Meandering among the Marbles!

Random thoughts and mutterings from Saturday afternoon of Talledage weekend!

NASCAR Nextel Sprint Cup-Talladega

• My driver David Gilliland made it into the race. Watching the Non-top 35 qualifications as a fan is almost as stressful as it has to be for the driver, crew chief and team owners.
  

• I enjoyed hearing MRN radio interview both David and his crew chief, Slugger Labbe, prior to the qualification run by the #71 TRG Chevy. MRN did a fabulous job on interviewing everyone on pit road, prior to each car hitting the track for their runs.
  

• There is no excuse, though, for the Fox/SpeedTV announcers to NOT interview ANY of the Go or Go Home drivers prior to their runs. When it takes a car almost a full minute to make their warm-up run, there is plenty of time to have a few words. Even worse, there was quite a bit of time for track clean-up, and the talking heads just kept yammering on about other tidbits that had already been mentioned. Is it any wonder why the cars in the back have trouble finding sponsors?
  

• Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole! One cannot help but wonder, with the Target Bulls-eye on that car, and with JPM's reputation with many of the drivers on the track, how that Bulls-eye will provide a 'Target' of Opportunity for those drivers!
  

• Dodge engines have been blowing up this weekend. Five Dodge cars will have to go to the back of the field on Sunday. With the advent of Chrysler's demise at the hands of the economy, it looks like this weekend is a sobering omen of 'what is to come.'
  

• Having my favorite driver outside of the Top 35, and struggling for sponsorship puts me in an uncomfortable spot. I am now having to hope for the bad runs, bad luck, or parts failure of several other cars or drivers or teams. My discomfort comes from being pretty sure that wishing bad luck on someone else gets returned to you!
  

• After watching Matt Kenseth rolling and bouncing around the track in the Nationwide race, I find myself thankful for the COT. There has been no car rolling, flipping and tumbling at a plate track since the COT first rolled out on those tracks in 2007. Indeed the only time a COT has tumbled was Michael McDowell, making a rookie mistake during qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway.
  

NASCAR Nationwide Race-Talladega

• Matt Kenseth joined the long list of drivers who have taken the Talledega Tumble. Always bad to see by fans and by family members, it seems that much worse when you know that Katie Kenseth is pregnant.
  

• Many fans want to point fingers at David Ragan for causing Kenseth's wreck. Even more fans point even longer digits in the direction of Kyle Busch for tapping Jason Allgeier. As a fan, I find it hard to judge those situations. The NASCAR drivers in the top series are driving 180+ mph, inches apart! I sometimes make errors in judgement going 55 mph, with car lengths between me and the cars around. While I don't wreck, I come danged close. At those speeds, the wreck is done before one can even form the thought that there is something happening, let alone reacting to it. Of course, the driver doing the tapping usually does not have any damage from this type of wreck.
  

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series-Kansas Speedway

• I find amusement in the Race Analysis SpeedTV pop-up being sponsored by World of Warcraft, and the Todd Bodine truck being sponsored by Ventrilo, a chat application used by WoW players! WoW has gone redneck? Who knew? (My WoW'ing spouse commented on how often the Ventrilo application crashes right before Bodine's Ventrilo entry crashed at lap 10. Amazing, he says!)
  

• Friday listeners to Sirius Speedway heard many callers berating the Kansas Speedway ticket office, refusing to sell any tickets to anyone wanting to view truck practice on Friday. They had customers with money in hand being turned away, with the claim, as heard on Sirius, that race fans MUST buy tickets for the whole weekend. While that is certainly their right, it certainly does not appear to be smart to alienate fans who MIGHT end up buying tickets for the rest of the weekend if allowed in on the slowest day, gate-wise, of the whole weekend. Perhaps the economy in Kansas is just fine! Or perhaps they are resting on their laurels, knowing they have an 'in' to a second date with the building of the new casino, sponsored in part by ISC.

