destroying private property and engaging in physical violence is NEVER justified, but going as far as attempted murder at a private residence takes the matter to a higher level.

We’ve seen how the mob rules technique, in essence rioting in Wisconsin, through its state capital into a complete shutdown for weeks as the Republican legislature attempted to wrestle with serious state budget issues requiring some rollbacks on union benefits.

These extreme examples show that breaking the law is no big deal to union goons who have a long history of violence against those who get in their way. It also highlights what is at the core of union activity; the ends always justify the means. When it comes to breaking the law, just don’t get caught. If caught, point the finger outside the movement.

After years in decline significantly hastened by the Air Traffic Controllers’ illegal strike resulting in President Ronald Reagan firing those who refused a back to work order, the unions put tremendous effort into supporting pro-labor candidates in the 2008 election. With the public frustration with the economy blaming the outgoing Bush administration as the scapegoat, the Democratic Party was poised for huge gains. The unions put their money where their subversive mouth was giving huge sums of money to their candidates particularly Barack Obama, a once in a century left-wing activist with a pure socialist view toward public policy.

Never before has the Union movement had a more sympathetic and unrestrained supporter than the Obama administration who openly support even some of the most extreme union demands. The “Card Check” proposal that would ban secret ballots in union certification votes is one such item. Employees deserve the right to be able to vote privately whether they support union representation. Under “Card Check” union loyalists would circulate the place of employment soliciting votes in person potentially subjecting them to intimidation from mild to severe to support the union position.

Showing unprecedented support for Labor, the Obama packed, National Labor Relations Board is attempting to forbid Boeing from opening a new factory in South Carolina, a right-to-work state, instead of expanding its manufacturing presence in Washington, a pro-union state attempting to punish a major United States corporation for seeking greener pastures. The long term result, why should American companies build product in the United States when they can do so overseas without such costly restrictions.

Is it any wonder that union goons would feel emboldened to commit acts of treachery when they feel so much support at the highest level in the Federal Government? The Obama Administration’s stance of unions is one of the most compelling reasons why Americans who believe in personal freedom, free enterprise, and the rule of law must defeat his administration and his supporters on Capitol Hill in the next election. The need to take on unions is even more crucial on the state level where union contracts have crippled and bankrupted many states’ ability to function financially.

It’s hard to judge which label is more onerous, “Made in China” or the Union label. Pick your poison. Neither are doing the American economy any good.

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The American Flag and the Rules: Fox News Distortion

What’s so terrible about flying the American flag? Nothing, unless someone displays a flag on property where he or she signed an agreement that prohibited doing so.  The story is told again and again. It appears every time there is an instant where a private citizen is facing consequences for flying an American Flag, the Fox News network will sniff out the story and attempt to gin up a sense of outrage that private citizens are being prohibited their right to express their patriotism as if the First Amendment to the Constitution itself is under attack. They’ll trot out distinguish awarded World War Two veterans, purple heart recipients, and other sympathetic characters all of whom have a common refrain that they have sacrificed for their country, and they should be allowed to honor the country for whom they’ve sacrificed.

Hold back on the sympathy and outrage.  In every case, the person protesting flag flying restrictions had either signed a lease or a neighborhood association agreement which indicated what they were doing was restricted. As such, the true outrage is not the outrage for not being allowed to fly the flag but instead anger at getting caught.

When properly displayed, the American flag is source of pride and inspiration to those who appreciate the gifts of American citizenship; however, location is everything. Some cases have involved the display of ghastly large flags as if the bigger the flag is, the more patriotic the intent of the person who displayed it. Some are so large to be tacky and disrespectful.

While there are plenty instances of citizens being unfairly prohibited from flying the American Flag or expressing their religion in public, where people have signed contracts where they have agreed to certain restrictions, ignorance of the agreement is no excuse for non-compliance. There is no ground for real sympathy. Their only course of action is to petition to have the regulations changed.

That Fox News continues to make these episodes hard news sympathetic to those attempting to fly American flags contrary to regulations is hardly fair and balanced reporting. It is advocacy journalism reported on the basis of a false premise. Such reportage doesn’t to anybody any good. It only stirs up emotions on nebulous grounds. If that’s a ploy to hype up ratings shame on them.

Here's an article from Fox News' website that makes our point:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/17/tennessee-doctor-told-to-remove-american-flag-flying-at-office/

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Patriotic Millionaire Nonsense

If some millionaires believe those having their level of wealth should be compelled to pay more taxes is absolute nonsense!  The implication is that millionaires and billionaires who do not want to fork over more of their money to the government thus are less that patriotic. That’s bullshit!

The bottom line in our society, money belongs to individual citizens who’ve earned it through wages, investments, and other legitimate pursuits. It’s not money that the elites of society have been empowered to decide how to allocate where they feel it is best put to use.

The dump on the rich, class warfare game that the Democratic Party is playing is a crass political ploy to develop resentment between an impressionable block of voters and those who are the real movers of our economy. The public is dumb enough to buy it.

The logic of the rich should support measures to pay more taxes is patriotic simply is not logical.  Where is their duty to speak up and demand the state seize more of their assets?

Being rich and patriotic can come in many forms.  For some, it’s contributing generously to agencies and causes in their community.  Go to many hospitals and see how many have suites or other parts of the facility are named for some wealthy benefactor who contributed significantly to upgrade the hospital.

For others, it’s supporting such institutions as art museums, parks, symphony orchestras and other gathering places which add to the quality of life in their locale.

There are numerous other causes, institutions, and people oriented programs that benefit tremendously from the VOLUNTARY contributions from those society considers wealthy.

