Montoya and NASCAR Adjusting to Each Other/ Reid Reportedly Not in the No. 25 at Martinsville/ Erin Crocker.com is Gone/ Promises, Promises
Montoya and NASCAR Adjusting to Each Other
I will begin this article with a question: Name Juan Montoya’s native tongue? Hint, he is originally from Columbia but now makes his home in Miami. Answer later in this article.
Back in July when Juan Montoya and Chip Ganassi announced that the Indy 500 winner would be leaving F1 for NASCAR, no one could have imagined the adjustments that NASCAR and Montoya would have to make. Having attended an F1 race, (actually only six cars ran so the 2005 USGP should have been called an exhibition but I digress) and several NASCAR races, I can tell you that the fans are almost polar opposites. The obvious change is Montoya adjusting to ovals and going from an open cockpit to a closed cockpit. In a NASCAR media teleconference earlier this week, the Columbian driver said that testing was going well but the Homestead test earlier this week was the most difficult test he has had so far in fendered cars. Another difference the European style driver found was the pit culture is vastly different. Montoya was trying to learn and was apparently struggling with a few things earlier this week when Open Wheelers Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears and 2007 Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick came over to share some pointers.
“In Europe you don’t go to your opponents and tell them what they are doing wrong,” laughed Montoya. “Instead, you go over to your team and tell them and laugh.”
The southern fried hospitality is not the only difference. NASCAR is also dealing with a media overload. In the first fifteen minutes of the English portion of the teleconference, Montoya fielded questions from two new outlets from outside the United States, one from Montreal and the other from Edmonton, Canada. Yes I did say English portion. JP also hung around and did another 15 with Spanish (answer) journalists. The Busch Series is gearing up for his first race. NASCAR is expecting three times the amount of media that normally cover a Busch race in Memphis to show up. With all of the media coverage, Juan Pablo Montoya says he and CGR are not rushing things. The team is working on having him ready for Daytona. The rest of this season is practice and testing. So will he start at his home track at Homestead?
“There are so many things that have to happen. We will go to Memphis and see what will happen. After Memphis we will see whether we need to do more testing or race and I think we will take it as it comes. The main focus is getting myself and the team ready for next year when we go to Daytona.”
Many Open Wheelers have gotten their first starts at the Memphis paved oval. USAC has raced there in 1998, 1999, 2000 and in 2003. The Busch race does not have too many Cup drivers in it therefore giving more opportunities to drivers trying to make a name for themselves. So did Chip Ganassi Racing pick an easy track for their future star?
“Memphis is a really small racetrack. It is a difficult racetrack. It is a tricky track. If I had to pick where I would have my first Busch race I wouldn’t pick that one to put it that way but that is where we are going and that is the way it is. It is a short track. It is a hard track.”
Juan Montoya got a taste of what other stateside Open Wheelers have cut their teeth on during a private test last week. Unlike Iowa Speedway, Montoya says Memphis could be trouble because of the line.
“Everyone (racing Memphis) wants to run the bottom and that is it. I think you are going to get bumped around and moved around. I think it is going to be a shock. I am out there to learn and hopefully we can bring the car home with more pieces than the last time (at Iowa)”
We will be onsite covering the Open Wheelers at the Memphis Busch race from the track next weekend.
The Great Open Wheel Migration
ESPN.com writer Terry Blount pretty much takes the wake up stick to big time Open Wheel racing in his latest article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=blount_terry&id=2631753&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1 While I don’t agree with everything that he writes, he does get one thing very right. The only way to stop the migration is to create more seats for American drivers in a stronger reunified series.
Reid Reportedly Not in the No. 25 at Martinsville
According to a story in NASCAR Scene http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2006/10/16/scene_daily343.html Woodward Racing will place ARCA driver Damon Lusk in the No. 25 for the next three Craftsman Truck Series events Martinsville, Atlanta and Texas. NASCAR Scene reports that Boston Reid is still with the team. Reid has started all 20 races for Woodward Racing this season. The former USAC driver is listed as the driver of the No. 25 on the pre-entry list that was published on TruckSeries.com on Thursday. An updated entry list should be available later this week. Boston Reid is not the only Open Wheeler that may not return to Martinsville this weekend, Kraig Kinser will not be in the No. 46 this week. That truck will be driven by NASCAR Chase driver Denny Hamlin.
Open Wheeler Truck Entries for Martinsville
10 Terry Cook
16 Mike Bliss
17 David Reutiman
21 Bobby East
25 Boston Reid (see story above)
63 Cameron Dodson
98 Erin Crocker
Erin Crocker.com is Gone
If you are looking for an official website of Erin Crocker in the internet, good luck. Her former website http://www.erincrocker.com/ no longer has any information on the Open Wheeler who now drives in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The domain name for the website has expired. Before you perverts out there try to purchase the domain name to put up a porn website, know that the domain name may only be renewed by the original owner of the domain. Erin Crocker.net also exists but appears to have been created by a drunk fan. That website reads:
Erin the “Erinator” Crocker
Keep Crocking!
