NASCAR - Offseason 2006-2007 Withdrawal Thread #3

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

[AGreatPer]

"Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has reached a five-year contract extension with NASCAR to remain its exclusive tire provider through 2012."

There ain't a lot of other competitors. Hankook is growing fast in this country. I have them on my vehicles and have had great results.

[WestCoastGal]

Budweiser Race Preview: the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona

DALE EARNHARDT JR. / DRIVER, #8 BUDWEISER CHEVROLET:

On the excitement of a new year and the season-opening Budweiser Shootout:
“I'm glad we can finally start racing. We've been testing a lot lately, mostly doing single-car runs, and that can be pretty boring. We've been testing the Car of Tomorrow quite a bit, and I'm ready to get back in our regular racecars and cut 'em loose. The Shootout is a great way to start the season. It's fun for me, because I've got some friends who are in this race, guys who are fun as hell to race against - like Tony (Stewart), Denny (Hamlin), and Elliott (Sadler). Since it's a non-points event, we can race hard without the pressure, and laugh about it when it's over.”

Not everyone was laughing after last year's Shootout due to the extensive bump-drafting…
“I didn't understand why everyone was making such a big deal about it. I guess I understood their point and I wasn't saying that (bump-drafting) wasn't happening, but I always thought it was fun when you can beat and bang a little bit. I mean, this is the Shootout! It's a race! With a lot of cash! It takes about an hour-and-a-half to run, and the winner gets more than $200,000. You shouldn't be able to earn that much money in that short of time and it be easy. Denny did it the hard way last year, and he deserved every bit of it. He had a great car, and he held off the best drivers in this series. We threw everything we had at him, and he threw it right back at us. That's how you win the Budweiser Shootout.”

Does this race help determine drafting partners and strategy for the Daytona 500?
“Not really. It's too short, so you don't really get a chance to work with a lot of people. Everybody wants to win, so it's not like you're going to be overly friendly in the Shootout. I remember feeling like I was going to crash about 30 times in last year's Shootout, and actually we did get into a little bit of an incident on the backstretch that hurt the front of the car. In the 500 you're a lot more patient, so you have time to figure out who to work with and who to stay away from.”

Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team in the Budweiser Shootout:
Previous Shootout Starts: 6
Best Start: 2nd (2002)
Best Finish: 1st (2003)
This Race, Last Year: ST: 19th / FIN: 2nd / LED: 1 lap
Chassis: #043 (made its first appearance in last year's Budweiser Shootout, finished 2nd)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of nine previous champions racing in the 2007 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. He won the Shootout in 2003, beating Jeff Gordon in a close finish. In six Shootout starts, Junior has finished no worse than seventh, and has finished first or second four times. His average Shootout finish is 3.3, best among all active drivers with more than one start.

FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT: No driver has ever won from as far back as Dale Jr. did in 2003, after starting 19th. He is only the third driver to win the Shootout after starting in last place. The others were Dale Jarrett, who drove from 15th to first in 2000, and Dale Earnhardt, who came from 14th in 1991 and 13th in 1993 to earn two of his record six Shootout titles. Of the 21 drivers in this year's race, Dale Jr. has the worst average starting position of 15.8.

DAYTONA DOMINANCE: Non-points, Busch Series, IROC Series and Rolex Sports Car Series races included, Dale Jr. has 10 victories in 42 career starts at the Daytona International Speedway. Combined with his father, the Earnhardts have a combined 45 victories at Daytona. The elder Earnhardt was a six-time winner of the Budweiser Shootout, by far the most of any driver.

[WestCoastGal]

OK Wake up everyone!! Speed week is upon us. What could be better I ask you? Saturday night under the lights, Feb. 10, 2007. The 29th annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. The race will be seen live on Fox Sports television, beginning at 8:00 pm ET.

I will have the thread up sometime tomorrow evening for the Shootout and the Duels.

The Daytona thread will be on it's own the following week.

[Roccus]

Can't get here fast enough!!!

[WestCoastGal]

Don't Drink The Kool Aid

[vox_freedom]

Thanks for the wake up call!!!

[WestCoastGal]

CONCORD, N.C. - Joe Millikan, who was injured in a multi-vehicle accident outside of El Paso, Texas on Wednesday, was released from Thomason Hospital on Friday afternoon.

