http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/ A racing discussion with John Newsom. en Copyright 2008 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:46:07 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Lap 1: Kyle Busch drove Sonoma on Sunday like he was on a rail. Nobody was going to catch him, not even Four Time on his best days at Sonoma. That was impressive. PASS. Lap 2: I'm with the Dude on this. Last year's Sonoma race was full of suspense. This year's edition about put me to sleep. The red flag right at the end didn't exactly help. FAIL. More after the jump ... ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_passf.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_passf.shtml Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:46:07 -0500 Today's stupid question: Will a road-course ringer win Sunday's race at Sonoma? No. This has been another answer of Simple Answers to Stupid NASCAR questions. ... http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/simple_answers_2.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/simple_answers_2.shtml Simple answers Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:34:29 -0500 Lap 1: Believe it or not, Junior's 76-race winless streak wasn't the longest. That honor belongs to Ken Schrader, whose last win came 533 "gentlemen, start your engines" ago at Dover on June 2, 1991. Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip all have losing streaks well into the 100s. Mark Martin is 0-for-his-last-77. Now that Junior's off the schneid, the Biggest Loser Who Should Win Sometime Soon honors go to Kevin Harvick, who hasn't won since he took the checkers at the 2007 Daytona 500. Full list o' losers is here. More after the jump ... ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_junio.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_junio.shtml Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:00:32 -0500 Lap 1: Kyle Busch is not perfect. Second Friday night at the Truck race at Texas, 20th (and three laps down) at the Buschwide race at Nashville on Saturday night, then dead last on Sunday at Pocono in his Cup car. His 43rd at Pocono dropped his lead over Jeff Burton in the Cup standings went from 142 to 21. Normally that would have been a big deal. But Shrub is in no danger of not making the Chase, and it doesn't matter where you are in the standings going into the Chase. Call it a wash. For the record, Busch raced 788 of a possible 1,050.5 miles (75 percent). He has two wrecked Cup cars to show for it. More after the jump .. ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_pocon.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_pocon.shtml Five laps - Monday Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:55:50 -0500 ... your points leader would be Travis Kvapil! Kvapil used to baffle me. Back in 2005, Penske gave him the keys to the No. 77. Kvapil, on paper at least, looked like a decent choice -- five wins and four straight top 10 season finishes in the Truck series, including the title in 2003. He kept the truck between the walls -- always a plus for any incoming driver who didn't want to work his fab shop guys to death. But 2005 was a disaster. He racked up four DNFs in the first nine races and limped home to a 33rd-place season finish. When Kodak got out of NASCAR at the end of 2005, Penske shut down the 77 and Kvapil was out. He caught on with Cal Wells in the 32's (and Tide's) final season in 2006. That season was even worse, and Kvapil went back to the Truck Series for 2007. Funny thing was, Kvapil was very very good last year -- 4 wins, 12 top 10s and a sixth-place season finish. And this season, he's the biggest surprise next to David Ragan. Think about it. Yates was nearly DOA at the end of last season. The No. 28's sponsor deals are week-to-week, if they even exist. Kvapil had two crappy seasons in Cup. And ... he's not bad. Don't think that Kvapil's any threat to win a race, much less make the Chase -- he's not. (He's 18th overall.) But he has finished every race this season, and sometimes he's bringing it home on the lead lap. Good for here. The updated Small Team Standings after the jump. ... http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/if_small_teams_10.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/if_small_teams_10.shtml If small teams ruled ... Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:11:11 -0500 Lap 1: Mike wrestles with the Jamie McMurray-as-odd-man-out-at Roush here, and AOL does much the same here. (McMurray, meanwhile, says he's sticking around.) The calculus is pretty simple for Roush, which needs to shut down one of its five teams to get to NASCAR's max of four. A Roush stable of Kenseth (past champ), Edwards (has made three Chases in four years), Biffle (Chaser in 2005 and probably this year, too) and Ragan (up and comer) is a pretty stout bunch. McMurray, with two wins in 199 career starts and who's now 22nd in points, is clearly the fifth wheel. Would I hire McMurray? Sure, if Jeremy Mayfield or J.J. Yeley already were signed. And, yes, I know it's only the first full week of June, but it's never too early to talk Silly Season. More after the jump ... ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_betwe.