Archive Columns (Page 3)
January 23, 2007 - For the second time in as many weeks, we have lost a NASCAR champion driver. First it was Bobby Hamilton succumbing to his battle with head and neck cancer, and now Benny Parsons has passed on after his brief struggle with cancer.
I met Benny about nine years ago while working with NBC 29 TV in Charlottesville. We were covering the races at Lowe's in Charlotte, and Parsons was working with Charlotte's NBC affiliate.
Parsons invited all of the staff at both stations among others, to a party at his house after the races were over.
Not one to miss a chance at such an opportunity, my photog and I attended. His house at that time was not far from the track. For the few hours we were there, Benny was more than a gracious host. He seemed to speak with everyone, personally showing us his Winston Cup trophy, then located in his finished basement.
I could also never forget the giant pails full of beer, soda and ice located around the lit built-in pool. Throw in a catered bar-b-que setup, an endless bowl of fresh shrimp and a dining room table filled with most every desert you could think of and the whole affair became a lasting memory.
Several drivers, crew and their friends and family also attended with Benny conversing with everyone at one point or another.
From that point, whenever I ran into Benny at the track, he always referred to me as the Virginia guy. "How's things in Virginia?," he would say.
We didn't always speak about the days racing, the conversation might be about another track or series or simply the weather or traffic getting into the track.
Not one to miss a tasty snack, Parsons loved to wander among the crowd on race day, sampling, talking with or giving others a ride on his golf cart.
One thing that only dawned on me after his demise is that on or off the track, no one ever had a bad word to say about the 1973 Champion. I never heard another driver say, 'oh that Benny did this or that to me' or any fan to say, 'that Benny was in the way or put my guy in the wall'....no, none of that talk ever seemed to materialize.
Parsons will surely be missed by those who knew him by both race fans, crew and drivers alike. Even in the 'booth' he was always able to shed light on pit strategies or predict someone’s next move. He was 'right' most of the time.
Condolences to the entire Parsons family and God's Speed Benny.
Testing Results - Last week, it was Yates' Ricky Rudd on the top of the Cup charts. This week, his teammate David Gilliland started off with the fastest times. By the end of the week however, it was DEI driver Paul Menard with the fastest time, 48.103 at 187.099 MPH. Other drivers fast out of the box included David Regan and Ryan Newman.
— The Busch teams wrapped up their testing at Daytona on Sunday with Kyle Busch besting others such as Dave Blaney, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek, Sam Hornish Jr, Casey Mears and Virginia driver Denny Hamlin.
From Rumorville - It sounds like they'll be more open wheel racing at Orange County Speedway this year with the recent announcement of a special six race series involving the newly reformed Rolling Thunder Modifieds. Check OCS’s website for more info.
— Don’t say I told you so...but I told you so. Kyle Petty recently announced stepping into a part-time role as announcer for TNT in six selected events in ‘07. That means there will be someone else behind the wheel of the No. 45 Petty car for those events. No names as of yet.
Rolex 24 - This weekend marks the beginning of the 2007 race season with the 'twice around the clock' race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Those of you stock car only fans will be interested in knowing they'll be more than a handful of Cupsters as part of the overall driver lineup. Among them will be Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya.
If those names aren't enough to have you catch some of the 14 hours of live coverage, how about Paul Tracy, Dan Wheldon, A.J. Almendinger or Helio Castroneves, a.k.a. Spiderman competing as well.
I've been to this race twice in my life and there is always a bunch of private battles throughout the field, so tune in and we'll compare notes next week.
That's it for this week. Next week's RWR continues a look at who's where in Busch and truck, testing results, review the Rolex 24 and more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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NASCAR Nextel Cup - Who’s Where for 2007 (Part 5)
January 16, 2007 - No. 55 - Michael Waltrip heads up his latest racing effort with a full-fledged attack of Toyota upon the NASCAR Cup ranks. The lesser talented Waltrip receives backing from NAPA among others while they try to catch up with building enough cars for the three-car team.
