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Saturday, May 17, 2008
Three hours and counting …
It’s almost time folks.
The Legends cars are still going around the track, and one of them has lost its tire and wheel.
But the stands are starting to fill.
Scott Cooper, VP of communications, said earlier today, at a photographer’s meeting, that the race is on target to beat its attendance record from last year’s All-Star Race. The speedway seats about 165,000 people, plus folks in the infield. That is a pleasant surprise to Humpy and Co., considering the current state of the economy and gas prices.
Right now, the spin-out contest has begun. Since this is the All-Star Race, the drivers are showboating and hot-shotting it up for the fans.
Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the 42 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge, said he is ready for his first NASCAR Sprint Series Cup All-Star Race.
Montoya, along with team own Chip Ganassi, held a press conference around 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway to discuss the former Indy car driver’s experience at Saturday’s events so far.
“I think people are starting to realize how hard NASCAR is … ” Montoya said. “Everyone has received me with open arms her and it’s been a warm experience for me.”
Ganassi, who owns three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car and two Indy Racing League cars, discussed why his driver’s like Montoya, and NASCAR driver and former Indy car racer Dario Franchitti, who is currently nursing a foot injury, switched from open-wheeled racing to NASCAR.
“They’ve accomplished what they have to wanted to do and they’re looking for a new challenge,” Ganassi said.
Franchitti won’t participate in Saturday’s race and probably won’t make it back for next week’s Coca-Cola 600, Ganassi said.
-Josh Lanier
Jeff Matthews and his crew started pulling wires to the firework launchers while 3 Doors Down performed.
The crew—five men from Melrose South Pyrotechnics—hook up with wires to the electric launchers, then sit back and enjoy the rest of show.
“We can’t load any live shells until all the people are cleared out,” said Jeff Matthews, promoter of the crew.
Melrose South Pyrotechnics sets up and runs all the fireworks and pyrotechnic effects for the Sprint All-Star Race. For the festivities tonight, the crew will shooting off fireworks for the National Anthem, player introductions, the start of the race and the checkered flag.
‘We do events all up and down the East Coast,” Matthews said. He’s a 20-year veteran that has been setting up pyrotechnic shows all over the country. He said the summer season is really a busy time of the year, but the demand for fireworks keeps getting earlier and earlier in the year.
“We so spring festivals and baseball games—it’s not just Fourth of July anymore,” Matthews said. “We’ll shoot right through October.”
And from then, he’ll start planning for next year.
“We’ll start getting contracts for next year—next Fourth of July—in November and December,” Matthews said.
As the crow starts walking away, the crew pulls out the live ammo. Per safety regulations, speedway security keeps a 70-foot perimeter around the launching site. Safety is always on the mind, Matthews said. They keep large fire extinguishers on hand, just in case a shell doesn’t fly high enough and “stars” float back down before snuffing off.
‘Suitcase’ Jake Elder: A NASCAR Legend, the man who helped make Earnhardt a star
By Mike Mulhern
CONCORD
Have you heard the one about the day a bear chased Jake Elder through the Pocono woods on his way to the race track?
Remember the day at North Wilkesboro Speedway when Jake Elder took a paint brush and gallon can of rubber softener and proceeded to slather his qualifying tires with the highly NASCAR-illegal mixture, right there in the middle of pit road, in front of everyone, including chagrinned NASCAR officials….to make the point, not so subtly, that too many of his team’s rivals were secretly ‘soaking’ their tires for an edge in speed?
Or the day at Daytona that Jake Elder announced that, since drivers had already hit 209 mph, his goal was to have the first car to run 2-oh-10?
Jake Elder. One of a kind. A legend. And quite the character.
“Huh?!” Elder loved to exclaim, as punctuation – affirmative or negative – to whatever issue was under debate.
And always looking for the next challenge…which helped earn him the nickname ‘Suitcase Jake.’
Jake Elder stories are all over the garage these past few days, because Elder, now in his 70s, is not doing so well in his health, and is being cared for by his sister up in Statesville. Actually it’s been that way the past few years, but Elder just got through a nasty bout of pneumonia that sent him to the hospital Richmond weekend. So a bunch of his old buddies have been up to see him, like Richard Petty, Dale Inman and Tim Brewer, men who worked with him and against him over the years.
In this age of engineering specialists in almost every corner of every shop, it’s perhaps hard to imagine this sport in an era when a man like Elder could dominate – with just a ball of string, four pocket tape-measures, and an innovative mind that served as his notebook and computer.
Sometimes it looked like voodoo, Rusty Wallace says, but the Hall of Famer could invariably turn around a struggling team. And he didn’t do it with any high-tech engineering or thick notebook. But he was a Mr. Wizard.
“Jake was old-old school,” Wallace said, recalling some of his days with the legend during his own early years on the tour. “He worked for soooo many teams.
“But he was the guy you would call when you needed some help. If your old car wasn’t running right, and you were confused, you’d want to call Jake and say ‘Hey, can you come bail me out?’ And he could help you fix it.
“I called him once, when my car wasn’t running right, and asked ‘Jake, can you come over and crew chief this car for me?’ And he said ‘All right, just one race.’ And he came over with his tool box – which was filled with so much doggone prehistoric stuff that it was unreal.
“He had the string out, and the levels, and said ‘You do this and this….’ And I took it to Charlotte and had my best run ever.”
Elder was, ah, observant: he would lay down on a creeper and slide under his car….and slowly, slyly, slide his way down the garage, under as many rivals’ cars as he could, checking out setups.
“I remember Leonard Wood grabbing Jake by the ankles and pulling out from under their car,” Wallace said with a laugh.
“Now days everything is top-secret. But back then, well, it was amazing to watch Jake work like that. And nobody really had a problem with it.”
Elder, who with his wife Debby lived just behind this race track for years, “was from the old-school, like Herb Nab, Buddy Parrott,” car owner Richard Childress said. “Now Jake wasn’t the most educated person about engineering and geometry, but he could draw it out on the floor and show you what that car was going to do.
“And he just gave a driver that confidence. That car might not be that good, but if you had Jake working for you, you had the confidence you had the best guy out there.
“And if Jake made a change, you weren’t hardly about to tell him it wasn’t better….
“Jake was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun with Jake over the years. I’ve got a lot of Jake stories…..”
During the late 1960s, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, right up through Davey Allison’s first seasons on the NASCAR tour, Elder was a fixture in the sport, an iconic guy who wasn’t that polished but who sure knew his stuff.
“When Jake Elder showed up at your shop some Monday morning, you just knew things were going to happen, things were going to change, and business was going to pick up – and right away,” Johnny Siler, who worked with Elder on the Billy Hagan-Terry Labonte team in the 1980s and who now works with Childress, said.
“And if you were a slacker, you weren’t going to be around there much longer.
“Now Jake was a hard man to work for, sometimes, and he went after the driver just as hard as he went after the crew guys. He’d chew the driver out as quick as the crew.
“But that was good. Too many of these drivers today just want to complain. Jake wouldn’t take none of that.
“Jake stayed with us at Billy Hagan’s probably longer than any place. And if a man did his job, Jake never had a problem with him.
“Jake was never big on trick stuff; he was strong on the basics. Frankly a lot of guys learned a lot from Jake, though they might not even have realized that.
“He helped a bunch of drivers out early in their careers. He could tell them exactly what they were supposed to be feeling in that car. And sometimes he could intimidate them into running better than they actually could.
“Jake was good for the sport that way. And he certainly made things happen wherever he went.”
Elder never lacked for confidence in his knowledge and his talents, which he pretty much kept in his head, or on maybe a three-by-five card or two.
“If it was Charlotte, no matter what might be going on, Jake was going to put a 1700-pound spring in the right front,” Siler said with a laugh. “Sterling Marlin was driving for us one time we were down here, and the car wasn’t working just the way Sterling wanted it, so he started to ask Jake about ‘maybe changing that right-front.’ Jake never stopped walking, or even turned his head, as he told Sterling ‘Don’t even think about it, boy. Don’t even think about it.’”
“Jake actually got his start with us,” Petty recalled. “But then when NASCAR and Chrysler had that falling out (in 1966, over the powerful new hemi engine), we had to let some people go. And that’s how Jake wound up over at Holman-Moody. And they just kept elevating him.”
And Elder helped a wild, young Mario Andretti win the 1967 Daytona 500, and then, with promising engine builder Robert Yates, helped David Pearson win the 1968 and 1969 NASCAR championships for that Ford operation.