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/06/five_laps_betwe.shtml Five laps - midweek Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:38:02 -0500 LAP 1: Dover had it right when it cut 100 miles off its race in 1997. You think maybe Pocono and Michigan can do the same? Five hundred miles of PocoNO! and another 400 miles at Michigan aren't exactly compelling motorsports viewing, which means I don't have much reason to tune in until Sonoma. And less of Bill Webber is a very, very good thing. More after the jump ... ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_headi_1.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_headi_1.shtml Five laps - Friday Fri, 30 May 2008 11:28:53 -0500 There's a change at the top. Bobby Labonte, thanks to an 11th-place finish Sunday night in Charlotte, vaults over both Travil Kvapil and last week's No. 1 Brian Vickers for 1st place in the Small Team Standings. Sadly, Labonte is 18th when you factor in the Big Team drivers. Which means once again the Chase will most likely go on with any Small Teamers taking part. That's not exactly unexpected. But with a third of the season down, I'd call it inevitable. Small Team Standings after the jump ... http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_9.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_9.shtml If small teams ruled ... Wed, 28 May 2008 11:37:58 -0500 1.5 mile track on its schedule? No, no it doesn't.]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/simple_answers_1.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/simple_answers_1.shtml Simple answers Thu, 22 May 2008 09:45:38 -0500 Yes, yes he would. This has been another edition of "Simple Answers To Stupid NASCAR Questions."]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/simple_answers.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/simple_answers.shtml Simple answers Tue, 20 May 2008 10:22:34 -0500 Lap 1: Shhhhh! Jay "From the Marbles" Busbee is still asleep after Saturday night's race. Dustin Long breaks down the weekend's most boring race. And if you're still not convinced that it ranked down there with watching water boil or defragmenting your PC, read Ed Hardin's column. More after this jump ...]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_after.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_after.shtml Five laps - Monday Mon, 19 May 2008 12:04:38 -0500 Release.) The fact that McCumbee (one of the 2007 subs) is back is good news for him and his career, though I suspect he wants steadier work in the Cup series, not to mention a full-time Busch ride from someone. But the Terry Labonte selection disappoints me. It's clear he's going to be behind the wheel because (a) he's available (though he's technically retired -- long story) and (b) he has the much-coveted Past Champion's Provisional, NASCAR's version of the Get Out of Jail Free But In Reverse card. So why not Richard? He wouldn't cost Petty a dime (and they're cheap cheap cheap), and he's three years younger than James Hylton, who turned a 185 mph lap in Daytona practice last year. * The All-Star race continues to disappoint (entry list): There's only one Small Teamer, and that's Bobby Labonte. Maybe Robby Gordon or Carl Long will race his way in. * Some vintage Wood Brothers love. How cool would it be to see this on the track? How cool would it be to see the 21 in anything other than a shot of it dropping oil and sheet metal after a wreck? * Hey, it's not just Joe Nemechek's fault. * Post-post update: Bob Pockrass explains why Jon Wood won't be racing Saturday. You think NASCAR would pull this on Hendrick or Roush? ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_8.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_8.shtml If small teams ruled ... Wed, 14 May 2008 14:41:17 -0500 Lap 1: Yes, Shrub can wheel a race car. There's never been much doubt about that. But the way the guy won Saturday night was scary. He had the loose lug nut problem early, then bounced the car off the wall about every other lap after that. Jimmie Johnson has a knack (or used to, anyway) for starting out bad, working his way back through the field and coming out on top. KyBusch is pulling a page from that playbook. Lap 2: Dustin Long's story implies that there are Kyle Busch fans out there. I really, really doubt it. Unless, of course, I missed the new practice of throwing beer cans at someone you like. Is it like throwing AA batteries at right fielders? Kids today. More after the jump ... ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_two_d.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_laps_two_d.shtml Five laps - Monday Mon, 12 May 2008 12:40:56 -0500 Here are your Small Team Standings after the Richmond race. Bobby Labonte (13th at Richmond) made up a ton of ground on Brian Vickers (28th). David Gilliland (41st) was your big loser and dropped from second to fourth. Look who squeezed into the top 10 -- Furniture Row Joe! But that's mostly because Mike Skinner hasn't raced since Phoenix. Vickers, meanwhile, your best-placed Small Teamer, is 17th in the real world. Your Small Team Standings after the jump. http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_7.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/if_small_teams_7.shtml Wed, 07 May 2008 09:15:58 -0500 Lap 1 (the wife): So, who won the race last night: Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ...... Lap 2 (wife again, prying what's left of the Sports section from my hands): Kyle Busch won? Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ...... The interview continues after the jump. ]]> http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_lap_primal.shtml http://blog.news-record.com/staff/spotter/2008/05/five_lap_primal.shtml Mon, 05 May 2008 11:10:39 -0500