2009 NASCAR Season

[BrySmalls]

I'd also like to point out that the Stewart-Haas team has been clicking over the last couple of races. Granted neither Steward or Newman have won a race yet but either one or the other or both have been in the Top 5 and Top 10 as of late.

Remember that Alan Kulwicki only one 2 races in his championship year. Smoke has good so far; but I am a mark for Montoya.

Consistency is definitely the key and am really impressed/happy that they've caught on fire as of late.

[HedleyLamarr]

I totally get why people love Dale Earndhardt Jr., because of quotes like this:

Q:IN REGARDS TO THE DRUG TESTING POLICY, WOULD IT MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU GUYS IF THEY GAVE YOU A SPECIFIC LIST OF THINGS YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?

A: ?So we know what drugs we can take and what drugs we can?t. That don?t make no damn sense. Just don?t take drugs. Don?t do anything stupid and you won?t get caught. That?s ridiculous. I just think that nobody deserves anything, no lists, nothing. Don?t do drugs, don?t do stupid stuff. The policy is a rule and don?t violate it and that?s that. Let?s not point any fingers at Jeremy (Mayfield). Whatever he says happened they?ll figure it out. The truth will be known by the people who need to know it. We don?t need to know it. It?s none of our business. That?s the problem with everybody is they?ve got to know everything. Everybody wants to know what the hell Jeremy did. That?s his business and NASCAR?s business and they?ll handle it. Don?t take drugs. It?s stupid to do anyways. Regardless if you drive race cars or not, it?s a dumb idea. Don?t be ignorant.?

Awesome. Still not gonna cheer for the 88 if I ever watch Sprint Cup.

It's even better when you hear this being said in a Boomhauer-like tone.....

[WJMorris3]

I'd also like to point out that the Stewart-Haas team has been clicking over the last couple of races. Granted neither Steward or Newman have won a race yet but either one or the other or both have been in the Top 5 and Top 10 as of late.

Remember that Alan Kulwicki only one 2 races in his championship year. Smoke has good so far; but I am a mark for Montoya.

Not to mention Kenseth only won once in his championship year.

[NEW.ERA]

I'd also like to point out that the Stewart-Haas team has been clicking over the last couple of races. Granted neither Steward or Newman have won a race yet but either one or the other or both have been in the Top 5 and Top 10 as of late.

Remember that Alan Kulwicki only one 2 races in his championship year. Smoke has good so far; but I am a mark for Montoya.

Not to mention Kenseth only won once in his championship year.

Also Terry Labonte in 96' only won two races.

as for tonight's race it was great and Kyle Busch showed just how gutsy he is move of the year so far splitting Kenseth and Gordon off the restart too bad he couldn't cap it off with a win.

[oddball]

I totally get why people love Dale Earndhardt Jr., because of quotes like this:

Q:IN REGARDS TO THE DRUG TESTING POLICY, WOULD IT MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU GUYS IF THEY GAVE YOU A SPECIFIC LIST OF THINGS YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?

A: ?So we know what drugs we can take and what drugs we can?t. That don?t make no damn sense. Just don?t take drugs. Don?t do anything stupid and you won?t get caught. That?s ridiculous. I just think that nobody deserves anything, no lists, nothing. Don?t do drugs, don?t do stupid stuff. The policy is a rule and don?t violate it and that?s that. Let?s not point any fingers at Jeremy (Mayfield). Whatever he says happened they?ll figure it out. The truth will be known by the people who need to know it. We don?t need to know it. It?s none of our business. That?s the problem with everybody is they?ve got to know everything. Everybody wants to know what the hell Jeremy did. That?s his business and NASCAR?s business and they?ll handle it. Don?t take drugs. It?s stupid to do anyways. Regardless if you drive race cars or not, it?s a dumb idea. Don?t be ignorant.?

Awesome. Still not gonna cheer for the 88 if I ever watch Sprint Cup.