When Darrell Waltrip decided to step up to the Cup tour in the early 1970s, he hired Elder, who taught him what to look for in a ride, what ‘feel’ to look for at each track, invaluable.
In his prime Jake Elder was one cantankerous crew chief, a hard man to work for, a driver as well as a crewman, but with supreme confidence in his ability to make a car work for a driver….and vice versa.
But engineers, computers, technology…Pshaw! He could set up a car with a ball of string and a couple of rulers, literally.
A commonsense, no-nonsense kind of guy, with stunning confidence in his own abilities – a self-confidence that engendered confidence in his drivers.
And Elder worked with some of the best: Pearson, Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Terry Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Neil Bonnett, Benny Parsons among them.
Elder was the guy who got Earnhardt on the path to stardom in this sport, working with him in that 1979 rookie-of-the-year run and through the Charlotte 600 in Earnhardt’s amazing 1980 championship run. Then Elder abruptly packed his suitcase and moved on again.
“When I think of Jake, I remember him over at Holman-Moody’s, way back when I was just a kid,” Kyle Petty said. “He was winning races and championships with Pearson….but nobody really noticed Jake until he got that deal with Earnhardt – remember that quote ‘Stick with me, kid, and we’ll be wearing diamonds as big a cow chips.’
“Remember how Jake would pick a spring? He take a spring and look at it, and then squat down on it....and if it felt right, he’d say ‘Here, go put this one in the car.’ And that’s the spring you were stuck with the rest of the weekend. He wasn’t going to go changing it on you: ‘I know how to set up a car, now you go learn how to drive it.’
“They called him ‘Suitcase’ because he worked a little bit everywhere.
“Some guys, like Dale Inman, would find their place at Petty Enterprises, and some guys would find their place at Junior Johnson’s….but Jake never found that place. Jake was always searching, always searching.
“Debby was good for him. Settled him down some, kept him in line, got his life in order for him. And when she passed away……”
“Jake came to work for us in Level Cross in the ‘60s, down from the Hickory area, and he was a fabricator,” Richard Petty recalled. “and he was a good welder. And he kept learning stuff about the car.
“You know Jake’s been with just about everybody. He was here when Darrell got his start. And he worked with Earnhardt.
“Jake was old-school. There was no engineering, it was all off-the-cuff. He’d put something on the car and say ‘Okay, now it’s right. Here, you go drive it. And don’t come back in complaining to me, because I got the car fixed. You go learn how to drive it.“‘
Richard laughed.
“The deal was he stayed right on the driver: ‘Here, the car is right. You go learn to drive it.’
“And if the driver got to slowing down or goofing off, he was right on them: ‘You’re loafing on me, now. Get back with it!’
“He drove them pretty hard.
“Jake got the nickname Suitcase because he’d work with somebody three or four months, and then they’d either have a falling out or he’d just want to go do something else.
“Jake was really good at coming into a team and settling things down. Some teams would have everything there…but leadership. He could get things organized.”
Elder was certainly a leader. He might not always be right, but he was never wrong.
“One thing about Jake – he was always the same. When you saw him coming, you knew what you were going to get,” Richard said.
“He was good enough and forceful enough that when he said he’d fixed something, they had confidence in the car and could go out and get something done.”
“Eddie and I were just kids when we met him, and Jake was something else….and wherever he went, his cars ran fast,” Len Wood said.
“We talked about hiring him a couple of times, but we never did.
“If you needed a leader, he was a guy who could do it.”
“The first time I met Jake,” Eddie Wood says, “was Martinsville, sitting on that little pit wall right in front of the hot dog stand. I was just a kid, and he was running that gold-and-blue 17 for Pearson. He just sat down and talked to me like he’d known me forever.
“He was always willing to stop and talk, and I loved talking to him, because he always had something funny to say.
“He always knew what was going on in the garage; he was always right on top of what everybody was doing. But then a lot of times what he was doing was what everyone else wanted to find out about.”
John Dodson, who worked on Wallace’s team that 1989 championship season and who now works at the NASCAR Technical Center, remembers the good ol’ days with Elder: “Jake always had an answer. But he firmly believed what he told you. What I remember about him is his ingenuity. He figured out things on his own.
“He’d sometimes pick springs by bouncing them on the ground and listening for the ‘right’ ping. Honest. And you’d look at him doing that and scratch your head. But then his car would go out there and whip everyone.
“Jake was as honest as could be. He’d tell you ‘Man, your car was good today.’ Or ‘Man, that car wasn’t worth a hoot.’
“He could either make you feel bad or good…but you never had to wonder what he was thinking. He’d tell you.
“Jake was a character…one of the sport’s last great characters. He’s not doing so well now…..
“When power steering and computers came along, he cussed ‘em like a sailor. He hated that stuff.
“He was real hard to work for. I saw guys who couldn’t take it.
“But, I’ll tell you what – he brought it to the table, Jake Elder brought it to the table.”
Steve Hmiel: “The thing I remember most about Jake was from back in the 1970s, when we all traveled together in vans, because we didn’t have these planes. When the race was over, and we all got a little ways away from the track, and it was time to eat, we’d all stop at some truck stop, and all the other teams would be in there…and Jake would always be in there holding court.
“And if he’d run good, he’d tell you about it. And if he didn’t run good, he always exactly why: ‘Oh, I had a sixteenth of a inch too much sway bar.’ Or ‘If I’d just had 50 more pounds of right-front spring I’d have lapped the field.’
“Jake, even if he wasn’t right, he always had an answer that would have made him right.
“Jake was always supremely confident….and me and Dale Inman would be almost giggly sometimes: ‘Can you believe Jake really said that?’ But the next time we all went back to that race track more than likely he’d whip you.
“He was shrewd about being at Holman-Moody when that was ‘the’ place to be. And he really helped Dale Earnhardt out when he was young. And remember Jake was at Billy Hagan’s in ‘82 when Terry Labonte almost won the championship, and nobody really even knew who Terry was, except he was a kid from Texas.
“If you came from another part of the sport, Formula One or Indy-cars or something, and you watched Jake sitting on springs to figure out which one to use, well, you’d think ‘My gosh, what an absolute fool. That’s a guy who wins races?’ And you’d laugh.
“But Jake Elder won races and championships. There was a method to his madness.
“And I still wonder where that Daytona 500 trophy is – the story is when Mario won the 500 in 1967, Jake took the trophy and nobody’s seen it since. That may or may not be true, it’s part of the Jake Elder legend.”
The Peninsula campground is a buzz with activity, filled to capacity with RVs and campers, several who have been partying and mingling since day break. Strangers are invited in to campers for some air conditioning and drinks as everyone seems to enjoy in the old southern hospitality that blankets the camp grounds like the low continuos hum of the generators.
Many campers are playing games and waiting for pre-race festivities, while others sit in the shade with friends and talk about who will win tonight’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race. Judging by flags and overhead conversations, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the odds-on favorite.
-Josh Lanier
Taking the back way to the Speedway was a great idea.
Mallard Creek Road out of University City in Charlotte takes you right to Morehead Road and Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The main routes—Interstate 85, both north and south, Concord Mills Boulevard, Bruton Smith Boulevard, and U.S. 29 from Kannapolis and Concord all are parking lots right now and will be for the next few hours.
State troopers are posted at just about every intersection and on-ramp around the Speedway, so you might as well chill out for a while and wait your turn. Thousands of people are already here on the grounds and more are expected for tonight’s Sprint Cup All-Star Race.
Incidentally, the North Carolina Department of Transportation replaced the signs on I-85 last week. They now all read “Bruton Smith Boulevard.” Remember back in November, when the CEO of Speedway Motorsports kept everyone on pins needles about moving the Speedway? Remember when Cabarrus County, the City of Concord and the Good Old North State promised Smith $80 million in road improvements?
Well, to put icing on the cake, the N.C. DOT offered to change the name of Speedway Boulevard and name it after the octogenarian race promoter.
Oh, and the drag strip, which cause all the trouble in the first place, is under construction and about halfway complete. It is expected to be ready by the first drag race on Sept. 11.
Check out our stories about the drag strip, the incentives and Bruton Smith Boulevard:
Last night, James and I set up camp in the Peninsula Campground, behind Turn 1 of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. It was cold—a near full moon out. The truck race had just finished and fans were headed back to their campsites. It was dark, so when we got out there, we couldn’t see just how many RVs had made it out already.
There was a stiff breeze in the air—and it was cold. We bedded down about 1:30 a.m. It was quiet in the campground. Everyone had gone to bed—no parties tonight. All through the night, though, we could hear big rigs running up and down the road—diesel engines roaring as they headed up the hill.
