Dale Jarrett In The TV Booth?

It seems more commonplace that you see Dale Jarrett in the TV booth as a commentator than you do in the UPS sponsored Toyota. It didn't seem like a good idea to me when Mikey Waltrip signed him to a two year contract to drive his second car. Then again, it didn't seem to be a good idea for Toyota to form two new teams. But I have to say that Dale does a great job as a commentator, much better than Rusty Wallace, Andy Petrie or Tim Brewer. Boy do I miss Benny Parsons!

Since it is obvious Dale is way past his prime as a racer, this would be a good time for him to follow in his fathers footsteps and go full time into TV land. He is an articulate and knowledgeable commentator who will bring credibility to a broadcast. He would more than offset the below par people ESPN currently have. If I have to hear Rusty say "Hot Rod" one more time I think I'll have to turn the sound off. But seriously, like many great baseball players who left the game too late, it's time for Dale to step into his new career and say good bye to "The Truck".

Tony Stewart Wins The Brickyard 400

Indiana native Tony Stewart won The Brickyard 400 for the second time with a dominant performance in his Joe Gibbs Chevy Monte Carlo. Stewart led the most laps and ran up front for most of the race, a race that saw some heavy crashes, fire burning cars and a few ticked off drivers. But in the end Stewart was able to pick off Kevin Harvick as the handle went away on his RCR Chevy. Juan Pablo Montoya had his best qualifying and finishing position, both second places as his displayed consistency throughout the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good car at the start, good enough to lead several laps and stay with Stewart, but some bad pit work and decisions put him back in the pack. He made his way up to the front again only to blow an engine late in the race and finish well back in the pack.

As most of the season has gone, it was a Chevy dominated race with only the two Gannasi Dodges finishing in the top ten. With wonder boy Jeff Gordon finishing third and teammate Kyle Busch fourth it was another strong showing for Hendrick Motor Sports. Jimmie Johnson had a scary crash when he cut a tire at 200 plus and hit the wall a ton, causing a big fire and his quick departure out of the burning wreck. Luckily he was able to walk away uninjured and ready to race next week in Pocono. For some reason Kevin Harvick had a beef with Tony after the finish as he went up to his car and rubbed fenders in an unsportsman type manner. He was called to the Nascar trailer for s talking to by the officials, but I didn't see anything wrong with the way Stewart raced him at the end. I am generally a Harvick fan ever since he took over the car from my favorite drive Dale Earnhardt, but he can be a big cry baby sometimes. So come on Kevin, stop crying, you got beat by a faster car, so take it like a true racer and go on to the next race. Congrats to Tony Stewart for a well deserved victory at the most famous racetrack in the world, a racetrack that once again hosts the most popular race in the US, The Brickyard 400!

Alonso Wins In The Rain In Germany

In what was a chaotic and interesting F1 race, Fernando Alonso came away with an impressive victory in the European Grand Prix at The Nurburgring. After a very strange and scary first lap were torrential rain fell on the circuit, the field was set after a red flag when order had to be restored. The big loser at the beginning was Kimi Raikkonen who missed the pit in during the downpour and had to stay out another lap before changing to rain tires. All the other front runners came in to change tires but the intermediate tires did nothing to improve traction and the full wets probably would not have helped either. One by one cars were going off in the first corner, including Lewis Hamilton who started in tenth because of his accident in Q3 a day earlier.

After a red flag halted the race for several minutes a suprise was at the front of the field prior to the restart. Markus Winkelhock of the Spyker team had come into the pits to change to intermediate tires on the formation lap and assumed the lead when every other driver pitted. However, it was a short lived lead as the restart left him in a precarious position with the Ferrarri of Massa and McClaren of Alonso hot on his tail. Massa did a good job keeping Alonso at bay in the wet and Lewis Hamilton had to battle from a lap down but could not get into the points as he finished ninth.

As in most cases, rain in a Formula 1 race is a great equalizer as many of the slower cars fair far better as was evident with Mark Webber finishing on the podium in fourth for the Red Bull team. Poor Kimi had more bad luck as he was running a strong third when what was called an hydraulic failure put him out. Was he out of fuel? But when rain came again with eight laps to go and all came in to switch to rain tires again, Massa was no match for Alonso as the Spaniard passed him with ease and went on to a much deserved victory. With Hamilton out of the points Alonso is now within two points of the lead and a forced to be reckonded with. I feel that with his retirement Raikkonen is now out of the picture as once again the fastest man in F1 will not win the championship. Some drivers just don't have enough good luck to finish on top! Let's hope for another interesting F1 race in Hungary in two weeks.

