NASCAR - Offseason 2006-2007 Withdrawal Thread #3

Ping for Jr/DEI fans

Dale Earnhardt Inc. team owner Teresa Earnhardt appears to be questioning stepson Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s commitment to racing in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The story in Thursday's edition says Earnhardt Jr.'s contract with the team founded by his father, the late Dale Earnhardt, expires after the 2007 season, but Teresa Earnhardt expressed uncertainty about his future

Source: http://www.scenedaily.com

Here's what it actually said............

Mr. Siegel arrives at DEI as the company approaches a crossroads. Mr. Earnhardt Jr., who ranked as the fourth-most popular active U.S. athlete by a phone poll by ESPN last year, could leave the team when his contract ends after the 2007 season. He increasingly has branched into other areas of entertainment, hosting a satellite radio show and appearing in a commercial with rapper Jay-Z.

Mother and stepson don't always see eye to eye: "Right now the ball's in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a Nascar driver or whether he wants to be a public personality," she says. Mr. Earnhardt Jr. was unavailable to comment.

DEI better nip this in the bud (pun intended) they are nothing without Jr. Can silly season be starting already?
Also, "Mr Siegel is the ex Sony exec that Teresa hired to move the company forward.

And, DUH...being a Nascar driver does make you a public personality. Teresa should know that from Dale Sr. He was as public as it got in those days. Now, the drivers have everyone pulling their strings. He went to a Stocks for Tots charity event the other night which was announced before hand would be for ONE hour. Of course the fans showed up with everything but the kitchen sink and it took too long. There was a lot of bitching. moaning and whining when he left just over an hour later. The fans seem to forget this charity was FOR THE KIDS, they were supposed to bring toys in order to get something signed. They brought hoods, tires, you name it. They should count themselves as lucky he came at all, it appears there were only 5-6 drivers there if that. /rant

My partner informs me I don't know what the he// I'm talking about... He sez THIS IS THE ONE

WCG, wow, the pot's already bubblin'. I know I never thought I'd see the day when DJ would leave RYR for another team, unthinkable. Ya never know.

The other day at work a buddy gave me a cartoon, clipped from a paper, for my young one....

A young boy is asking his Dad, "Dad why is Santa's suit red?" The next panel shows Santa sitting in his comfy chair, nothing but posters of Dale Jr and the 8 car on the wall behind him.....

Hi WCG. I've made it this far through the withdrawal season. I really don't think this deal about Junior is a big thing. I'm not really sure Theresa has a very good grip on things at DEI. Also, the "media" loves to blow everything out of proportion. Around the time of November's Phoenix race, the bozos in the "media" were saying that the season was too long, whaaaannnhh! and whining about the races being too long, whaaaaannnnhhhh!. It got ridiculous. The pretty boys in the "media" used some comments they attributed to Dale Jr. as support for their claims. Then, before the Homestead race, Junior was interviewed by the network. The interviewer told Junior that he looked kind of depressed. Junior stated that he was depressed because he hated to see the season come to an end and was looking forward to testing in Daytona during the first week of January. Junior is the sort of person who says what is on his mind. Many times what he says comes out in a way that leaves what he said open to interpretation. Junior frequently says some things that I find very deep and profound. The problem is, sometimes, I think that HE doesn't even understand the profoundness of his comments.
Junior has stated that he won't leave DEI until he wins a championship for the company. I believe that. Also during the Phoenix race last year, NASCAR big whigs were dropping like flies when Junior said that he would take a year off if he won the championship. I didn't believe that for a minute. I think he sometimes makes comments like that just to push peoples' panic buttons. When Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks, people listen. I think he inherited a hidden mean streak from his old man that causes him to like to tweak people.

I think I like the blue one better. Can you get him to trade it?

BACK IN THE DAY.............I enjoyed many a race at Riverside!!

snip~

Never mind that the pacecar was actually motionless, and well off of the track (as the replay would clearly show), for Rusty's live comments put the blame on NASCAR, and before the green flag would come back out NASCAR put Wallace and Rudd back out in front. For some strange reason, NASCAR awarded 3rd place on the restart to Parsons leaving Earnhardt in fourth, followed by Labonte.

