The Last Word from Las Vegas, where Edwards wins after Tony gets hosed.
So, what did we learn in Las Vegas?
Well, we learned that sometimes the best car on the day does not win, leaving the bubbly to second best. We learned that Saturday when Mark Martin found himself in front on the last lap of the Nationwide race after Brad Keselowski found the fence. We learned that Sunday, when Carl Edwards put Tony Stewart behind him for good to win his third over the last five events. It was enough to make Carl flip out.
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[/media-credit]We learned that hoses can get hooked on a car, flipping air wrenches out of the pit box. The resulting penalty moved Stewart from first to outside the top twenty with a hundred laps to go. He got back in front after going for two tires on one stop, but when he needed four the next time out, Edwards went for the pair that left him the victor, with Stewart the runner-up.
We learned that Edwards better be careful in Bristol. It seems that you win one day, and wind up in the garage early the next. The same fate that awaited Trevor Bayne after Daytona bit Jeff Gordon on Sunday when he cut a tire and discovered the wall. First one week, 36th the next, as those of us old enough remember how the thrill of victory can turn into the agony of defeat. We miss you Jim McKay.
We learned that Danica Patrick is not just a pretty face. Okay, I did see the Sports Illustrated layout, but I’m talking about her finishing fourth on Saturday. Best finish ever by a woman in one of NASCAR’s top three racing series. The previous best was by Sara Christian, who ran fifth at Pittsburgh in 1949. She ran in seven races over two seasons and never was featured as a pin-up girl to my knowledge.
We learned that Greg Biffle can get downright sarcastic when things slide into the toilet. No matter how they tried, they just could not dump enough fuel into the car. Biffle even ran out of petrol at one point and sat in the pit box as he tried to refire the beast. He wound up 28th, three laps down. 3-M Post It was his sponsor, “Shove It!” was what probably was on the driver’s mind. Yes, the Biff was miffed on Sunday.
We learned a few things about Matt Kenseth. After a caution, the 2003 champion took the green flag on Lap 13 only to discover he had a flat. In he came, down he went on the scoring tower, but he came back to claim11th at the end of the day. Good, yes, but what about him nudging young Mr. Bayne into the fence with 50 to go? Just a racing deal my sweet patoot.
We learned just how much fun it is to watch Kyle Busch drive a race car. He makes like a kamikaze in diving in where angels fear to tread. Sometimes he catches the grass when making a pass and goes for a skid into a wall. Sometimes he cuts a tire and finds the fence. Sometimes he blows up real good. 30th Saturday, 38th Sunday, but damned entertaining.
We learned that the feud between Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway has been extenzed into this season, as the pair had a dust up over the weekend at the track. Not sure about the actual spark of this one, but Conway says Gordon owes him some cash, while Gordon claims Conway owes him about 30 times as much. It all stems from a sponsorship deal involving that product endorsed by Jimmy Johnson, the former football coach and Survivor…and not the driver. Conway went to the cops over the altercation and Gordon was put on special emergency probation That, as they say, is the long and the short of it. All this tension. Where is Happy Bob when you need him?
I’ve learned that it is best to quit while you are ahead. For instance, I could ask what one gets when you combine Viagra with Extenze, but this is a racing site and has nothing to do with pole vaulting. Okay, I guess I haven’t learned a damned thing.
Bristol is next on the dance card, a track where the winner has been a guy named Busch half the time over the past nine years. Kurt has five of them, Kyle four, including three of the past four run there. The defending champ of the spring race is some fellow by the name of Johnson. As the Sprint boys take next Sunday off, the trucks return to Darlington this Saturday night. Enjoy the week.
NASCAR’s Ratings Continue To Rise Despite An Unpredictable Economy
[/media-credit]We are three races into the 2011 season, and already NASCAR is seeing a trend which hasn’t been witnessed since the series went to National television in 2001. Attendance is once again on the rise, and the television ratings were up from last year for the season opening Daytona 500. Fox Sports drew an 8.7 rating and a 20 share, which is up 13-percent from 2010. Fox also earned a 5.3 rating and an 11 share from Phoenix last Sunday, making it the highest rating of the weekend for any sports event.The first two races of the season have seen NASCAR’s ratings increase 13 percent over last year’s numbers. Sure we are only talking about the first two races, and for those who tuned into the race this past weekend in Las Vegas, it was clear to see the stands were once again full for the third straight weekend. NASCAR could very well be getting a second wind from its decline which began around 2007 and as recent as 2010, the fans seemed to lose interest and attendance quickly declined in a sport when names such as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, and Matt Kenseth quickly became household names.