Have a good evening, and let's hope the racing at Talladega is great on Sunday. And, let's hope for a safe race!

Gillland:Forever Branded as a NASCAR Bad Boy!

When one action overwhelms perception!

NASCAR is filled with personalities, ranging from drivers through the owners, NASCAR officials, and indeed, the track owners. Sometimes, one instance can make an impact on how that person will be perceived forever. At Texas Motor Speedway, during the fall Sprint Cup race, we saw an event of pure payback that still is discussed in the media, and has indeed become a label for all actions both previous and future. David Gilliland suddenly became a Bad Boy!

David Gilliland was 2 laps down in 23rd position, and had been told by his crew chief to keep his spot, as they were racing for points position with many of the cars behind them. They also needed to maintain position with an eye on several cars that were only a lap down, as one of them having problems could mean the difference in points and in money for the beleaguered Yates Racing organization.

Many of David's fans, and a few fans of other drivers, were privy to the actions on the track that day. Apparently, ABC was not as informed, as they did not show any of the events leading up to David's 'moment'. Through the 3-D View of NASCAR.com's Raceview, we saw David get punted several times by Juan Pablo Montoya. And those stalwart fans also know that this is not the first time that JPM has punted David. David 'lost it' and for many of his fans, it was about danged time! Would it have been better at a short track? Yes. Would it have been better for David to just loosen JPM? Yes. But it did not happen that way and it appears that David will now be defined by that act for the rest of his career in NASCAR.

To quote David, “Juan and I had been going back and forth for a few laps. Juan got into my left rear and actually lifted my car. I hate that both cars were torn up. I was out there racing. I meant to get him loose but I didn't mean to wreck him and ruin both of our days. I feel real bad for my team and Yates Racing."

Those who know David know that he is one of the nicest men on the track. Somewhat shy and a plain speaker, he usually does not give the practiced and polished persona that many NASCAR drivers ooze publicly. However his fans hear David on the scanner, and they understand that he is passionate and forthright in his communication, and yet the communication is clear of profanity and disrespect to his team members. There are many drivers in NASCAR's top series who cannot make that claim. I have always marveled that the Public Persona of some of NASCAR's top drivers can be at total odds with their persona in private, and the scanner chatter is one of the first places to hear the difference. And yet, many of the media will continue to discuss David's transgression as if he were the worst of Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick rolled into one!

For instance, we have a writer for Foxsports, Kristin Valus, who proclaims that David should go to Anger Management class! Huh? While she mentions the obvious issue at TMS, she also cites David Gilliland at Watkins Glen, as having issues with Michael McDowell. The situation there is widely accepted by the vast majority of NASCAR media not named Kristin, that the WG incident was not David's fault. In fact, the only person who proclaimed otherwise, was McD's team owner, Michael Waltrip, who has since dumped the same driver he so staunchly defended. (And yes, Mikey is totally believable, after Jet-Fuel-Gate, and Track-Bar-Gate!)

Many drivers in NASCAR become defined by specific acts. Those actions become a benchmark for all actions past and future. What is important to understand, is that one act does not define the personality for ever and ever. If it did, then we would see many of NASCAR's top drivers being defined only by their bad parts, and not by their 'good parts.' For instance, Tony Stewart would not be forgiven for many of his on track antics even though he is widely known as a very kind and generous man.

There is so much good about David Gilliland, and I am still a staunch fan! I know that he is not perfect, and yet what David IS, is something that anyone who takes the time to know David will find out, there is a good man under all of that negative perception. Given a half a chance, and a full sponsor, I have no doubts that David will show the world what he can do! And even if he doesn't shed the mantle of 'the dastardly deed' he will make his way into respect by most of NASCAR's drivers, especially those that have already felt the wrath of the JPM bumper!

A Rough 24 Hours for a Gilliland Fan!

It has indeed been pretty rough to be a fan of David Gilliland during the last 24 hours. As the whole of the NASCAR world knows, there was an altercation between David and Juan Pablo Montoya that resulted in David turning Montoya into the wall.

