anythingandeverythingnascar-blog

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20 years & Counting for a Legend

This top photo is an artistic print that was created by "The First Officially Licensed Artist of NASCAR" Sam Bass.  The paint scheme is important because Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon went to him and asked if he could create a paint scheme that would signify the celebration of DuPont's and Jeff's 20 year celebration together at Hendrick Motorsports.  The photo might not say this but another reason why the paint scheme is important because it shows the commitment, hospitality, and reliance that Hendrick Motorsports had with DuPont Automotive Finishes and Jeff Gordon over these past 20 years on and off the track.  The paint scheme was unveiled at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina with all three there to present and it was on the car for 20 races this past season.

This bottom photo is a second paint scheme that artist Sam Bass created just for the anniversary of Jeff Gordon's long racing career with Hendrick Motorsports and sponsor DuPont.  Both sponsor and driver celebrated 20 years together (to the date of this race; 11/15/92-11/18/12) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  This was a one race paint scheme, that ran during the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

(1st Photo Credit: sambassstore.com)

(2nd Photo Credit: jeffgordon.com)

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Time for a Rule Change

I think its time for another rule change regarding the championship format for NASCAR. Why you say? Because its kind of boring the way it is actually.  I know that is not a legitimate reason just yet, but please hear me out first.  The current format of 12 drivers fighting for the championship over the last 10 races and being seeded in descending order from most wins to no wins debuted for the 2004 season, at that time was 10 drivers, but the procedure was still the same.  The biggest adversary to come out of the chase for the championship over the last nine years has been Jimmie Johnson winning 22 of the 90 races he entered and won 5 championships from 2006-2010.  Tony Stewart is a close second in that he has won 8 of the 80 races he has entered and won 2 championships, one before Johnson in 2005 and just last year after Johnson in 2011.  Now, if you follow NASCAR like I do, your probably saying they just changed it for this past season and your right.  Yes I do know that, but the change was that the top 10 would be automatically in the chase and spots 11 and 12 were left open for 2 wild card drivers with the most regular season wins through the first 26 races. So, now that you have a little bit of information on what the rule is, my change to the 2013 chase for the championship would include the same amount of drivers (12), same amount of venues (10), but just a change to the order of how the drivers line up for this.  I would like to see the top guy at the end of the regular season start the chase from 12th and ascend from the bottom up.  Just so it keeps him working hard and making smart decisions each week to improve his spot.  So, that he has a shot at the championship in the end.

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NASCAR "Wide Open"

A book that followed three very distinctive driver's days and nights on the NASCAR tour.  The book would follow these drivers from the beginning of the 1996 season through the end of the 1997 season.  The drivers that were followed were Dave Marcis, Brett Bodine, and Bobby Hamilton. The book goes on to describe the ups and downs of each driver throughout both seasons.  The 1996 season saw Jeff Gordon win an outstanding 10 races out of 31, only to lose the championship to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte by 37 points.  All three drivers finished respectively according to how much performance they put into their race teams all season with Hamilton finishing 9th, Bodine finishing 24th, and Marcis finishing 38th.  The 1997 season had more downs then ups for those three drivers.  But, that season saw a repeat performance from Jeff Gordon wining 10 out 32 races and this time securing the championship over Dale Jarrett by 14 points.  The three drivers fell a bit in the standings that year with Hamilton finishing 16th, Bodine finishing 29th, and Marcis finishing 42nd.  Unfortunately the book stops there at the end of the 97' season, but I would definitely recommend this reading to anyone that is willing to open themselves up to the sport of NASCAR.  The book had a lot of facts and statistics, but that was normal because it was one of those tell all kind of books and I really enjoyed it and I know someone else would as well.

