Just Shut up and Drive!!!

Ten years of racing at the Texas Motor Speedway, and I have been to every race and heard every driver complaint. Today I see this article from the Dallas Morning News concerning two Chase driver's complaints of a 'bump' in Turns 1 and 2.

Lets see here, 10 years ago, it was the transitions from corners to straights. FIXED: (has Darlington 'fixed' their transitions in the past 20 years?)

or the water seepage in turn 2. FIXED: (did Richmond, Pocono ever fix their similar problem, or did they just hope for no week long rains before race weekend, causing higher water tables)

How many years did drivers and teams have to deal with the seemingly endless 'Humpy bumps' at Lowes, the 'curb' at Martinsville or the 'dip' in turn 4 at Daytona? The problem is that some tracks seem to get a 'free pass', because 'that is they way they have always been.

TMS president Eddie Gossage says that the speedway has "surveyed the area and that it has not changed since 2004". So what is all the fuss?

It seems that some drivers may never be happy with a track unless it is a smooth as silk, and has the grip of Jerry Rice.

Actually, what these two drivers don't realize (mainly because they were not driving the first few years of the track's opening) is that there was a huge problem with a 'bump' in turn four. It took a few years to get that fixed, but the fact remains that TMS did indeed take action and 'do the right thing' at much expense to the track, when needed.

Why such 'traditional' tracks get a free pass on such things is beyond me, yet facilities that spend millions each year upgrading, and fixing issues with their state of the art tracks, still have complaints.

I still have my Tshirt from the second ever Cup race at TMS, it simply said 'just shut-up and drive'!!!! It maybe time to break it out once again this weekend.

So Wednesday morning it is off to the track for another weekend of racing and maybe even a few more 'driver complaints'. See ya next week!

If he did it, he did it

Did Robbie Gordon throw some roll bar padding out of his car, in order to cause a caution? Nascar says they are not sure either way. But I feel that just by Nascar taking a good, long look at this, had they had video proof that Gordon intentionally did this, I honestly think that Gordon would not be racing this weekend at TMS. In defense of Gordon though, while I have never rolled my driver's side window down going 190+ MPH on I-35, just knowing the wind/turbulence that can be kicked up by doing this at 75 MPH, it is not beyond reasonable possibility that Gordon had nothing to do with this caution.

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It was nice to see a race yesterday that for once forced teams/drivers to actually pass other cars on the track, and not in the pits with two tire stops. We have seen it all too many times with a handful of drivers who qualify poorly, and do this in order to make some claim of having a 'top ten car'. At least ATL is a track that promotes on-track passing and tire management in the process.

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Maybe the driver of the 29 car should have spent his Saturday tweaking his Cup car instead of Whacking the Busch Race. Him being a nonfactor all day Sunday took what little Chase hopes the 29 team had. It is no wonder the G.M. Goodwrench is considering leaving as a sponsor. On the other hand, missing Satuday's practice didn't seem to bother the 11 car much.

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With 3 races to go, the Chase appears to now morphed into a two and half horse race. I say a 'half', because even though he may need some help, stand out Rookie Denny Hamlin refuses to go away. While of the three, he would not be my first choice, it is hard not to cheer this kid on. JGR and Fedex have found a diamond in the rough with this kid. Who says that this crop of rookies need more seasoning and time in the 'lower' series.

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Speaking of 'rookies' and more seasoning before making the jump to Cup. Scanning the "Southern Gentleman's" Fan Club Forum early this Monday morning, I noticed some pretty critical comments concerning this year's crop of 'uber rookies'. (an interesting term in itself) It is really too bad that the people making these critical claims don't take a look back into time when their driver was getting the same critisism less than 10 years ago. I was there, and can tell you the first 15 races of the "Southern Gentleman's" career was not pretty at all. Only finishing on the lead lap one time in those first 15 races. In that one time, I can remember jesting to friends before the race that the team's motto for that TMS race should be, 'just finish Elliott, just finish'. It was not long after those 15 races, that even the 'Southern Gentleman' himself along with his owner had made the claim that because of all the sheet metal that had been torn up over the first half of the '99 season, there was a critical shortage of 'race ready' cars in the 21 stable. How soon some fans forget, but then again, they probably never knew in the first place.