I woke up about 6 a.m. out of reflex. It was still cold. Dump trucks ran up the road and a red hue colored the sky. It was still quiet—except for a couple of folks headed to the Port-a-Johns or walking their dogs. Then the sun rose from out behind the Mallard Creek Landfill. I took a stroll through the campground. There were hundreds of RVs in the campground—as far as I could see.
They were from all over—Florida, Georgia, New York. Some were flying flags of their favorite drivers. Some were flying U.S. Armed Service flags.
On the stainless steel bleachers of the Speedway, the sun sparkled.
Kyle Busch psyched for NASCAR’s All-Star race, sprints to the pole..but are rivals ready to pounce?
Burning down the house: It’ll be hot, hot, hot in NASCAR’s All-Star race
(Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
By Mike Mulhern
CONCORD
So is this the night brash Kyle Busch gets his comeuppance, for all the aggravation he’s been dealing out on the stock car tour?
This All-Star race – XXIV, since it was first created by the late T. Wayne Robertson of R.J. Reynolds in 1985 – has no points on the line, pays a cool $1 million-plus to win, and is typically a good place to settle a few grievances…sort of like that dark backstretch at old Columbia Speedway where back in the ‘50s and ‘60s sometimes a guy would come off two and – Golly, gee whiz – just never make it to turn three, simply disappear into the darkness.
But anyone wanting to settle things with Busch will first have to catch him. He’s been one of the fastest on the NASCAR scene all spring, be it Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Truck, so Saturday’s 9 p.m. feature should be no different.
And Friday night he blew away the field, including Jeff Gordon, to win the pole for the All-Star green. Not only was Busch fast on the track, but he was also fast on pit road too—qualifying for this event is unusual, with a four-tire pit stop included in the three-lap run. The pit road speed limit of 45 mph was in effect for drivers entering pit road but there was no speed limit leaving.
And then like Dale Earnhardt Sr. – the target of more than a few angry ‘I’ll get him back’ threats – liked to say, with appropriate menace: ‘If they’re coming after me, they’d better do a darned good job of it…..’
Of course these guys are more professional, usually, than to deal out personal justice like that, preferring to use more tact and finesse.
Then again Busch is no stranger to controversial, to put it mildly. Just ask his own brother Kurt – they crashed last year in this very race while fighting for the win, with the younger Kyle making a move perhaps a bit too aggressive.
Kyle Busch has already won eight NASCAR touring events this season, and even Carl Edwards is getting frustrated.
Kyle Busch is getting quite a collection of NASCAR checkered flags
(Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
But, hey, maybe there is hope for Busch’s rivals: a switch to Formula One?
Or at least an F1 test: “We’re actually working on that right now,” Busch says. “A test session at the end of November or beginning of December, going to Japan for a little exhibition…and see what it’s like.”
Huh?
“We’ll take the Cup car over there too, run around either Twin Ring Motegi or something like that and show them what the Cup cars are like….and try to get in the Formula One car,” Busch says.
“We’ll see how good I test first. We’ll see if my neck can withstand the G-forces.”
A jump to Formula One itself? “I wouldn’t mind it,” Busch says. “If I can do it, and I’m good at it, then I’ll give it a shot.
“But it seems their racing isn’t all that great; they get stuck in line and the aero takes over everything.
“And I don’t think it is just ‘put a driver in the seat’ to make it go. You need a little bit more of a car.”
The best burnout man in the business? Kyle Busch.
But Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer
will give him a challenge in Saturday night’s
Burnout Challenge
(Photo by Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)
How about something perhaps a little easier, like the Indy 500?
“It would be good, I’d like it, and wouldn’t mind doing it,” Busch says. “I’d have to get a test in it and see if I’m any good at driving those cars. I have no idea.
“I tend to jerk on the wheel too much, so I’d probably end up trying to kill myself, to be honest.
“I wouldn’t say it would be coming in the next five years, but probably after that.”
So just who is the Kyle Busch anyway? The more we get to know him, the more there is to know about him.
His talent is exception. A Tim Richmond, a Dale Earnhardt, a Jeff Gordon perhaps…
“It’s something I don’t tend to focus on too much,” Busch insists. “I prefer to be my own person, set my own style.”
And the boos, Busch says, just roll off his back: “I just laugh, like ‘Okay. Just because I’m not the most popular guy here, don’t hate on my talent.’
“I guess they do. I don’t care. I’m here to do what I have to do…and as long as I’m winning races….
“Driver intros, that’s not going to make or break my weekend.
“I’ve pretty much been doomed since I got here. I’m pretty much going to be doomed for the next 10 years. That’s why I just try to go out there and win….”
“If Kyle ever gets it all balanced out, he’ll be unstoppable,” Gordon says of Busch’s aggressive and speed. “He’s darned near unstoppable right now.”
And what is Kyle Busch looking for here Saturday night?
“It’s a different atmosphere, a different way of racing for everybody,” he says. “It’s a non-points race, and you’re going after a million bucks.”
But payback? “I think the drivers should be smarter than that,” Busch says. “I don’t recall too many of them I’ve wrecked, at least on purpose.
“Things happen, and if it happens, then so be it…and we lose a million dollars.”
One of the cool things about this event is that nobody ever seems to know the rules, because there are typically several odd ones thrown in. And then the late Earnhardt used to make up some rules himself as the race went along.
Busch says that’s again the case: “To be honest with you, I heard that the inversion is now out, so I don’t even know what the rules are. I haven’t read or seen anything.
“From what I heard, it’s just 25 laps each segment (four of them), and that’s pretty much it.”
A big wild card – NASCAR’s new winged car, used here for the first time. It’s been a difficult car for drivers and crews to deal with.
Or maybe that will just be a good excuse for a driver to haul out if there’s a big crash.
We want your reaction, so please comment on this story and offer your own opinions, on this story, on our NASCAR videos, and anything about NASCAR:
NASCAR hosting a Miami ‘All-Star party’ for Juan Pablo Montoya’s fans
(Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
THE NASCAR NOTEBOOK
NASCAR executives are doing more with this year’s All-star event than just letting it play out on the track here in North Carolina.
NASCAR is also orchestrating a NASCAR Sprint All-Star ‘viewing party’ in Miami, which should bring out a strong Latino contingent. And there is a radio advertising campaign on Miami’s Caracol 1260, designed specifically to draw Juan Pablo Montoya fans to the viewing party to see his first All-Star appearance.
SPEED TV, as part of its huge weekend coverage of the All-Star event, will be doing live cut-ins to each viewing party, starting at 4 p.m.
Kevin Harvick won the 2007 All-Star race...what can he do for Richard Childress this time around?
(Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
Saturday night’s on-track action kicks off with the Sprint Showdown, a two-segment, 60-mile sprint at 7:30 p.m., with the top two finishers getting spots in the All-Star race. Elliott Sadler won the pole for the Showdown.
The winner of fan voting, if he finishes on the lead lap of the Showdown, also makes the feature. That man will be named after the Showdown. (Voting can be done at NASCAR.com, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway itself, at sprint.com/speed, at any Sprint retail store, or by texting “NASCAR” to “7777” on Sprint phones. Any votes on Sprints phones will count twice.
The All-Star race itself, set for a 9 o’clock green, will be four 25-lap sprints, with a 10-minute break at the end of the second segment for car adjustments. Teams pitting during that 10-minute break will be allowed to restart Segment Three in the same position they finished Segment Two.
Between Segments Three and Four, all drivers will have to make at least a pit road stop-and-go, restarting the final Segment in the order they leave pit road.
Green flag and yellow flag laps will all count in the first three sprints; only green flag laps will count in the fourth.
All restarts will be double-file. The ‘lucky dog’ free-pass rule will be used throughout the event. There will be no inverting the field for any of the segments.
One big worry among crew chiefs here, and at the upcoming mid-size track races, is that some teams will go overboard in their trick engineering of the rear-end housing:
“What’s going to happen here Saturday night? Somebody is going to lose a right-rear wheel, and I hope it doesn’t go in the grandstands,” one irate crew chief said. “They’ve got these rear-ends all jacked out of shape. Just go look at all the different rear-end housings we’ve had to bring here, to try to find one that works. But that’s the only lipstick we can put on this pig right now.
“It would be a lot easier and cheaper just to move the bodies around on the frame to get the downforce in the corners we want. But NASCAR won’t let us do that anymore.”
Jeff Gordon first raised that rear-end issue last week by pointing to one rival’s car that was so bent out of shape that it could barely roll up on the pre-race scales. And car owner Richard Childress agrees things might be getting out of hand.
