Myriad Mutterings from the Marbles!

I have finally completed several work-related projects, and now have time to breath and blog! Whew!

Fracturing the Yellow Line: Yes, I am going to add to the already overly rampant beating of a dead horse. However, MY problem is that I cannot make a decision about the right and wrong of the Talledega Line Debacle! Tony Stewart and Regan Smith are both adamant on what was right or wrong with the judgment handed down by NASCAR. The confusion was made even more considerable by inconsistent enforcement of the rules over the last few years. The opinions are sharply polarizing between segments of fans, journalists, television and radio personalities, and any one else who has an opinion. The good news is that NASCAR has decreed that they have tightened up the rule and will enforce it as such, maybe, kinda...well, we will see!

GEM dumps Carpentier: Patrick Carpentier learned a very valuable lesson about NASCAR team politics. While it was indeed wrong for his Technical Director (aka crew chief, for all of the non-GEM fans), Mike Shiplett, to serve up a royal butt-chewing in the garage area, and even if it was in the hearing of many in the garage area, it is NOT considered appropriate to air the dirty linen in the news. Non! Non! Non! Perhaps Mr. Carpentier made an erroneous assumption that NASCAR fans could not read French?

Missing Figurehead? One has to wonder what is REALLY going on at Gillette Evernham Motorsports. Ray Evernham is not around very much, even admitting on Sirius Speedway that he has other 'projects' that take him away from the track. One might get a glimpse of what his 'buy-out' deal really looks like, when one examines the failed buy out of Robby Gordon Motorsports. It is worth speculating that Ray was given an honorary position on The Board of Directors for a short time, as his duties are noticeably being curtailed. Mr. Small Time Former Crew Chief (TD?) meets Big Time Corporate Conglomerate!

Former GEM Diamonds now in the Rough! And speaking of Patrick Carpentier, he has joined the ranks of Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs! It appears that any driver of the #10 car is fated to leave early. And at this point, two of the three have left under a cloud of discord. It is a shame that GEM can't see their way to working with Patrick, as I believe he was one of the 'open-wheelers' who had a chance to make it in our world. I don't foresee it getting any better for Reed Sorenson. Pity!

Sour Sabates? Speaking of Reed, Felix Sabates may have a burr under his saddle. Felix recently slammed Reed's driving capabilities, and also slammed a long-term sponsor of the sport (Texaco) for being cheap and chintzy. Wow, Felix, did you know that it is considered tacky to use napalm when 'burning bridges?' Chip Ganassi has been the polar opposite, mum is the word from him! Is Felix the Designated Slammer, leaving Chip looking pure and pristine? So sorry, but we are not believing it, Chip!

One more 'Who?': So, ironically, AJ Allmendinger is going to drive the 10 car for the last five races of the year. This is a laughable twist for GEM driver Elliott Sadler. First, it took Sadler all year to learn how to pronounce Patrick Carpentier (no, Elliott...really, his name was NOT Patty Carpenter!) and now Elliott is a team mate to a driver who is also known as 'What's his name?' In fact, 'What's his name?' is still being called 'What's his name?' by Sadler while on the track, even though Sadler and 'What's his name?' have supposedly cleared the air after a wreck earlier in the year. Sadler is supposedly beloved by women, children and dogs, yet AJ's puppy tried to take a chunk out of Sadler. Good doggie! Smart Doggie!

'Dega Dump? And if Sadler is so well beloved by all, and is one of the most popular drivers in the garage...(I didn't say that, but a whole bunch of media types do say that!) why is it that he has not ever been able to rally his fellow drivers around him at a plate track? He had a top three run locked up at 'Dega, and yet when he pulled out, not one of the following ten drivers chose to go with him! Perhaps, the conversation heard last year at 'dega on another driver's channel will make a difference...."The spotter for the 19 says he will go with you if you pull out! (silence, then reply): "Yeah, RIGHT!" "I know, I am just relaying the message!" "(laughter heard from spotter, driver, and crew chief)" (Ironically, people who were listening to Mr. 19 Spotter Dude and Mr. Popular Driver never heard that conversation on the scanner! Mr. Spotter Dude shining the other driver on? Hmmmmm....it is getting so deep, readers may want to invest in 'hip waders!') Perhaps Mr. Popular if being given a dose of his own medicine! One can only hope!

Don't Blame the Blimp!: Goodyear is under fire again, for the 'exploding tires' at Talladega. Yet, even the most 'major' of NASCAR news outlets, such as ESPN, has articles that are great at roasting Goodyear, while neglecting to comment on the ARCA race at Talladega. Yes, ARCA had exploding tires causing all but one of the multiple wrecks, indeed impacting the first two places in the points standings. However, the tires were a different brand, by the name of Hoosier! We can't blame this one on Goodyear, folks!