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On to some College Football

Another great Saturday over-all in terms of good games. Still lots of question marks for some of those top tier BCS teams. Is WVU for real? Was Texas 'penalized' too much for losing to tOSU? Will the 'real' BCS champ game be played in November between tOSU and Mich? Could an SEC team make the BCS Champ game without playing in the SEC Conference Champ game? (irony alert) And lasty, did a 'review mistake', cost the Sooners a BCS Bowl game birth worth millions to the University? Some of these questions will be answered this upcoming weekend and speaking of, the OU/Texas A&M is on ABC (and even 'gameday' will be there) Saturday night in College Station. No TMS race conflicts! Woohoooo!

When Nascar really was 'STOCK'

You hear that many times by fans referring to the 'good ole days' and such. While I am not one to judge if Nascar was really 'better' back than, that is not the point of this blog. Since the first time I went to Daytona, and spent an afternoon driving down highway A1A and the 'beach course', I was intrigued by that history and even some of the 'nutty' things that took place in the past.


A few years later, I was fortunate enough to RV at Richmond near a gentleman who used to work with Curtis Turner. The stories he told one night were simply amazing even if only half of them were true. From not wearing seatbelts of any kind to racing with a MONKEY in your car!

This past summer while attending the Chicago Cup Race, I stumbled across a print of the 1956 Nascar Grand National Race won by Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, that I just could not pass up and is now framed on my 'game room' wall. Who would have thunk it, Nascar Racing from inside Soldier Field!!!

But back to the 'wackiness' of some of those 'good ole days', I friend sent me this link of a clip the other day from the 1960 season. What struck me was not the wreck itself, but the drivers getting out of their cars to help others, what they were wearing (or lack there of). The slowness of the safety crews and the over all nonchalantness of the whole situation (see the driver already out of his car and walking aorund, even though there are still cars wrecking?). Here take a look for yourself.



Now flash forward about 50 years, even those 'high tech' boys can do it



Hopefully we wont ever see these type of crashes again, but my guess is that we will.

A Few Quick Hits

· David Ragan parked at Atlanta.
This is probably a good move by Nascar as I consider the Atlanta Motor Speedway the fastest and more 'racy' over-all track in the series. But the issue or problem that I see is the reason why David might not have the ‘experience’ needed to make this jump to Cup. Some say he should stay in Busch and get more experience and that is probably a fair statement, but there lies the problem. His owner has had a knack for putting his CUP drivers more often then not in his cars rather than the development drivers. Yep, I said it, the BuschWacking maybe the real problem here. This is not only limited to Roush Racing, but have seen it at Robert Yates as well. David Gilliland has shown that he also could use some more ‘seasoning’ before making the jump to Cup as well. Of course the RYR situation is a bit different.


· Dear “Beto’s” in Grand Prairie
Your Southwest Skirt Steak and fixins es muy bueno. Not to mention one of the best Happy Hours in the DFW area.


· Price of Poker is going up
I see that the “Southern Gentleman’s” fan club annual dues are increasing in ’07 to $20 for a single and $25 for a family of four. That is a 25% jump from ’06 and a 100% from ’03. This now puts him in line with other fan clubs like Michael Waltrip and Sterling Marlin, which are still cheaper than most, but then again, you get what you pay for. Maybe since Sadler has had a couple of engine failures lately, there is a greater need for those Gonkulators he used to use with such success, and was the subject of many jokes and captions (If you have to ask…… well never mind) or maybe it is needed to help pay for the endless 'under construction' Foundation Website!


