Sliding through the Marbles!

Three days later, there is, amazingly, still more fall-out from the Sprint Fan Vote, which allows a driver to be voted into the All-Star race.
Fans of Dale Earnhardt, Jr, were tasked, by no less than Jr himself, to vote for Elliott Sadler. And now that it has been reported on NASCAR.com that Sadler finished third in the fan vote, the Jr. Nation is concerned that they are not quite as powerful as they believed.

Claims have ranged from voting bots and macros being used, to Budweiser 'buying' the vote. Even this morning's discussion on The Morning Drive (Sirius) has David Poole and Mike Bagley speculating on reasons for the actual voting stats not being revealed.

Fans of Elliott Sadler are claiming that Sadler really should have been the one winning the vote (if he had not crashed), as they are sure that Robby Gordon does not have enough of a fan base. (Oh, how wrong they are! Robby has a large and passionate group of followers. Anyone who was around back in the day of the Trackpass '11th man' voting will remember how it was impossible to go against the tide of their voting!)

It would be awesome if Sprint would release those numbers. However, I will not hold my breath waiting for the results to be published. After all, this was a vote sponsored by the series sponsor, and as such, they can make the rules.

Speaking of Sadler fans, there is a large contingent claiming that AJ Allmendinger never apologized for the accident with Sadler. It amazes me that they are still complaining, even after AJ's post-race comments have been widely published. In fact, AJ's comments post-wreck were broadcast. However, if one does not want to hear anything, it is a simple thing to keep the fingers firmly plugged into the ears while shouting 'LA LA LA LA LA!'

Great news for fans (and unofficial students) of Diandra Leslie-Pelecky! She will be a guest on Sirius Speedway this week, and it appears she will be a regular guest. If you haven't found her Stock Car Science blog, check it out. Her book, The Physics of NASCAR, is a must read.

More great news! If we can judge the entry list correctly, it appears that Travis Kvapil will have Lumber Liquidators on their #28 Ford Fusion for the Coca-Cola 600. According to an interview from Travis on "Trading Paint" (Sirius) last week, Travis said there was a sponsor for this race in the works, as well as a few in the future.

I also neglected to bid a fond farewell to Dale Jarrett. While it is sad that he will not be behind the wheel any longer, it will be wonderful to have him in the ESPN broadcast booth.

And don't forget, this week qualifying will be on THURSDAY! Get your fantasy picks in soon!

Tony Stewart: Actions Detrimental

I thought I was calmed down from the incident that caused my last Tony Stewart rant. I made the mistake of leaving my car radio on for a few minutes when the Tony Stewart show started on Sirius. Ten minutes later, I turned it off in disgust, as Tony began an anti-Gilliland lecture that was nothing but irrational and a pointed attack.

Then, while struggling to return to sleep (after a wrong number caller on my phone), I turned on the radio in the wee hours of dawn. Once again, there was the replay of Tony's vitriol. I listened as I drifted in and out of sleep.

Tony can't and won't let this go. He truly believes that he was totally in the right. His name-calling on the show tells me that he intends to try and crucify David, using his fans. He declared that after the incident, he was on the way to 'go find him (David)' and that Tony's handlers had to hold him back, reminding Tony that he was still on probation.

A caller asked him "If you know you have issues with him, why did you get so close to him?" Tony admitted he probably should not have been that close to him on the track, but would not admit why he was that close. (I am guessing it was an intimidation attempt.)

Today, while listening to David Poole and Mike Bagley on The Morning Drive on Sirius, the callers have overwhelmingly been against Tony's actions and Tony's conversations. One caller brought up something that illustrates Tony's lack of control.

Tony admitted at the beginning of the show last night that he was late to the show. (He apparently is late for almost everything.) And due to his lateness, he was driving, by his own admission, at 130 mph to get home in time to be on the air.

This is not the first time that Tony has bragged of excessive speed on the roadway. While (again) running late for the broadcast from Las Vegas, he bragged he was speeding at 100+ mph on the I15, a local highway that is 5 lanes of congestion and has serious accidents daily, with fatalities at least every month. We don't need an 'idiot' like Tony driving stupidly and putting innocents in danger.

Tony also complained he lost his hat and his sunglasses from his speeding last night. His comments about his sunglasses could well cause his personal services sponsor to read him the riot act. He laughed that the glasses only cost about 5 bucks to make, but they were sell for over $100 bucks. I am sure Oakley loves that cavalier attitude.

Tony continues to exhibit a distinct lack of control. If things do not go the way he thinks they should, he has a tantrum. If he seriously is concerned that David is a bad driver, he could take the time to talk with David, in a non-aggressive manner and HELP him. At this point the other drivers on the track are going to have to be cautious whenever they see Tony near the 38, because they know that Tony likes his little revenge games.

And thank you to Ricky Rudd for defending his team mate.

AS FAR AS DAVID GILLILAND GOES, TONY STEWART SUGGESTED LAST WEEK AFTER THEIR PRACTICE INCIDENT THAT HE MIGHT NEED MORE TIME IN THE MINOR LEAGUES. DO YOU THINK DAVID BELONGS IN NEXTEL CUP?
“I think he definitely belongs and let me kind of clear up something here. Tony is Tony. What else can you say? You can’t question his driver ability. Everybody knows he’s one of the best if not the best out there, but he kind of has a habit of running his mouth at the wrong time. David got blamed for that wreck, but that wasn’t David’s fault. No one ever came around and asked anybody else what happened, but the videotaped clearly shows what happened and Tony screwed up. He just misjudged his distance and ran into the back of David. David doesn’t really have a presence out here. He can’t fight that battle, but I can tell you one thing, that was not David Gilliland’s fault the other day. But the media seemed to jump on it and wrote it the way Tony spoke it, but, anyway, that being said, David definitely belongs in Cup racing. He has all the talents and he adapts quicker than anybody I’ve ever seen when we go to a strange race track. He’s right up to speed immediately. Our program and our team is not where it needs to be yet. They’ve been working very hard trying to get there and they’re making progress, but I think before you can make a judgment on David, the whole thing has to come together. Our speedway program is second to none. Our Daytona [International Speedway] and Talladega [Superspeedway] stuff, there’s not a team out there that has better speedway stuff, and if you look at it that way—and that’s the only really fair chance David’s had this year—and he’s been very competitive in all those races. He’s run extremely well.”

I do get tired of hearing that 'Tony is Tony' excuse, though. It is like excusing the school bully for beating up on kids for lunch change. It is a shame that we have a two time Champion acting this way. I can't help but wonder how Dale, SR would have handled this. Surely, not this way!