How will Micahel do? Let’s see...for the past two years, he has racked up more wrecks than anyone else and started missing races last year on more than one occasion. I see no change in the whole overall picture, just new Japanese decals here and there. I trust they’ve hired a few extra bodymen to keep up with the carnage.
No. 66 - Jeff Green returns behind the wheel with new crew chief, Harold Holly. This chemistry has worked before and with Hendrick power under the hood along with Best Buy and others footing the bills, this team is capable of some top tens.
No. 70 - This is a new Gene Haas team with Yellow Transportation more then likely the backer, a Chevy under the hood and Johnny Sauter behind the wheel. Bootie Barker may wind up calling the shots and the outcome is too early to predict.
No. 72 - Rookie-of-the-year candidate Brandon Whitt will pilot this revised Chevy ride with Childress horsepower. With several loose ends such as a major sponsor at this late date, it’s too early to tell if they can pull things together.
No. 74 - Two-time Daytona 500 champion Derrike Cope will drive this car full-time this year, but I don’t look for much in the way of performance. Other than Dodge power and Tom Turse as crew chief, many questions remain unanswered.
No. 78 - Funny man Kenny Wallace is back in this ride, only this time it’s on a full-time basis with Furniture Row on the quarters. This team missed quite a few races last year with not a single top-ten to pound their chest about. I see no difference this year other than more attempts at qualifying.
No. 83 - Brian Vickers left Hendrick Motorsports in favor of a bigger paycheck at Red Bull Racing and Toyota power. Doug Richert moves over from Greg Biffle’s ride as crew chief. This could be a good combo.
No. 84 - Vickers teammate will be rookie and ex-open-wheeler A.J. Allmendinger. The whole deal is for three years with Red Bull signing the checks. If this young driver’s performance comes even close to his five wins among the Champ car ranks last year, they may actually have something.
No. 88 - Ricky Rudd will officially drive this ride with Snickers candy’s on the fenders and hood. With Yates power under the hood and Butch Hylton on top of the box, this wiley veteran is likely to open a few eyes.
No. 96 - Already fast in pre-season testing, Tony Raines embarks upon his first solo full-time ride among the Cup set. Having Joe Gibbs power doesn’t hurt and Brandon Thomas as crew chief could rack up a few top tens before all is said and done.
No. 99 - Ole ‘flipper’ is back behind the wheel of this Ford Fusion. Carl Edwards went winless last year and did not make the Chase. With Bob Osbourne making the big decisions, this could be this year’s dynamic duo.
Daytona Testing - The first round of winter testing at Daytona for the Cup cars saw Jeff Green top the charts for the week. Others among the top 10 included Dale Earnhardt Jr, Dale Jarrett in his Toyota, Tony Raines, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott and PJ Jones subbing for Robby Gordon were all in the 186 mph bracket. The other half of the competitors will be testing this week.
— Testing for the Craftsman Trucks began last week with Travis Kvapil topping the charts throughout the every session. The ex-truck champ picked up right where he left off in the truck series by being very fast, this time in Mark Martin’s tailgater.
Others in fast form included rookie AJ Allmendinger, Jack Sprague, Tyler Walker, Mike Skinner, Johnny Benson, Terry Cook, Peter Shepard, Eric Darnell and Kraig Kinser. Reigning champion Todd Bodine was 11th with teammate Ted Musgrave right behind.
