Nascar News

Thanks Cassee for the info.

By the way, it would be interresting to have the others from the JVW (the English side) to come here?

As per the latest news, it does not look good; it seems that the JVW could be down for a while...

Stewart's amazing win: The rest of the story

http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/11/21/79693/stewarts-amazing-win-the-rest.html#ixzz1eLxcHDan


Have to admit, I was pulling for Stewart. I guess because he was the underdog and seemed to have the determination of a Villeneuve.

Thanks Cassee and what a close finish for the championship...

I did miss the end after the Red Flag, and been told that Edwards behaved as a gentleman, do you have more details about it?

SpeedMetal wrote:Thanks Cassee and what a close finish for the championship...

I did miss the end after the Red Flag, and been told that Edwards behaved as a gentleman, do you have more details about it?

Edwards definitely behaved like a gentleman but you could see the massive disappointment in his face. Everything went right for Edwards except he didn't win. Perhaps he was too cautious whereas Stewart just went for it.

Hell of a Half-Decade

http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Article/nascar-homestead-sprint-cup-series-021243124255105

I guess that's it for Red Bull

I used to think Vickers was a good driver cuz he always beat Scott Speed but when you compare Vickers and Kahne, Vickers doesn't look good.

Did Kahne get extra help or is he just a great driver?

CUP: Burning Busches

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-burning-nascar-sprint-cup-series-kurt-and-kyle-busches/

""It’s a tough end to what has been a bizarre season for the Busch brothers. Both won races – Kyle four and Kurt two – and put themselves in line for runs at the championship, but the year closes with questions hanging over them.

Kurt won the third race of the Chase at Dover and moved to fourth in points, but his season spiraled into mediocrity from there. It ended with a blown transmission – and a Busch blown fuse – Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

While waiting to be interviewed by ESPN’s Jerry Punch after his transmission problem, Busch, repeating a pattern, unleashed obscenities at Punch before Punch eventually walked away before the interview could begin.

On Tuesday, the same day it was confirmed that crew chief Steve Addington, a frequent target of Busch’s criticism, had left the Penske Racing team, the organization and Busch issued back-to-back apologies for Busch’s Homestead behavior, and there are indications that the fallout from the problem is not over.

Addington, who formerly worked as Kyle Busch’s crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, is rumored to be on the short list for a position at Stewart-Haas Racing.""

Penske Has No Choice but to Fire Kurt Busch: Fan Opinion

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ycn-10509689


I still think Kurt Busch did Watkins Glen cuz he didn't want JV to do it.

Thanks Cassee i watch the video on youtube about Bush and Dr.Punch.

Penske as to fire Kurt Bush, the attitude of both Bush brothers are not acceptable.

Twitter

Penske Racing extends its apologies to Dr. Jerry Punch, our media partners and our sponsors and fans for Kurt Busch's inappropriate actions

Significant layoffs at Roush: UPDATE: Multiple sources have confirmed significant layoffs this week at Roush Fenway Racing. According to sources, more than 100 workers were released by the team Monday and [Tuesday]. One source put the number at 125. Prior to today, the team employed about 440 people. Roush Fenway is expected to reduce its NASCAR Sprint Cup car count from four cars to three next season, with the #6 driven by David Ragan likely to be shuttered. At last report, the team is also without sponsors for the #17 of Matt Kenseth. The team may also reduce the size of its NASCAR Nationwide Series operations from three cars to one or two.(SPEED)(1-22-2011)
UPDATE: Team spokesman Kevin Woods indicated a second Nationwide car could run on a limited basis, and although talks with sponsors continue, the process of "right-sizing the organization to suit the number of anticipated teams" began Tuesday.(Associated Press)(11-22-2011)

http://www.jayski.com/nationwide/nationwide.htm

Thanx Cassee for the info...

Economical disaster matters...

SpeedMetal wrote:Thanx Cassee for the info...

Economical disaster matters...

I don't know. There appears to be a lot of opportunities if the stars are aligned right.

TheNASCARTrap Trapit
Penske Racing fires Kurt Busch trap.it/W8RGaX #nascar


I hope so. With that attitude, he doesn't deserve a top ride. His brother is better than him.

JV deserve his drive !