Interest in the sport along with some rule changes were targeted as the reason for the decline in viewership, along with the addition of a dwindling economy which boosted the cost to attend a race for the average fan. The latest word on the street from the nay sayers is that NASCAR is continuing down a road of destruction, and it won’t be long before the sport quickly disappears into its own self-made black hole.
Of course, none of this news is coming from the big man himself; instead, most of it gets started around these highly sophisticated tailgate parties, where the fans congregate to see who can conjure up the best destructive scenarios. For those fans who really feel the need to challenge themselves, try visiting one of the hundreds of NASCAR social sites which can be found on the Internet.
There you will find every rule or regulation that NASCAR has ever implemented, along with the current state of the sport broken down to the root while being argued with the basis being, “Because I said so, and I have been a fan for x amount of years.” Now given the fact throughout the years, NASCAR just like any other sport is and always will be debated amongst its fans, try naming one person, or a group of people who could do a better job at managing one of motorsports’ biggest organizations?
The reason being is because once again, the integrity of those who are running the sport has come under intense enemy fire from the fans, with most of the ammo targeting a false sense that the sport is in dire need of another rebuilding process. One area which is being falsely attacked is the decline in viewership, along with the current rule changes that some feel are not helping to boost the ratings. Viewership along with the fan base within the sport believe it or not, is up from where it was before NASCAR went full-time to national television in 2001.
NASCAR is still the third most popular professional sport in the United States, behind the National Football League and Major League Baseball. What other sport comes close to averaging 70 to 80 thousand fans per event, and that’s without the other three or four million who are watching at home? Last year’s night race at Bristol attracted 5,322,537 viewers, and this increase was from the Sprint Cup race alone.
An average of 5,841,952 viewers tuned in on Saturday, which is still above the 4.5 million average who were watching back in the 90’s when attendance jumped from 3.3 million to 6.5 million between that 10-year time span (1990-99). It’s no big secret the sport has seen a steady decrease in the last few seasons, but not all is lost in the game of love and war when looking at the numbers from a broader perspective.
When NASCAR went to national television in 2001, the attendance at each track grew, which forced a lot of the smaller tracks to add more seating to accommodate the rapid growth of the sport. As an example, Bristol alone added an additional 90,000 seats between 1996 and 2002 which brought their total up to 160,000 from the 71,000 they were at before the increase. Dover also added an additional 20,000 seats between the same time periods, along with Richmond, which joined in with 10,000 of their own.
So as the sport continued to grow and become more popular, so did the fans who flocked to the various race tracks to get their fill of the fastest growing sport in the Nation. The sudden growth left even the biggest critics scratching their heads in amazement, as America fell in love with the color, the speed, and the fast-paced excitement that at one time could only be viewed from one of the cable networks who covered the series. NASCAR reached its peak amid the 2004-06 seasons, even though the fans began to complain about some of the rule changes, with the biggest one being the institution of the Chase format. Between the 2007 and 2009 seasons, it became obvious the numbers began to taper off, and all you had to do was look at the empty stands which at one time were hard to come by.
Many of the fans began expressing their displeasure with the way the sport was being run, with much of the speculation focused on the Chase format along with the introduction of Car of Tomorrow in 2008. No longer was NASCAR outpacing all other professional sports, and it was because the majority of the younger fans between the ages of 18-34, began looking elsewhere to get their adrenaline fix. In the meantime, the core of older fans continued to stick next to a sport that most grew up with, and NASCAR began to once again take action in hopes of keeping them from wandering off.
“Our core fan is older, said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston back in 2010. Poston also added, “That’s a fact. Our strategy and focus the last couple of years has been to target our core fan base. If we’re making strides with that fan base, it shows that our strategy is working.” NASCAR took it a step further by getting a fans perspective as far as what changes needed to be made to keep the sport exciting, and to bring the fans back when they created a 12,000 member online fan council. The fan council was responsible for a series of rule changes which included the double-file restarts, multiple attempts at overtime finishes, and a return to the traditional spoiler.
