Off the Wall Racing News

NASCAR

New Records set in NASCAR

In its 62nd year of operation, NASCAR’s 2010 season will go down as one for the ages. Here’s a listing of new records set this past season (from Speedway Media):

1. Average lead changes per race… 25.4 breaking the 1981 season record of 24.9.
2. 55 different drivers led laps in 2010 breaking the 2005 / 2007 years of 51.
3. There were 1,299 green flag lead changes in 2010. This literally destroyed the previous record of 994 set in 2006.
4. There were a total of 116,327 green flag passes breaking last season’s record of 110,626.

Individual track records:

1. Talladega’s spring meet had 88 lead changes among 29 drivers (67% of the field!).
2. The Daytona 500 set a new record in lead changes too with 22.
3. Sonoma’s Infineon race had 12 lead changes in the race setting a new record there.
4. Phoenix had 13 different leaders tying the record.
5. Texas had 33 lead changes during the later race setting the track record.

Last but not least, Marcos Ambrose set a dubious record last year in Sonoma when he became the first driver in NASCAR history to lose a race because he stalled the car during a caution flag playing with the ignition switches.
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And the 2010 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award Goes To…
They had to use a tie-breaker to determine this year’s Tissot Pit Road Precision Award. The season ended in a four-way tie between Matt Kenseth’s number 17 Crown Royal team, Kyle Busch’s number 18 M&M’s team, Jeff Gordon’s number 24 DuPont team (which one? Oh yeah, the one that finished on the 48 car) and Jamie McMurray’s number 1 Bass Pro Shops team.

The tie-breaker used was straight forward as the driver with the highest Sprint Cup point total at the end of the season being the winner. That happened to be Roush Fenway’s and Matt Kenseth’s number 17 team as they finished fifth in the final standings.
For winning the season-long Tissot Pit Road Precision Award title the No. 17 team
will receive a $105,000 bonus from Tissot plus Tissot watches for the pit crew members and driver. The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing crew will also receive an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas to accept the prize money and Tissot watches at the Champion’s Week Awards Luncheon, Thursday, Dec. 2 in the Bellagio Ballroom.

Kenseth’s over-the-wall crew consists of: Justin Nottestad (front-tire changer), Joe Crossen (front-tire carrier), Dave Smith (rear-tire changer), Garrett Reding (rear-tire carrier), Cameron Cobb (jackman), Brad Robison (gasman) and Dave McDonald (catch can). The crew chief is Jimmy Fennig and the pit crew coach is Andy Ward.

Way to go guys!
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NASCAR’s Television Ratings… Look a little deeper…


NASCAR being moved from ABC in 2009 to ESPN in 2010 (ABC has approximately 114 million households verses around 100 million households that receive ESPN) apparently played a big role in NASCAR’s huge ratings decline. ABC had an average share of 3.3 rating points in 2009 to ESPN’s 2.5 share in 2010. The 2.5 rating represents a 24% decline or a loss of approximately 1.12 million viewers.

Although NASCAR’s television ratings news seems to be full of gloom and doom as the
Ford 400’s viewership on ESPN (cable) November 21st was off .3 on ratings (3.3 share verses ABC’s 2009 season finale of 3.6), there is a definite silver lining inside the numbers… The male 18-34 year old demographic (popular sports television’s viewer bedrock) was actually up 33% verses 2009 running on cable/satellite while reaching only 87% of the potential viewers ABC would have reached. Comparing oranges to oranges concerning the Homestead Nationwide races (both shown on cable’s ESPN2 in 2009 and 2010) the 2010 rating was actually up one tenth of one rating point which equates to an increase of around 140,000 souls. So the change from a nationwide ABC audience to ESPN’s somewhat limited cable/satellite audience has worked to lower the Sprint Cup’s up front ratings. You just have to delve inside the numbers to find it’s really not as bad as it sounds after all.

I’ve given my opinion on this before… Just as the “Mainstream” media is slanted one way when it comes to politics in this country, I truly believe that same bias runs directly against auto racing generally and NASCAR in particular. You want to increase TV ratings and put more fans in the stands? There’s a mountain to climb trying to get a positive spin back in the media.
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Petty Motorsports shrinks to 2 cars for 2011


November 22nd Richard Petty announced Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) has shored up its financial picture by finding sufficient backing to race the 2011 season with a reduced presence. Cutting the number of teams to be fielded in half, Petty appeared optimistic saying, ``Currently we are concentrating on building two solid programs. We are very fortunate to have an extremely loyal family of partners and are looking forward to the future.''

Petty’s new financial partners are Medallion Financial Corporation and DGB Investments with the King making the day to day decisions.

Here’s hoping A.J. Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose get the attention they deserve and have a rewarding 2011.
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What do the drivers think would make the Chase better?

``I don't think they need to change the Chase,'' said Clint Bowyer. ``I think the competition is closer than it has ever been. That is what we were lacking. Hats off to everybody involved in this sport. This has been a great year.''

The championship contenders were asked the week before Homestead about their preferences. Harvick and Hamlin support a variation of tracks in the final 10 races. The venues have shifted slightly since 2004, but as NASCAR discussed tweaks to the 2011 schedule, the only change was moving Chicago into the Chase and removing California, which has had attendance problems.

