Family Feud

So Dale Jr. wants at least 51% ownership of DEI. Has Teresa been a 2nd mom to him or is she just the evil stepmother?  He was born with big shoes to fill and Daddy's death (RIP) back at Daytona 2001 made the job even harder, if not impossible.  What's DEI without the most popular driver in the Nextel Cup? Depends on the perspective you take. What do you want to be Junior? Is it owner or racer? If you become majority owner of DEI you should get to stepping. No man should be both manager and the star player.  Run the show if you'd like but go and drive for Childress. Bring back glory to the #3. Change the paint scheme to red, white or blue for all I care. Just listen to history. Not even Dale Sr. tried being his own boss on Sundays, and quite frankly... he was a better driver than you.   

If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. Come on now boys. The season didn't even start yet! I mean really now. The entire team from Evernham Motorsports (Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs & Elliot Sadler) all saw their crew chiefs get suspended for at least two races with Kahne's pit boss receiving four. Matt Kenseth and Michael Waltrip were also found to have broken the rules and faced similar consequences. On top of that the teams were all docked driver's points. In the cases of Kenseth and Kahne, illegal holes were found in the wheel wells. Riggs and Sadler had modifications in place that allowed air to filter out through the trunk area. Waltrip's car was found with a fuel additive in the gas tank.  Innocence of course was feigned. Ironically the only man to step up to the plate and accept the blame (Waltrip) was also the man most ridiculed. Then he goes and spins former teammate, and Nascar fan favorite Dale Jr., during qualifying. Talk about a bad week for one of the nicer guys down in the garage.

After news of the multiple suspensions went public, Jeff Gordon was openly critical of cheating.  The Rainbow Warrior then proceeded to go, win his heat and earn a spot at the front of the field.  Not so fast bucko. Your car failed inspection too. Now Gordon has also been labeled a cheat and must start at the back of the pack. Incredibly he escaped without being docked points or having his crew chief suspended.  What was his infraction? The springs on the car were set too low, thus improving aerodynamics.  Appears some screws or nuts and bolts came loose, which caused the springs to shift downward. I guess there was just enough "reasonable doubt" to convince race officials that it could simply have been accidental. Was this fair play or more preferential treatment that Gordon's detractors (9 out of 10 Nascar Fans or so it seems) often complain about?

What's it mean when arguably the best driver in Nextel Cup fails to even qualify for the Chase? He's pissed that what. Seeing how Tony is always angry to begin with, that's even worse news for the competition. Smoke has a penchant for drinking Road Rage flavored POWERade. When that happens he's either going to dominate the field or take out a part of it. Move the hell over or suffer the consequences. He's looked great early on at the Daytona preliminaries. 

The Super Bowl of racing hasn't even taken place yet. As usual, characters great and small have set the plot for what is sure to be a racing season full of dramatics, controversy and hurt feelings.

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