Defiant Kurt Busch and Penske Racing have parted ways.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Kurt-Busch-Roger-Penske-NASCAR-parting-comes-as-no-surprise-120511

Well, another domino has fallen in our still very young NASCAR Sprint Cup offseason and another driver finds himself on the outside looking in. Kurt Busch has now joined the ranks of David Ragan, Brian Vickers and David Reutimann, all of whom are looking for a 2012 ride.

Kurt’s situation came about a lot differently than the other three guys. Brian Vickers' Red Bull team ceased operation in NASCAR racing. Car owner Jack Roush was forced to shut down David Ragan’s No. 6 team for lack of sponsorship. David Reutimann’s sponsor was cutting back to a partial schedule and that fit in with what Mark Martin wanted to do, so he replaced David for 2012.

Kurt’s situation is certainly different because, quite honestly, he brought this on himself. My take on all this is it boils down to discipline vs. defiance. The irony in all this is both Kurt and Kyle Busch have now traveled down the same path pretty much.

If you remember, Kurt had problems with the law a few years ago in Phoenix. Kyle, naturally, had his speeding ticket incident earlier this year. Kurt and Jimmy Spencer got so heated with each other that Jimmy punched him. This year you saw things escalate between Kyle and team owner Richard Childress to a point where Richard showed Kyle the business end of his fists.

Naturally, the irony of ironies is they are brothers, for heaven's sake. What’s that old line about “apples not falling far from the tree?” As I kept thinking about this whole situation with Kurt, the word defiant keep popping into my head. So I decided to look up the definition, and, boy, it fit like a glove. Mr. Webster defines defiant as “he is defiant in the face of his critics — resistant — obstinate — uncooperative — insubordinate — total disregard for authority" and on and on.

I don’t care if it is in NASCAR racing or any sport, for that matter, or simply in society as a whole — you cannot have disrespect for authority. You have to play by the rules. Whether it is the sanctioning body, in our case, or the legal authority of your government, you simply have to answer to somebody.

The great Bob Dylan wrote the song, “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and in it are the lyrics – “You're gonna have to serve somebody, Well it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, But you're gonna have to serve somebody.”

That certainly applies here. Sometimes — again it doesn’t matter whether it’s in sports or in everyday life — you become too prideful and egotistical and it begins to consume you. As the old cliche goes, “You believe your own press clippings” about how great you are or think you are.

Humility is a lesson well learned. No one person is above the sport. If you don’t believe me, go ask Kevin Harvick. There was a time a number of years ago when he thought he was above it all. NASCAR fixed that real quick. You remember what they did? They parked him after the Martinsville Speedway Truck race. Trust me, that got his attention.

Once again, Kurt has to look no further than his younger brother last month. Kyle thought he was bulletproof, too, until NASCAR parked him for the remainder of the Texas weekend after what he did to Ron Hornaday in the Truck race.

Drivers are fiery, passionate, I-hate-to-lose-at-anything type of people. So it’s not like we haven’t seen a driver explode at the media, his team, his owner or even one driver back in the day acting the fool and challenging the race fans to meet him in the parking lot of the Kmart. The driver is in the heat of battle. He blows hot, apologies are made in a day or two and we move on in most cases.

But Kurt’s situation is so far beyond most cases that it isn’t even funny. I picked up on this back in 2010 when Kurt had his meltdown over the radio at Martinsville. He was going off on the car, the team, his owner, etc., until car owner Roger Penske came over the radio and instructed Kurt to either calm down or park the car. Kurt’s response was “10-4 dude.”

Now, Roger Penske is one of the world’s most well-respected businessmen, let alone an icon in motorsports — “10-4 dude” was a total lack of respect for the man. You just don’t talk to Roger Penske like that. I simply cannot even imagine the fury I would have faced from Junior Johnson after a race if I had ever said “10-4 dude” to him.

Kurt saying “10-4 dude” was my signal that things were going to head into a downward spiral. There were other meltdowns by Kurt after that. We’ve had a few this year as this volcano prepared to erupt. The explosion finally came at Homestead with Kurt going off on media member Jerry Punch. Kurt’s rant went viral and was a big sensation on YouTube. If that wasn’t enough, the cherry on top had Kurt giving folks the bird as he was leaving the track.