Yet, do those with a lot of money have to do any of the above to be patriotic? Of course not. Their involvement in the economy creates and sustains jobs. Even the pursuit of luxuries many middle class people can’t afford such as lavish country clubs or corporate jets benefit the entire community. Country Clubs employ grounds men, custodians, waiters, bartenders, locker room attendants, golf professionals, caddies, and an administrative staff – all of whom earn a living from the recreation of the rich. Corporate jets provide jobs too. First, lots of jobs are involved in the manufacturing process and this industry still resides many in America. The planes need to be maintained and kept at an airport. Almost all have hired pilots. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

If folks resent the rich, it’s more a case they are passive aggressively admitting they’re losers. There is no class system with hard ceilings in the United States. A person who is willing to obtain an education (sometimes working to pay for that education and not depending on government loans or maybe even obtaining a scholarship financed by a wealthy person), show tremendous self-discipline and work like hell, can become very wealthy. Many of them find their road to riches starting small businesses. It doesn’t take much in expenses to make $250,000 a very humble family income if a good part of that income is dedicated to running a small business.

There is nothing to prevent Warren Buffett from donating huge chunks of his billions to the government. All he needs to do is determine how much and write a check. In the meantime, Buffett and his accountants work hard to make sure he receives every cent the law entitles him to keep within current tax laws. Even among the wealthiest of the wealthy, Warren Buffett is a very wealthy guy.

Our society will be the healthiest and ultimately the tax collections will receive the most money if the private sector economy is thriving. Confiscating wealth from those who best know how to generate it helps no one.

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Sprint Cup 2011: Race 22 -- Road Wars at the Glen

The Sprint Cup tour lands in upstate New York for their second road race of the year at Watkins Glen. Between the Brickyard and Richmond, this is one of the events during the real final drive for inclusion in The Chase which can really shake up the standings. Some drivers skillful at road racing will attempt to capitalize on the chance. Others will try to hold their own and not do any damage. Some significant rides also often have a damaging afternoon. Looking at the top starters, one can immediately see how road racing highlights the skill sets of some particular drivers, some of whom really need a break to have something to hang on as a legitimate accomplishment for the 2011 season. Here are the top starters:

1- Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota
2- A.J. Allmendinger, #43, Ford
3- Marcos Ambrose, #9, Ford
4- Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
5- Juan Montoya, #42, Chevrolet
6- Ryan Newman, #39, Chevrolet
7- Tony Stewart, #14, Chevrolet
8- Carl Edwards, #99, Ford
9- Martin Truex Jr., #56, Toyota
10- Regan Smith, #78, Chevrolet
11- Bobby Labonte, #47, Toyota
12- Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge
13- Joey Logano, #20, Toyota
14- Jamie McMurray, #1, Chevrolet
15- Boris Said, #9,

Chevrolet No doubt Richard Petty’s drivers starting 2nd and 3rd will want to hustle for being in position to win. Marcose Ambrose will never live down his error that robbed him of a win at Infineon unless he does win a road course win. The drivers starting sixth and seventh particularly seventh need a good showing to help nail down their chase possibilities. 2011 has been a dreadful season for Tony Stewart who could miss the chase without some substantial improvement. Surely, as long as he can stay in the top 20, Brad Keselowski has one of the wild card spots nailed. The drivers at the bottom of the top ten without a win are very vulnerable. Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman has a win to enhance his prospects.

Road Races often see the contemptuous slugs attempting to complete much of the race. At this point in the season where they’ve have trashed their reputations and interfered with legitimate competition hardly makes it matter what they do, but the longer they are on the track the more likely they might be involved in an incident no mater how much they pussy foot their way around the track. That Joe Nemechek the most persistent freeloader starts 21st puts more than half the field behind him with the 87 car serving as a needless obstruction. These bumbling boobs are ripping off millions in purse money for not competing – certainly one of the most puzzling and disturbing curiosities in contemporary sports today. NASCAR must address the situation. Fans will not care if the starting field is significantly reduced and having entries all committed to competition could markedly improve the sport.


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Sprint Cup 2011: Race 21: A Historically Awful Afternoon at Pocono

A bad track, bad weather, little real racing, and an unprecedented number of drivers pulling out of the race refusing to compete made today’s race in Long Pond, PA the lowest point of the 2011 Sprint Cup season which NASCAR could well be oblivious to seeing the obvious black eye such a fiasco has given this tedious event.

Sprint Cup racing at Pocono is a frustrating affair. Let’s be honest, although the track provides its own challenges and cannot be branded another cookie cutter 1 ½ or 2 mile track, its differences neither make for better racing or a better experience for the fans. At 500 miles twice a year with only a few weeks between races in June and early August, the races are too long. 350 miles might be more satisfactory, but it’s a horrible venue to begin with. Being close to Philadelphia and New York with range of other population centers, the Pocono location could be a good one, but from the horrible access to enter the track’s campus to the dreadful sight lines and configuration, Pocono Raceway is a dreadful fan experience. The only access to the track which isn’t pure torture is from the North off of Interstate 80, but even that’s not as logistically sound as entry into most tracks. Once at the track, there is only grandstand seating along the front straightaway which is just that – straight giving fans very little to see in front of them since the walls and seating configuration blocks out much of the track. Once cars go into turn one they virtually disappear until they round turn two but are so far away with some stretches obstructed, that viewing is not good either. Cars go into turn three in the strange triangle configuration and then follow the straightaway where fans can turn to their left and see the transition but once they are on the straightaway, there’s not much to be seen. If there’s a track on the circuit that should be replaced or have its events moved, Pocono is the worst track on the circuit but since it’s one of the only tracks not owned by the France Family’s group or Bruton Smith – that’s not going to happen any time soon. A two hour rain delay today only added to the frustration.

Brad Keselowski, driving with a strained back and broken ankle fought courageously to bring home the victory, but there is so little quality racing, it’s more a matter of when does a car have the chance to opportunistically take the lead and who’s lucky enough to get some distance at the end wins. There is seldom side-by-side true contention or much mixing up in the field. IT’/S NOT GOOD RACING!!!!