It's about the only Jr does right. Lord knows if he has to make a pit stop to save the world, that we all are dead. Well mark me down as one who hates him and his crybaby fans. Mark me down as one who prefers the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and of course Kyle Busch. And the more Kyle wins, the more I love listening to the crying and whining fans who hate it. It was great to be at Fontana this year and watch him sweep both races. I just love Rowdy Style. I watch Kyle Busch and I see more of the Intimidator in Bush than I do in Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is to Dale Earnhardt what Kyle Petty was to Richard Petty, a talented son that will never be 1/10th of what his father was. If you're fine with that, then he's a good driver, but Jr Nation thinks he'll win a championship and he won't. Brad Keselowski will win one before Jr will, because Keselowski is mature. It's not saying Jr can't win a championship, but by now (10 years in the Cup Series) he should've matured driving style and he hasn't. He's just like Robby Gordon, talented as can be, driving style is bad. Mark Martin is showing the difference between a mature driving style and complete immaturity. Jr's constant complaining on the radio and his constant problems with pit stops are signs of complete immaturity that with a 10 year veteran should not be there. He's constantly making rookie mistakes. Whether it's Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Bush, heck I'll throw Montoya in there their driving styles have matured, doesn't mean they're always perfect, but you can see a maturity level in how they drive. Jr on the other hand seems for whatever reason to be regressing as a driver. Don't blame Tony Eury, Jr. It's not Eury who drives the car and can't explain what's wrong with the car, a crew chief can only fix what the driver tells him to fix and that's where I really see the maturity level in Kyle Busch. This is one time where I think Jr misses his dad, because there is no way this crap would've continued. If you remember Jr's first race at Martinsville, Earnhardt got on the radio and told them to have Jr park it. Dale Earnhardt would've looked at the situation with Eury, Jr. and Dale, Jr. and realized that it wasn't working. Eury, Jr. is a capable crew chief, but personality wise, he doesn't fit with Jr. A lot of people will say put Tony Eury, Sr on the box. I disagree, I say there are two crew chiefs for Jr that would get him to his potential. One is Chad Knaus and the other is Greg Zipadelli. Why them, because it's outside the family, and they won't take crap from him. Knaus is probably the most brilliant mind on pit road and Zippy's not far behind, and Zippy has worked with a hot-head before.

[Buschwackers03]

Congrats To "The Franchise" David Reutimann for winning the Coca-Cola 600 (340.5) Just sucks he won a rain shortened race. Still this was coming.

[dfwabel]

Congrats To "The Franchise" David Reutimann for winning the Coca-Cola 600 (340.5) Just sucks he won a rain shortened race. Still this was coming.

NASCAR waited 2+ hours to call that race and that is a shame. They knew that the race would not last until the night, regardless of the weather as NASCAR called separate meeting with drivers and owners and that wouldn't have changed. Sadly, there will not be media coverage of either of these meetings tomorrow. This mess take out going to the 600 for me and leaving only one track which I ave not been to alive: Bristol.

[epper]

