Auto Racing Daily : Blog May 2008

Blog May 2008

Junior spurns Gossage’s offer to ride in Texas IndyCar race
- May 05, 2008
- Blog
Dale Earnhardt Jr. laughed at Eddie Gossage’s offer of $100,000 to drive in the IndyCar series race at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7.
“Well, he thinks I’m a cheap date, I guess,’’ NASCAR’s most popular driver said before Friday’s Sprint Cup qualifying at Richmond International Raceway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., standing on the qualifying grid at Richmond Friday, scoffed at the Eddie Gossage offer of 100K to run TMS’ IndyCar race.Even if the TMS president upped his offer, Earnhardt didn’t appear interested.

ESPN.
Danica’s Moment
- Apr 22, 2008
- Blog
Let’s cut through the crap. The public holds Danica Patrick to a baffling double standard. If a man gets angry after he’s punted into the wall at 180 mph, he’s justified. If Patrick gets angry, she’s vilified. If a man gets into it with his crew chief over strategy, he’s fighting for his cause. If Danica does it, she’s b*tchy. If a man uses sex appeal to promote himself, he’s a stud. If she does it, well…

SPEEDtv.com.
In Case You Missed It
- Apr 15, 2008
- Blog
In case you missed it, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3 on Saturday night. We provide this public service announcement because Fox left the game for the start of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 just as Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano was battling Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the top of the ninth. Needless to say, Fox has gotten killed in baseball-crazy New York and Boston as well as NASCAR-happy locals. “The net result was not what we wanted to happen,” says Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell, who said his network received 20 complaints.
What happened? Fox is contractually obligated to show NASCAR races from start to finish on its broadcast network. They asked NASCAR to push the race back, and the auto racing body agreed to move the race from 8:45 p.m. to 8:53 p.m. Both worlds collided at that point and Fox was cooked. (The conclusion of the baseball game aired on FX.)

SI.com.
“They drive fast in NASCAR, so test them for drug use”
- Apr 15, 2008
- Blog
In the migration from dirt tracks to Madison Avenue, the executives failed to make a pit stop for something it needs more than any other league. If Aaron Fike didn’t tell us this when he was arrested last summer, he surely did when he told ESPN The Magazine last week that he had competed in the NASCAR truck series while on heroin

News Record – Greensboro, North Carolina.
Congressional Report Chides NFL and Union on Injuries
- Apr 09, 2008
- Blog
The CRS also found that NFL players are eight times more likely to get hurt than their counterparts in “any other commercial sports league, including ice hockey and auto racing.”

washingtonpost.com.
PHILLIPS: Helio Got It Right
- Apr 09, 2008
- Blog
In some respects, Saturday’s qualifying session was the highlight of the weekend, in that it gave a tantalizing preview of what may lie ahead for the IndyCar Series. It may have been on a 1.8-mile circuit where lap times were barely more than a minute long, but the fact that the top 15 drivers qualified within a second of one another bodes well for the unified series. Imagine the intensity and, with the proper promotion, attention that sort of competition will generate if it becomes par for the course in the coming months.

SPEEDtv.com.
This Week’s Fantasy League Advice
- Apr 04, 2008
- Blog
This week’s sage advice: Don’t panic, there’s plenty of time left to fix early-season mistakes, account for instances it was impossible to foresee, and still emerge at the top of your fantasy league.

After all, no one had F1’s boss, Max Mosley, in the top slot of their Auto-Racing-Executive/Nazi-Orgy fantasy league preseason draft lists. Sure, it’s easy in retrospect to realize his father was Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists, who was married in the home of Joseph Goebbels with Adolf Hitler present as a guest, but Teresa Earnhardt was still clearly the top draft pick.

Mosley’s daring use of five prostitutes does give his owners a seemingly insurmountable early lead, but that just means everyone else has to work harder to identify the next superstar.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News.
When the Tag Cloud says more than the story itself
- Apr 02, 2008
- Blog
Max Mosely fired a shot across the bow today when he issued a formal statement saying “I shall now devote some time to those responsible for putting this into the public domain.” So I guess that means the guys at Autosport.com, who cherish their FIA issued F1 press credential and have no problem with self-censorship, are safe. Likewise, the guy at Jalopnik responsible for writing the “tags” for articles shouldn’t expect his newly minted F1 credential to be arriving in the mail anytime soon. The collection of words below are from the ‘tag cloud’ associated with the Jalopnik.com story regarding Formula 1 President Mosely’s…well, just read the tag cloud.