For the record, the top finishers are:
1. Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge
2. Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota
3. Kurt Busch, #22, Dodge
4. Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
5. Ryan Newman, #39, Chevrolet
6. Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet
7. Carl Edwards, #99, Ford
8. Greg Biffle, #16, Ford
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr., #88, Chevrolet
10. Paul Menard, #27, Chevrolet


Movement in the point standings among top contenders shows Keselowski the big winner for picking up three positions putting him in the top 20 and with two wins holding one of the two wild card positions for “The Chase.” Kyle Busch gained one position moving to 3rd while his brother picked up two spots to secure 4th. Making room for them was Kevin Harvick who dropped two positions to 5th while Matt Kenseth dropped from 5th to 6th. Outside the top ten, the other big mover is Mark Martin who moved up three spots to 15th keeping his faint “Chase” hopes alive. David Ragan lost three positions dropping to 19th and his wild card spot being behind Keselowski with two wins and Paul Menard who is in 12th with one win. This all but voids his shot at the Chase barring a 2nd win or Menard completely collapsing.

An unprecedented NINE cars engaged in “start and park.” Their presence at the race track is not welcome as they are an embarrassment to competitive sports while NASCAR looks the other way. Making matters worse, such insanity now moves up to the 35th position. Given that three cars that would not compete did not qualify, that’s twelve cars entered in the Pocono race that showed up with no intention to race.

Here’s today’s freeloading slugs. They should be suspended for the rest of the season. Enough is enough.

35. Robby Gordon #7
36. Casey Mears, #13
37. Todd Bodine, #66
38. David Stremme, #30
39. Brian Vickers, #83
40. Scott Speed, #37
41. Joe Nemechek, #87
42. Erik Darnell #46
43. J.J. Yeley, #55

The amount of purse money wasted on these shameful do-nothings will be posted tomorrow. NASCAR and its media outlets are succeeding in keeping attention minimal where only fans who look at the race results and stats notice. Nice work, NASCAR!!!



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The Deficit and Credit Ratings: Truth Will Set Us Free

Here comes the blame game. Factions in the Liberal mainstream media and the Democratic Party are going full speed ahead to obscure the real culprits and causes while resorting to all out demagoguery to corrupt public opinion and obliterate the truth.

That Standard and Poor’s reduced the credit worthiness of United States’ bonds should surprise no one. If the reckless deficit spending is not enough, that so little was accomplished coming to grips with the problem and that politicians were acting like self-serving hacks far more dedicated to destroying their opponents than making any real progress further establishes the government of the United States is not exercising sound fiscal judgment. When a government has no financial self-discipline and no guiding principles guiding its fiduciary responsibilities, how can they be worthy of the highest AAA rating indicating the lowest level of risk?

While the Tea Party faction certainly showed a lack of political sophistication through out the crisis resolution process, give them credit for being the one political entity that recognized runaway deficit spending must stop and Federal spending must be scaled back. That is the same message the credit rating entities have established too. So how is it then that the Tea Party sympathizers are terrorists or held the American system hostage?

They’re being set up for the fall, to be the ones on whom the credit ratings reduction should be blamed when if the unthinkable had happened, and the Democratic led Senate and incompetent Obama White House had supported their position, the problem would have been avoided. That the Tea Party refused to give in to traditional Washington politics and compromise made them the easy target.

How hilarious it is in hindsight that the doomsayers were screaming credit reduction and a stock market crash would result if a deal weren’t struck by August 2nd the date on which America would have technically gone into default. Well, the market crashed anyway and the bond ratings were reduced in part because the deal struck did not go far enough.

The blame clearly belongs to Barack Obama and his agents in the Senate, most notably Majority Leader, Harry Reid, who used Senate rules and parliamentary shenanigans to keep house measures from a fair debate and vote in the upper chamber. While the Democrats screamed and hollered all the Republicans sought to do was block action, the House submitted a budget and two proposals or resoling the debt. Where were the Senate proposals until the 11th hour? The original position was to have a “clean” vote to simply raise the deficit limit. That’s all.

With only control of the House, the Republicans could only do so much. Had they not compromised, the political damage would have been severe. Americans prefer wishy-washy meaningless settlements in the name of compromise (as if that’s a virtue when one side is right and the other wrong). The Republicans knew this and submitted but there wasn’t much they could do.

Right now, it’s time to go on an all out public relations blitz to get the truth out and to refuse to let the Tea Party become scapegoats for what is truly Barack Obama’s fault. Obama is the ONLY president ever to have allowed the trust in American credit worthiness be called into question but with huge government spending programs added on top of an already weak financial situation, with the so-called stimulus, Obama-care, and many sellouts to organized labor including the GM/Chrysler efforts, also is responsible for pushing lending into unthinkable territory.

The private sector needs to be energized. There can be no threat of higher taxes. Taxes which inhibit investment must be eliminated. Dreadful over-regulation must be nullified including onerous laws like Frank-Dodd on banking and Sarbanes-Oxley which strangles business in red tape.

The only solution is that the Senate must change hands and a strong Republican President must be elected. The Tea Party will play a key roll in helping this come true if they are not marginalized and demonized which is exactly what’s playing out in the news right now.


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Sprint Cup 2011: Race 21 -- Pocono's 2nd Try

The starting lineup of tomorrow’s 500 mile Sprint Cup race at Pocono shows some teams getting some much needed redemption and a possible break to help find fortune in rather lackluster seasons. At the end of last year, it looked as if Joey Logano had arrived. He’d be competing among the best in 2011; however, the 2011 season has been a bust with the young driver looking overmatched. Catching the poll on a track that’s one of the most unique configurations in the whole sport speaks well for him if he can accomplish a clean race and gain a top five finish. Kasey Kahne has not accomplished what’s been expected of him in recent years during his year in a holding pattern with Red Bull waiting to move on to the #5 car with Hendrick next year. He’s start from the outside poll. Martin Truex Jr. who has been almost the invisible man this year starts third. Carl Edwards starts fourth as the first of the true chase contenders to earn a spot.