NASCAR officials have shown no inclination to put any new rules in to deal with the situation, and some of the most successful teams say they’re not pushing the engineering limits, though they concede they are worried that some other teams might not be so clued in.
Kyle Busch says this All-Star event can sometimes carry more emotional baggage over the rest of the season than might ordinarily be expected. And he knows from personal experience:
“It is a big deal because of the money and the prestige on the line…but it’s also harder to get over things such as last year—when you and your own brother get together. That’s a big deal,” Kyle Busch says.
“I’ve wrecked here the past two years, getting caught up in wrecks in the last segment. The first year I think it was Kasey Kahne and somebody got together off turn two and caused a big melee. Then last year my brother and me.
“This year I’m just hoping we can start up front in all the segments and duck out and hide.
“Last year I finished second or third in the first segment; I won the second; I finished second or third in the third…and then we had the inversion.”
So Kyle Busch had to start near the rear. “I don’t remember how many cars we inverted, but it was like six or eight cars. Three or four laps into the run, I got going down the back straight, and Kurt was trying to pass Jeff Burton, and they ran through three and four side-by-side. And they didn’t come off the corner with a good run.
“I got a great run off the corner, about five mph faster than they were. I made a move to Kurt’s inside while he was just about to clear Jeff.
“Then he saw me coming and went low to block me and put me off in the grass a little. Coming up the front straight normally you go out to the wall and swing wide to get a good arc to the corner. He (Kurt) never made that wide swing; he held me low, and when we touched doors, that took all side-force off my car, and it broke the whole car loose instantly, and we both crashed.
“You can look at it and say it was my fault for making an aggressive move…but it’s the last segment of the All-Star race and you’ve got to go. And the way tires were falling off, if you got stuck behind somebody in traffic you got stuck.
“Or you could say it was Kurt’s fault he didn’t give me enough room getting into the corner.
“He blamed it on his spotter, saying he didn’t know if Burton was still out there or not. I guess he needs a better spotter.”
It was quite a while, Busch says, before he and Kurt got over that deal. “It was probably December. It was the whole year,” Kyle said. “Grandma asked for a Christmas present that we both get along and go to Christmas dinner together, so that was her present.
“It was a little edgy to begin with, because that was the first time we’d sat down together. But the more it went, the more it got back to normal.”
Being the hottest driver in NASCAR, with all the baggage that entails, and all the emotionalism, “That’s scary,” Kyle Busch says. “It’s pretty cool to have the publicity I have: Some good, some bad. To me it’s just part of this sport.
“Jeff Gordon has gone through it. Dale Earnhardt has gone through it. Everybody has pretty much had it.
“Right now it’s my game to play.
“I’m not too worried about it. I just go out there and do what I can on the track, and that’s pretty much all I worry about.
“I’m having fun. As long as I’m winning races I’m having fun.
“It’s going well.”
Well?
So well he’s adding races to his already jammed schedule: The Truck race in Texas Friday night June 6th, after a full day of Cup practice in Pocono that morning and afternoon for Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500. Then Busch will fly to Nashville Saturday June 7th for the 7:30 p.m. Nationwide race, and flying back to Pocono for the Sunday feature.
“It’ll be a fun weekend,” Busch says. “To do the three deals….does it make sense? No. Do I still think there’s a chance for a title in all three? There could be. But it would take a lot.
“This is just going to be fun, and I love racing, I love making a show out of things. So I guess it’s more PR for NASCAR: let’s help them out.”
Dale Jarrett’s Last Ride: NASCAR’s Classiest Act Driving into the Sunset
2008_All-Star_Grids.xls
Dale Jarrett, one of NASCAR’s classiest
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)
By Mike Mulhern
CONCORD
This All-star race will mark Dale Jarrett’s last NASCAR run, after so many years on the tour. And he’s hoping he doesn’t go out with a bang but with a smile.
“As I think back on the career, there is one word that comes to mind, and it’s ‘fortunate,’” he says.
“Fortunate that I was able to be a part of a great sport in a time that it probably was gaining its biggest growth over the years.
“…not because I was a part of it, but that I was just lucky to be a part of it.
“It’s very fortunate. I have been very, very lucky to be a part of this and to have what I consider a very successful career.”
These final days, Jarrett concedes, have been emotional, even though he’s not leaving the sport, just heading for the TV broadcast booth.
“It’s difficult,” he says. “It’s been easy to talk about…but to be honest it’s been getting more difficult by the day—to know this is going to be it.
“But it’s the right thing to do.
“It’s not that I’m having any second-thoughts, it’s just difficult knowing when I get out of the car Saturday night that is the last time I will ever compete at this level.
“You can do a lot of fun things, I can go golf….but nothing will ever match the excitement you get from driving a race car and being able to compete at this level.
“I’ve already had calls from owners saying ‘Would you consider…? We know that opportunity might be here.’
“Yeah, it would probably be just a crazy amount of money. But that’s not what’s ever driven me.”
Actually Jarrett, the 1999 tour champion, ran his last Cup tour event at Bristol several weeks ago. But he was in the ESPN booth at Texas, Phoenix and Talladega.
“I have to keep in touch with the sport, I have to keep up with what’s going on, because our (full Cup) coverage starts in July, and it’s pretty extensive,” Jarrett said. “My ‘next life’ here is going to require me to know a lot more stuff even, and I’ve tried to do that.”
Dale Jarrett and family...but will his new TV job be even more demanding?
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)
Jarrett might not be going out quite on a high; it’s been a few years since his last tour win. But he’s still fairly competitive, unlike some drivers who clearly held on to the wheel too long.
“We’re competitors, and just cutting off is difficult,” Jarrett says. “I know there are going to be times I’ll look back and think I should have kept going at this.
“But the announcing side is going to become extremely busy. I’m actually looking at my schedule, starting in July when we start with the Cup side at Indianapolis for ESPN, and I’m actually spending more time doing my job then if I were driving. It’s just a huge commitment.
DJ’s old office......
(Photo credit: Toyota Motorsports)
“From 1993 to 2004 and 2005, that was a span that was just fantastic. You hear about people loving to get up every day because they love to go do their job, and that’s the way I was.
“That’s how good it was—you wanted to do that every single day.
“When they said ‘Do you want to go test somewhere?’ ‘Yeah, let’s go.’
“It was a blast.
“Even though everything came together in the latter stages of my career, it was perfect timing, because I was at a point where I could handle all of that.”
Through it all Dale Jarrett has been one of this sport’s classiest acts.
And Friday, on the eve of his final run, he offered a salute – to the media: “It has been a long time, and I appreciate the way all of you have treated me very fairly.
“I can’t say you’ve always written good things…but that’s not your job. Your job is to write what you think and report.
“You’ve been extremely fair to me, and I appreciate that. It means a lot.
“Thank you. You do a lot of good things for the sport. I really do appreciate it.”
As the Sprint All Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 approach at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, race crews at Hendrick Motorsports are already planning for the next race. CLICK HERE to view an audio slideshow from inside the race shops that build the cars of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Casey Mears.
The 48 Hours of Charlotte? Hey, this NASCAR All-Star weekend may never end
SPEED TV boss Hunter Nickell is all cranked for NASCAR All-Star Week
(Photo credit: SPEED)
By Mike Mulhern
CHARLOTTE
When it comes to entertainment promotion, NASCAR executives have the shotgun approach: if it moves, shoot at it. And if it doesn’t move, shoot at it anyway to get it moving.
Hard sell, hard push, these guys are the masters.
Little wonder that NASCAR’s TV buddies are so hopped up too: Saturation marketing, saturation promotions. Saturation, saturation, saturation.
And that’s the way it is again this NASCAR All-Star week, which kicked off with Thursday night’s annual Sprint Cup Pit Crew Challenge, pitting stock car racing’s best over-the-wall men head-to-head.
Brian Vickers’ crew, headed by crew chief Kevin Hamlin and coach Greg Miller, lived up to expectations in the finals – an all-Toyota championship – by narrowly beating Denny Hamlin’s crew (22.902 seconds vs 23.011 seconds, barely a foot). The cars are pushed by the crews.
The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin crew wins the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge by a foot over Denny Hamlin
(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Vickers’ team—Brian Haaland on the right-front, with Aaron Schields tire carrier, gas man Doug Newell and catch-can man Mike Metcalfe, rear-tire changer Danny Kincaid and rear-tire carrier Jake Brzozowski, and jackman Shaun Peet – beat the Kevin Harvick-Todd Berrier Chevy team in the semifinals. Hamlin’s crew – Mike Hicks right-front tire changer, Brandon Pegram tire carrier, Jonathan Sherman rear-tire changer and Heath Cherry tire carrier, and gas man Scott Wood and catch-can man John Eicher, and jackman Chris Anderson— beat the crew of teammate Kyle Busch in their semifinals.