Then it offers readers doughnuts and pie. Uh.. ok? I guess if I was drunk and looking at the website it might make sense. The official Evernham website http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=ec_bio has her bio and some information about the team. David Newton, staff writer for NASCAR.com is still interviewing her and writing her weekly column “On the Road” at NASCAR.com. This week in the column she talks about New England in the fall and the Evernham Motorsports annual family picnic. NASCAR Scene reported earlier this week that Crocker would return to the No. 98 truck for the 2007 season. Her sponsor, Betty Crocker will not.
Schrader Joins the 700 Club
Former USAC driver, Ken Schrader is expected to make his 700th Nextel Cup start at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Schrader is 12th in all time starts.
RIR Goes Sky High
If you are bird or enjoy sitting up high where you can see the whole track, you will love the new seats at Richmond International Raceway. RIR is adding 7,800 seats to the main grandstands. The new grandstand will be 18 stories tall. The framework for the grandstand is scheduled to be completed by November 30th and the New lighting is scheduled to go up by December 15th.
The project will be finished in time for the track’s NASCAR doubleheader weekend May 4-5. The USAC National Sprint Car Series is tentatively scheduled to visit the track on Friday, June 29 and the USAC Silver Crown Series on Saturday, June 30. The IndyCar Series also is set to race at the short track on June 30th.
Promises, Promises
Before I let you go I have to make good on a promise I made a few weeks ago before I was offline for a while.
I teased high school images of SPEED News er The Speed Report “get the why” anchor Nicole Manske. Well, here they are courtesy of Duchess Jane. http://duchessjane.com/blomit/index.php?/archives/572-A-Repressed-Memory-from-Middle-School.html The images got me thinking so I pulled out my high school yearbook
Jason Sides graduated from the same HS I did so what about posting his HS mug? Then I flipped a page and saw my mug. Jason I promise I won’t post your mug online if you promise not to post mine.
If the new equipment works this weekend, we will have screen grabs and a story from the Trucks and Cup races at Martinsville over the weekend. Check back this weekend when you can.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of DuchessJane.com, Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Images, FX, SPEED and Open Wheeler.
I will begin this article with a question: Name Juan Montoya’s native tongue? Hint, he is originally from Columbia but now makes his home in Miami. Answer later in this article.
Back in July when Juan Montoya and Chip Ganassi announced that the Indy 500 winner would be leaving F1 for NASCAR, no one could have imagined the adjustments that NASCAR and Montoya would have to make. Having attended an F1 race, (actually only six cars ran so the 2005 USGP should have been called an exhibition but I digress) and several NASCAR races, I can tell you that the fans are almost polar opposites. The obvious change is Montoya adjusting to ovals and going from an open cockpit to a closed cockpit. In a NASCAR media teleconference earlier this week, the Columbian driver said that testing was going well but the Homestead test earlier this week was the most difficult test he has had so far in fendered cars. Another difference the European style driver found was the pit culture is vastly different. Montoya was trying to learn and was apparently struggling with a few things earlier this week when Open Wheelers Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears and 2007 Busch Series champion Kevin Harvick came over to share some pointers.
“In Europe you don’t go to your opponents and tell them what they are doing wrong,” laughed Montoya. “Instead, you go over to your team and tell them and laugh.”
The southern fried hospitality is not the only difference. NASCAR is also dealing with a media overload. In the first fifteen minutes of the English portion of the teleconference, Montoya fielded questions from two new outlets from outside the United States, one from Montreal and the other from Edmonton, Canada. Yes I did say English portion. JP also hung around and did another 15 with Spanish (answer) journalists. The Busch Series is gearing up for his first race. NASCAR is expecting three times the amount of media that normally cover a Busch race in Memphis to show up. With all of the media coverage, Juan Pablo Montoya says he and CGR are not rushing things. The team is working on having him ready for Daytona. The rest of this season is practice and testing. So will he start at his home track at Homestead?
“There are so many things that have to happen. We will go to Memphis and see what will happen. After Memphis we will see whether we need to do more testing or race and I think we will take it as it comes. The main focus is getting myself and the team ready for next year when we go to Daytona.”
Many Open Wheelers have gotten their first starts at the Memphis paved oval. USAC has raced there in 1998, 1999, 2000 and in 2003. The Busch race does not have too many Cup drivers in it therefore giving more opportunities to drivers trying to make a name for themselves. So did Chip Ganassi Racing pick an easy track for their future star?