Rumorville - Topping the rumor mill this week is the impending announcement from NASCAR in regards to some rules changes effective by the end of the month. At the head of the list would be the expansion of the members of the Chase to an even dozen and awarding 10 bonus points to the winner of races. My opinion? Ten, twelve, what next 15? 20? Leave the amount alone, but perhaps throw in the non-Chaser with the most wins. The extra points for winning a race? Long overdue. Should be even more than 10. What do you think? Drop me a line.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will take a light look at Who’s Where for 2007 in Busch and Truck, more results from winter testing and more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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NASCAR Nextel Cup - Who’s Where for 2007 (Part 4)
Continuing on with our look at who’s where for 2007:
January 8, 2007 - No. 41 - Reed Sorenson returns behind the wheel of this Dodge ride. The very young (20) driver showed some decent results in the Ganassi ride, but will have to step things up to stay. Target remains as the major backer with Tums footing the bills for at least one race. Jimmy Elledge will call the shots from atop the box again.
No. 42 - This will certainly be one of the rides in the most watched department with Juan Montoya as the pilot. The ex-Formula One driver ran a handful of Busch and Cup races with decent results late last year. Texaco continues on as the major backer with Big Red Gum the major player for at least three weekends. The Columbian driver certainly has a lot of pressure on him to perform. How will he do? Win? No. Top 10 finishes? Maybe. This, like any other sport is about ‘seat time’ and while he has a lot of open wheel time, his taxi cab experience is very limited. Stay tuned.
No. 43 - Bobby Labonte had a handful of good runs last year in his first year driving for Petty Enterprises. Paul Andrews joined the team mid-season and seemed to make a difference. Cheerios remains as the major player. Some more serious changes will have to be introduced for this team to move to the next level.
No. 44 - New team...new driver...same sponsor. That’s the story for this new Waltrip Toyota team with Dale Jarrett and UPS filling in the slots. Matt Borland moves over from the No. 12 Penske team and Ryan Newman as driver. Too early to tell, but I maintain teammate David Ruetimann will beat both Waltrip and Jarrett on a regular basis.
No. 45 - Race fans always ask me how much longer Kyle Petty will continue to drive. My answer is not much longer. This good-will ambassador for NASCAR has a very full agenda with running Team Petty, driving and maintaining his intensity for the Victory Junction Gang effort. Petty will slide behind the wheel of the No. 45 with Wells Fargo, Marathon Oil and NTB as the people signing the big checks to keep the wheels turning.
No. 47 - Besides a full-time Busch ride, Australian shoe Marcos Ambrose will test the waters of Cup racing with several appearances in this Wood Brothers ride. Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards will back their countryman.
No. 48 - What do you do with something that works well? Except for a change of their spotter...nothing. Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson’s ride for this year will include Lowe’s and Quaker State having the largest decals on this well oiled machine. Can they repeat? Don’t rule it out.
No. 49 - Bam Racing recently announced the return of driver Mike Bliss for this year with Lee McCall as crew chief, coming over from Ganassi Racing. The Dodge team will also switch to Evernham engines. Bliss is one of the most under-rated drivers on the circuit. This combo might just work to land a handful of top ten’s.
Sad Note: It was announced Sunday afternoon that veteran racer Bobby Hamilton died of complications from his 11 month battle with cancer. The 49-year-old driver comes off being the 2004 Craftsman truck champion and well liked among the entire NASCAR circuit. Hamilton always had time to talk about racing. He will surely be missed. God’s speed Bobby.
From Rumorville - Boris Said won the Bodine Bobsled event over the weekend at the Lake Placid Olympic training course in upstate New York. Said beat a host of other NASCAR drivers including Dick Trickle, Todd Bodine and local driver Philip Morris. The Ruckersville driver wound up upside down on his second run, but came out OK and wound up ninth on the weekend. It was great to see the whole event on the Speed channel over the weekend.
— Rumors continue to swirl around Dale Earnhardt Jr and his status with DEI beyond 2007. Numerous reports indicate not all is well and a move to the black No. 3 with Childress Racing and Budweiser might not be out of the question. What do you think of that possibility? Drop me a line.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will continue our look at Who’s Where for 2007, take a first look at this year’s NASCAR Cup, truck and Busch testing and more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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NASCAR Nextel Cup - Who’s Where for 2007 (Part 3)
January 2, 2007 - Continuing on with our look at who’s where for 2007:
No. 22 - Dave Blaney’s stock rose as the season wore down with several top tens before all was said and done. Blaney returns to the same Bill Davis Team, only this time with Toyota tin. We’ll have to wait and see how the new badging holds up to the competition.
