Sunday, March 20, 2011

View From The Flagstand


This season keeps cruising along, one great race after another. But... why were there tens of thousands of ass free seats at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend? Once known as the toughest ticket in NASCAR, Bristol had more empty seats on Sunday than this year's three previous Cup races did... combined!

CHECKERED FLAG

Oh well, all those missing fans have probably already seen Kyle Busch win at BMS anyway. Sunday he won his fifth consecutive race, two Cup, two Nationwide, one truck, at Bristol. It was also his fifth Cup win, of his twenty total, at the world's fastest half mile track.

GREEN FLAGS

Somehow, Matt Kenseth was never on my TV screen, yet finished fourth? Paul Menard is RCR's top dog so far this year. He was up front all day, led 35 laps, and had a fine fifth place finish. Kurt Busch continued his string of top-10's with a seventh place run. A special green flag to BMS for honoring long-time Bristol exec, Jeff Byrd, by naming Sunday's race after him.

YELLOW FLAG

It seemed as if cars slowing due to flat tires caused a few wrecks, but Fox didn't bother investigating, or following up on it.

RED FLAG

Nationwide driver, Jennifer Jo Cobb refused to start and park in Saturday's race, five minutes before starting time. She says her car owner, Rick Russell, told her 10 minutes before the scheduled starting time. Russell says he told her on Friday that, after wrecking two cars in two races, they had to start and park at BMS. 99% of the fans are buying her side of the story.

BLACK FLAG

Danica's attitude. It's bad enough in the Indy series (where she has done next to nothing), but it's unbearable in the Nationwide series, where she has done nothing, period. I would say no one likes a whiner, but, apparently, lots of people do.

15 comments:

  1. How's the song go?

    Gene, Gene, Roses are red... Come out of your shell, bonnie Gene... LOL!

    That's callin' a spade a spade darn near across the board!

    I guess I'm buyin' in on Ms. Cobb's story. If she had been told on Friday (not alluded to) she'd have been gone then... No, the owner waited until the last minute... The fact that another unnamed owner went to bat for her says a lot as well. We'll see if she comes up smellin' like a rose or not...

    Thanks for a good one Gene!

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  2. Thank GOD I had Kyle on my fantasy team this week! He SAVED my team's butt!! I was going to switch to Kurt but at the last minute decided against it. Good thing I did! What also helped was Bobby Labonte having a strong run.

    I'd give JJC a green flag for REFUSING to start and park, and Rick Russell a GIANT red flag for dropping that nuclear bomb on her just minutes before the race was to start. I'd also give Kevin Harvick a green flag for rallying from 17th at the time he came out of the pits on his wreck to sixth, just missing out on a top 5.

    As for Danica, she's done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in racing, except be a hot race car driver (as far as looks go). Just goes to show that looks CAN go a long way if you use them right.

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  3. Dwindy.... There are two sides to every story. Here is a link to the most informative one on the Cobb deal... http://hamptonroads.com/2011/03/driver-refuses-start-nationwide-race-after-she-says-owner-ordered-her-start-and-park

    There is a lot to read between the lines.

    I like Jen Jo, but she was paying for that ride, and will have to pay to get another one. I have no doubt she would have better results than Danica if in the same equipment.

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  4. Jon... I was very surprised that Harvick came back from his mishap. Also, Keselowski finishing on the lead lap was amazing.

    It will be interesting to see how Jen Jo's career plays out from here.

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  5. interesting article there, Gene....if it's accurate, then I shall swap sides of the fence to the owner after only hearing JJC's story, lol

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  6. Looks like a he said, she said deal... Right off the bat the two (owner and driver) are strange bedfellows... What's up with their unique arrangement? She's supplying engines? Tires? Some of the crew including the chief? Strange brew... What was the owner supplying? It certainly wasn't moral support (and evidently not much money either!)...

    Yep... He said - she said... Ain't it great?

    I'm sure we haven't heard the last of this.

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  7. I think Bristol did itself a disservice with all its "season ticket holders for life/we are always sold out"...cuz now no one even considers going there assuming they cant get tickets. Kinda like why people still call it Winston Cup and Bud Pole Award - marketing/branding was too good. LOL

    Come on Gene, now that Kyle's all mature we need someone to pitch a ridiculous fit!

    Your green flag so go to Food City since they were the ones who gave the sponsorship to Byrd. Very cool indeed.

    JJC - I dunno here, lots of shady dealing in those garages...probably both are true.

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  8. Tez.... I said two sides to every story earlier... but it's really three sides in this case.... his side, her side, and the truth... LOL

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  9. Dwindy... lots of deals to rent rides going on in every racing series. The owner supplied her cars, parts, hauler, etc. She had some engines (one, I think), some crewmen, and bought her own tires. If they got any sponsor money, they were to split it.

    They sound like they are moving on without getting any lawyers involved... a good idea.

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  10. KLV... I hear some fans saying that since they resurfaced the track, and made two racing grooves, that the races are boring.

    I believe that there is too much points racing at Bristol now. Too many drivers just want to leave there in one piece, and not lose any ground in the standings. Bleh!

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  11. Yeah I was wondering who Jeff Byrd was... I figured it was one of those deals like the spring Richmond race where the winner of a contest gets the race named after him. At least you won't have to watch Danica in Nationwide again for a couple of months...

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  12. Wow Gene, absolutely not love for Danica... lol I'm surprised!! There ARE always two sides to a story, so Jen Jo may not be perfect in the situation, however, I think she will have much fan support, because people like the start and park deal less than you like Danica...

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  13. Brent... Jeff was a nice guy, and he really cared about the fans. With Bristol always sold out a few years ago it would have been easy to take them for granted, but he wanted everyone to have a great time.

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  14. JD.... She and Kevin Conway have about the same level of talent, and are only in a car due to sponsorship. At least Paul Menard has shown flashes of talent over the years.

    I blame JR MoSpo as much as Danica. They are too cheap to hold testing or practice sessions for her. And she mistakenly thinks that she's good enough to race in NASCAR without practicing.

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  15. Why is it that when a girl gets in a race car there is so much negative reports or shady dealings? Most have to buy the ride or have to deal with an off the wall car owner with other motives.

    OK. Danica is the exception. She can't drive a race car.

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