CLIPS, DEADSPIN, F1, F1 HOOKERS, F1 SEX HOOKERS, F1 SEX SCANDAL, FIA FIA BOSS SEX, FORMULA 1 SEX SCANDAL, FORMULA ONE, FORMULA ONE OSS HOOKERS, MAX, MAX MOSELEY, MAX MOSELY SEX, MAX MOSLEY, MAX MOSLEY NAZI ORGY SCANDAL, MAX MOSLEY NAZI SEX VIDEO, MAX OSLEY SEX SCANDAL, MAX MOSLEY SEX VIDEO, MAX MOSLEY VIDEO, MAX MOSLY, MOSLEY, NAZI, NAZI SEX VIDEO, ORGY, RACING NEWS, SCANDAL, SEX

From the gas pump, rising prices trickle down
- Apr 02, 2008
- Blog
Walker, a cab driver with Blue and White Express in Chesapeake, estimates he’s spending $100 a week more for gas since last year. “Every time gas prices go up, I get a demotion,” he said.
He’s compensating for it by working more - 10 to 12 hours a day versus eight hours a day a year ago - and cutting personal expenses. Normally, Walker would have been in Martinsville last weekend watching the NASCAR race. This year, he saw it on TV.

PilotOnline.com.
Hillary in Dale Earnhardt Country
- Mar 29, 2008
- Blog
Playing on the car number of a famous Kannapolis native, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Clinton said there were “three” important things each president should do for a country - leave office with the country in better shape than when he or she enters; make a better future for the country’s youth; and improve the country’s relationship with the world.

Independent Tribune - Concord and Kannapolis.

Reports from the event detailed that upon arrival Hillary did not dodge any bullets or enter under heavy security from sniper fire. The candidate, which has no real chance of winning the democratic nomination, is still campaigning in hopes of stealing the election. Senator Patrick Leahy said yesterday she should “drop out” and concede that she has lost.
Nationwide Series should be proving ground
- Mar 25, 2008
- Blog
The Nationwide Series use to be a proving ground for young drivers trying to make a name for themselves in the sport. Drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Greg Biffle earned their stripes in the Nationwide Series before making the jump up to Sprint Cup. The problem now is that none of the fulltime Nationwide drivers can beat the Sprint Cup drivers.
Here’s some more math that will make you think: In 2005 12 races were won by non-Sprint Cup drivers, in 2006 that number dropped sharply to two and in 2007 only three races were won by non-Sprint Cup drivers (including the win credited to Aric Almirola when Denny Hamlin subbed for him at Milwaukee).
Scott Wimmer’s victory in Saturday’s Pepsi 300 makes him only the sixth non-Sprint Cup driver in three year’s to win in the Nationwide Series. This is a serious issue and needs to be looked at by NASCAR sooner or later, even if they’d prefer to hold their hands over their ears and scream at the top of their lungs and pretend like its not happening.

The Newspaper of Cleveland County.
Bruton Smith weighs in on open-wheel racing
- Mar 25, 2008
- Blog
Smith isn’t nearly as excited about Formula One, however. Asked about trying to bring the series to one of his tracks, he replied, “No, sir. No. I’m not interested in Formula One. I don’t think that Americans, generally speaking, are interested in it, and I’m certainly not interested. To me, it’s kind of like watching paint dry.”

Marin Independent Journal.
Why A NASCAR Race Has 43 Drivers
- Mar 19, 2008
- Blog
There are 43 cars in a NASCAR race, and there are 43 presidents.

