November 28, 2006 - All that remains of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season is to hand out the year end awards and all that m-o-n-e-y! Many millions of dollars will be handed out on Friday night at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

Over the years, race fans have asked me, ‘why do they have a Southern racing series crown their champs in New York?’

It’s simple...exposure and, what else...money.

Since the closest NASCAR comes to New York is the race at Pocono or New Hampshire, what better place to exclaim, ‘hey world, look at us!’ than the streets of New York.

This week, all of the top 10 in Cup points will be on a city-wide tour of hot spots, radio, TV and press conferences, not to mention taking a lap on the streets themselves with 10 examples of NASCAR best hot rods.

It all starts on Monday with various interviews on radio and TV. Then on Wednesday, the much anticipated Victory Lap kicks off with the 10 drivers who competed in the Chase for the Nextel Cup jumping behind the wheel of their own show cars and provide an entertaining, read tire squealing, engine revving parade through Midtown Manhattan. Talk about photo ops!

It starts at Times Square TV studios and ends about 30 minutes later at the at the ESPN Zone in Times Square, at 42nd and Broadway. After an hour of photo snapping, the drivers move on to the 21 Club luncheon.

The next day finds the drivers at the NMPA Myers Brothers Awards luncheon at Cipriani’s Restaurant.

Then it all wraps up on Friday night with the black tie event at the Waldorf Astoria, where new champ Jimmie Johnson will walk away with about $10 million for the year’s effort.

Things to look for at the live TV presentation....I like some of the speeches given by the drivers where some of them are well spoken and others are, well, not so polished when it comes to speaking in front of a large group. Some of the drivers are witty and some just struggle to read cue cards or their own notes, trying to thank all those friends, family, crew and sponsors.

I also take note of how the drivers are dressed. Let’s face it, seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr or Denny Hamlin in a tux is a unique experience unto itself.

Then, of course, there’s the money involved. It’s always interesting to see the number of millions these top drivers walk away with. And by the way....most of the top 40 in points earned the team more than a million dollars. What other sport has the players earn more than $100,000 each time they enter the playing field, in this case, the race track. Did I mention the money from endorsements?

On the local level, Cassius Clark made the long pull from Maine to compete at South Boston Speedway's Mason Dixon Meltdown Twin big buck event for Super Late Model and the open wheel modifieds.

By the end of Saturday night, Clark stood tall in victory lane who bested fellow Maine resident Johnny Clark and Mike Rowe. Cassius wound up $12,500 richer for his efforts, even besting Cup driver Kyle Busch in the process. Busch did OK in the heats but fell back to 19^th at the checkers of the main event.

The other half of this big show was won by rising Mod star Matt Hirschman over Eric Beers and James Civali. Hirschman also walked away with $12,500 by beating 24 other competitors.

From Rumorville - Looking at many of the NASCAR paint schemes for next year, there are LOTS of changes. The majority of schemes are different in one form or another, more so than normal in years.

With seven new Toyota teams for ‘07, it appears there will be numerous teams going home each week beyond the 43 Cup starters.

— One of those with a very new paint job on a very new car is Dale Jarrett driving a Toyota Camry. The UPS car is predominantly white, some brown and 44 emblazoned on the doors and roof.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will start to look at the 2007 driver and sponsor lineups, some local notes and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@adelphia.net

November 21, 2006 - Well...it finally happened.

The NASCAR 2006 season has ended and after five years of being, oh, so close, Jimmie Johnson nailed down his first NASCAR Cup title.

And over in the Craftsman Truck ranks, Todd Bodine earned his family’s first NASCAR title after all three brothers, cousins, etc, have made thousands of circles around numerous tracks around the country for several decades!

For Johnson, he and his Hendrick team played the day in Florida very cool, calm and collected. After starting in the teens, the Lowe’s Chevy driver carefully worked his way towards the front and was able to stay among the top ten most of the day.

Despite missing a few wrecks around him, having a spring rubber fly through the front of the car, the team finally landed that seemingly allusive Cup title with a ninth place finish.

The race was rather ho-hum, except for the excitement of seeing if Johnson could hold off Matt Kenseth and a few others for the overall title.

Kasey Kahne started on the pole and led the most laps, but when it counted the most, a resurgent Greg Biffle thrilled the folks at Ford with a Fusion taking the Ford 400 checkers.

Biffle zoomed to the point during the closing laps edging a strong Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick.

Coming into the finale was Matt Kenseth as runner-up. The DeWalt Ford driver ran well all day, finishing sixth, which put him just one spot shy of a second title.

With Virginia driver Hamlin zipping up to third at the end, he leapfrogged over Harvick in the points to third. Not only is that impressive for any driver, but an extra star should be given to the rookie driver to finish so high in the points, grab two wins along the way and naturally, take the rookie-of-the-year title.

Could this be a sign of the future for the young driver? Well, yes and no. Yes, because the overall package looks great, but no in that the ole sophomore jinx may come into play, just ask Carl Edwards....and others.

Notes for the Homestead Cup finale:

— Dale Earnhardt Jr ran well, in fact led for a while, but had to drive the wheels off the car to stay there. Late in the race, he tank-slapped the wall, and pretty much wiped out a top five run, ending up in 19^th. He did manage to hold on to fifth in the Chase, certainly a step up from previous results.

— Ex-Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya made his Cup debut over the weekend, only to have end by the wrath of Ryan Newman’s front bumper. Seems that Newman took exception to some close racing where he spun by himself a little before tapping Montoya into the fence and in a ball of flames. Montoya escaped unhurt in the badly wrecked car and NASCAR summoned Newman and crew chief to the big hauler after the race. More on this deal later.

— Kyle Busch ended his season several times in the fence and well of contention for a decent finish. The young Hendrick driver claimed the tenth spot in the Chase, just one ahead of Tony Stewart.

Ford 400 ‘final’stats: After 19 years with Jack Roush, Mark Martin drove his final race in the AAA No. 6 Ford Fusion.

— After more than a decade with Yates Racing, Dale Jarrett drove his final race in the UPS No. 88.

— After a couple of good years with Hendrick, Brian Vickers drove his final race in the GMAC No. 25.

— Casey Mears swan song with Ganassi Racing left him with a blown engine and a 35^th place finish.

The final Craftsman Truck race ended with Mark Martin taking the field to school on how to race a truck, winning his fifth trophy in only 13 starts. (Add this to the lists of finals as Martin will no longer compete in Roush’s truck either.) Rounding out the top five were the trucks of Brendan Gaughn, rookie Eric Darnell, Bobby Hamliton Jr and Jack Sprague. Points leader Todd Bodine came into the race only needing a 28^th or better to become champ. He eeked out a 21^st place run, while Johnny Benson had troubles of his own. The points runner-up wound up 26^th and Bodine enjoyed the spoils in post-race ceremonies of becoming the 2006 truck titlest.

The Busch cars ran Saturday night and it was pretty much the same story, slightly different day...same kind of results. 2006 Busch Champion Kevin Harvick took the pole, led some laps, but left the fighting for the top spot to Roush-kateers Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Kenseth came back from a botched pitstop to claim his 2^nd win in as many weeks. Paul Menard, Hamlin and J. J. Yeley rounded off the top five.

I keep hearing there will be a significant decrease in Cuppers invading the Busch ranks in ‘07, but I’ll believe when I see it.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review more of the fallout from the season’s NASCAR finales, some local notes and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@adelphia.net