``I'd like to see a little bit more diversity in the racetracks,'' Harvick said. ``I don't think the last 10 weeks should be the same racetracks over and over and over again. I think it should rotate around. You have it end at different places, have it start at different places. Maybe you go to some of the same racetracks, but I think a different 10 weeks, even a road course at the end of the year would put that full diversity on your champion.''

Johnson actually deferred on Chase changes and set his sights on two other NASCAR issues: The grueling 36-race schedule that stretches from February to November, and an abundance of 500-mile races that stretch more than three hours.

``I think a shorter schedule would be awesome. Shorter races, too,'' Johnson said.

Hmmm, I like Kevin Harvick’s idea about putting a road course race in the Chase. Maybe the new Austin Texas road course when it’s ready down the road? ___________________________________________________
Jeff Gluck’s latest poll on SB Nation… http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2010/11/29/1842543/poll-what-was-the-most-memorable-moment-of-the-2010-nascar-season

What was the most memorable moment of the 2010 NASCAR season?
After 781 votes at 9:00 PM EST on Monday, November 29, 2010…

9% Jimmie Johnson wins historic fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship - 75 votes

18% Veteran drivers Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton fight after crash at Texas - 143 votes

44% Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Nationwide race at Daytona in No. 3 car - 345 votes

6% Kyle Busch sweeps Bristol weekend after Brad Keselowski's "Kyle Busch is an ass" comment - 54 votes

9% Emotional Jamie McMurray wins pothole-marred Daytona 500 - 74 votes

5%Angry Carl Edwards flips Brad Keselowski at Atlanta - 45 votes

5% Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick clash at Pocono, prompting Logano's "firesuit" comment - 45 votes

Looks like Junior Nation is alive and well…

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Sign of NASCAR’s Times?

In celebration of Jimmie Johnson’s 5th consecutive Sprint Cup Championship ESPN put up a graphic with Jimmy Johnson on it…

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IndyCar

Pennzoil and Penske in IndyCar? Again?

I vividly remember Rick Mears’ Indianapolis 500 victories back in the mid 80’s… You
see I had more than one opportunity to actually sit down and talk with the man. I was living in a small resort area in the Central California Sierra Nevada Mountains where the lady that owned the local watering hole / restaurant / store was the mother of Rick’s first wife. I was a frequent visitor to the resort back in my bachelorhood days and there were times around the holidays when Rick might show up. Naturally I kept tabs on his racing career… Anyway those bright yellow cars he drove were burned into my memory banks. Now there are unconfirmed rumors that Roger Penske might just get his old sponsor back in IndyCar, this after the announcement seven months back concerning Shell / Pennzoil shifting sponsorship away from Richard Childress and Kevin Harvick in favor of Penske and Kurt Busch. If the Penske IndyCar / Shell-Pennzoil re-marriage comes to pass what’s next for Penske?

With one year left on Roger’s NASCAR contract with Dodge there will be a lot of speculation about that in the coming months. Is Penske German?

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Formula 1

Is it Sour Grapes or is Red Bull driving illegal equipment?

"Petty finger pointing" has Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey unhappy
with the competition. Red Bull’s dominating RB6 model package Newey is responsible for developing has drawn consistent complaints over alleged technical illegalities.

Newey stated, "It wasn't a distraction, but it was an annoyance. I've got to say I've never known a season quite like this one for the petty finger pointing that's gone on in the paddock."
Even though every complaint survived F1A’s checks, the rules will be changed in the future as a result. The innovative Newey had F1A inspectors looking at such things as alleged adjustable ride height systems, flexible floors and flexible wings.

Nevertheless, complaints persisted. A common claim revolved around the fact that the RB6's drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were able to increase their qualifying speed by as much as three tenths in the crucial 'Q3' qualifying.

Newey defended Red Bull against the allegations saying, "It's a myth! I'm not sure our Q3 performance has been particularly different to our Q1 and Q2 performance, to be honest.

"I haven't bothered looking through statistics, but I think it's one of these stories that starts when once or twice the drivers have improved in Q3 and suddenly everybody writes it and it becomes accepted without any real basis," he added.

Sounds like sour grapes to me… You know how those Europeans are! LOL

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They’re Still Racing!

Kurt Busch parlayed a ride in Rockingham’s Frank Kimmel Street Stock Polar Bear 150
November 27th to a second place finish behind Will Kimmel (Frank’s nephew)… Looks like a good time was had by all at the Rock.
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The Race of Champions in Dusseldorf Germany (November 27th-28th). The team race Nations Cup was won by Team Germany made up of F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel and fellow F1 driver and multi-championship winner Michael Schumacher. Team Great Britain finished second.

In the individual Race of Champions held Sunday, former Red Bull driver Filipe Albuquerque surprised everyone with the win.

Carl Edwards, Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust made up the American team (I know this is an exhibition but what’s up with that???).
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Upcoming: Australian Supercar V8’s Season Finale - 2010 Sydney Telstra 500 December 3rd - 5th…
We'll have to refer to tez for the television times... tez, I found Speed TV's Schedule... This race won't be shown until December 19th... That's a shame.
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Now... Go Christmas Shopping!