‘Dega dealin’

First off, congrats to Jeff Gordon for getting the monkey off his back and passing The Intimidator’s record.

Now on to the issues.

For the past couple of years I’ve been going to live NASCAR races, I’ve sung the praises of the fans. They have been nice, polite, helpful and congenial, and made my experience pleasant whether I’ve been with a group or by myself.

I’ve had people help me to my seat in the middle of the row, direct me to the best in track cuisine, assist me with my Track Scan and how it operates and give me tips to make the live visit more fun.

I have never seen such a display of poor sportsmanship as at Talladega over Jeff Gordon surpassing Dale Earnhardt’s win record. I’ll admit to not being a Jeff Gordon fan, but give the man some credit, he’s proven himself on the track. And Gordon is still a young man and can, i.e. will, break more records. And each time he does, I’ll applaud him.

But what possesses people to throw things toward a driver? That’s dangerous – not necessarily for Jeff Gordon, but for the fans sitting between the thrower and the track.

More than likely you’ve consumed some of the cans’ contents and even if you have an arm like the Minnesota Twins’ Johan Santana, you probably can’t clear the fence. That means someone is going to get a head, back or lap full of beer, not to mention the thump and subsequent bruise or cut from the can.

It’s stupid, pointless and dangerous. On the practical side, some drinkers would say a waste of good beer.

As Junior said, “That ain’t cool. That ain’t cool at all.”

OK folks, time to vent. Let’s hear it. Whether it’s about throwing trash, talking trash, today's pretty-boy drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya’s five finger wave minus a few digits (he’s really not making any friends), the debris cautions, rookie “mistakes” or whatever, let’s hear it.

About our photo:
Race fans throw objects at the car of Jeff Gordon after Gordon won the NASCAR Aaron's 499 auto race, breaking a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt on NASCAR's career victory list, Sunday April 29, 2007, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Glenn Smith)

How do you spell conspiracy?

According to Tony Stewart, NASCAR.

Now, Tony is a great whiner and just when you think he’s being prudent and begging off post-race interviews to cool down after losing to Jeff Gordon in Phoenix (congrats to #24 on tying the Dale Earnhardt record wins; your tribute was classy), Tony goes off again.

Once again, Tony voiced his conspiracy theory of racing, NASCAR just can’t keep it’s mitts off the race and uses “debris” cautions to manipulate the outcome.

On his Tuesday night Sirius Satellite Radio show, Tony not only said – once again – NASCAR is playing God with the races, but likened it to professional wrestling.

No matter on which side of pro wrestling you stand, you know it’s all scripted. Did you really think Donald Trump would put up with being shaved bald just before The Apprentice finale? You knew it would be Vince McMahon on the business end of the clippers.

Is it really possible to influence the outcome of a race by throwing a well-timed caution? Wouldn't you have to be able to predict who’s crew is fastest late in the race, who'd be first off pit road and have great pit box position. And haven’t drivers been known to have something “blow out” of the car, complain they see something on the track or think they ran over something when they stood to gain from a caution?

I’m not saying there’s no cahoots happening and everything is clean, but on the other hand, there’d have to be an awful lot of cavorting between officials, drivers and crew chiefs.

Shades of JFK folks, that’s some conspiracy.

About our photo:
Thanks to the Associated Press for this Tony shot with Mike Helton. Their conversations have probably digressed, if they even speak at all, since this was snapped last season.

Corn Hole and NASCAR

Just in case you don’t have tickets to the Coca-Cola 600 this Memorial Day weekend, here’s a chance to win a pair.

Warm up your throwin’ arm, Hillbilly Days in Pikeville, Ky., will be having a Corn Hole Tournament this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with winners awarded race tickets.

Official ACA will be observed for the tournament, and there’s no cussin’, feudin’, shootin’ or spittin’ allowed.

First place winners on Thursday and Friday will win a pair of tickets to the 600.

For the first place winners on Saturday, you get, not only a pair of 600 tickets, but a pair of tickets to the fall race at Bristol.