Here are the top entries:
1. Joey Logano #20, Toyota
2. Kasey Kahne, #4, Toyota
3. Martin Truex Jr. #45, Toyota
4. Carl Edwards #99, Ford
5. Kurt Busch #22, Dodge
6. Denny Hamlin #11, Toyota
7. Paul Menard #27, Chevrolet
8. Jeff Burton #31, Chevrolet
9. Greg Biffle #16, Ford
10. Kevin Harvick #29, Chevrolet
11. Kyle Busch #18, Toyota
12. Ryan Newman #39, Chevrolet
13. Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge
14. Clint Bowyer #33, Chevrolet
15. David Ragan #6, Ford

The starting line up with four out of six Toyota’s representing their three top teams looks good for the “rice burners.” Conspicuously absent from the top of the line up are any of the four Hendrick rides. They don’t show up until Jimmie Johnson #48 in 18th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 in 19th. Jeff Gordon, winner of the June race at the Long Pond track, starts a miserable 31st.

The Sprint Cup slugs showed up in abundance this weekend, but three were eliminated in qualifying with no sponsored ride intending to compete being shut out by the shameless free loaders. Geoff Bodine #35, T.J. Bell #40, and Mike Skinner #60 go home. Meanwhile several likely quitters did make the field including Todd Bodine, racing for Phil Parson’s rip off operation in 30th. It’s likely at least six entries will pull off and park robbing from the purse of more qualified and deserving teams. Having watched some coverage of an ARCA race with only 35 entries, the field looked no less full with fewer cars. NASCAR MUST REDUCE THE STARTING FIELD if it can’t be assured all entries will at least strive to finish the race and give a good fight to finish on the lead lap.

Reducing the number of starting entries on the top level and Nationwide would only serve to make ALL series more competitive as it would require higher levels of achievement to compete that the top and make teams fight harder for what berths remain. The notion of a professional sport serving as a quasi-welfare operation for unsatisfactory teams is simply a sad spectacle that cheapens the whole sport and the integrity of NASCAR as a sanctioning body. If NASCAR is too cowardly or complacent to address the issue before the end of the 2011 season, it must be addressed with new procedures in place for 2012.

Sprint Cup 2011: Race 20: Quick Brickyard Wrap-Up

The big story coming out of the Brickyard 400 much be as much one of fortune than marking any trend, but four of the series biggest races featured first time winners starting with Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500 in February. Regan Smith won the Southern 500 in Darlington. David Ragan won the second Daytona race, the Coke Zero 400, and now Paul Menard, a young man with lots of Indianapolis in his family background, won the Brickyard.

The race turned out to hinge on fuel mileage as veteran drivers like Tony Stewart were unable to stretch it to the end. It also shows Paul Menard’s ascent as a driver who has at times looked well on his way to good things since his switch to Richard Childress racing this year.

We also can’t help but notice the shameful number of teams that showed up just to show up and not race. If teams cannot take an event like the Brickyard 400 and hold it with reverence, the sport is in big trouble. To see a veteran and all but retired driver, Terry Labonte, use his past champion’s provisional to make the field just to drive 15 laps and bolt shows how sick the so called start and park fraud has become. The field is too large for the level of competition. That they are racing at Indy where the IRL starts with substantially fewer cars drives the point home. NASCAR fans shouldn’t be paying welfare for Joe Nemechek, Phil Parsons and his gang, and the others who aren’t prepared to compete on the highest level. That there are various levels of racing from regionals to Sprint Cup provide opportunities for teams to race up to their capabilities. It’s simply reached a new extreme of absurdity in 2011 since now it appears to have become an entrenched part of the Sprint Cup scene. Keeping it hush-hush makes it no less absurd.



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Sprint Cup 2011: Gut Check During Week Off Before Brickyard 400

NASCAR'S FINAL WEEKEND OFF FOR 2011 PROVIDES TIME TO SIZE UP WHAT THE YEAR HOLDS FACING ONE OF ITS TRUE MILESTONE RACES.

Here’s our attempt to get everything updated briefly not covering Loudon or giving Kentucky’s inaugural race their just due with the Brickyard spectacle coming up next week.

The Kentucky race certainly proved that region is a great location for a Sprint Cup race at the cost of one race at Atlanta, a track notorious for lackluster support. Sadly, the traffic logistics were not effectively thought out in advance. Something seems a little weird about bringing a new track on line with bumpy pavement. Okay, some call it character, but an inaugural race at a track should have something brand-spanking-new about it unless some venerable venue with huge racing history (that would be the Brickyard when NASCAR went there) adds a date. That an inaugural race would have SEVEN freeloading start and park entries who serve only to cheapen the sport is unacceptable.

This problem was further pushed to absurdity at New Hampshire with six for certain quitters now making it apparent that the #13 GEICO Toyota or any of the “Front Row” Fords might pull off, makes the situation all the more a black eye for a sport whose attempt to gain full major league sports status has certainly fallen off its quest in the last three years while at the highest level, competitive racing is superb.

When will the brass at NASCAR get it through their thick skulls that if Sprint Cup racing is supposed to represent the highest level of auto racing in the United States, only the highest level competitors should be on the track? If NASCAR needs to reduce the starting field to a more realistic number of entries, so be it. That “start and park” has gone from an oddity to a full-fledged integral part of Sprint Cup and Nationwide racing that the broadcasters so carefully avoid calling any attention to shows what a sham the whole situation represents. In baseball, nine men (or ten in the AL) play nine innings with 25 team members in the stadium for each game. Football and Basketball teams don’t walk off the court after the first quarter. HOW BLIND CAN ANYONE WATCHING NASCAR BE NOT TO SEE WHAT SHODDY BULLSHIT ALLOWING RETREADS LIKE MIKE SKINNER AND JOE NEMECHEK JUST SHOW UP FOR A FEW LAPS.

We’ll run the numbers again after the Brickyard, but millions of purse dollars are being wasted to support fraudulent participants who have no intention other than hit the garage after running a few laps.

NASCAR has several levels of competition from the regional series up to Trucks, Nationwide, and ultimately Sprint Cup, to sort out the crème-de-la-crème. There are plenty of drivers who bust their ass every weekend in the lesser series with no hopes of moving up to higher levels who might not have close to a top ten budget who fight with all they’ve got while Phil Parsons and partner can enter in lackeys to run a few laps and suck in the dollars.

