News-Record.com

This little bend below the bumper to be the key to NASCAR's Car of the Future. At least that's the take of this story.

I'm not sure why it's being called a splitter. Think of it as a recessed nose, or rather a recess underneath the bumper. The Charlotte paper had the best picture. Since it's not online, this picture essay will have to do.

Here's the current version - specifically, the No. 8 Budweiser machine. You remember this car - high hopes, poor season, didn't make the chase? Notice the nose of the car:

See how it goes more or less in a straight line from the edge of the hood to the track?

Now take a look at this Truck Series bumper:

Sorry for the poor quality pic, but AP didn't give me much to work with. Anyway ... see how the truck nose kicks back in toward the nose?

NASCAR's COF has the same feature. NASCAR.com has a picture of Jeff Burton's ride, the one that took a spin through the front stretch Monday.

The Scotsman has side views.

Diecast Dude, meanwhile, likes the idea of a COF.

Update #1 (Tuesday night): The super secret site for those media type has a good picture of a splitter. Here's Kyle Petty's car:

See how the nose juts forward, then is pulled back?

See how there's actually a bumper on the car?

The proprieter at One Bad Wheel lives about 15 minutes from Texas Motor Speedway, and he reports a hauler sighting or three.

The Fort Worth paper, meanwhile, has an update on Francis Ferko (reg. req.), the TMS shareholder who sued NASCAR and ISC on antitrust grounds to get a second Cup date for the Texas track.

Since filing suit in 2002, Ferko got fired and moved to Atlanta. He and his wife are heading toward a divorce, and his 20-year-old son killed himself.

The kicker on the story:

"I'm a fan first, and that's why I got involved," Ferko said. "I really believed that what I did was right and that Texas deserved its race."

I know OBW is excited about having a race down the road from him today, and I don't blame him a bit. But I still think the Rock would be a much better place for a Chase race. That tricky little mile-and-change track always had good, close-quarters racing, and Texas is .... well, just fast.

At least The Rock is getting some use unlike, say, some other former stops on the Cup circuit that have been treated like someone's crazy old uncle who lives in a cabin in the woods.

Update #1: thatsracin.com, bless their hearts, has a no-registration-needed version of the Ferko story I mentioned above. It's here.

Today's quote:

"I was recently in the Big Apple for a day. Just enough time to see that in a city made up of residents from all over the world, NASCAR is the only thing that's foreign." (link)

Here's a tip from someone who lived in Manhattan for three years: Everyone is from somewhere else. And many of those people do (and have done) pretty well for themselves in the city.

Why not NASCAR?

P.S. Props to Krista Voda for finding the one person in North America too stupid to know that Danica Patrick doesn't drive in NASCAR. Kudos.

True story: A few years ago before I got married, I got suckered into going to one of those bridal shows with my bride-to-be. As I'm standing outside the Greensboro Coliseum's Special Events Center, I noticed a lot of guys wearing camo and carrying shotguns. Seems the other side of the coliseum was hosting an outdoors show.

Apparently this men-to-the-left, women-to-the-right sort of event pairing is pretty common 'round these parts. I think it's clever -- it's fun for the whole family, after all.

So it's in that something-for-everyone spirit I mention this:

Harlequin to publish NASCAR romance novels

and

The Coors Light car will run a camoflague paint scheme this weekend.

It gets worse.

Here's the promo copy from the first book in the series: "In the Groove."

She wouldn't know a NASCAR star if he hit her with his car-and he just did.

Sarah was a kindergarten teacher until a sleazy ex-boyfriend got her fired. Now the only job she can find is driving the motor coach for racing star Lance Cooper...whoever that is. Sarah doesn't know a thing about NASCAR—she just needs a job, and she’s off to a rocky start when she doesn't even recognize her ultra-famous boss.

Lance can't help but notice Sarah’s sweet smile—and how seriously unimpressed she is with his fame. It's a reaction that peaks his interest--that is, until things get a little too friendly on the bus. But Sarah has no interest in Lance's jet-setting life; she'd rather deal with spit balls than one super sexy race car driver.