Restarts at Riverside actually took place at the exit of turn eight where the pacecar would pull off to the right side of the track. Upon the restart, and now with only a handful of laps left, Earnhardt took turn eight VERY wide, and left the bottom open for Labonte to slip into fourth. It's said that Dale was busy making "gestures" to the pacecar with his right hand as he passed the Corvette.

Meanwhile, Labonte got a good run down the backstretch, and slipped under Parsons for third as the cars entered the long and sweeping turn nine. At this moment, the TV commentators began interviewing Earnhardt's crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine. It was apparent from the discussion that Earnhardt was at the boiling point, and this even more obvious as the camera began to follow the #3 car. Earnhardt dove into turn nine hard and deep and closed in dramatically on Parsons. Now just behind and above Parsons, Earnhardt gave one of his more delicate bump-and-runs. Parsons collected his car just before the exit of turn nine, but Dale had dove underneath him and was headed off for Labonte. Just after the start-finish line, the cars snaked to the left in front of the pits and then began their way into the "esses."

The "esses" at Riverside were a series of six quick, uphill, high-speed turns in right-left, right-left, right-left succession. Each turn had curb-mounds paved on the inside to keep drivers from taking a "shortcut" through the desert. There were no guardrails or jersey barriers nearby, as there were no grandstands anywhere in proximity. If you went off of the track, you would just be swallowed up by dust and rocks. Rollovers in this area of the track were not uncommon.

By the time they entered the esses, Earnhardt was foaming at the mouth. Through the first turn in the series, Earnhardt had made up nearly five car lengths on the rest of the leaders. Entering the first left-hander, Dale's left-front tire was well to the inside of the curb. When he hit the curb the left entire left side of his car went airborne, with the left-front tire a full two feet into the air. By the time the car had landed, it was pointed about 30 degrees to the right of Terry Labonte's car, which Dale almost landed on. The upcoming turn was a right, and unfortunately this was in the middle of a right-left-right combination that came up on you as quick as the current "chicane" at Watkins Glen.

There was no way Earnhardt was about to lift. It just wasn't in his DNA. His car bounced as it landed, but Dale stood on it even though he was about to miss the entry of the next turn by a good ten feet. Fish-tailing crazily through the sand and rocks, by the time they arrived in the middle of the right-hander, Earnhardt was still in the desert, but was now three-wide with a startled Rudd and Labonte and throwing up a 30-foot tall rooster tail of sand. He lost momentum as well as traction in the sand, and Labonte pulled out into second with Dale trailing Rudd by a few car lengths at the end of the esses.

As they entered turn six, Earnhardt charged hard again, this time on the outside of Rudd. The cars touched, and Earnhardt's tires began to climb up on the outside of Rudd's car ever so slightly. As his car lifted, it became unsettled, and Rudd began to crowd Earnhardt high up in the groove. As they finished turn six, Rudd would not yield and smashed Earnhardt's Chevy two feet off of the course on exit. They headed downhill on the short, steep chute before turn seven, with Rudd pulling out roughly four lengths. As they were about to enter the turn Earnhardt stabbed the brakes violently, and the rear of his car lifted up as if it was about to flip over on its roof. He ended up fish-tailing again wildly into the turn. The Goodyear’s were about to give up, but not before he gave Rudd another nudge in the middle of seven.

He wouldn't win the race, and he wouldn't even make another pass in the remaining three laps.

His rampage had lasted a little over a minute, but in that one minute, in just one lap, you knew you were seeing something utterly unbelievable. I have my old VHS tape that I've been rewinding here for the last two hours as I've been writing, and I still get goose bumps watching it in astonishment.

When you hear of people describing Dale Earnhardt as the "greatest ever," and you want to see why, watch an old tape of a nondescript fourth-place finish at an old, now-abandoned track standing on its last legs.

June 12,1988 at Riverside, lap 90.

Dale Earnhardt's finest symphony.

http://insiderracingnews.com/LC/121506.html

Junior started a new web community.

http://www.infieldparking.com/

If this is old news, please disregard.

Go #8!!!!!!

