Commercial Break Down for New Hampshire Race

I found this fascinating and wanted to share…. [ via Jayski.com ]

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the 2009 Sylvania 300: broadcast on ABC
Total number of commercials: 115
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 53
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 26
Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos or crawlers: 20
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:26 PM
Total minutes: 206
Minutes of race broadcast: 153
Minutes of commercials: 53
Number of missed restarts: 0
Number of ‘mystery cautions’ (debris not shown): 3
Total race brdcst time 153 Total comm. brdcst time 53

Chapter 1 of the Chase unfolds in New Hampshire

Septemeber 20th, 2009 - by Michael T. Myers

Even if you were not a NASCAR fan – anyone who watched the last 10 laps of the Sylvania 300 today would have been impressed with the racing – and would have enjoyed the crashin! To be fair, I am not a fan of the New Hampshire Speedway – but it proved me wrong today. There was plenty of side by side racing, passing all over the track and the drivers seemed the handle the double file re-starts better than they did in the Spring race. Juan Pablo Montoya in the #42 was the fastest in qualifying, practice and fastest again today in the race. It was the most aggressive I had ever seen him drive and he did not hesitate to move people out of his way. He dominated most of the day, passing almost at will. With only 13 laps to go he passed 3 cars as he stormed from 13th place back to finish 3rd. In the end the #44 team took a pit strategy gamble that did not pay off.

Pit strategy did pay off big time giving #5 Mark Martin the win. Mark Martin stopped early and took 4 tires and fuel – allowing him to stay on the track around lap 275 as the leaders all had to pit – sending the #5 back to the front. This was Martin’s 5th win of the season and it leaves him on the top of the leader board one race deep into The Chase. This victory was not given to him. With only 3 laps to go Martin was lined up beside Juan Pablo Montoya for the double-file restart. Montoya had been the fastest car on the track most of the day – so I was not sure Martin could hold on. He now holds a 35 point lead over Denny Hamlin and Jimmy Johnson, who are tied for 2nd place in the standings.

On the last lap, as #42 Montoya, #11 Hamlin and #5 Martin were fighting for every inch of track when up ahead at the end of turn four #44 AJ Almendinger spun out – blocking the finish line. NASCAR officials let the race run under green for as long as possible (too long in my opinion) throwing the caution flag as the leaders entered turn four. Not all of the drivers heard or saw the caution go out – and everyone was lucky to avoid a large crash at the finish line. As exciting as it was – I really do think NASCAR waited too long to throw the caution. I understand that everyone wants to see a race end under the green flag but today’s last lap incident was a little too close for the driver’s comfort.

The sad stories for the day were the #9 car of Kasey Kahne and the #88 of Dale Earnhardt JR. Dale JR really has had a bad year – despite being the most popular driver in NASCAR. Things started to turn around late on Saturday as #88 was the fourth fastest car in practice. Junior started in 23rd position and within 100 laps he had weaved his way through traffic into 7th place – spending most of the day in the top 10. It looked like the loyal fans of Junior Nation were going to have something to cheer about. But with only 17 laps to go – the #00 of David Reutimann got loose and put Dale Junior into the wall hard. He was not happy about going from 4th to 35th and he made his feelings well known in the post crash interview. Dale said, “I guess some people just can’t race side-by-side……David (#00) just ran out of talent down there.” It was a tough brake for this team that really needed one – but they are starting to gel – and I think the #88 team will be back next year with some top-ten’s and and maybe even a win.

via allsportsnews

Kasey Kahne blew his engine on lap 66. This comes after a week of drama for the #9 Budweiser Team. The announcement was made earlier this week that for next years Sprint Cup Series – the #9 will be running Ford Engines – moving away from Dodge. This news upset the guys in the engine shop and a few of them quit and bolted from the shop. I am not saying they sabotaged Kasey’s engine – but DRAMA is not what a team needs heading into The Chase. In the past – it was the accepted theory that each driver had one mulligan; they could blow one race and still win The Chase. But this year – the racing is too tight and the points are even tighter. Kasey dropped seven spots to last place in the standings. With all the drama in the garage – and that large of a point deficit – I do not think there is anyway the #9 can win this years’ Chase.

Tony Stewart in the #14 did not have a great day either. He started at the front of the pack and led several times during the race – but in the end a mistake by his team really cost him. On lap #175 the right rear axle cap came loose forcing the #14 to circle back into the pits. Stewart’s pit chief blamed a missed check list for the problem – I bet someone gets his ass chewed out. The mistake caused Tony to finish in 14th place and he dropped 4 spots in The Chase. I actually posted a comment on my local papers (las vegas sun) website the other day about Tony’s chances to win the chase….. I said that he would loose because of mistakes made by his crew. I just didn’t think I would be proven right so quickly. This is not a good feeling – I want Tony to win The Chase……… I am a SMOKE fan. We will see what the weeks ahead hold for the #14.

via Getty Images

I think I am like most race fans in this years Chase; if it does not look like MY guy is going to be able to win it all – then I am going to pull for Mark Martin. He is the hands down sentimental favorite to win his first Cup Chamionship in his carrer. It really is a story that reads like a hollywood script. It all adds up to one thing – an amazing Chase that won’t be decided until the last race in Homestead.

Lastly, I had to write about a quote given to ESPN by #16 Greg Biffle’s crew chief Greg Irwin. Irwin said, “I think we are the underdogs comming into this chase.” REALLY? REALLY? You are in last place and you just barley even made it – 8 points less and you would have been out. So yeah, I guess it is safe to say that you are an underdog. Greg Irwin: Master of the Blatentley Obvious.

RACE RESULTS – New Hampshire

FIN	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE
1	5	Mark Martin 	Chevrolet
2	11	Denny Hamlin 	Toyota
3	42	Juan Montoya 	Chevrolet
4	48	Jimmie Johnson 	Chevrolet
5	18	Kyle Busch 	Toyota
6	2	Kurt Busch 	Dodge
7	39	Ryan Newman 	Chevrolet
8	19	Elliott Sadler 	Dodge
9	16	Greg Biffle 	Ford
10	33	Clint Bowyer 	Chevrolet
11	83	Brian Vickers 	Toyota
12	0	David Reutimann 	Toyota
13	7	Casey Mears 	Chevrolet
14	14	Tony Stewart 	Chevrolet
15	24	Jeff Gordon 	Chevrolet
16	31	Jeff Burton 	Chevrolet
17	99	Carl Edwards 	Ford
18	26	Jamie McMurray 	Ford
19	1	Martin Truex Jr. 	Chevrolet
20	47	Marcos Ambrose 	Toyota
21	20	Joey Logano *	Toyota
22	171	Bobby Labonte 	Chevrolet
23	17	Matt Kenseth 	Ford
24	7	Robby Gordon 	Toyota
25	44	A.J. Allmendinger 	Dodge
26	34	John Andretti 	Chevrolet
27	55	Michael Waltrip 	Toyota
28	12	David Stremme 	Dodge
29	9	Aric Almirola 	Dodge
30	96	Erik Darnell 	Ford
31	82	Scott Speed *	Toyota
32	29	Kevin Harvick 	Chevrolet
33	6	David Ragan 	Ford
34	98	Paul Menard 	Ford
35	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr. 	Chevrolet
36	43	Reed Sorenson 	Dodge
37	77	Sam Hornish Jr. 	Dodge
38	9	Kasey Kahne 	Dodge
39	64	Mike Wallace 	Toyota
40	187	Joe Nemechek 	Toyota
41	36	Michael McDowell 	Toyota
42	66	Dave Blaney 	Toyota
43	37	Tony Raines 	Dodge

Joey Logano Day

[via jayski/Hartfort Courent] Middletown, CT

#20-Joey Logano wins fans wherever he goes, but in his native Middletown [CT], even though he moved away when he was 9, they love to claim him as one of their own. There’s still family here, so the Loganos make it back frequently, but Thursday the hometown folks had a chance to show the love for the first time since Logano became a household name among racing fans. ”This is where our roots are, and you never forget your roots,” said Tom Logano, Joey’s father. “To be doing what he’s doing at his age, he needs their support, he needs all the support he can get. This is the kind of thing that keeps him grounded.” Logano received a key to the city from Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, who proclaimed it Joey Logano Day. “I just want to make sure they’re all happy, that they all get what they came here to get,” said Logano, before the signing and schmoozing began at the local Home Depot. “You want to make the whole world happy. That’s hard to do, but that’s what I try to do.”

I am looking forward to watching Joey for years – he had a great rookie year and is one of my favorites in the new crop of drivers.

Happy Birthday Boris Said

Happy Birthday Boris! I am a total Said Head! still waiting for Boris to top 10 in Sprint Cup Road Courses so he can get his hair straightened by the ESPN hair stylist.

Boris Said

Gay NASCAR fans

Since starting this blog, I have spent a lot of time googling “gay+nascar” “hot+guy+car” ect ect, one of the top link is an article from Outsports.net, author Jim Businki spoke with Andrew Giangola, NASCAR’s director of business and multicultural communications: In NASCAR history, most of the faces in the stands belonged to white men, but that is beginning to change. In 2000, NASCAR began a much publicized “Drive for Diversity,” a program meant to open doors for minority drivers and crewmembers. But NASCAR doesn’t include sexual orientation or gender identity in the definition of the word “Diversity.” It refers only to race and gender, according to Andrew Giangola, NASCAR’s director of business and multicultural communications. “The program is designed to find opportunities for female and minority drivers, and certainly the sexual orientation is up to the driver,” Giangola says. “We don’t inquire about the sexual orientation of any of our drivers.” Not only does NASCAR not follow a “Don’t Ask” policy, but once told, they seem not to notice. Giangola says out of all of NASCAR’s sanctioned series, which gets into the hundreds because NASCAR sanctions many local short tracks like Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, there are no openly gay drivers.

I am a child of the south - and small town south to boot! Hell, I didn’t come out of the closet until I was 25. So I understand that NASCAR with it’s southern driven fan base cannot accept a “gay” driver overnight.

The battle will not be won on the track…… so scratch the hollywood scripts of some small town boy from yonder who rose up to win at the Cup level and then reveal he was gay…….. that may play in tinsel town…… but in the NASCAR world, that script won’t play.

Unfortunatly, it will be a slow road ahead…… the NASCAR world will evolve…….. but at a slower pace than society. Today’s NASCAR fans are raising NASCAR fan-kids, who in 20 years won’t give a damn if I want to kiss Kasey Kahne…… but in 20 years will I want to kiss Kasey anyway??? The simple answer would be YES!

Las Vegas: Fans can attend the Championship Dinner !

(via The Sporting News) For the first time in NASCAR history, fans have the opportunity to join drivers, team owners and industry leaders as they celebrate the NASCAR Sprint Cup champion.

This year’s awards ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 4 at Wynn Las Vegas.

Approximately 300 tickets will be available to the top 12 teams and drivers, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series track operators and NASCAR partners to use for fan promotions.

Fans will account for 25 percent of the audience.

Making tickets available provides the teams, tracks and partners a truly unique opportunity to reach out to the fans like never before,” said NASCAR CMO Steve Phelps. “We’re looking forward to seeing creative promotions for the limited number of tickets. We’ve worked very hard over the past four months to iron out details for the awards ceremony and the fan element was a top priority.”

Last April, NASCAR decided to move the awards ceremony to Las Vegas holding the year-end event in New York City for the past 27 years.

After considering several options for the 2009 event, NASCAR formed a partnership with Las Vegas Events, with Las Vegas becoming the “Official Host City of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion’s Week.”

Gratuatous Denny

some intersting CHASE trivia

” 22 different drivers have made the Chase, including Brian Vickers and Juan Pablo Montoya, who each made their first Chase this season.
” There will be 3,152 laps and 4,095.48 miles run during the 2009 Chase.
” Only one driver has made all six Chases for the NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jimmie Johnson

via bleacherreport.com

” Three drivers have made five Chases: Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Kenseth has made all five previous Chases, but missed this year’s after finishing the regular season 14th in points.
” In the 50 Chase races, Jimmie Johnson has won a series-high 14 races. He’s followed by Carl Edwards (six), Greg Biffle (six), Tony Stewart (four) and Jeff Gordon (three).
” Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to average a top-10 finish in Chase races (8.7).
” In the 50 Chase races, Greg Biffle has an average finish of 14.4. But in the 20 Chase races where he was in contention for the championship, Biffle has an average finish of 9.6.
” Three drivers have notched more than 20 top-five finishes during Chase races: Jimmie Johnson (26), Jeff Gordon (22) and Carl Edwards (20).
” Nine drivers have more than 20 top-10 finishes during Chase races: Jimmie Johnson (36), Jeff Gordon (34), Carl Edwards (29), Tony Stewart (26), Kevin Harvick (25), Kurt Busch (25), Matt Kenseth (23), Greg Biffle (22) and Jeff Burton (22).
” Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, two drivers have a Driver Rating of at least 100.0: Jimmie Johnson (108.8) and Carl Edwards (100.0).
” Ryan Newman’s average starting position in Chase races is 10.9, which ranks second to Jimmie Johnson’s 9.5. But in the 20 Chase races Newman has been in contention for a championship, he has an average starting position of 5.1. (via: NASCAR and Jayski.com

Queers4Gears.com

NASCAR and MotorSports – From a Queer Perspective