Maybe we as fans should watch twenty laps of each race and then flip to baseball or NFL football which is just around the corner. We’ll catch the highlights on SPEEDTV later on. Yeah, that sounds harsh from a fan, but if we treat the sport the way the sport treats us, the logic is sound.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale, the season is full of excitement. How long were Stewart-Haas going to go before winning? To see Ryan Newman followed by Tony Stewart finish one-two at New Hampshire surely heats up the competition for the ten spots awarded on points and the two wild cards for wins. Yes, the obvious is for certain, now standing in second place, Jimmie Johnson is well on his way to defending his title where the rest of the field will have to find a lot of new tricks to deny the #48 its sixth consecutive championship. It might be hard to think, but Jimmie Johnson already earns talk in the same breath as Earnhardt and Petty, the only drivers with more championships, but to win them consecutively as Johnson has so far puts him in a class by himself. What’s more, Jimmie Johnson is probably not close to the half way point in his career yet.

Meanwhile, Carl Edwards has been the most consistent driver in 2011 while Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch both share three wins while Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth have two trips to victory lane. How much does the #88 car have in store? It seems like NASCAR’s fortunes float on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s success who went from disaster last year to so many “almost’s” in 2011.

Seven races remain before the final “chase” field is set. With a sequence of vastly different tracks ahead, this is the stretch that establishes which teams are for real. The Brickyard 400 looms as yet another key milestone before a champ is decided in November.

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Quiet July for Rightminded Fellow

The humble commentator behind RMF has been stricken with a cranky gall-bladder able to witness the wonders of mondern health care as strained through Medicare over the past couple of weeks with more surgery in the near future. More insights into health care in America will surely come from this. The bottom line is, thankfully, so far, it appears necessary and appropriate treatment is being rendered professionally.

There's so much to talk about from our regular NASCAR dialog, the NFL "Lockout" and current topics not the least of which the insanity and self-destructive impulses of our national leaders far more obsessed with political advantage over their opponents than guarding the nation's financial health. These issues will be discussed as strength returns.

Thank you to all readers regular and occasional who have taken the thoughts presented here for consideration. In a world of insane big government and mass media saturation, EVERY VOICE COUNTS. This is mine. I'm proud to speak up to help generate results and not the same old garbage we're supposed to passively accept.

We Grieve for Norway: The Eternal Questions of Terrorism

I would caution anyone to draw sweeping conclusions at this stage to this unspeakable horror in Norway. We know the culprit is about as Aryan-looking as they come -- not the currently-held stereotype of terrorist. We know he was involved in apparently right-wing politics. Most is subject to conjecture at this point aside from the body count.


There is NO form of idealogy that at its extreme can't find human life that does not conform to the "philosophy's" or "religion's" creed expendible. The world reaks of anarchists, bizarre nationalists, right and left-wing extremists, bizarre cults and of course the big one, radicalized Islam.

Before folks over-generalize and see this demon perhaps stated some affiliation with Christianity, to make any association that Christian fundementalism breeds terrorism or conservative political beliefs do likewise, we need to face up to a reality check. Fundementalist Christians are not prone to violence. From an intellectual standpoint, their embrace of certain social values and what the intellectual community would see as naive or antiquated views of the nature of the universe (such as embracing the literal Biblical account of creation) does not make them murders. Likewise, mainstream and maybe even more doctinaire conservatives are not prone to obliterating their oppostion though there can be no denying fellows like Glenn Beck (going, going, gone!!!!) and Alex Jones are fear mongers who induce mad paranoia in their faithful. We can see, sadly, that their kind of thinking can clearly pave the way for more radical pursuits.

In the 1960's and 70's, it was the radical left whose behavior more consistently led to violence, and western history has always been prone to anarchists. Who knows what kind of strange nilhism drives those who turn out to ransack cities everytime a G-8 meeting is held somewhere.

Conspiracy theories will emerge from this. Sweeping blame will be assigned. This is as inevitable, sadly, as the grief society feels after such an attrocity. Are we really ready to accept that one rotten human could alone be responsible for such calamity.

All this being said, we must come to terms that no matter what we think of Islam, there is a very real threat that is intent on destroying Western Culture in a perverted acceptance of a bastardized form of Islam. We can see the active roll of the theocracy in Iran and the lackies who condone such madness in Pakistan. All the while, potential "lone wolves" can be copy-cat or solo proponents of such wickedness.

Terror wears many faces. How do we deal with it on a grand scale where many people feel groped or abused simply boarding an airliner. Is such scrutiny just? Does the Norway episode change our perception of justifying such? The answers are complex.

Freedom is the most precious target beyond human life that lies in the gunsights here. We can start by looking at the great budget deficit debate how representatives of supposedly highly civilized people can get more hell-bent on destroying their opponent, than accepting responsibility for the financial stability of our country. If this is how we behave, is it any wonder the world is rich with far more wicked impulses that do get acted upon as we've seen in Oklahoma City and Norway.

There is no comfort that we have yet to see some 82 year old grandmother blow up a building. Can we justify that as a possibility too?

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Orioles Baseball at the All-Star Break: Huh?

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Baltimore Orioles are a dreadful team. They were a dreadful team last year, the year before, the year before and keep going back to 1998 the beginning of the tailspin when they were only slightly below .500, but then came the plunge to the rock bottom. At 36 wins and 52 losses they’ll wind up at 66 and 96, worse than last year.

Can we really stand to see more articles like this one from The Baltimore Sun?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-macphail-0713-20110712,0,36730.story

Last year, they played historically bad baseball under Dave Trembley. He got the boot and some minor improvement was noted with Juan Samuel. Brian Roberts got healthy and Buck Showalter took control and they looked very good down the stretch. In the off-season they brought in J.J. Hardy, Derrick Lee, Mark Reynolds, and Vladmir Guerrero. With Matt Wieters and Adam Jones maturing, the line-up was supposed to be potent. Brian Roberts hasn’t played since sustaining a concussion in April, and without him, the offense has been miserable. However, teams generally don’t succeed when they’re down a few runs in the first inning.