No. 24 - Here’s another for the category, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. While four-time champion Jeff Gordon didn’t win his fifth title, the Hendrick driver still got the job done, but a lack of consistency kept the team out of the top five. If they work out some of the bugs, look for the Rainbow Warriors to be even more of a threat to ‘five-peat’.
No. 25 - It will be interesting to see how much Chip Ganassi will kick himself for letting Casey Mears get into the Hendrick No. 25 Chevy. The National Guard has entered the sponsor role along with GMAC, With Lance McGrew as crew chief, this combo could land among the top ten....and more.
No. 26 - With the kind of dismal year Jamie McMurray had in ‘06, this year’s introduction of Larry Carter as crew chief can only improve things. Just Crown Royal and Irvin Tools this year on McMurray’s Ford Fusion. If things don’t gel soon, both driver and chief could be looking elsewhere for a paycheck.
No.29 - Kevin Harvick comes off the best year of his racing career with a second Busch title and fourth in Cup. Mr. Personality returns to the Childress Chevy with a very different look. Gone is primary backer Goodwrench (silver/black) and hello to yellow-ish paint schemer Shell Oil/Pennzoil. Can this team stay on their season-long roll from last year? Stay tuned.
No. 31 - Jeff Burton also had a banner year with wins in both Busch and Cup along with a seventh place finish in the Chase. The ex-Roush pilot returns to the Cingular Chevy seat with Prilosec and Lenox becoming part-time big spenders...read primary backers. This is the final year on the personable driver’s contract.
No. 36 - Jeremy Mayfield returns to full-time action after leaving Evernham Motorsports late in ‘06. This time in a Bill Davis Toyota with 360 OTC on the quarters and Derrick Finley calling the shots from atop the pit box. It’s too early to see if this combo will gel into top ten runs.
No. 38 - Roberts Yates picked David Gilliland to drive this M & M’s ride after Gilliland surprised everyone with a Busch victory. The young driver has gotten off to a good brief start among the Cupsters in late ‘06. With a three-year contract in hand, I see this driver getting to the front, especially with Todd Parrot as crew chief.
No. 40 - David Stremme struggled to stay among the top 35 in points last year, but a late season turn-around put the team in 33rd by season’s end, something that will surely help kick off this year’s first five races with guarantees to make the show. To meet Ganassi standards however, this young driver will have to step up to the plate in getting some top tens, something missed in ‘06.
From Rumorville - The biggest concern in this department are the complications setting in on legendary driver/commentator Benny Parsons. The former Winston Cup champion has been battling cancer and was put on oxygen to assist in his breathing. The latest reports indicate some new blood clots sidelining the veteran driver to complete bed rest. More on Parsons as it arrives.
— Love in the air in the off-season.....who’s says race car drivers don’t get the girls? First, it was Jeff Gordon marrying model Ingrid Vandebosch, then announced their first child. This week, it’s Greg Biffle proclaiming marriage intentions to girlfriend Nicole Lunders. Add to the list Busch driver Burney Lamar marrying model Niki Taylor and you have drivers with more than one reason to have a smile of their face earning a living in what they love to do.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will continue our look at Who’s Where for 2007 and more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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NASCAR Nextel Cup Who's Where for 2007 (Part 2)
Continuing on from last week, here's the next chapter of who's where for 2007:
No. 9 - Kasey Kahne comes off his best NASCAR year to date, notching the most wins for '06 and a eighth place in the Chase, his first entry to date. Kahne returns to Evernham Racing with most everything in place and a new paint scheme. This team must stay on an even keel, read consistentcy to get closer to any shot at a title.