Yates Rockets? Both drivers for Yates Racing have surprised the NASCAR world, in that they are doing far better than anyone expected. Severely underfunded, it appears that Doug Yates and Max Jones have found a lean, yet workable business model. The addition of Paul Menard and his family sponsorship can only add credibility that this team is planning on being around for quite a while! Rockets? Not yet! But soon!


Here is to a good race at Lowes on Saturday night! I will most certainly be tuned in!

Yates Racing and Silly Season

Whoever came up with the term Silly Season should be shot! It really is a Season of Misery and Angst. And this season is no different. And for fans of Yates Racing, David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil, the Season of Misery and Angst has been one lasting for two seasons.

Many in the media have acknowledged that Yates Racing has been amazing at putting together sponsorship deals to keep afloat. Running a very lean operation has also been noted as a factor for keeping some success going. Fans of both drivers gave up on asking for permanent sponsors, and it became a game to see who would be the next sponsor for the next race. Indeed, Travis Kvapil has had a parade of sponsors, with several one-offs. David has been fortunate to have a single sponsor for the first half of the season, FreeCreditReport.com.

Last night, the message boards for both David and Travis were abuzz with the news of an impending announcement that Paul Menard was coming to Yates Racing, and bringing his father's sponsorship with him. The story appeared first at ThatsRacin.com, but the fans of David and Travis both focused on the article at Foxsports.com. One pair of sentences had both sets of fans excited!

FOXSports.com's Lee Spencer has learned that Menard will drive a third car at Yates. No announcement has been made regarding the crew chief for the new team.

Jubilation then turned to worry when that same story was updated with the official Associated Press version by Jenna Fryer, and the above statement was no longer included. Fans scurried all over the net, finding anything that stated the likelihood of a three car team for 2009.

Today, the fans awoke to see Jayski.com linking to an article on Frontstretch.com, written by Tom Bowles. While hard to tell if it is from knowledge or speculation, it is still disquieting for both sets of fans to try to digest.

Yates Racing has struggled to find sponsorship funding this season, and has utilized the resources of both Roush Fenway Racing and Ford in order to keep their team afloat. Menard's presence secures them funding for at least one full-time team in 2009, but will mean the axe for either Travis Kvapil or David Gilliland if enough sponsorship isn't found to expand to three cars.

At this point, both sets of fans are sitting on pins and needles. We know the logic of how devastating the economy has become. We know there are struggles, and that Doug Yates and Max Jones are committed to making their operation work. While we know there is a need for steady income, it will be heartbreaking for the fans of either driver, if one should be cut.

Indeed, we may know why, but we won't like it. And frankly, if David is let go, it will be the last straw for me as a fan of Yates Racing, Ford and quite probably NASCAR.

Lest we forget...

Magnets and Marble Musings

Some more Random Thoughts just keep popping up. This week's Magnet-Gate is still seething and roiling on the NASCAR airwaves! Talk about a storm!

Just because Jack seems to whine a lot, it does not mean that he is wrong!

As the engine dyno was revving in the background at Michigan, Nationwide race-winning owner Jack Roush gave a detailed account of the initial advantages Toyota was given to help the Camrys get up to speed when the manufacturer entered the sport in 2007.

"(NASCAR) gave them a bunch of considerations from a parameter point of view, a dimension point of view that was outside the box in terms of what the Ford engine was," Roush said. "The pushrods are straighter. The camshaft is higher. The pushrods are shorter. The valve train is stiffer. The cooling system works better. All of those things were things that NASCAR uses discretion to approve that obsoleted the Ford engine and we can't make as much power as they do with the parts we have and right now we can't afford to obsolete all the parts that we have.

"So NASCAR, in the interest of fairness and balance in the competition from a potential point of view, after they went to great lengths to be able to check the engines to find out what they were doing, decided that they needed to rein Toyota in and that's what they did. There's crying and complaining about it, but the problem was when they submitted the engine, Toyota had approved things that obsoleted, really, everybody else, and now we've all got the necessity to come back and re-design and obsolete our current engines in order to get competitive.

"The error wasn't ours for getting behind. The error was in what Toyota offered and what NASCAR approved."

Joe Gibbs claims he is taking the hard line:

Team owner Joe Gibbs issued a statement saying the orgnanization would impose its own penalties with "the minimum being suspension for the remainder of the season for those involved, including our two Nationwide Series crew chiefs."

One would think from Joe's statement, that the "Magnet Seven" are all gone from the shop. Someone might want to give Kyle Busch the news!

“They’re still going to be at the shop putting together some race cars and doing all the work that they need to do to keep the stuff up to par. We’re just going to have different guys here at the race track to crew-chief during the race.

This situation has certainly shattered trust in NASCAR and in the workings of the Gibbs organization. The last time news of this magnitude rocked our NASCAR world is when Michael Waltrip was accused in the "Sterno-Gate" disaster last year in Daytona. One has to wonder how this impacts all of the sponsors at JGR. It certainly taints our sport.