ron.brown11

Yep! Just watched the Last Chance ASA race. Grant Endanger won it. Qualifying for the CARS Tour and their Pro Late Model series is ongoing. I'm not big on watching qualifying, especially since there is over 50 cars for each of the 2 CARS Tour series'. I plan on watching all 3 features later today. I've been doing some reading, while have the audio playing in the background. With only 7 cars left to qualify, Katie Hettinger is second in the Pro Late Models. She was .01 seconds behind pole sitter Angie Grill. John Aramendia won't make the show I don't think, as it will come down to a math situation against several other regulars. They don't list a last chance race, and they're only taking the top 35 on speed. There will be some provisionals, but those are tied to current owner's points. John qualified 51st of 54 cars unfortunately.

I agree with you Rebelracewriter, there was a lot of drivers getting into each other Sunday. That's Darlington, always has been. Where Ross separates himself from the majority of the others, is he nearly always ensures that the other car comes out on the worst end of it. Some people are quick to compare him Dale Sr, but I disagree. He reminds me a lot more of Ernie Irvan's early Cup years. There was no doubt that he had great talent, but to quote Tony Stewart of another driver, he was like a dart without any feathers. Ernie has been quoted many times, crediting Richard Petty & Dale Sr with calming him down. So if you've got Dale Sr saying that you're tearing up too much stuff, you are. According to Justin Marks, they've had some really frank talks in the last 48 hours, with sponsors & Chevy. Stating that Ross needs to "clean up" some things. I think that Ross is an incredible talent. I have no idea what kind of money his family's watermelon farm generates. But I seriously doubt that it can fund his Cup team if he runs off sponsors, or a manufacturer. I don't generally read Jenna Fryer's columns, as they tend to feel like fluff pieces. Not so here. So I copied/pasted the whole thing. This is why I said before, all the worries of Ross's escapades could become irrelevant. NASCAR spent the weekend at Darlington Raceway celebrating its 75th anniversary, a salute that will now move to North Wilkesboro Speedway with the first Cup Series race at the reopened track since 1996. The nostalgic nod to NASCAR’s early days has created a festive atmosphere at the surface level for the stock car series. Underneath, though, is a dispute between NASCAR and its Cup teams that is hanging over this summer celebration. The Associated Press obtained a letter last week essentially sent by the entire Cup field to NASCAR that warns a tentative agreement to a new industry revenue breakdown depends on its franchises becoming permanent, rather than renewable. The charter system introduced in 2016 guarantees race entry and earnings to 36 of 40 teams each week, but the charters must be renewed and can be revoked. The current charters expire at the end of the 2024 season and the teams have made it clear they want them permanent — the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Lakers or any team from a stick-and-ball league don't have to renew their franchises — and have asked NASCAR for meaningful discussion on why NASCAR opposes the idea. Because the sides are at a “significant impasse” on the charters, the teams skipped an April meeting with series leadership and NASCAR's top executives are now meeting individually with the teams. NASCAR points to those conversations as proof that talks remain amicable. Denny Hamlin, a veteran driver and founding owner of three-year-old Cup team 23XI, said he believes the individual meetings are meant to undermine the strength in collective negotiating by the chartered teams. “I think there was a little bit of (negotiating) traction, but it looks like NASCAR’s not acknowledging the negotiating committee anymore,” said Hamlin. “They’d rather do it the way they did it 20, 30 years ago and meet team-by-team and try to pick them off one-by-one and get a deal done that way.” The negotiating committee has representatives from four teams, tasked to hammer out a new revenue sharing model for the Race Team Alliance, the consortium of 16 organizations that hold all 36 charters, which collectively are worth tens of millions. The committee is comprised of Jeff Gordon representing Hendrick Motorsports; Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern; RFK Racing president Steve Newmark; and Curtis Polk, an owner in 23XI Racing and longtime business manager for Michael Jordan. Hamlin said the insistence on making charters permanent is to protect what owners have invested in NASCAR. Through two full seasons of launching a startup team, Hamlin said his investment alone is already $20 million. “I certainly don’t want to lose my $20 million for sure," Hamlin said. “It’s just worrisome that it can come down to one person saying they don’t want to renew (the charter). Too risky. Too risky. Got to give us some sort of security.” NASCAR has already met individually with Hendrick Motorsports, and team owner Rick Hendrick said: “NASCAR is listening, so we’ll see if we can’t get something worked out that everybody can live with.” Gordon, after William Byron on Sunday won at Darlington to give Hendrick five wins this season, downplayed the perceived tenor of current negotiations. He noted NASCAR is also in the middle of talks on a new television rights deal; the current package with FOX and NBC Sports expires at the end of 2024, same as the charters. To renew a charter beyond the 2024 season, the teams had to inform NASCAR in February of their intent. The negotiating window on renewals is July 1 through Dec. 31; under current terms, NASCAR is supposed to negotiate in good faith and shouldn't revoke a charter without cause. “We all want the same thing. We all want to have a sport that’s thriving that fans love and great competition... and also have something that works out economically for the teams, for the tracks, for NASCAR and everybody involved,” Gordon said. “I think we’re in a good place, but we’re also making sure that NASCAR knows kind of where the teams stand and how united they are.” Now comes a test of just how united the teams really are. Although the chartered teams have made it clear in writing that the negotiating committee speaks on behalf of all of them, nothing is stopping anyone from cutting an individual deal with NASCAR. If one team breaks from the others, negotiators will have little to no bargaining power. The negotiating committee hasn't met with NASCAR since March, and aside from the individual team meetings, there are not current formal discussions on any of the roughly nine points both sides want addressed in the revenue model. NASCAR has declined to publicly comment on the issue of permanent charters but has said it wants to work with the teams to fix their economic concerns. If NASCAR really means that, then it needs to get back to the bargaining table. Despite the feel good moments of May leading into this week's All-Star race and then the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the tension is thick behind the scenes and might only get worse as this season rolls on. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