· Stoops losing his ‘Magic’?
Hearing some rumblings in the press concerning Oklahoma Head Coach Bob Stoops has lost that ‘magic’ that he brought to Norman from the early 2000 seasons. While the over-all success of the Football program is not at the level it was back then, it is not that far off. Even with losing your starting QB and a starting Offensive Lineman a day before fall practices were to start, and losing Heisman hopeful Adrian Peterson to injury, the Sooners are still a pretty good football team (when they don’t turn the ball over). But looking back on a few other Sooner coaching legends, they too, had some ‘down’ years just about at the same point in their careers. Bud Wilkerson, after going 31-2 in his 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons (and a National Championship in 1950), had a span of 3 seasons where the Sooners lost games early in the season (sometimes two losses) only to follow up with a NCAA record 47 straight un-beaten games and three undefeated seasons (with two more National Championships). Barry Switzer also had early success but by his ninth season, fell to some hard times, and had 3 Four-loss seasons in a row only to win another National Championship in ’85. So Coach Stoops is in good company.

· How much did you say?
Had a brief cool spell last week, and decided that I should be safe, and have the fireplace cleaned professionally. Of course there was the extra up charge for having two fireplaces, but the final bill for about 30 minutes of actual work was $234 dollars! I guess that is a small price to pay rather than having your house burn down.

· Bold prediction
Its Wednesday, Oct 25th 6:30 CST. Just a few hours before Season Three, Episode IV of LOST. I get the strangest feeling that tonight will be a ‘shark jumping’ episode. We will see in a couple of hours. I hope I am wrong!

· And lastly
for a special friend, another TIMEWASTER from Africa. enjoy!

ESPN -- Are you ready for some Nascar?

Last night the Dallas Cowboys made their first appearance on the icon known as Monday Night Football. Not that I am a big 'Cowboy' fan, this did give me an opportunity to watch this production from start to finish for the first time this season and since ESPN took over MNF.

Realizing the ESPN will also be taking over a portion of Nascar broadcasts next season, and also realizing how their broadcasts have a somewhat 'legendary' status among many of the Nascar faithful, it was time to see a few things.

Starting with the pre-game, even there it seems that ESPN is searching for a story, with any 'angle' they can come up with be it something that is legitimate, or simply sensationalism. We see this same type of thing in College Football with 'ESPN Gameday' productions. There is already enough of this type of thing with the Speed Channel's 'Nascar This Morning' productions. I could be wrong on this, but it seems that Nascar fans just want the facts in their most basic forms. No flashy graphics, no 'Susie Kolber man voice' sideline interviews in which there is little substance and sometimes have nothing to do with the event, but because a celebrity was in attendance, the producers felt it was interview worthy. Meanwhile, a play or two is missed because of this, can you wonder how the Nascar Faithful will flame if the 'big one' is missed because of a 'garage interview' with some rock star?

The almost mythical legend that some Nascar fans have put on the old ESPN broadcasts is something that the new show's producers are going to have to live up too. After all, according to many of these fans, 'old ESPN' never missed a restart, took fewer commercial breaks and didn't only focus on a handful of cars at the front of the pack. Frankly, those assumptions cannot be further from the truth, and one only has to watch a couple of 'ESPN Classic' broadcasts to see that. While their productions in the 80s were truly innovative, they were little different from what we have today.

If I had one wish that the new ESPN production crew would grant, that would be for ESPN to not try and re-invent the wheel. No matter how hard one tries, that wheel is not going to get any rounder. ESPN is making that mistake with Monday Night Football, I hope they learn their lesson come next fall when they take over some Nascar Broadcasts.

Ramblings before "Homecoming"

Its HOMECOMING weekend in Norman for the Sooners, so I am looking forward to another nice, crisp fall Saturday of OU Football. There is something special about Homecoming weekend and a school with the tradition of Oklahoma. From the Alumni Band, seeing players from the past, to the parade itself, sometimes we can even forget about the game itself! I'm thinking the Buffs coming off a huge win, and with 'AD' out, they will be bringing their "A" game. I just hope both teams play well.

But here is just a few random ramblings coming into this weekend.

* In the past two nights of the NLCS, I think I have seen more bunting than I have seen in the last five years on Texas Rangers Baseball. Gotta love 'small ball', and at least a few teams have kept it alive in the National League. Lastly, WTG CARDS!!! I didn't think they were going to pull this one out.

