This will get the HMS fans irate.

You want to know why NASCAR's ratings are slipping? Look at who's winning.

Well, OK, maybe not specifically who, but rather look at who's winning in the context of who isn't winning. In other words, its Gordon and Johnson weekly, and no one else has a prayer, either on the track or in the Chase. People who don't like them are SOL. And unfortunately for NASCAR, that's a whole lot of people.

On the Speed Channel boards, the idea has been floated before and the Hendrick fans quickly get antagonistic about how people who stop watching aren't true fans and also that it can't possibly be true. Well then, look at the Patriots/Dolphins game today. New England is 7-0, Miami is 0-7, and as a result, there was practically no one in Dolphins Stadium. Miami isn't interested in seeing their own team get the snot inevitably kicked out of them. So why should NASCAR fans be any different?

And while it's Johnson and Gordon who are causing it right now, it'd be pretty much the same with any other team or driver. I'd be over the moon if Stewart was dominating like this, but I know a lot of people would be shutting off their TVs. Dale Jr. is the only exception to the rule, for obvious reasons. But the fact remains: NASCAR won't be able to see them going up again this year until both Johnson and Gordon tank a race.

So for the HMS fans, have fun with the rest of the season, with any luck we'll be back by Homestead, but if not, see you in Daytona.

Why Jacques Villeneuve running Talladega is a bad idea

In no particular order:

1. You learn jack about driving stock cars at a place like Talladega. It teaches nothing about how they truly handle.
2. "Brakes need not apply" is unimpressive to F1'ers.
3. It's freakin' Alabama, so let's all welcome "Jock Villanova".
4. If he starts the Big One, he's public enemy no. 1, and most importantly...
5. He will start the Big One. No rookie should have his first Cup race at Talladega, especially in the Chase, regardless of where he came from. The other drivers need to be able to trust who is around them and they just can't. He made a stupid move in the Truck race today which caused a wreck, who's to say he won't do it tomorrow in front of a bunch of the Chase drivers? I don't agree with Jeff Gordon much, but he's 100% right in this case: Villeneuve doesn't belong out there and NASCAR is both crazy and stupid for letting him run.

1995 WRC Champion, 25 World Rally wins.

Colin McRae, rallying legend, motorsports hero, and one of my favorite drivers, is believed to have been killed today in a helicopter crash.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6997134.stm

I cannot think of anything else to say. Rest in peace, Colin.

Yoda and JGR

My first post in over a month comes with bad news: Stewart is going to be in a Toyota next year. It was kind of expected after an entire month of speculation but it's still not what I wanted to hear.

Let me start off by saying I don't hate the idea of foreign manufacturers in NASCAR. Really, it makes sense, and seeing Honda and Nissan in Cup with Ford, Chevy and Dodge still in it would actually be pretty cool. CORR has Ford, Chevy, Toyota and Nissan all in it and they trade wins fairly evenly, and the racing is incredible. So it's not a totally bad thing.

However, Toyota has this nasty habit of following a pretty despisable agenda:

1. Enter series.
2. Outspend everyone until you win.
3. If that doesn't work, cheat.
4. Dominate the series and then suddenly exit, leaving it in tatters because all the other manus jumped out due to cost. Or...
5. Fail miserably and continue throwing money at it until you realize it's futile and leave, still having spent millions and outpricing every other manu out of the sport. Or...
6. Just cheat until the sanctioning body bans you (see the WRC).

So far things are going to plan for them in trucks, but Cup is proving much more difficult. Hence signing with Gibbs. Luckily, Gibbs is a respectable organization which I can't see going for a total annihilation plan (and it won't happen with Hendrick and Roush around to be honest).

Still, the big question is, of course, will I still root for Stewart? And the answer is yes. Dave Blaney...good guy...very likable...drives a Toyota...would love to see him get a win. Also see Johnny Benson in the trucks. I'm already pulling for Stewart against my own loyalties (Blue Oval man, here) so it's not a tremendous jump. Martin to Chevy was bigger, to me, simply due to the length of time he was with Ford, so I should be able to survive the Stewart thing.

But I won't be buying a new jacket with the Toyota logo on it.

Various thoughts...

I know it's been a while, but here's some random thoughts on stuff:

• The Gordon/Johnson penalties were plenty fair. I don't believe that they needed to sit out a race, but I also believe that NASCAR has a right to discourage teams from trying to screw with the COT. It'll have little effect come the Chase, anyhow.
• The idea going around that Kyle Busch would join his brother and Newman at Penske is terrifying. The Hanson Brothers (from Slap Shot, not the band) in stock cars. Nobody would be safe in such a situation. It would be funny to see how the biological brothers settle differences amongst themselves being teammates, though...
• The only people who apparently do not believe that the U.S. should have a Formula One race are Bernie Ecclestone and his accountant. Literally everyone else in racing knows that it's a good deal, but it seems to be only a good deal for Bernie when he gets another 10 747s out of it. He'd hold a race in Siberia if they payed him enough.
• While on the topic of international motorsports, kudos to Switzerland for finally ending their ridiculous 50 year ban of motorized racing. It may have been appropriate at the time it was enacted (right after the 1955 Le Mans disaster), but it got real outdated real quick.
• I'm getting pretty sick of the Montoya fans who find nothing but pure praise of their driver as acceptable. He's a great driver, we all know that. But he (and his fans) need to accept the fact that he is under scrutiny right now. When he's a great stock car driver, his praises will be sung...but right now, he has as many wins as Greg Sacks.

That's all for now, I'll try to find some time to post before the Cup race in Loudon I will be attending on Sunday, and look for some reaction after it.

Ouch.

The CORR Chula Vista race is this weekend, and they've built a brand new track for it, the centerpiece of which is a monster jump. Based on the video below, it's being reprofiled before the event.

http://www.robertnaughton.com/robert_naughton/Rob-Chula-Test-Day.html

Kurt Busch

Yeah, you had to know I was gonna post about this one. What happened on the track yesterday sucked but was a racin' deal...neither Tony nor Kurt were at fault, and it was the result of hard racing. What happened in the pits, however...

If you want to hop out of your car and start a fight with another driver, go ahead. If you want to play bumper cars with him on the backstretch under caution, you won't make any friends but at least the only people in danger will be strapped into a car. But to tag someone in his pit stall with his crew guy inches from being squashed is a suspension worthy offense. If he had hit the guy, that could (and should) be prosecuted as assault with a deadly weapon. Pit road accidents happen, it's an unfortunate part of racing. Kurt's temper tantrum is not an accident, though. If there isn't a suspension when the inevitable punishment is handed down later in the week, it'll be a miscarriage of justice, and NASCAR will really have shown how much they truly care about safety.

From that, its tough to make the transition to this last thing I want to say, but it needs to be said. God bless Bill France Jr., who passed away yesterday. Everyone complains about what NASCAR does and the decisions they make, but we do it because we love the sport. And it is at the level where they are major issues because of Mr. France. He's done a lot to take the sport to the stratosphere, and it's not gonna be the same without him. Rest in peace, Bill.