I don't think "everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of blaming him for everything". I think that he is driving the bandwagon himself. This is a guy that operated mostly in obscurity, and now has a good ride. He has a team owner that has openly said he doesn't care how many people that Ross pisses off. And as long as he doesn't piss off sponsors into leaving, nothing will change. NASCAR it seems is okay with what he's doing, as I guess they subscribe to the old saying that "publicity, even bad publicity, is still good". So now it's down to the drivers to say if they've had enough. At the end of the day, all of this is NASCAR's fault. When you create a championship path like Brian France did, this is what you get. When it's win and you're in the playoffs, there really isn't that much of a choice for drivers/teams. Couple that with the way the networks cover the races in the playoffs. If you ain't in, you don't exist. One thing that is certain, NASCAR will never admit that this playoff system isn't working. You can't create that "bottom of the 9th moment in the World Series, or last second field goal in the Super Bowl, without it looking/feeling like the WWE. I wonder if NASCAR will ever figure out that the loss of fans at the track, loss of tv viewership, and the loss of major team sponsorships might just be connected to this playoff system? That will never happen. It all may be a moot point though. The RTA has finally come out and said what they're pissed off about. Apparently NASCAR has already agreed to give the teams a little bigger piece of the tv money pie (that was from the RTA, and don't know that to be a fact). The RTA said last week that the charter system is the big sticking point. They want the charter system to become permanent, but NASCAR won't commit to that, as the charter system ends at the same time as the current tv deal. Quite honestly, I can't figure this out. If the teams/RTA don't race in NASCAR, how much is that charter worth? Who is going to pay a big chunk of money for a charter where no teams are racing? If they leave NASCAR, to race in a yet unknown racing series, how much is that charter worth? Will the new series simply just bless these teams with some monetary sum for showing up? I can understand them fighting for a bigger piece of the tv money. I also can understand that they want to have their investment be worth something, if they decide to leave the sport. I don't see how that charter will save them if they leave, or NASCAR folds. So worrying whether or not Chastain is wrecking everyone might become a forgotten topic in a few months. I don't see Jim France sitting him, or any drivers downing and saying that's enough, like Bill Jr did Earnhardt & Bodine. Time will tell, but I think it could be a bumpy summer in NASCARVILLE..