Did you get a parking place yet? I've been in since the first day. :)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves Stocks for Tots in Mooresville Tuesday night before every fan wanting his autograph is satisfied.

Earnhardt Jr. did come to the event, which raises money for the Stop Child Abuse Now network and other charities that help abused children. He signed for just over 200 fans in about an hour and a quarter before leaving for another commitment.

The problem is that about 350 wristbands were distributed for Earnhardt Jr.’s room. So not everybody who thought they’d be getting to meet Earnhardt Jr. actually did.

Some of them who didn’t told me I should write about how the sport’s most popular driver disappointed a lot of people. I thought the real point was that he came in the first place. Not every driver did.

I understand the frustrations. But Stocks for Tots organizers said clearly in pre-event publicity that not all drivers were committed to staying for the full scheduled two hours.

Certainly, a better job could have been done of matching the number of wristbands to the time alloted to sign. It’s bad if around 150 people went home feeling misled.

This is why some athletes don’t sign autographs at all. Earnhardt Jr. could have been there until 2 a.m. and people would have still been in line. Athletes know if they sign for 2,000 people and then leave, the 2,001st person will believe that he’s the biggest jerk in the world. So they don’t sign at all, and that’s wrong.

Again, it’s a bad deal that some people left unhappy. Stocks for Tots is a great event and it would be terrible if their disappointment leads to people not attending and supporting its great causes. Things could have been handled better.

But Earnhardt Jr. was there and that means he did more than he had to do.

http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/16256384.htm

Case closed in probe of NASCAR boss France?

Why would Brains go to the Chart House to buy a burger and Coke to go?

Yeah. Finally. Today.

Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital Opens
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-gordon-childrenshospital&prov=ap&type=lgns
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer

December 16, 2006

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon saw firsthand the strain and heartache childhood illnesses bring early in his career when Ray Evernham's young son was diagnosed with leukemia.

Watching his crew chief battle to find top-notch care for Ray J. stuck with Gordon, who made children's charities a top priority of his foundation. His largest contribution yet came to fruition Saturday when the ribbon was cut at the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital, a 28-bed pediatric unit at Northeast Medical Center.

``I was introduced to these illnesses through Ray Evernham and Ray J., and after you see somebody go through that it makes you want to give your time to things like Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Riley Hospital for Children (in Indianapolis),'' Gordon said.

``Then you are meeting the kids and meeting the doctors and you become so educated that you are just drawn into it and you can't help but want to give whatever you can.''

So when Northeast officials approached the Jeff Gordon Foundation about helping their efforts to build a children's hospital, Gordon immediately pledged $1 million of the roughly $11 million needed for the project. The donation is on top of the annual fundraising he does for the Riley hospital and the work he does almost every weekend during the NASCAR season for Make-A-Wish.

Located not far from Lowe's Motor Speedway and many of NASCAR's race shops, the hospital will serve six counties and eliminate the need to travel to Charlotte for specialized pediatric care.

Gordon, who is expecting his first child in July, said helping Northeast was a logical fit.

``One, Cabarrus County had a need for it and Northeast is a top-notch center,'' Gordon said. ``But two, so many of our employees at Hendrick Motorsports and just in racing in general live around this county. It made perfect sense for this foundation and for the families who need it.''

Despite the hospital's name, it doesn't have an overwhelming racing theme. In fact, aside from an autographed children's rocking chair, there is almost nothing else racing related.

Instead, Gordon's personal touch centers around four photographs he took during an African safari last year. He asked the hospital to exhibit the pictures of a gazelle, elephant, lion and giraffe, but the hospital took it one step further.

Northeast administrator Donna Craft turned the photos into images that can be found throughout the entire wing and are used as ``way-finding icons'' to identify which part of the hospital a patient is in.

In addition to five intensive care beds, the hospital has only private, single rooms with sofa-beds for parents, sleeping rooms for family members that are equipped with showers, an Internet Cafe for teens, and a child-advocacy center.

The hospital is equipped to handle everything but transplants.

``Every child that needed a higher level of care before this had to go to Charlotte, Winston-Salem or Chapel Hill,'' said administrator Colleen Hole. ``Now we have everything they need right here.''