Vickers’ crew won $70,000, as a team. The night’s competition had two stages, one measured team against team, the other measured man against man. The evening’s individual winners, each earning $10,000: Nick Odell and Brad Donaghy, right-front tire changer and right-front tire carrier for Kyle Busch; Dave Smith and Jason Binger, rear-tire changer and rear-tire carrier for Matt Kenseth; Caleb Hurd and Jamie Frady, gas man and catch-can man for Jeff Gordon; and jackman Eric Wilson of Kasey Kahne’s team.
An example of how seriously these crewmen take this competition – jackman Mark Jacobs suffered severe bicep tears last week while practicing for this event. Jacobs, of the Juan Pablo Montoya-Chip Ganassi team, underwent surgery Wednesday and is expected to be out three months recouperating.
To consider Bill Shakespeare, perhaps this is all something about ‘surfeiting the appetite with too much,’ or maybe it’s Mae West, about ‘never too much of a good thing,’ but if you want a little NASCAR this weekend with your TV dinners, well, how about 48 straight hours of non-stop coverage of this All-star thing?
A little NASCAR gluttony never hurt anybody…..
“The All-star race for us – right now, at this stage of SPEED—is the most important event for SPEED, and the most highly rated event: The NASCAR All-Star race Saturday night,” Hunter Nickell says.
“This is the coolest thing we do.
“So beginning about 9 a.m. Friday, we’re going 48 hours straight.”
Jimmy Spencer is every bit as outrageous with a mike as he was behind the wheel
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Nickell, three years now in this gig as head of Fox’ cable-NASCAR network, is sitting out in one of the dozens of anonymous TV trailers that surround the weekend stock car tour stop, amid an army of big Fox-SPEED haulers that carry everything from the several command-and-control centers, some with 60-some TV screen shots for the director-and-producer to pick from, to more esoteric games like the in-car camera stuff, the DirecTV stuff, and specialty sets like the SPEED Stage.
Nickell’s chair, like in all mobile rigs, is bolted to the floor, but wheels and spins like a Shanghai crane. And he can’t stop moving. This is no static performer.
Nickell’s crew carried Thursday night’s Sprint Cup pit crew challenge live, for the first time, and he seems almost giddy about the All-Star weekend….even though SPEED’s cable operations churn out thousands of hours of NASCAR coverage each season.
“Before we got the All-star race on SPEED a couple years ago, we did over 30 hours of programming around it,” Nickell says. “Last year we had the race and did 74 hours around the event. This year we have 87 hours, including the race itself Saturday night (9 p.m. start for the feature).”
The Trackside crowd at the SPEED Stage is sometimes wildly enthusiastic, sometimes just wild and crazy.
Check it out when Kyle Busch is centerstage.
(Photo credit: SPEED)
Still, in this NASCAR TV world of giants like Fox, ABC and ESPN in all its various permutations, just where does SPEED fit in?
Well, it fills in the blanks….like the hours and hours of pre-race practice (TiVo practice at home, perhaps).
And it surrounds each weekend’s feature event with hours of pre-race and post-race talk-talk and analysis, and more than a dash of goofiness and laughs.
It’s not quite The NASCAR Channel, but it does more NASCAR than anything else, and it does one heck of a lot of NASCAR.
And when NASCAR execs need a favor – like when ESPN decided to drop its Friday night Nationwide broadcast at Richmond a few days ago, in favor of an NBA game – SPEED steps into fill the void. That particular incident was interesting – the event was simulcast live on SPEED and ESPN Classic, and Speed’s broadcast got the better ratings.
“NASCAR is a huge, huge part of what SPEED is,” Nickell says dryly. “That’s obvious I guess.
“So when NASCAR calls and says ‘We’re in a jam,’ it’s cool to be able to say ‘Yes, we can.’
“For us the whole deal is being the ‘coolest,’ best NASCAR programmer to fans. That is it.
“It comes back to – Fox, ESPN, ABC, Turner, SPEED – everybody is doing great NASCAR programming. But we think we’re doing the ‘coolest’ NASCAR programming.”
An All-Toyota Night: The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin team (blue car, right lane) beats the Tony Stewart crew in opening round competition en route to NASCAR Sprint Cup pit crew challenge championship
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Well, any set with Jimmy ‘Who needs Jerry Springer’ Spencer on it, has to be watched. Just to see what outlandish things he might come up with.
And then there’s the Kyle Petty Show too….in which he finds some hapless journalist – and there are plenty ‘deer in the headlights’ in the NASCAR garage—and tries to rip them to shreds. Well, not literally of course, but Petty, while he may not be up front on the track, off the track he’s fearless, and a much faster thinker on his feet than most around the sport. (The ‘outtakes’ from Petty’s show would make a good show in itself, if Petty himself were brave enough to go for it.)
And SPEED loves to do its thing out in front a live audience, which can be daunting at times, but still visually exciting. Especially when Kyle Busch is on stage – facing a live racing crowd that at times seems almost rowdy enough to call for the chicken-wire safety netting.
But Nickell loves it all.
Not all the drivers spent Thursday pumping up their pit crews. Tony Stewart (L) and Greg Biffle were building a racing-themed playground in Charlotte
(Photo Credit: CIA for KaBOOM)
“I think we’re doing the coolest stuff,” Nickell says. “And when I watch our guys, I get so fired up because I know how much into NASCAR our guys are.
“We’re not worried about ‘Hey, what is Fox doing, what is ESPN doing?’ Everybody looks at everybody else’s stuff. But we’re working on ‘How can we make Raceday cooler this week than last week?’ ‘What can we try we’ve never tried before?’ ‘How do we make Trackside more fun?’”
Well, may taking Jimmy Spencer off valium?
Nickell laughs.
Well, why not bring in Danica Patrick to do those pre-race hot-lap segments?
Maybe Nickell needs his own late-night version of Elvira or Vampira for some of this coverage. After all, sometimes NASCAR action – particularly All-Star week—does seem as wacky as Plan 9 from Outer Space…..
Or, hey, how about being brave enough to bring back The Pit Bulls? Hmmmm.
Nickell seems seldom at a loss for ideas: “This year we’ve added a show called ‘NASCAR in a Hurry,’ which we put on in front of Race Day.
“We figured out there is so much stuff that goes on each weekend that very few people, if any, get to see all of it. So we built this show to let people know ‘Hey, before you watch Race Day, here’s all the cool stuff that’s been happening.’
“So we go back over the stuff that ESPN had, that we’ve had, stuff that’s happened on the track and off the track. So we stuff that in just before Race Day, to get the fans fired up.”
Last weekend at Darlington, for example, the race itself started about 740 p.m.; NASCAR in a Hurry came on at 4:30 p.m., and Race Day ran from 5 till 7.
And this week it’s the 48 Hours of Charlotte.
SPEED’s boss Hunter Nickell wants to create the next ‘Cool’ NASCAR race. Any suggestions?
(Photo credit: SPEED)
In this sometimes curious world of NASCAR TV, just where does SPEED itself it in? Compared to Big Brother Fox and ABC’s legendary ESPN, SPEED sometimes seems like ‘the other’ channel.’
That just makes Nickell bristle.
“It’s not us versus ESPN or versus Fox or who,” Nickell insists. “They have their deals and we have ours. And NASCAR is the largest piece of SPEED’s programming, by far.
“We’ve got the trucks, and weekend after weekend it’s not us-versus-anybody. It’s us versus, well, the next coolest NASCAR show, whatever that might be.”
What really is the purpose of this SPEED thing anyway? Where did this channel come from?
“It started back in 1996 as SpeedVision, as the video version of the magazine rack ‘everything about vehicles,’” Nickell says.
“Now as time has gone on, while we still have an enormous amount of enthusiast programming, motorcycles, automobiles…but when Fox and SPEED got into the NASCAR business, we got the opportunity to create a ton of NASCAR programming. And we’ve been adding hours ever since.
“SPEED has 21 on-air personalities. Heck, we used to produce all of Daytona’s SpeedWeeks with just 21 people; now we’ve got 21 on-air personalities alone: Steve Byrnes, Larry MacReynolds, John Roberts, Wendy Venturini, Krista Voda, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer….that’s ‘our gang.’”
