Full Throttle

Here’s NASCAR’s official headline on their announcement of a horsepower decrease for all Nationwide Series Toyotas:

“Rule Amendment Brings NASCAR Nationwide Series Engines In Line”.

Specifically they are targeting all engines “with a cylinder bore spacing of 4.470 inches or more”. Those engines will have to compete with a tapered spacer with four 1.100-inch diameter holes.

At the moment the Toys are the only manufacturer with a block that fits those parameters and NASCAR will impose the same restrictions on the other three when, and if they introduce blocks of the same dimensions.

Here’s my reasoning that led to the title of this piece:

The general assumption by some fans is, and specifically by all the Toyota haters among us, the Toys have enjoyed a large HP advantage thus far in the NNS.

Of the ten engines recently tested David Reutimann’s Toyota was the best with an estimated 3 percent horsepower advantage over the competition. JGR’s No. 18 car - which Busch drove to victory at Chicago right before the motors were tested - was second.

Assuming a NNS engine puts out 700hp 3% would equate to a 21 hp advantage Reutimann’s Toy had a Chicago where he won the pole and finished 5th. ChicagoLand was his only pole of the year and he’s not had a single series win, but has been a consistent finisher in the series with 7 top fives and 11 top tens.

Kyle Busch won that event, at less than a 3% advantage by NASCAR’s own numbers, by leading 101 of the 200 laps.

Here’s my problem with this process.

By reacting to this single test, on engines from a single event it’s just a small snapshot. I liken it to taking a single Polaroid of Miss Belle Jangles. You get a single titillation, but not the Full Monte for lack of a better term.

They should be conducting a series of tests covering several events not a single event, then react to whatever the average advantage is.

And then, there’s the elephant that’s rumbling through the room.

It’s not the Toyota’s that have been dominate thus far, it’s the JGR Toyotas, having won 13 of the 21 events held to date. Also note the JGR #20 has chalked up 9 of those wins and as tested was fifth in horsepower behind Reutimann, the #18 and two Roush Fords.

I’m thinkin’ maybe… just maybe, NASCAR should get off their duff and approve GM’s Cup-side R07 engine for Nationwide use rather than tinker with tapered plates. Of course that would lead to Jack Roush to having another temper tantrum.

“If they want to kill that series, go right ahead,” Jack has said of the pending R07 approval. (Psst Jack, they’re doing just fine with that process by “giving” the NNS a CoT in 2009. But thanks anyway)

I’ll give NASCAR credit for one thing.

They just killed the “Toyota-bought-their-way-in-and-NASCAR-has-been-sucking-Toy-Kool-Aid-ever-since” conspiracy theory.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, NNS, JGR, David Reutimann, Toyota

Despite my supposition the Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart satellite new conferences held today would shed some light on a second driver for the new Stewart-Haas Racing team - they didn’t and both drivers were playing coy with the subject - some related news did hit the wires.

Haas CNC Stewart-Haas Racing general manager Joe Custer has applied for the team to trademark the #14.

It’s expected the 14 will reside on the door of the 2009 “insert sponsor here _____” Chevy Impala SS for Stewart next year in addition to the team’s apparel and merchandise. (Rev-up those credit cards Smoke fans!)

As indicated by the picture the number fourteen has a long history in NASCAR lore starting with Fonty Flock who had 19 career NASCAR wins 14 of them, oddly enough, at the wheel of number fourteen.

Other “old school” drivers utilizing the number were the late Coo Coo Marlin.

His son Sterling Marlin used the number as late as 2007 when he drove for Ginn Racing. With the merger of Ginn Racing and DEI in July 2007 the #13 and #14 teams of Ginn were eliminated and presumably available for Stewart’s new team.

Technorati Tags: Haas Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewart Racing, Tony Stewart, Smoke

Mostly holding an umbrella is the short story, the longer story follows.

Kevin Harvick decided to stay in Maine an extra day and his decision paid off as he raced to victory in the rain-delayed TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Harvick built a comfortable lead before turning back a late challenge by Glen Luce.

Harvick, who’s in ninth place in the Sprint Cup standings, took advantage of NASCAR’s off weekend to race at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Heavy rain Sunday postponed the race for only the third time in the 35-year history of the race.

