tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21179450571958059342011-11-27T15:42:12.891-08:00Random thoughts and opinions on the most popular racing series in the world, including NASCAR, IRL, F1, American LeMans Series, Touring Cars, AMA, MotoGP and World Superbike!Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.comBlogger291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-5492332352446826182009-10-13T09:25:00.000-07:002009-10-13T12:27:03.756-07:00

If you are a NASCAR conspiracy-theorist, routinely call drivers 'a joke' (whatever that means) or threaten to stop watching races on a weekly (or even daily) basis for a myriad of pointless reasons - then you may want to stop reading now and skip down to the next post, because you are not going to like what you see.Why? because I am going to talk about Jimmie Johnson. More specifically - I am

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-79507165874555124432009-09-10T11:59:00.001-07:002009-09-10T12:39:08.328-07:00

Ok, I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything here, so I figure I might as well come back with something that comes as a bit of a shock - Richard Petty Motorsports announced today that they are merging with Yates racing and switching to Ford in 2010.It is no big surprise that Petty has decided to change manufacturers - rumor is that they had been talking to Toyota for awhile,

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-90586670219328212802009-07-21T11:50:00.000-07:002009-07-21T12:13:02.255-07:00

There is a lot out there for race fans to watch - stock cars, open wheel, sports car racing and even things like drag racing and monster trucks - but if you are a fan of things that go fast and haven't checked out World Superbike Championship or MotoGP yet, you are missing out on the best racing anywhere on the planet.Both of motorcycle's premier racing series are packed with action, but over the

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-2634977448258367882009-07-21T09:38:00.000-07:002009-07-21T11:49:06.098-07:00

That title just about sums up the two things I hate to talk about most when it comes to NASCAR - Jeremy Mayfield and Danica Patrick.Last month I gave my opinion on the Danica situation, so I won't bore you by re-hashing it all again. That leaves Jeremy...don't worry, I'll make it quick.The History: Jeremy's NASCAR-administered drug test that he took at Darlington came back positive. Jeremy got

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-48446518549626164842009-07-09T15:33:00.000-07:002009-07-09T15:46:12.123-07:00

No restrictor plates this time, but we'll see another weekend of night racing, as the Sprint Cup series races Saturday night under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway.Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick both have two wins at the Joliet track, and even though Harvick has been having a dismal season, both he and Stewart need to be considered favorites.Also at the top of the list is Jimmie Johnson.

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-75295217911271756952009-07-05T18:02:00.000-07:002009-07-05T19:14:47.662-07:00

Saturday night at Daytona was pretty much everything we have come to expect this season from an event at one of NASCAR's two restrictor plate tracks; another race, and another wreck at the checkered flag. Just like a few weeks ago at Talladega, the finish of the Coke Zero 400 was filled with smoke and sparks and fans on their feet as a last-lap wreck added a heavy dose of excitement to Tony

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-13272944889994176292009-07-03T05:27:00.000-07:002009-07-03T05:42:13.507-07:00

Whether it is at Daytona or Talladega, there is nothing in NASCAR that keeps fans on the edge of their seats quite like restrictor-plate racing, and tomorrow night's Coke Zero 400 promises to be even more exciting, since we will be throwing double-file restarts in for the first time with the plates on.But while everyone knows that three-wide racing at Daytona is exciting, nobody is quite sure who

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-61591563038589103432009-06-28T21:34:00.000-07:002009-06-28T22:45:25.522-07:00

There is a saying that "It's better to be lucky than good", and that was certainly true for Joey Logano Sunday at New Hampshire.The rookie took a big gamble staying out while crew chief Greg Zipadelli did a rain-dance in the pits, and it worked wonders - as the race was called for wet weather, giving Logano the first win of his Sprint Cup career.The good news is that this win was exactly what

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-177069969746529892009-06-27T15:26:00.001-07:002009-06-27T16:12:47.386-07:00

Racing is filled with accomplishments and victories; every weekend someone overcomes the odds and finds a way to get to take the checkered flag. But while racing and winning is a relatively common experience, it is rare that someone reaches a true milestone - as Valentino Rossi did Saturday, winning his 100th GP race in Assen, becoming the only rider other than the great Giacomo Agostini to reach

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-15037960006768232212009-06-25T00:27:00.000-07:002009-06-25T00:40:43.453-07:00