* What part of 'free' do they not understand? I few weeks ago we replaced our refrigerator with a newer model. From the start there were problems with 'getting rid' of the old one. The place where we bought the new unit, wanted to charge me $60 to haul off a still working refrigerator. I just couldn't go for that, so I begin soliciting friends and others asking them if they knew anyone that needed a refrigerator. The 'catch' was, all they had to do was come pick it up, no charge, just come and get it. After a couple of weeks of , 'can you bring it to me', I called a few places that accepted appliances as donations, but it took me 5 or so phone calls to find one that would actually come pick it up. Thank You Am-Vets, I now have a little more space in the garage.

* The greatness of hit counters. It is always interesting to review the blogs hit counter to actually see who is viewing. So this Friday morning I decided download the hits and take a look. Seems that last night a specific Spotter/PR Rep must have had some trouble sleeping, as the pinging of the blog had multiple hits well passed Midnight. To add to that, I decided to venture over to a notable Fan Club Message Board, and low and behold, there are a couple of threads started by the Spotter. Problem is though, after reading the topics and posts, he now sounds like a 'over night radio talk show host', attempting to drum up phone calls. He begins with the familiar, 'what's up'?, followed by his 'unofficial poll' about the COT (I guess drumming up hit counts and actual 'race talk' is desperately needed!). Then 20 or so minutes later, he follows with a "Nextel VS Cingular' thread (oh boy, note to Spoter, this type of thing has been going one since the second car had 'sponsor' on the hood to compete with the first car's sponsor. One only has to look at Rusty Wallace holding up a 'Bud Poll Award' flag or seeing him race in the Bud ShootOut, pass the salt). He ends this after a few sentences of 'Jimmy Spencer nothing talk' with, 'Your thoughts'? What is next, 'Should Pete Rose be allowed in the Hall of Fame'? Or 'Is Nascar too expensive?' (If you have ever listened to over night radio you will understand the absurdity of this type of nothingness. It must stink to be up that late. ;)

* Maybe the biggest 'time waster' of all time!
Next time the Spotter/PR dude can't sleep, maybe this might help pass the time away! The 'Africam' is a unique look via webcam (pretty high quality too) of a natural water hole on a wildlife reserve in South Africa. While the 'action' can be plentiful at times, there are also times where hours could go by without a peep. The Cam is controlled by someone and is not static, but can pan left and right, and even zoom in when needed. One message board that I frequent has a running commentary about the goings on in this little spot on the other side of the Earth. Another greatness of the internet.

* Three episodes deep into Season Three of LOST and just as the title of the show states, I am just as LOST as ever. The season premier's first five minutes has set the tone for every bomb shell after. So far we see that the 'Others' actually have a 'town' on the island, SUN is great at deception and not telling the truth (hmmmm, I know a place where she would fit in very well), and Locke has been duped and tricked into doing things that he probably normally would not do more times then we can count. My only reservation so far, is the 'time dispacement' hints given once again this season, I really hope the show does not fall back on the ole 'Star Trek' space/time continuum dealio.

* Miami/FUI
Not much can be said that hasn't already, other then. 'I went to a Hockey Match and a Miami Football game broke out. Purely disgraceful.

Later! and BOOMER SOONER!

Well Brett, it is a start! sort of

Preface: "THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT"
BREAKING NEWS! (Oct 19th, 2006 9:00 CST)
Looks like there has been much activity and damage control since this blog was posted just two short days ago.

1) The link to the Sadler Foundation Website is now dead. (gee what a surprise) But it is nice knowing that the Sadler PR Machine understands the error in the 'effort' to rush and slap together a link to fulfill a promise from over 8 months ago was just that, a band-aid on a cut that needed stitches.

2) Fans are no longer allowed to post pictures or have personal signatures in a certain fan club message board for some strange reason now. Some have managed to have links to watermarked pictures, and then suddenly those links are gone, too! Even a 'blind man can see that' changes are due to outside influences. Perhaps this blog is one of those influences?

