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I Could Do Without This Guy
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes I ask myself if all the disdain for Kyle Busch is really justified. Then he'll go out and do something so childish and embarrassing that my doubts are kept in check. Saturday was one of those days when he reminds the racing world that he is the most classless driver on the circuit.
After dominating the Nationwide race at Bristol, one of his crew members made a mistake on the final pitstop by allowing the right-rear tire to roll outside of his pit box. Busch picked up the standard NASCAR penalty of restarting at the end of the lead lap line, which in this case was 14th position. He ended up finishing sixth.
Okay, we get it: the guy made a mistake and it probably cost them the race. Everyone has a right to be passionate about it. But where Kyle loses points is in his childish antics. After learning about the penalty he ripped his team through the in-car radio. Then, after the race was over, he didn't even bother driving the car back to the garage area. He parked it on the track, threw off his helmet to show his anger and left the facility -- clearly an insult to his team.
The reality is that NASCAR is a team sport. You win as a team, and you lose as a team. It's always been that way, and always will be that way. Kyle Busch is not a team player; probably because he feels that his talent is above his crew's abilities. Some day he is going to make a mistake when driving the race car. What would he think if his crew threw up their hands, told him he sucks, and then refused to service his car for the rest of the day?
Here is where the problem lies: the racing media has launched this guy into God's gift to the racing world and have fed his relentlessly immature self-aggrandizing by endlessly talking up his perceived greatness. Then all the Busch apologists come out to defend him on TV when he acts like a spoiled brat. Even this evening Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace used their platform on SPEED TV to speak of Busch's "righteous anger" when dealing with his crew. Wallace offered that Busch's greatness makes him "the Dale Earnhardt of now". (With all due respect, I do not believe that Kyle could carry Earnhardt's jock strap.)
Busch will probably go on to have a lot of victories, but if he doesn't grow up quick, he'll never be one of NASCAR's greatest drivers. NASCAR's greatest drivers were also some of the best people. Ned Jarrett, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Richard Petty -- all drivers with talent, passion, and success in their own right -- but also good gentlemen that have represented the sport well.
Here is one fact I know about automobile racing: there is no other sport in America that can humble a man in the wink of an eye like this sport can. One moment you can be the hottest driver on the circuit, and the next moment you're laid up in a hospital. If Busch is building his personality on victories and brash ego alone, he is opening himself up to the possibility of a huge downfall.
Who knows... maybe that Formula One ride will come through after all. That'll be just one less punk NASCAR fans will have to deal with.
Manzanita Speedway Petition
Posted by: | CommentsThe announcement that Manzanita Speedway has been sold and is closing in mid-April was a surprise to many of us. The track has been purchased by Southwest Rigging, which plans to level the track. There's a petition at www.savethetracks.com that aims to prevent its demise. Check out the site for more information. Then, click over to the petition and sign it when you get the chance. (Hat-tip to Ken for the heads-up.)
I've never been to Manzy myself, but being from New Jersey I'm familiar with tracks closing down. I remember watching sprint races at Manzanita on TNN during the winter time in the '90s.
It's hard to imagine that they're going to bulldoze a historic track just to use the land to store crane equipment. One would think that with all the land readily available in Arizona, there has to be a better site for crane storage.
According to The Arizona Republic, it sounds like the track has succumbed to what has become a common thread in short-track racing: lagging attendance and noise complaints of an encroaching residential population. Nevertheless, it seems the owners will be raking in a substantial profit from the sale.
Southwest Industrial Rigging purchased Manzanita from co-owner Mel and son Bobby Martin for an amount the younger Martin said was between "$10 (million) and $20 million." The Martins bought the track, which encompasses 38 acres on the southeast corner of 35th Avenue and Broadway Road, in August 2007 for $3.5 million.
"I haven't slept two hours a night since we agreed to sell two weeks ago," said Bobby Martin, who is 59. "I was 2 years old when I first came to Manzanita. My dad helped build the track (in 1951). I own race cars, and we've spent $1 million for renovations.
"I thought we'd get 10 years out of it before we'd have to sell it. But attendance is down 40 percent, and we lost ($468,465) last year.
"We still had enough money to last several years. It's just that the nail in the coffin was some environmental issues involving dust and also noise complaints from neighbors. We knew eventually we'd get closed down because of it."
Bobby Martin said fans have been understandably upset with the news.
"A lot of people have called us and expressed their dissatisfaction," Martin said. "Everybody feels like we didn't give racing people a chance to buy it, but I didn't know anyone out there with that kind of money. And even if there might have been, you still had the environmental issues. The county had two pages of complaints against us."
My suspicion is that it had more to do with the money than the "environmental issues," but we may never know. Either way, it'd be a shame if the track is closed.
Manzanita Speedway Sold, Closing
Posted by: | CommentsManzanita Speedway, located just outside Phoenix, AZ, has been sold and will be ending operations after April 11, according to a report from Arizona's Family (KTVK 3TV).
Manzanita Speedway, which is located at 35th Avenue and Broadway Road, has been sold.
The company that purchased the facility, Southwest Rigging, reportedly plans to level the track.