To be fair, if you place second on Saturday, you still get a pair of Coca-Cola 600 tickets.

Oh, yeah. There are also sportshades, coolers and chairs, and Coke racing t-shirts and liquid products to be won, too.

All games commence in Pikeville City Park at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Entry fee is $10 per team on Thursday and Friday, and $20 on Saturday. All money raised from entry fees will be donated the Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

For more information, contact Randy Robinson or Libby Gillespie at 606-218-7280.

Corn Hole is catching on at NASCAR parking lots. Last fall at the Bank of America 500, there were several set ups and lots of folks playing. Even the Crown Royal tent had a game set up. Those ladies at the Crown Royal place had a tough day, tossing corn bags all day long. They were pretty good, too.

We even had a game going at the Official NASCAR Members Club tent. Granted, the board was a little slick, not the painted set ups we're used to (the boards were finished with a laminate of some kind. My tosses kept skidding off the end.)

Check out the car

Dozens of adults and kids showed up Friday at the Huntington Alltel store to take a gander at the #12 Dodge of Ryan Newman. The NASCAR showcar made a pitstop at the store on Route 60 in Huntington and folks got an up close and personal look at the innerworkings of the car.

Kids lined up to have photos taken in front of the car, including Zach Bocook of Huntington, who let me snap his picture.
Lest you think it was a shell car that’s never seen a green flag, this was a former road race car of Newman’s team Penske from two seasons ago.
Others – young and adult - tried their hand at the pit crew challenge of loosening and tightening the lugnuts on a tire. Participants were astonished to find out the average NASCAR tire weighs 70 pounds.

In the following weeks, the car will visit Alltel stores in Putnam and Kanawha counties.

To find out where, visit www.alltelracing .com.

Showcars routinely make stops at sponsor shops and individual team and sponsor websites usually have information on appearances of cars and drivers.

NASCAR Day May 18

NASCAR Day is fast approaching.

That’s the day some businesses let you wear race gear and a special pin to show your support of the NASCAR Foundation. Each pin is $5 and can be purchased at The Home Depot, NASCAR.com or from Official NASCAR Members Club local chapter presidents like me.

This year, NASCAR Day is Friday, May 18. Many ONMC members will be in Charlotte, N.C. for the second annual convention and the following day’s All-Star Challenge, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be involved in the fund raising effort.

Among charities supported by the NASCAR Foundation are: The Dale Earnhardt Foundation; The Dale Jarrett Foundation; Ernie Irvan Race2Safety Foundation; Formula Smiles Foundation; The Green Foundation; The Greg Biffle Foundation; Hendrick Marrow Program; The Jamie McMurray Foundation; The Jeff Gordon Foundation; The Jimmie Johnson Foundation; The Kasey Kahne Foundation; The Kenny Irwin Jr. Foundation and the Dare to Dream Camp; The Kurt Busch Foundation; Kyle Petty Charity Ride; Martinsville Speedway Children’s Foundation; Racing 4 Literacy; Racing for a Reason, a Ray Evernham Foundation; The Randy Dorton Memorial Fund; Ricky Craven Snowmobile Ride for Charity; Roam for a Home Terry Labonte Foundation; The Ryan Newman Foundation; The Bobby Scruggs Memorial Foundation; Speediatrics; Speedway Children’s Charities; Spirit of America annual blood drive at Michigan International Speedway; The Tony Stewart Foundation; Urban Youth Racing School; and Victory Junction Gang Camp.

Most of those charities involve work with at-risk kids or critically ill children, some deal with bettering the lives of children in Colombia, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, the American Red Cross, registering and testing people to make bone marrow matches, while others raise money for animal rights issues and to build no-kill animal shelters.

To learn more about any of those charities, you can visit their websites and The NASCAR Foundation link through NASCAR.com.

If you, your civic group or your business want to purchase pins go to any Home Depot or send an e-mail to leeannlcp257051@yahoo.com. If you want to be a Crew Chief for your group or business, you can also contact the Foundation directly.

