The Crash

The Crash

Like racing, even the best racecars and drivers can be sidelined because of a crash. Well last night the computer at the World Headquarters of Open Wheeler crashed hard. The computer housed several stories that were written for this weekend and the software to provide you with new screen grabs.

We are working to remedy the problem and hope to have it resolved by next week. Until then, we will continue to provide updates from the computer we use for remote updates. Thanks again for visiting.

Images in this blog are courtesy of FX and NASCAR Images.

Welcome to TV Thursday/ It Was Boring but It Had a Good Number/ Bring a Freaking Towel/ Sked

Welcome to TV Thursday
Where we deal with TV news regarding racing. I was hoping to save the USAC/ Versus news for today but I had to let the cat out of the bag one day early. Read that story below.

It Was Boring but It Had a Good Number

Autoclub 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday evening was probably one of the most boring Cup races I have watched in some time.

Irregardless what I think it was still the highest rated sporting event on TV for the week drawing a 6.0/10 national household rating/share according to Nielsen Media Research and FOX PR.

That’s 10.2 million viewers.

Even though it drew good numbers which were better than previous years, it was up against the Academy Awards on ABC.

That show averaged a 20.6. Still, folks are watching.

This Weekend on Wind Tunnel

Dave Despain will have NHRA Funny Car Points Leader Ron Capps as their featured guest this Sunday at 9pm eastern on SPEED.

Bring a Freaking Towel

For many years drivers and crews have sprayed liquids in Victory Lane.

Note to camera folks who go to victory lane. Bring a towel.

Your vest/ credential will not cut it. I am sure “G” would love to give you a towel to use in “G” victory lane. Not bringing a towel is kind of like forgetting to bring a battery for your camera in Victory Lane.

A wet lens is bound to happen but preparation will overcome a damp situation.

TV Schedule
February 28
12:00 pm NNS Qualifying SPEED

4:00 pm NNS Countdown ESPN2

4:30 pm NNS: Sam's Town 300 ESPN2

March 1
2:00 pm NASCAR RaceDay SPEED

3:30 pm NSCS Pre-Race Show FOX

4:30 pm NSCS: Shelby 427 at Las Vegas 7:00 pm SPEED Report SPEED

9:30 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain SPEED

Coming Later this Week
An Open Wheel revival.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of SPEED, FOX and NASCAR Images.

Welcome to Web Wednesday/ USAC Opener at Manzanita on Versus/ USAC TV Q&A

Welcome to Web Wednesday

We are starting a new feature today on Open Wheeler. Were calling it Web Wednesday. Every week we will highlight a great website for racing information. This week we are featuring USACRacing.com. Last year USAC unveiled a revamped website.

In addition to news and schedules, the new website features photos, live timing and scoring at select events and video. We will have more on USACRacing.com later in this blog.

USAC Opener at Manzanita on Versus

USAC will return to television in April as the Copper on Dirt airs on Versus. The network that brought four USAC sanctioned races to the airwaves will broadcast the opener at Manzanita on April 14 at a time to be announced. In 2008, Versus aired one Silver Crown and two USAC/CRA races. The network also broadcast the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

USAC TV Q &A

While it is exciting to have USAC back on TV, there was some grumbling among fans on message boards on several issues. I am going to attempt to give solutions to the points raised.

It is good to see USAC back on TV but why not more races and it is Versus?

I like most Open Wheel fans would like to see as many races as possible on TV but the reality is the golden days of Thursday Thunder on ESPN are over. Versus is not a widely watched channel but it is better than the Outdoors network. Open Wheel fans need to be extremely thankful to Lucus Oil, the production quality of the program is top notch and they put a lot of money into it.

What can we do to get more races on TV?

Park your butt in front of the TV when the race airs on Versus and write to the folks at the Lucus Oil and Versus to let then know how much you appreciate their coverage.

Grassroots Open Wheel Banished to the Internet?

Until grassroots Open Wheel racing draws remarkable numbers on TV, our favorite sport will be relegated to the internet. Maybe that is a good place for it to be.

Years ago folks theorized about putting USAC and WoO racing video live on the net.

The problem was that the high speed internet connections were not at every track to make that happen. In stepped the World of Outlaws Sprints with their new media trailer in 2006.

Besides a workspace, it had high speed internet via satellite. That bandwidth was good enough to send video.

Last season USAC began video feeds and while it is not as clean as watching a network race at home on TV, we are talking a one camera and one announcer real (plus webcast support)

without a 80 person TV crew and multiple pit reporters.

I have shot some racing and it takes a talent to find the action and be there before the wreck.
USAC is lucky to have the services of Dean Mills who loves the sport with all of his heart and has a knack for finding the highlight before it happens.

For that matter it is good to have Rob Klepper as the voice of USAC. A voice that knows everything about the drivers makes the race PA as well as the broadcast more enjoyable.

No it is not the glory days of ESPN and TNN for grass roots Open Wheel but you still get to see the race live and for free so stop complaining and start to use a word that my be new to your vocabulary when it comes to USAC… Thanks!

Coming Later this Week
TV Thursday and an Open Wheel revival.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of USACRacing.com and Open Wheeler.

JJ Yeley Tells Dave Despain What is Next For Him on Wind Tunnel

JJ Yeley Tells Dave Despain What is Next For Him on Wind Tunnel

This week’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain featured Peter Windson talking F1 and a phone interview with JJ Yeley. Peter Windsor told Dave Despain that Ken Anderson and he are the primary partners in an US based F1 team.

Windsor went on to say that they are looking at American drivers to fill the cockpit although it is possible that they may bring in an experienced foreign driver.

A caller brought up the possibility of sending AJ Allmendinger to F1, Windsor said he would make a great driver bout would not confirm him as one of the two drivers that will be announced on Tuesday.

JJ Yeley said it is important for him to get into any race car that he can.

The USAC Triple Crown champ added that he is talking to teams in NASCAR.

Yeley said that he would love to get back into NASCAR.

JJ Yeley announced that he will be racing during USAC’s west coast swing including Las Vegas this coming weekend.

Coming Later this Week
USAC returns to television, Open Wheel racing on the internet, TV Thursday and an Open Wheel revival.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of SPEED.

Matt Kenseth Wins the Cup Race at California

Matt Kenseth Wins the Cup Race at California
Matt Kenseth continued his winning ways Sunday night in California, winning the Cup race over Jeff Gordon.

We begin tonight’s coverage with notes from Raceday on SPEED. Look, its Wendy the pirate. Arg matey!

I have no idea why Wendy Venturini has the patch on but here are their picks. KW – 48, HS – 2, WV – 18, JS – 88 and JR – 99.

More interviews in the most complete prerace show in racing. Look, its Krista Voda doing her hair in the background.

Time for the FOX broadcast to start. FOX’s prerace show includes an interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. who says “I take responsibility for this wreck,” referring to the mayhem he caused last week at Daytona.

FOX then throws to Krista Voda and Brian Vickers for the response. Vickers says, “I am ready to move on.”

Let's light this candle!

So on we will move to the green flag where Angie Harmon, the honorary starter either has a burning rubber fetish

or is high on adrenalin.

Green flag and time to take a nap.

Seriously, the only thing to note until late in the race is that they had several cautions for rain and

that Ryan Newman lost his transponder and then lost his endplate under one of the rain cautions.

The most exciting part of the first half was this kid who looks like he was tortured by his parents. Oh wait, he is a Jr. fan. Nevermind…

Ok FF to lap 72 where Mark Martin loses an engine. Lap 208 Kevin Harvick lost an engine and hit the wall hard. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also pulled in with engine problems. I am beginning to see a trend here. Now Aric Almirola looses an engine with 7 to go but he is out of harms way so we stay green.

