Nascar Nextel Cup Race - Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen On NBC - Sun. August 14, 1 p.m.

Nascar.com ^ | 8.10.05 | Me

[WestCoastGal]

Great job today Jr, we love ya rain or shine!!......

Best Radio Chatter:
Radio transmission was again a problem for the Bud team, and it became a boiling point for Dale Jr. during the fourth caution. Spotter Jimmy Kitchens, perched on a tower near the esses, had to often moderate the communication between Dale Jr. and the Brew Crew, as Junior’s radio transmissions weren’t making it to the pit box.
Dale Jr.: (to spotter Jimmy Kitchens) “Can they not hear me from the pits?”
Kitchens: (to crew chief Steve Hmiel): “Steve, can you hear Junior?”
Hmiel: “No sir.”
Kitchens: “They cannot hear you on pit road, June.”

Dale Jr. vented about the faulty radios to Kitchens, who then reported it back to the pit box:
Kitchens: “Steve, basically, Dale Jr. is saying one of the biggest problems is he’s talking, and he gets no response, and he gets bent out of shape because he feels like he’s talking to just air. We need to work on the communication end.”
Hmiel: “10-4, Jimmy.”
Dale Jr.: “You know how it is, Jimmy, when you can’t talk to the crew, you get madder than hell. Just let them know I’m bent out of shape, but now that I vented, I’m not so bent out of shape. Heh heh.”
Kitchens: “Hell yeah man, we’ll take care of it and get it better.”
Dale Jr.: “Getting mad is the only way I can stay up on the wheel, know what I mean?”
Kitchens: “You’re doing good, man. Hang in there, and we’ll try to piss you off again here in a bit.”
Dale Jr.: “Yeah, piss me off! It’ll get you half a second!”
Hmiel: (after being wired with a new radio) “OK, talk to me Junior. This is a different radio.”
Dale Jr.: “Hey, much better! All I was saying is I like the way the car drives. The radios need to be better. And I drive a half-second faster when I’m pissed off. So get me angry.”

[WestCoastGal]

"I am curious how many fans here think the top ten is going to change very much between now and the chase?"

I think it may. Today DJ fell out and McMary got in. All it takes is one bad finish and a bunch of guys can switch places. Sort of like musical chairs. Who will be left out?

We have 4 races left to the Chase. The final 3 are night impound races. WOO HOO (I will be hosting) Ya'll better take yer vitamins and charge up those computers.

[WestCoastGal]

"What's on sale at Home Depot next weekend?"

Orange paint?

Not enough time for Jr?? Are you sure?

[SouthTexas]

Radio transmission was again a problem for the Bud team

Sounds just like our cable. Have a connection, for the moment. Am I logged in? Can you hear me now???

[WestCoastGal]

Helllooooooo, are you there?

I don't know if I'm logged in??

[WestCoastGal]

Wind Tunnel, DAve Despain surmising that Miller Lite picked Kurt Busch because he could compete with Dale Jr and Budweiser.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

On that note, I'm going to bed.

[SouthTexas]

Now, I may knock Jr from time to time, but head to head with Rubberhead will be Jr hands down. :)

I have four green lights now!

[steveegg]

I am curious how many fans here think the top ten is going to change very much between now and the chase?

You have 9 points between 9th and 12th, with another 64 to 14th. It won't be a situation like last year where at one point at Richmond, you had something like 15 people in the Chase at once, but it just doesn't get much tighter than it is..

[steveegg]

Not enough time for Jr?? Are you sure?

163 points, 5 people between him and 10th, 4 races. Yep, it's over (and I know Bristol's still on the schedule, but so is California and Michigan).

[steveegg]

Now, I may knock Jr from time to time, but head to head with Rubberhead will be Jr hands down. :)

What about a last-beer-standing including Stremme/Coors? :-)

Miller really <exletive deleted> up this time. The only respect for the #97 up here is for the local-boy crew chief, Jimmy Fennig. Once Jimmy returns to drink beers at BB Rubbles after the 2006 season, you'll be able to get Rubberhead merchandise real cheap, with suggestions on what caliber to use :-)

[WestCoastGal]

NOT SO FAST
Mears gets speed penalty in pit row
Casey Mears finished fourth here a year ago. And in the early going, things looked good for the son of former IndyCar and off-road driver Roger Mears and the nephew of Hall of Fame IndyCar star Rick Mears.

"We had a good strategy to come in there early. We got good track position," Mears said. "I think we were running sixth or eighth or something like that."

Then the bottom dropped out, figuratively speaking. After the race, in which Mears finished a disappointing 23rd, he was still trying to decipher what had happened.

"They called us for pit road speeding, and I was very conservative coming into the pits," he said. "I'm confused. I don't know what happened.

"They say it's really accurate," Mears said of the pit road speedometer, "but based off what I had to work with, I was very conservative with my pit road speed because a lot of guys got nailed (Saturday in the Busch race).

"I'm really baffled as to why I got called for speeding. We had to come in and make a pass through, and we were in the back the rest of the day."

[WestCoastGal]

BAD BLOOD
Lazzaro team irked at Kyle Busch
Anthony Lazzaro, who like Johnny Miller was expected to do little at the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen, completed the full 92 laps and finished 28th in the No. 37 Tequila Patron Dodge. But a post-race incident with Nextel Cup rookie Kyle Busch spoiled what had been a successful day.
"The punk crashed me on the cooldown lap. It just shows me this guy never built or worked on a car," Lazzaro said of Kurt Busch's younger brother. "We don't go out and try to wreck other people's equipment."

http://www.stargazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050815/SPECIAL02/508150317/1105

[WestCoastGal]

Now DEI is negotiating a contract for Eury to become Earnhardt's crew chief. The deal could get signed this week. So when the cousin's actually tape their appearance on the game show next month in California, it could be as future teammates. .