Showing up, showing off

OK you Ryan Newman fans, a replica #12 Alltel Dodge will be in Huntington Friday for a pit stop. You can see the car and try your hand at being on the pit crew in a challenge.

It will be at the Alltel store on Bonnie Boulevard (by Eastern Heights Shopping Center on U.S. Route 60) from 1 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 13.

You can be the tire changer on the #12 Alltell Dodge Charger and see how fast you can complete the change. Yeah, 13-second pit stops? Go ahead and try.

There will also be kiosks to play Ryan Newman’s video racing game.

To find out other stops on the Alltel Race Team Tour, visit www.alltelracing.com.

More changes

Not that NASCAR would ever make changes mid-stream, but here they go again.

They work for years to build a better mousetrap, only to find it has problems once you put it to use.

Yep, that’s the COT – Car of Tomorrow or Car of Today, also known to Kevin Harvick as the COF or Car on Fire. On Fast Talk Monday, NASCAR said the melting, smoldering, fire issue with the right side door panel foam seemed to be relegated to the 29.

Both NASCAR and Dow Chemical are playing the blame game. The sanctioning body says the foam isn’t installed right, it’s too close to the exhaust or the barrier system isn’t thick enough.

Don’t they mandate the placement and equipment? Thought so.

Dow says they just provide the material and the foam has been in use for 50 years with no problems. They also insist any release from the material in marginally toxic.

Marginally toxic? Really? Weren’t drivers complaining of headaches after the Bristol race from something being emitted into the car?

NASCAR will issue a bulletin on how to “properly install” the right side foam before the next COT race April 21 in Phoenix. They seem to think all it needs is more air to stop the problem.

I understand the cars run hotter on a short track and the big ovals provide more air and room needed to keep things cooler. Maybe today’s changes in the door panel foam installation will alleviate the problem.

Don’t know until you try it out with the million-dollar talent in the driver seats.

Who said?

Boris Said, that’s who.

Here’s a quick update on our favorite road racer and all-round great character, not to mention our friends, his sister Leesa and SaidHead Deb of www.saidhead.net.

Boris is entered in the NASCAR Busch Series’ Pepsi 300 this Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.

He’ll be driving the #9 Stanley Tools Dodge for Ray Evernham.

Qualifying is set for 11 a.m. Saturday before the 3:30 p.m. race. Both will be televised on ESPN2.

Also entered and hoping to qualify is Barboursville’s Brett Rowe, driving the #73 Imperial Bedding Ford Fusion. Brett and I have been playing phone tag for two days now, trying to connect for a story in The Herald-Dispatch sports pages this weekend.

Good luck to both our friends on the track!

Goodbye, Eric

Racing doesn’t stop in the face of tragedy, and last weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals was no exception. It was, however, missing John Force Racing.

Force Racing’s 33-year-old Eric Medlen, POWERade Drag Racing Series driver, died March 23 from head injuries and related trauma associated with a March 19 testing crash in Florida.

The team expects to resume racing in mid-April at the SummitRacing.com Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The Spring Nationals’ Top Fuel winner J.R. Todd and Funny Car racer Ron Capps both dedicated their wins to Medlen. Each plan to give their trophies to the Medlen family.

Medlen died March 23 in the University of Florida Shands Medical Center. A six-time NHRA tour winner, Medlen took part in the ACDelco Gatornationals on March 18, and remained in Gainesville an extra day for testing. It was during a test run he crashed into the guard rail and suffered head injuries.

This begs the question about safety surrounding the track. Would SAFER barriers benefit the NHRA. JFR has already said they will be looking to make the driver cockpit safer following this young driver’s death.

Medlen’s death was the first in the NHRA Funny Car division in nearly 38 years. The last NHRA Funny Car death was reportedly in 1969 when Gerry Schwartz died in the Springnationals in Dallas, Texas.

A website has been set up to post messages to Medlen’s family at goodbyeeric@castrol.com.