“Memphis is a really small racetrack. It is a difficult racetrack. It is a tricky track. If I had to pick where I would have my first Busch race I wouldn’t pick that one to put it that way but that is where we are going and that is the way it is. It is a short track. It is a hard track.”
Juan Montoya got a taste of what other stateside Open Wheelers have cut their teeth on during a private test last week. Unlike Iowa Speedway, Montoya says Memphis could be trouble because of the line.
“Everyone (racing Memphis) wants to run the bottom and that is it. I think you are going to get bumped around and moved around. I think it is going to be a shock. I am out there to learn and hopefully we can bring the car home with more pieces than the last time (at Iowa)”
We will be onsite covering the Open Wheelers at the Memphis Busch race from the track next weekend.
The Great Open Wheel Migration
ESPN.com writer Terry Blount pretty much takes the wake up stick to big time Open Wheel racing in his latest article.
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=blount_terry&id=2631753&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1 While I don’t agree with everything that he writes, he does get one thing very right. The only way to stop the migration is to create more seats for American drivers in a stronger reunified series.
Reid Reportedly Not in the No. 25 at Martinsville
According to a story in NASCAR Scene http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2006/10/16/scene_daily343.html Woodward Racing will place ARCA driver Damon Lusk in the No. 25 for the next three Craftsman Truck Series events Martinsville, Atlanta and Texas. NASCAR Scene reports that Boston Reid is still with the team. Reid has started all 20 races for Woodward Racing this season. The former USAC driver is listed as the driver of the No. 25 on the pre-entry list that was published on TruckSeries.com on Thursday. An updated entry list should be available later this week. Boston Reid is not the only Open Wheeler that may not return to Martinsville this weekend, Kraig Kinser will not be in the No. 46 this week. That truck will be driven by NASCAR Chase driver Denny Hamlin.
Open Wheeler Truck Entries for Martinsville
10 Terry Cook
16 Mike Bliss
17 David Reutiman
21 Bobby East
25 Boston Reid (see story above)
63 Cameron Dodson
98 Erin Crocker
Erin Crocker.com is Gone
If you are looking for an official website of Erin Crocker in the internet, good luck. Her former website http://www.erincrocker.com/ no longer has any information on the Open Wheeler who now drives in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The domain name for the website has expired. Before you perverts out there try to purchase the domain name to put up a porn website, know that the domain name may only be renewed by the original owner of the domain. Erin Crocker.net also exists but appears to have been created by a drunk fan. That website reads:
Erin the “Erinator” Crocker
Keep Crocking!
Then it offers readers doughnuts and pie. Uh.. ok? I guess if I was drunk and looking at the website it might make sense. The official Evernham website http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=ec_bio has her bio and some information about the team. David Newton, staff writer for NASCAR.com is still interviewing her and writing her weekly column “On the Road” at NASCAR.com. This week in the column she talks about New England in the fall and the Evernham Motorsports annual family picnic. NASCAR Scene reported earlier this week that Crocker would return to the No. 98 truck for the 2007 season. Her sponsor, Betty Crocker will not.
Schrader Joins the 700 Club
Former USAC driver, Ken Schrader is expected to make his 700th Nextel Cup start at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Schrader is 12th in all time starts.
RIR Goes Sky High
If you are bird or enjoy sitting up high where you can see the whole track, you will love the new seats at Richmond International Raceway. RIR is adding 7,800 seats to the main grandstands. The new grandstand will be 18 stories tall. The framework for the grandstand is scheduled to be completed by November 30th and the New lighting is scheduled to go up by December 15th.
The project will be finished in time for the track’s NASCAR doubleheader weekend May 4-5. The USAC National Sprint Car Series is tentatively scheduled to visit the track on Friday, June 29 and the USAC Silver Crown Series on Saturday, June 30. The IndyCar Series also is set to race at the short track on June 30th.
Promises, Promises
Before I let you go I have to make good on a promise I made a few weeks ago before I was offline for a while.
I teased high school images of SPEED News er The Speed Report “get the why” anchor Nicole Manske. Well, here they are courtesy of Duchess Jane. http://duchessjane.com/blomit/index.php?/archives/572-A-Repressed-Memory-from-Middle-School.html The images got me thinking so I pulled out my high school yearbook
Jason Sides graduated from the same HS I did so what about posting his HS mug? Then I flipped a page and saw my mug. Jason I promise I won’t post your mug online if you promise not to post mine.
If the new equipment works this weekend, we will have screen grabs and a story from the Trucks and Cup races at Martinsville over the weekend. Check back this weekend when you can.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of DuchessJane.com, Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Images, FX, SPEED and Open Wheeler.
posted by Blake Johnson at 1:09 AM
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