Tag Archives: Casey Mears

NASCAR’s longest and most grueling race, the Coca-Cola 600, represents a significant milestone in the 2009 season. It’s not quite the halfway point to the Chase (that comes the following week after Dover), but once the checkers fly late Sunday evening, we’re exactly one-third of the way through the 36-race schedule. With that in mind, it’s a good time to take a step back and look at how the Sprint Cup contenders (and pretenders) have performed thus far.

I always look forward to the month of May. Spring is upon us, the fish are biting, the weather is absolutely beautiful, the mosquitoes aren’t too bad just yet and the NASCAR circuit hits its grandest stretch of racing all season. Talladega in late April is followed by Richmond, Darlington and the two weeks in Charlotte. It has a very nostalgic feel for me — old school tracks that continue to provide great racing — at a time when it sometimes seems we visit the same 1.5-mile concrete slabs week after week. If the season of Spring is a time of rebirth, then the month of May is a time of renewal for this stock car fan; the love of a sport is realized once again as familiar old stomping grounds make their annual appearances. It’s a varied mix of tracks with a distinctly regional feel packed into a genial month that seems to pass all too quickly.

*Kyle Busch scored his 50th win NASCAR Cup, Nationwide and Truck competition with last weekend’s two victories at Richmond. Busch says he wants to get to 200 to “beat” Richard Petty's mark. Can he get there?* Kurt: Well, does that really count? I was thinking that isn't a fair comparison. That said, it's too early to tell; but if anyone, can it's Kyle. Beth: Right, it's way too early to make that call. And besides, I wouldn't count it unless it was 200 Cup wins. Jeff: I agree — you need 200 Cup wins to beat the King.

(In your best ring announcer voice) In this corner, weighing in at roughly 500,000 unique hits per year, a quirky little website long on passion but short on funding and struggling for legitimacy ... _CaptainThunderRacing.com!_ And in this corner, weighing in at a mind-boggling 10 million unique visitors per second, hailing from Bristol, Connecticut: the World Wide Leader, the Mother Ship, the Four Letter Network, the we-overpaid-to-broadcast-NASCAR-a-couple-years-ago-and-now-we’re-stuck-with-it … the reigning sports leader: _ESPN.com!_ Yes, it seems the Four Letter Network is HMS’s sounding board these days … or its PR rep.

After a thoroughly disappointing start to 2009 for the No. 07 and No. 29 teams, two operations that secured Chase berths in 2008, news broke today that owner Richard Childress has swapped the crew chiefs and crews of both teams in an effort to improve chemistry and performance on the …

*Did You Notice? …* The Daytona 500 is less of an indicator of season-long success than ever before? Heading into the second restrictor plate race of the season, no less than six of this year’s top 10 finishers in the Great American Race have yet to better their runs from February. Desperate for the draft dice to roll their way and get their year back on track, let’s take a look at each of these men who left their mojo down in Florida: *David Ragan* *Daytona 500: 6th* *Best Finish Since: 17th – Fontana* Who would have guessed that Ragan’d be on this list? Armed with both a high-dollar sponsor and that always tenuous “driver about to have a breakout season” tag attached to his back, the Chase appeared to have already put together a golden throne for this man’s arrival.

Penalties Come Down For Earnhardt Jr., Mears On Tuesday, NASCAR announced penalties for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Casey Mears from their antics on Saturday night. NASCAR has placed both drivers on probation for the next six races, decreeing that both Earnhardt, Jr. and Mears had violated Article 12-4-a of the …

Mark Martin was able to quickly dispatch Ryan Newman on the race's final restart, and Tony Stewart never generated the steam to catch him.

*R-E-S-P-E-C-T* How cool was it to see the procession of drivers come through Victory Lane and congratulate Martin following his first win in nearly four years? The 50-year-old vet was joined by current teammates, former teammates, his former owner Jack Roush, and other past champions. This was as popular of a win as we’ve seen in quite awhile, and it really goes to show what respect can do for a driver. There is not one person in the garage who does not respect Martin… something younger drivers of today need to learn to earn.

*After Sunday's race, many people were looking for rivalry or animosity between Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson -- but didn't get any. Are people making something out of nothing, or should there have been more emotion out of the drivers?* Bryan: It would have been nice to see some kind of excitement from the drivers after that great of a race. Beth: I disagree. It was Martinsville, and both drivers were beating and banging. I don't really see where there should be a rivalry. Jeff: The emotion was fine. If Denny could have got back to him, though, you would have seen him move Jimmie for sure.