[WestCoastGal]

Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge
Published Fri August 12, 2005 at 9:45 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	N/A
2006 Sponsor:	Home123
2005 Driver:	N/A
2006 Driver:	Casey Mears

Casey Mears will remain with Ganassi. The car number has not yet been determined, but the sponsor will be mortgage lender Home123, a new company to NASCAR.

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Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge
Published Fri August 12, 2005 at 9:44 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Target
2006 Sponsor:	Target
2005 Driver:	Casey Mears
2006 Driver:	Reed Sorenson

Reed Sorenson, the hotshot 19-year-old Busch Series driver, will run a full Nextel Cup schedule next season in a fourth team for Chip Ganassi Racing.

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Penske Racing	Dodge
Updated Thu August 11, 2005 at 11:25 AM ET Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 10:03 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Miller Lite
2006 Sponsor:	Miller Lite
2005 Driver:	Rusty Wallace
2006 Driver:	TBA

Rusty Wallace has upwards of a half-dozen roles to consider for 2006 and beyond, but driving a Nextel Cup car won't be one of them, the former series champion said at Pocono in July. Kurt Busch has signed on to drive the No. 2 starting in 2007, but has indicated he would like to take over the car next season. More

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Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet
Published Mon August 8, 2005 at 10:26 PM ET

2005 Sponsor:	FedEx
2006 Sponsor:	FedEx
2005 Driver:	Jason Leffler
2006 Driver:	TBA

Joe Gibbs Racing released Leffler from his driving duties with the No. 11 car following Indianapolis. Terry Labonte, J.J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin will split the seat time for the remainder of the season. More

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Dale Earnhardt Incorporated	Chevrolet
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 10:13 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Unsponsored
2006 Sponsor:	Bass Pro Shops
2005 Driver:	N/A
2006 Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.

At the end of last season, DEI announced plans for Truex -- who recently signed a three-year contract extension -- to compete this season for the Busch Series championship and for his Chance 2 Motorsports team to move, intact to the Nextel Cup Series in 2006 with the same Bass Pro Shops sponsorship. More

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Petty Enterprises	Dodge
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 10:09 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Georgia-Pacific
2006 Sponsor:	Unknown
2005 Driver:	Kyle Petty
2006 Driver:	Kyle Petty

Petty Enterprises plans to restructure its primary sponsorship of the No. 45 Dodge driven by Kyle Petty in 2006 following Georgia-Pacific's announcement that they won't return as Petty's primary sponsor. More

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MBV Motorsports	Chevrolet
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 10:04 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Valvoline
2006 Sponsor:	Unknown
2005 Driver:	Scott Riggs
2006 Driver:	Unknown

Riggs is in the second year of a two-year contract with MBV and has yet to be resigned. Additionally, Valvoline announced it will end its Nextel Cup Series team partnership with MB2 Motorsports -- effective at the end of 2005. More

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Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 10:01 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Coors
2006 Sponsor:	Coors/Lone Star Steakhouse
2005 Driver:	Sterling Marlin
2006 Driver:	David Stremme

David Stremme was officially introduced as driver of Chip Ganassi Racing's No. 40 Dodges for 2006. Marlin, who has driven the No. 40 Coors entry for the past eight seasons, will finish out the 2005 campaign in that machine. More

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Roush Racing	Ford
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 9:54 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	Viagra
2006 Sponsor:	Unknown
2005 Driver:	Mark Martin
2006 Driver:	TBA

Martin wanted to move next season to the Craftsman Truck Series after 18 years as the keystone driver of Roush's huge NASCAR operation. Jamie McMurray, still under contract next year at Chip Ganassi Racing, has been hired to succeed Martin in the No. 6 car in 2007. Martin has stated that he may return in 2006 if Roush needs him. More

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Dale Earnhardt Incorporated	Chevrolet
Published Tue August 2, 2005 at 9:28 AM ET

2005 Sponsor:	NAPA
2006 Sponsor:	Unknown
2005 Driver:	Michael Waltrip
2006 Driver:	Unknown

Unsuccessful in a quest to agree to terms for a contract extension, Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. have mutually agreed to part ways following the 2005 Nextel Cup Series season. More

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[WestCoastGal]

LINK for Silly Season posted above

[steveegg]

End-of-the-weekend Jayski update -

• Changes at RCR - Phillipe Lopez out as crew chief of the #07 (he's been offered an R&D role at RCR), Scott Miller in (was the team manager and crew-chief-fill-in at the #29)
• Ray Evernham is still looking for a driver for the new-for-2006 #10 Valvoline team. He may well end up doing a driver-of-the-week like he is with his #6 Busch team as he won't be joining the Roush/Penske trend of signing someone under contract for 2006.
• Over in Busch, the Navy may not be back with FitzBradshaw (currently on the #14 with David Stremme, who's moving up to Cup) next year. They may be on a new Chance2/DEI team with Mark McFarland (who's running Hooters ProCup for Jr) or on the #5 Hendrick ride, which is rumored to be losing Lowe's.
• Stacy Compton may well be leaving the ST #59 Kingsford Ford for a Dodge ride. Less likely is another rumor that he'd head back to the Trucks in a Tundra.

[tubebender]

Makes me wish for a news blackout on driver changes

[NormsRevenge]

Larry King Live with Bob Costa sitting in..

Has Flash and Rusty on now and Kasey coming up shortly

[NormsRevenge]

Kyle Petty also.

[tubebender]

I was too embarrassed to tell you I was watching cNN...