NASCAR - Offseason 2006-2007 Withdrawal Thread #3

Various - Jayski -Nascar -That's Racin ^ | 11-20-06 | Me & Jack

[WestCoastGal]

WELCOME RACE FANS



Welcome to the offseason withdrawal thread which is here for everyone to post racing news during the time between Nov 20, 2006 and Feb 10, 2007 when The Budweiser Shootout begins the new season.

As always this thread is dedicated to our military men and women serving our country. A big thank you to all of them. Hugs and prayers to those who have been wounded and are recuperating at Walter Reed, Bethesda and Brooke Army Med Center. And, to those combat field medics who care for them - THANK YOU!!

[Dog Gone]

Congratulations on the win!

Awesome performance.

I dropped from top-10 last year to top-20. Bad pit stops, I'm thinkin...

See ya at Daytona!

[Pukin Dog]

Actually, you can remove me from the NASCAR ping list. I gave up NASCAR this year because the coverage was so bad, too many commercials, stupid rules and boring races.

I became a Formula One fan this year, and I aint going back. I want RACING with my racing, and not so much chatter about personalities, products, problems and I HATE what Nextel has done to the sport.

[GRRRRR]

Nutscar Helton and ESPN already said NO SPLIT SCREEN Ads.
The Nascar fan base is so large, the advertisers will not accept the split screen...

G

[LasVegasMac]

Thanks for da ping!

Great lookin' thread, WCG. That didn't take long, did it. lol

And "Holiday Hello's" to all the good folks at Walter Reed, Bethesda and Brooke. May your recovery be 'unrestricted' and lightning fast!

My tickets for the race in March came last Sat.

tick...tock...tick...tock...tick...tock.....is it time yet?

Actually, I only have to wait until Jan - two days of testing!

[Fierce Allegiance]

Hey, WCG,thanks for setting up this thread!

82 days until the shootout!

[Fierce Allegiance]

Fox isn't much better. The commercials really pissed me off, too.

I have tried to get friends and girlfriends to become interested, and they all asked how I could stand nearly 50% commercials. It was tough to give a decent answer. At least they all seem to really like local short track racing. It's about the same as a movie ticket and WAY more fun.

[SouthTexas]

Well, we're one day closer than we were last night at this time!

Thanks for the thread. :)

[alancarp]

XM Radio has the MRN telecasts -- I've always been impressed with what they do.

[tubebender]

I'm going to take up Day Trading of stocks and bonds to continue the thrill of defeat...

[SouthTexas]

I still have too many worms!

[tubebender]

Was it Buddy Holly or Richie Vallens that chocked you up?

[tubebender]

No I really meant chocked not choked...

[NormsRevenge]

I am sorry to hear ya ask to have your name off the ping list. It's done.

I am however pretty much in total agreement with what you offered the sport has become in a very short time.

I am not one of those who is sold on the COT (Car of Tomorrow) concept,, heck, a lot of Nascar's drivers, team members and owners are not sold on it...


NBC butchered its half of the season, at least Fox only semi-mangled their portion of the season. Hopefully, abc and espn can jack it up a few notches and get it together.

[blastdad51]

I taped Big Es last win at Talladega, I may watch it endlessly.....otherwise I'll pace back and forth in front of the TV till Feb.

[Pukin Dog]

Sorry and thanks, dude.

I noticed one day watching F1, that the announcers can talk about tires, teams and engines and make it seem really interesting during the pre-race show.

When the race starts, its ALL ABOUT THE RACING, from start to finish, without focus on a single driver all the time, no favouritism, predictions or bloviating. They tell you what is going on from the leader to the rear, and once in a while, they just shut up and let you hear the noise from those incredible engines.

They have this super-slow motion camera that lets you see the actual tire-wear as a car hits a corner, and great camera angles from in-cockpit, behind the driver's head, from the wing looking back, from the front wing looking forward, etc.

The put YOU in the race!

It is NEVER about the announcers, and the commercials come in reasonable numbers.

Bye bye NASCAR, its like I never knew ya.

[nerdwithamachinegun]

When I could get MRN (living in Virginia) I preferred their coverage to 'ol DW' or anyone except BP on the NBC team.
I can't seem to get MRN here in southern AZ.

[NYTexan]

I'm going to take up Day Trading of stocks and bonds to continue the thrill of defeat...

You could always coach the Jamaican Bobsled team for the same results and not go broke. And have fun at the same time!