NASCAR also added the Citizen Journalists Media Corps in 2009, which consists of 28 additional websites which are dedicated to providing information about NASCAR to a growing readership. Ever since the invention of the Internet, more fans have become dependent on the various websites that provide up to the minute news and information about the sport. The newspaper is quickly becoming obsolete around the world of sports, and NASCAR felt that a lot of the independent websites are becoming more professional with their content.
NASCAR has been taking the necessary steps to keep the fans involved in the sport, even though the economy has taken its toll on the sport as a whole. Just like any other craze or trend, NASCAR reached its peak, and now it’s beginning to level off after going through a normal drop-off period. When you look at the viewership numbers from 10 to 15 years ago, NASCAR is still above their average, even though the teams and the tracks look as if they too are scaling-down. Don’t think for a second that most of the fans who no longer attend a race are not sitting at home watching on television.
The organization now has nine regional touring series, and three national series including the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series, and its premier series, the Sprint Cup races. The season is still young and too early to predict if the attendance numbers will continue to rise, especially with gas prices soaring through the roof and an unpredictable economy. But one thing to remember is, NASCAR is not going to slowly disappear into the abyss known as another mismanaged business venture as many think it might. Instead, the sport will be here longer than either you or I, and when you sit back and think about the competition it faces every single day as a family-owned organization.
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas
Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
1. Carl Edwards: Edwards took two tires on the final pit stop with 33 laps remaining and held off Tony Stewart, who took four, to win at Las Vegas. Edwards led 69 laps and won for the first time this year, and third in the last five races. The win vaulted him nine places to third in the Sprint Cup point standings, only seven out of first.
“What does the comically oversized wrench, awarded the victor in Las Vegas, signify?” Edwards asked. “Duh, ‘winning!’ What’s my favorite luxury hotel in Las Vegas? Duh, ‘Wynn!’ Man, since late last year, all we’ve done is put wins in the record books. I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘I win so radically in my underwear before my first cup of coffee, it’s scary,’ because only Charlie Sheen can do that. Me? I don’t drink coffee, and I don’t wear underwear, but I win anyway. Take that, Sheen!”
2. Tony Stewart: Stewart led a race-high 163 laps, clearly boasting the day’s best car, but saw the win slip away on the final pit stop. Stewart opted for four tires for the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet with 33 laps remaining, while Carl Edwards took two, which gave him the lead, and eventual win.
“No one can say we didn’t give it our best shot,” Stewart said. “We left it all out on the track, including the win. To say I’m disappointed is an understatement. In the three races so far this year, I could have won each. But I have to be patient. The wins will come, probably when the weather heats up and I go on my usual mid-season tear. Edwards can have the back flips now; I’ll do ‘summersaults’ later.
“As you know, I’ll be switching cars with Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton at Watkins Glen this summer. He’s the best at what he does and I’m the best at what I do. And together it’s like, it’s on. It’s epic.”
3. Kurt Busch: Busch finished ninth at Las Vegas, surviving a spin-inducing run-in with Juan Montoya, earning his second top-10 finish of the year and leading one valuable lap in the Kobalt Tools 400. Busch is tied for first with Tony Stewart in the Sprint Cup point standings.
“The last time Stewart and I were in the same place,” Busch said, “I got punched. I shudder to think what he would have done with fire-breathing fists. Luckily, only Charlie Sheen has those. I learned a hard lesson that day. There’s only one thing worse than picking a fight with a warlock, and that’s picking a fight with Tony Stewart.
“Now, the subject of Stewart’s assault seems like a decent reason to give a shout out to the upcoming release of the movie Sucker Punch. And all this talk of Charlie Sheen begs for the making of the sequel to Platoon, called Buffoon.”
4. Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya finished third in the Kobalt Tools 400, racing in the top 10 for most of the day. Montoya led eight laps on Sunday, and jumped five places in the point standings to fourth, seven points out of first.
“The No. 42 Clorox Chevrolet was fast on Sunday,” Montoya said. “I like to call her ‘Bleached Lightning.’ It’s ironic that NASCAR would allow a bleach product such a prominent advertising role. Why? Because the last thing this sport needs in more ‘whitening.’
“I may not be the most popular driver here in America, but I’m a total frickin’ rock star in Colombia, which might as well be Mars as far as the typical NASCAR fan is concerned.”