The young crop of pitchers was supposed to show growth. They shrunk. Jeremy Guthrie plays the way he always does – lots of good stuff that’s consistently good enough to lose. These days, a 4.18 ERA should be good enough to win, but his record is 3-12, by far the worst losing percentage on the team. Jake Arrieta is the only starter among the young guns still in the rotation. Chris Tillman, Zack Britton, and Brian Matusz are back in the minors. At times the bullpen has been beyond disastrous

The team’s leadership is in the hands of Andy McPhail. Only a very small number of players still in the system are not his doing. The fellow built a championship team in Minnesota and developed a winning team in Chicago despite a dysfunctional ownership group. He appears to have had free reign in Baltimore – the results are terrible. Buck Showalter builds winners – while it’s still too soon to be too harsh on him this year – the best he can get out of the 2011 Orioles is the same kind of crap he was brought in to arrest.

Playing .500 baseball or perhaps a winning record looked in reach in April, now the challenge will be not to lose 90 games again. With the players added and Buck Showalter’s leadership “winning” was supposed to replace, “well, we tried.” How can Baltimore fans not believe losing has become hardwired into the DNA of this team’s makeup.

It’s bad baseball in Baltimore, and fans aren’t upset, because baseball fans are becoming a rare species in Crab Town. Fans can only take so much frustration and vent so much anger before they move on to other things. If the NFL lock out ends, soon sports fans will be focused on the Ravens and the IRL race coming to Baltimore Labor Day weekend.

Baltimore can still be an incredible baseball city. Orioles Park is still as appealing as any stadium in all of baseball. The city has a great history with names like Brooks, Frank, Boog, Jim, Eddie, and Cal not to mention the skipper, the Earl of Baltimore. How old does a boy have to be to remember cheering for a winning team in Baltimore?

It’s been fourteen years, so it’s safe to say, unless you graduated from high school, winning baseball is ancient history. It’s time to put that past behind us, but how much can the 2011 team improve on the miserable place where they stand now?

Sprint Cup 2011: Race 18, Kentucky Thunder

The Sprint Cup tour races at Kentucky Motor Speedway for the first time after years of truck and Nationwide series competition. Unlike some track openings, there is no perceivable downside to this addition to the schedule. The date was freed up by cancelling the early Atlanta race. Atlanta attendance has not been strong for many years, so perhaps the move will benefit both areas. Northern Kentucky is racing country, drawing from Louisville, Cincinnati, and southern Indiana, it’s a region where the southern good old boys cross paths with the Midwestern speedsters meaning the locals are racing crazy. The track is a mile and a half, little rounder than existing tracks but it’s a pretty generic track by today’s standards. Since the race is after dark, it’s even harder to discern what makes the track unique, but the competition has been good and there are no conspicuous shortcomings. That being the case, if what’s good for the fans is the premium concern, we should applaud the Kentucky joining in.

Starting positions are based on practice time since qualifying is rained out. Four out of the five cars to miss the show are cars that would have started and parked anyway so maybe we need to get some Indians to show up at tracks on qualifying day and do the ancient rain dance to get results like this. The sad note is Michael Waltrip was prepared to race and had a good qualifying time posted before the showers set in. Since the track in the driver’s home state, his participation would have been a good highlight.

Here’s how the top drivers start….
1. Kyle Busch, #18, Toyota
2. Juan Montoya, #42, Chevrolet
3. Kurt Busch, #22, Dodge
4. Kasey Kahne, #4, Toyota
5. Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
6. Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge
7. Carl Edwards, #99, Ford
8. David Ragan, #6, Ford
9. Tony Stewart, #14, Chevrolet
10. Paul Menard, #27, Cherolet
11. Marcos Ambrose, #9, Ford
12. Regan Smith, #78, Chevrolet
13. Matt Kenseth, #17, Ford
14. Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet
15. Joey Logano, #20, Toyota

It’s heavy duty horsepower in horse country tonight. At least ladies won’t be wearing stupid hats like at Kentucky’s other big race.


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Sprint Cup 2011: Race 17 -- Daytona - the 2nd Time Around

The starting lineup for tonight’s Coke Zero 400 starts of with something old and something new on the front row as the Sprint Cup Tour begins the second half of the season as the road to Richmond becomes ever clearer. Cagey old veteran, Mark Martin sits on the pole while Trevor Bayne, the surprise winner of the Daytona 500 returns to the site of his triumph placing the “legendary” Wood Brothers #21 Ford on the outside pole. The top of the field overwhelmingly features Fords and Chevrolets down to #13 where Kasey Kahne starts the #4 Red Bull Toyota.

Top Starters:
1- Mark Martin (#6), Chevrolet
2- Trevor Bayne (#21), Ford
3- Clint Bowyer (#33), Chevrolet
4- Jeff Gordon (#24), Chevrolet
5- David Ragan (#6), Ford
6- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#88), Chevrolet
7- Andy Lally (#71), Ford
8- Jimmie Johnson (#48), Chevrolet
9- A.J. Allmendinger (#43), Ford
10- Paul Menard (#27), Chevrolet
11- Ryan Newman (#39), Chevrolet
12- Jeff Burton (#31), Chevrolet
13- Kasey Kahne (#4), Toyota
14- Carl Edwards (#99), Ford
15- Marcos Ambrose (#9), Ford

Our predictions for the race, ARE YOU KIDDING? Sure there are drivers with a reputation for success at restrictor plate tracks but the summer Daytona race has a funny way of finding new winners. Just check with Jimmy Spencer and John Andretti. For those hoping for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to break his long draught, this could be the night or how about Mark Martin winning his first after a long career at Daytona?

