2010 Spring Texas Saturday

It is wet in Texas today.  Sprint Cup practice has been cancelled.   

RC has spoken regarding the situation with John Wes getting taken out of the Nationwide car and Clint Bowyer driving it last week and this week.  He said Clint will drive it for the next four races or so.  John Wes Townley is still a development driver for RCR and is still employed with Richard Childress Racing.  RC says he is talking with John Wes Townley and his family and Zaxby’s and he wants to continue to have Zaxby’s on that car for the rest of the season.  He indicated (as did Bowyer) that John Wes was just tearing up too many cars.  That’s what he did last season, so I have no idea what RC expected John Wes to do.  Mike Dillon, RCR’s VP of Competition, provided a bit more information about the future of the RCR Nationwide 21 Car.

The sponsorship questions that have arisen because of the driver change is a good example of the problem that arises when you sign a driver that comes with sponsorship because his family owns a business.  If the driver doesn’t perform and tears up your equipment you have to decide if you want to hold on to the sponsorship or if you want to hold on to your company’s values and remove the under-performing driver and put someone in who can drive, risking the loss of the sponsorship.

Rusty Wallace said that’s the first time he’s heard John Wes called a Development Driver, he thought he was just a driver.  I seem to remember John Wes being called a Development Driver at the start of the year and late last year.  I will agree that since he started driving the season, he was simply referred to as the driver of the car, instead of as the development driver. 

Jamie Mc said the first time he talked to Pops Eury was Tuesday, he wasn’t able to make a meeting on Sunday.  Rusty Wallace says he doesn’t believe Kelly got a fair shot because of how quickly they’ve taken him out of the car.  He also said they must have seen something that just wasn’t going to get any better.  Throwing the subject in a bit late here, Kelly Bires was released from the 88 car earlier this week.  Both Kelly Bires and JR Motorsports agree that there was a communication issue between Kelly and Pops.  Having heard the way Pops talked to Bradley K I can understand that it wouldn’t be easy to drive for him unless you have a particular personality (and the need for a mean cuss father figure), and apparently Kelly didn’t have that personality.  Since JR Motorsports is a family venture, if there’s a communication problem, your best bet is to be a family member – Kelly Bires doesn’t have the right pedigree in this case.

Also in the news this week, it was announced that Kasey Kahne signed with Hendrick Motorsports for 2012 through 2014 to drive the 5 car.  That left everybody wondering what Kasey will do next year.  Now, I’m a major Hendricks fan.  Jimmie Johnson is my driver.  Some of my other favorite drivers are Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr and Tony Stewart.   I appreciate what it appears Mr. Hendrick is trying to do with his business, the people focus he seems to have.  I am also a Kasey Kahne fan.  He’s the only driver in Sprint Cup I would share children and my future with.  I call him my husband.  Having said that, I think this move is the wrong one for Kasey.  It surprised me when I read the announcement and realized how strongly I feel this is the wrong move.  It is tough for me to explain why I feel it is the wrong move, but I really think it is a mistake.  Thebest I can say about it is that I don’t think Hendrick is what Kasey is really looking for.  There is no doubt that Hendrick is a strong team and puts great cars on the track.  These are definite positives for Kasey.  I believe Mr. Hendrick would be a good person to work for if you share his values.  I think that would also be a positive for Kasey.  But there’s something else that I think Kasey is looking for and I don’t think he is going to get it at Hendrick.  Kasey always says he signed to drive for Ray Evernham and he always seem to miss that experience – driving for Ray Evernham.  Ray is missing the sport, obviously.  He’s missing being a major player in the NASCAR Sprint Cup pond and I believe his legal issues/conditions that arose from his sale to the groups that has most recently become Richard Petty Motorsports have dissolved/completed.  So Ray may be looking at his options and having Kasey in a good position could be helpful in the future.  BUT I don’t know that Kasey will be in a good position after three years with Hendrick Motorsports.  Hendrick offers a lot to its drivers, but also expects a lot in return.  I think Kasey will attempt to meet those obligations and get overwhelmed and end up as the next Casey Mears of Hendrick Motorsports.  There are too many wonky things about this deal to me.  Now, as the time draws nearer, I might change my mind on this subject.  Mark Martin has announced he will definitely drive the 5 in 2011.  He has also said he is responsible for Kasey’s signing with Hendrick.  Wonky.

So far, it’s NASCAR Talk on ESPN – it is raining.  