I loved the way old school drivers used to handle a driver that couldn't stop wrecking others. Several of the drivers that were wrecked by said driver, took turns wrecking said driver over several weeks. After that, if said driver was still financially able to keep coming back, they'd take that driver off to the side and ask a simple question. Have you had enough yet? The usual response was yes. Every once in a while, a driver either had a really large bank account, or a large quantity of stupidity, and they'd say no. Eventually they got the message, or ran out of money. Either way the situation usually got handled. If they were just overly stupid, behind the trailer action usually ended things. I can't respect a driver that can't seem to pass anyone without wrecking them. That ain't racing.

Kaden started 14th, and was running 9th when the car in front of him blew up. Kaden was sent to the back for spinning, and restarted 22nd. He finished in the top 10 (8th I believe). Good recovery. Carson Kvalpil won for the 3rd straight race, driving for Jr. He lead nearly the entire race. The next race for the CARS Tour will be at North Wilksboro. I can't wait for that! Tonight they had 7 cars that didn't qualify for 125 lap main. From all the rumors that I've read about, and the announcers were talking about tonight, There will be more cars sent home for the race at Wilks. The gap between the pole sitter Kvapil to 30th was 2/10s of a second. That's a very tight field of competitive race cars. I really believe that having JR, Harvick, Burton & Justin Marks owning this series is bringing more cars to the program. I hope that it will flourish for years to come..

Katie Hettinger ran a strong race at Ace Speedway, in the CARS Tour Pro Late Model 100 lapper. Started 6th, and ran all night in the top 5, and finished 3rd. I really think she has a bright future in stock cars. Nice run young lady!

Kaden Honeycutt will be there, and Mathew Dillner picked him to win it. That sure wouldn't hurt my feelings any..

Update: Isabella Robusto will not run the CARS Tour race tonight at Ace Speedway. She's out with a concussion from that vicious wreck at Hickory. They've got a young guy that races at the Madhouse filling in tonight. Too Bad, I was really looking forward to see her race tonight after such a good showing at Hickory.

This is the thought process that I think would work for a late model touring series along the Gulf coast. There's got to be a lot of those cars that are sitting idle. Construct a simple set of rules, and make the tires the limiting factor. Rodney, I truly hope that this all works out for you all.

I guess I should clarify that. They have a front stretch wall, but have movable sections at pit entry & exit. On exit is where they added a full length piece.

Sure enough, they took that short piece of Jersey barrier out, and replaced it with a longer one. Can't tell if they added any kind of staking to hold it, but that longer section should help a lot. It looks to be the same length as the rest of the barrier sections now. Hopefully what happened last week won't repeat itself..

It was a photographer that was hit by the inside wall at Hickory, after Isabella Robusto hit it. I'm betting that Hickory will have that short piece of wall anchored by Sat. That or replace it with a longer piece. If that had been a full length of Jersey barricade, I don't think it would have moved that much. She just hit it right at the beginning of that short section. So far, the only thing that I've read was that he got some stitches, and a possible concussion. I truly hope that's all, as that was one nasty hit that he took. It looked like he was shooting pics, and maybe didn't think she would end up hitting the wall. I don't know, but I get it if that was the case. I was the track photographer for 1 season, when I was in high school. I had a couple of close calls with race cars, while trying to get the shot. The funny thing is, I never thought that it was that close of a call, or that I might be hit. A buddy of mine was there with me on one of them. After the crash was over, and I got my shots, I looked around and didn't see him. He was 50 yards away, and still running. That was the last time he went anywhere near the racing surface during a race. As we all know too well, being at a race track can be hazardous to your health. I sure hope that he's good though.