The tracks website describes Harvick’s summer vacation best; “The ringer arrived with bells on Thursday, waited out a weekend awash with rain and basked in a deluge of adulation in TD Banknorth 250 Presented By Nee England Dodge Dealers victory lane.”

“This race is a big deal,” said Harvick. “You look at the history of it and see names like Harry Gant, Jeff Gordon, and those true short track drivers like Junior Hanley who have won it. Chuck Bown, too. They can keep the check if they want. I wanted that trophy.”

A 6-foot, 2-inch trophy I might add.

“It’s not very hard to talk me into going somewhere to race,” Harvick said. “It’s a pretty historic race in itself. We’ve been down there talking about the past winners of the Nationwide races and the things that they’ve had in the past. It’s one of the bigger late model races you can race in the country. I like going places that I haven’t been before, so it’s neat to be a part of it.”

Harvick acknowledged that his other motivation this weekend is relaxation.

“All our wives went to Boston, so we’re on our own,” Harvick said during Saturday’s practice sessions. “It’s got to be fun. It’s an off weekend from my normal job. So that’s my first priority. My second priority is to make sure we’re at least competitive, and I think we’re going to be OK in that department.”

Umm… I think he did that. And more.

Technorati Tags: Kevin Harvick, Oxford Plains Speedway, NASCAR

… Dale Earnhardt Inc. are screwed.

In the case of DEI vs The Kangaroos, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalties [assessed the team of Martin Truex Jr.] by NASCAR. The periods of the suspensions are to be adjusted from the date of this hearing.

The Appellants have the right under Section 15 of the Rule Book to appeal this decision to the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner.

Russell Hackett
Jack Housby
George Silbermann, Chairman

The biggest domino of NASCAR’s free agency season fell when Tony Stewart decided to bolt from Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the year.

The next domino is Ryan Newman, and the Indiana native is expected to reveal where he’s headed this weekend during the Brickyard race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

All signs have pointed to Stewart’s new venture at Stewart-Haas Racing, and Newman waited just a few days after Stewart’s deal was complete to announce he’s leaving Penske Racing at the end of the year.

Prompted by a NASCAR “Media Alert” announcing Tony Stewart will conduct a teleconference at 2pm Tuesday it makes me wanna think the waiting’s over and Smoke’s next move will get a 3-day jump start on the normal Friday media gaggle prior to each Sprint Cup event.

How about you…?

Technorati Tags: Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewert, Ryan Newman

Matt Kenseth tried to keep up.

But in the end, Midwest horsepower trumped NASCAR starpower as Tim Schendel of Sparta, Wis capped a sweat-soaked Sunday with a dominant win in the Rasmussen Group Twin 75s ASA Super Late Model Series race at Iowa Speedway.

“It’s top three,” Schendel said of the triumph that came two weeks after needing a last-chance win to gain entrance to the feature. “It ranks right up there. Every win is No. 1. It’s awesome. They don’t come easy, ever.”

Much of the estimated paid crowd of 14,888 came to see Kyle Busch compete along with 2003 Cup champ Matt Kenseth, who ended up third behind Schendel and Jonathan Eilen.

Busch, who raced Saturday night in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kentucky Speedway, led most of the first 75-lap segment of the 150-circuit race, slowed and pulled in on lap 84 with mechanical problems., never to return.

Kenseth (3rd) was in a fierce three-way battle for third during much of the late going, beating Donny Reuvers of Dundas, Minn ., and Chris Wimmer (4th) of Wausau, Wis., for that position.

According to ASA officials, Busch dropped out because of a rear end problem.

A crew member told reporters a flat tire finished his day. (So he had a flat rear tire?)

Whatever the reason for his exit, Busch did not talk to reporters after the race and his car and equipment had been loaded into his hauler by lap 125.

Busch left the track in an Iowa Speedway courtesy car before the race had ended.

“I wish he wouldn’t have broke,” said Schendel, who qualified first but started 12th after the field was inverted. “I didn’t want to be the guy who won because Kyle broke.”

Schendel credited crew chief Chris Bires, whose younger brother, Kelly, races in the Nationwide Series, for making adjustments that allowed him to power to the front of the field.

“Everybody’s so good, there’s never a dull moment,” said Schendel, who took 41st in last year’s NASCAR East vs. West race at Newton.

“There’s never a lull where you’re going to run around in 10th and think you’re going to have a top-five finish.”