During the Dickies 500, I was deeply engrossed in the Raceview rendition of NASCAR.com's Trackpass, listening to David's scanner and watching the graphic cars as they moved around the track. I was also in a chat room, and since the ABC broadcast was in a commercial break at the time, I was fully focused on Raceview.

I was shocked to see the 42 approach David, and hit David in the rear several times. Gilliland tried moving out of the way, and JPM kept hammering on him. I 'saw' the wreck. Shocked, I relayed the information to the others in the chat room, and we waited for the return of the broadcast, completely stunned.

The broadcast confirmed what I saw, with an exception. They only showed David taking his shot, not what led up to it.

At this point, I MUST make a statement. David's reaction to JPM may have been over the top. I had already cautioned some of the chat room members, earlier in the race, to not wish anyone to be wrecked, as this track has such high speeds, it could be disastrous.

It is very hard to admit that a favorite driver may have made an error in judgment. It was even harder to listen to the post-race shows on Sirius, as David was being viciously hammered by the fans who were calling in. I finally did something I never do, I turned the receiver off, as I could not bear to listen to it any longer. I woke up this morning, still heart-sick, hearing almost non-stop negative comments on The Morning Drive. Again, very hard!

The next show, Tradin Paint, suddenly seemed like a breath of fresh air. It went 90 minutes without caller comment on the situation, and when the first one called in expressing displeasure with David, Steve Post and Chocolate Myers were steadfast in the statement that David had served his penalty. They felt that if there were to be further sanctions, then JPM deserved to be sanctioned too, as JPM admitted to contacting David. They also said that this action was totally unlike David, and they really like him. I heard similar comments from Moody and Gang on the Sirius Speedway. I also discovered that Carl Edwards jumped to David's defense! Thank you, Carl!

Then, this evening, Tony Stewart Live really shocked me. I mentally had to prepare myself that Tony could roast David. Tony did not do so! He commented that David would not have turned JPM without cause. He illustrated some of the issues that Tony himself has experience with JPM, which were surprisingly similar to the incident in Texas. In fact, when Kyle Petty joined Tony, they talked about the fact that JPM has been so fired up after being in incidents with Kevin Harvick, and others....that the fact that JPM's post race rant was so calm, it could indicate that JPM knew exactly why he was turned.

So far, it appears that an equally great crime may be that David made it look too blatant. So many drivers can turn another, and then with a glint in their eye, declare "Gosh, I hate it that it happened!" Some fans of drivers who have ironically had their own sessions in the "Oval Office" have been the first to jump on the Dump on David bandwagon. Even Jimmy Spencer jumped all over David on his Victory Lane show on Speed. The man who 'never forgets' apparently forgot that he turned Kurt Busch at Indy in 2003.

I do find it comforting that after 24 hours, some of David's peers are stating they understand why it happened, and have declared that this is totally out of character for David. Those of us who have met David know that he is a bit shy, not the least arrogant, and really wants to succeed. His temperament is usually calm, and I think in the whole of the season, I have only heard him curse once, which was immediately followed by an apology to his team. He works side by side with his team at the shop, and his scanner chatter with his team is usually clear and concise.

Again, I am not condoning what David did. But I do appreciate that it took a lot to have David snap like that. And I can't help but believe, that if it was a rough 24 hours for David's fans, then it had to be hell for him. I only hope that Doug Yates and Max Jones stand by David, as he has stood by them during their struggle to rebuild the Yates Racing teams.

M&M's, Pedigree, and Weapons of Mass Disgust, Oh My!

Richmond International Raceway - a race track that inspires drivers to claim it is the penultimate racing experience. Fans claim the same, and I must say I would be included in that claim. I visited RIR 4 years ago, and reminisce fondly on the whole experience.
The fans attending the race on May 3rd received a more exciting show than the value of their tickets implied. This race will compare to the most memorable races in the annals of NASCAR history, only because of the quirkiest of events.

