This is part of why I hate Jr. fans, not Jr. mind you, he is a skilled driver and his integrity far surpasses that of his father making him more admirable in my book. But his fans. Jeez!
They never get tired of tooting their horns. They can't even read each other's blogs and comment on them and have a discussion. No, they all have to toot their own horns.
Jr! Jr! Jr.!
Bring me a barf bag already.
Hell, half of his fans can't even tell you what the COT is.
Even Jr. says he was lucky. His fans won't admit it, but it's true.
Does it take anything away from the win? Hell no.
Fuel mileage is a part of racing and even a bigger part of racing in IRL and F1. So the win is nothing to be ashamed of. Michigan is often a fuel mileage track. That's part of why it is one of my favorites, that and four wide on the front tri-oval. Awesome track!
Look, jon talked enough about it, so comment on his blog.
Hope, sweetie, your welcome here but bring something new when you post, please?
Tyler, your recap is good, so I'll give you a pass. And don't let anyone give you #### regarding cutting and pasting. It is part of the history of blogging that evolved from newsgroups. Stand tall.
Joker. Man, your a good blogger. But this one wasn't necessary.
Rise up Jr,. nation? Please.
Watching from above? Nice sentiment. But there is no theology that indicates that looking down from above is even possible. In fact theology suggests a great gulf that can not be crossed. Dale may be racing with the other lost greats. But he ain't looking down.
Frever? Sunoco fumes through stainless steel lines? Sea of green, hell the sea parted and red and yellow Michigan seat colors were dominating by race end as most peripheral Jr. fans had left the building. But they'll tell all their friends thay stayed till the end and saw him win.
Change the life of Jr.,? I bet he's laughing his #### off at all this stuff. He know he was lucky, that it just worked out for him, and he's taking it all in stride and that's fine. But changing his life? A bit over the top I say.
Sr. passed away several years ago. It's been over five years. When will the opining stop? I miss Tony Roper, but nobody seems to remember him. I miss my dad, but I don't go on and on about it.
Time moves on. Let it go.
Inverted, you get a pass, you added a lot to the discussion with a different angle in your blog. Well done.
Cody gets a pass too. I like to see other drivers get mentions.
Bobdot can have a pass too. His rambles are, well, his rambles.
But bobat? Take the message board posts to a message board.
And what did all of you miss. Well something only us Jamie fans will remember I guess. We damn near stole that one from you. And hell yeah, we would have taken it, luck and all.
On a special Father’s Day afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, Roush Fenway Racing driver Jamie McMurray came close to giving his father, Jim McMurray the ultimate Father’s Day present – a trip to Victory Lane. Late in the race, the No. 26 Crown Royal Cask No. 16 team felt they had enough fuel to run the distance and battle with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the win but when the caution flew with just two laps remaining, the No. 26 team was forced to pit for fuel, and settle for a top-10 finish in this afternoon’s Lifelock 400.
The Colorado license plate gives away the final destination. Other transporters leave the racetrack and head east on the Interstate, toward North Carolina and the hub of NASCAR nation. But the brown and black truck turns west, on the lonely road toward the only Nextel Cup shop nestled on the front range of the Rocky Mountains.
Furniture Row is owned by Barney Visser, a Denver-based businessman who has fielded cars on NASCAR's top circuit since 2005. The attempt to go full-time has been a difficult one, with the team making just 10 events this season. The organization split with driver Kenny Wallace after the Aug. 12 race at Watkins Glen, failed to make Michigan with Scott Wimmer in the seat, and will have Sterling Marlin in the No. 78 car for this weekend's event at Bristol.
"The common thought is, there are a lot of negative things, maybe all negative things, about being out in that area. What we're finding is, there are some positives," Team Manager Joe Garone said. "Once you have your people, and whether you train them or whether you hire them, once they're there, they're more apt to be focused more on their program. They don't have any race teams there to be interrupting their work or their thought process.
"We've gotten some people from some big organizations to come here, and they were in the same boat that I was -- tired of being in the rat race in Mooresville, where people are jumping ship all the time and all that," Crew Chief Jay Guy said. "This is kind of refreshing, because there are no other race teams around here on this level. You can work on a lot of projects and keep secrets that will help the car go fast from getting out by lunchtime."
They rave about the skiing, and the landscape, and the fact that you don't bump into employees from other shops in line at the grocery store. But the distance clearly presents hurdles, most of them logistical for a team much father removed from eastern races than its competitors. Cars are prepared not two weeks out, but four weeks. Parts have to be ordered a week earlier than they would be for a team based near Charlotte, where many of the sport's vendors are located as well. Cars have to be loaded a day earlier on the transporters, which have to depart the race shop a day earlier than their eastern counterparts.