Yeah, I've been watching her race there for a couple of years now. She's pretty good too! I do have to say that that was the most aggressive I've seen her drive. It was a shame that she crashed. She normally races at Florence. It didn't show in this particular race, but there's another young lady that is really good. Myself, I think she'll be better than Isabella in a couple of years. Her name is Katie Hettinger. She is from the WI area, if I remember correctly. But she races mainly at Florence. I believe the number 1 reason why Isabella is getting pushed so hard right now, is because Katie is just 15 or 16, so she can't run some of the bigger tracks yet. Plus, Toyota really is hoping for a good female driver, and to increase their pool of up & coming drivers. Katie is fairly tied to Chevy. Katie was absolutely outstanding at New Smyrna in Feb. Won 2 features, and was on the pole for nearly every race she was in. Had another race won, and got torn up because of someone else's mess. There's another young lady (though not as young as either Katie & Isabella), named Annabeth Barnes-Crum. Se's pretty darn good too. I agree Radical, Kaden looked really good. There were a couple of times that he really drove that car almost too hard. It looked like he was trying to carry a car that simply wasn't as good as the first 2. And it really didn't look like just the 2 that finished first & second. He got to second once, but just didn't have enough to stay there. His post race interview said that as well. His car was a bit slow on restarts for a handful of laps. Then here he'd come. Then it just kind of plateaued there. If he can just get some sponsorship, or have a team at the truck level really believe in him, I think he has a very bright future. I haven't found anything yet that says why Roper Racing replaced him with Johnny Sauter, but I'm betting it's because he can't bring a bunch of sponsor dollars. What a shame. I looked in a couple of places, but so far haven't seen any details on the guy that got hurt. Hopefully he's ok. But without a doubt, it was some really good racing there Sat. I truly expect more of the same with the CARS Tour. I can't wait!

As long as they run restrictor/taper plates at Daytona & Talledega, the races will always seem like Houston traffic at rush hour. And until they knock down the banks at both, those plates aren't coming off. Bill Elliot's Cup track record has stood for 35 years now, and I don't see that changing in my lifetime..

Kaden ran a great race at Hickory!. Started 4th, ran as high as second, and finished 3rd. He held off some really good cars. Carson Kvapil won in Dale Jr's car. Connor Hall was excellent in second. It was a bit of a wild race for the whole 150 laps. If not for the 100 lap Pro late model, I would have said that t it was a wild race. Both races had the checkers fly, with the top 2 cars buried together for the win. It was a great night of action from Hickory!! There were 9 cars that weren't able to qualify for the main tour race. Five of which are really good cars/teams, with past wins on the tour. Two more are on the Cars Tour "touring 12", which kind of like the old Cup winners circle plan. Both Dale Jr & Jeff Burton were on hand all day at Hickory. It's great to see the owners supporting their program. I'm sure that Harvick & Marks couldn't be there because of running at Talledega Sunday. Or I guess that it's possible that they were, but I didn't see them, and the announcers never mentioned them. Still happy to see Dale & Burton in the house. With the turn out of cars for this race, I can't wait to see how many show up for Martinsville next month..

Not sure what caused this, but I just read that Kaden has been replaced as the driver of the Roper #04 truck. Johnny Sauter will now be driving it. Hopefully Kaden will get a shot at another ride in the truck series. Hoping for the best Kaden!

The CARS Tour is running at Hickory Speedway this Sat. Here's a little glimpse as to what name owners can do for a series. For the first time in the CARS Tour series history (just 8 years), they are having to run a last chance race. Since Jr, Justin Marks, Jeff Burton, & Kevin Harvick bought out the tour, they have added races, increased purses, and have all of the races being seen live online. That has lead to now having last chance races. This should give all asphalt racers hope. Racing needs leaders. For asphalt racers, that used to mean NASCAR, but they have failed to hold up their end of the bargain. So tracks & racers have faded away. Dirt has had strong direction from World of Outlaws, Lucas Oil and others, and they have flourished. They have strong fields & purses, and that has a trickle down effect. I'm very hopeful that the same will happen for the asphalt racers. Harvick has already been at this for a while now, as he's been involved behind the scenes in asphalt racing in CA. With good asphalt tracks along the Gulf coast, there's a decent chance that some type of series could occur. You have New Smyrna, Five Flags, Mobile, and Houston. I'm sure there are a couple others, but that could be a good start. Add in a track or two from GA & SC and you could have one hell of a touring series. Since the CARS Tour is already having 16 races this season, I'm not sure that they could add 4 or more races to their schedule. But if there were enough interest from racers in this area, maybe they could start a sister series. And to spice it up, have crossover races between the two. Wouldn't that be something?? By having a series along the Gulf coast, it also wouldn't be as bad for the tow. Plus, if the 2 series could happen, it would allow drivers to get track time at different tracks. That's a good start to help aspiring drivers get their name out there. Look how that has helped Kaden Honeycutt's career so far. Of course, I can still hope for a new track in TX to be in the mix too..

