News

You're Going to Boycott Who?
By Walt Newcomb

Sponsorship, that’s the word that makes the racing world rotate. It’s pretty pathetic to think that in this day and age of motorsports that winner of a Nextel Cup title’s earnings might be less than one half of the amount of money required to earn that championship. Once upon a time; winnings provided and existence for professional racers without the aid of major sponsorships.

Perhaps the biggest sponsorship news this week was the announcement that Budweiser would not be moving with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports. I’ll just say that some of these big companies don’t get along with one another. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Junior driving a green #5 in ’08.

There are plenty of folks out there who have been making delusional statements like “I’m not going to drink Budweiser anymore.” That is despite the fact that the Bud sponsorship was arguably one of the primary reasons many race fans became enchanted with Dale, Jr. to begin with. Don’t get mad at Dale, Hendrick, Budweiser or the new sponsor. That’s life in the fast lane.

To me, the biggest news of the week was the announcement that the U.S. Grand Prix, Formula 1 event has been lost. Apparently, Bernie Ecclestone was looking for twice the sanctioning fee for the event at Indianapolis Speedway. Plenty of people will point their fingers of blame at Tony George. I for one would be thankful if Tony took a (crap) in Bernie’s hat and kicked his (hind quarters) on the way out of their last meeting.

Do I like watching F1? Absolutely: in the wake of Michael Schumacher’s departure from the series, one might have wondered how F1 would ever survive. Enter this Hamilton kid and F1 is something worth watching after all.

However; in the wake of this week’s announcement, I feel it is our duty to do everything possible to insure that F1 is no longer broadcast in the United States. If Bernie thinks it’s too expensive to come here, then he doesn’t deserve the revenue from U.S. broadcasts or the sponsorship exposure that those broadcasts generate.

Hey, in addition to the U.S.G.P. being the FIA event with the largest attendance, the U.S. market is one of the largest blocks of television that sanction has the pleasure of bilking. It is also the market that is most likely to spend money on products advertised on F1 cars. It is our disposable income and our willingness to part with it that makes us such a wonderful market for Mr. Ecclestone.

So what’s a race fan to do? Here we go; don’t boycott products because drivers switch teams or because sponsors can’t get along. Boycott products because a sanctioning body has taken racing away from us. Boycott all F1 sponsors. Write these sponsors and tell them WHY you will no longer be a consumer of their products or services and tell them to stop handing their money to Bernie Ecclestone. I’m not sure what he is but he sure sounds like a carpetbagger to me.

That’s how I see it. Opinions vary.

McDowell Motors to First Career ARCA Win
By Aaron Fiedler

Michael McDowell’s ship finally came in, giving him his first career ARCA victory. With less than 14 to go McDowell passed Cale Gale and sailed to victory ending a season of near wins, a lot of poles and a ton of laps led.

McDowell Makes Good

McDowell was up against the odds as he competed against 9 development drivers which in the past spelled disaster for the rookie; despite the amount of ARCA-Whackers this week, McDowell shown brightly, as he has in so many other events this season. I for one was happy to see him finally come away with his first victory. It was well fought and well deserved. Worth mentioning is his proximity to the points lead against the reigning king of the ARCA RE/MAX series Frank Kimmel. With 10 races remaining on the schedule McDowell is just 185 points behind Kimmel (and 55 points behind second place Bobby Gerhart) and could easily top the veteran driver if he continues to have the success that he has had in the prior 13 races.

Caution Chaos

The weekends broadcast painfully drug by as over 1/3 of the race (38 laps) went by under caution. It seemed like every time the green flag waved, so did the yellow. There was some serious difficulty during restarts which is understandable from a field of mostly inexperienced drivers. I feel bad for that group in early part of the race made up of quality drivers who compete week in and week out including Justin Allgaier, Bobby Gerhart, Phillip McGilton, and Justin Marks. ARCA reported that Marks was taken to the hospital following the incident, but was treated and released.

Shepherd’s Lack of Luck

Poor Pete Shepherd couldn’t catch a break this weekend. The rookie Roush driver was supposed to drive the #99 Ford in the ARCA race and then pilot the #50 Ford in the Craftsman truck series. Shepherd was quickest in practice Friday afternoon prior to qualifying. Unfortunately for Shepherd during his qualifying run he spun on the backstretch and tore a large chunk of the wall out. Track crews spent quite a long while repairing the heavily damaged section of fence. Unfortunately for him the team didn’t bring a backup car, and the primary was too heavily damaged. Saturday proved not to be any better for the young Shepherd who after qualifying 12th got caught up in an incident between the 59 and 91 trucks ending his race and weekend. You have to feel bad for the kid who doesn’t get too many opportunities to show his skill. He went into the weekend excited and hopeful and left dejected and torn up.

Where Were All the Fans?

