Working On My Redneck ™ » jeff gordon

Could A Road Race Be In The Chase’s Future?

Leon — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:00:10 +0000

(photo courtesy Harold Hinson)

Traction has been given to the idea that there is an ongoing discussion that could lead to a road race possibly being put into the Chase for the Cup sometime in the future. That idea has really come to light during the Infineon race last weekend. As we all know, the Chase consists of only ovals, albeit ovals of different lengths, shapes, and different concepts, but nevertheless only ovals.

However, with the Sprint Cup drivers getting more comfortable with the twisty, left and right turns of a road course, it would appear that those same drivers are becoming more amenable to the inclusion of a road race course as part of the Chase in the future. In light of the fact that last weekend fans saw some fantastic and thrilling racing at both the Sprint Cup race at Infineon Raceway, as well as, the Nationwide race at Road America at Elkhart Lake, WI., the fans seem open to the idea of bringing a road race course into the Chase, as well.

Jeff Gordon, one of the better road racers in Cup, said he would love to see a third road event in Cup and, yes, in the 10-race Chase.

“Sure, that would be great,” Gordon said. “I love the road courses. I love the two that we have and I guess if you want to look at a complete championship – we have short track, superspeedway, intermediates and why not have a road course in there.”

Asked where he would like to see a third road race, Gordon said, “I’ve always dreamed about racing at Laguna Seca and that’s one of the premiere road courses in the country, but I don’t see that happening. That’s more of a dream.”

By adding a road race course to the Chase, it would include all the various types of tracks that the Sprint cup drivers race upon throughout the entire race season. Inclusive in the Chase presently is a short track, Martinsville, a superspeedway, Talladega, mid-size tracks, Texas, Charlotte, however, there is not a road course in the Chase.

By adding a road course to the final 10 races, the Chase for the Cup, it would give credence to the Sprint Cup championship. The road course addition to the Chase would validate the overall picture as to which team can perform at the highest level throughout all of the various types of racing facilities that comprise the total race season.

What is your thoughts on adding a road race course to the Chase?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Is Jeff Gordon Returning To His Checkered Past?

Leon — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 15:29:35 +0000

(photo courtesy Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

For a race car driver who used to collect race wins like “an exotic dancer” collects dollar bills, Jeff Gordon thought the win last Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway probably would never come!

The driver of the Hendrick Motorsports #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy, Jeff Gordon and perennial Sprint Cup contender, went 66 races without visiting Victory Lane. That was nearly 2 years since his last victory! However, he came close on many occasions in those 66 races, racking up 22 top 5 finishes, including 8 second place finishes in that period.

The nay-sayers were mounting. Why couldn’t “four-time” close the deal anymore? Was this the sign the Gordon, who turn 40 years old in August, had lost “the fire” that had made him an almost instant NASCAR star? What was going on from within?

However, 2011 was a new season, with a new crew chief, and for ol Jeffy it appears that there is a rekindled fire brewing in his belly! With just eight laps remaining in the race, Jeff Gordon drove around Kyle Busch to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix Sunday. The victory was his 83rd career in NASCAR, tying him for fifth on the all-time list with the great one from Timmonsville, SC, Cale Yarborough.

For Gordon the next victory, 84, would place him in a tie for fourth on the all-time win list with two of the greatest drivers ever in NASCAR, Darrell Walrtip and Bobby Allison. What great company to be associated with in NASCAR!

But, despite all that success, this latest win took a painfully long time to get, 66 races!

“Pinch me! Pinch me!’’ the happy and relieved Gordon said in Victory Lane.

Kyle Busch, who missed out on his second career sweep of NASCAR’s three biggest series in the same weekend because of Gordon, wasn’t a bit surprised by what transpired on the one-mile Phoenix oval.

“I think he was on a mission today, that’s for sure,’’ Busch said. “And, when Jeff Gordon has a good car and he has the opportunity to beat you, he’s going to beat you so. There’s no doubt about that. He’s my hero and I’ve always watched him and what he’s been able to accomplish over the years. It’s no surprise that he beat us.’’

Gordon led the most laps in the race, but he fell behind Busch on the final pit stop. Fortunately, he had time to catch the leader on the final green-flag run.

“I don’t really care how we do it, we just want to get to victory lane,’’ Gordon said. “But to do it that way and to see the fans reaction … I mean, we beat Kyle Busch. We were the only one’s to beat Kyle Busch this weekend and he’s so tough to beat.’’

“Man, what an awesome, awesome feeling it is when you’ve got the car right like that and they give you 20 (laps) to go and it’s your job to go get it done and you’ve got what you need to go do that. I thought, `Even if I catch him, what am I going to do with him?’ We caught him, he got loose and I got underneath him.’’