Eilen managed to hold off Kenseth for a second-place finish while enduring stifling heat - he had no cooling elements infused into his race suit - but couldn’t catch Schendel, who won by 3.2 seconds.

“A long race, it seemed like, but a good, fast race,” Eilen said.

As for Kenseth, third-place didn’t bring despair.

He went with the word “fun” to describe the sweltering day’s events.

“It was good, a lot of fun,” the Roush Fenway Racing driver said. “It was a really clean race.”

Exciting, too - with or without NASCAR’s Cup points leader.

“I wish I could have raced him at the end,” Schendel said of Busch. “And seen how it would have went.”

Sixteen-year-old Thor Anderson, a student a nearby Bondurant-Farrar High School, started 14th and raced to a seventh-place finish right behind Jamie Iverson of Escanaba, Mich.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Iowa Speedway

Sit down. Hold onto your hats, sombreros and cowgirl hats, it’s shocking but this NASCAR Stupid Idea of the Day didn’t originate in Daytona or Charlotte.

It comes by way of Canada and the Toronto Star.

Tyler Hamilton opines for the fish wrap’s business section and notes both auto racing’s history of innovation transferred to street machinery, the current price of fuel and Big Three sponsorship cutbacks.

It all got him to thinking, a dangerous thing for certain Canucks from appearances, and floats the idea NASCAR should lead the way and go plug-in. (Please, hold you guffaws ’til the end)

If that’s the case, you’d think NASCAR would be on top of the automotive world’s leading trend: electric drive systems and the move toward plug-in vehicles. If GM is betting the farm on its electric Volt car, NASCAR doesn’t appear to be following — let alone leading.

So here’s my suggestion: What about starting a NASCAR division dedicated to the racing of electric cars? Cars could be repowered during pit stops with battery swaps. Each team would be allowed a certain number of batteries. That way, teams aiming to win would have to focus on improving battery range and power density.

Ok, you can laugh now.

As for me… I’m gobsmacked.

I got nothing else.

Well, except for this… I wonder how well this would scale up?

This Full Throttle “broadcast” is interrupted to bring you the prelude to Sunday’s Mid–Oho 200 IndyCar event — Saturday’s Cat Fight!

We now bring you your regularly scheduled “broadcast”.

Australia’s Briscoe won yesterday’s Indy 200 IndyCar Series race by defeating pole sitter and Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves. It was Penske’s eighth 1-2 finish and its first since March 19, 2005, when Castroneves was the runner-up to Sam Hornish Jr. at Phoenix.

“What a weekend for Team Penske. “It just feels so good to get this win,” Finally, something went our way,” Briscoe said.

Since recording his first victory on June 1 at Milwaukee, Briscoe had experienced some tough luck over the last two months. But Briscoe and Team Penske benefited from a rain storm that soaked the 2.258-mile road course and delayed the start of the race.

The majority of the 26-car field started the race with rain tires while Team Penske waited six laps before having Briscoe pit for tires.

Brazil’s Castroneves, who started on the front row with Briscoe, improved on his third-place finish in this race last year. New Zealand’s Scott Dixon finished third while Australia’s Will Power and Oriol Servia rounded out the top five.

Dixon still leads runner-up Castroneves by 58 points in the overall points standings.

Briscoe started from the pole two weeks ago in Watkins Glen but crashed late in the race and finished twelfth.

The next IndyCar Series race is July 6 in Edmonton, Canada.

Technorati Tags: Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, IndyCar, IRL, Danica Patrick

Mike Skinner captured the pole for tonight’s Built Ford Tough 225 at the Kentucky Speedway. The #5 Bill Davis Racing Toyota driver rounded the 1.5-mile speedway in 31.487 seconds (171.499 m.p.h.).

The pole victory was Skinner’s third of the season and 46th of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career.

“Our truck just really wasn’t good enough to get the pole today,” Skinner said. “I don’t know how many of these things we’ve gotten because I was just dumb enough to hold it wide open and the thing didn’t hit the fence…The truck is very, very fast. We just got to get our racing program a little bit better and get this thing back to victory lane.”

Skinner won a series-high five races in 2007, but has yet to score a victory so far this season. His most recent win came last October in Martinsville, VA.

Starting on the front row with Skinner will be Kyle Busch who posted a time of 31.539 seconds.

Busch, NASCAR’s hottest driver, returns to the Truck Series for the first time since June at Michigan. Busch will attempt to win his third different national series race in consecutive starts after posting victories in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide events this past weekend at Chicagoland. He has two truck victories this year.

Colin Braun (31.565) and Johnny Benson (31.582) will make up row two.

With the series now approaching the half-way mark of the season, the top-five drivers are all within 74 points of each other. Defending series champion Ron Hornaday, Jr. currently holds a 27-point lead over second-place Matt Crafton and a 54-point advantage of third-place Todd Bodine. Benson is just two markers behind Bodine. Rick Crawford occupies the fifth spot.

Sixth-place Skinner (-113) is the defending race winner at Kentucky. He won last year’s race in dominating fashion, leading 135 of 150 laps. He crossed the finish line more than five seconds ahead of Travis Kvapil.

Willie Allen will start 20th (Rascal Flatts Chevrolet) in NFL All-Pro receiver Randy Moss’ debut as a NASCAR team owner. Allen, the rookie of the year in the series last year, is driving the No.81 Chevrolet for Randy Moss Motorsports at Kentucky.

Moss, who set the NFL single-season touchdown reception record during his first year with the New England Patriots in 2007, has been a NASCAR fan for several years. He is attending his first, and likely only, race of the year before departing for the Patriots’ training camp.

Chrissy Wallace, driving the GEICO/Germain Toyota Tundra rolls off from the 11th starting position and Jennifer Cobb in the Annexus Group Dodge starts 35th.

Technorati Tags: Mike Skinner, NCTS, Randy Moss, Bill Davis Racing

Red Bull Racing driver Scott Speed earned his second ARCA RE/MAX Series win of the season and first at Kentucky Speedway by 0.561 of a second over Sean Caisse tonight in the “Kentucky 150.”

The converted Formula One star drove to the pits on Lap 19 to take on fuel in his No. 2 Red Bull machine during the third caution period of the race and proceeded to masterfully manage his fuel mileage through a maze of seven caution periods that followed.

The Manteca, Calif., driver placed a punctuation mark on the win by holding off Caisse and his No. 01 Aisin AW ride during a last-lap restart that began on Lap 104 of the event originally scheduled for 100 circuits.

Speed, who lost the series’ May 10 Kentucky race on the final restart after a gear failed in his car, earns a bit Kentucky poetic justice with tonight’s victory.

“It was the second time we won this race on the proper lap and almost lost it. It was cool to win a race like that. Me and the 01 had a great battle the last 30 laps or so and I’m glad I could pull this off for my guys.

“We went back-and-forth on each other a lot on the restarts. It was two good drivers racing really hard and really clean. It was definitely real exciting for me,” Speed said.

Caisse earned his first top-five series finish of the season in his third start.

“We had issues with 20 to go with the throttle sticking. It would get stuck when I’d go full throttle and pull out. It would get stuck at half throttle. So, trying to shift and not being able to come out of the gas all the way, it was getting jammed up in the gearbox. That kind of was making my restarts slow. He (Speed) got a good jump on me. He went to the outside and the 16 followed. I was able to get the 16 back.

“It took me about five or six laps to run the same kind of speed. Then, five laps later it would be a tenth or two better. We were just a better long-run car and this just wasn’t a long-run race,” Caisse said of the event which matched the series track record for caution periods at 10.

Justin Allgaier placed third in the No. 16 AG Tech / Hoosier Tire Chevrolet; four-time Kentucky Speedway series race winner Frank Kimmel closed out the race fourth in the No. 44 Comfort Systems USA/Ford Drive One Ford; and race pole sitter Brian Scott delivered a fifth-place finish in his No. 25 Albertsons Chevrolet.

For me the race boiled down to three “A’s” and a “G.”

The race was the first time to my knowledge four females were in an ARCA RE/MAX starting field, Alli Owens (see interview on preceding entry), Angela Cope, Amber Cope and Gabi DiCarlo.

Owens and DiCarlo finished 15th and 17th respectively on the lead lap. Angela Cope finished 29th from her 8th starting position 4 laps down to the leader and twin sister Amber crashed out on lap 21 finished 38th.

Technorati Tags: ARCA RE/MAX Series, Scott Speed, Amber Cope, Angela Cope, Gabi DiCarlo