First, Kudos to my favorite driver, David Gilliland! While Freecreditreport.com has extended their agreement with Yates, it is widely speculated that the car decorations are 'gratis' until the next big-time sponsor can be found. "Gratis or not, I am grateful for the logo's and I will be wearing purple and black as long as the FCR pirate hat continues to adorn the quarter panels.David had a marvelous run, starting from the 40's (when will the Yates cars start qualifying better?) and ran as high as 14th. Sadly, he was involved in the lap 230 fiasco that sent several cars to the garage. David's car was one of three that never returned to the track. His team mate, Travis Kvapil, finished 16th, and is now 19th in driver points with David sitting 20th. Not bad for two teams that are sorely underfunded! I am sure there are some big dollar sponsors out there who want some exposure! At any rate, this driver will continue to show the promise that came from his Cinderella-like win in the Busch series a few years ago.



Denny Hamlin certainly appeared to be the class of the field. Every restart had the hometown hero charging away from the pack, and he seemed to be unstoppable. Disaster struck for the 11 team when a tire was going down, and Denny stopped the car on the track, forcing a caution. Parked two laps by NASCAR for the infraction, he would certainly have gone down as many laps, if not more, with a green flag stop or a tire blow-out.

Denny's forced caution set the scene for one of the most talked about events of the last two days. Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were racing side by side, when a 'racing deal' caused Jr. to spin, backing into the outside wall. The anger from the fans was evident in single digit gestures, booing, and the traditional "Jr got dumped" rain of beer cans, aka Weapons of Mass Disgust.



A Sunday afternoon spent browsing the internet shows there are three sharply divided camps on the Jr. vs Kyle subject.

• Group one is made up mostly of media, and a few fans who 'have no dog in that hunt.' The opinion's seem to agree that a racing deal happened. The members of this group are pretty sure that Kyle did not intend for it to happen, and should not be penalized by the Jr. Nation.
  

• Group two is the "I hate Jr and will now love Kyle" faction. Any driver that is involved in a battle with the scion of the man called Senior is automatically moved to the top of their list! They dismiss 17 Cup wins as a fluke in their sureness that Jr. is over-rated.
  

• And the third group is the one that will cause this event to never, ever be forgotten. Fans of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will not forgive this one easily. Already nicknamed Vile Kyle on more than one message forum, an arrogant attitude will force this driver to endure boo's and catcalls during driver intros for years in the future.
  

Many fans are already busy writing a plethora of emails and letters to every media venue available, to Gibbs racing, and are busy creating a hate-mail campaign to Mars, Inc., the sponsor of Kyle Busch. The anger directed to Kyle Busch will overflow to Mars being instructed on the sanity of sponsoring such a controversial driver, with threats to never ever purchase any of the products ever.

Kyle's attitude reared it's head in the Richmond Nationwide race on Friday. A post-race scuffle with Steven Wallace caused Kyle to mouth some pretty self-damning statements. Kyle is showing the world his attitude with statements such as

...he's probably not even driving Ritchie Wauter's Super Late Models anymore either.

and

We've got a lot of things that go on, but this is just a little piece of the pie. I race in the Sprint Cup Series...

The most amusing quote though, was

"That's Rusty Wallace's kid so I'm not sure you're going to be able to talk to him much and get through his head...

One cannot help but reflect "Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle!"

One also wonders if Mars got more than they expected. With the announced intent to acquire Wrigley, they may well have two of the most despised drivers on the NASCAR series driving cars under their banner. Oh my! Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya as 'mates! Who would have thought! And oh, by the way....congratulations to Clint Bowyer, the forgotten winner!

More Miscellanea from the Marbles

Penalty's Painful Penance:

Tony Eury, Jr, Crew Chief for the DEI #8 Budweiser team, was said to have been parked in the motorcoach lot during NHIS weekend, in spite of still serving a 6-week suspension. While on the top of the motorcoach watching practice, he was said to have removed his shirt due to heat. At the end of the day, he discovered he was sunburned to the point of blistering. Ouch!