It's about the only Jr does right. Lord knows if he has to make a pit stop to save the world, that we all are dead. Well mark me down as one who hates him and his crybaby fans. Mark me down as one who prefers the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and of course Kyle Busch. And the more Kyle wins, the more I love listening to the crying and whining fans who hate it. It was great to be at Fontana this year and watch him sweep both races. I just love Rowdy Style. I watch Kyle Busch and I see more of the Intimidator in Bush than I do in Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is to Dale Earnhardt what Kyle Petty was to Richard Petty, a talented son that will never be 1/10th of what his father was. If you're fine with that, then he's a good driver, but Jr Nation thinks he'll win a championship and he won't. Brad Keselowski will win one before Jr will, because Keselowski is mature. It's not saying Jr can't win a championship, but by now (10 years in the Cup Series) he should've matured driving style and he hasn't. He's just like Robby Gordon, talented as can be, driving style is bad. Mark Martin is showing the difference between a mature driving style and complete immaturity. Jr's constant complaining on the radio and his constant problems with pit stops are signs of complete immaturity that with a 10 year veteran should not be there. He's constantly making rookie mistakes. Whether it's Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Bush, heck I'll throw Montoya in there their driving styles have matured, doesn't mean they're always perfect, but you can see a maturity level in how they drive. Jr on the other hand seems for whatever reason to be regressing as a driver. Don't blame Tony Eury, Jr. It's not Eury who drives the car and can't explain what's wrong with the car, a crew chief can only fix what the driver tells him to fix and that's where I really see the maturity level in Kyle Busch. This is one time where I think Jr misses his dad, because there is no way this crap would've continued. If you remember Jr's first race at Martinsville, Earnhardt got on the radio and told them to have Jr park it. Dale Earnhardt would've looked at the situation with Eury, Jr. and Dale, Jr. and realized that it wasn't working. Eury, Jr. is a capable crew chief, but personality wise, he doesn't fit with Jr. A lot of people will say put Tony Eury, Sr on the box. I disagree, I say there are two crew chiefs for Jr that would get him to his potential. One is Chad Knaus and the other is Greg Zipadelli. Why them, because it's outside the family, and they won't take crap from him. Knaus is probably the most brilliant mind on pit road and Zippy's not far behind, and Zippy has worked with a hot-head before.

tell us how you really feel.

[infrared41]

It's about the only Jr does right. Lord knows if he has to make a pit stop to save the world, that we all are dead. Well mark me down as one who hates him and his crybaby fans. Mark me down as one who prefers the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and of course Kyle Busch. And the more Kyle wins, the more I love listening to the crying and whining fans who hate it. It was great to be at Fontana this year and watch him sweep both races. I just love Rowdy Style. I watch Kyle Busch and I see more of the Intimidator in Bush than I do in Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is to Dale Earnhardt what Kyle Petty was to Richard Petty, a talented son that will never be 1/10th of what his father was. If you're fine with that, then he's a good driver, but Jr Nation thinks he'll win a championship and he won't. Brad Keselowski will win one before Jr will, because Keselowski is mature. It's not saying Jr can't win a championship, but by now (10 years in the Cup Series) he should've matured driving style and he hasn't. He's just like Robby Gordon, talented as can be, driving style is bad. Mark Martin is showing the difference between a mature driving style and complete immaturity. Jr's constant complaining on the radio and his constant problems with pit stops are signs of complete immaturity that with a 10 year veteran should not be there. He's constantly making rookie mistakes. Whether it's Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Bush, heck I'll throw Montoya in there their driving styles have matured, doesn't mean they're always perfect, but you can see a maturity level in how they drive. Jr on the other hand seems for whatever reason to be regressing as a driver. Don't blame Tony Eury, Jr. It's not Eury who drives the car and can't explain what's wrong with the car, a crew chief can only fix what the driver tells him to fix and that's where I really see the maturity level in Kyle Busch. This is one time where I think Jr misses his dad, because there is no way this crap would've continued. If you remember Jr's first race at Martinsville, Earnhardt got on the radio and told them to have Jr park it. Dale Earnhardt would've looked at the situation with Eury, Jr. and Dale, Jr. and realized that it wasn't working. Eury, Jr. is a capable crew chief, but personality wise, he doesn't fit with Jr. A lot of people will say put Tony Eury, Sr on the box. I disagree, I say there are two crew chiefs for Jr that would get him to his potential. One is Chad Knaus and the other is Greg Zipadelli. Why them, because it's outside the family, and they won't take crap from him. Knaus is probably the most brilliant mind on pit road and Zippy's not far behind, and Zippy has worked with a hot-head before.

tell us how you really feel.

Usually Oddball is just contrary for the sake of being contrary but in parts of this particular post he is hitting on all 8 cylinders. I agree with him 100% on the points he made about driving style, the comparisons between father and son, and crew chiefs.

And yes Jr. Nation, if you are looking for the next Intimidator he's driving the #18 car not the #88.