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New York Times' Opinion on NASCAR

How NASCAR's Swinging Voters

In 2003, running for president, Senator Bob Graham made the decision to spend $500,000 dollars to sponsor a truck for driver Jon Wood and Roush Racing owner Jack Roush to help with his campaign  "After the Bob Graham Ford won a race in Kansas City, his campaign got thousands of dollars in free publicity as TV cameras followed the machine for a full victory lap". These new politicians are going after the NASCAR dads more instead of the soccer moms they use to because they are more independent and "are ready to swing one way or the other at the drop of an argument". So, in a way I agree with this editorial because I would like to see more politicians go this way. NASCAR has a huge fan base all over the United States, which include men and women of all ethnic backgrounds. I personally think that if more politicians went this route, they would definitely see an increase in their numbers. Take for instance this past season, Rick Santorum put his name on a couple of team cars throughout the season. Just taken a guess, since he opted to do it more than once, he probably saw an increase of followers. So, I say if your a politician trying to put your message out there, go through NASCAR and you will possibly see success.

(Photo credit: MentalFloss.com)

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Top Controversies In NASCAR

- The inception of the manufacturer Toyota in 2004 in the Craftsman Truck Series and in 2007 in the Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series (Now the Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Sprint Cup Series respectively) and how they have come up to speed over the last five years.

- The racing season schedule; with trying to find track sponsorship, the adding or subtracting of race tracks, and the sorting of dates to venues.

- The car of tomorrow or COT; the ongoing of new improvements and safety features that keep the drivers safe while being in the racecars.

- Danica Patrick and her presence as a full time driver in the sport, that's normally thought to be run by males. Can she be productive?

- Driver Retaliation; When is it okay and not okay or how much is to much.

- Restrictor Plate Racing; Do the drivers like it? Do the fans like it?

- Buschwackers; Term that was used to call the sprint cup drivers that would race in the Busch series to gain more experience and information, so they would take it back and apply it towards their sprint cup cars.  It started out as a couple drivers, then went to about dozen over the last couple of years.

- The Chase for The Sprint Cup; Is it still competitive after it's inception in 2004? Do they need to change it up at all?

- The size of the starting field; should it stay at 43 cars?

- The qualifying procedures; should they go back to using provisionals or keep the top 35 rule? 

- Should NASCAR continue to race outside the United States in either Mexico or Canada?

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This is a picture of the "big one" at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday October 7th, 2012, its a crash that involves a multiple number of cars, normally 10 or more.  This one started out because the lead car got to far out front and when the two lines behind him got runs of greater speed, he choose to go down to pick up that bottom line to get a push to the finish.  But just so happened he misjudged how close he was and the back of his car went across the front of the car he was trying to get in front of and it caused him to spin back up the track and flip on his side when oncoming traffic hit his car in the passenger side.  While he was flipped up on his side, the car that initiated the spin also went up the track and into two drivers spinning them as well. This one move effected 25 drivers in all and 10 of the 12 that are racing for the championship.

(The lead car at the time was the #14 of Tony Stewart, the car he was attempting to get ahead of was the #55 of Michael Waltrip, and the car that he got into was the #29 of Kevin Harvick. The car that hit the #14 to flip him on his side was the #27 of Paul Menard. Three drivers did make it threw the crash and they were the #17 of Matt Kenseth which wound up winning the race, the #24 of Jeff Gordon which finished second, and the #18 of Kyle Busch which finished third. Spots after position 3 had to be pieced together by personal that watched a video right as the crash happened, so no one would get cheated out of a better finishing position than someone else.)

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This is a 30 second advertisement for NAPA Auto Parts. I can't really tell you how effective this ad is. But I can tell you it has been seen by over 156,000 people, since being uploaded to YouTube in march of 2011.  The video has close to 500 likes, but has only 70 dislikes, so I'm guessing people are liking the fact that you can associate being a culinary doctor to your local auto parts specialist.  One works on making you feel better, while the other makes your car feel better.  On the other side, NAPA itself as a sponsor in the series has been really effective since the early 2000's with driver Michael Waltrip and team Dale Earnhardt Inc. through present day with driver Martin Truex Jr. and team Michael Waltrip Racing. One of the reasons why the sponsor has been in the sport so long is that it has partnered itself with a very well respected driver on and off the track.  Which is why they probably have a very effective customer base and with all their stores, I would have to say their at least in the top 5 of auto parts stores around the world.