But when things begin to heat up on the track, Sarah begins to wonder if life in the fast lane might be a detour worth taking—and if maybe, just maybe, she might be able to take a famous race car driver down a rocky road to find love.

I got that from the home page of the author, whose backlist includes "Dangerous Curves," "Seduced" and "Red Hot Santa." ("Red Hot Santa," by the way, could be a good nickname for somebody.)

And just when you think things can't get any stranger, there's this from the Ganassi release:

Along with the paint scheme, Coors Brewing Company launched a truly unique, one-of-a-kind package, the camouflage can. The 2005 Coors and Coors Light Camouflage Can is the ideal beer container for the American outdoorsman. This packaging will be available in certain markets through November 2005. NASCAR fans - be sure to pick up a case of 16-ounce Coors/Coors Light Camouflage Cans to complete your racing/hunting experience.

Beer and shotguns are fine by themselves. But together? Maybe you ought to stay out of the woods this month unless you're using a blaze orange beer coozie.

When Kyle Petty looks at NASCAR's Car of the Future, he sees a 1974 Dodge Charger, according to Ed Hinton. (You are reading Hinton each week, right?)

The King himself said the '74 Charger was a sweet ride:

"(It was) probably the best overall car we ever had. Sure, we had it about five or six years and had a lot of time to work on it. ... The car was just good on everything. It didn't matter if it was a short track, superspeedway or road course. It was just a good overall car. This was a real universal car."

Sweet indeed.

Previous coverage here.

Dustin Long reports from Texas:

The No. 40 (Sterling Marlin - the first picture) and the No. 1 (Truex Jr.) both will be running camouflage paint schemes this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Because both cars aren't in the chase, they're choosing to go incognito this weekend.

*rimshot*

Thanks, I'll be here all week.

So what's on your mind going into Sunday's race?

So where will Bobby Labonte be driving in 2006?

One set of rumors (untrue, at least for the moment) has B-Lab driving the No. 42 car next year so Jamie McMurray can drive the No. 97 and Kurt Busch can move to the No. 2.

Kyle Petty, meanwhile, says he would love to have him drive the No. 43: "If you can get Robbie Loomis and Bobby Labonte in the same year, (the media) might come by the truck and talk to me again. That would be huge for us."

T-Lab, meanwhile, Bobby Labonte's older brother, has picked up some part-time work in 2006.

Silly Season is making my head hurt, too.

P.S. In all seriousness, is this the best that Bobby Labonte can do? Ganassi has a crew of talented young drivers who don't seem to be able to find their way into Victory Lane, and Petty is ... well, and I hate to say this, just turning laps. Those two teams have combined for exactly four wins in four Cup seasons, and Marlin, the guy who Ganassi is kicking to the curb after this season, has two of those wins from way back in 2002.

Gibbs, meanwhile, hasn't gone out of its way to say B-Lab will be back in '06.

The guy has 21 career wins and seven season top 10-finishes, including the 2000 Cup title, for crying out loud. He deserves better.

Dustin reports from Texas:

Ryan Newman won the pole for Sunday's race, then smacked the wall on his second lap.

He's fine, but his car isn't.

I think that's the end of Newman's championship hopes. I'm surprised he lasted this long.

Here is your race lineup.

Today's race doesn't start until 4, so if you're looking for an excuse to get out of raking leaves (and they've all decided to fall today here at Casa Del Spotter), here are some things to occupy your time:

Gil LeBreton of the Ft. Worth Star Telegram: Racing sure has changed a lot since the old days.

John Sturbin, LeBreton's fellow columnist: Texas Motor Speedway is one ornery track.

The Scotsman is doing his usual stout job of photo- and word-blogging all of the Cup/Busch/Truck goings-on this weekend.

File under "N" for "No kidding (/sarcasm": David (The Blogger, Not the Driver) Green discovers race tracks outside the south: "Fellow Southerners, you may not want to read this, but it's true: We don't have a monopoly on any form of auto racing, not even stock cars."

One Bad Wheel has pictures from TMS. (He has a great seat.)

Diecast Dude and CJ don't like crying in victory lane. (My take: I'm tired of public displays of grief. But if Kevin Harvick had wanted to mourn in peace, he would have stayed home this weekend.)

Burney Lamar (one of the great names in racing these days) will drive the No. 77 next season in the Busch Series for Kevin Harvick

Virginia Tech football: Overrated (Had to add that - there are other things going on in sports this fall other than football. Plus, it's true.) Our sister paper in Roanoke has pics, audio and more.

Y'all have fun. I'll catch you after the race.

With two to races to go, the points race looks like this:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson, -38 points
3. Carl Edwards, -77
4. Greg Biffle, -122
5. Mark Martin, -123
6. Matt Kenseth, -135

It's still Stewart's points race to lose, and you know he was the unhappiest guy in the state of Texas today when Johnson passed him late in the race AND Carl Edwards got smaller and smaller out his windshield.

Watch that Carl Edwards. He's a-comin'.

Did you see how many people were cheering his win today? Next to maybe Mark Martin, Edwards *might* be the most popular driver in the chase. (Lots of people like Stewart, too, but a lot of people can't stand him.)

So what did you think of the race? Did the last 20 or so laps make up for an unspectacular first 300?

Use the comments below to let me know what's going on this week in racin'. I've got to spend the next four days with my sponsor, er, corporate overlords, er, these people who own the newspaper that signs my paychecks. I don't know if I'll have computer access (it's about as probable as Jason Leffler getting a Cup ride in 2006), and it's that being connected to the Internet thing that makes the whole blogging venture work.

So let me know what I'm missing, go visit some of the bloggers to the right, and feel free to spam up the comments with racin' talk. Be nice. See you Friday.

What a week to be out of action. (I blame my corporate overlords.)

Since I last checked in:

* The Kurt Busch-to-Penske and McMurray-to-Roush moves finally happened.

* Ricky Rudd will retire, sort of.

* Brian France stuck it to Jack Roush and Terry Labonte. Better, NASCAR will limit testing to specific tracks.

* Joe Gibbs Racing cut loose Bobby Labonte, who will drive the No. 43 next season. (Way cool.)

Needless to say, Dustin Long has been busy this week. And it's a good thing. Otherwise you would have ended up with the coverage like I got in my hotel-delivered USA Today: short and buried inside the paper.

It's good to be back. More later.

Lots of people have written plenty about the former driver of the No. 97. The Scotsman has his take. The Dude goes sarcastic. Marc has questions.

Roush Racing's Geoff Smith: "We're officially retiring as Kurt Busch's apologists."

Kenny Wallace, who drove the No. 97 to a 16th-place finish yesterday:
"Kurt hasn't been running in the top 10 either."

Ouch.

And then I wondered how Matt was taking it. Matt, who runs The Catfish Show racing blog, was one of my first two regular commenters when this place opened for business back in February. (Mark-with-a-k is the other).

Matt was and still is the only Kurt Busch fan I have ever encountered. Would he defend his guy? Nope. He has run out of patience: "I'm retiring as a Kurt Busch fan, I'm done with him. Have fun at Penske. It's been a great ride man, but honestly, you have too many things wrong with you if thats the kind of person you are."

That sound you heard was the sound of a fan's heart breaking.

But because Matt is young, he's already got a new favorite driver picked out. (Hint if you didn't click the link above: He'll be the guy driving the No. 97 next season.)

Speaking of new drivers ... I wonder if Miller Lite is looking at other options? You have to figure there have been a lot of frantic phone calls between Penske, Miller and Busch. I'd be worried if I were any of those three parties.

Tuesday update: Excrutiating detail on the Kurt Busch arrest from the East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune; read it here.

When you say this -- "Usually, things in the media are false and that's just what it comes down to sometimes" -- to a roomful of reporters, don't expect the assembled media types to show you a lot of love.

Those are fightin' words to reporters.

Then again, the media you so love were the ones who portrayed you as the clean-cut, boy-next-door good guy to your older brother, the brash, edge-of-disaster driver in the black hat.