It's about time he admitted it.

Personally I have no respect for anyone who drinks and drives!! He's damn lucky he didn't hurt someone.

Also, why is it because he has a famous name he got special treatment?

Great thing Jeff did there.

HOMEWORK - Be ready to see a lot of new faces and car numbers in February.

Ryan McGee / FOXSports.com

Robert Yates Racing
The Ride: No. 28/88 Ford, Mars
Who: Ricky Rudd

The Ride: No. 38 M&M's Ford
Who: David Gilliland
On July 31, Gilliland's Busch Series team announced that it was closing its doors because, "We put our heart, soul and resources into David Gilliland. Personally and financially, we do not feel it is best to move forward at this time." Meanwhile, a Yates press conference at Indianapolis to make a driver announcement was postponed. Gilliland drove the No. 90 Yates Busch Series car at Indianapolis Raceway Park while Leicht attempted to qualify for the Brickyard. You do the math. Gilliland tested the No. 38 car at Kentucky on August 15 and began his RYR Cup career at Michigan later that week.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports
The Ride: No. 4 Chevrolet
Who: Ward Burton
South Boston, Va. native Ward Burton will be back in '07, behind the wheel of the Morgan-McClure Motorsports No. 4 Chevy, though the car admittedly needs more sponsorship cash to make it competitive. The 2002 Daytona 500 champ hasn't raced full-time since losing his job at Haas CNC Racing the end of the 2004 season.

Haas CNC Racing
The Ride: No. 70 Chevrolet
Who: Johnny Sauter
According to Larry McReynolds, "Bootie is back in the Busch Series because owner Gene Haas wanted to realign that team before the year ended. Johnny Sauter will move to Nextel Cup next year, which will put Bootie back in Cup, too. Haas put Harold Holly back with Jeff Green. They had a tremendous amount of success in the Busch Series, winning a championship together. The goal was to get both drivers and crew chiefs some seat time before 2007 started."

Red Bull Racing
The Ride: No. 83 Red Bull Toyota
Who: Brian Vickers
Vickers shocked the world — not to mention Rick Hendrick — when he announced he would be leaving the ride that he was handed by the late Ricky Hendrick for the start-up Toyota squad. Along with Michael Waltrip Racing, Red Bull is starting from scratch. For some drivers, that is a scary thought. For Vickers, it is an exciting one.

The Ride: No. 84 Red Bull Toyota
Who: A.J. Allmendinger
On October 24, A.J. Allmendinger became the latest open-wheel defector when the Champ Car driver signed a deal to drive for Team Red Bull in NASCAR. The 25 year old signed a multiyear deal to drive the No. 84 Camry, and completes a lineup that already includes 23-year-old Brian Vickers, who announced in June he was joining the team.

Roush Racing
The Ride: No. 6 AAA Ford
Who: David Ragan
At Talladega, Roush team president Geoff Smith said Jack Roush would make a choice for the 6 car within the next two weeks from among four rookies, and he chose Ragan, who currently shares the No. 6 Truck with Mark Martin and also pilots the No. 50. He started his first career Nextel Cup race at Dover in September and is set to make four more starts in the Nextel Cup Series in 2006. He will make his first start in the No. 6 in the 2007 Daytona 500.

Michael Waltrip Racing
The Ride: No. 00 Burger King/Domino's Pizza Toyota
Who: David Reutimann
The name that continued to be connected to this high-caloric ride was Waltrip's fellow Owensboro, Ky. native Jeremy Mayfield, but at Watkins Glen, Waltrip said that he and Mayfield decided to go their separate ways. Reutimann will join Waltrip and Dale Jarrett as the third car for this team in 2007.