"The location is not a problem at all, because we have both trucks running up and down the road," Guy said. "You just have to have enough good people in place to where your stuff is done a little ahead of everybody else. Anywhere from like Texas west, we're a lot closer than anybody else."
"Some people, and I've found this surprising, would rather live in Denver than in North Carolina. A lot of skiers and a lot of people who like that dry air. It's not been a bad deal."
"Obviously, you want to compete to run up front," Guy said. "But you've got to be realistic with your goals. Lately, we've fallen short on our goals in qualifying, and haven't really been able to work on anything race-related. But we've got a seven-post shaker machine installed [in Denver], and we're working on that a little better, the guys in the engine shop are working harder and harder to get us more horsepower.
Sterling Marlin will be in the Furniture Row shop in Denver Colorado on Friday for a seat fitting in preparation to drive the number 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet at Bristol on August 25th. Scott Wimmer will be driving for Furniture Row this weekend in Michigan. Could this be a possible pairing for Furniture Row for next year allowing Sterling to run a part time schedule? I still expect Wimmer will drive the fourth Childress entry next year. But if not, he might have a full or part time deal with Furniture Row.
Sterling Marlin may not be without a Nextel Cup ride for long. Late Tuesday a team source at Morgan-McClure Racing which currently fields the no. 4 Chevy with veteran Ward Burton said that officials there are in discussions with Marlin for a possible second team. Marlin scored six of his ten career wins at Morgan-McClure while driving the No. 4 from 1994-1997.
Sterling wants to keep driving some. He just likes driving. The money is good. But he doesn't need it.
More than one driver has stayed out there too long. Richard Petty did. Darrell Waltrip did. More recently, Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Ward Burton and Ricky Rudd are.
I have a lot more respect for people like Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Terry Labonte who know when to say when. Bill Elliott is in a class by himself. He has proven to have an uncanny ability to drive anyone's car and help them out. See his recent renaissance in the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing car.
If Sterling goes to MMM, I'll give him a chance to pull off a miracle this year before giving up on him.
I do not like the way things at Ginn went down. However, all you had to do was look at Ginn's business record to know that he might do something like what he did.
Given Ginn may merge with DEI, might MMM merge with Haas? Burton plus Marlin = two car team + Haas = four car team (franchise for 2009)?
Wouldn't it be sweet to see Sterling back in the 4 with Kodak on the side? Damn, I'm starting to dream again already.
And oh yeah, wasn't Ward going to pay Sterling back or something? How might this work out?
One more thought. 1997? Ten years have gone by already?
Regan Smith will replace Sterling Marlin in the No. 14 car next week at Indianapolis, and Joe Nemechek has been released from his duties in the No. 13 car as Ginn Racing continues its ongoing restructuring.
"We are starting our future now," said Jay Frye, Ginn Racing's CEO and general manager. "A lot has been said about our program recently and this shows we've been working hard to solidify our future."
Marlin said he was shocked by the news.
"You know, it kind of caught me by surprise," the driver said Wednesday [ Wednesday? That would be hard to do since it is only Tuesday] evening on Sirius Satellite Radio. "I guess they've got to do things to reorganize and do what they gotta do. And, you know, I do have a valid contract with them and they gotta do what they say they're gonna do and everything will be fine."
Marlin said he would have liked the situation to be a little more classier.
"Well, you know, the classiest thing to me would have been to finish the year out," Marlin said. "I didn't make it any secret that I was planning on cutting back next year, running 15-20 races. But to do something in mid-year, just totally unexpected -- you know, Joe [Nemechek] had the same thing happen to him -- and, you know, it's sponsor-driven. "... I can get up and look in the mirror and know I've done everything right. I don't think that's the case on the other side so I'll just leave it at that."
I just don't understand Sterling. I call it and he is shocked? What world is he living in? The imaginary world of the old elementary school library book "Fair Play?" He is (was) my favorite race car driver. But his ignorance of the business of NASCAR just blows my mind.
Or is it just a good ole boy act that fakes out his less than average educated fan base but has grown weary on my ears? If he was so shocked, how come many of us knew he and Joe were scheduled to be on that Sirius broadcast this afternoon?
I don't know what to think really. But barring a sponsor riding to the rescue, putting him in a Furniture Row car, and some kind of bizarre victory at Bristol or another short track this year, I probably won't be worrying about it much longer.
How about that Jamie McMurray and that win at Daytona? Huh? Huh? Nudge, nudge. Say no more, say no more.
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