Guess we got that wrong, too, huh, Kyle?

I was cleaning out my IE bookmarks this morning and found this list of predicted winners as picked by some of the nation's top racin' writers.

Back in February, a lot of those guys (Dustin Long included) thought Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson looked like good bets. Newman, Martin, McMurray and Earnhardt Jr. all got votes.

Did anyone pick Tony Stewart? That would be a big fat no.

Hmmm. Maybe Kyle Busch was right.

The original Greensboro racin' blogger has left AOL for Blogspot. Think of it as leaving, oh, I dunno, Roush Racing for Penske, but without the brush with the law.

It looks like The Scotsman is in reruns for a couple of days until he gets the new site tested and tuned. His new site is here. Make sure to update your bookmarks.

Stay tuned ...

Update, 2 p.m.: It's silly season among the racing blogs, too. The Diecast Dude is drafting behind The Scotsman and heading to blogspot as well. He rips AOL's new banner ads here, which is why he and Bram both made the move.

I'd be irritated, too, if I were blogging on my time. But I'm blogging on company time, so, yeah, The Spotter always will have ads.

What, you thought I was doing this because I loved to ramble on about racin'? ;)

Thursday update: CJ's Happy Hour also has a new home.

Based on everything I've seen so far -- one pole and three top 10s in six starts -- I'd say Denny Hamlin will make some noise in 2006.

Maybe that's my Virginia bias showing. With Ricky Rudd retiring and Elliott Sadler, uh, not succeeding, I need someone from my home state to pull for.

Dustin Long has a story on him in today's paper. Read it here.

Said Hamlin when he was recalling his first victory as a kid: "I remember passing everybody and wondering why everybody was so slow."

I wonder if he thinks the same thing about his Cup races. Some days it seems that way.

A couple of blog posts here over the past little bit have been ... what's that word? ... wrong.

A commenter in this post about recent testing of NASCAR's car of the future schooled me in automotive stuff -- specifically, the difference between a bumper, a valance and a splitter.

Take a look at this picture:

You all know what a bumper is. Look at the front bumper. The thing that hangs down underneath that kicks back toward the tires is the valance. (On current stock cars, the valance is flush with the bumper, which makes Cup cars look like they have one big bumper than hangs almost to the track.)

And the splitter? Look at that white strip at the very front of the car. It's the thing that looks like a little shelf, a place for little tiny race trophies. That is the splitter. Go back and read the comments section (it's the last one) for Don's full explanation of how it works. Thank you, sir.

Also, the Oct. 25 post that mentioned Ryan Moore got a little loose in the corners, too. If Moore, the hotshot driver from New England, has been fired from his DEI development deal, no one told him. He'll try to take the No. 81 for a spin in Saturday's Busch race. The No. 81, Junior fans will know, is the Chance 2 car that Martin Truex used to drive.

Anything else I messed up? Shout it out in the comments below.

By the way, my Carl-Edwards-to-win-the-chase wasn't as nearly as far off as I thought it would be, thank you very much.

And Ed Hardin's prediction about Roush and Busch was downright eerie:

Ed Hardin tells me he thinks Busch is the best driver with the best team and the best stuff. But he's not so sure Busch and Jack Roush won't kill each other before the season's over.

Whoa.

The AP's Mike Harris has the scoop du jour: A chat with Kurt Busch.

The highlights:
* Kurt said he had one drink during dinner with his fiancee.

* Kurt, say the cops, accused a deputy of being a Jeff Gordon fan.

Dustin, meanwhile, caught up with Greg Biffle: "Yeah, he acted like a jerk. Yeah, he might have been speeding or done something that he shouldn't have. But are those grounds for taking him out of the race car and not letting him drive for Crown Royal ... when alcohol wasn't even a factor in the whole thing?"

John Sturbin with the Ft. Worth paper says the Busch episode shows how cruel life in NASCAR can be.

Update 1 (10:10 a.m.: Dustin pointed me to the police report and traffic ticket. The police report is here. The citation is here.. (Warning: Both are PDF files)

Update 2 (10:20 a.m.): Matt Crossman at the Sporting News says Busch is not a bad guy away from the track.