Kaden is running the Pro Late Model portion of the CARS Tour race at Hickory this weekend. Good Luck Kaden!!

I didn't know Justin, or even been to Larenceburg in decades, what a shame. My brother, who still lives in Cincinnati, was supposed to go to Larenceburg that night. He has 2 grandsons, and a daughter & son in law that live on the west side of Cincinnati. My brother & his wife were over at their house watching the boys, with plans to go when their daughter & husband got back for a couples outing. They ran late, so the racing plans got canceled. They heard about it the next day. He's seen a fatal racing crash before, and it wasn't fun. We were standing next to each other when it happened. We were teenagers then, but still realized quickly that what happened was very bad. These were the days when it wasn't that uncommon to have a fatality at the track. As much as I love racing, sprint cars have always scared the crap out of me, and I'm not afraid to say that out loud. Worlds of respect to those that choose to race them. Rest In Peace Justin! God Bless

We can only hope..

24nomo you're right. I had forgotten about Carson. I went back and looked, because I had it in my mind that revolved around drugs. Turns out he too was arrested for assault on a female. I wonder who taught them that assaulting women was ok. Praying for them, and for their victims.

Correct me if I'm wrong Nick, but isn't this the second or third time Cody has been suspended (drugs?)? This one may really end his Cup involvement, if these accusations are true. Kurt Busch was able to get reinstated because in his case, the woman had already been caught in a web of lies & fraud, from the Wounded Warrior Foundation. I can't remember if she went to prison, but think she did. I have absolutely no sympathy for a guy hurting a woman, in any circumstance other than self defense. And only then if she is using lethal weapons. Walk Away.. I hope that the charges aren't true. If he does get reinstated, it will be really difficult to sell a sponsor on sponsoring Cody. RWR better find some rich kid to drive that 15 car for a while. Plus, when NASCAR suspends you, you can't race in any race, or at any track that is sanctioned by NASCAR, until that suspension it lifted.

I hear you Rebelracewriter, it ain't cheap anymore. I'm blessed/cursed to have Optimum. I get the standard channels, and they throw in HBO. Plus I have 1 gig internet from them as well. That costs $193 per month for both. It's not cheap, but fairly inline with pretty much everyone else. The curse part is that when their services are working, it good. If something stops working, who knows when they might show up. I'd much rather have Spectrum, but for some reason that they can't explain, they aren't in our subdivision. Santa Rita Ranch isn't a small entity either. I have sat and talked with the man that single handedly built this place, and he assures me that there is no exclusivity contract with Optimum. So I pay less than $210 for cable, internet and Flo, not cheap but tolerable. Plus, the majority of their cables are fiber optic. That really helps when streaming races.