The Trackside, Raceday, and post-race shows are the bedrock.
But competition? How about dueling 6 p.m. NASCAR daily newscasts? These networks may be a bit too scared for that.
“It is rare that a NASCAR show on SPEED or ESPN or Fox or Turner will overlap…..because that’s how NASCAR has built its TV deals,” Nickell insists. “It works for all of us, and the fans, most of the time, because we’re not going head-to-head all the time.”
Hate for the fluff to get in the way of any hard news here.
But then, hey, in this new media age, hard news may be way overrated anyway.
Of course there is the obvious economic issue too – covering this sport is so labor-intensive and equipment-intensive that the networks covering each weekend’s event share a lot – cameras, cameramen, uplink vehicles, command haulers.
“The relationship on the production level, week-in, week-out at the race tracks, is incredible,” Nickell says. “It is working.
“To watch the cooperation between production teams is awesome. It’s amazing to watch.”
SPEED’s Wendy Venturini, one of the network’s 21 on-air personalities
(Photo Credit: Wenty Venturini)
So what’s he dreaming up next? “That’s my favorite question – In the big picture we’re trying to find the next coolest NASCAR program to create,” Nickell says.
“Now that might sound like something everybody ought to be trying to do…..and maybe they are.”
Maybe something with Hannah Montana, a good ol’ Nashville girl who might need a new gig herself?
Nickell laughs again.
As Jimmie Johnson so well knows, a driver’s TV work is never done
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“Two things we are working on right now,” Nickell says: “First, we’re cooking up something special for the Truck series this year, to build programming around.
“Second, we would like to add the next ‘big’ NASCAR event. Not just one, but more. Like this All-Star race.
“We have the Truck series, all but two events. And we have SpeedWeeks (at Daytona), which is huge. And we have the All-star week.
“But we want to work with NASCAR to find the next ‘big’ event on SPEED. Because SPEED will make it a huge event; we will put the resources and the hours around it to make it a big event.
“We’ve got something huge in February, we’ve got something huge in May. What can we and NASCAR do next?”
Maybe a new IROC series? Cross-promotion with Danica Patrick and Ashley Force, maybe John Force versus Jimmy Spencer?
Hey, 320 mph is 320 mph.
And after all, this isn’t necessarily just about sports but about entertainment.
Hey, not so heavy on the rouge, please: They didn’t send you over from the MAC store, did they?
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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SPEED’s 48 Hours of Charlotte: Just how much NASCAR can you take? (P.S. It’s still a work-in-progress....)
(Credit: SPEED)
¿Las 48 horas de Charlotte? Hey, esta semana All-star de NASCAR puede nunca terminar
SPEED TV boss Hunter Nickell is all cranked for NASCAR All-Star Week
(Photo credit: SPEED)
Ponen al cazador Nickell del jefe de la SPEED TV todo para la semana All-star de NASCAR
(crédito de foto: SPEED)
ma Por Mike Mulhern
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CHARLOTTE
Cuando viene a la promoción de la hospitalidad, los ejecutivos de NASCAR tienen el acercamiento de la escopeta: si se mueve, tire en ella. Y si él doesn’ movimiento de t, lanzamiento en él de todos modos de conseguirlo que se mueve.
La venta dura, empuje duro, estos individuos es los amos.
Poco se pregunta que NASCAR’ los compinches de s TV son así que saltado para arriba también: Comercialización de la saturación, promociones de la saturación. Saturación, saturación, saturación.
Y that’ s la manera es otra vez esta semana All-star de NASCAR, que golpeó con el pie apagado con jueves night’ desafío anual del equipo de hoyo de Sprint Cup, coche común que marca con hoyos racing’ s mejor sobre - emparede a los hombres comparativos.
Brian Vickers’ el equipo, dirigido por el jefe de equipo Kevin Hamlin y el coche Greg Miller, vivió hasta expectativas en los finales - un campeonato de todo-Toyota - por Denny estrecho de derrota Hamlin’ equipo de s (22.902 segundos contra 23.011 segundos, apenas un pie). Los coches son empujados por los equipos.
Vickers’ equipo—Brian Haaland en el derecho-delantero, con el portador del neumático de Aaron Schields, hombre Doug Newell del gas y coger-puede servir a Mike Metcalfe, cambiador Danny Kincaid del posterior-neumático y portador Jake Brzozowski del posterior-neumático, y Shaun jackman Peet - bata al equipo de Kevin Harvick-Todd Berrier Chevy en los semifinales. Hamlin’ equipo de s - el cambiador del neumático de los catetos de Mike Hicks, del neumático derecho-delanteros de Brandon Pegram, cambiador del posterior-neumático de Jonatán Sherman y cereza del brezo cansan el portador, y Scott Wood del hombre del gas y coger-pueden servir Juan Eicher, y a Chris jackman Anderson—bata al equipo del compañero de equipo Kyle Busch en sus semifinales.
Vickers’ el equipo ganó $70.000, en equipo.
El night’ la competición de s tenía dos etapas, un equipo medido contra el equipo, el otro hombre medido contra hombre. El evening’ ganadores individuales de s, cada ganancia $10.000: Nick Odell y Brad Donaghy, cambiador derecho-delantero del neumático y portador derecho-delantero del neumático para Kyle Busch; Dave Smith y Jason Binger, cambiador del posterior-neumático y portador del posterior-neumático para Matt Kenseth; Caleb Hurd y Jamie Frady, hombre del gas y coger-pueden servir para Jeff Gordon; y Eric jackman Wilson de Kasey Kahne’ equipo de s.
Un ejemplo de cómo estas tripulantes toman seriamente esta competición - bicep severo sufrido Mark Jacobs jackman de la marca rasga la semana pasada mientras que practica para este acontecimiento. Se espera que Jacobs, del equipo de Ganassi de la Juan Pablo Montoya, experimentó la cirugía miércoles y esté hacia fuera tres meses recouperating.
The Brian Vickers-Kevin Hamlin crew wins the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge by a foot over Denny Hamlin
(Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Para considerar a Bill Shakespeare, quizás éste es todo el algo sobre ‘ surfeiting el apetito con demasiado, ‘ o quizá it’ Mae West, sobre ‘ nunca demasiado de una buena cosa, ‘ ¿pero si usted quiere un pequeño NASCAR este fin de semana con sus cenas de TV, bien, cómo cerca de 48 horas rectas de cobertura directa de esta cosa All-star?
Una pequeña glotonería de NASCAR nunca lastimó cualquiera ..... “
La raza All-star para nosotros - ahora, en la etapa actual de SPEED - es el acontecimiento más importante para la SPEED, y el acontecimiento lo más altamente posible clasificado: La noche de sábado All-star de la raza de NASCAR, “ El cazador Nickell dice. “Ésta es la cosa más fresca que lo hacemos.
“ Tan comenzar cerca de 9 mañanas viernes, we’ el re ir 48 horas de straight.”
The Trackside crowd at the SPEED Stage is sometimes wildly enthusiastic, sometimes just wild and crazy.
Check it out when Kyle Busch is centerstage.
(Photo credit: SPEED)
La muchedumbre del Trackside en la etapa de la VELOCIDAD es a veces entusiástica, a veces apenas salvaje y loco. Compruébela hacia fuera cuando Kyle Busch es centerstage.
(Crédito de foto: SPEED)
Nickell, tres años ahora en este carruaje como jefe de Fox’ la red del cable-NASCAR, se está sentando hacia fuera en una de las docenas de acoplados anónimos de la TV que rodeen la parada del viaje del coche común del fin de semana, en medio de un ejército de transportadores grandes que lleven todo de los varios centros del comando-y-control, algunos de la Fox-SPEED con 60 algunos tiros de pantalla de la TV para que el director-y-productor escoja de, a juegos más esotéricos como la materia montada en el coche de la cámara, la materia de DirecTV, y los sistemas de la especialidad como la etapa de la SPEED.
Nickell’ la silla de s, como en todos los aparejos móviles, se emperna al piso, pero rueda y hace girar como una grúa de Shangai.
Y él can’ mudanza de la parada de t. Éste no es ninguÌn ejecutante estático.
Nickell’ el equipo de s llevó jueves night’ el desafío del equipo de hoyo de Sprint Cup vivo, por primera vez, y él parece casi vertiginosos sobre el fin de semana All-star….aunque SPEED’ las operaciones del cable de s baten hacia fuera millares de horas de cobertura de NASCAR cada estación.
“ Antes de que consiguiéramos a raza All-star en SPEED un par hace años, hicimos durante 30 horas de programación alrededor de él, “ Nickell dice.