[WestCoastGal]

Brian Z.: The man, the myth and me
by Monte Dutton
Gazette Sports Writer

Brian France fascinates me. No, that’s not entirely accurate. The chairman of NASCAR doesn’t fascinate me. His image fascinates me. It’s not entirely an image because, as best I can tell, he has impressed people, some of whom I even admire. To me, this seems inconceivable, but maybe I’m just blind to his many estimable gifts. And others, that are inestimable.

Here’s my take. The titular head of the sport about which I write is extremely ambitious. In that area, France is unquestionably world-class, as were his father and grandfather before him. My opinion of him is the same as Jim Hightower’s take on the 41st president of the United States: “He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.”

Those words were written about George H.W., not George W., Bush. These concern Brian Z., not William C. and not William H.G., France.

snip~

This, though, is the topper. Perusing the Internet, I discovered there is something called www.racespeakers.com that offers Frenchy’s services to companies and organizations as a motivational speaker.

Then again, he has often motivated me … to laugh.

Here’s the text of remarks by France after Sunday’s drivers’ meeting. I feel it’s important to run the full text so the motivational impact can register. Print probably won’t do justice to the thundering crescendo, but here goes, anyway:

“We’ve got big things for ’07 with the Car of Tomorrow, Toyota, the return of ESPN and a lot of other things, but this is still going to be a big day today, too. Great weather, great crowd on hand. We’ll see what happens.

snip~

“I think, listen, it’s harder to grow when you reach the level we’re at. We think there’s no question it’s an under-covered sport today. That will change over time as the acceptance of this sport all over the country gets better. ESPN is going to help us go after the casual sports fan in the area that we’re weakest. I love where we’re at, and we’re excited about where we’re going.”

On Juan Pablo Montoya’s arrival: “I think it’s going to be great. If he has success, he’s a charismatic guy and obviously the Hispanic market, he could rev that market up for us. We’ll see. I’m optimistic.”

On whether the races should be shorter: “We’re not looking at that right now. We have shortened a couple in the past. Dover is one that has come to mind, so we’re not opposed to that, but I think, by and large, there’s complications with that with TV partners and everything else. Race fans like a longer race, believe it or not. Some of them will argue that maybe they’re a little bit too long, but on balance, it’s pretty good.”

He’s the visionary leader of a bold, new generation of robber barons. All around him are men paid to inform the world this.

Great article, I had to butcher it because it's too long - so go here to read the rest

[WestCoastGal]

Monday, Nov. 20

Man, I can't believe the season's over, and I can't believe I'm up so early on a Monday morning writing about it.  We wrapped up the '06 season yesterday with a 19th-place finish at Homestead.  It wasn't the way we wanted to go out, but we locked up a top-five points finish, which is something to be proud of considering we finished 19th in the standings last year.  We didn't win the championship, but we laid the groundwork for what I think will be a strong run for the championship next season.  We've got a great team.  We've got great people - good, hardworking, blue-collar type people who don't get the recognition they deserve.  And now we have legitimate teammates in Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard.  There was a point in yesterday's race that Martin, Paul, and myself were all racing up near the front.  It's been a long time since we had three legitimate contenders out of the DEI stable.  

But as I reflect on a season that is now in the books, I can't help but notice the one similarity it had with all the other seasons - the overwhelming fan support.  I see you guys every weekend.  You're in the grandstands, you're at autograph sessions, you're on TV, you're on the internet, you're in the grocery store, you're everywhere.  You motivate me to do my job - whether it's shooting commercials, attending sponsor appearances, recording my radio show, making smart decisions as the owner of the #88 Busch Series team, or driving the #8 car on Sundays.  

I am always humbled by the fan support shown to me, my team and my sponsors, but there is always one moment that sticks out above the rest.  This year it came at my Celebrity Sports Auction.  Most of you already know how special Make-A-Wish is to me.  I began hosting a Celebrity Sports Auction several years ago to benefit Make-A-Wish, hoping that my fans, friends and family would rally behind me to help kids with serious or life-threatening medical conditions.  The support has been amazing.  Many of you showed up at this year's event in Charlotte, and together we raised over $275,000 for Make-A-Wish.  If you could see the expressions on those kids' faces like I do each weekend, then you would know why that money is so important.  So I thank you for the loyalty and support you've shown me, not only on the racing side but the personal side as well.  And as a token of my appreciation, I hope to provide you with more wins, and even a championship in the near future.  Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team.  I'm happy for those guys, especially Mr. Hendrick.








http://www.dalejr.com/8.html

[SouthTexas]

More Buddy Holly than la Bamba.

May as well be up on chocks...