The facility opened in 1951 as a 1/4-mile dirt track. The half-mile track opened in 1954. The speedway hosts the USAC Copper on Dirt in February and is scheduled to run the World of Outlaws sprints on March 28.
The American Sprint Car Series (ASCS), which races primarily at Manzanita, announced plans to move its remaining dates for 2009 to USA Raceway in Tuscon, AZ and Hollywood Hills Speedway in NM.
Racing Replay: 1984 Michigan 500
Posted by: | CommentsAl Unser Jr. and Chip Ganassi are injured in an accident in the 1984 Michigan 500 at Michigan Int'l Speedway. The accident occurred just past halfway in the race when Ganassi lost control of his car exiting turn two, collecting Unser Jr. and taking both drivers into the inside guardrail.
Paul Page and Bobby Unser with the call.
Watts Suspended Four Races
Posted by: | CommentsNASCAR announced Tuesday night that Jimmy Watts -- gas man for the No. 47 car driven by Marcos Ambrose -- has been suspended for four races for actions in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The suspension applies to races at Bristol, Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix. He and crew chief Frank Kerr were also placed on probation for the remainder of the calendar year. No fines were announced.
Watts was penalized under NASCAR's catch-all rule, 12-1: "actions detrimental to stock car racing" and also rule 9-15-U: "crew members must not go on the race track for any reason while the cars are racing or while the cars are running under the yellow flag or the red flag, unless otherwise directed to do so by a NASCAR official". Kerr was penalized for violating rule 12-1 and rule 9-4-A: "crew chief assumes responsibility for the actions of the team".
Watts initiated a lap 67 caution period in the middle of pit stops by attempting to retrieve a loose tire that had rolled into the quad-oval grassy area on the front stretch. The yellow flag put much of the field a lap down early in the race, dropping most drivers out of contention. (See this report filed by Nicole Manske for ESPN.)
NASCAR Without Chevy?
Posted by: | CommentsAs hard as it is to believe, before the end of the Sprint Cup season the "Heartbeat of America" may be flat-lined for good. News that GM's auditors have "substantial doubts" that the company can avoid bankruptcy have resurfaced fears that 2009 might be a very difficult year for motorsports. Complicating matters is the increased government oversight of the auto manufacturers in response to the loans they received to continue operations. It'll be increasingly difficult to justify spending "bailout" money on racing programs, even if they genuinely do represent dollars spent on effective advertising.
Of course a NASCAR without Chevy is like corn flakes without milk; nevertheless, NASCAR racing could probably absorb the shock of losing Chevrolet. But if Dodge and Ford were quick to follow, the circuit would likely be drastically affected. I'm sure there would be plenty of available equipment to go around... at first. The lack of corporate financing would hurt the smaller teams most. Big teams like Hendrick Motorsports, who do their engine work in-house, would probably make it through the season relatively unscathed. But teams who purchase engines from Hendrick, et al, might not be in such a favorable position.
The big question mark surrounds short-track racing. Chevrolet provides the bulk of the engines at local short tracks and it's unlikely that another manufacturer -- especially a foreign one -- could step in quickly enough to meet the demand. And call me Captain Obvious but... it's hard to enjoy motorsports without motors.
General Motors has supported our sport for a long time. Just 20 years ago they fielded four different models in the NASCAR Cup Series. Chevrolet was there when Dale Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998, and that same year saw Jeff Gordon to an incredible 13 wins. Not to mention seven victories in the Indianapolis 500.
Hopefully they can pull through this and get back on their feet.
Kurt Busch Wins at Atlanta
Posted by: | CommentsKurt Busch took back his lead with two laps to go and conquered a very slick racetrack at Atlanta Motor Speedway to win Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. It was the first win for both he and manufacturer Dodge on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit since June of last year in Loudon, NH. Busch dominated the event, leading 234 of the 330 laps run.
Busch was leading the race with four laps to go with Brian Vickers chasing him down when Robby Gordon blew a tire in turn two, throwing debris on the racing surface and necessitating a final caution period. During the yellow, all lead lap drivers elected to pit for gas and tires. Carl Edwards came out of the pits with the lead after deciding to take on only two tires. He was followed by Busch and Jeff Gordon.
On the ensuing restart, Busch blew by Edwards exiting turn two and held off a challenge from Gordon on the white flag lap to take the victory. Edwards finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Vickers fifth.
Most drivers struggled to get grip on the surface all day long with Goodyear's tire package. By the final third of the race, shadows from the sun setting and partly cloudy skies helped tighten the track up and bring many teams to the front of the field, but few were ultimately able to challenge Busch.
The strangest incident of the race resulted in the ejection of Jimmy Watts, crew member on Marcos Ambrose's team. The incident occurred on lap 67 during green-flag pit stops. Most of the field had pitted except a handful of the leaders. During Ambrose's pit stop, a changed tire rolled away from the car. Watts chased the tire down, which had rolled well into the grassy area separating pit road from the front straightaway, forcing NASCAR officials to throw the yellow flag. This placed most of the drivers a lap down, and after the few remaining leaders had pitted, forced them to restart on the tail end of the lead lap.
The Sprint Cup series takes next week off, and then returns to action at Bristol, TN on March 22.