“ Teníamos la raza e hicimos el año pasado 74 horas alrededor del acontecimiento. Este año tenemos 87 horas, incluyendo la noche de sábado de la raza sí mismo (comienzo de 9 P.M. para la característica). “
Jimmy Spencer is every bit as outrageous with a mike as he was behind the wheel
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Iges for NASCAR)
La chaqueta de punto de Jimmy es cada pedacito tan indignante con un micrófono como él estaba detrás de la rueda
(foto por Jarrett/Getty oxidado Iges para NASCAR)
¿No obstante, en este mundo de NASCAR TV de gigantes tenga gusto de Fox, ABC y ESPN en todas sus varias permutaciones, apenas dónde SPEED ajuste adentro?
Bien, completa los espacios en blanco….como las horas y las horas de pre-raza practique (práctica de TiVo en el país, quizás).
Y rodea cada weekend’ el acontecimiento de la característica de s con horas de pre-raza y post-race hablar-hablan y análisis, y más que una rociada del goofiness y de risas.
It’ s no absolutamente el canal de NASCAR, pero hace más NASCAR que todo lo demás, y él hace una puñetas de mucho NASCAR. Y cuando los execs de NASCAR necesitan un favor - como cuando ESPN decidía a caer su Nationwide tour de la noche de viernes en Richmond hace algunos días, a favor de un juego de NBA - SPEED pasos en terraplén el vacío. Que el incidente particular era interesante - el acontecimiento era simulcast vivo en obra clásica de la SPEED y de ESPN, y Speed’ la difusión de s consiguió los mejores grados.
“ NASCAR es una parte enorme, enorme de cuál es la SPEED, “ Nickell dice seco. “ That’ s obvio conjeturo.
Not all the drivers spent Thursday pumping up their pit crews. Tony Stewart (L) and Greg Biffle were building a racing-themed playground in Charlotte
(Photo Credit: CIA for KaBOOM)
No todos los conductores pasaron jueves que bombeaba para arriba a sus equipos de hoyo. Tony Stewart (l) y Greg Biffle construían un patio competir con-temático en Charlotte
(crédito de foto: Cia para KaBOOM)
“ Tan cuando NASCAR llama y dice ‘ We’ re en un atasco, ‘ it’ s fresco poder decir ‘ Sí, nosotros can.’
“ Para nosotros el reparto del conjunto está siendo el ‘ el más fresco, ‘ el mejor programador de NASCAR a los ventiladores. Eso es él. “ Viene detrás - Fox, ESPN, ABC, Turner, SPEED - todos está haciendo la gran programación de NASCAR. Pero pensamos we’ re haciendo el ‘ coolest’ NASCAR programming.”
Bien, fije con Jimmy ‘ Quién necesita a Jerry Springer’ Spencer.
As Jimmie Johnson so well knows, a driver’s TV work is never done
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Como Jimmie Johnson sabe tan bien, un driver’ el trabajo de s TV nunca se hace
(Crédito de foto: Imágenes de Streeter Lecka/Getty para NASCAR)
Apenas para ver con qué cosas extrañas él puede ser que suba.
Y entonces there’ s la demostración pequeña de Kyle Petty también….en cuál él encuentra a alguÌn periodista desgraciado - y hay la abundancia ‘ ciervos en el headlights’ en el garage de NASCAR—e intentos para rasgarlos a los fragmentos.
Bien, no literalmente por supuesto, pero pequeño, mientras que él puede no ser inicial en la pista, de la pista he’ s audaz, y un pensador mucho más rápido en sus pies que la mayoría alrededor del deporte.
(El ‘ outtakes’ de Petty’ la demostración de s haría una buena demostración en sí mismo, si es pequeño sí mismo era bastante valiente ir para ella.)
Y amores de la SPEED para hacer su cosa hacia fuera en frente una audiencia viva, que puede ser desalentadora ocasionalmente, pero todavía visualmente excitación.
Especialmente cuando Kyle Busch está en etapa - haciendo frente a una muchedumbre que compite con viva que parezca ocasionalmente casi camorrista bastante pedir la red de la seguridad del pollo-alambre.
“ Pienso we’ re haciendo la materia más fresca, “ Nickell dice. “ Y cuando miro a nuestros individuos, consigo así que encendí para arriba porque sé cuánto en nuestros individuos de NASCAR es.
“ We’ re no preocupante sobre ‘ ¿Hey, cuál el Fox que hace, cuál es ESPN está haciendo? ‘ Todos mira todos else’ materia de s. Pero we’ re funcionamiento en ‘ ¿Cómo podemos hacer major Raceday esta semana que la semana pasada? ‘ ‘ Qué puede intentamos nunca intentó antes? ‘ ‘ ¿Cómo nos reímos Trackside más? ‘ “
¿Bien, pueda tomando la chaqueta de punto de Jimmy del valium?
Risas de Nickell.
¿Bien, por qué no traer en Danica Patrick hacen que ésos la pre-raza caliente-traslapa segmentos?
Nickell necesita quizá su propia versión de última hora de Elvira o de Vampira para algo de esta cobertura.
Después de todo, a veces acción de NASCAR - particularmente semana All-star—parece tan raro como Plan 9 from Outer Space.....
¿O, hey, cómo sobre ser bastante valiente traer vuelta The Pit Bulls? Hmmmm.
Nickell parece raramente en una pérdida para las ideas: “ Este año agregó una demostración llamada ‘ NASCAR en una prisa, ‘ cuál pusimos delante de día de la raza.
“ Calculamos que hacia fuera hay tanto la materia que va en cada fin de semana que muy pocas personas, eventualmente, consigan para ver todo el él. Construimos tan esta demostración para dejar a gente saber ‘ Hey, antes de usted mire Raceday, toda la materia fresca that’ s sido happening.’
“ Pasamos tan detrás la materia que ESPN tenía, ese tenía, la materia that’ s sucedió en la pista y de la pista. Rellenamos tan eso adentro momentos antes de día de la raza, para conseguir el up.”
encendido los ventiladores; El fin de semana pasado en Darlington, por ejemplo, la raza sí mismo comenzó cerca de 740 P.M.; NASCAR en una prisa se adelantó en el 4:30 P.M., y el día de la raza funcionó a partir del 5 hasta 7.
Y esta semana it’ s las 48 horas de Charlotte.
SPEED’s boss Hunter Nickell wants to create the next ‘Cool’ NASCAR race. Any suggestions?
(Photo credit: SPEED)
SPEED’ el cazador Nickell del jefe de s quiere crear el ‘ siguiente; Cool’ Raza de NASCAR. ¿Sugerencias?
(Crédito de foto: SPEED)
¿En este mundo a veces curioso de NASCAR TV, apenas donde SPEED él adentro?
Comparado al Fox y a ABC’ del hermano mayor; s ESPN legendario, SPEED parece a veces como ‘ el other’ channel.’
Eso apenas hace la cerda de Nickell.
“ It’ s no nosotros contra ESPN o contra el Fox o quién, “ Nickell insiste.
“ Tienen sus repartos y tenemos los nuestros. Y NASCAR es el pedazo más grande de SPEED’ s que programa, en gran medida.
“consiguió los carros, y fin de semana después del fin de semana it’ s no nosotros-contra-cualquiera. It’ s nosotros contra, bien, la demostración más fresca siguiente de NASCAR, lo que pudo eso be.”
¿Cuál es realmente el propósito de esta cosa de la SPEED de todos modos?
¿De dónde este canal vino?
“ Comenzó detrás en 1996 como SpeedVision, como la versión video del estante de compartimiento ‘ todo sobre los vehículos, ‘ “ Nickell dice.
“ Ahora como se ha encendido el tiempo, mientras que todavía tenemos una cantidad enorme de entusiasta el programar, las motocicletas, automóviles… pero cuando el Fox y la SPEED consiguieron en el negocio de NASCAR, nosotros consiguieron la oportunidad de crear una tonelada de programación de NASCAR. Y que agrega horas desde que.
“SPEED tiene 21 personalidades del en-aire. Las puñetas, producíamos todo el Daytona’ s SpeedWeeks con apenas 21 personas; ahora consiguió 21 personalidades del en-aire solas: Steve Byrnes, Larry MacReynolds, John Roberts, Wendy Venturini, Krista Voda, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer….’nuestro gang.’ “
Trackside, Raceday, y las demostraciones post-race son la roca de fondo.
¿Pero competición?
¿Cómo sobre noticiarios diarios de 6 de la tarde que combaten en duelo NASCAR?
