November 17th - November 21st, 2008
Thursday: Editor's Note: This column has been postponed until Monday due to technical issues for Matt McLaughlin. NASCAR's testing ban for 2009 has race teams and fans up in arms. Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off and puts the ban under the microscope, dissecting the pros and cons of cutting costs in this way.
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Editor’s Note: If you have any comments for Bob, feel free to email them to Bobscornerracing@aol.com rather than posting them to our usual comments section below"¦
Another great week of short track racing this past weekend in Martinsville. It was a shame that so many cars got beat up on the second lap…but at least the big difference with the short tracks is that it doesn’t matter how bad your car looks, or how aerodynamic it is, as long as the car can just keep turning left.
Just look at how well Earnhardt Jr.’s car performed, for example. Even with half the nose taken off of it, the 8 team still rallied to finish 4th. That is why I love the short tracks… even when a driver gets into a mishap on the track, he still has a chance to go to Victory Lane. At all those big cookie-cutter tracks, one little ding in the front end and you could be done for the day, at best barely competitive enough to snag a Top 10 finish.
On another note, I was visiting NASCAR.com, as I do on a regular basis…who doesn’t. While I was there, I came across the weekly feature, “Cross’ Words,” by B. Duane Cross. I was extremely surprised at what I read in his article.
Cross listed quote for quote a conversation that occurred during the red flag between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief Tony Eury, Jr…every single word, cusses and all. Was I actually reading something that was posted on the NASCAR.com web site?
Later in the same exact article, Cross printed an email from a fan that talks about Joe Glover complaining that someone said sh**, during the telecast, and that his kid heard it. Once again, he printed word for word what was “said,” including the asterisks so that the spelling was somewhat left out.
If I remember correctly, NASCAR fined a driver for saying an extremely simple expletive on television. Of course, the fine was because that was on television where kids can hear it. Does NASCAR think our children can’t read? Do they think kids don’t go to the biggest website covering the sport?
I will be the last one to claim to be politically correct…I am far from it, and anyone who knows me knows I am not. I am merely pointing out another inconsistency in the NASCAR Rules, that the writers have a free hand in what they put in their articles while the drivers are stricvtly controlled in what they day. It is hypocritical to not allow a slip of the tongue, but allow it to be put in print. Why didn’t Cross just put symbols, instead of printing exactly what Earnhardt Jr. and Eury Jr. said? This would have been more “PC,” and consistent with the policy NASCAR has taken on cussing.
I just wish the rules in this sport were more consistent, be it on the track, off the track, with drivers, announcers, reporters, whoever it is that is affiliated with the sport.
If you would like to check out what I am talking about, and haven’t read Cross’ Words yet this week, here is the link to the article:
http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/opinion/04/03/cross.words.martinsville/index.html
On to the Game"¦
Don’t forget to check out the great sponsor of
Bob’s Corner Racing, www.FlamingoWorld.com.
This site is an online shoppers paradise. They offer coupons and savings from all kinds of sites"¦there are just too many sites for me to list. Registration at the site is FREE.
If you place in the top three in Bob’s Corner Racing Game this first half of the season you will receive the following"¦.
1st Place gets a $75.00 Supercertificate which can be redeemed at
http://www.flamingoworld.com/store/Amazon.com/?afsrc=1 but will be issued from www.FlamingoWorld.com
2nd Place gets a $50.00 Supercertificate which can be redeemed at
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3rd Place gets a $25.00 Supercertificate which can be redeemed at
http://www.flamingoworld.com/store/Amazon.com/?afsrc=1 but will be issued from www.FlamingoWorld.com.
Bob’s Corner Racing Game Rules
1. All picks must be placed PRIOR to qualifying.
Email all picks to: Bobscornerracing@aol.com.
2. Ties will be broken by the number of correct winner picks. Should two people have the same amount of correct winners, then the winner will be decided by who sent in picks more often.
3. Correctly predicting the polesitter earns 10 points.
5. Correctly predicting the Top 5:
1st place earns 10 points.