3) And lastly, a 'Mystic' from Austin thinks she can skin a cat. Sorry, but I have not even begun to use any of those nine lives. Beers are still on me, although a LEO and a Taurus some times don't mix well, but I would make an exception this time and play nice. Just answer my email that you feebly 'used'.

Isn't it wonderful that such an 'insignificant' blog can much such an impact, just by exposing a few things? Thank you Al Gore!

Occasionally I ping the link of the 'under construction' Sadler Foundation Website just to see if there has been any progress to the PR/Spotter's claim of 'we are in the process of forming a Foundation website'. Much to my surprise this morning, there has actually been a bit of work (WTG goatfish!!!!) and changes to the site. And this only took eight months!!!!

No longer is the site 'under construction', but actually shows the MISSION STATEMENT. I did find it pretty interesting that the word 'cure' is used as that word realistically cannot apply to a 'brain-based disorder'. To cure means "to restore to health, soundness, or normality." In the medical sense, there is no cure for the differences in the brain which result in autism. Perhaps a more educated term would be replacing the word 'cure' with "finding better ways to understand the disorder and helping understand the most effective approaches to Autism."

One would think that such an important statement would have had more thought put into it and not be as misleading.

The 'Autism Fast Fact', however was a nice touch and something that if done more often, might help the average person who has not been directly touched by this disorder better understand it.

Of course there is a link to aid in donating to the Foundation (after all, that is the prime reason for any Foundation), but once again, the word 'cure' is mentioned. There is even a link there to the Autism Society of America but even searching through those pages, you do not find any mention of 'finding a cure'. Why is that? Because once again there is no 'cure' for a brain disorder. However there is mention of treatment and education approaches that may reduce some of the challenges associated with the disability.

Once again, the ball is being dropped by the Sadler PR machine with little if any thought being put into PUBLIC statements concerning their activities, by simply just slapping a band-aid and expecting people to blindly believe that their statement are the truth. I guess being factual is too much to ask, but then again, that is the history of this 'PR Machine'. Brett, you said it best recently on the SFC message board. "You can't always believe what you read". Were you looking in a mirror when you were thinking that? The 'pod people' will believe pretty much anything you say/write no matter how 'left field' it is. If the Foundation's Mission is to help EDUCATE the general public and to aid in TREATMENT, saying that is admirable, but to say that finding a CURE is a part of that, is simply inappropriate.

But one has to wonder had it not been for blogs such as these, if there would be ANY movement or work on the 'Under Construction' Foundation website in the first place?

The saga continues

Did David Hoots 'miss' it?

"Three safety vehicles were cleaning debris along the backstretch of Turn 2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway during Saturday night's Nextel Cup race when an official began waving the green flag for a restart." Just how can this happen?

The answer is really simple, for the last 5 or so seasons we have heard the moaning and complaining of the Nascar faithful concerning the 'length of cautions' in terms of how many laps under caution. From the 'lucky dog', to freezing the field, this had added caution laps especially in the past few years. Now one might think that calling the 'one to go' then actually calling for the green flag when the cars come out of turn 4, is a very easy thing to do, but is it really?

To answer that question, one must first show up an hour or so before the race, and listen to 'Nascar Race Control' over a scanner, and hear the 'roll call'. Now I only listen to the main 'Nascar Race Control' channel on my scanner when I am at a race live, so I don't hear 'everything', but it honestly takes about that long for all the race officials to check in with Hoots. That fact alone tells you that there is a huge amount of officials to account for.

Now lets bring in the 'pressure' of TeVee, and commercial time. How many times do we hear the moaning of fans for going to 'one more commercial' break because 'Nascar waved off the one to go'? At many tracks, this puts the Network at a dilemma, because if they go to commercial break, the time allotted for that break doesn't 'fit' with the time it takes to run a lap under caution.

It was about 6 years ago, I started listening to 'Nascar Race Control' on my scanner and set this channel is a 'priority' so I could hear every 'check for debris' or 'pick up the speed on the X car'. Why did I do this? Because it gave me a greater perspective, and appreciation for the 'real time calls' made by Nascar. And BTW, this paid off for the 'phantom JR debris' caution at Dega a couple of weeks ago, when the 'conspiracy theorists felt this caution was thrown because 'JR was in trouble and might lose the 'lucky dog'. That was far from the case, there was 'chatter', on Nascar Race Control more than a lap or two before about the debris, and was confirmed. Put the foil hats away!

So did Hoots miss it? My gut tells me NO. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Tow Trucks or other Safety Vehicles scrambling to 'get into their hole' as the field is entering turn four waiting for the pace car to dive into pit road, only to hear Hoots after the field takes the green, 'Great job!'

It probably happens every race, but this time Hoots realized he had pushed the envelope too far and safety was compromised. He bit the bullet, and said 'throw it out'. He didn't miss anything. My real question is ........ If you have to ask if Hoots missed it? Then you probably not really listened to the behind the scenes issues for your self and should stick with the mystic ramblings of the foil hat people.

If only college football was a good and constistent at their jobs and officiating!

"All Day", Thanks for the Memories

Your father, Nelson Peterson, gave you that knickname over 10 years ago and you have been running 'All Day' ever since. There have been few college running backs who have equaled or surpassed your heart, desire, and more importantly, ability on the playing field. You are a 'one in a million' and I have been privileged and honored to watch you perform for the past three seasons.

I have seen 'live' some of the BEST, from Billy Sims, to Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, Hershel Walker, Thurman Thomas, Earl Campbell, Anthony Dickerson, (although I never got see to "Bo" live) and 'AD' is a player that ranks with these great college running backs.
I saw your first college touchdown live almost three years ago, and there was little doubt there was something special about you. I guess it is only fitting that your (most likely) final carry in your OU career is a 50+ yard touchdown, in which your 2nd and 3rd effort was the reason for achieving your goal and crossing the goal line.

Even though I did not get caught up in your high school and pre letter of intent hype (after all, great running backs at Oklahoma is not a novelty) after just a couple of games in your Freshman year in 2003, it was clear you were 'special'. Nelson and the rest of the Sooner Nation salutes you! You have done everything and anything that your University and the fans that goes with that has asked of you.

Thank you for a very exciting career at OU, you were a joy and a pleasure to watch on the field, and if by some small chance you want to come back for another year, Ill find it in my heart to cheer for you one more season.

Otherwise, get well and go get paid! You will be missed.

PHINEAS TAYLOR BARNUM said it best

So one of the laborious tasks after being away for a few days is to go through what seems to be the endless stack of mail that accumulates in your mailbox. Not the electronic variety, but the real, 'old fashion' snail mail type. After sale flyer after sale flyer and other junk mail, what do I stumble across? The latest October addition of the Sadler Fan Club newsletter.

I take a minute or two to thumb through it, and see the dribble of 19 cheer leading and glad handling, a bit on Hermie and his "WWE career", a plug for the EA Sports racing game, blah, blah, blah. But tucked away on page 7 are some nice pictures that seem familiar and lo and behold I see an article titled, "Hermie & Elliott Sadler Charitable Foundation" with some sort of 'information' concerning the now infamous Foundation.

The article begins with a brief history of the origins of the Foundation and it's original purpose. Then it proceeded with the Foundation's MISSION STATEMENT. Well now, isn't this a bit of irony? It wasn't long ago when Brett Griffin informed us that "If you are a supporter of Elliott and Hermie then you know what the foundation supports." So if Brett's statement was actually true and not just some form of weak spin, then what is the purpose to 'preach to the choir' in a Fan Club Newsletter? I would think that people that receive this newsletter would be big supporters of Elliott, I guess since Brett felt the need to add this, maybe this is not the case.

As I continue reading there is a review of some of the Foundation events from the past. From Bowl-a-thons, Hoops for Hope, and even the Race for Hope events are mentioned with of course the obligatory, 'look at me' approach to how much money was raised, even though the Foundation's tax records don't reflect even close to those figures.

Now, just as I said in a few previous blogs concerning this topic, I am not saying that there is any mis-appropriations of funds that the Foundation actually receives, but the more press releases Brett and his Sadler PR machine makes, the more question arise.