The contentious slugs are well represented with Joe Nemechek, king of the slugs, adding a second ride for Kevin Conway, who will start 22nd but one wonders if he’ll still be on the track by lap 22. The dog’s master, Nemechek himself, starts dead last. While once again, the #37 Ford driven by Tony Raines, a sponsored ride intending to complete the race is sent home along with J.J. Yeley, a notorious quitter, also goes home but one wonders why such a trash heap would have shown up in the first place other than the easy money for making the field for doing nothing. Other likely quitters include the legendary blame someone else driver, Mike Skinner in 29th, Michael McDonald, the kid who cheated death qualifying at Texas a few years ago whose career is dead and his presence on the track is cheating the notion of sportsmanship in 33rd. What is Geoff Bodine doing coming out of retirement to star car 35 35th? He’ll probably drive off into the night when he should be working on his bob sleds. When the #7 shows up without owner Robby Gordon in the driver’s seat, tonight, Mike Bliss, that means a trip to the parking lot. The travesty of this is that the #7 car bumps Tony Raines on the basis of owner’s points. This is where it really starts to hurt. Naturally, we’ll be cheering for a nice big metal twisting wreck for these guys before they can slink off into the night and not even be mentioned for doing so by the play-by-play booth.

The weather for tonight’s race should be favorable, partly cloudy with temperatures in the low 70’s.

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Glenn Beck is GONE!!!

The world is a better place because the scary little man, Glenn Beck has completed his last broadcast as radio stations increasingly drop him from their programming. Take your paranoid pills and follow the twisted little leader who will certainly have some choice words about his exit. He's careful not to bad mouth Fox, but he's at it again stirring up the spooky forces of evil and that it's just a matter of time before the whole thing blows up.

Broadcasting hit a new kind of low,though certainly his show is no worse than some of the sickly fare on MTV or something like Jesse Ventura's sick conspiracy theories.

What a sick specticle the Glenn Beck show WAS. A fellow who in almost every way, shape, and form is a BORN LOSER, a pathetic journeyman radio flop, and washed up drunk, who sobbered up and realized exploiting peoples' fears and prejudices might be his ticket to success. Every night at six, we were treated with this little pompous ignorant ass lecturing us on how the whole world's heading down the crapper led by radical leaders like van Jones, financed by "Spooky Dude," George Soror whose evil boogie men are in the process.  He implored his viewers should study history and the Constitution while misrepresenting both, twisting little things out of context to support his warped prophecies of doom.

Yes, Glennn, we did pick on you. It was our patriotic duty to stomp on a little shit like you. Now Fox News has to attempt to redefine itself to make your crap a distant memory. We do not wish you well. Please, just shut up and get lost.

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Sprint Cup: Race 16 -- Sears Point, on the road again!

The Sprint Cup tour makes its second and now last trip to California, this time to the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma wine country northeast of San Francisco, one of two road course races on the schedule. Road racing is perhaps the most controversial form of Sprint Cup racing generating perhaps more debate than restrictor plate racing sinc auto racing on a “road” course is a very different spectacle that oval courses. Imagine that, highly skilled race drivers have to actually negotiate turning to their right on several occasions to complete one lap. Further, at Infineon at Sears Point, there are also hills along the track.

As such, some racers who’ve been successful on road courses become known as road racing experts while some drivers on lesser teams have “road racing specialists” or ringers filling in for them. There’s even a group of fans who’ve developed the cult of Said Heads, fans who don curly wigs to honor road racing veteran and occasional oval racer, Boris Said. Highlighting the difference, during Dale Earnhardt’s reign, he considered his career would be somehow incomplete without a road course win. During that time, drivers like Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd were considered road racing experts. The past four victors are: 2010, Jimmie Johnson; 2009, Kasey Kahne; 2008, Kyle Busch; 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya. Prior to that, from 1998 to 2006, Jeff Gordon has five wins while Tony Stewart has two. Other than those two drivers, renegade driver, Robby Gordon won in 2003 and Mark Martin won in 1997.

The starting lineup has some surprises which could be a most important boost for some drivers if it translates into a successful finish, particularly for the pole sitter, Joey Logano. Here are the top starters:

1- Joey Logano, #20, Chevrolet
2- Jamie McMurray, #1, Chevrolet
3- Paul Menard, #27, Chevrolet
4- Denny Hamlin, #11, Toyota
5- Ryan Newman, #39, Chevrolet
6- Kasey Kahne, #4, Chevrolet
7- A.J. Allmendinger, #43, Ford
8- Marcos Ambrose, #9, Ford
9- Clint Bowyer, #33, Chevrolet
10- Brian Vickers, #83, Toyota
11- Kurt Busch, #22, Dodge
12- Jimmie Johnson, #48, Chevrolet
13- Jeff Gordon, #24, Chevrolet
14- Martin Truex Jr., #56, Toyota
15- Brad Keselowski, #2, Dodge

If the so called “road racing specialists” or “ringers” are so special, where are they in the starting pack? Not one appears in the top 25. The top road racer is Boris Said, #51, Chevrolet – P.J. Jones, taking a second Robby Gordon ride, starts 35th in the #77, Dodge. The remaining “ringers” are David Mayhew #66 Toyota in 38th; Terry Labonte #32 Ford in 39th; Brian Simo #81 Ford in 40th; Chris Cook #37 Ford in 42; and Andy Pilgrim #46 Chevrolet in 43rd. Tony Ave #38 riding in a fully sponsored regular ride, a Front Row Ford did not qualify for the race. Since there are “ringers” taking the place of drivers who normally start and park notably cars #66, 81, and #36, it will be interesting to see if they are in for the entire race or not. Meanwhile full-time slugs including Joe Nemechek, #87 starts 31st, and Mike Skinner, #60 starts 37th. Eyes will be on the #13 car in 27th position driven by Casey Mears parked last week. Whether any of these slugs compete for the whole race or parks, it is still a gross abuse of the system that a team attempting to run legitimately, the #38 Ford with Long John Silver sponsorship should be denied. This is a slap in the face for Long John Silver restaurants for their support of the team and makes it more difficult for the struggling Front Row team to grow and become more legitimate. We can only hope for race ending wrecks causing costly damage to afflict any of the teams who will continue the insane “start and park” charade in the future.

Weather should be satisfactory for good racing with high temperatures in the low 80’s with mostly sunny skies and a light breeze. Mark this down as one of the true tests for teams intent on participating in this year’s chase with Daytona soon following.