5. Ryan Newman: Newman posted his second-straight top-5 finish of the year with a fifth at Las Vegas, joining Stewart-Haas teammate Tony Stewart, who finished second in the top 5. Newman is fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, ten points out of first.
“Obviously, Tony should have won the race,” Newman said. “Had he not been penalized for leaving his pit stall with the air hose still attached, we’d be celebrating a Stewart victory. And speaking of ‘air ho’s,’ Charlie Sheen’s been on television an awful lot lately talking about his live-in ‘goddesses.’ Hey Charlie, that’s not Adonis DNA and tiger blood coursing through your veins. It’s penicillin.”
6. Kyle Busch: Busch, a Las Vegas native, saw his day at his home track end abruptly when the engine of the No. 18 blew on lap 107, just 20 laps after a blown tire had sent him into the wall. Busch, in the Snickers Penaut Butter Squared Toyota, finished 38th.
“There was absolutely no indication the engine would go,” Busch said. “It was a lot like Charlie Sheen: it just ‘quit’ with no reasonable explanation. Then it caught on fire. That sucks. What do you call an engine that’s afire and has gone kaput? ‘Hot Shot.’ Hopefully, I won’t have to experience that again. Incidentally, that’s what moviegoers said after the first installment of Hot Shots.
“As you may know, my New Year’s Eve wedding to Samantha Sarcinella was televised on the Style Channel last Saturday. It’s a monogamy story. It’s like an organic union of the hearts. Apparently, people watched it despite all that.”
7. Paul Menard: Menard climbed to sixth in the Sprint Cup point standings after a solid 12th-place finish at Las Vegas. He’s leading the way for Richard Childress Racing so far, as teammates Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Burton sit 18th, 20th, and 31st in the standings.
“I’m the new guy at RCR,” Menard said, “and although I wasn’t blessed with top-billing, Adonis DNA, or tiger blood, I nevertheless have talent that significantly contributes to the team. You could say I’m ‘carrying’ RCR right now. I’m the consummate teammate. I carry jock straps, and I carry the torch.”
8. Jeff Gordon: Gordon’s No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet blew a tire and slammed the wall, sending him to the garage and leaving him with a disappointing 36th-place finish. The result halted the momentum Gordon established with last week’s breakthrough win at Phoenix, and sent him tumbling down the point standings.
“What are Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway guilty of in Las Vegas?” Gordon said. “Duh! Sinning! Gordon should proceed with caution, though. In light of Conway’s Extenze sponsorship, charges aren’t the only thing Gordon could have pressed against him.
“As for my tire, it exploded like the body of someone who tried the drug ‘Charlie Sheen,’ which, not surprisingly, only comes in ‘pill’ form.”
9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 7th at Las Vegas, posting his first top-10 result of the year, to lead the way for on an otherwise disappointing day for Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR teammates Joey Logano and Kyle Busch finished 23rd and 36th, respectively, with Busch suffering a blown engine just 107 laps into the race.
“It was a good result after two unsatisfactory finishes to start the season,” Hamlin said. “The No. 11 Fed Ex team is still finding its groove, and I’m still battling through some lingering pain from last year’s knee surgery. Painkillers have helped. I’m on a drug called ‘Charlie Sheen’ that alleviates the pain in my knee. Unfortunately, it has one glaring side effect: it causes severe pain in the ass.
“Despite my teammates’ troubles at Vegas, the JGR squad is totally capable of competing for the Sprint Cup title. Obviously, Kyle and I are perennial favorites, while Logano is probably just 2-3 years away from sharing that distinction. So, you could say that JGR has ’Two And A Half Men’ capable of winning the Sprint Cup championship.”
10. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson battled handling issues and struggled in the Kobalt Tools 400, finishing 16th. Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet team never unlocked the right adjustments, and last year’s Las Vegas winner posted a disappointing finish after last week’s third at Phoenix.
“What’s a bigger story than all of Charlie Sheen’s boasts of ‘winning?’” Johnson said. “Me not winning. That truly is gnarly. But I’m not fretting. Like Sheen, I’m making things interesting. And, like Sheen, I’ve got one gear. I’m not sure what his only gear is, but mine is ‘first,’ because that’s where I always finish.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Point Standings Analytics – After Race 3
The announcement of a change to the distribution of points across NASCAR national series sparked debate among even the most conservative NASCAR fans. One of the explanations behind the change was to develop a more dramatic points battle to increase fan interest.