Matt Kenseth is leading Jeff Gordon by the equal time until six to go when he turns the jets on, smoking the tires down low. A few laps later and it isn’t working as much now for Gordon as Kenseth is able to keep his distance.

Matt Kenseth wins two races in a row winning the Cup race at California.

This race went a little late tonight ending at 10pm eastern. Good thing I hit the DVR for Wind Tunnel. See separate blog story above for highlights.

Open Wheeler Cup Results California:
1. (Matt Kenseth)
2. Jeff Gordon
7. Carl Edwards
8. Tony Stewart
11. Juan Montoya
12. Kasey Kahne
23. Sam Hornish Jr.
24. Casey Mears
28. Ryan Newman
29. A.J. Allmendinger
30. Robby Gordon
31. John Andretti
41. Scott Speed
42. Dave Blaney

Coming Later this Week
USAC returns to television, Open Wheel racing on the internet, TV Thursday and an Open Wheel revival.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, SPEED and NASCAR Images.

Kaeding Wins the USAC Silver Crown Opener at Manzy/ Kyle Busch Makes History/ Michael McDowell Wreck and Fire

Kaeding Wins the USAC Silver Crown Opener at Manzy

File image courtesy of USACRacing.com
Bud Kadeing won the USAC Silver Crown season opener tonight at Manzanita in Phoenix, Arizona. The California native battled Jesse Hockett all night up fron but made a late pass when it counted for the win. The runner up position was Hockett’s best finish in the Silver Crown Series. Levi Jones was third. Brad Sweet won the USAC Midget feature race. Darren Hagen took the USAC Sprint feature race.

USAC Silver Crown Manzanita Results
29 Bud Kaeding
199 Jesse Hockett
3 Levi Jones
22 Tracy Hines
6 Derek Hagar
37 Jon Stanbrough
32 AJ Fike
4 Josh Wise
27 Jerry Coons Jr.
21 Brian Tyler
50 Zack Daum
19 Kody Swanson
42 Mike Spencer
17 Shane Hmiel
96 Rickie Gaunt
26 Shane Cottle

Kyle Busch Makes History
Kyle Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two major series races in the same day by winning both the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series at California today.

Welcome to California where it appears no one cares about NASCAR.

Yes folks the seats were empty for the truck race and they are empty again for the Nationwide race. The folks in LA abandoned the IRL race at the Fontana oval and now they have abandoned the support races for Cup. Well the folks still brought their campers.

Oh look, it’s Mickey and Minnie. How did they get into the broadcast? Oh, ESPN2 is owned by Disney or as Allen Bestwick put it, “It’s nice to see the boss and Mrs. Mouse.”

Ok, time to light this candle for the folks at home. Yawn, are we done yet?

Wait we have a caution with Michael McDowell.

The guy that barrel rolled his car at Texas has done blowed up and his car is on fire.

Actually oil is getting all over the headers causing this inferno.

Oil, engine parts and crap litter the track.

Michael McDowell looks for a safety crew. Luckily he escaped the fire with no injuries.

Then Open Wheeler Mike Bliss blows a tire.

Now the action is heating up. Greg Biffle gets into Brian Vickers and around he goes.

Biffle makes contact with Brad K

and as K spins, he collects Jason Leffler.

Lap 22 Milka, I mean Greg Biffle spins on his own and calls it a night.

Green flag now with 17 to go and Kyle Busch puts a bump and run on Carl Edwards and gets around him for the lead. Edwards meanwhile slips back several places. Meanwhile Busch tuens on the afterburners and no one can catch him. After the race Edwards told ESPN2 that the touch from Busch upset his car on the restart but it was just racing and added that Busch deserved to win because no one could touch him.

As noted above, Kyle Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win two major series races in the same day by winning both the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series at California today.

In both races, he drove away from his competition. He goes for the threepeat tomorrow and we will have post race coverage.

Here is where the Open Wheelers finished in the Nationwide Race at California:
1. (Kyle Busch)
4. Carl Edwards
11. Jason Leffler
13. Mike Bliss
14. Justin Allgaier
16. Michael Annett
37. Terry Cook

Coming Sunday
Coverage of our Open Wheelers on action in California plus Wind Tunnel notes.

Note to SpeedTV and Wendy Venturini fans, Raceday airs at 3:30pm eastern Sunday afternoon because of the late start of the Cup race. It will not air at it's normal time on Sunday morning.

Another quick Speed note: Wind Tunnel Sunday night will feature SPEED’s Peter Windsor who will talk about this year’s F1 season as well as preview his big F1 announcement which will be made next Tuesday LIVE on SPEED. (Hint, hint US based F1 team with US driver). Miguel Duhamel will talk motorcycle racing as Daytona Bike Week approaches.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of USACRacing.com, ESPN2 and NASCAR Images.

Busch Wins Truck Race at California

Busch Wins Truck Race at California
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race today in California.

I wrote this headline at the halfway point in the race. Seriously, it was that boring. Anyway, on to what little highlights there were. The Race started with 36 trucks in the field. The green stayed out as this race was pretty quiet. So quiet that FOX started looking for other things to talk about.

Oh look, Billy Ray Cyrus is on Kyle Busch’s pit box. Boy has he changed.

Image courtesy of CMT.

Where did the days of the mullet go? Must have left him when he moved to California. Back to the race and look, a few drivers ran out of talent.

Brian Scott spun after being helped around and into the fence by Mike Skinner.

Then two rookies, Chase Austin and Tayler Malsam got together on pit road under caution.

Later, Terry Cook was dropping fluid bringing out the caution. Back to the quiet of the boring California track. No wonder they have trouble selling tickets there.

The final lap was a lot like the majority of the race with Kyle Busch dominating to take the win all alone.

Open Wheeler Truck Results at California
1. (Kyle Busch)
5. T.J. Bell
10. Max Papis
18. Mike Bliss
25. Terry Cook

Later this Weekend
Coverage tonight of our Open Wheelers on action both in Phoenix and California. Plus Cup and Wind Tunnel coverage on Sunday.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of CMT, CBS Cable, FOX, Speed and NASCAR Images.

Hockett Wins the Silver Crown Shootout

Hockett Wins the Silver Crown Shootout

Jesse Hockett started on the pole and led all ten laps to win the Silver Crown portion of the Shootout Friday night at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hockett faced fierce competition from Bud Kaeding and Tracy Hines but was able to pull away for the win in the end.

Darren Hagen won the Sprint Shootout. Levi Jones won the Midget Shootout.

Silver Crown Shootout Results
199 Jesse Hockett
29 Bud Kaeding
22 Tracy Hines
3 Levi Jones
27 Jerry Coons Jr.
17 Shane Hmiel
37 Jon Stanbrough
32 AJ Fike
6 Derek Hagar

USAC will webcast the Copper World on Dirt Saturday night from their website USACRacing.com with live video, audio and timing and scoring. Information from tonight’s reports from Manzanita was taken from those webcasts.

The images in this post are courtesy of Dean Mills Video Productions and USACRacing.com and may not be used or lifted and posted on any other website.

Silver Crown Heat Race Results

Levi Jones Wins First Heat Race
Zack Daum spun with one lap to go in the heat race resetting the field as Levi
Jones and Jerry Coons Jr. prepared to duke it out. The green flag dropped and Jones held off Coons for the win.

First Silver Crown Heat Race Results
3 Levi Jones
27 Jerry Coons Jr.
4 Josh Wise
37 Jon Stanbrough
29 Bud Kaeding
21 Brian Tyler
19 Kody Swanson
50 Zack Daum

Derek Hagar Wins Second Heat Race
Derek Hagar chased Shane Hmiel who sat on the pole and eventually got by the driver of the No. 27 on the outside. Jesse Hockett battled with Hmiel and got by him on lap 6. Meanwhile Derek Hagar pulled away to win.