The two cars banged together, but it was only Busch’s JGR #18 Combos Toyota that slowed for just a moment, allowing Gordon to pull away.

“It’s been a long time, I know,’’ Gordon said. “I’m going to savor this one so much, but I’ve got to say thanks to the fans. I mean not only the fans at home .. I’ve been tweeting lately for the first time and all of the stuff that people have been saying, the motivation has been unbelievably inspiring. And then to see that crowd stick around to see my really lame burnout, because i stink at them, but they love that show. Man we hope we can give them some more shows like that this year.’’

Asked about tying Yarborough on the win list, Gordon was equally excited.

“I’m such a huge fan of Cale’s,’’ Gordon noted.. “One of the first conversations I ever had with anybody when (I) came to the Cup series was Cale Yarborough. He wanted me to drive his car and I actually tested his car. He’s (was) just an amazing race car driver.

“I’ll be honest,’’ he added. “I didn’t know if we were ever going to get past 82 (wins). The way things have been going the past couple of years, you lose a little bit of that spark and you wonder what it’s going to take to get to Victory Lane. But I can tell you after today that it takes a team like this and a race car like that and we’re having a blast … after today, I am really excited about this season.’’

Has Jeff Gordon regained that “fire in his belly”? For that matter, did he ever loose that “fire”? Or was he just a victim of circumstances in that very long 66 race dry spell?

Do you think that Gordon is a force this season to reckoned with?

What is your thoughts?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Ol Kylie Nearly Sweeps In The Desert

Leon — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:59:12 +0000

Friday, 25 February 2011

(photo courtesy Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Well, ol Kylie nearly got to do some house cleaning on the last weekend that Phoenix International Raceway exists in its present configuration. When NASCAR returns in November the racing surface at PIR will have an entirely different look.

On Friday night Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 44 and never relinquished it after that, leading 107 laps of the race. Busch held off a fast Kevin Harvick, Inc. truck driven by Harvick’s RCR teammate, Clint Bowyer, for his 25th career victory in the Camping World Truck Series.

Here are the unofficial results from the Lucas Oil 150 from PIR.

On Saturday, Kyle Busch really stunk up the race, leading all 200 laps of the Basha’s Supermarket 200! Busch had the overwhelming dominate race car on Saturday, collecting his 44th career Nationwide Series victory, 4 wins behind the all time leader Mark Martin. His JGR #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota was the class of the field! Notwithstanding, Carl Edwards was able to mount a decent challenge in the final 20 laps. Edwards did gather enough steam to get to Busch on two different attempts, only to fail in making the pass for the lead.

Here are the unofficial results for the Basha’s Supermarket 200.

On Sunday, however, his steel stallion just wasn’t strong enough to complete the sweep of PIR. Busch was involved in an early race “dust up” that put Carl Edwards in the garage for about 66 laps for repair. Notwithstanding that small confrontation with Edwards, the JGR #18 Combos Toyota rallied to eventually gain the race lead in the latter stages of the race. However, it was Jeff Gordon who mounted the ultimate challenge to Kyle Busch’s weekend dominance, taking the win for his first victory since April 2009 at the Texas Motor Speedway, 66 races ago.

All in all, it was was a very entertaining race weekend from Phoenix.

What is your thoughts on ol Kylie?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

It’s Not A Mirage, Gordon Wins In The Desert

Leon — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:56:58 +0000

(photo courtesy Chris Graythen/Getty Images)It took

It took Jeff Gordon 67 races to find his way back to victory lane. That’s right, his last victory was at the Texas Motor Speedway back in April 2009! This victory was Gordon’s 83rd career win in the Sprint Cup series.

The win came in just the second race with Alan Gustafson as the crew chief. You may recall the major shakeup in the off season at Hendrick Motorsports, it is apparently working for the four time Sprint Cup champion.

“I don’t care how we do it, we just want to get to Victory Lane,” Gordon said. “But to do it that way, and to see the fans reaction? I mean, we beat Kyle Busch. We were the only one to beat Kyle Busch this weekend. He’s so tough to beat.”

Gordon led most of the second half of the race. But with 30 laps to go, green-flag pit stops started. Gordon had a slow stop and came out third behind Tony Stewart, who took just two tires, and Busch.

Busch blew past Stewart in less than a lap and got out to a healthy lead. But Gordon started cutting away at the margin and with eight to go, was on the bumper of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Gordon went low in his Chevrolet when Busch wiggled up toward the wall out of a turn. The two went door-to-door inches apart. Gordon finally cleared Busch and then ran away to a 1.1 second victory.

“I thought if I catch him, what am I going to do with him?” Gordon said. “We caught him, he got loose, I got underneath him. I didn’t know what to expect.”

Nobody will ever know if the fastest car in the starting field won this race. The first third of the race was marred by wrecks which took out a number of cars which had either led laps or appeared capable of leading laps.

The big wreck, 13 cars were involved, occurred on the restart after a medium wreck which happened on lap 60.

In the first wreck, polesitter Carl Edwards was forced into the grass when Kyle Busch ran him off the track. Among others involved was Harvick.

In the first wreck, polesitter Carl Edwards forced into the grass when Kyle Busch ran him off the track. Among others involved was Harvick.

““I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Edwards said. “I’ll have to talk to Kyle about it. I thought at first he was just frustrated and he turned left to get back in line and he didn’t know I was there, but I watched the tape and I think he really did get loose. He hit me hard and I was left with nothing. I got rammed to the infield.

“If I would have turned right, I don’t think I could have made the corner to clear that curb, so that’s just the way it is. That is the fastest car at the race track. It’s just a shame it’s on jack stands. We’ll get it put back together, though, and we’ll get all the points we can. We can win this championship. I’ve never had a run like this where our cars are this fast.”

Within moments of the race going back to green, the 13-car pileup occurred. This was started when Matt Kenseth moved up into Brian Vickers. The impact popped Vickers tire, Vickers got out of shape and the track turned into a junkyard.

Nevertheless, this Sunday was Jeff Gordon’s day to shine and put to rest that rumor that maybe Jeff Gordon had lost that fire in his belly! Today he led the most laps, had a very strong race car, but most importantly, Jeff Gordon went to victory lane!

Here is the unoffical results of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix International Raceway.

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDENCK!

Jeff Gordon’s #24 New Paint Scheme

Leon — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:52:11 +0000

(photo courtesy jayski.com)

The Drive To End Hunger (DTEH), an initiative of AARP and AARP Foundation to end hunger among older Americans, today unveiled the design of four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jeff Gordon’s #24 Drive to End Hunger Chevy for the 2011 season.

“Of the nearly 51 million Americans who face the threat of hunger every day, nearly six million are seniors who must make the heart-breaking decision between a nutritious meal and other necessities,” said Gordon, 39, winner of 82 career Sprint Cup races. “By combining the power and generosity of the NASCAR community with such a deserving cause, we can make a difference in this country and solve this problem.” Gordon will drive the car for 22 races annually over the next three years to raise awareness of and help solve the growing problem of hunger among older Americans.

The DTEH car is candy apple red fading down to black, with dominant white DTEH logos. DTEH is helping millions of older Americans who are facing hunger across the United States. As part of the # 24 sponsorship, DTEH, Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports will engage the NASCAR fan base, corporations and charitable organizations via a text-to-donate program; activation at racetracks across the country; further research on the causes and consequences of hunger in older Americans; and an innovative national grant program that will provide resources to address the problem at a local level.(AARP)

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

2010, The Long And Winding Road

Leon — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:13:31 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

Friday night in Las Vegas concluded the longest season in all of sports with the crowning of Jimmie Johnson as the 2010 Sprint Cup champion. However that banquet didn’t really hand out some of the awards that WOMR feels should have been awarded.

So WOMR is giving out its first annual awards called the REDNECK!

Just for the record, the accounting firm of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe was responsible for tabulating the results of the vote! So without further adieux, the envelopes please…..

For the best engineering move in racing:

That award goes to NASCAR for removing the idiotic wing on the rear deck lid and replacing it with the “new/old” spoiler. Wings are for airplanes, not for race cars!

The Gutsiest Driver Award:

To Denny Hamlin. After winning a rain-delayed event at Martinsville in March, Hamlin went under the knife for knee surgery and was back in the car at Phoenix just over a week later. One race later, he wound up in victory lane in Texas. Who says race car drivers aren’t athletes? A simply amazing feat!

The Birdies are Fine in Golf but not in NASCAR Award:

To Kyle Busch. One day after dropping the F bomb in front of the media in Texas, ol Kylie proceeded to give a NASCAR official the huge middle-finger salute as he sat in his car on pit road with his in-car camera clearly focused on the driver. The whole world say ol Kylies and his huge middle finger sticking up at the NASCAR official! Hey Kylie, see that in-car camera to your right? You know that one that your team and sponsors will pay to have installed into your car for that valuable “TV” time!! Just what were you thinking? Say cheese, dude, your wallet just got $25,000 lighter!