[BrySmalls]

It's about the only Jr does right. Lord knows if he has to make a pit stop to save the world, that we all are dead. Well mark me down as one who hates him and his crybaby fans. Mark me down as one who prefers the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and of course Kyle Busch. And the more Kyle wins, the more I love listening to the crying and whining fans who hate it. It was great to be at Fontana this year and watch him sweep both races. I just love Rowdy Style. I watch Kyle Busch and I see more of the Intimidator in Bush than I do in Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is to Dale Earnhardt what Kyle Petty was to Richard Petty, a talented son that will never be 1/10th of what his father was. If you're fine with that, then he's a good driver, but Jr Nation thinks he'll win a championship and he won't. Brad Keselowski will win one before Jr will, because Keselowski is mature. It's not saying Jr can't win a championship, but by now (10 years in the Cup Series) he should've matured driving style and he hasn't. He's just like Robby Gordon, talented as can be, driving style is bad. Mark Martin is showing the difference between a mature driving style and complete immaturity. Jr's constant complaining on the radio and his constant problems with pit stops are signs of complete immaturity that with a 10 year veteran should not be there. He's constantly making rookie mistakes. Whether it's Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Bush, heck I'll throw Montoya in there their driving styles have matured, doesn't mean they're always perfect, but you can see a maturity level in how they drive. Jr on the other hand seems for whatever reason to be regressing as a driver. Don't blame Tony Eury, Jr. It's not Eury who drives the car and can't explain what's wrong with the car, a crew chief can only fix what the driver tells him to fix and that's where I really see the maturity level in Kyle Busch. This is one time where I think Jr misses his dad, because there is no way this crap would've continued. If you remember Jr's first race at Martinsville, Earnhardt got on the radio and told them to have Jr park it. Dale Earnhardt would've looked at the situation with Eury, Jr. and Dale, Jr. and realized that it wasn't working. Eury, Jr. is a capable crew chief, but personality wise, he doesn't fit with Jr. A lot of people will say put Tony Eury, Sr on the box. I disagree, I say there are two crew chiefs for Jr that would get him to his potential. One is Chad Knaus and the other is Greg Zipadelli. Why them, because it's outside the family, and they won't take crap from him. Knaus is probably the most brilliant mind on pit road and Zippy's not far behind, and Zippy has worked with a hot-head before.

tell us how you really feel.

Usually Oddball is just contrary for the sake of being contrary but in parts of this particular post he is hitting on all 8 cylinders. I agree with him 100% on the points he made about driving style, the comparisons between father and son, and crew chiefs.

And yes Jr. Nation, if you are looking for the next Intimidator he's driving the #18 car not the #88.

I felt a chill while reading his post. Did hell freeze over? Oddball finally made sense to me for once.

[infrared41]

It's about the only Jr does right. Lord knows if he has to make a pit stop to save the world, that we all are dead. Well mark me down as one who hates him and his crybaby fans. Mark me down as one who prefers the likes of Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and of course Kyle Busch. And the more Kyle wins, the more I love listening to the crying and whining fans who hate it. It was great to be at Fontana this year and watch him sweep both races. I just love Rowdy Style. I watch Kyle Busch and I see more of the Intimidator in Bush than I do in Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is to Dale Earnhardt what Kyle Petty was to Richard Petty, a talented son that will never be 1/10th of what his father was. If you're fine with that, then he's a good driver, but Jr Nation thinks he'll win a championship and he won't. Brad Keselowski will win one before Jr will, because Keselowski is mature. It's not saying Jr can't win a championship, but by now (10 years in the Cup Series) he should've matured driving style and he hasn't. He's just like Robby Gordon, talented as can be, driving style is bad. Mark Martin is showing the difference between a mature driving style and complete immaturity. Jr's constant complaining on the radio and his constant problems with pit stops are signs of complete immaturity that with a 10 year veteran should not be there. He's constantly making rookie mistakes. Whether it's Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Bush, heck I'll throw Montoya in there their driving styles have matured, doesn't mean they're always perfect, but you can see a maturity level in how they drive. Jr on the other hand seems for whatever reason to be regressing as a driver. Don't blame Tony Eury, Jr. It's not Eury who drives the car and can't explain what's wrong with the car, a crew chief can only fix what the driver tells him to fix and that's where I really see the maturity level in Kyle Busch. This is one time where I think Jr misses his dad, because there is no way this crap would've continued. If you remember Jr's first race at Martinsville, Earnhardt got on the radio and told them to have Jr park it. Dale Earnhardt would've looked at the situation with Eury, Jr. and Dale, Jr. and realized that it wasn't working. Eury, Jr. is a capable crew chief, but personality wise, he doesn't fit with Jr. A lot of people will say put Tony Eury, Sr on the box. I disagree, I say there are two crew chiefs for Jr that would get him to his potential. One is Chad Knaus and the other is Greg Zipadelli. Why them, because it's outside the family, and they won't take crap from him. Knaus is probably the most brilliant mind on pit road and Zippy's not far behind, and Zippy has worked with a hot-head before.