For example, this sentence caught my eye only because I have seen previous Foundation year's Form 990 tax returns. "May 21, 2003: M&MS Hoops for Hope, a charity basketball game between Nascar stars and media personalities, raised over $45,000." Once again, it is time we take a visit to www.Guidestar.org and review just what the Foundation claimed for the 2003 year. Scrolling down to page 6, and reading "part VII: Analysis of Income-Producing Activities". There is only ONE event listed and that was the Bowl-a-thon, and that event raised $32,077. Where is the Hoops for Hope? We all know it did indeed take place, and from other press releases of that time, we know that the funds raised went to the Autism Society of America, but the question now is, Just what was the Foundation's involvement? According to their LEGAL and SWORN tax returns, their involvement was ZERO. More importantly, the Foundation's form 990 tax return states that only $29,902.00 was donated to "other organizations", and that money came from the Bowl-a-thon.

Now some may think I am splitting hairs here, but this only shows the duping the Sadler PR machine is involved with recently. Yes, both Hermie and Elliott (and probably the rest of the Sadler Family as well) were heavily involved in the Hoops for Hope, and also were a huge influence for the event's success, but to claim that this was a "Foundation event" and to not show ANY legal revenue or expenses from this event is simply not telling the truth and could be considered unlawful. And that pattern of deception continues to grow faster than Pinocchio's nose! Where is the Blue Fairy when you need her?

I guess since the Foundation's fund raising efforts was almost non existent in 2005 (only receiving $4618.00, and that was in the form of private donations), then the 'Sadler PR machine' feels the need to embellish previous event facts and figures to help continue the 'look at us and what we have done' syndrome. What one has done in the past is fine and a worthy thing, having to voice about it with continual inconsistencies is the problem.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." P.T. Barnum

It is sort of funny though, I have been happy to comply with reasonable recent requests by a specific PR/spotter, but there has been a gross failure to reciprocate. But on the other hand, it is becoming more clear each day that blogs like these are indeed making an impact, and that can only be a good thing.

The saga continues.

Quick observations from Dega

The marathon trek back from Dega was completed in a record 11 hours 46 minutes and would have shattered the old record had it not been for a 30 to 40 minutes grid lock on I-20 in south Dallas. So after a couple of hours of unloading and cleaning the Alabamer red dirt off the RV, there was little time or energy to blog some observations from the past weekend's race, so better late than never I guess.

* We say it every year, but even with more camping areas, one needs to get to Dega by Tuesday night in order to find a nice spot in the 'free area'.

* Beads, beads, and more beads.....and the other activity that goes with the exchange of them. I still never really understood the reasoning by all of these shenanigans, but many seem to have a lot of a fun collecting them.

* Saturday morning, I wake up to the sounds of SEC fans getting fired up for their respective team's football games, flipped on the DISH to catch 'Gameday', enjoyed some good 'early' games, hit the track, then back to the camp grounds to enjoy more college football. Fall Dega in it's full greatness. (now we just need Nascar to change the date once agian, as to not conflict with the Red River Shootout, the first Saturday has been taken by the RRS since the mid 1930s, i don't think they will be changing that date soon)

* The new track surface seems to be a hit. The cars and trucks had enough grip to change their lines high or low in the corners at a rate I don't think we have seen before. The 8 car was making "online racing" moves, and making it work.

* Truck race and Dega are a perfect fit. Gave me some positive anticipation of seeing the C.O.T. in the near future. I would not be surprised to see with some creative rear wing aero and higher car profile, that the plates might actually be removed (or at least limited from current standards) and still be able to keep the cars under 200 MPH.

* Speaking of the CTS race, yes I saw it live, but I also brought a 5 inch LCD TV to watch the Red River Shootout, although the Sooner's results were not something I had wished for.

* It is no secret that I have been very critical of the off the track stuff of 19 PR Dude/Spotter, Brett Griffin. But I have said it before, and will say it again, he maybe the best spotter (at the very least top 5) in the business. This is not just at a track like Dega, but everywhere. He has the unique ability to watch the car he is spotting for, while still being able to see a straight or so ahead/behind. He also has a knack for clarifying the seemingly endless lack of communication and clarity from on top of the pit box.