2nd place earns 12 points.
3rd place earns 13 points.
4th place earns 14 points.
5th place earns 15 points.
6. Any three or more of the Top 5 correct in any order gives you an additional 5 points each.
7 All 5 of the Top 5 correct in any order gives you 20 extra points.
8. All 5 of the Top 5 correct in exact order gives you 50 points.
(This has proven to be all but impossible)
9. Pick who will be last from this list:
Tony Stewart
Greg Biffle
Carl Edwards
Mark Martin
Jimmie Johnson
Ryan Newman
Matt Kenseth
Jeremy Mayfield
Kurt Busch
Jeff Gordon
A correct pick will get you 10 points.
10. Pick the Top Finishing Rookie of the Race:
Denny Hamlin
J. J. Yeley
David Stremme
Reed Sorenson
Clint Bowyer
Martin Truex, Jr.
Brent Sherman
Chad Chaffin
11. Once in a while, I will put in a bonus trivia question.
Here is an example of the picks I’ll need this week.
BOB’S CORNER RACING PICKS: Texas
Pole Winner: Kirk Shelmerdine
1st Kyle Petty
2nd Morgan Shepherd
3rd Mike Wallace
4th Mike Skinner
5th Kenny Wallace
The following driver will finish last from the list above: Kurt Busch
Top Finishing Rookie: Denny Hamlin
TRIVIA TRIVIA TRIVIA"¦..
I spoke about fines this week, So this week’s Trivia Question will be about that topic…
How much is the largest single amount a driver, crew chief, or owner in the Cup Series was fined by NASCAR in 2005?
NOTE: You can get a ten point bonus if you tell me who the person was and why they were fined.
Game Update After Martinsville
Pole: Jimmie Johnson
1st Tony Stewart
Three of you picked him to win.
2nd Jeff Gordon
Two of you picked him for second.
3rd Jimmie Johnson
Two of you picked him for third.
4th Dale Earnhardt Jr.
None of you picked him for fourth.
5th Kyle Busch
No one picked him for fifth.
*Last place finisher from the list*"¦ Greg Biffle
None of you picked him for last.
Top Finishing Rookie of the Race: Reed Sorenson
No one picked him for top finishing rookie this week.
Three Pick Rule
Eighteen of you earned points for this at Martinsville.
Trivia answer from last week…
To refresh your memory, last week’s trivia question was…
Goodyear has not always been the official tire of the Cup Series. What tire company was the major tire manufacturer, used in Cup Racing, before Goodyear became the sole provider of tires to the series?
Many of you had Hoosier as your answer: however, it was actually Firestone. Hoosiers were used on a couple of occasions in the Cup Series, but never were a real contender for the official tire deal.
Top Five in Points After Martinsville
1. Fourby holds onto the lead with 145 points.
2. Demelza888 gained a bit on the leader, remaining in second with 128 points.
3. BradnSC seems to have his picks dialed in and is gaining on the leaders each week. He runs in third with 123 points.
4. Wnewcomb still seems to have something wrong in his picks, but is still holding onto that fourth spot with 106 points.
5. M4Martin6 and Firemedic181 take it three wide to pass Kahneluvr, and are still running side by side for fifth with 92 points.
Don’t think you are out of it, folks…lots of racing to go in this session of Bob’s Corner Racing Game. M4Martin6 earned a whopping 40 points this week.
Don’t Forget to Answer Trivia This Week"¦See Above.
One other thing that needs mentioning as the season begins to progress. I am human, and I occasionally make mistakes. I have to manually go through each and every email to tally the points, and it is always easy to miss one or two. If you happen to see I missed something, simply drop me a NICE email and I will check it out and correct any errors I may have made.
Good Luck, everyone!
Still haven’t joined the Frontstretch Forums? Here’s a peek at what you’re
missing this week:
How does Jimmie Johnson compare to Cale Yarborough?
Ten things we hated about the 2008 season
Ten things we loved about the 2008 season
Make sure to join us during the offseason as we follow any news and stories that come out.
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