tell us how you really feel.

Usually Oddball is just contrary for the sake of being contrary but in parts of this particular post he is hitting on all 8 cylinders. I agree with him 100% on the points he made about driving style, the comparisons between father and son, and crew chiefs.

And yes Jr. Nation, if you are looking for the next Intimidator he's driving the #18 car not the #88.

I felt a chill while reading his post. Did hell freeze over? Oddball finally made sense to me for once.

That's what I'm saying.

[BrySmalls]

Eury Jr. out as Dale Jr.'s crew chief.

[oddball]

I say what I say, not to be different or stir up trouble, though I seem to, I say what I say, because it's what I believe. I look at things in a different light, because I try and look for solutions to the problem and some of them might be out there, but hey someone thought an all sports network on cable would fail and it didn't.

As far as Jr getting Lance McGrew, I think it's positive and I expect him to get a couple wins this year. I'm going to say Bristol and Kansas. I don't have anything against Jr, his Nation well, I can't stand. I want Jr to do well, because when he does, the sport does. I want to see him win a championship because he's talented, but his relationship with Eury had gotten stale and become a safety blanket. I want to see Eury go to a team outside of Hendrick, maybe with MWR and Mikey or the possibility of Martin Truex next year. I want to see what Eury can do away from Jr as a crew chief. I think Lance McGrew is good for Jr, I don't see him as taking him to the title, but I think it'll be a good run for Jr. I agree with what Andy Petree said and go outside of Hendrick and I would've looked at bringing in one of the Parrott's Todd or Brad, or even gone down to the Nationwide series and grabbed Harold Holly, who I've always been a fan of. Speaking of stale crew chief driver combos, I think Martin Truex and Kevin "Bono" Manion have gotten stale and there might be a shake up there in the near future.

[NEW.ERA]

Personally I'd love to see Junior win at the Coke Zero 400 under the lights he's only won the night race once and hopefully him and McGrew can get some chemistry growing with the Crew and between themselves.

[letsgojackets]

Am I the only one who is sick of Speed whining around about the results of the 600? If it had been any other driver, make it any of the popular ones, there would have been nothing said period. I do believe NASCAR hated to see Reutimann win that race for numerous reasons. One being they lost a ton of money.

[infrared41]

I have been listening to Sirius NASCAR all day. They're saying that no one, yes no one, wants the job of Junior's crew chief. Word has it that he simply won't listen to an idea that is not his own. According to the shows on Sirius, Hendrick Motorsports has been running the 5, 24, & 48 with the basic "Hendrick set-up" on their cars while Jr. has been running something entirely different. One major problem with that is that the 88 team can't use any of the shared information from the other three. I guess yesterday after Eury Jr. was reassigned all of the 88 cars headed for Dover got pulled of the hauler and were either replaced or reset with the same basic set-up that the other three cars use.

My take on this so far is that Eury Jr. wasn't removed because Rick Hendrick thinks he's a bad crew chief or that any of the 88 team's problems are Eury's fault. It sounds more like Hendrick had seen enough and stepped in to make Jr. play ball. This should get interesting.