Update 3 (10:30 a.m.): The name of Busch's fiancee is blanked out of the report. Her name is Eva Bryan. Scroll down a bit for pictures of the happy couple. See if you can find one of them with a certain 2004 presidential candidate.

The AP story is after the jump ...

Lee Spencer of the Sporting News writes this week about the Busch-Roush incident.

Spencer starts out this way: "Jack Roush made the right call." Agree or disagree, Spencer lays out her case.

But she concludes the column this way: "Penske needs to hire a public relations expert who specializes in damage control and can clean up this latest mess. It would be a shame if Busch's career ended before it really started." (emphasis mine)

I think I've finally seen everything in journalism: A reporter who wants more P.R. people to deal with, especially a type of the species who is paid by the lie.

I think the Valentine's Day-to-Thanksgiving Cup season is starting to wear on some people.

This little item intrigued me: When Jamie McMurray climbs behind the car at Daytona, he'll be driving the No. 26, not the 97.

My first thought was, Man, that Jack Roush is wicked ticked off at Kurt Busch. And that might be the case. (Heck, it probably is. Roush has probably burned every piece of 97 crapola he has found. Matt probably helped. But I digress.)

My second thought was, What's up with the No. 26? I'm a relative newcomer to racin', which means that if you say "17" I'll think "Kenseth" when most everyone else will think "Waltrip" first.

Obviously some car numbers have instant associations. The 3. The 8. The 24. And on and on.

But the 26? Hmmm. Nothing. To the archives we go. (You can follow along here.)

The last time the No. 26 motored around a Cup race was at Homestead in 2002. Geoffrey Bodine drove the Discover Card Ford and finished 32nd. Brother Todd had driven it most of the season but missed the final race that season with a back injury.

Here's the No. 26 as it looked back then. It's a hot-looking car. Too bad the only time you saw it was when it was spinning out or running into something, and this is believed to be the only picture of this particular model without a dent or scratch on it.

The winner of the 2002 Homestead race, by the way, was ... Kurt Busch. That's weird.

Even stranger is the story about the last time the No. 26 was in victory lane. Trust me ... you'll want to check this out in the jump ...

I just wrote an epic post on how Tony Stewart will win today's race and the championship and how great it will be because it will move him from "good driver" to "historic racing figure" and ...

Well, stupid Movable Type ate it. Seems the blog software will delete your post if you play around with the time/date feature and goof it up. (No, I didn't save an earlier draft. That would make too much sense now, wouldn't it?)

So here's the recap of what I had written:

* Stewart will win today's race because he's that kind of guy. Remember this year's Brickyard?

* In 2006, Stewart will be one of two full-time drivers (Jeff Gordon is the other) with two or more Cup titles. That's epic.

* A Stewart win is the best thing that could happen to NASCAR right now. The last two champs (Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth) haven't done much for most people. You either like Stewart or hate him. Plus, I'd rather see Stewart do the post-season talk-show rounds than most of the drivers out there. Yes, image matters. A lot.

There's a lot of other stuff is being written this weekend about Stewart. So go read. And don't forget: The race starts at 4-ish.

Man, was my prerace assessment dead wrong. Stewart had a terrible car Sunday night at Homestead and had to points-race his way to the title.

There's nothing wrong with that. I (and you, too) would have driven like you had the groceries in the back seat if you were languishing back there in 15th place and Carl Edwards was eating your lunch up front.

The result was Stewart's second championship. Dustin Long puts his title in context: Tony Stewart proved Sunday he is one of this era's best NASCAR drivers. The question becomes where the 34-year-old will rank before he's finished.

Mark Martin's post-race comment ("Tony Stewart, in my eyes, is the greatest race car driver I've watched drive in this era. ... Tony Stewart is my driving hero.") was a little over the top because Jeff Gordon can make a pretty good case for their guy.

But there's no arguing this point: Tony Stewart is pretty darn good behind the wheel of a race car. Right now, there's no one better.