Estas redes pueden ser un pedacito asustado también para ése.
“Es raro que una demostración de NASCAR en SPEED o ESPN o Fox o Turner se traslapará ..... porque that’ s cómo NASCAR ha construido su TV reparte, “ Nickell insiste.
“Trabaja para todos nosotros, y los ventiladores, la mayor parte del tiempo, porque we’ re todo el tiempo.
“comparativo que no va; Odie para que la pelusa consiga de la manera de cualquier noticia dura aquí. Pero por otra parte, hey, en este los nuevos medios envejecen, las noticias duras pueden ser manera sobrestimada de todos modos. Por supuesto hay la edición económica obvia también - el recubrimiento de este deporte es tan necesitando mucho trabajo y equipo-intensivo que las redes que cubren cada weekend’ parte del acontecimiento de s mucho - las cámaras, cameramanes, uplink los vehículos, transportadores del comando.
“ La relación en el nivel de la producción, semana-en, semana-hacia fuera en las pistas de raza, es increíble, “ Nickell dice. “ Está trabajando.
“ Para mirar la cooperación entre los equipos de la producción es impresionante. It’ s que sorprende a watch.”
SPEED’s Wendy Venturini, one of the network’s 21 on-air personalities
(Photo Credit: Wendy Venturini)
SPEED’ s Wendy Venturini, uno del network’ personalidades del en-aire de s 21
(Crédito de foto: Wendy Venturini)
¿Que es él piensa después?
“ That’ s mi pregunta preferida - en el cuadro grande we’ el re intentar encontrar el programa más fresco siguiente de NASCAR para crear, “ Nickell dice.
“ Ahora que la fuerza sonar como algo todos debe intentar hacer ..... y quizá ellos are.”
Quizá algo con Hannah Montana, un buen ol’ ¿Muchacha de Nashville quién pudo necesitar un nuevo carruaje mismo?
Nickell ríe otra vez.
“ Dos cosas que estamos trabajando encendido ahora, “ Nickell dice:
“ Primero, we’ re cocinando para arriba algo especial para la serie del carro este año, para construir la programación alrededor.
“ En segundo lugar, quisiéramos agregar el ‘ siguiente; big’ Acontecimiento de NASCAR. No apenas uno, sino más.
Hey, not so heavy on the rouge, please: They didn’t send you over from the MAC store, did they?
(Photo credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Hey, no tan pesado en el colorete, por favor: Ellas didn’ ¿t le envía del almacén del MAC, hicieron?
(Crédito de foto: Imágenes de Streeter Lecka/Getty para NASCAR)
“Como esta raza All-star.
“ Tenemos la serie del carro, toda sino dos acontecimientos. Y tenemos SpeedWeeks (en Daytona), que es enorme. Y tenemos la semana All-star.
“Pero queremos trabajar con NASCAR para encontrar el ‘ siguiente; big’ acontecimiento en SPEED. Porque la SPEED le hará un acontecimiento enorme; pondremos los recursos y las horas alrededor de ella para hacerle un acontecimiento grande.
“consiguió algo enorme en febrero, consiguió algo enorme en mayo. ¿Qué podemos nosotros y NASCAR hacer después? “
¿Quizá una nueva serie de IROC? ¿Cruz-promoción con Danica Patrick y Ashley Force, quizá John Force contra Jimmy Spencer?
Hey, 320 mph son 320 mph.
Y después de todo, este isn’ t necesariamente apenas sobre deportes pero sobre la hospitalidad.
Deseamos su reacción, satisfacemos tan el comentario sobre esta historia y ofrecemos sus propias opiniones, sobre esta historia, en nuestros videos de NASCAR, y cualquier cosa sobre NASCAR:
SPEED’s 48 Hours of Charlotte: Just how much NASCAR can you take? (P.S. It’s still a work-in-progress....)
(Credit: SPEED)
SPEED’ s 48 horas de Charlotte: ¿Apenas cuánto NASCAR puede usted tomar? (P.S. It’ todavía s un trabajo en curso….)
(Crédito: SPEED)
The Independent Tribune is holding a NASCAR driver look-alike contest. If you think you look a NASCAR driver, send us your photo for a chance to watch the Coca-Cola 600 from right behind the checkered flag.
to e-mail us your photo by 5 p.m. Wednesday May 21. Be sure to include the name of the driver you look like and a contact number. Our panel will determine who most resembles their favorite driver and he or she will win two tickets in the General Motors Grandstand for the Coca-Cola 600 om May 25, 2008.
(1) To enter, email a photograph of yourself to or by 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, 2008. Include your name, the driver you resemble and a daytime contact phone number. A panel of judges will determine the winner who will receive two (2) tickets to the Coca Cola 600. Tickets can be picked up at the Independent Tribune office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. May 22 or 23. (2) Employees of Media General, Inc. & their families are not eligible to win. (3) Decisions of the judges are final. (4) For questions regarding contest please call 704-789-9105 or 704-789-9139.
Entries with incomplete or incorrect information will not be accepted.
The best pit crew in NASCAR? Place your bets, and sit back for the annual pit crew challenge
Last season it was the Nextel Cup pit crew challenge, this season it’s the Sprint Cup pit crew challenge
(Photo by Davis Turner/Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
CHARLOTTE
So who’s the best right-front tire guy on the NASCAR tour? Who’s the best jack man?
What driver has the best pit crew?
On Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, in the clutch on race day, the answers may vary. Matt Kenseth for the past few years, it is generally accepted, has had the best crew chief; but perhaps not this season. If the answer comes with wins, check out Kyle Busch’s bunch, and Carl Edwards’ guys.
But here Thursday night the best of the over-the-wall guys will match up mano a mano, with $10,000 to $20,000 apiece on the line, in a made-for-TV venture, the annual NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge, at Time Warner Arena.
All teams in Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star race are qualified here, for what may seem – to insiders and outsiders alike – as something rather gimmicky, with literally buzzers and bells and guys pushing their cars the length of the arena to a finish line.
But the guys on the floor Thursday night will be taking it all flat seriously.
And their drivers – though they don’t get to play a role in this thing, unlike the old pit crew championships at Rockingham – will be here cheering them on.
Okay, so pushing the car across the finish line is, well, rather odd....but all the drivers have to do in the pit crew championship is sit back and watch.
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Then Friday the All-star action gets underway just up the road at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. That’s been known as ‘Jimmie’s House,’ because Jimmie Johnson has dominated there the past several years.
However this season Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon, and a number of others, have all struggled with this new NASCAR winged car at the stock car tour’s mid-sized tracks.
Thus the betting action is likely on the tour’s two hottest men, Busch and Edwards.
Johnson, who’s had some hot streaks of his own, says it’s sometimes difficult to understand just why things are going your way: “The thing you can never gauge—or predict, or really understand—is why you are on a hot streak…and why, when you’re not.
“Our team feels like we’re primed, and would love to be on that tear…but it’s not there for us.
“We were there the last couple of years. But our sport is cyclical.
When it’s All-star week, forget the rules. Just enjoy the ambience and drama
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“So when I look at the cycle of racing, Joe Gibbs, and especially Toyota, are maximizing it, and really hitting their stride.
“We’re kind of rebuilding some.”
What happens this week, of course, might have little to do with what’s been going on around the tour the past three months, because the All-star race is sometimes quite wacky.
The All-star race, though it’s been run at Charlotte since the late T. Wayne Robertson created it more than 20 years ago, is still sometimes hard to figure out, the dynamic, the reasoning, the thinking….and certainly the rules, which seem ever-changing.
But one thing this All-star even does create is an unusual energy for drivers and teams: “The All-Star race, you try to come in and say ‘It’s no big deal…it’s just for some money…it’s not a points race,” Johnson says.
“Then they have the introductions (typically with fireworks and hoopla), and the crews are out there and the fans are there, and before you know it your heart rate is at 120 and you’re not even sitting in a car yet. You’re just jacked-up and ready to go.
Thursday night it’s the annual NASCAR Sprint Cup pit crew challenge
(Photo by Davis Turner/Getty Images for NASCAR)
“Now in the 600 (next week’s grind here), everybody is in the mindset of taking care of their equipment and making a long 600-mile race…and there is a different energy around that event.
“So when I think about this All-star race, what really pops up in my mind is the energy of the event that gets into my head and helps me adapt to whatever is going to take place.”
Of course this season things have been rather wacky anyway. Who would have predicted Johnson crashing twice at Darlington last weekend?
“Well,” Johnson says somewhat sheepishly, “I knew we were fast.
“
