Nascar finished its Texas weekend, celebrated 10 years of racing at the facility, and managed to continue the Busch Brother Bashing that had been going on for several races.
Kurt Busch v. Greg Biffle: Although the President had a taped greeting at the track, the majority of the Busch Bashing this weekend was betwen Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle. Biffle's car had been strong during the first 50 or so laps, but he was cycled out of the lead due to pit stops. As he was working his way back to the front, he came across Kurt Busch. Whether Busch or Biffle was to blame for what happened next depends on your point of view. Busch, who was down a lap, end up running into Biffle's back bumper, causing him to crash. Biffle blamed Busch for ended his day. Biffle's girlfriend, Nicole Lunders, walked to Busch's pit box and had words with Busch's fiancee Eva Bryan.
Kurt Busch vs. the Media? The news media wanted Busch's reaction to Biffle's wrech after the race. Busch gave an explanation blaming Biffle for coming up in front of him and slowing down. When another reporter asked him what happened, Busch snapped back at them that he had answered the question and stormed off into his hauler. He later came back out and answered a few more questions. Apparently the Penske PR people have not quite worked their magic with Kurt...
Clint Bowyer vs. Kyle Busch: Late in the race, Bowyer opted to take 2 tires instead of 4 to gain track position. As he was sliding backwards in the field, he began racing with Kyle Busch for position. As they raced, Bowyer crashed. Bowyer claimed Busch got into him, Busch claimed Bowyer did it on his own. The tape is unclear. Given that Bowyer is a rookie and Kyle Busch is, well, Kyle Busch, both are probably at fault in some way.
Carl Edwards vs. Jeff Gordon vs. Tony Stewart? Carl Edwards, who was in third place, was racing with Jeff Gordon, who was a lap or two down. Edwards got out of shape, hit Gordon, hit the wall, narrowly missed hitting Stewart and then crashed into the inside wall. Needless to say, he was out of the race at that point. Reporters questioned Edwards and asked if Gordon or Stewart caused the accident, Edwards denied it and said it was just him pushing too hard at the time. After the race, reporters went to Stewart and asked him what he thought happened - Stewart said Edwards was driving too hard ("in over his head") and lost it, then commented he was glad Edwards was OK because it looked like a hard hit into the wall. In other words, the drivers didn't have issues with each other, but the reporters tried to generate a fight. No one appears to have taken the bait.
Busch Series Racing Notes: Kurt Busch won his first race in the Busch series, and to celebrate, he did his "trademark" snow angel. I admit it was somewhat charming at Bristol where it had snowed all weekend, but I'm not sure it should be his "trademark" celebration.
Reed Sorenson may be penalized after it appeared he threw a piece of his rollbar padding/insulation onto the track to cause a caution. He then called in that there was debris in the corner. The Fox cameras caught the piece of foam flying out the window - it didn't seem to be certain that Sorenson threw it, but he was penalized by Nascar for the infraction (he was sent to the end of the line and lost about 5 places). Nascar may exact a point penalty as well.
More interesting was a conversation that Kyle Busch and his crew chief had immediately after that accident. Busch was warned not to throw anything on the track to cause a caution because they had caught Sorenson. Busch replied that he didn't have anything to throw. Seconds later he remarked it would be stupid to do it since he had an in-car camera.
You'll remember that Greg Biffle eventually won a Busch race when someone caused a caution by throwing a glove onto the track. Nascar never found out who caused the caution or lost the glove. Hmm...
Nascar was built on a strong fan base. Some claim that nascar fans are the most brand loyal of all sports consumers. Have driver so-and-so pimp your product, and it is guaranteed sales, or so the thought process goes. But how does Nascar develop these fans? How has it remained fan friendly?
Access to the drivers, owners, crew chiefs and teams is a main part of the fan appeal of Nascar. At this point, there is some price to be paid for access - tracks at Daytona and Kansas (among others) have built fanzones where fans can look into the garages to see what is going on. Naturally, this isn't covered in the cost of admission, but is an added ticket to buy. Fan clubs also give fans opportunities to schmooze with drivers.
Sponsors get access - which leads to non-fans going to races for business and (hopefully) developing into hardcore fans. At Daytona, I think there were more corporate types there in the pits than there were crew members.