The Hulk Hogan Headlock Award:

To Jeff Gordon. Hulk Hogan is widely-regarded as a great entertainer with terrible ring technique each time he steps inside the squared circle. So in honor of his unsuccessful attempt to put Jeff Burton in a headlock in Texas, this award is headed Gordon’s way. Hey Jeffie, you need to pump some iron and eat your vitamins, brother!

The Said Head Award:

To Boris Said. The curly-haired Said gave his fan base plenty of reason to cheer following his dramatic last lap Nationwide Series victory in Montreal in August when he edged Max Papis in a photo-finish. Said accomplished the feat with RAB Racing, which has no affiliation with a Sprint Cup team. Who said? Boris Said!

The Do You Think That We Could Still Buy A Seat Award:

This year’s Brickyard 400 was contested in front of more than 100,000 empty seats at Indianapolis Motor Speedway which, according to Wikipedia, boasts a seating capacity of more than 257,000. The track estimated the day’s attendance to be 140,000. It was simply amazing to see so much shining metal from the grandstands that afternoon. Or was that race fans cleverly dressed up like empty seats?

The Good to See the Black RCR No. 3 Chevrolet Back in Victory Lane Award:

To Austin Dillon. It wasn’t in the Sprint Cup Series,however, but it did do WOMR’s spirit good to see Richard Childress’ grandson pilot the paint scheme made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt to victory in a NASCAR truck series race in Iowa.

The Best Race from Start-to-Finish of the Year Award:

There was a tie in the vote. The first is the spring race in Talladega. There were an incredible 88 lead changes among 29 drivers during 188 laps of racing. It was highlighted by Harvick’s crafty slingshot move around McMurray in the tri-oval on the final lap. The other race that tied in the vote was the fall Camping World Truck at the famed Talladega Superspeedway as well. The finish was a photo finish between as sideways Kyle Busch, and angry Aric Almirola, and a whining Johnny Sauter!

The Best Looking Car of the Year Award:

To the new car in the Nationwide Series. They only hit the track five times this season, but Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Toyota’s versions of the Nationwide Series’ new car looks like they rolled right off the show room floor. Each model looks spectacular up close. The new car goes full-time in NASCAR’s junior circuit in 2011. Now those cars look like race cars!

The What In The Heck Were They Thinking Award:

To Toyota and Michael Waltrip Racing. Ford still regrets the day they let a promising young driver named Jeff Gordon slip out of their camp and jump to Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports in 1992. We’ll likely look back in five years and wonder why Toyota and MWR let Trevor Bayne escape to Ford and Roush Fenway Racing in 2010.

What is your thoughts on the 2010 season?

Enjoy the short off-season!

I will see you at Daytona in February!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

A Shakeup At Hendrick Motorsports

Leon — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:26:38 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

On Tuesday Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, announced a multi-team shakeup for 2011. Hendrick cited the reason for the shakeup was due to a lack of performance.

Here is the scorecard for 2011: Steve Letarte, who has been crew chief for Jeff Gordon for the last five seasons, will move over to the team of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Lance McGrew, who has been on Earnhardt’s pit box since May of 2009, will be paired with Mark Martin next year.

Earnhardt has won just one Sprint Cup race since arriving at HMS in 2008. He qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship that season but finished 12th in the 12-driver field.

Alan Gustafson, who has been Martin’s crew chief the last two seasons, moves to Gordon’s team.

The only driver left unaffected is Jimmie Johnson, who, with crew chief Chad Knaus, just won his fifth straight Sprint Cup championship.

“This will improve us as an organization, across the board,” Hendrick said in the statement. “We had a championship season, but we weren’t where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We’ve made the right adjustments, and I’m excited to go racing with this lineup.”

In addition, the Gordon and Martin teams will be fielded out of the same facility, now known as the 5/24 shop. Earnhardt and Johnson will be in the 48/88 shop. Previously the 24 and 48 cars were built in the same building, and the 5 and 88 were together. A major shift of emphasis at HMS!

The other three drivers were winless, and only Gordon made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, finishing ninth in the final standings.

What is your take on the shakeup at Hendrick Motorsports?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Gordon’s Drive For Five Took A Dive

Leon — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 17:31:14 +0000

(photo courtesy Geoff Burke/Getty Images)

Jeff Gordon entered into Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 just 85 points out of the championship lead at the halfway point into the Chase. However, Gordon’s drive for five (championships) took a dive with car problems and “head” problems, leaving him with a 23rd place finish. He now heads to Martinsville, race number 6 out of 10, 156 points out of the lead with only five races left o try to capitalize on other’s mistakes! And that is exactly what it will take for Gordon to try to leap back into contention, catastrophic mistakes by all other race teams. Quite honestly, that will not happen!

“All I can tell you is that it doesn’t make us race any different,” Gordon said of his fade from contention. “We race to win every weekend. So that’s all we can continue to do going forward. Things are not looking good, but we’ll just keep going and get to the next one and see what happens.”

But it didn’t take long for Gordon to begin falling backwards. First, his car had handling problems. Again.

“We’ve been trying to fix a loose middle-off the corner all year long here at Charlotte, so I don’t feel like that was preventable,” Gordon said.

Finally, a dead battery sealed his fate.

“Yeah, it was not a lot of fun,” he said. “We had about everything go wrong that could go wrong. Track position being crucial at this place. I’ve never seen it so sensitive. We lost a little bit of track position and then we had the battery issue which took me a little while to figure out. I’ve never had that happen before. I’ve had them stumble, but I’ve never had them just shut off. So, it took me a few seconds to figure that out. We lost a lap; and then speeding (on pit road) and a tire coming loose; we had it all happen.”

“I’m looking forward to going to Martinsville,” Gordon said. “I think Martinsville is a great track for us. When we had track position tonight, I don’t want to say we were as good as anybody, but we were good. I’ve never seen track position be so important as it was tonight because we just fell back to like sixth or seventh that one time after coming in and getting the gas-and-go and couldn’t do anything. It was just so important to keep that track position.”

Gordon’s job at Martinsville will be to keep cool and bounce back.

WOMR thinks that it will take one “world class recovery” , along with miserably bad luck to strike Johnson, Hamlin, and Harvick, if Jeff Gordon is to even have a remote shot at this year’s Sprint Cup championship!

What is your view?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Gordon Captures The Pole For The Bank of America 500

Leon — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 17:20:21 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

For any of “the contenders”, a win is very vital in their shot at winning the 2010 Sprint Cup championship. Jeff Gordon took a step in the right direction by securing the pole for Saturday nights Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“This is a little, small momentum and a boost of confidence,” Gordon said.

It was the first pole of the season for Gordon, who is fourth in points, 85 behind leader and Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson. It was his 69th career pole.

“This was huge and a huge shock,” Gordon said. “We just have not qualified well this year.” He said he was shocked because his car was horrible during practice held before qualifying. “We were going to be happy if we were in the top 15,” Gordon said. “I thought for sure a half dozen guys were going to beat us.”

Here is the starting lineup for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500.

Twelve drivers, now six races, one championship, who will be the last man standing?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Wal-Mart And Jeff Gordon

Leon — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:44:53 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

Wal-Mart’s potential move into NASCAR has led the retail giant deep into negotiations with Hendrick Motorsports over sponsorship of Jeff Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevrolet next season.

There continues to be several moving parts to the Wal-Mart discussions with Hendrick and NASCAR, which began in the spring and have progressed through the summer. Wal-Mart’s play could have tentacles in both sponsorship and licensing at the team and league level, according to industry sources.

The retailer has been hesitant to spend money on sports sponsorships in the past, so Wal-Mart’s entrance to NASCAR would provide a huge boost to a sport that has been ravaged by the recession and attracted little new sponsorship money in the last two seasons.

“It’s very significant,” said Mark Dyer, senior vice president at IMG and formerly chief of the licensing division at NASCAR until 2007. “We tried for years to get Wal-Mart’s attention when I was at NASCAR and we made some inroads. If they truly decide to take a position in the sport, that’s a big deal to get a company that should have been in that space all along.”

While Wal-Mart ponders a new place in NASCAR, other consumer packaged goods sponsors are clearly energized and they’re not waiting for contracts to be signed before mobilizing.

Sources say that six of NASCAR’s official consumer packaged goods partners met earlier this month to discuss a retail strategy for Wal-Mart. Those sponsors were Coca-Cola, Kraft, Mars, MillerCoors, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

The opportunities with this are huge,” the source said. “In the past, you could get regional activation with a Wal-Mart close to the track, but they liked to control their national promotions. They typically develop their own programs and then bring in the manufacturers that they choose. But we’re hearing that it could be changing.”

The store’s sponsorship of Gordon would be the most visible bet that Wal-Mart believes an association with NASCAR would help its business. Sources say that Wal-Mart has been seeking ways to reconnect with its core U.S. customers, who compare favorably with the avid fans in NASCAR.

Wal-Mart also has been in discussions with NASCAR’s licensing trust to be the sport’s exclusive retailer in the mass merchandise space. If NASCAR granted Wal-Mart a direct license, it would allow the store to select its merchandise partners and set prices. Those talks have been going on since the spring. (sports business journal)

What is your take on Wal-Mart’s most likely move into NASCAR?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!