Was it just me or did anybody else notice the lack of fans in the stands at the ARCA race in Kentucky this weekend. I have personally seen better showings at Friday night events at larger tracks. It was pitiful. They weren’t out there in bandoleros or legends cars or even figure 8s; this is a big weekend event with big name drivers. I’m not sure if it was a lack of publicity on the speedway’s part or the series’ part, but someone dropped the ball. It is sad to me that no one gets into these lower series where there is a lot less politics and much smaller egos. Sure you’re not going to have Tony Stewart or Kevin Harvick down there, but what you will have are the stars of tomorrow competing and winning today. If you want to say I was there when, the time to get involved is now. Support your local racing and support the ARCA RE/MAX series.

Before we wrap up today I think it is important to note last weekend’s results. Unfortunate for me and all of you who like to watch ARCA, the race wasn’t televised so all we got were phone call updates from our friends and family at the race and the press releases following the event. Brian Keselowski won the race with just a few to go as he passed Michael McDowell (McDowell took the pole for the fifth time this season). The ARCA RE/MAX Series is off for two weeks when they return to Pocono Speedway at Pennsylvania 200. So as always if your not watching ARCA races now, it’s never too late to start.

Skinner, Fike, Green and Matthews Make Craftsman Truck Series News
By Aaron Fiedler

Another shocking ending to the truck series race over the weekend as series veteran, champion and current point’s leader Mike Skinner walked away with his fourth win of the year. It was yet another Toyota dominated race, and for the sake of myself and those of you may read this, I won’t complain about what my colleague at StockCarCity Larry “Magnum” Cole has so aptly called the NASCAR Craftsman Toyota Series.

I think the top story of the week however is the unfortunate news about promising Red Horse Racing driver Aaron Fike.

Fike’s Bad Week (or why NASCAR has a BIG PROBLEM)

For the second time this season and for the fourth time that I can think in just a couple of seasons a driver was connected to drugs. Before I get into this I just want to say that Fike, to my knowledge, has not tested positive for drug use, and has not been convicted in any court, however his involvement is being found in a precarious position with very illegal substances. I hope for his sake and for the sake of his fiancée that if they are in fact doing the heroin that was found in the SUV that they were driving, that they get help. Fike certainly isn’t the first to be slapped with an indefinite or lifetime ban from the sport for using illegal substances. Most recently Tyler Walker who drove the #36 OTC truck for Bill Davis Racing was suspended indefinitely after failing a drug test. He certainly is not the first; his comes after the lifetime ban of Busch Series driver Shane Hmiel, who tested positive for cocaine and marijuana as well as Busch Series driver Kevin Grubb. What these drivers fail to realize is that every time they use, they are not only putting their lives in danger, but the lives of 42 other guys on the track and hundreds more in the pits on a weekly basis. They are getting in a car doing in some cases over 200 mph just inches away from the guy next to them. Every move they make means their moving up in position and potentially wrecking and killing another driver. The fact of the matter is, these guys get too wealthy, too quick (not to say that Grubb, Hmiel, Fike and Walker were getting paid millions). However the money that they are making is more than the average 19 and 20 something is making. Privilege has its pitfalls and unfortunately neither Charlotte, nor the suburbs to the north are immune to drugs and the problems that they create.

I had to consult the NASCAR rule book to the specific wording it used. Unfortunately I don’t have the drug abuse policy, but I do have a rule book to consult so here it is. According to the NASCAR rule book Section 7-5, “A NASCAR Member must not use or be under the influence of stimulants, depressants or tranquilizers, including but not limited to alcoholic beverages, narcotics, etc.” The section goes on to say that all competitors sign the current official NASCAR Substance Abuse Policy. All drivers are well aware of what they can and cannot do, and yet some choose to ignore what are very clear policies.

NASCAR has a problem on its hands and I don’t think they are doing enough to rectify the situation. NASCAR Vice President for Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said this week that any official, crew member or driver who suspects someone of doing drugs, should come to him or Mike Helton, or any of the series directors and they will be tested. However, are they not doing regular drug testing a certain times per year? It was nice to see Richard Childress drivers Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton come out and say that NASCAR needs to be doing more when it comes to drug testing, because it is a safety issue, for other drivers, crew members and even fans. I hope for the sake of any drivers using and for the sake of the integrity of NASCAR that something is done soon.

Green’s Great Run

Congratulations to David Green who despite being thrown into the Red Horse Racing truck just a few days before the race, finished fifth. I am glad that Green had such a strong showing for the sake of the team, sponsor and team owner Tom DeLoach. No teams deserves to be put in the situation they were put in and I hope that he has a strong showing for the remainder of the season.

Mathews Makes Good

Another driver who got the shot to race after a drug abuse infraction was Ryan Mathews over at Bill Davis Racing. He competed up front all weekend and ultimately had a 4th place finish. It was impressive to see the young driver up front competing with Travis Kvapil, Ted Musgrave, and Mike Skinner. I know at the time this was a temporary thing, I’m not sure if that has changed; but I hope he can secure some sponsorship so he can continue to drive the truck over at BDR. Very impressive to say the least.

Overall not the greatest race I have seen this season, and for the sake of all those who tune in on a regular basis to watch, I continue to ask the racing gods to knock some sense into NASCAR to slow down the Toyotas. It probably won’t happen, but I can dream right? The trucks are off next week, but we will see them again in Indianapolis at the O’Reilly Raceway Park.