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Red Bull's Exit from NASCAR: A Call for Reform

What does Red Bull leaving NASCAR mean?

This does not bode well for NASCAR. Upon Toyota’s entry into Sprint Cup, much was made that Red Bull was investing in two Sprint Cup rides. Given their success in other series, they made it look like Toyota was going to create a huge splash. With deep pockets and a passion for winning, the whole balance of power in NASCAR would be upset. Starting in 2006 with Dodges to get a feel for how to run a NASCAR team as Toyota secured NASCAR sanctioning, they were seen to soon rival the big boys like Hendricks, Gibbs, Childress, and Roush.

They never gained that dominance, and with Joe Gibbs Racing switching to Toyota in 2008, it was clear who the top Toyota team would be.

Centered on the hopes of up and coming young driver, Brian Vickers, they worked their way up to become a respectable team, but Vickers’ medical problems in 2010 stopped their growth cold. Having discarded Scott Speed as their second driver and signing a one year deal with Casey Kahne as he bides his time before his Hendrick deal kicks in for 2011, Red Bull NASCAR racing looked suddenly lacking commitment. However, the notion floated that having an established winning driver and crew chief could help them learn how to write their own blueprint for success.

Sum it all up, after five years in Sprint Cup Racing, the Red Bull Team can still only at best be called a “work in progress” with one win and seven polls. Their highest final standing was good enough to make the chase but finish 12th in 2009. Red Bull with Casey Kahne and Brian Vickers has to be a team that fans could say could win a race but not good enough to say they should win a race.

Speculation has begun what will happen to the team. Might there be potential buyers and to what level could new ownership take the operation? Whether it’s real or imagined, Mark Martin’s name comes up since his contract expires with Hendricks and he has worked for Jay Frye before. Also to be considered is where driver, Brian Vickers, might wind up.

The impact on the big picture does not look promising. The field of qualified owners is shrinking while the sham of “start and park” operations is rapidly becoming a NASCAR institution. Consider this, Evernham’s operation is gone. Robert Yates Racing is gone. What’s left of them is part of Richard Petty Motor Sports, which was a two car operation then and is a two car operation now. DEI was a three car operation; only the #1 car remains. Chip Ganassi was a four car operation; only the #42 car survives. Frye racing which was where Mark Martin went part time after retiring from Roush was acquired by DEI, but nothing from that team survives. NASCAR forced Roush racing to reduce from five to four teams. The spun off team is struggling to survive. Hall of Fame racing is gone. Michael Waltrip Racing has reduced from three to two cars. Penske has reduced from three to two cars. The only new competitive operation is Stewart Haas racing; however, that operation took over a marginal two car team. Front Row racing formed in part from the ashes of the Yates operation. They provide two cars which currently struggle to qualify against the marginal teams. JTG racing holds on working the Michael Waltrip. The Wood Brothers have run part time the past two years.

With more than half of the 2011 season left, here’s what the 2012 field looks like.

Hendrick Motor Sports, 4 cars
-Jimmie Johnson
-Jeff Gordon
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
-Casey Kahne

Roush/Fenway, 4 cars
-Carl Edwards?
-Matt Kenseth
-Greg Biffle
-David Ragan?

Richard Childress, 4 cars
-Kevin Harvick
-Clint Bowyer
-Jeff Burton
-Paul Menard

Joe Gibbs, 3 cars
-Denny Hamlin
-Kyle Busch
-Joey Logano

Earnhardt/Ganassi, 2 cars
-Jamie McMurray
-Juan Pablo Montoya

Penske, 2 cars
-Brad Keselowski
-Kurt Busch

Stewart/Haas Racing, 2 cars
-Tony Stewart
-Ryan Newman

Richard Petty, 2 cars
-A.J, Allmendinger
-Marcos Ambrose

Michael Waltrip, 2 cars
-David Reutimann
-Martin Truex, Jr.

JTG Racing, 1 car
-Bobby Labonte

Furniture Row Racing, 1 car
-Regan Smith

Some variety of the 27 rides above will be in play, with the Wood Brothers speculating going full-time. Chances look good that Ricky Stenhouse and Trevor Baynes could be competing as rookies on the senior level next year. Of the teams not listed above, perhaps Front Row Racing, owned by Bob Jenkins and TRG Racing look like reasonably sure teams that will participate as competitors in 2012.

What Does This Mean?

The current practice of having 35 teams locked in guaranteed a starting position is no longer plausible. Likewise, the starting field of 43 cars is way too many to have a truly competitive field. Rightminded Fellow has reported with regularity the millions of dollars awarded teams entering NASCAR races with no intention to compete. Fans have a right to expect that NASCAR is a pay for play event. On older and shorter tracks, pit road is crowded causing regular problems with cars running into each other or gear in the way. It cheapens competition when a car is loused up on pit road.

NASCAR should reduce the locked in field based on owner’s points to perhaps no more than 27 cars. The starting field should be reduced to no more than 33 cars. If a sufficient number of cars with full sponsorship are entered by registration deadline, NASCAR in consultation with the track management can elect to expand the field provided all teams enter demonstrate that they are equipped and staffed fully invested to complete the entire distance of a race. All cars which pull off the track before the race becomes official, shall be subject to a strip down inspection, and cars found to be mechanically safe will result in forfeiture of all earnings and points accrued for that event. The car, owner, and driver will be suspended from participation for the entire next week of competition for all cars entered in the three major touring series: Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Trucks. Only if the reason for withdrawing from a race in progress is the health of driver as confirmed by NASCAR sanctioned physicians and no qualified substitute driver is available shall these previsions be waived.

NASCAR MUST reward the teams that are fully invested in participating as season long competitors while providing room for new teams and part-time entries can be involved. Considering the relatively similar earnings for cars in the bottom quarter of the field and the hundreds of thousand of dollars awarded each week to non-competitors, providing more incentive for competitors to remain in the sport must be explored. That the most legendary name in NASCAR, Richard Petty, associated with Richard Petty Motorsports, struggled to make races last year at the end of the season and the extent to which the field has shrunk in the past five years, the time for action is now!

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