Where Will Ford End Up?

I just read a story about how Teresa Earnhardt and DEI acquired the Ginn racing team, making her Chevrolet backed organization stronger. With their engine partnership with RCR and the development of the new Chevy R07 engine, DEI has positioned itself to be competitive with the other Chevy teams as well as the other manufacturers. With Toyota now in the mix and presumably willing to spend money and add more teams, were does this leave Ford? Take away the Rousch teams, which will be limited to four next year, what presence will Ford have in NASCAR? How can the biggest name in the history of American car making be so compromised on the racing scenes biggest stage?

I would assume Ford's recent money woes have put them in a position of being also rans in the world of NASCAR. How long will it be before Honda, Nissan, BMW or Mercedes put their hats in the ring and start to compete for the biggest prize in American Racing? It has been my personal experience to have owned and operated no less than seven Ford Taurus' so I find it hard to understand on a consumer level Ford's diminished role in NASCAR. If memory serves me they have had only five championships in the last twenty years at the Cup level, whereas Chevy has had thirteen. When Jack Rousch went on a tantrum about kicking Toyota's ass when they entered cup competition, who's attention was he trying to solicit, Toyota or Ford? At the time I presumed the former but now I am not so sure. Anyone have any answers for the blue oval? If Ford and Dodge don't wake up in the next five years, Chevy may be the last American standing in this dreamland we call NASCAR.

Stewart Ends Victory Drought At Chicagoland

Tony Stewart ended his string of races without a victory as he dominated the field at the Chicagoland Speedway to notch his 30 career Nextel Cup Victory. On one of NASCARS cookie cutter 1.5 mile ovals, Stewart had the car to beat all day. The only other car that could have given him a fight was Jimmie Johnson and he had the misfortune of cutting a tire late in the race and hitting the wall a ton to end a good run for the Lowes racing team. Dale Jr. had a good run going until he lost his power steering late in the event which probably cost him a top five finish.

If NASCAR wants to make the racing a little more interesting I wish they would start by racing on some different types of racetracks. All you kept hearing yesterday was track position and clean air and if you didn't have either than you were never going to pass anybody. Instead of these run of the mill tracks why not race on a modified oval, like the one they ran on in Nazareth, PA. It had one straight and a dogleg turn, something challenging within the track to make the drivers race and not follow each other. It gets to the point were you don't remember what track your looking at. Was that Chicago or Kansas? Charlotte or Texas? Booooooooooooooooooooooring! Anyway, congrats to The Home Depot team and Tony Stewart for a long awaited win and now a week off and then off to Indy were the racing may be a little better.

Raikkonen Wins British GP For Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen won the British Grand Prix in convincing style over the McClaren duo of Alonso and Hamilton for his third victory of the year. It was evident from the first stint that Raikkonen's Ferrari was faster than the McClaren of pole sitter Hamilton. With a heavier fuel load Raikkonen was able to keep pace with the rookie sensation and was noticeably quicker prior to the first pit stop. Alonso used a short fuel fill on his first stop to leapfrog into the lead, but Kimi had a longer and quicker second stint that put him back in the lead after the second stop and he coasted to the victory. Philippe Massa had the misfortune of stalling his engine on the starting grid and started the race from the pit lane. It was fun to watch him carve his way trough the field as he was much faster than all but the first four finishers.

The BMW's of Kubica and Heidfeld were again strong runners and it will be nice to see them step up to the next level and start pushing for pole position and eventually a race win. The competition this year seems to be a bit more spread out, mainly because of the retirement of Michael Schumacher and the use of a single tire source in Bridgestone. Formula 1 can be very fickle as just two races ago everyone wanted to write of Kimi Raikkonen as a bust for Ferrari but now he is the driver winning races as all thought he would be. Just goes to show you everybody loves a winner, and right now Kimi is a winner.