[WestCoastGal]

Seems to me the drivers need resources like the NFL players have for the retired guys...........

Monday, February 5, 2007
On Hard Times: NASCAR Busch Series champ and wife struggle with ailments and little money


By Bill Dyer
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Sam Ard, who drove the red-on-white Oldsmobile with Thomas Brothers Country Ham No. 00 to back-to-back NASCAR Busch Series championships in 1983-84, now faces the biggest challenge of his life.

Last year, Ard, a Southside-area racing legend, had symptoms of a stroke and was hospitalized.

But after a series of tests, it was confirmed that he had Alzheimer's.

This is not the first obstacle that Ard has had to face.

He was the runner-up to the crown in 1982 in a Busch Series career that lasted only three seasons. He had to quit racing after a wreck at North Carolina Motor Speedway in 1984.

Severe head injuries left him unable to maintain his balance or speak clearly, and his short-term memory was at a low point.

Still, he was determined to walk again.

"I built a sawdust pile behind my home to cushion my falls," Ard said in a recent telephone interview. "I wanted to walk again. I knew my driving career was over, but I couldn't make a living off sympathy. I needed to work. I had a wife and kids to support."

Ard made a comeback, this time as a car owner, winning a few races with Jimmy Hensley and Jeff Burton.

"Things got better," Ard said. "I walked better, but I couldn't hold out to do anything. My breathing was getting so bad that all I was doing was taking breaks."

Ard said that doctors later discovered that his breathing problem came from exposure to asbestos used in the floorboard of his racecars.

That was only the beginning of what was to come later.

Months before he was found to have Alzheimer's, Jo, Ard's wife of 46 years, learned of a degenerative eye disease that could lead to blindness. She has already lost most of her sight in her right eye and now fears that the problem may spread to her left eye.

The Ards now live in a modest mobile home on a farm owned by a sister in Pamplico, S.C. Ard is equipped with a tracking device to keep up with his whereabouts. His activities are limited to riding around the farm in an old pickup truck with his dog and son Robert, one of the couple's four children.

The problems that plague the Ards are both physical and financial. They live on $1,200 a month in Social Security money, limited medical benefits from the VA hospital and money that Ard's wife earns cleaning houses.

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193024929

[WestCoastGal]

Hmmmmmmmmm...are they trying to fill seats?


"Out here the Stater Bros supermarket chain has a deal for every $55.00 you spend in groceries you receive one free ticket to the Nascar cup race in Fontana on Sunday Feb 25th. Free parking besides."

[Jackknife]

Thanks for the pingaroonee!!

[Jackknife]

[LasVegasMac]

Thanks, WCG.

Watching Nascar Now right now!

DirectTV now installed - with Nascar-In Car package. :)

Also bought TrackPass PitCommand (keeping Cox Internet connection).

Still need a radio for Sirius......

and a new wireless router.

Can't wait!

[tubebender]

I already see the interest in Nutscar waning here on the FReeper board. There are only about 25 teams signed up so far for the Fantasy League.

I just watched a few minutes of Nutscar on ESPN until the biggest consumer of the KoolAid came on and I was gone.

Care to guess who I am referring to...

[WestCoastGal]

Wow you're all set Mac.

One day I will get XM, I'm still hoping they merge with Sirius then I can have Jr and Nascar too. :)

[WestCoastGal]

Well I saw Rusty, then I saw JJ and then I saw Mikey. LOL

All Kool Aid drinkers.

I did use them for a screencap or two.

The Fantasy League is a surprise to me. I have two others going, one for Jr's IP Parking site he started and that one is full, the other for the Pitboard.......another Jr spot and that has about 4-5 places left last time I looked. Seems to me Jr is keeping Nascar AND fantasy racing going.

[SheLion]

[oxcart]

What is NASCAR?/s off.

Thanks for the (((PING)))...WCG

[SouthTexas]

Are we there yet, are we there yet????

[icecold]

Hello all. I created a ESPN League. Never done 1 there before. It's a salary cap league if anyone's interested the League Name is:Sirius Nascar password: sirius

Here's the link: http://games.espn.go.com/stockcar/group?groupID=2485&password=sirius

[NYTexan]

The dry spell is nearly over!

Look forward to tommorrows thread!