Results From Fontana

     Ok, if Sunday's race could be summed up in one word, it would be "tires". Read that it could have been caused by the crew chief's putting too much camber in the tires and too low air pressure, both for better grip and faster speeds.  All that adds up to tires that last only about 20 to 25 laps before blowing out.  Made for an interesting final few laps anyway.   That all being said, Kyle Busch landed atop the leaderboards and Kyle Larson almost getting his first victory.  On that final restart, it looked as if Kurt Busch was going to make a good run for it, but wound up third.  Junior came back from a blown tire and wall contact to finish 12th.
     On to big pool news. Mark had a whopping low score of 30, falling from first to fourth.  Gary, with high score due to Denny Hamlin not racing and him putting in runner-up Kyle Larson, moved up from 6th to third. 
     In the half pool, John M and Mark had Busch and both moved up three spots.  Lots of losers this week due to all the tire failures.  Good luck to all next week in Martinsville.
Paul

NASCAR... A History Part 4 "The 80's"

   This decade saw the emergence of a new superstar, Dale Earnhardt. He won five races in 1980 and his first championship.  Darrell Waltrip continued to be dominant.  Names like Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace surfaced and would be relevant every week.  We saw ridiculous speeds on the track, leading to restrictor plates after Bobby Allison's terrible wreck at Talladega. Bill Elliott breaking (by a huge margin) the 200  mile per hour barrier.  This is the decade that I started watching Nascar, so it will always be my favorite.  The look of the Thunderbirds, Monte Carlos, Grand Prix's, the Oldsmobile's and Buicks.  The lack of big time sponsors.  Trying to find a race that was televised.  Mostly they were on ESPN, but the Nashville Network was broadcasting too, and some of the races would be televised on that station.  Living in the northeast, our cable company did not carry that station.  So, I would have to wait until Monday's two sentence blurb about the race in the sports section. 

Results From Bristol

   Well, it only took eight hours, but Nascar got the race in (and just in time for me to leave for work).  Would have been a little pissed if I missed the end after waiting all day.  When they finally started racing the first time around, I thought Kurt Busch had made some great pit stops and had great pit strategy, unfortunately later in the race, he was taken out by his spinning brother.  When the rain started to fall again, you could hear the collective moan across the nation.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not recall them showing any banners that the race was moved to Fox Sports 1 at 7:00.  If not for me checking there on a whim, and seeing race coverage, I would never have known.  How eerie is that, when the final and phantom caution came out, that seconds later it began to rain.  Did someone have a premonition???   Nascar the next day explained that the flagman leaned over and accidentally hit a dead-man switch and no-one anywhere else knew where the button was hit.  What a strange ending. 
   In the big pool, Gary and Colleen with big scores moving them up. I had a mediocre week and feel two spots to dead last.  While Mark moved into 1st, James fell to third.   You will notice a slight change to the sheets for the big pool.  I added a column to show total points for the drivers on the bench.  Just gives an idead of what you are losing out on.
   In the half pool, everybody did quite well, except those who picked Kurt Busch and Truex.  I had a top pick with Concrete Carl and John M moved up 4 spots to 6th, while John L fell seven spots to 9th (ouch!).
   Check back next week to see the results for Fontana California.
Good luck all,
Paul

NASCAR... A History Part 3 "The 1970's"

   The 1970's.   The sport is growing and by 1971 Winston comes on board to be the main sponsor and saw 1970 as the last year any dirt tracks were on the schedule.  In 1972, the season became significantly shorter and this became the new norm.  Names like Cale Yarborough, Petty, Bobby Allison, Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson dominated the sport this decade.  By 1979, Richard Petty won his 7th and last championship, and a new player was on the horizon.

Results From Las Vegas

Ok boys and girls,
   The results are in, and if you watched the race, you would have witnessed much in the way of strategy.  Strategy that almost paid off for Dale Earnhardt Jr. coming up just a cup of gas short.  A broken left front spindle relegated Kevin Harvick to a dismal 41st and just good racing all around from start to finish.  Tony Stewart struggled mightily finishing 33rd and new teammate Kurt Busch hasn't started doing anything yet.  Brad Keselowski won in dramatic fashion, when Junior ran out of gas coming out of turn two on the final lap. 
   That being said, James, who has both Jr. and Brad, had top score and moved into first place, dropping Brian two spots to 3rd (not bad for picking 5th).  Mark is holding steady in 2nd only 2 points out.
   In the half pool, still a close one with a long way to go.  Bryan M, Debbie and Mark are sitting well behind though.  Anything can still happen.
   Good luck to all as we head to the bull ring next week, Bristol, where starting up front can be a real advantage.
Later,
   Paul

Results From Phoenix

Hey Gang,
   What an exciting race. Happy Harvick rolled into victory lane, beating Dale Junior by under a second.   A little rivalry brewing between Danica and every driver that tries to take her out (intentionally or not).  Good racing all day from Logano and Keselowski, Harvick and Junior.  So on to the pools.  Brian with another good week gives him an even bigger lead, but now over Mark who moves into second up three spots.  I, on the other hand, fell four spots with Kurt Busch having engine problems. 
   In the half pool, most everybody did well, except for Janice who was also hurt by the Busch engine problem.  She fell nine spots to 12th place.  Both Rich and Jerry up three spots to 2nd and 8th respectively. 
   Lets hope the action is just as exciting this weekend in Vegas baby. Good luck to all,
Paul

NASCAR... A History... Part 2 "The 60's"

     Richard Petty, the 60's version of today's Jimmie Johnson.  If he entered the race, look for him to be a real contender.  Fans of anyone else must have been pissed.

Nascar... A History... Part 1 "In the Beginning"

     Well, this is something I have been working on for like at least 20 years.  Well before the internet made things easy for looking all this stuff up.  Just the same, it took me a long time to compile this little list of Nascar history, so I figured since I have this website, I would make it available for everyone to view.  If anyone has any questions or sees any errors in any of this please let me know, so that I may research it and maybe change it.
     In parenthesis is the make of the automobile:
L = Lincoln
O = Oldsmobile
M = Mercury
F = Ford
P = Pontiac
H = Hudson
N = Nash
STUD = Studebaker
Ch = Chrysler
B = Buick
C = Chevrolet
JAG = Jaguar
CA = Cadillac
D = Dodge
PLY = Plymouth
MAT = Matador
T = Toyota
    In the beginning, races weren't named like today, so the first part of this is the race name or like below: Srickly Stock Race 1
    Then follows the location of the race, the date and the winner and his/her car manufacturer.
    The average speed of the race follows with the number of victories for that particular driver.
    The next column represents qualifying.  Pole winner, manufacturer and number of poles for that driver are in parenthesis.  Pole speed is next with type of track raced on (dirt or paved).

    I hope that this is all easier to view than for me to explain.
Enjoy. More to come.
Paul