But how does one become a fan of a particular driver? I asked some of the people I met at Daytona how they got involved in the sport, who their favorite driver is and why.
Rita went to a Daytona race back when there were grandstands in turn 3. Dale Earnhardt was leading the race. On the last lap, Dale Jarrett was challenging for the lead. The Earnhardt fans, who had been standing as he dominated the race all day, abruptly sat down as Jarrett took the lead going into turn 3, knowing Jarrett would carry the lead to the checkers. The man sitting behind Rita started crying. "That made me think, wait a minute, there is something about this." Jarrett's father, Ned Jarrett, a former Cup Champion, was calling the race. Rita said she remembered how Ned couldn't contain his excitement about his son winning the 500. She became a Jarrett fan that day.
Lori visited Roush Racing's Craftsmen Truck shop in North Carolina. While they were waiting, Carl Edwards, then a virtual unknown in the truck series, walked up and started talking to the group. He answered their questions, signed autographs, and then asked if they wanted a tour of the shop. Edwards proceeded to take the time to show them around, even though that was not the group's original plan, and clearly wasn't in Edwards' schedule. Needless to say, Edwards has a solid fan now in Lori.
Beth lives in Georgia near Dawsonville. Naturally, she roots for hometown boy Bill Elliott. But her favorite driver will always be Davey Allison. "There was something about Davey" she said. Something indeed - when I met her, she still had a charm on her bracelet of Allison's Texaco/Havoline car - one she'd had since before he died in 1993.
Martha loves racing. She attends several races each year with her husband. They currently have standing reservations at a beach hotel in Daytona for both races, in Watkins Glen and in Charlotte. They have some favorite drivers, but consider Ron Fellows their absolute favorite - mainly because he has been a family friend for quite a while. "Ron usually races at Watkins Glen, so we try to go up there." Otherwise, they travel to the other series Ron runs in to see him - and still attend the nascar races.
Jena's father started dragging her to races at a young age. She has always loved to go (even though her sister would make fun of her). He is a Dale Earnhardt Sr fan, so naturally she started following Dale Jr. Jena worries that all the exposure Junior gets limits his ability to have a "normal" life. She wonders why the media won't leave him alone, but realizes that it is fans like her who want information that create the problem. Ironically, Jena's sister (who had made fun of her love for nascar for years) has recently been bitten by the bug. Her favorite driver is Greg Biffle. Why? Because she came up with her own nickname for him: Biffle the Wiffle, which her children parrot on race day.
Matt has been a Mark Martin fan for years. He owns quite the collection of racing memorabilia, some of which is signed. When I ran into him on Saturday, he had spent a few hours waiting for Martin on Friday, only to have the autograph session canceled due to sponsor commitments. Matt had shown up early on Saturday and gotten two tickets to get autographs. Since he only had one item to sign, he planned to give the ticket to some young kid he saw at the signing who didn't have a ticket. "I figure it will make his day" and probably convert another fan to Mark Martin.
Robbie last attended the 500 in 2001, when his hero Dale Earnhardt died. I met him at the Duels, the only event he planned to attend at Daytona during Speedweeks. Robbie attends both Talladega races, the July Daytona race and the Atlanta race. "After Earnhardt died, I swore I'd never see another 500 in person. I just can't do that again."
Janet and her family attended the Champion's Breakfast on Monday, the day after the 500. Janet was a diehard Gordon fan (evidenced by her Dupont Jacket) "I was hoping to see Jeff" she commented. Her husband was a diehard Jimmie Johnson fan, and was decked out in at least 3 Lowe's/Johnson items. He couldn't stop grinning - in fact, it was hard not to look at him in all his joy over the win and not grin yourself. Janet laughed as she watched him. "I don't think that grin will be gone for at least a week." Janet's three kids have the bug too. One son is a Kasey Kahne fan, another son is a Tony Stewart fan and her youngest, a daughter, is also a Stewart fan. Her sister was there too - an Elliott Sadler fan and her sister's two kids - another Stewart fan and a Dale Jr. fan. I asked how they all ended up having different drivers, and Janet said she wasn't sure, but that they had just watched the races, and everyone picked out who they liked. I asked if she felt outnumbered by all the Stewart fans and would consider changing her driver allegiance for family unity. "Are you kidding?" she said.