That may be the most pain any member of the 8 team felt while Tony was serving his sentence. In fact, that may be the most pain felt by ANY of the Suspended Chiefs. It has been noticed by many that the teams with Probational Crew Chiefs have not failed as much as expected. The truth has come out, that the crew chiefs have been violating the spirit of the suspension, and are still at the track, and participating in team decisions during the weekend.

Look for NASCAR to restrict those shenanigans! Brian France, during a teleconference stated
that NASCAR was looking into it. My personal suggestion is to send those crew chiefs out into Short-Track Land, and have them join the inspection team. Then on Cup day, they should be joining David Hoots in Race Control, unable to use cell phones or any other device to contact their teams. Keep them busy on race weekend, far too busy to get into trouble. After all, it works for many teen-agers that are grounded!

Grace Under Pressure

There is a certain cachet to winning races. It is easy to be gracious with fans, media, and other drivers when one is on top of the world. It takes an extra amount of maturity to show grace when your world has turned upside down.

Kasey Kahne? Went from winning 6 races last year, and this year has been struggling to get past his single Top 10. When he is frustrated, he blames the other drivers around the track, complete with cheap shots. (David Gilliland and David Stremme were targets, for example.)

Tony Stewart? Well, I have already been vocal about him. He will occasionaly admit to being in the wrong, rarely. It is sad that he is a two-time champ.

Juan Montoya? The instances of his arrogance are too numerous to mention. Great driver, but lacking in social skills.

Denny Hamlin? Thank heavens he finally got a win! The look on his face was rapidly assuming the same dark thunderous expressions worn by his Two-Time Champ team mate!

Kyle Busch? He leaves the Texas race while his team is still trying to fix his car. At Atlanta. after clashing on track with his brother Kurt, refuses to address the media. Word in the garage is that it was rather 'frosty' in the Busch family for quite awhile. And let us not forget how he dissed his car while standing in Victory Lane.

How many times have we heard bad things about Jeff Burton over-reacting under pressure? Bobby Labonte? Terry Labonte? And for heaven's sake, even Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Jr have not expressed such extreme lack of class. And on the rare occasions they have been wrong, they are the first to acknowledge they were wrong.

Brad Keselowski is this week's winner of Grace under Pressure, How to Be Bigger Than The Situation. After having the race of his life, and being spun out on the final lap, he only expressed disappointment for himself, without casting blame. During radio interviews in the week after, he told us he knows that it does no good to get angry. Good for you, Brad!

Silly Season in Full Swing!

So far, we have seen the high-profile driver switch-abouts from the high profile Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kyle Busch. Other rumors abound with David Reutimann and Ryan Newman. The whole set of drivers from Evernham Motorsports have been the subject of rampant rumors. Those rumors persist, even though Ray declared, due to the pending merger with Canadiens owner Gillett Jr., that all of his drivers have committed to EMS. And yet, the rumors persist as the teams continue to struggle.

In addition, Sadler's Team Director has stepped off of the pit box, and Ray has committed to being on the box with his interim TD for the next race.

Drivers in Need of Parking?

When I heard that Ted Musgrave had been parked for a race in NCTS, I was astounded, as it seemed so far unreal when compared to past penalties. I especially wondered why the NCTS seemed to have so little trouble with parking a driver, and yet the NEXTEL Cup seemed to be holding back. Then I read the following quote from TMS promoter Eddie Gossage "But the day you park a popular driver is the day I'll be demanding money back from my purse and sanctioning fee from NASCAR because there will be some people not showing up because their favorite driver isn't at the track. It puts NASCAR in a bind. It really does." Enough said! Parking a Cup driver will be one of the last steps that NASCAR will ever take.

We are now approaching the 'crossed-flags' of the 2007 racing season. Look for a report card in the near future!