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series (as well as the Nationwide series) is running at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday - the place that Scotty Wazz and I covered our first-ever race back in 2001 - that is a story for another post, though (and there is plenty to tell).Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart are the top picks for your Fantasy NASCAR team at Loudon, but who are the sleepers for this weekend?I'll

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-6556886314769593312009-06-23T23:07:00.000-07:002009-06-24T01:24:26.951-07:00

A friend asked me over the weekend why it is that the "Road Course Ringers" that pop up for every NASCAR road race never actually win anything, at least not in the Sprint Cup Series.The funny part was, I really didn't have a good answer. At least not before last Sunday's race. Drivers like Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Scott Pruett (who wasn't at Sonoma this time, but typically races) are some of

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-41024168133442751432009-06-22T13:40:00.000-07:002009-06-22T14:25:14.544-07:00

Amazing, right? That guy in the middle over there in the picture to the right - Jonathan Rea - pulled off a surprise win in Round 8 of the Superbike World championship in Misano, SanMarino by holding off a blistering charge from Ducati teammates Michel Fabrizio (in front) and Noriuki Haga (trailing).Rea is now the only rider other than Fabrizio to find a way to steal the top spot on the podium

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-54734172929720603322009-06-19T15:29:00.000-07:002009-06-19T15:50:49.365-07:00

A lot of NASCAR fans aren't even sure who Marcos Ambrose is, but they just may find out this weekend.I completely went out on a limb this morning talking to the guys on WBUV in Biloxi, as I do every Friday and Monday on NASCAR race weekends - and made the bold prediction that Ambrose would win his first Sprint Cup series race Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.The thing is, picking the

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-17846179747367991492009-06-14T17:26:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:47:11.439-07:00

MotoGP has done it again.After intense racing (especially the 250 race) two weeks ago at Mugello, the series is making motorcycle fans say "World Super-who?", as we were treated to the best racing of the season Sunday at Catalunya.In a battle even more intense than the one between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner last year at Laguna Seca - Catalunya saw Rossi take one teammate and hometown rider

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-48504802846803012182009-06-14T17:12:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:47:01.324-07:00

More often than not, the fans that complain each week that NASCAR racing is too boring are also the same fans that despise fuel-mileage contests.I'm not saying that they are wrong, necessarily; while there was a lot of racing in the pack Sunday at Michigan, the action up front wasn't all that enthralling. But as far as fuel mileage races go - they many not offer the same kind of excitement as a

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-21660403551232910412009-06-14T11:21:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:46:51.362-07:00

I'll admit, I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Le Mans in the past. I knew about Audi's dominance the past few years, and I'm familiar with the racing from the American Le Mans Series, but I never took the opportunity to really sit down and watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans itself. Well, after watching 15 hours live, then the final 3 hours taped (I couldn't stay awake the whole night), I

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-7651891017804129692009-06-13T16:49:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:46:29.091-07:00

So I am watching the 24 hours of Le Mans today on SPEED, and there is plenty of intrigue already, with the formerly dominant factory Audi team struggling with their R15, rival Pugeot leading the way with diesel technology of their own, and the Corvettes sweeping the top three spots so far in GT1.Obviously, SPEED is keeping tabs on actor Partick Dempsey throughout the day, as they should, really -

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-58703902479646166952009-06-07T20:24:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:41:49.047-07:00

From the minute that Tony Stewart crossed the finish line at Pocono Raceway Sunday afternoon, the media was abuzz, with headlines and articles highlighting the fact that Smoke is the first owner-driver to win a Cup series race since Ricky Rudd back in 1998.To be fair, they are correct; since Rudd's gutsy victory at Martinsville over a decade ago, no other owner-driver in the Cup series was won a

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-82621442123933954822009-06-07T09:14:00.000-07:002009-06-07T10:02:36.468-07:00

Kyle Busch was so happy to finally get a win in the Nationwide Series at Nashville Superspeedway, that he wanted to share the trophy with his teammates...by smashing it into a thousand pieces in victory lane:Not cool, Kyle. Not cool.I understand the (limited) thought process - the trophy is a guitar, and he was trying to be a rock-star and everything. But the race was in Nashville, and outside of

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-66658400174984663742009-06-05T10:21:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:45:26.213-07:00