* Speaking of spotters, probably something that went unnoticed was that the pole sitter had a backstretch spotter. That'’s the first time I have seen RYR use one at Dega. Very well could have been at the direction of Nascar and having a yellow stripe on one's rear bumper.

* Junior scanner chat after being warned by Nascar about excessive bump drafting. "well, no one is complaining to me about it." Also, there has been talk of the 'Dale JR' caution when the 8 car was injeopardyy of losing the Lucky Dog spot and Nascar threw out a 'debris caution'. Everyone can put their foil hats away as everyone on the back stretch could see the debris (looked like a piece of wadded up sheet metal right in the middle of the track). No 'JR Conspiracy' here. But I did wonder why the Power-aid bottle was left un-noticed for the last 50 or so laps, I guess it was because it was some 50 or feet below the yellow line. But I justdidn'tt understand why it was not picked up under the handful of a caution laps when there was opportunity to do so.

* The 'Incident' and what I saw. Was the 8 making his patented 'fake' block move (he did it a few years ago which initiated Sadler to do his airborne thingy) when the 48 dropped low in an attempted to get under the 8. When the 8 'faked', the 48 reacted as well and moved down further just a bit, just about the same time the 25 was going to bump draft the 48. The 25 bumped the 48 not in the center of the car, but more towards the 'tail light', causing the 48 to get squirrelly, and then the 48 touched the 8, and you know the rest. Just as i didn't lay blame on the 48 a couple of years ago for some of his antics on plate tracks, I would do the same here for the 25. Just one of the racing dealios.

* I was not surprised one bit about the 'reaction' by many fans after the race. After all, they fondly call this track, 'Dale-adega'. I cannot defend their actions at all, but I will say that in a weekend and at a place where pretty much 'anything goes' is not only the norm, but even commented on by drivers and such with them saying their 'favorite place to watch the Nascarcrazinesss is the Dega infield', this behavior can be expected. To the credit of many fans on the backstretch, for every one person I saw throwing an object, I saw and heard three or so others calling them out and telling them to stop. And while I only saw 6 fans in handcuffs after the race, (I am sure there were more), the 'good fans' were quick to point out to security the ones committing this stupidity.

* And lastly, should there be some sort of 'Man Law' against throwing and wasting a perfectly good and full beer? Who makes the call the Miller?

Some of the great mysteries of TeVee ads

Some say that the Super Bowl is the Mecca for Television advertising, and while that does have it's place, there are still many more long term Advertising Campaigns that are full of mysteries.

Here are a few:


* The 'Kasey Khane' gals
While the first two installments of this Ad Campaign could be construed as a bit 'sexist' in nature, that is not the underlying mystery here. The real mystery is the 'fourth gal', and why she doesn't have any speaking parts. In fact , in the second commercial, she is barely seen at all. Just what is in store for this mystery gal in the future?

* The 'Sonic Dudes'
Pure genius of a campaign of the 'single guys' who feed off one another. But the mystery is, what happens when one finds a gal?

* "Fernando, you are on"
Just who is Fernando and where did he come from? And why did he agree to such a stunt. And did he get some big bucks for 'waiting' until the queue call? Good to see that NASCAR drive for Diversity program working

* "Race the truck Dale"
While I don't get tired of the 'Truck' campaign, it is about time to see that truck get some actual racing action.

* "Burger King Chicken"
A great 'look' at the history of keeping drivers and how they take care of their hunger during races. Now how will the C.O.T. affect this ad campaign next year? The possibilities are endless.

* "Waltrip/NAPA"
From, "I am at the wrong track" to "the Napa School", this campaign has been fun, but is it going anywhere? Ironically similar to the Driver's career.

Well, its off to Dega for a weekend of college football, racing and fun. And BTW, While we are leaving Wednesday mid morning for Dega, we will be pulling over around 7:30 CST and fireing up the Dish to watch the Season 3 LOST premier. Have bad have you got it?