Argue with me in comments.

Additional reading: The happiest racin' blogger in the world celebrates here, or you can go gloat over at the free or pay official sites.

Here's Reason No. 612 I like living in North Carolina:

If you spend $50 on race stuff or give $25 to Speedway Children's Charities on Friday, you can take a 2-lap spin at Lowe's Motor Speedway in your own ride.

The name of this annual event: the 2005 Souvenir and Race Ticket Blow-Out.

Does this mean Humpy Wheeler has a wicked sense of humor or is seriously irony-impaired?

Either way, I think you'd be better off walking the track this year.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. What are you thankful for?

Besides family, friends, health, home and all of that.

Me, I'm thankful that the 2006 Daytona 500 is just 88 days away.

And I'm thankful that a few people read and comment on this blog.

Give thanks for what you're thankful for in the comments.

Happy thanksgiving, everyone.

One of the more amusing weekly reads in the NASCAR world is Dale Earnhardt Jr's post-race report -- specifically, the radio chatter. It always tells me a little more about the guy driving the No. 8. Like, who knew he was such a sports fan? Then again, maybe he should be worrying a little more about his car than about the Washington football team.

Either way, here's the report from the final race of the season last Sunday at Homestead, where Junior finished the race and the season in 19th place:

It's never too early to start thinking about the 2006 Nextel Cup season. Although N&R racing writer will be on vacation for most of December -- he'll resurface to cover a Panthers home game for us -- he's already got his preliminary picks for '06. They ran in Friday's paper, but that package isn't online. So here they are.

Remember, this is a guy whose preseason pick in 2005 was Jimmie Johnson and his chase pick (after the Richmond race) was Greg Biffle.

Dustin's 2006 picks are after the jump:

Dan Wheldon, the 2005 IRL and Indy 500 champ, has bolted from Andretti Green Racing and signed with Chip Ganassi.

Yep, that Chip Ganassi, who ran off Sterling Marlin and let Roush poach Jamie McMurray. Landing Wheldon is good news for Ganassi, who needs some positive buzz after a disappointing NASCAR season.

It's huge news for IRL. This would be like your 2005 NASCAR champ Tony Stewart jumping to, well, Ganassi.

The official release is here.

One of the more useful skills I learned when covering K-12 education was how to read press releases. Specifically, I figured out how to find what was missing. This little skill came in handy, especially when Guilford County Schools was announcing one of its mid-summer principal shuffles and I had to figure out which principal had suddenly decided to take care of an ill family member, move out of state or dig out those retirement papers.

That skill came in handy when I was looking through this convoluted little note from Robert Yates Racing.

Here's the short version: Todd Parrott, Dale Jarrett's past and most recent crew chief, is the odd man out. Again.

Slugger Labbe is now Jarrett's tenth different crew chief since 2001, when Parrott got promoted at Yates and later ended up as Elliott Sadler's crew chiew. In order, Jarrett's crew chiefs have been Jimmy Elledge, Parrott (he replaced Elledge after six races in 2002), Brad Parrott (Todd's brother), Garth Finley, Richard Buck, Shawn Parker, Mike Ford (who quit in May 2005), Billy Wilburn (who was fired in September), Parrott again (for the final 10 races) and now Labbe.

Parrott was atop Jarrett's pit box for two of DJ's three Daytona 500 wins, 26 wins and the 1999 Cup championship. Since Parrott gave up the gig after the 2001 season, Jarrett's done a big bunch of not much.

I'd trade this little skill of reading between the lines of press releases for a glimpse inside the Yates/Jarrett camp. What in the heck is going on in there?

Always amusing:

Stewart, Roush, Patrick reap auto racing honors
By Ed Hinton
The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. — Because I have never endeared myself to many, if any, of the corporate sponsors of motor racing, I still can't find funding to rent the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York for my annual awards ceremonies.

So once again, these much-coveted citations for achievement — real and dubious, serious and absurd — must be presented on paper.

The year's events have dictated an unprecedented category, the Cactus Jacks, which we will save for late in our program. But let's get started.