Fantastic Finish In Daytona

In what had to be one of the most increadable finishes in recent history, Jaimie McMurray beats Kyle Busch by not more than the width of the front bumper to take the victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. A much deserving and long awaited victory for a good driver who had gone almost five years since his first victory at Charlotte in October of 2002. The monkey or should I say "Gorilla" is finally off his back as all the promise of great things that never came to pass were forgotten for at least one more race. It was great to see the final lap not interrupted by a wreck as was the Daytona 500 last February and so many other restrictor plate events. McMurray had a good car all night and he made some great moves in the end to get to the front and with some much needed help from his teammate Carl Edwards, made it a finish to remember.

The night would not have been complete without some controversy. What was Tony Stewart thinking when he took his teammate out? I mean Tony is one of the better drivers on the cup circuit but at times he makes some bonehead moves. And it was not fun for me to see my favorite driver, Dale Jr., not be in the hunt most of the race because of some bad luck. I'm just glad that Johnson or Gordon didn't win because racing gets boring when the same two or three guys win all the time. But a hearty congratulations to Jamie McMurray and the Rousch racing organization and also to Ford who needed a win in a big way. I'm still looking for Toyota and Dodge to make a statement and make the second half of the season a bit more colorful. See you next in the windy city.

Hamlin Beats Gordon In New Hampshire

Denny Hamlin made the most out of the two tire change on the last pit stop to record his first and very deserving victory of the year in New Hampshire. Jeff Gordon made it very interesting on the last lap as he and Hamlin made contact out of turn four to finish within less than a car length at the checkered flag. The COT may not be the prettiest car you have ever seen, but all the races have had very close finishes. I guess this is what NASCAR had in mind when they developed it and it seems to be what they expected.

As usual, the pole sitting Toyota of Dave Blaney went backwards from the drop of the green flag, and Chevy finishes with eight of the top ten positions. I know there is allot of racing left this season, but the other manufactures better get their cars together or Chevrolet is going to make a joke of this season. Congrats to Toyota on the pole position, but many of their cars still could not qualify to race which is a sad commentary for the worlds largest car maker. What is the answer to fielding competitive cars? Better drivers? Better crew chiefs? More money? God knows they spend more money than any other maker. As a race fan I hope they can figure it out, not only in NASCAR but in F1 also. But congrats to Denny Hamlin on the win and lets see what happens next week in Daytona!

Raikkonen Wins In French GP

Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Ferrari routed McLaren in Magny-Cours in Sunday’s French Grand Prix, finishing more than half a minute ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren. It was a dominating performance, one that the Ferrari team needed after they were relegated to second fastest the last two races in North America. Not only was it a race Ferrari needed but Kimi Raikkonen had the kind of weekend that was expected of him since the first race of the season in Australia. He finnally made a good start from the third position on the grid and beat Lewis Hamilton to the first corner and that was all he needed to keep pace with his teammate.

After the second round of pit stops Riakkonen was able to stay out three laps longer on a heavier fuel load and get out comfortably ahead of Massa for his second victory of the season. It is also a shame that this could very well be the last race in France for a long time as the expense of running a Grand Prix takes its toll on the birthplace of the sport. Many of the racing venues this year may not be on the schedule next year as the cost of Formula 1 goes to the highest bidders as Lord Bernie Echelstone waves his magic wand.

But congratulations to Kimi and team Ferrari on a most impressive weekend that has put them temporarily in front of McClaren and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. With Hamilton scoring a record 8th straight podium finish he still has a comfortable lead in the championship. I still feel that there should be a wider gap in the points from first place to second as a race win is diminished with only a two point spread between the positions. Oh well, that's F1 for you. Let's look forward to another good race next week in jolly old England.

NASCAR Makes A Statement?

Well it looks like Chad Knaus and Steve LeTarte will get a six week vacation from the Nextel Cup circuit for violations committed at last weeks race at Infineon. Suspending the crew cheifs, docking the driver and team 100 points and a $100K fine is really just a slap on the wrist for a team like Hendrick. I know that NASCAR doesn't want any team messing with their COT after all that hard work to create a car that nobody likes and drivers can't drive. But hey, they are NASCAR and they will deem what they feel is necessary when a team breaks the rules.

If they really want these fines to have an impact than they should suspend the entire race team for a race or two, maybe then teams like Hendrick, who have the means to cheat better than the others, will sit up and take notice. These fines are just a slap on the wrist for the heavier funded teams and it will take much more than these trivial fines to stop them. Taking the crew chief away from the track doesn't do a thing as they just sit at home and email or text instruction to the pit crews. They should be at least banned from all communication for the length of the suspension, maybe that will send a message. Somehow I don't think so.