The Ride: No. 55 NAPA Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing
Who: Michael Waltrip
It has long been known that Mikey was using BDR as a one-year stopover on the way to owning his own Toyota-backed race team. NAPA seems to be willing to follow the two-time Daytona 500 winner to the ends of the earth... or at least all the way to Japan.
The Ride: No. 44 UPS Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing
Who: Dale Jarrett Jarrett got this year's Silly Season started when he announced at Darlington in May that he would be leaving Robert Yates Racing after 12 seasons to join fellow forty-something Waltrip. The 1999 Cup champ will provide MWR with the luxury of having a past champion's provisional to fall back on at the beginning of the season. At first, UPS wavered on whether or not to stay with Yates, but eventually decided to jump ship with D.J. Waltrip is trying to land No. 44, which is currently controlled by Petty Enterprises and on loan to Hendrick Motorsports for Terry Labonte.

Ginn Racing
The Ride: No. 01 Chevrolet
Who: Mark Martin, Regan Smith
Martin will share the ride in the No. 01 Chevrolet with rookie Regan Smith, a 23-year-old regular in the Busch Series. Joe Nemechek, currently racing in the No. 01, will remain with Ginn, but will move to a third team (the No. 13 entry), while Sterling Marlin will stay in the team's No. 14 Chevy.

Wood Brothers Racing
The Ride: No. 21 Little Debbie's/Ore-Ida Extra Crispy French Fries and Delimex Delicious Mexican Cuisine Ford
Who: Ken Schrader/Jon Wood
Schrader will return for a 24th season of Cup racing in a part-time ride. The 24-year son of team owner Eddie Wood will become the first family member to drive a Cup race since granddad Glen made his 62nd and final start at Roanoke, Virginia in 1964.

Evernham Motorsports
The Ride: No. 19 Dodge Dealers Dodge
Who: Elliott Sadler
Jeremy Mayfield has been terminated as the driver of the No. 19 car, which made The Chase in each of the last two seasons. Sadler has taken over this ride, but he won't bring his candy-covered chocolates with him.

Hendrick Motorsports
The Ride: No. 25 GMAC Chevy
Who: Casey Mears
Mears was already looking for a ride outside of Chip Ganassi Racing next season and appeared headed to a Toyota team... then Brian Vickers announced he was leaving Hendrick. Within minutes, Mears' running buddy Jimmie Johnson and mentor Rick Hendrick were on the phone with a job offer. He took it.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
The Ride: No. 42 Texaco-Havoline Dodge
Who: Juan Montoya
Just when we thought this season couldn't get any sillier, Ganassi trotted his former CART and Indy 500 champ into the Chicagoland media center. The Colombian-born Formula One racer still needs to work out some kinks in his contract with McLaren, but expect the good people at Daimler-Chrysler — Ganassi runs Dodges, McLaren runs Mercedes — to smooth out any bumps in the road.
Send your questions & comments to Ryan

Bill Davis Racing
The Ride: No. 36 Toyota
Who: Jeremy Mayfield
Davis will field two cars as part of Toyota's big launch, the first time he has enjoyed any sort of manufacturer support since angering Dodge by starting talks with Toyota several seasons ago. Jeremy Mayfield, who was released by Evernham Motorsports, was named to drive the car at Bristol on August 25.

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated

The Ride: No. 15 Menard's Chevy
Who: Paul Menard
After dipping his toe in the Cup waters this season, Menard will run a full schedule in '07 and run for Rookie of the Year as a teammate to the Juniors — Dale Earnhardt and Martin Truex.

Note: I have read elsewhere that Pops will be Menards crewchief!! YAY!!

RacingOne continues our annual "Fan Awards" with a look back at some of the worst television shows devoted to racing from the 2006 season.
RacingOne's Selection
The airwaves were literally full of racing programming in 2006, but one show stands out as the worst of the bunch and that's Trading Paint with Michael Waltrip and a media member going "head-to-head" on a variety of issues. That's not a bad concept for a show, but this program has two things against it - deep and controversial topics are never discussed and of course it provides yet another on-air slot for Michael Waltrip.

Other candidates include the Speed Report, SPEED's overly-glossy Sunday night wrap-up show that employs two of the most plastic hosts in television history and completely ignores 80 percent of the racing world outside of NASCAR, Raceline, a syndicated program that has the production values of a high school broadcast and Inside NEXTEL Cup, which has de-volved into the Michael Waltrip Un-Comedy Hour.

http://racingone.com/article.aspx?artnum=32610

I hated that Speed Report show! And, well Mikey......what can you say?