Back in the day, I could be mad at the world, my owner, my sponsor, my team and I would take it out on Jeff Hammond. I would rant and rave and cuss him out like nobody’s business. Very few people would really know about it. But, see, this isn’t back in the day. This is today, and if you pull a stunt today like Kurt did, everyone knows about it instantly. Today’s society is all geared toward social media, whether it is Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Even an intern with a cell phone working for a race team can record a confrontation of any sort and have it up on the web within minutes.

So am I surprised that Kurt Busch is out at Penske Racing? Absolutely not. Penske had no choice. In addition to Roger’s anger and frustration with Kurt’s never-ending issues, just imagine the public-relations nightmare his sponsors are dealing with. This isn’t what they signed up for. They want to win races, compete for championships and sell their product. What they don’t want is to be paying a guy to stand there wearing their colors and logos on TV and listening to him F-bomb the world.

The really sad part is the Busch brothers are two of the most talented drivers our sport has ever seen. To have all that God-given talent to control a race car, yet lack the ability to control their own emotions is puzzling.

Luckily for them, they make their living in NASCAR. You always hear us say NASCAR is a family — very dysfunctional at times but still a family nonetheless. Our sport prides itself on giving people second and, sometimes, even third and fourth chances.

So what does the Kurt’s future in NASCAR hold? Kurt said last week he is utilizing a sports psychologist to help work on his anger issues. That’s a great start. I also like what he said in his quote after being released from Penske Racing about how it was not easy to leave but “it's an important step for me and allows me to take a deep breath to work on things that can make me a better driver and a better person.”

Make no mistake, with the talent Kurt possesses behind the wheel, there will be a car owner who will be willing to take the risk in signing Kurt to drive for him. I am just at a loss to tell you who that owner might be right now. With the economy the way it is, sponsorship being so tight and teams forced to either cut back or cease all together, this is one of the few years we have had more drivers available than there are teams.

If David Ragan, as rumored, does take over the No. 22 Dodge, that still leaves quality drivers like David Reutimann and Brian Vickers along with Kurt looking for a ride. So my point is, opportunities are pretty slim and pretty limited. I would love nothing more than for Kurt to get his head screwed on right and get his emotions under control. I want to see him make a strong comeback doing what he does best — driving a race car.

Yes Cassee! ...and you were here with us!

SpeedMetal wrote:Yes Cassee! ...and you were here with us!

I was



http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm

RPM considering Kurt Busch in #43 car? UPDATE Sirius XM NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody has learned that in an effort to retain sponsor Best Buy, Richard Petty Motorsports has proposed replacing AJ Allmendinger as driver of the legendary #43 Ford with Busch. RPM struggled to re-sign Best Buy a year ago, negotiating until early January before inking a one-year contract. The electronics retailer served as major sponsor of the #43 team in 26 events this season.
Richard Petty Motorsports Chief Operating Officer Robbie Loomis confirmed today that discussions have been held regarding Busch, saying, "Best Buy has been a great partner for a long time, and AJ Allmendinger has done a fantastic job for us. He's coming off his best season yet, but I can tell you there is a lot of interest on our part in having Kurt Busch in the fold. It makes sense to have Kurt with our team, if we can make it work.
"Our main focus is to continue building on what we finished the season with last year," said Loomis. "But right now, I feel like I'm running down two different sets of train tracks. From a personal standpoint, nothing has excited me more than when I heard Kurt had become available. I'm excited about the opportunity to add a driver like Kurt Busch to Richard Petty Motorsports. I would mortgage my house to make Kurt a part of this team. We value what he has done on the race track. He has won a (Sprint Cup) championship and worked for a first-class operation like Penske Racing. Guys like that don't come along every day."
Allmendinger finished 15th in 2011 Sprint Cup Series championship points, with one Top-5 and 10 Top-10 finishes. His best finish was a fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in late May. Busch won a pair of races this season at Infineon and Dover en route to 11th in points, tallying eight Top-5 and 16 Top-10 finishes. He parted company with Penske Racing earlier this month, in the aftermath of a much-publicized verbal confrontation with ESPN pit reporter Dr. Jerry Punch during the 2011 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway (Sirius Speedway).
AND no word what Allmendinger would do IF this happens; and not too sure Jack Roush [who Busch drove for before Penske and had issues with], who team supplies cars and engines to RPM would allow this to happen.(12-13-2011)
UPDATE: RPM struggled to re-sign Best Buy a year ago, negotiating until early January before inking a one-year contract. The electronics retailer served as major sponsor of the #43 team in 26 events this season. RPM did not release an official statement on the speculation that either Allmendinger had been released or if Best Buy was ready to remain with the team for 2012. The possibility of adding Busch as a third entry has also been discussed but contingent on finding additional sponsorship.(CBS Sports)(12-14-2011)


AJ had a good year. It would be a shame if KB (the jerk) took his place.

Todd Gordon moves to Cup with #22 team: Penske Racing announced that Todd Gordon is the new crew chief of the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Cup Series. The internal move comes on the heels of a successful 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) campaign, during which Gordon led the #22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger to six wins and six pole positions. "Our first priority is always to look within the walls of Penske Racing when making personnel decisions," said Roger Penske. "We want to reward success. The path we are taking with Todd mirrors what we did with Paul Wolfe who led the #2 Miller Lite Dodge to a Chase berth in 2011. We think Todd can get the job done in the same manner." Gordon made the move to Penske Racing in January of 2011. He and Brad Keselowski quickly developed a driver-crew chief rapport that resulted in another successful season, helping make the #22 Dodge one of the premier entries in NNS competition. "I can't thank Roger and everyone at Penske Racing enough for this vote of confidence," said Gordon. "It's an honor to step into a race-winning team. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an organization full of talented people that know how to get the job done. I look forward to getting the Shell/Pennzoil Dodge back in Victory Lane." Penske Racing continues to evaluate drivers to fill the seat of the #22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge.(Penske Racing), could the driver be Sam Hornish Jr.? as he is now listed as a Sprint Cup driver on his Penske Racing driver page.(12-14-2011

http://www.jayski.com/nationwide/nationwide.htm

Increased entry fees for Nationwide races: One story that for some odd reason stayed silent for all of Speedweeks in the Nationwide Series garage was an offseason move by NASCAR that increased entry fees for NNS competitors by some 25% over 2011. Over the course of a 33-race schedule, that's going to translate to almost $10,000 in additional costs for NNS teams even before they take to the race track. "Everything NASCAR's doing&there's no sponsors, teams are falling out, and then they raise the .... price on entry fees and for people to get in and everything else. What are they thinking?" exclaimed one driver when asked about the change. "It infuriates me. It infuriates a lot of people. [But] as long as they've [NASCAR] got Hendrick, Roush, Childress, they'll keep doing it."(Frontstretch)(2-27-2012)

http://www.jayski.com/nationwide/nationwide.htm

Big penalty sends Johnson into negative territory
Knaus, No. 48 car chief hit with six-race suspensions; will work through appeal

By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
February 29, 2012 4:18 PM, EST


http://www.nascar.com/news/120229/jjohnson-cknaus-48-team-penalties/index.html

Hmmmm Maybe Knaus is more than just a great crew chief.

Penske switching to Ford next year. Didn't see that coming. Wonder if/how this may affect GCMI (didn't they just buy some Dodges), JV or Ranger.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120301/NASCAR/120309999

ZingBot wrote:Penske switching to Ford next year. Didn't see that coming. Wonder if/how this may affect GCMI (didn't they just buy some Dodges), JV or Ranger.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120301/NASCAR/120309999

Xact, given that JV has some support from dodge...

Time to come out. I've been lurking and biting my tongue, but alas I think its time to show I can be wrong in 2 languages.
-They have said this(Penske leaving Dodge) happened over months not hours.
- months ago JV raced a Penske Dodge
- months ago JV was confirmed to be considering Red Bull nascar team
-dodge is still set to show the new 2013 dodge nascar racecar at vegas next weekend after phoenix
-dodge needs a race team at cup level and they obviously have something up their sleeves, as did Penske

Draw your own conclusions.

O.K. my conclusion is Ragan and JV in cup and Ranger and JV in Nationwide Dodges.

Also GCI has been changing today and the 27 ford is entered inPhoenix with no driver listed yet GCI website says next race is Vegas.?

hi BPS !

nice bet! w'ill see!!!