Okay, Bradley K just said he grew his goatee because people kept confusing him with Joey Logano and that made him really mad, so he grew it.  Rusty was asking who Brad hangs out with off the track and he said he doesn’t really, because he’s not trying to make his competitors happy.  Rusty tried to get him to name names of who he’s friends with and he said he hangs out with his teammates, but he’s not looking at the next party to go to with them and maybe that’s why he’s having the culture problems he’s having.  In other words, these guys are just his co-workers/competitors, but not friends.  He also said Jr was the person who taught him how to have fun racing, because he’d never had fun racing before driving for Jr.  He also talked about how much he learned from Pops and what a great relationship they had and how much Pops taught him.  I don’t think he’s coming off like he wants.  I think he’s trying to give his side and feels like it will gain him some understanding, but I don’t think it will.  He sounds bitter.

Steven Wallace says his special shoe for his foot is two sizes larger than his normal size – it’s a size 14 and he usually wears a 12.  He says it has taken him a while to get used to it; in one race he thought he had his foot on the gas and it had slipped off.  Steven’s brother must be his spotter, because Jamie mentioned that Steven had his father sending text messages to his brother and in the booth watching him, putting him under a bit of pressure.  He said its the story of his life, his father is always watching him, coming by his house, calling him, texting him, he’s always there and he guesses its a pretty intense relationship.  Then he kinda smiled and said, wehave a lot of fun.  It sounds like Rusty is the nightmare father he seems to be.  Steven says he doesn’t think they’re going to get the race in today.  I believe NASCAR would be willing to go with a night race in order to get the race in today instead of waiting until another day.

BooBoo is doing an interview.  Jerry Punch is talking with him.  First question, why did he bring back Cuz (Tony Jr).  He said he brought him in as an owner and give him a bigger part of control.  He said they enjoy being around each other and spending time with each other and kinda racing together.  Sounds like the family portion is back in balance with them.  Second question is about Danica.  Third question, Steve Arpin, tell us about him.  Jr said he first heard about Steve from Carl Edwards, who he said was coming up to him every week and said he needed a shot.  He then talked to Mark Martin about him and Mark said he was worth a look.  They love his enthusiasm and he has a great work ethic and willing to do what it takes to get the job done, those are the people you like to be around and those are the people who deserve to get a break.

Now on to the 88 car, why make the change?  He says it a difficult situation for everybody to understand from the outside looking in.  He said they never could get on the same page and were definitely going the wrong direction as far as what their mission statement is.  The whole situation with what went on and why they made the decision they made with Kelly is a personal thing.  He said its all kinda really personal and not something they want to air in the media; the day to day workings of what was happening with Kelly and in the company.  They had to talk to their sponsors to  make sure they had that opportunity – to take Kelly out of the car.  He had to find out if they sponsors wanted to keep Kelly in the car for the rest of the season.

They (JR Motorsports) wanted to do with Kelly what they did with Brad.  They consider what happened with Brad a total success.  “We wanted to take a new direction.”  Sponsors, like Hellmans, want stability, so that’s why they put Jamie Mc in the car .  The last two questions are about Sprint Cup – does he think of his first win and his father when he comes through the tunnel (No, he doesn’t.  He just listens to the dates and realize how long ago it was.) and when is he going to get a win.  He says they’re still a couple steps away from where they can compete with guys like Jimmie for wins.  After a handshake and a thanks the interview is over.  I’m so glad Jerry did that interview – neither Jamie nor Shannon would be able to handle it like Doc Punch.

Nicole Brisco (nee Manske) is on the desk with Rusty, Pooh’s Pig and the guests.  The format limits how much she’s speaking and she doesn’t seem to be speaking like she’s racing (and stumbling as heavily as she usually does), so, overall, this is the best performance I’ve seen out of her.  I don’t know where the normal guy is, but I’m not missing him either.  I like rain delays sometimes because there are times I get to see drivers speak about things I’ve been wondering about and sometimes I get to hear from drivers who usually don’t get to speak and sometimes its boring because the driver is not a good talker or I’m totally not interested in what they’re saying.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr did a video piece trying to wrestle a steer and learning to rope.  There are more drivers to come, so apparently NASCAR still hasn’t called the race.  Brad just asked where are those rain tires everybody’s so proud of.  That would be a nightmare!  One of the fastest tracks on the circuit, rain tires, wet track, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Jamie Mc in a car he says is hard to drive, 150 Wallaces (including broken-footed-Steven) and other newbies learning the ropes – frightening.

In the end the Nationwide Race was rescheduled for 9pm tomorrow.