I love racing at Bristol, just not on dirt. I watched maybe 25 minutes of the race, but only during commercial breaks on the program that I was watching. It breaks my heart to see a great track like that, turned into a temp facility. If NASCAR wants to run dirt, go to a good dirt track. I think you will see the same thing when the go to Chicago this summer. All the talking heads will scream what a great success it was, and Daytona will probably ram a few more of them down our throats, before they quietly fade away. I expect the same outcome for the Clash race in LA. If you want to watch A LOT of dirt racing, from all over the US, get FloRacing!! As anybody can tell that reads this forum, I'm not a huge dirt fan anymore. But I do still watch some of their races. As I grew up in Ohio, and I've been to Eldora (the very first World 100) & Florence, KY (dirt late model hall of fame) numerous times. Also a couple of times in Lawrenceburg, IN. So I usually watch some of the races from there. There is a ton of coverage from Tulsa, except for the Sat main for Chili Bowl. I bet that might change now that Lucas Oil has pulled out. I am not a paid spokesperson for FloRacing, but they are also a TX company, based here in Austin. They only do annual subscriptions, but I think it's well worth it. My renewal in Jan was $149. for the year. This coming Sat there are races from 10 different dirt tracks, and in some areas the racing season hasn't even started yet. If it's variety that you want, you can also watch asphalt, drag racing, snowmobile, and racing from Australia. Because I love asphalt racing, Flo has been a God send. Two years ago, I had NBC/SN and it was decent. Then they shut down their sports net. At the time, FloRacing showed mostly dirt circle track racing, and drag racing. If you don't want to hear anything positive about NASCAR, don't read the next sentence. When NBC/SN bailed, NASCAR helped Flo get the equipment and broadcast teams together, to show a good amount of asphalt stuff. This year they are showing even more races, from new tracks as well. When Dale Jr, Jeff Burton, Justin Marks & Kevin Harvick bought out the Cars Tour, now all of their races will be on Flo. As an old modified owner/driver, I still love the mods. All of the Whelen Modified Tour races are on Flo, and they expanded the number of races this season because of the live coverage. Stafford Speedway, I think has the best weekly racing in the US, if you like mods. They run a very tight ship for a Friday night of races. I don't think I've ever seen a SK Mod or an SK Lite mod feature that didn't start at least 28 cars. Their shows are normally over in 3.5-4.0 hours, and that's with usually 4 (sometimes 5) classes running. Before they closed down Thunderhill, I lived 8 miles from the track. If I drove to the track, only went into the grandstands, and had a burger & a soda, I spent more for that then for an entire month of Flo. Yes, I know that nothing compares to the sounds/smells of being at the track, and I miss both. But since I can't go, Flo sure is a really good value. Also, if you can't watch the races live, no problem. You can watch the entire program at anytime day or night. I went back a couple of weeks ago, to re-watch a Whelen Mod race from New Smyrna back in Feb. Just for giggles, I scrolled back through Flo's schedule from last year, just to see if I could look that far back. No problem. Oh yeah, if you're into this, they also showed the Dakar Rally.

The charters have always been a sore subject with me. But I truly understand why the owners want them, and NASCAR had to acquiesce. It was about the only way NASCAR could end the embarrassment of the start & park teams. Also, way too many team owners couldn't make a go of it for long before the charters, and then nothing they had was worth anything. Selling assets for 10 cents on the dollar can, and has broke more than 1 multi-millionaire team owner. At the very least, having a charter to sell gave owners something back for what they invested. Now don't for a second think that I'm defending team owners, as they have made most of their own problems. Also, as I said above, I don't see many teams working out of their backyard garages. But the thought process goes like this: We need those fancy shops, to attract those big sponsors. I'm not sure if the argument holds up. I recall a driver/owner named Lennie Pond. He maintained and raced from a dirt floor 2 car garage, at his house. He had Pepsi as a sponsor, and won the Cup Rookie of the Year. I have no idea how much money was involved, but he made it work. However, with this new car, teams don't need these huge workforces and equipment anymore. Well, at least if they don't "play" with the single source parts. According to Brad K, when he went to Roush, the first thing he did was to figure out what machining equipment & personnel weren't needed, and got rid of them. Same with all the old car chassis', bodies and body fabricators. Three years ago, Hendricks had well over 600 employees in the race shops. I wonder what that number is today? I wonder how many fabricators and engineers have been let go? If it a really small number, then where is the long term "savings" the teams are supposed to see, with this new car. After all, that was NASCAR's biggest selling point for the owners, and potential new teams/owners. Like I said above, owners have created a lot of their problems. I'm with you Nick, it's absolutely crushing to see what has happened to asphalt racing in TX, over the last 15 years. Most of the tracks that operated in Ohio, when I was growing up, are closed. The amazing thing is, for as small as OH is, they still have a lot of asphalt tracks still open. There are still more dirt tracks (that's always been the case there) there than asphalt though. But somehow they are still making it. My brother still lives there, and he says that the economy isn't great, so I don't get it. I've been to Altus, Kyle, SA, Red River, & Houston. All had decent car counts on average. Did everybody just lose interest? Unfortunately I never got to CC. I know that SA could be really hard on cars in a crash, but rarely did a driver miss more than a race or 2 after a bad one. I also understand that the store bought chassis played a part in losing cars after bad crashes. Teams couldn't afford another one right away, if at all. For sure it has been very frustrating..