Here is what might happen if U. S. presidents competed against each other on a NASCAR Speedway.
Force India Formula One Team
- Mar 19, 2008
- Blog
Adrian Sutil endured a frustrating weekend for Force India in Australia, which was tarnished by an off in first qualifying that damaged his chassis and engine, and forced him to start from the pitlane. The first lap carnage and early safety car helped him out, and he soon passed other cars and gained ground, only for a hydraulic problem - a legacy of the need to build up the spare car overnight - to put him out.

Force India Formula One Team.
Winning A Championship Without Winning Any Race
- Mar 15, 2008
- Blog
Victor Lee didn’t win a race last year in the NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series, but his steady, solid performances throughout the season earned him and his team a championship.
Name change of Nextel Cup likely to be announced Saturday
- Jul 06, 2007
- Blog
Officials of Sprint and NASCAR have scheduled a news conference for Saturday at Daytona International Speedway to make an ‘announcement regarding 2008 series branding.’

Several national media outlets have reported that the name of NASCAR’s top racing series will be changed from Nextel Cup to Sprint Cup.
Brian France: “We’re doing everything we can looking at alternative fuel options”
- Jul 03, 2007
- Blog
Brian France: Finally, I want to spend a moment on alternative fuels and really what we think going green, being environmentally sensitive, we know they go together on that. Through Sonoco, we’ll be stepping up our efforts, making sure we’re doing everything we can looking at alternative fuel options. That may be way down the road. It may be partial progress. We’re really going to school very, very diligently here trying to sort that out.
Post-race notes and quotes from NASCAR Nextel Cup race, New Hampshire
- Jul 02, 2007
- Blog
Jimmie Johnson:“For some reason, our team always performs best under adversity, “ said Johnson. “Today was another example. We had a good weekend. It’s something we can build on. Ron and Lance did a great job, and everyone else stepped up and we gave a good effort. “
Jeff Gordon: Yeah, you know, you can always look back, and probably I’ll be watching the video and say, oh, I wish I would have done this or that.

Auto Racing Daily: Post-race notes from NASCAR Nextel Cup race, New Hampshire
Post Race Quotes - French GP
- Jul 02, 2007
- Blog
Kimi Raikkonen (1st):

“Finally! Everything went the right way in my race. It was vital that I managed to get past Hamilton at the start and then I always tried to stay with Felipe. I knew I had a few laps in hand but, at my first pit stop, I had a bit of traffic and I was unable to get in the lead. Then at the second stop, the situation was turned around and I came out in front. Right from the start of the weekend we have been strong and this win is the reward for all the hard work carried out over the past few weeks. Now we must continue to improve the car because there is still room to do so, starting with the next race which we should tackle with the same approach that we used here in Magny-Cours. “

Felipe Massa (2nd):

“First of all I want to say I am happy for the team, as it needed this sort of result after a difficult spell. Of course, I would have wanted to win but I was delayed by traffic in the decisive phase of the race, when I knew I had to build up a bit of a lead over Kimi to stay ahead of him during the pit stops.

Lewis Hamilton (3rd):

“I’m pleased to have finished third today and have continued my run of podium finishes in Formula 1. I didn’t have the best start and I don’t know exactly what the reason was. My car was very good in the opening stage of the race, and I pushed hard to get past Kimi, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.

Robert Kubica (4th):

“This was a good race for the team with us finishing fourth and fifth, and it has been a very good weekend for me. It was a very quiet race. I made quite a good start but we were on the dirty side with Lewis Hamilton, so had no chance to overtake. After that I was close to him just once when he was coming out of the pits and we had a short fight, but he had new tyres, braked later into the hairpin and overtook me again.

Nick Heidfeld (5th):

“I am very happy with the result. It was a great race for us, and we scored valuable points. At the start both Renaults went to the middle of the track, I tried to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella on the right hand side, but he moved over, which was not correct.
Team Mates battling it out at McLaren
- Jun 29, 2007
- Blog
As the world sits and waits for inter-team rivalry to tear the wheels off the McLaren machine, Lewis Hamilton admitted ahead of Sunday’s French Grand Prix that he and team-mate and title rival Fernando Alonso sat down and agreed media tactics following his narrow triumph in the recent US GP at Indianapolis.

Auto Racing Daily: Hamilton - Alonso feud Brewing at McLaren?

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