No. 10 - Scott Riggs managed a 20th place in last year's standings despite missing the opening round of the Daytona 500. This driver and team can get the job done. Valvoline and the rest of the ingredients are set in stone. I'd look for this team to move up in the final stats by November.
No. 11 - Rookie of the year...a top three in the final standings, wins, a pole, what else could a rookie do? Virginia native Denny Hamlin exploded on the NASCAR set with a bang in whatever he drove. Hamlin returns to the FedEx Chevy with many feeling he will continue on a path to the front.
No. 12 - Ryan Newman fills the seat of this Penske Dodge, but with new crew chief Mike Ford at the helm. Barely finishing in the top 20 with no wins is not exactly the goal for this multi-time winner.
No. 13 - With Mark Martin wearing this year's ARMY colors, Joe Nemechek moves over to a new team as part of Ginn Racing. The official sponsor has not been announced, although there have been reports it may be Bacardi footing the bills. Too early to tell how this combo will pan out with ex-Hendrick crew chief Peter Sospenzo.
No. 14 - Sterling Marlin finished out of the top 35 last year with hardly anything positive to speak of. Waste Management returns as the major sponsor to this lack-luster team. I see this as Sterling's swan song to racing.
No. 15 - Add Busch pilot Paul Menard to the DEI list of Cup drivers in this ride. The competitive driver brings his father's home improvement retail business with him to back the effort. Tony Eury Sr may be the crew chief.
No. 16 - It's amazing that Greg Biffle finished second in '05, yet wound up well out of the Chase for '06. Biffle landed in the winner's circle, but wound up out of several races with mechanical problems or just bad luck. The National Guard has left the sides of his ride, yet Ameriquest, Dish Network and 3M will fill in the gap. Pat Tryson will be this year's crew chief and I see the Bif back in the saddle of success.
No. 17 - Matt Kenseth will be very much back behind the wheel of this DeWalt ride with Robbie Reiser as crew chief. Look for Arby's to be added to the list of associate sponsors to this susccesful effort.
No. 18 - J.J. Yeley had some bright spots in his rookie year of Cup racing despite not finding the winner's circle. Interstate Batteries is still on the quarters with a host of associates backing the effort with Steve Adington as crew chief. Yeley will have to crash less and notch more top tens to keep this Gibbs ride.
No. 19 - Elliott Sadler remains with Evernham Racing after coming into the fold late in the season. A new paint scheme and Josh Brown introduced as Team Director may be the right combo to put this team out front.
No. 20 - If it ain't broke...don't fix it. Two-time champion Tony Stewart will be back behind the wheel of the orange Home Depot Chevy with most of the team's ingredients well in place. Despite not making the Chase, Stewart notched several wins and a bunch of money to wind up 11th. With a little more concentration on the top ten, the team should be back in full form for '07.
No. 21 - Ken Schrader will be joined by heir apparent Jon Wood in driving the Woods Brothers Little Debbie's Ford Fusion. Look for Ore-Ida and Delimax to back Wood in his entry into the Cup ranks. I see this combo to be marginal at best, confusing for the crew and the final year for Schrader as a Cup driver.
From Rumorville - The long-awaited announcement concerning the future of Ricky Rudd was decided this week with Masterfoods becoming the major sponsor of the Yates No. 28 (formerly the Dale Jarrett UPS Ford). The Virginia veteran is looking forward to returning to the famous No. 28 ride. Look for Snicker's to be the major brand on the car with Pedigree making occasional appearances.
--- In case you hadn't heard, a driving suit and accessories once belonging to Dale Earnhardt Sr. was stolen from the Texas Motor Speedway. It turned out to be an inside job with a security guard coming forward with the goods. The 44-year-old Texan is facing charges for grand larceny.
That's it for this week. Look for next week's RWR to continue its look at Who's Where for '07 and more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at a new email address, racinwithruss@comcast.net
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