NASCAR channel on Sirius reports that the Toyota engines are generating 30 more HP than Chevy, Ford or Dodge and they are legal within the rules that Nascar has set up.

Now if their drivers and pitcrews etc. can do the same we may be in trouble. I'm hoping the GM engineers have come up with the solution they were looking for.

MUST READ!!

Documentary Traces NASCAR's Roots
Friday, December 15, 2006 7:41 PM EST
The Associated Press
By JENNA FRYER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — John Warner set out to make a simple movie about NASCAR driver Wendell Scott.

By the time Warner was finished, the filmmaker had spent $3 million of his own money to create a four-part DVD documentary that traces NASCAR from its early days of racing all the way through the 1960s.

Warner knew "The Golden Era of NASCAR" was a film he could be proud of. Narrated by his father, Virginia Sen. John W. Warner, the film is truly a labor of love.

But when he received a thank you letter from a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan who used the film to fill his idle time, Warner realized just how special it was.

Now he's donating 10,000 copies of the set — which retails for $79.95 — to Operation Gratitude. The nonprofit will include the DVD in holiday packages it sends to deployed U.S. troops.

"Documentaries by nature are very passion driven, and to get the whole story on film is a very powerful thing," Warner said in a telephone interview. "And then I got this letter from the brother of a friend of mine who really enjoyed the story, and it really touches you to know that something you have done can bring joy to other people."

Warner enlisted help for his donation from his stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor, who penned a letter that will be included with the DVD sets. She also included one handwritten letter to commemorate the 200,000th care package that Operation Gratitude will mail out.

"Millions of people around the world are remembering you each day in their prayers. I want you to know that I am one of them," Taylor wrote in the three paragraph letter.

"Please believe that as you travel through harm's way, you are valiant, loved and respected. I wish you safety in the days ahead and a warm reunion with those you love."

Getting Taylor to contribute to the gift "only took a phone call," Warner said, as the actress was pleased to help.

"This was something that is important to me, especially since the films touch on all the World War II veterans who helped create NASCAR," Warner said. "This is just one way that a civilian like myself can give back."

A Virginia native, Warner was introduced to NASCAR when his father stumped for votes at stock car races with Taylor, his second wife.

The racing interested Warner, who launched a career of modest success racing sports cars. But when he retired four years ago, he needed a new project and turned his attention to telling the story of Scott, the first black driver to win a NASCAR race.

"There was no book written on him — there still isn't — which is very unusual for a man who is the Jackie Robinson of racing," Warner said. "So I called up his daughter and we talked for hours and it really became a passion of mine to tell his story."

But in researching Scott, Warner uncovered story upon story of other NASCAR pioneers. He interviewed more than 50 old-timers and their families, and interspersed it throughout the film with Sen. Warner's narration, which is done in a perfect Southern drawl.

Warner didn't make "Golden Era" to get rich, and with a willingness to give copies of the set to any serviceman who asks, his profits are continually shrinking. But that won't shy him away from another project — he'd like to focus on NASCAR through the 1970s next — and it won't spoil the joy "Golden Era" brought him.

"The one thing that was amazing is that Southern people by nature like to tell tall tales, and a lot of them are what had gotten me interested in the project," Warner said. "And they all turned out to be true. That was the amazing thing — every one of them was true. I was just astounded."

Alabama to become home to Earnhardt's $600M race track
Dec. 15, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

MOBILE, Ala. -- A $600 million Dale Earnhardt race track and entertainment complex will be built on 2,500 acres just north of Mobile, the track's investors announced on Friday.

It could take about two years to build the four-track motorsports park off Alabama 158, near Interstate 65, with a full season of activity expected in 2010, track spokesman Bill Futterer said. The site faces the University of Mobile campus.

A 5,000-space RV park, a theme park, and a 7,000-seat arena also are planned, along with hotels, retail, restaurants and music theaters. The site would benefit from its proximity to the east-west Interstate 10 on Mobile's southern edge.

Investors in the track include NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.; his brother, Kerry Earnhardt, a driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series; and sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge.