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!!

[tubebender]

I hope he qualifies. I think Hershel Mcgriff was 74 in his last Winston West race in Az a few years ago. A thing called Nascar Thunder? starts on Speed tv tomorrow.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I have made my annual DAKAR Rally thread here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1763717/posts?page=15

[SouthTexas]

Bodine bobsled bump.

Nascar and NHRA drivers on Speed channel.

[GRRRRR]

Won't be long now!!

[Pete-R-Bilt]

sad ping from B4ranch...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1763864/posts

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks for the link!

Has Rubby ,, uhh,, I mean Crash Gordon ever competed in this one?

That is one tough haul..

[SouthTexas]

Gettin' closer!

[NormsRevenge]

Bobby Hamilton reacts after winning the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Friday, Feb. 18, 2005. Hamilton, the longtime NASCAR driver who won the 2001 Talladega 500 and was the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series champion, died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2006, of cancer, said Liz Allison, a family friend who co-hosted a radio show with Hamilton.

[WestCoastGal]

http://www.truckseries.com/

Tribute to Bobby Sr. and a welcome to the Heaven 500.

The Heaven 500

The Heaven 500 was just getting started,
an all-star race, for the racing departed.

Heroes of the track, with nerves like steel,
and sitting on the pole was a cat named Neil.

Adam Petty was there, with his beautiful smile,
Kenny Irwin, determined to finish in style.

Lee Petty was glowing, with grandfatherly pride,
with Davey and Clifford, each had a new ride.

Fireball Roberts floated in on a cloud,
while Tony Roper waved to the Heavenly crowd.

Morosso and Nemechek, then Tim Richmond appeared,
Kulwicki strapped in while the racing fans cheered.

The honorary starter, for this Heavenly race,
Ralph Earnhardt was chosen, a tear on his face,
but the red flag flew even before it had begun,
with every eye, wide open, and looking to the SUN.

A last minute entry was the cause of delay,
while the fans were instructed to kneel and pray.

The Heavens turned black, and the clouds turned dark,
the lightning was brilliant, the thunder did bark.

Then out of the rumble, for all there to see,
the clouds formed a number, a black number 3.

The Heavenly fans then erupted with pride
and welcomed this star who had recently died.

On a bolt of lightning, Dale Earnhardt arrived,
as he stood before Jesus, his spirits revived.

Jesus hugged his precious child, then revealed his perfect plan.
"I brought you home to let you know, I'm your biggest fan!"
As Ralph stood proud, the green flag flew,

the crowd went wild, and the tension grew.
And just like Salvation, the admission was free,
as every eye focused, on the black number three.

When the checkered flag dropped, no dry eyes remained,
it was a photo finish, as Jesus explained.

He said, "There are no losers, on this Heavenly track.
This was a welcome home party, for The Man in Black!"

--Author Unknown--

Rest in peace Bobby ~ God Bless.

[WestCoastGal]

WOOHOO.......Jr is in the air and will arrive in Daytona within the hour!!!!!!!

BTW a few excerpts from an interview he did.

Earnhardt Jr. said that's not unusual, given his relationship with his stepmom. "We'll go three months without talking, without seeing each other," he said.

But Earnhardt Jr. said his relationship is not as chilly with Teresa nor nearly as unpalatable at DEI as some believe.

"We're cordial," he said. "It's not as people would assume. I think everybody's always had this idea that we were very negative to each other."

Earnhardt Jr., however, says much of Teresa's efforts involve managing the legacy of Dale Earnhardt Sr., and the money-making ventures that legacy continues to spawn.

"When you go into her office and there are stacks of paper, most of it is dealing with my father and whatever they're doing with his name and whatnot," Earnhardt Jr. says. "So, we don't talk a lot. We don't have a lot of sit-downs about racing and the team and ownership and stuff because that's not at the top of her list."

Motorsports Media.com

[WestCoastGal]

There is an unsubstantiated report I just read that....

"BP.... Just heard on my local news he is on life support now down at CMC in Charlotte."

More prayers needed!!

[SheLion]

Many prayers for Bobby's family.

He was SO young and he will be missed......

[WestCoastGal]

Doug Rice works with Benny at PRN and he said that Benny remains in critical condition at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.Benny's cancer remains in remission but because of the chemo he only has the use of one lung. The lung that he does have use of, has a severe infection. His condition is very serious. He is allowed no visitors. He has made slight improvement over the last 48 hours but he is still very sick.

[WestCoastGal]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – You could turn Oprah, Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer all loose on the Earnhardt family business and there’d still be enough left to blow the Donald Trump-Rosie O’Donnell feud out of the water.
For several weeks, Teresa Earnhardt’s quote in the Wall Street Journal about her stepson’s focus – “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.” – has been hanging in the air.

Monday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took his turn.

“I tried and tried not to comment on it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I was trying not to get involved in it.”

But there’s no way he couldn’t. His contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. is up after the upcoming season, and until the sport’s most popular driver has a new contract no other story in the sport is bigger.

So out it came. “I really didn't appreciate it,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don't know, she might have just been having a bad day or something when she said that. I really don't know where that was coming from. I haven't talked to Teresa about what she said in the paper. I figured if anything needed to be said, she'd call me up and say it.”

Teresa Earnhardt’s comment was first published Dec. 14, and it has been talked about ever since. You’d think if wanted to temper that remark, she might have expressed it to her stepson over, say, Christmas?

Apparently not. Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Dale Jr.’s sister and top business advisor, said in a radio interview last week that her brother spent Christmas Eve at her house. Surely their stepmother has that phone number.

In a story in Monday’s USA Today, Earnhardt described his relationship with his stepmother as “cordial.”

“I think everybody has always had this idea that we were very negative to each other,” he added.

Gosh, wonder why?

“I don't want to really get too personal,” Earnhardt Jr. said Monday. “…Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face. It is what it is…it ain't a bed of roses…I don't know how to explain it honestly.

“The relationship that we have today is the same relationship we had when I was 6 years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her. It has always been the same. It hasn’t gotten worse over the last couple years or last couple months. It's always been the same, the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now.”

Richie Gilmore, the highest ranking DEI official who bothers to visit most NASCAR tracks and speak to the racing media, sounded calmly optimistic about the contract talks. If you listen only to Gilmore, it’s a matter of tidying things up and getting a deal signed so team can get its mind totally on making the red No. 8 Chevrolets go fast this year.

But life with the Earnhardts is more complicated than algorithms.

“I like driving the red car with the number 8 on it, and to drive that car you have to drive for DEI,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I don't really know what to tell you other than that. We're working to get through the contract and finish up a new deal. …There's just some things involved that I want out of the future involving the company, and it's very difficult for everybody to see eye to eye there.”

Translated, that means that Earnhardt Jr. and his sister want to be part of the decision-making process in the team their father built, not be treated just as contracted employees.

http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/16412209.htm

[WestCoastGal]

RacingOne: Daytona Testing, Day 1

DAY 1- Jan 8, 2006 AM Speeds
rank	car#	driver	manu	time	speed	laps run
1	96	Tony Raines	Chevy	48.920	183.974	11
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevy	48.948	183.869	14
3	22	Dave Blaney	Toyota	48.978	183.756	29
4	26A	Jamie McMurray	Ford	48.992	183.703	14
5	20B	Mike McLaughlin	Chevy	48.993	183.700	9
6	66H	Jeff Green	Chevy	48.993	183.700	12
7	88A	Ricky Rudd	Ford	49.057	183.460	8
8	20	Mike McLaughlin	Chevy	49.060	183.449	12
9	16A	Greg Biffle	Ford	49.116	183.240	15
10	8A	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevy	49.128	183.195	24
11	22A	Dave Blaney	Toyota	49.239	182.782	17
12	25A	Casey Mears	Chevy	49.262	182.697	17
13	60B	Boris Said	Ford	49.276	182.645	8
14	44B	Dale Jarrett	Toyota	49.284	182.615	20
15	88B	Ricky Rudd	Ford	49.336	182.423	6
16	60A	Boris Said	Ford	49.340	182.408	17
17	14	Sterling Marlin	Chevy	49.342	182.400	17
18	41X	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	49.392	182.216	17
19	14X	Sterling Marlin	Chevy	49.397	182.197	17
20	7A	P.J. Jones	Ford	49.298	182.194	8
21	96A	Tony Raines	Chevy	49.405	182.168	8
22	16B	Greg Biffle	Ford	49.409	182.153	6
23	8B	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevy	49.410	182.149	3
24	66	Jeff Green	Chevy	49.419	182.116	16
25	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevy	49.420	182.113	8
26	10B	Scott Riggs	Dodge	49.483	181.881	12
27	13B	Joe Nemechek	Chevy	49.514	181.767	8
28	43B	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	49.535	181.690	9
29	26B	Jamie McMurray	Ford	49.536	181.686	8
30	13B	Joe Nemechek	Chevy	49.544	181.657	14
31	10A	Scott Riggs	Dodge	49.599	181.455	12
32	1A	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevy	49.612	181.408	18
33	1B	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevy	49.642	181.298	9
34	83B	Brian Vickers	Toyota	49.688	181.130	2
35	9A	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	49.701	181.083	12
36	37	Bill Elliott	Dodge	49.704	181.072	8
37	41	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	49.750	180.905	5
38	33A	Scott Wimmer	Chevy	49.755	180.886	18
39	7	P.J. Jones	Ford	49.789	180.763	5
40	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	49.790	180.759	15
41	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	49.808	180.694	5
42	4	Eric McClure	Chevy	49.846	180.556	18
43	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevy	49.864	180.491	9
44	25	Casey Mears	Chevy	49.882	180.426	5
45	44	Dale Jarrett	Toyota	49.887	180.408	7
46	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevy	50.033	179.881	5
47	9B	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	50.253	179.094	6

[WestCoastGal]

Zebra?

Back OFF people

[WestCoastGal]

KK says hey Happy that's really a bright yellow!!

[WestCoastGal]

Oops did I say all that?

[tubebender]

Speed TV now!!!

[SouthTexas]

Got it thanks!

COT review, whoop-ti-do!