Second Silver Crown Heat Race Results
6 Derek Hagar
199 Jesse Hockett
17 Shane Hmiel
22 Tracy Hines
32 AJ Fike
28 Shane Cottle
42 Mike Spencer
96 Rickie Gaunt

Jones Fastest in Qualifying

Jones Fastest in Qualifying
Levi Jones was fastest in USAC Silver Crown qualifying tonight at the Copper World on Dirt. Jones turned a time of 20.270.

Tracy Hines had smoke pouring of his right rear on his way to turning a time good for second quick at 20.342 and

Bud Kaeding had a time of 20.389. Both Shane Hmiel and Cody Swanson went around during qualifying but there was no contact.

Chris Windom had the fastest times for the sprints with a time of 20.213.
Chat Boat had the fastest time of the midgets with a time of 19.954.

Heat races are up next live at USACRacing.com.

USAC Provides Live Racing on the Net
USACRacing.com is providing live video, a live announcer and live timing and scoring. In fact they are using the same video player that the Indy Racing League utilizes for it’s webcasts. Kudos to Rob Klepper, Dean Mills and the web team for a good program.

The images in this post are courtesy of Dean Mills Video Productions and USACRacing.com and may not be used or lifted and posted on any other website.

Manzy Coverage Live on USACRacing.com

Manzy Coverage Live on USACRacing.com

USAC is webcasting live from the Copper World on Dirt tonight on USACRacing.com. The webcast has been great so far with Rob Klepper on the mike, Dean Mills of Dean Mills Video Productions http://www.millsvideoproductions.com/ behind the camera and other talented folks working behind the scenes. As you can see above, the video feed has looked good.

USAC also has timing and scoring running. To watch the live webcast on USACRacing.com, click HERE. The website also has images posted from earlier today.

Wise Fastest in Silver Crown Hotlaps

Josh Wise had the fastest time in the first group’s practice at 22.091. Shane Cottle had the fastest time 21.687 in the 2nd hotlaps session. Cottle got around at the end of the session with no contact.

Jesse Hockett fastest in final group at 22.215

Top Five Times in USAC Silver Crown Hotlaps at Manzanita
No. 28 Shane Cottle 21.687
No. 4 Josh Wise 22.091
No. 10 Levi Jones 22.181
No. 199 Jesse Hockett 22.215
No. 29 Bud Kaeding 22.286

This Looks Worse Than It Was

It looks like the No. 22 and 27 Silver Crown cars are about to hook up and go for a ride in hot laps but that is not the case as disaster is averted.

The images in this post are courtesy of USACRacing.com and may not be used or lifted and posted on any other website.

USAC Opens the Season Tonight/ Cup Entry List Could Thin /Andretti Has a Sponsor/ Wind Tunnel Podcast/ Why No Eyecandy?

USAC Opens the Season Tonight

Well the 2009 USAC National Series open their season tonight at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. One of the drivers running Friday and Saturday will be Jessie Hockett. Hockett who is driving for team owner Carl Edwards says getting the opportunity to drive for someone he looks up to is unreal.

“2004 was Carl Edward’s first year in the Camping World Truck Series and I met him at an autograph signing. I asked him “how do I get to where you are?” And he said, “Win as many races as you can in as many cars as you can.” The photo he signed said never give up. It hangs in my office to remind me.”

In addition to running in USAC’s Silver Crown division at Manzanita, Jesse Hockett is slated to run in USAC’s Sprint division driving the VKCC/ Tom Buch No. 13. Hockett has two wins in USAC sprints coming into this weekend. Both wins were recorded at Perris Auto Speedway in California.

Cup Entry List Could Thin

Speaking of California, the entry list for the Cup race this weekend has 48 entries. Of those 5 are TBA or unsponsored. That leaves 43 sponsored cars, the maximum NASCAR allows in a race. It is quite possible we will see no bumping in Cup before the year is out.

Andretti Has a Sponsor
While times are tough for some teams, Open Wheeler John Andretti’s team landed Window World as a sponsor for the next four Cup races.

Wind Tunnel Podcast

I am always looking for new news and sports information programming to put on my Ipod. Now the good folks at Wind Tunnel are making their program available via podcast. You can find the links to signup in Wind Tunnel portion of SpeedTV.com.

Why No Eyecandy?

Now to the mailbag, a reader emailed me why doesn’t SPEED put Eyecandy on their website or make a big compellation CD and sell it.. The problem is broadcast rights. Generally programs allow other broadcasters to use highlights for news purposes. That is how we get Eyecandy. You would have to get permission to post the video online or sell it in a compellation CD.

Later this Weekend
Coverage Saturday and Sunday on our Open Wheelers on action both in Phoenix and California.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, Speed and NASCAR Images.

TV Thursday/ TV Ratings up for Daytona/ FOX Up On the Wheel When It Comes to Race Broadcasts/ Cue the Duck/ Sexy for a Pit Pass

TV Thursday
I would like to make this a weekly feature and discuss media issues regarding racing highlighting the good, bad and sometimes ugly.

TV Ratings up for Daytona

With the economy tight more folks are staying home and watching TV. Combine that will a great effort put in by employees of FOX and SPEED and you have an increase in ratings.

The broadcast of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on SPEED scored a double-digit Nielsen Ratings increase from the season opener in Daytona in 2008. The Friday night race recorded a Nielsen mark of 1.90 (1,393,000 households), making it the No. 1 show on cable during that time period according to a news release from SPEED.

The rating marked an increase of 21 percent from last year’s 1.57 (1,128,000 households). SPEED’s pre-race show, NCWTS Setup hosted by our favorite girl er lady next door, Krista Voda, scored a Nielsen Rating of .80 (585,000 households), up 33 percent from last year’s .60 (434,000 households).

That’s good promotion and the result of hard work by the crew and talent to develop and grow a brand. I think Ms. Voda had something to do with it too.

The trucks head to the mothership this weekend (FOX). The usual Sunday FOX broadcast crew including Krista Voda from the pits will call all of the action. FOX also reported an increase in the numbers.

The folks that made it interesting to watch fendered cars again, averaged a 9.2/19 household rating/share according to fast national figures released by Nielsen Media Research. Folks may be down or not want to travel much but they will watch.

The average audience of 16.0 million viewers placed this year’s Daytona 500 ahead of the NCAA Final Four (15.4 million viewers), Beijing Olympics (15.2 million) (not hard with the crappy NBC coverage), 2008 NBA Finals (14.9 million), and Kentucky Derby (14.2 million). Oh it probably beat the Stanley Cup Finals too on that network that is hard to find on most Comcast cable systems and NBC which could care less if it was showing Lord Stanley’s Cup being passed around or some 16 year old kid falling on his ass in a skateboard competition. Why do you think they play the finals in June? So it wont sink NBC’s rating during sweeps (May). AHEM!!! Oh.. sorry for getting off target. Moving along…

Note: I did not see any numbers from ESPN2 on the Nationwide Series broadcast.

FOX Up On the Wheel When It Comes to Race Broadcasts

The reason I would rather watch a race on FOX over watching a NASCAR race on any other station is the fact they do show and tell better than anyone.

No special shop is needed or special TNT 360 rotating thing-a-ma-giggy stage.

Here Jeff Hammond, a natural for TV, explains why the tires are going south because of camber issues and how teams can make proper changes.

Cue the Duck

Since AFLAC came into NASCAR,

they have had fun from the late Benny Parsons cueing the duck

to their latest add which shows an out of character devious duck stealing the No. 99 car

and taking it on a ride with a cute blond in the passenger seat. Edwards figures who stole the car when he sees the foul offender’s feathers on the floor.

Nice work.

Sexy for a Pit Pass

Ask.com made a splash with its ads this weekend. The one where the guy tells the gal that she has to dress sexy like the woman behind them in order to get a pit pass was my favorite outside of the dipstick ad.

Think With Your Dipstick

My favorite ad from the weekend was the Castrol ad where the man asked Jimmy to think with his dipstick.

A lesson we should all learn.

TV Schedule
With no Open Wheel action on TV this weekend, no race Friday, two races on Saturday and one race on Sunday, the TV schedule left a lot to be desired so I broke from what I normally like to do and added the practice sessions. If you get too NASCARed out on Saturday,

you can flip to the CBC or in the US the NHL Network and watch one of the best produced TV programs of the year,

Hockey Day in Canada. Ok, here is the schedule:

Friday

12:30 pm NNS Practice SPEED

3:00 pm NSCS Practice SPEED

4:30 pm NCWTS Pole Qualifying SPEED

6:30 pm NSCS Coors Light Pole Qualifying SPEED

8:30 pm NNS Final Practice SPEED

Saturday

12:30 pm NNS Coors Light Pole Qualifying SPEED

3:00 pm NCWTS: San Bernardino County 200 FOX

5:00 pm NSCS Final Practice SPEED

7:00 pm NNS Countdown ESPN2

7:45 pm NNS: Stater Bros. 300 ESPN2

Sunday
3:30 pm NASCAR RaceDay SPEED

5:00 pm NSCS Pre-Race Show FOX

6:00 pm NSCS: Auto Club 500 FOX

7:00 pm SPEED Report

9:00 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain SPEED

Later this Week
One more story before Manzanita, WT goes to the Pod and I will answer questions from the mailbag.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of CBC, FOX, ESPN2, Speed and NASCAR Images.

USAC Kicks Off the Season at Manzanita/ Leffler Looking Forward to Home Cooking/ Honda Miffed Over Danica Sprawled on a Ford/ Later this Week

USAC Kicks Off the Season at Manzanita

USAC will head to the Valley of the Sun this weekend to kick off their season. Manzanita Speedway will host all three national series in the “Copper on Dirt” this Friday and Saturday. This weekend will mark one of only two USAC national triple headers this season (the other one being the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora) although Iowa Speedway will host all three national series, just not on the same weekend.

The schedule for Friday calls for qualifying, heat races and 10-lap shootouts for each series. Saturday’s slate calls for semi features followed by 25-lap midget, 40-lap sprint and 50-lap Silver Crown races. The opener also offers Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprint and Western Midget points. Defending USAC series champions are Jerry Coons Jr. (K & N Silver Crown and National Sprints), Cole Whitt (Mopar National Midgets), Mike Spencer (Lucas Oil USAC/CRA Sprints) and Nic Faas (Western Midgets).

All are expected to compete in all three programs. Accomplished winged and non-winged sprint car driver Jesse Hockett is hoping to repeat his success from late November of 2008 when swept the three-day ASCS Western World race.

“I like Manzanita Speedway because it is big and fast,” said Hockett. “I like the speed of it and there are a lot of different lines and ways to run the track.”

Other drivers to keep an eye on include Jeremy Sherman and Kevin Swindell.

Leffler Looking Forward to Home Cooking

After a rough start to his 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Open Wheeler Jason Leffler is looking to get back on the horse and try for a win again, this time at home in California. Last week Jason Leffler was penalized for five laps for what NASCAR deemed “rough driving” when he started this three car pile up at Daytona.

“For obvious reasons we’re looking to put last week behind us,” said the Long Beach native. “The real season starts at California because your performance there will be a pretty good indicator of where you stand in comparison with everyone else and what areas you need to work on for the first part of the season.”

Jason Leffler and his No. 38 Great Clips Toyota team are one of the series-only regulars predicted to be a major player in the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship this year. Leffler’s best finish at Auto Club Speedway was seventh in 2005. The year prior, he sat on the pole.

“There’d be nothing better than to win there,” he said. “It’s a place that we’ve never run well at but we’re always striving to. I’ve got a lot of family and friends out there. I think we’re going to have all that in our favor this year.”

Honda Miffed Over Danica Sprawled on a Ford

According to PressDog.com, the folks at Honda were not happy with Danica Patrick half nude on the hood of a Sheby Cobra. Oh the humanity of a female bikini clad driver gracing the pages of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue lying on top of a Ford.

Note: the following link will take you to a false story with a lot of sarcasim.
http://pressdog.typepad.com/dogblog/2009/02/honda-miffed-over-danica-sprawled-on-a-ford.html
This link will take you to the photos on SI.com:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009_swimsuit/?eref=FromAOLSwim09

Later this Week
We have a few good stories that I am working on for later this week in the blog. We will answer questions regarding Wind Tunnel, recap the best TV moments from Daytona and have an updated TV schedule for this weekend.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of SI.com, ESPN2, Speed and NASCAR Images.

Monday Morning Hangover/ The Return of Wind Tunnel/ On Second Review/ Stewart Happy with New Start/ NASCAR May Consider Special Sign

Monday Morning Hangover

There were things that were good and things that were bad from the opening weekend of racing, now with my head hurting from all of the racing coverage, I will attempt to tackle it all.

The Return of Wind Tunnel

We start of first with the return of the best racing program on TV. Wind Tunne1 with Dave Despain debuted Sunday night with a load on the program’s plate beginning with the Daytona 500 and the hot button issue of Dale Earnhardt Jr. turning Brian Vickers. Despain brought in Darrell Waltrip to discuss the issues.

One interesting issue that a caller brought up was the tires and the opportunity for NASCAR to start using technology and tire sensors. The “I don’t know how it would work” that Darrell Waltrip gave doesn’t cut it. Hey NASCAR, when you go to Indianapolis this summer, drop into an IRL garage and they will show you.

Wind Tunnel announced that the program has a revamped page at SpeedTV.com. The new page features a live chat, features and a new message board. More on this later in the week.

It’s A Robin Miller Night

To balance out the NASCAR coverage, WT had Robin Miller on the program. Miller updated viewers on what is going on in the open wheel world and tackled the rumor of Danica Patrick in F1 saying it is not going to happen.

He also talked about when Sammy Swindell will retire and showed video of the Chili Bowl.

Miller said he expects Swindell to keep on racing for a while like Steve Kinser because it is all they know.

Just a quick note, the opening image at the top is a shot from WT of the lower part of the set. Often that part of the set is filled with books and die cast cars but every once and a while they recreate a racing scene from earlier in the day. The scene above is the beginning of the big wreck.

On Second Review
On that note, take a second look at be at the big wreck. Dale Earnhardt Jr. goes below the yellow line and Brian Vickers goes to block.

Notice in this shot that Vickers’ tires are also below the yellow line. Maybe that is why NASCAR assessed no penalty. We never heard from NASCAR why there was no penalty assessed which looks pretty bad. It appears if you have a NASCAR name like Wallace and Earnhardt, then you get a free pass and if you name is Vickers or Leffler then you are screwed.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. A Little Confused

Needless to say the 51st running of the Daytona 500 was a bad day for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Look at the quotes from him after the race and then look at the images and see how wrong he was.

“On the back straightaway, I was a lap down trying to get my lap back and I had a really, really good run and Brian (Vickers), he was side-by-side with somebody for the lead and I went on the inside and he drove me down, down almost into the grass below the line and I didn’t have much control over the car at that point. I was just trying to get back on the race track and I hit him in the quarter panel and spun him out.”

Actually in the images courtesy of FOX, he was nowhere near the grass. Besides the fact that you can’t go below the yellow line. Dale Earnhardt Jr. should have gotten out of the gas or figured out a way to pass Brian Vickers.

“If he’d have just held his ground, I was the lapped car. I wasn’t even racing for position. That was unfortunate.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is wrong here again, Vickers was a lapped car. Maybe his spotter or someone could have helped him on this. Here is more of the conversation of Dale Earnhardt Jr. unloading on Brian Vickers:

Reporter Question: WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE WITH THE BIG WRECK?

Jr.: "I got a run on Vickers and the guy he was beside. I went to the bottom of 'em. Vickers drove me below the line. He ran in to me and sent me below the line. I was just trying not to run into, drive in to the grass and get my car under control and try and get above the line so I get penalized for being down there, I ran in to his quarter panel and spun him out."

Reporter Question: DOES IT MATTER THAT BLOCKING WAS GOING ON?

Jr.: "He shouldn't have started that, it would have never happened. If he had held his ground, who knows? He would have probably got the back or got the position back eventually, but at that point in the race, that was pretty reckless."

Reporter Question: WERE YOU CONCERNED THAT NASCAR WAS GOING TO PENALIZE YOU?

Jr.: "Penalize me? For what? I got ran in to and sent below the line. What the hell? I don't want to go down there, I didn't aim to go down there, and I got sent down there. What the hell am I supposed to do? Then what am I supposed to do? Stay down there? No. I got to get back up on the race track. It was unfortunate man. If he wasn't so damn reckless, we would have never had that problem, that would never happen. As far as I am concerned, it is all his responsibility.”

Reporter Question: WHAT HAPPENED OUT THERE WITH YOU AND (BRIAN) VICKERS?

Jr.: "I got a run on him and he saw me coming. I had a big ole' run on him and I went to the inside. I didn't try to make no late move and try to make it some surprise or anything, I just kind of eased on over there and he went to block me and hit me in the fender and sent us both off. Sent me down toward the grass and trying to recover my car I got back into him coming back up the race track. I don't hate it for him but for everybody else that got wrecked."

Reporter Question: WAS IT ACCIDENTAL?

Jr.: "Yeah it was accidental. I didn't want to wreck the field. I mean he drove me down almost into the grass. I was trying to get back up on the race track."

Reporter Question: JEFF BURTON AND YOU HAD CONVERSATION, WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?
Jr.: "I was trying to get my lap back and I think it was three-wide and put him in the middle sometime or another on the restart and he got shuffled back to the back and wrecked and he was upset with me for making it three-wide and I should have worked with him and all that. But rains coming time to try to win the race you know what I mean. Time to try to get back on the lead lap. We had a pit stop where our right-front tire I was told was only an inch on the line and I got penalized a lap for that. I don't feel like that's a fair trade but maybe its time we re-evaluate that rule. So I had to run hard and Vickers could have just held his ground. I had a great run. I was a lapped car anyways, I wasn't battling for the lead but he drove us down in the grass almost and I didn't have much control over my car after that."

Tony Stewart Happy with New Start

This past week had a lot of ups and downs for Tony Stewart. He won the Nationwide Series race but saw racecar after racecar from his own team damaged in incidents.

“I am proud of Tony Gibson and Ryan and Darian Grubb, Bobby Hutchens and all the guys that came down here and helped to get two cars ready,” said Stewart. “Considering we lost three cars, to still have a car finish in the top-10 you can't be that disappointed. I'm really proud of everyone at Stewart Haas and real appreciative of Gene Haas and everybody at Haas Automation for giving us this opportunity.”

Stewart went on to say that he expected to see Ryan Newman have better luck in the next few weeks.

NASCAR May Consider Mandating Special Blinking Sign Color for the 88 Team
(Note: the following story is sarcasm although the quote is real)

NASCAR today announced that are strongly considering giving the No. 88 cup team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. it’s own special colored sign after listening to post race comments from Dale Earnhardt Jr. following the Daytona 500.

"If you look down this pit road, my sign is pink and every other sign is pink so it’s hard to see,” said Earnhardt responding to a question about why he missed his pit box. “They're all about the same color. Everybody says all right I'm going to make mine yellow this week then two weeks later everybody's is yellow. I was under a lot of pressure too. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to get up in there and try to lead a lap and all that and I just wasn't thinking good. I mean I can't really blame it on anybody but myself."

In following precedent set at the Daytona 500 where you just can’t penalize Jr. for fear of a riot even if he takes out eight cars in the process, NASCAR is doing what ever the golden child wants. The sanctioning organization is looking for suggestions on a color that Earnhardt will be able to see.

My suggestion is for Hendrick Motorsports to install LEDs similar to running rabbits at airports in the pavement. In a related story, NASCAR is also looking into doing away with the rule that the 88 team must pit in it’s pitbox. The new proposal is for the 88 team to pit wherever the hell they feel like including the front stretch.

Later this Week
We have a few good stories that I am working on for later this week in the blog. We will have a preview of the USAC opener at Manzanita, answer questions regarding Wind Tunnel, recap the best TV moments from Daytona and have an updated TV schedule for this weekend.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, ESPN2, Speed and NASCAR Images.

Matt Kenseth Wins the Daytona 500

Matt Kenseth Wins the Daytona 500
Matt Kenseth dodged the biggest wreck of the day to become the winner of the 51st running of the Daytona 500.

We have a lot of note to get through so let’s start at the top with the green flag.


Lap 8 and Aric Almirola brings our the fist caution of the day on lap 8 when Jamie McMurry gets out of line and Almirola gives him room.

Then Almirola gets tapped from behind and spins.

The “competition caution” comes out to check tires and tweak on the car on lap 26.

Travis Kvapil hit the wall on lap 55 bringing out the third caution of the day. During the caution, Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was just leading the race missed his turn into his pit box and went a lap down.

During the caution a commercial for AMP Energy Drink’s website gave a preview of their film of Dale Earnhardt Jr. go cat racing friends. Good cross promotion.

Scott Speed gets loose and Joey Logano moves to avoid Speed

and right into nose of Greg Biffle turning Logano around,

across the track and a hard hit into the inside barrier. Joey Logano walked away uninjured.

During the caution, FOX ran an extended commercial I mean preview for the movie Watchmen. I’m not going to gripe about the interruption but I thought the preview was a little to violent for me. It is rated R. I think they need to be a little more sensitive about violence in the movie previews.

We are now halfway and Kyle Busch is in the lead with rain on the way.

Mechanical gremlins begin to appear on lap 84 as Jeff Gordon’s camber setting results in a tire that had severe ware. Gordon pits as does San Hornish Jr. whose car is overheating.

Two laps later the caution comes out as David Stremme’s right rear tire blows as he comes onto pit road.

The rain is getting closer and only 77 laps remain

when all H-E-double hockey sticks break loose.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets a run on Brian Vickers. Vickers blocks and Earnhardt goes below the yellow line.

Instead of getting back into line, Dale Earnhardt Jr. turns Brian Vickers

right into the rest of the field wrecking eight cars and taking out several of the best performers of the race including

Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Scott Speed, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards.

The question now is, would NASCAR penalize Dale Earnhardt Jr. five laps for hard driving just like the day before when they penalized Jason Leffler during the Nationwide Series race.

“Apparently he wanted a caution really bad,” said Brian Vickers to FOX’s Matt Yokum when asked what happened.

Lets take another look at the wreck.

Notice where Matt Kenseth is. He came pretty close to being wrecked.

During the caution rain drops fell as a patch of rain moved just north of Daytona International Raceway.

Green flag and everyone is racing hard.

Caution again with 63 laps to go when Jeff Burton gets into the wall

and Paul Menard is the victim.

Green flag again with 58 laps to go. Three laps later Aric Almirola goes on an agricultural excursion when he is hit from behind by Sam Hornish Jr.

The caution was extended by rain that began to surround the track. Matt Kenseth sat in this car hoping that the rain would continue.

During the rain delay in an interview with FOX’s Dick Bergeron, Dale Earnhardt Jr. blamed Brian Vickers for causing the major pileup saying that wrecked eight cars. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went onto say he was sorry that all the cars were wrecked but he wasn’t sorry that Brian Vickers got wrecked. During the same interview he complained about the penalty that NASCAR gave him for a pitstop that was outside his pit box (his tires were on the white line). For just a moment, it appeared that Earnhardt had a god complex and nothing he could do was wrong. That can probably be chalked up to adrenaline after hopping out of the car.

After looking at radar,

NASCAR decided to call the race

and declared Matt Kenseth the winner. It was the first Daytona 500 win for Matt Kenseth and Jack Roush.

Here is where the Open Wheelers finished in the Daytona 500:
1. (Matt Kenseth)
3. A.J. Allmendinger
8. Tony Stewart
13. Jeff Gordon
14. Juan Montoya
15. Casey Mears
18. Carl Edwards
19. John Andretti
29. Kasey Kahne
32. Sam Hornish Jr
34. Robby Gordon
35. Scott Speed
36. Ryan Newman

If you missed the Daytona 500, it is slated to reair on Speed on Thursday at 12pm eastern.

Just a quick personal note, thanks for visiting Open Wheeler. We had viewers from all of the United States and Canada today. We are planning to update almost every day. Thanks again for visiting and remember, May is not that far away.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, The National Weather Service, Speed and NASCAR Images.

FOX Prerace Coverage

FOX Prerace Coverage

The prerace show starts off pretty good

with whip arounds to the various pit reporters who will be covering the days action including Krista Voda.

FOX then promotes the upcoming Keith Urban prerace concert and then an interview with Urban.

This leads us a music video with Keith Urban singing and FOX’s big push on Digger.

Digger is a cartoon creature that was created to promote FOX’s installation on lipstick cameras in racetracks for a different angle. Originally pioneered by Terry Linger and ESPN during USAC races at O’Reilly Raceway Park (back then it is IRP).

Now FOX will have an animated cartoon once a week featuring Digger in their prerace show.

Of course they will be selling Digger gear on various websites including the speed store at SpeedTV.com.

Oh yeah, they also have a Digger comic book for sale.

Thank you capitalism.

Keith Urban now takes the stage. I like his music. He has good taste in women (redheads). But I don’t like where country music is now.

Country is not Nashville, country is LA, entertainment and pop music. Its trendy folks who are good looking who happen to have a banjo. What does a dude from Australia know about the heart of country. He probably knows a lot but my point is that the days of the folks that have lived the country lifestyle becoming top country artists are over.

Now if you are pretty and you can drop a little twang into a song, you are in. Ok.. off the soap box and back to the prerace.

FOX had a few other interesting prerace stories but can’t match their sister at Speed who had three hours of programming. Overall FOX did a good job.

Ok there is the flyby, time to go racing.. gas em up… If you aren’t watching FOX, now is the time to make the move.

We will post a wrapup of the race immediately following the conclusion so please check back immediately after the race.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of FOX, Speed and NASCAR Images.

NASCAR Raceday on Speed

NASCAR Raceday on Speed
NASCAR Raceday has brought out great nuggets on your favorite Open Wheelers.

Wendy Venturini interviewed Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman on the new team and having so much in common from open wheel racing to hunting. It was a nice sit down interview that Speed does so well in their pre race coverage.

Ken Squire talked about CBS’s efforts to bring racing to the fans with the big in car cameras. Squire noted that the crews weren’t happy about carrying the heavy camera but they understood the importance of exposure.

Ken Squire also produced a look back at the first high banked Daytona 500. The piece was well written and sent chills up my spine. If you can find it out there on the web or at SpeedTV.com, it is definitely worth a look.

Wendy V caught up with A.J. Allmendinger who admitted that he cried after learning that he solidified himself in the field at Daytona for the 500. You could tell that A.J. was all giddy about the race. It is too bad reunification had not come before he left for fendered land.

Time for Picks
Speed always does a good job talking about subjects like to know about at home and they make the views feel like their friends by making picks at every race. The picks are below but I think Wendy Venturini is the closest to being right.

NASCAR on Speed picks to with the Daytona 500
Jimmy Bill Elliott
Kenny Jeff Gordon
JR Jamie McMurry
Hermie Sadler Juan Pablo Montoya
Wendy V Mark Martin

The weather is a little bit questionable but the latest radar shows the R word going north and south of the track. I am optimistic that they will get this in today.

Ok, Coverage on Speed is over, now on to FOX…

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of Speed and NASCAR Images.

Welcome to Our Coverage of the 51st Running of the Daytona 500

Welcome to Our Coverage of the 51st Running of the Daytona 500

Today is the second biggest day in racing outside the Indianapolis 500. It is a bog day for this blog and a big day for everyone that covers and follows Motorsports.

Speed has been on the air since 10am (central) and will continue with their prerace coverage until 1pm until the throw it to FOX.

As you probably know our blog went dormant for two years but is now back with the same coverage you have expected from us. We have been covering Daytona all week and now will do coverage of the big day. We will have summaries and other information throught the day including a wrap of our favorite program, Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain which airs 8-9pm (central) on Speed.Dave’s guests tonight include Darrell Waltrip and the 2009 Daytona 500 Winning Car Owner. WT will also have Robin Miller to share his thoughts on the upcoming IndyCar season.

Wendy Venturini has been doing a yeoman’s work this morning interviewing anyone and everyone in the pits.

Here she interviews Carl Edwards about his thoughts and he says he is just tingling with excitement. Yep it’s going to be a big day.

Ideas, thoughts, questions? Drop me a line at bjohnson_292@comcast.net.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of Speed and NASCAR Images.

Stewart Overcomes to Win Nationwide Race/ Newman and Stewart to Backup Cars/ The Return of Wind Tunnel/ It’s a Robin Miller Night

Stewart Overcomes to Win Nationwide Race
After suffering through a terrible final practice session which saw both of the Cup cars he owned damaged, Tony Stewart bounced back to win the Nationwide Series Race.

Former IRL pit goddess Jamie Little introduces us to the over the wall pit dude camera for 2009.

Green flag and we are off racing. Lap 17 and Michael Annett suffers a flat right rear and gets his car off the track with out incident.

On to lap 56 where Brian Keselowski spins after a little contact. The caution gave Annett lucky dog honors.

The race was on ESPN2 so that means a mandatory wreck during a commercial break. (I know it is not ESPN2’s fault but this was a trend in 2008 and their bad luck hit again in the 2009 opener.)

Jason Leffler gets into the back of Steven Wallace and Wallace goes for a ride through the grass

and then up the track

collecting Scott Lagasse Jr. and Justin Allgaier.

NASCAR handed down a five lap penalty to Jason Leffler for causing the three car pileup.

10 laps to go and Brad Keselowski has a tire go south and hits the wall.

We go green with only 7 laps left. Kyle Busch is all over Tony Stewart’s bumper

but Stewart holds off Busch and Carl Edwards for the win.

Open Wheelers Results

1. Tony Stewart
2. Carl Edwards
28. Mike Bliss
33. Jason Leffler
35. Michael Annett
40. Justin Allgaier

Newman and Stewart to Backup Cars

As we alluded to earlier Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart will start from the back of the pack following a wreck in the final practice session for the Daytona 500. It appeared that a tire on Ryan Newman’s car blew causing him to spin right in front of his car owner Tony Stewart. The accident trashed both cars enough to force the two Open Wheelers to backup cars and the back of the pack. Team owner Tony Stewart was not happy with Goodyear.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Stewart. “I’m ticked right now. I’m not happy, I’m not cordial, I’m not nice, I’m not anything right now, and I shouldn’t be. If it was because two guys wrecked and it was a driver’s mistake, that’s one thing. But a manufacturer that has the sole deal here, they don’t have any competition and they can’t give us something to keep us from having problems like this. So I don’t know. I’m just amazed at how much everybody kisses their butts right now.”

The blowout was the second one for Ryan Newman this year at Daytona. He had a tire go south on him during the Twin 125’s Thursday. Stewart with drive the car he drove in the Budweiser Shootout last weekend. Newman will now drive what was originally Tony Stewart’s backup car.

The Return of Wind Tunnel
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain kicks off their 7th season Sunday night at 9pm eastern on Speed. As tradition, the season premiere will be live from Daytona. Darrell Waltrip will co-host the show. Their featured guest will be the 2009 Daytona 500 Winning Car Owner.

It’s a Robin Miller Night
Before you give up on the season opener of WT, Open Wheelers will be well represented Sunday. The great one, Robin Miller, will be a guest on Wind Tunnel this Sunday as he shares his thoughts on the upcoming IndyCar season.

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of ESPN2, Speed and NASCAR Images.

Bodine Wins Truck Race at Daytona

Bodine Wins Truck Race at Daytona
Despite not having a sponsor on his truck, Todd Bodine and his team won the Truck Series opener Friday night at Daytona.

Camping World made it’s inaugural run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 10th race at Daytona.

The green flag dropped and six laps into the race we had problems

when TJ Bell and Brian Scott get together

and Scott then gets together with Open Wheeler Mike Bliss for our first caution.

Forty two laps later and all H-E-double-hockey-sticks break loose.

Larry Foyt was among the eight trucks that were involved in the mayhem.

The craziness claimed the trucks of

Johnny Benson, Ricky Carmichael, Mike Skinner, James Buescher, Johnny Sauter, Shane Sieg, Jason White and Larry Foyt.

A scary moment on Lap 33 when Brent Raymer got loose on the bottom coming off turn two and hit the wall very very hard.

It appeared that the throttle hung after the first hit and he hit the wall again extremely hard again.

The safety team was right on the spot and thankfully he walked away on his own power.

21 laps to go and Jason White gets into trouble when he gets together with David Star and Rick Crawford.

Last lap now and Todd Bodine holds off Kyle Busch for the win with an unsponsored truck.

A wet Todd Bodine is so excited; he celebrates by dancing in victory lane.

Terry cook finished third. Here is how the few Open Wheelers in the race finished:
1. (Todd Bodine)
3. Terry Cook
20. Larry Foyt
30. Mike Bliss

Images appearing in this blog courtesy of Speed.

Gordon wins one of the Twin 125’s/ Hey Hey AJ, We Love You/ What We Need is a Little More Voda

Gordon wins one of the Twin 125’s
Jeff Gordon will start third in Sunday’s Daytona 500 after winning one of the two Twin 125 races today at Daytona. Kyle Busch won the other 125.

Speed performed like a well oiled machine with Jeff Hammond and Krista Voda opening the show. Ahh Voda… more on her later in the blog.

The green flag dropped on the first 125 and just 3 laps into the race Kurt Busch went around.

I am over the G commercials.

The G stands for Give it up Gatorade. Plus the mimes freak me out. Back to racing.

Well maybe not. Bill Elliot’s transmission locked under caution and all H-E-hockey sticks broke loose.

Ok, G needs to take a lesson and learn to think with their dipstick. Funniest commercial of the 125’s.

Martin Truex Jr. gets sideways with 12 to go bring out the caution. Truex keeps it off the wall and after final pits tops. Not so fast my friend…

Yellow again for a big pileup with 8 to go involving Sam Hornish Jr. and several other cars. Green flag with 5 to go. Final laps and Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are fighting it out for the win.

At the line, Jeff Gordon is your winner.

“It was a great race out there today,” said Gordon. “The car was driving well. It was a lot of fun dicing it up with Martin at the beginning, and then with Tony and Jimmie, McMurray, a bunch of them. I can't even remember all the things that went on there. It was a great race.”

Tony Stewart finished second and will start 5th Sunday. Here is how the rest of the Open Wheelers finished in the 1st 125:
1. Jeff Gordon
2. Tony Stewart
7. Kasey Kahne
14. Casey Mears
16. Sam Hornish Jr.
22. Robby Gordon
25. John Andretti

125 Part 2

Now to race number two and 14 laps into the race, Boris Said gets into Scott Speed. We have our first yellow which gave Ryan Newman an important stop for tires.

The Open Wheeler’s luck wasn’t so good later in the race.

With 13 laps to go, Newman and David Reutiman get together turning the Perdue grad into the wall hard.

And Ryan Newman wanted to know why. Green flag again and Kyle Busch holds off Mark Martin and Brian Vickers for the win.

Congratulations to Busch’s spotter and Open Wheeler Jeff Dickerson for calling the win. Here are how the Open Wheelers finished:
4. Juan Montoya
8. Carl Edwards
10. A.J. Allmendinger
24. Ryan Newman
25. Scott Speed

Here is where the Open Wheelers will start for the Daytona 500:
1. (Martin Truex Jr.)
3. Jeff Gordon
5. Tony Stewart
8. Juan Montoya
15. Kasey Kahne
16. Carl Edwards
20. A.J. Allmendinger
25. Casey Mears
29. Sam Hornish Jr.
31. Robby Gordon
36. Ryan Newman
37. John Andretti
38. Scott Speed

Hey Hey AJ, We Love You
It is Valentines Day weekend and new team owner is sharing the love and respect for his racing idol. As most of you know Open Wheeler Tony Stewart debuted his new team at Daytona with fellow Open Wheeler Ryan Newman driving a second car. Stewart chose the number 14 to honor his racing hero A.J. Foyt.

The 1972 Daytona 500 winner responded by showing up on Stewart’s pit box, headset on and ready to call the shots if needed. But was A.J. really talking to Stewart? A post race conversation with the media answers that question:

Q: Tony, the TV camera showed A.J. up on your pit box with the headphones. Can you tell us, was he set up to be able to talk to you?
TONY STEWART: Oh, God, no. No, no, no (laughter). We actually had a special radio sitting there just for him. It had the button on it and everything, but it didn't do anything when you pushed the button. I'm not joking.
Q: A pretend radio?
TONY STEWART: Yeah. Can you imagine having to sit there and drive with him yelling at you all day long? I've kind of done that in Silver Crown cars a little bit. I've learned my lesson. I know better than to give him a radio he can yell into. The best part about it was when we were coming to the media center. He stopped me. He said he gave me an A minus for the day. I said, Coming from you, that's as good as an A plus from everybody else. He's your toughest critic, but at the same time he's one of our biggest fans, too. It just means a lot that he cares enough about what we're doing to want to spend the rest of the week with us here and be a part of it.

What We Need is a Little More Voda

Krista Voda grew up in Clinton, Iowa and attended the University of Northern Iowa so she was basically born with a racing gene. She has been in the FOX Sports family since reporting from the pits at NASCAR Truck races and on the set of Totally NASCAR.

When the program folded she disappeared to Pittsburgh to work for the FSN there. Thankfully Speed executives heard the cry of the fans and brought her back.

She now hosts the pre-race show for the NASCAR Truck Series. FOX executives like her so much that she is often seen reporting from the pits on Cup races and sidelines from NFL, College and baseball games.

She is a storyteller by heart and in my opinion, the best female in the business. I was told a while back that he had gotten married but I cannot confirm that. She does not wear a wedding ring but my ex investigative news reporter sensors tell me she is taken. But we can still dream.

Her website is http://www.kristavoda.com/

All images courtesy of SPEED and Fox Sports.