And Oddball, I don't think Hendrick will go outside the organization to get Jr. a new crew chief.

Am I the only one who is sick of Speed whining around about the results of the 600? If it had been any other driver, make it any of the popular ones, there would have been nothing said period. I do believe NASCAR hated to see Reutimann win that race for numerous reasons. One being they lost a ton of money.

I could not agree more. I'll go one better. I am sick of everyone whining about the 600. How the do they think I feel? I was there over the weekend. I sat in the stands at Lowe's for 5 hours on Sunday and watched pavement trying to dry. I couldn't stay until Monday so I spent the money on a trip to go see a race that I never got to see. You know what? That's the nature of the beast. I knew the risks going in. I spent a lot of money on nothing but as they say in baseball, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. It sucked but that's the way it goes. I'm not complaining. NASCAR can't control the weather. The race made it past halfway, NASCAR made every effort to get it in, it didn't happen. Game over. Let's move on to Dover and try it again next week. The rules are very clear. The car in the lead when the race is called wins. Period. Good for the 00 team. They have been running pretty well all year. I think 26 cars were on the lead lap when that last caution was called. They all had the same opportunity to stay out.

NASCAR fans and NASCAR media people need to stop losing their f-ing minds every time there's a less than perfect race. Imagine if every time the NFL had a 9-6 boring as hell field goal game everyone started talking about changing the rules to make sure it never happens again. It's a 36 race season. There are going to be some clunkers over the course of the schedule. People who have a problem with that are probably following the wrong sport. If you want guaranteed excitement and dramatic finishes every time then I think WWE wrestling might be a better fit.

[NJTank]

Its time to call it as it is

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sucks he is the most overrated over hyped talentless driver of all time. If his name was Dale Singer Jr. he would be an also ran on the Nationwide circuit.

[dfwabel]

Its time to call it as it is

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sucks he is the most overrated over hyped talentless driver of all time. If his name was Dale Singer Jr. he would be an also ran on the Nationwide circuit.

He won back to back (Nationwide) then-Busch Series titles in 1998 and 1999. So would he STILL be an also ran? It is the same car as it was before the COT. Hopefully, you know was COT means.

He is talented, but not like his dad, nor did he have enough early car to make him from good to great. He had less engineering to start with than Joey Logano, yet he is more talented than Reed Sorenson. In reality, he is no #18 Toyota.

Prior to Hendrick, he won 17 races in 7 years including Daytona and 6 in 2004. I think that is good with what he had to work with and his father/owner passed. They were a two car operation with him and M. Waltrip for the most part. Tell me why that is terrible, Tank, just you since you make the overstatements.

Currently, now has great engineering, but he has just one win in 1.5 years. He needs to be better and he knows that. On the other hand Tank, what has DEI done since he left? They lost Bud as a sponsor when Dale, Jr left, lost millions and merged and only gained Montoya (thru a merger) as their best driver in terms of points, and JPM is my boy. Tell me your other motorsport thoughts as you have provided little. Plus, they may lose him, JPM, if the USF1 team really hits with a Lola chassis and Cosworth engine.

[infrared41]

Its time to call it as it is

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Sucks he is the most overrated over hyped talentless driver of all time. If his name was Dale Singer Jr. he would be an also ran on the Nationwide circuit.

Wrong again Francis. You don't win 18 cup races and a couple of Nationwide titles if you can't drive. You are sort of right about his name though. If Junior's name was Dale Singer Jr. we'd be calling him one of the top drivers in the series. What do "top tier drivers" Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, and the great Carl Edwards all have in common? None of them have more career victories than Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Is he as great as "Jr. Nation" thinks he is? No, but who could live up to those ridiculous expectations?

[NJTank]

All I ever see out of Jr. is missing the cut for the race for the cup, and blaming others for his losing, and yet he still has millions of fans, if that does not define overrated I dont know what does.