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NASCAR & Sports Related Injuries

I choose to write about this topic today because just last week NASCAR's most popular driver the past five years, Dale Earnhardt Jr was diagnosed with a concussion after a last lap crash that involved about twenty other drivers as well, during that Sundays race at Talladega Superspeedway.  But, to go further back it was Junior’s first crash at Kansas Speedway during an open test session about five weeks ago, where while he was testing the car at high speeds, a right front tire would blow going into turn one sending him towards the outside retaining wall and damaging the car beyond repair. He would remember everything about the accident and after the accident, even knowing he did not feel well.  But, he decided to push on and work through it because he had concussions before and knew exactly what he was dealing with.  He felt good after a week or two and when the chase started he felt 80 to 90 percent better and when he got to Talladega, he felt 100 percent better.  But, when he got caught up in that wreck, it disoriented him and he knew he had reinjured himself.  So by that Wednesday, even though he was only having headaches, he got himself to go and get checked out by a doctor.  During their meeting, the doctor ran through a couple of tests and even did an MRI, but everything was checking out okay for him.  He was completely honest with him about what exactly happened and how he was feeling.  So, then the doctor would spend the night going over all the data and come to a decision where he could not clear the driver to race. Earnhardt Jr. would trust the doctor’s decision because he’s been a longtime friend and he has helped him through injuries before.  He got a lot of support from his team and is looking forward to the opportunity that his team gets with fellow driver Regan Smith for the upcoming weeks, or until he can get back to the track and back into the racecar.

I picked this concern because NASCAR is not like any other major sport when it comes to injury. Racecar drivers are required to wear fire suits to protect them if the car would catch on fire, required to wear a safety harness to protect their head and neck, and are required to wear special heat resistant shoes with metal coverings, so they do not burn the soles of their feet.  But, the one lingering concern is the possibility of a driver sustaining a concussion from an accident during the race or at a test session.  My take on this is that it’s always going to be there, but I like that NASCAR is trying to keep up to date on safety improvements either at the track with the addition of safer walls or in the racecar itself with more padding and the moving of the driver closer to the center of the car, to lessen the impact of another car around the driver’s door area.

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NASCAR in the Movies:

As far back as the early 2000's NASCAR and other forms of auto racing have made it big in the movie industry with mosty action movies, but also comedy movies as well.  There have been two really known documentries about a racecar driver that was tragically killed at one of the sports greatest tracks in 2001, is name was Dale Earnhardt Sr. The two documentries both described his personal life and his racing life up till the day he died. The first one was produced straight to TV by ESPN in 2004 and was called 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, (3 being his famed car number in the NASCAR Cup Series) the second one was produced between CMT Flims and NASCAR Images and premiered in theaters in Feburary 2007. NASCAR has also been associated with animation flims like Cars and Madagascar. While, some drivers have given their vocies or even made apperances in certain movies like Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby and Driven.

Who doesnt love movies?!Whether its sitting in a theatre; feet sticking to floor, a cold coke in one and and a bag of popcorn in the other, or curled up on your couch with a glass of wine. Ive always been a huge fan of movies; horror, drama, “chick flicks”, action, i love them all.. This blog was created because new movies come out weekly and of course i plan on seeing most of them, and ill be providing feedback from each and every one of them; the good, the bad and the ugly ones. Movies are important, not only do they provide entertainment, they give you an insight to so many more things, its like a learning experience on screen.