Open Wheeler Notes/ Pre-Race Hottie Wendy Venturini

Open Wheeler Notes:
USAC kicks off their season with the triple header, Copper on Dirt at Manzanita Speedway next weekend Feb. 20-21.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is slated to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The Mississippi Open Wheeler is scheduled to share the No. 16 CitiFinancial/ 3M Ford with Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Colin Braun. Stenhouse is slated to drive in seven races including his home track Memphis. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made his first USAC start at the dirt track at Memphis Motorsports Park back in 2004.

Jeff Gordon needed 42 starts before his first Cup win. Now with 41 starts since his last win, is he due at Daytona or will he go on the longest starts with out wins of his career?

The NASCAR Truck Series will celebrate its tenth race at Daytona this weekend. Friday’s rumble should be a great race.

Pre-Race Hottie Wendy Venturini
Wendy Venturini is one of our most searched for names.

At the time of this writing she is 30. She is a graduate of North Carolina. Ms. Venturini is the daughter of two-time ARCA Champion Bill Venturini.

Her career on Speed started with her working as a pit reporter on ARCA race broadcasts. Her professionalism was tested early as she had to report on an accident involving her older brother, Billy Venturini. She reported on his condition and the other drivers that day. You could tell that she was concerned but not shaken.

When Speed started their pre-race coverage, they invited Wendy allong for the ride. She has also served as a pit reporter in NASCAR’s truck series and became the first female play-by-play announcer in auto racing history by calling a race on one of DirecTV's NASCAR Hot Pass channels.

Perverts using search engines must really like her because they use terms like “Wendy Venturini nipple slip,” “Wendy Venturini nude” and “Wendy Venturini” topless to find her according to our tracking system which notes what websites and keywords are used to visit this site. I hate to break your hearts but she has never done nude or anything close to that. As a matter of fact she is married to Jarrad Egert, an engine tuner for Tony Stewart. Wendy is a top notch talent and a key role player in Speed’s pre-race show. Her personal website is http://www.wendyventurini.com/.

All images courtesy of Open Wheeler and Speed

Danica Gets Nearly Naked Again/ More about Manske

Danica Gets Nearly Naked Again
As promised today begins a look at your favorite female TV sports reporters. We will get to today’s feature but first some news.

Once again Danica Patrick has shed her driving suit for a swimsuit. Ms. Patrick and other female athletes and models will appear in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated. SI.com posted 34 photos of Danica like the one below on their website.

(Image courtesy of photographer Marlena Bielinska and SI.com)

The photos were shot in a New York studio with a silver Shelby Cobra 427. This is the second year in a row Danica Patrick has appeared in the SI issue.

“This year’s swimsuit photo shoot for Sports Illustrated was a lot of fun,” said Patrick, who will be featured on the cover of the May issue of Shape. “Most of the photo shoots I have done in the past have been in studios so I felt comfortable. The photos turned out great.”

The cover of the magazine features a shot of Patrick on the upper right corner of the cover. As a bonus, each of the approximately 6,000 7-Eleven stores in North America will hand out 25 commemorative Danica/IndyCar Series posters with the first 25 purchases of the Swimsuit Issue. A total of 151,500 posters have been printed, each featuring Patrick in a swimsuit along with the '09 IndyCar Series schedule.

You can find all of the photos including behind the scenes images and video on Sports Illustrated’s website by clicking here and here.

More about Manske
Nichole Manske is currently host of ESPN’s NASCAR Now. As of this writing, she is 28 years old. Manske is originally from the same hometown as Danica Patrick. In fact she went to the same high school as Danica. Danica and Nichole were both cheerleaders.

In 1998 Nichole Manske competed and won Miss Illinois Teen USA. Manske attended Northern Illinois University. Her first job was at WREX-TV. From there she went to WANE-TV and then to WISH-TV in Indy.

While there she began working for the IMS Radio Network. According to the Indianapolis Star, she has dated several drivers including Dan Weldon.

In 2006 she moved to Charlotte to work for Speed hosting The Speed Report.

While on the program her choice in clothing was a little different.

She also changed here hair rotating between blonde to brunette and finally to a funky black.

In 2008 she left Speed to go work for ESPN hosting NASCAR Now. This year the IRL announced that Nichole Manske became engaged to Penske Racing’s Ryan Briscoe who has a place in Charlotte where Penske Racing is now based. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Danica Patrick image courtesy of photographer Marlena Bielinska and SI.com. Images in the Nichole Manske article courtesy of Speed, Miss Illinois Teen USA, photographer Shawn Payne of IndyCar.com

Readers of this Blog Love Wendy and Krista/ The Return of the TV Schedule

Readers of this Blog Love Wendy and Krista
This past Saturday, this website saw its biggest traffic in a year because of folks searching for the names Krista Voda

and Wendy Venturini.

Nichole Manske was also a popular name.

Often the searches were sent by perverts that were Googling terms such as “Krista Voda engaged,” “Nichole Manske sex” and the ever popular “Wendy Venturini nude.” Since the demand is high, and Daytona is Thursday with the Twin 125’s, it is time to give you what you want. No you perverts, not naked photos but information on these talented women. Nichole Manske will be up tomorrow,

followed by Wendy Venturini and then everybody’s favorite girl next door,

Krista Voda.

The Return of the TV Schedule
With that out of the way, I am happy to bring back a favorite feature of this site and that is the TV schedule. Normally I list all of the programs that I am aware of where you can see Open Wheelers in action. This week I am also listing all practices and extra shows that will happen during the season even though they will not be listed.

A few things to note:
The good folks at Speed will rerun the Twin 125’s on Thursday night incase you were at work and missed it. The Chili Bowl runs via tape on Speed Saturday night. ESPN is replaying several Daytona 500s. Sunday marks the return of Open Wheeler’s favorite show, Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.

All times are Eastern

Wed Feb 11
11:00 am NSCS Practice SPEED

12:00 pm NCWTS Practice SPEED

2:00 pm NSCS Final Practice [for Gatorade Duel] SPEED

5:00 pm NCWTS Practice SPEED
Thu Feb 12
9:30 am Nationwide Series practice ESPN2

11:00 am NCWTS Final Practice SPEED

2:00 pm NSCS: Gatorade Duel at Daytona SPEED

7:00 pm NCWTS Pole Qualifying SPEED

9:00 pm NSCS: Gatorade Duel at Daytona (re-air) SPEED
Fri Feb 13
1:30 pm NSCS Practice SPEED

3:00 pm Nationwide Series qualifying Daytona ESPN2

7:30 pm NCWTS SetUp SPEED

8:00 pm NCWTS: NextEra Energy Resources 250 SPEED
Sat Feb 14
10:30 am NSCS Final Practice SPEED

12:00 pm NASCAR Countdown ESPN2

1:15 pm Nationwide Series Race - Daytona ESPN2

7:00 pm SPEED Report Special Edition SPEED

8:00 pm 1979 Daytona 500 ESPNC

8:00 pm Chili Bowl Midget Nationals SPEED

10:00 pm 1998 Daytona 500 ESPNC
Sun Feb 15
12:00 am 2007 Daytona 500 ESPNC

1:00 am ESPN Original Movie 3 ESPN2

11:00 am NASCAR RaceDay SPEED

2:00 pm NSCS Pre-Race Show: Daytona 500 FOX

3:20 pm NSCS: Daytona 500 FOX

7:00 pm SPEED Report SPEED

9:00 pm Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain SPEED

All images courtesy of SPEED.

The Demise of The Daily Planet

For two years the blog The Daily Planet offered commentary and coverage of how the TV folks cover NASCAR. Sadly the blog that provided insight into how NASCAR TV happened is no more. TDP at times put heat on NASCAR’s broadcast partners to perform better and I believe the folks in control listened and made the improvements. The blogosphere will never be the same.

An update on Open Wheeler..

For the past few years I had lost me password and coulden't access the blog to post. That has been remedied. More posts will be added soon.