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[/media-credit]A debate arose over the fact that a quick calculation would show that very little, if anything, would change in the final championship standings. Here, I shall contend that debate with weekly comparisons across the three most commonly mentioned distributions, plus my own personal points schedule designed to reward both race winners and consistent high finishes.
Classic Points System – Standings After Race 3
Under the classic system, Kurt Busch would have sole possession of the top spot in the Sprint Cup standings. Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Newman would round out the top five, all separated by a mere 17 points which is surprisingly close to the spacing in the actual top five.
Notable changes in position compared to current system: Kyle Busch (+3), Matt Kenseth (-3), Brian Vickers (-3)
F1 System – Standings After Race 3
The three drivers with race victories would occupy the top three spots in the standings with Edwards commanding a lead of 18 points over Jeff Gordon and Trevor Bayne. Tony Stewart and Montoya would round out the top five 19 and 20 points back respectively.
Drivers without points: Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano
Notable changes in position compared to current system: Jeff Gordon (+16), David Gilliand (+11), Kyle Busch (+8), Marcos Ambrose (+6), Kurt Busch (-7), A.J. Allmendinger (-11)
Indycar System – Standings After Race 3
Again, Edwards would lead the standings by 16 points over Tony Stewart. Kurt Busch would sit fourth, Montoya fifth with Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch tied for fifth
Notable changes in position compared to current system: Jeff Gordon (+11), David Gilliand (+9), Kyle Busch (+8), Martin Truex, Jr. (-7), A.J. Allmendinger (-10)
Phat’s System – Standings After Race 3
For an explanation of the points distribution, please see image on standings page.
Carl Edwards leads another set of standings, this time by 139 points over Tony Stewart. Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne would cap off the top five.
Notable changes in position compared to current system: Jeff Gordon (+15), Kyle Busch (+8), Ryan Newman (-4), Kasey Kahne (-7), Martin Truex, Jr. (-7)
Robby Gordon Gets Physical in the Garage with Kevin Conway
This past weekend following qualifying on Friday, it was reported that Robby Gordon and Kevin Conway had an altercation in the garage. At that point, it was reported that Gordon got physical with Conway and a poilice report had been filed.
Las Vegas police officer Barbara Morgan told the Associated Press that Conway filed a misdemeanor battery complaint and police will interview any possible witnesses before turning the investigation over to the Clark County district attorney in Las Vegas to determine if charges will be filed.
NASCAR also placed Robby Gordon on immediate NASCAR probation.
“Robby’s been put on probation – we’ll let everybody know for how long on Tuesday,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton told SceneDaily. “This doesn’t give Conway a free pass, either.”
Since then, Conway has released a statement via stating what happened.
“I don’t mind stiff competition, but I want to make sure the hard facts are told,” Conway said in his statement. “First and foremost, I love being a part of NASCAR and have worked very hard to earn the privilege of competing in the Sprint Cup Series.
“On Friday night, Robby Gordon, who has a long history of issues in NASCAR decided to ambush me in the garage area at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, completely unprovoked. Robby even confronted Joe Nemechek, my car owner, on pit road during Cup Series qualifying shoving him and telling him that he was looking for me and going to assault me. We have many witnesses including a crew chief that signed a police report documenting the truth of his physical attack on me.”
“Situations like this are not good for our sport. It’s one thing if we were racing each other and I wrecked him or he wrecked me, that’s an entirely different situation. It’s very unfortunate that he chose to physically attack me to address his rage. Our fans, sponsors and NASCAR expect and deserve more from our competitors than this bullish, illegal behavior that was displayed by Robby against me.”
Gordon had told Mike Mulhern that the confrontation was only verbal.
“He got in my face….and I told him….well, if he wants to go to the police, that’s, well….,” Gordon is quoted.
The argument comes following a lawsuit that has been followed. Conway says that Gordon owes him $29,000 in race earnings, while Gordon says Conway’s sponsor Extenze still owes him $700,000 for using the car. Both sides have filed lawsuits and are waiting to hear the outcome.
Gordon has a history of feuding with drivers, but he has never taken it to an extent this extreme. The last time a physical altercation to a point like this was Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick and their tussle in the garage. No charges or probations by NASCAR were set in place that time.