The photo above is just a couple of the movies that will be released this fall, provided by buzzsugar.com

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Straight from the FoxNews desk

On Tuesday September 25th 2012, FoxNews reported that the NASCAR sanctioning body had released the Sprint Cup Series schedule for the 2013 racing season. FoxNews was able to get a couple of statements from NASCAR CEO Brian France about how the schedule came together and how the new cars are coming together as well as how their preforming.  FoxNews got together with NASCAR in order to inform us that the 2013 schedule was done and complete; with some new changes, new features to current tracks, and some really neat twists. FoxNews is trying to address the american sports minded male from what I can see from this article becasue of their use of proper english, even though the sport of NASCAR is mojority male driven, you can see the occassional crush that young women have on some of the better looking drivers.

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Championship Stats & Results after race #1

Just one week after the fantastic finish in which you saw Clint Bowyer coast to to win and Jeff Gordon starting up front, falling back, then racing back into contention to finish the race up front and in front of his competition Kyle Busch for the 12th and final spot in the chase for 2012 sprint cup championship all at Richmond International Raceway.

So, you have the top 12 drivers fighting over the next 10 races to see who becomes the next sprint cup champion. To start things off, you have Denny Hamlin as the points leader because he won the most races during the regular season, then in order the next 9 drivers are also seeded that same way, by how many races they won. The last two spots were wild cards, so they stay where their at. So, with that the racing moved onto Chicagoland Speedway, the first race of the chase. The race had 4 cautions, 16 lead changes among 9 drivers with Jimmie Johnson (a chase contender) leading the most laps with 172 of 267. The race ended with another chase contender wining the race in that of Brad Keselowski and with that win he took over the points lead going into New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Chicago race also saw seven of the twelve contenders finish in the top ten, four from eleventh to twentieth, and one finish in the thirty-fifth spot do to a stuck gas pedal that sent him hard into the wall with about seventy laps left to go. So, with one race down and nine to go, some drivers went up in points, while others went down or stayed in their same spot, but lost points. We'll all find out what happens after these guys hit the short track of New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend, maybe we'll get some new players to talk about.

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Organization

The NASCAR racing community supports individual driver foundations and different charities that relate to children, autism, safety, and cancer.  The main foundation is The NASCAR Foundation which is a commutative effort between the NASCAR Family and its commitment to serving their communities.  The foundation's mission is to raise funds and increase volunteerism to support nonprofit charities throughout the nation with an emphasis on initiatives that affect the ability of children to live, learn and play.  Since 2006, the impact of this foundation has contributed more than $13 million charitable support and helped provide medical treatment for more than 24,000 children annually.  With this foundation being so large and having so many sub foundations covered under them, here are a couple foundations that some of the drivers handle themselves, The Jeff Gordon Foundation which supports children battling cancer; The Jimmie Johnson Foundation which is dedicated to assisting children, families and communities throughout the United States; and The Jamie McMurray Foundation which raises funding for research, education, and support for individuals and families affected with autism.  Now, these are just a couple of the many foundations that are operating under the banner of The NASCAR Foundation so, please visit the link below if you wish to know more information on any of the other foundations.

For my evaluation of this nonprofit organization, I would have to say that for everybody that is involved with this foundation, they are very dedicated in helping and finding cures for children with cancer, special illnesses, autism, and or cystic fibrosis.  I would definitely recommend this organization to any of my friends that are looking to help families in or around their neighborhood, (even if they are not into NASCAR themselves) just has a reference tool.  That also has some quality information to get them on the right path for success.

Credit: http://foundation.nascar.com/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=208 and http://foundation.nascar.com/netcommunity/page.aspx?pid=211 (about us page)

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Introduction

The reason I picked to blog about the sport of NASCAR, especially at this point during the season is because, this is when all the current team owners, sponsors, and manufacturers announce their plans for next season like the addition of a new driver, new sponsor, and or new manufacturer to their team. This is also a good time to blog about NASCAR because they just started their race to the championship, which includes the next 10 races over the next 3 months and the top 12 drivers in the point standings. So, I will be able to cover a lot of different topics for you to read about.

Photo Credit: http://digitaljournal.com/article/332470

These are the 12 drivers that will be racing for the championship over the next 10 races. It's going to be a fun but tough road ahead for all these drivers.