NASCAR takes a lot of heat for randomly changing rules mid-season, and for the most part, that criticism isn't totally unwarranted, but this week the front office in Daytona announced a move that may be a little controversial, but it makes perfect sense - starting this weekend at Pocono, all restarts after cautions will be double-wide with lead lap cars up front, just like they typically do in

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-13956446943018357192009-06-03T14:43:00.001-07:002009-06-03T18:24:36.710-07:00

It's Danica time again...If you've been surfing any of the major sports websites for, oh...the past three years or so, about this time every season the rumor mill starts revolving around Danica Patrick - will she leave the IRL? More importantly, will she come to NASCAR?The reports have once again started cropping up - whether you're looking at NASCAR.com, Fox Sports or even (I kid you not) CNN -

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-60800724915151700292009-05-31T18:56:00.000-07:002009-06-03T18:26:54.871-07:00

Why is Scott Dixon so happy right now??Sure, he won the IRL race in Milwaukee, that probably factors into it a little bit, but the big kicker - he did it by actually passing someone!I know, it is a tough concept to visualize, a pass in IRL, but it happened, and it was a lot of fun! Dixon put a quality move on Ryan Briscoe, but as quickly as it happened, it was over - and everyone followed the car

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-60247572398714837622009-05-31T17:50:00.000-07:002009-06-03T14:39:40.696-07:00

Ask most motorcycle fans, and they would tell you that MotoGP is a fun date, but the series you want to settle down with if you want real action is the Superbike World Championship.You would have been hard pressed to convince anyone that was the case Sunday, though. Proving that there is plenty of action to go around in the motorcycle world - the roles this weekend were reversed - while Ben Spies

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-57701237542761903242009-05-30T19:00:00.000-07:002009-06-14T23:42:26.400-07:00

If NASCAR wants to do something to make the Cup series more exciting, all they have to do is make it just like the Truck series.It is a shame that not more people watch the trucks, because somehow, some way they always find a way to pull off an exciting finish.Dover was no exception Saturday - after Kyle Busch had a tire go down, things were wide open in the last 11 laps, and Brian Scott (It's ok

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-31646938983051818362009-05-30T18:39:00.001-07:002009-06-03T18:28:08.560-07:00

Valentino Rossi didn't know just how appropriate his new Mugello helmet would be this weekend, based on his qualifying effort.Vale, who has won the last 7 GP races at his home track, was very likely holding his head in his hands after qualifying on the second row Saturday. Worse yet - the rider who won the pole is also the one who has been pushing The Doctor in the championship all year -

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-38569049475848491962009-05-30T17:43:00.000-07:002009-06-03T16:11:08.256-07:00

Just how good is Ben Spies? He's only seven races into his World Superbike Career, and he's already put himself into the record books - Elbowz collected his seventh consecutive Superpole in front of a hometown crowd at Miller Motorsports park. Not only does it set a new mark for the series, it is just darn impressive - Ben has captured the pole in every single race this season.Spies only problem,

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-79597942998019378542009-05-30T17:06:00.000-07:002009-05-30T19:14:35.974-07:00

Talk about a BAD day.Kyle Busch must be happy that Saturday is done in Dover; he dominated both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series races at the Monster Mile, but what did he have to show for it at the end of the day?Nothing. After dominating the Nationwide race, the Shrub was taken out by, of all people, teammate Joey Logano. Logano (in the 20 car, right) went down into turn 1 on the

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-79828993138846805302009-05-30T01:31:00.000-07:002009-05-30T17:05:35.682-07:00

Up until now, Ben Spies has just been an upstart in the World Superbike Championship, but is he on the verge of making SBK History?Spies has infused new life into WSBK, battling wheel-to-wheel with Noriyuki Haga for the top spot in the standings; but while the Texas Tornado has been impressive in his rookie season, he could make history at his home track - with the chance to pass fellow Texan

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2117945057195805934.post-32092566889620941732009-05-29T23:25:00.000-07:002009-06-03T16:13:55.146-07:00

Hendrick Motorsports announced this week that Tony Eruy, Jr. is officially out as Dale Eanrhardt Jr.'s crew chief with the No. 88 car, but is it the right move?In short - yes. This move may have been surprising, but it was by no means unexpected. After moving to the top organization in NASCAR, Dale Junior has struggled, at best - with only one win since his move to the No. 88 car, and a

Toddhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07213716859943357971noreply@blogger.com0