Here are a few little tidbits that have been floating around lately in NASCAR and Sadlerville. Nothing really mind-boggling but sometimes you just have to take a step back and ask ‘what is the deal here’?
The ‘tongue and cheek’ picture above is one that is linked from this blog by other sites more than any other picture for reasons that I have no idea. Literally, this blog receives over a 100 hit a day from this, but really that’s not important. We all have heard the engagement news and fall out by some from it, but I have to wonder something. According to Sadler, his future wife has in three weeks, already made all the wedding arrangements for a January wedding. Three weeks? I’m thinking that the Sadler PR Machine should employ Amanda to plan and get the details for the next ‘bigger than ever’ Sadler Barn Party. That way Sadler fans would not have to wait and wait and wait for the ‘more info coming soon’ excuses in order to make travel plans.
Speaking of the Sadler PR Machine, they have been working overtime the past few weeks and there are all kinds of ‘feel good’ fluff stories being written. Even going so far as Brett Griffin making a few token appearances on the Sadler Fan Club Message Board. While his presence is always welcome and insightful, this time Griffin dropped the ball on a few pending and direct questions. Griffin conveniently ignored questions concerning the demise of VLP. Frankly, the fans just want to know what happened, after all it was Brett and Elliott that less than a year ago, spoke of ‘how great and fun this is going to be’. But like most Sadler PR nightmares, just don’t speak of it and it will eventually go away.
Seems I am not the only one who is critical of the Sadler PR Machine and just how behind the times they seem to be. NASCAR INSIDERS recently blogged about the 'BEST and WORST' NASCAR driver websites and guess who was 'number two' on the worst list? Yep, it seems that they have also seen through the facade of ElliottSadler.com and the presentation there. Quoting the blogger:
"If I was a race fan searching out my favorite driver’s website, I’d want a slick place where I could hang out, get news, see some photos, or maybe catch a podcast or a blog. These five just don’t deliver........In today’s corporate NASCAR, I feel like it reflects badly on drivers who have a crappy website. I’m sure their sponsors are less then thrilled also. More and more, the first place most of us go for information is the internet."
Remember all the promises of 'exclusive' content and that Sadler himself would be 'stopping by for frequent updates'? These guys would like to have seen those claims actually become reality aswell.
Remember a few weeks ago the comments made by Elliott Sadler and his opinion concerning the Roush/Yates alliance and that Roush ‘never helped Yates and still doesn't’? I made it clear that he was simply doing the ‘Sadler Speak’ routine and made a small mention wondering how Robbie Gordon feels about his alliance with GEM. If you were listening to HotPass from the Watkins Glen race during the red flag you would have heard Robbie expressing his discontent to Larry McReynolds that ‘he wasn’t getting the same engines as the other GEM cars’. I received the normal hate emails not liking my comment to Sadler about ‘glass houses’, but it seems that it is justified in this case at least Robbie thinks so.
On to Michigan, and a pretty unusual promotion for the 19 team. It seems that Stanley Tools and Ace Hardware have pledged a million dollar donation on one condition. That the 19 goes to victory lane on Sunday. So Sadler jumps on the bandwagon and once again requests his fans to donate money by stopping by an Ace Hardware store and purchase a "Racing for a Miracle" icon. Again we see the ever growing trend of a multi millionaire holding his hand out to the masses whom many are living pay check to pay check. (more on this in a future blog) To his credit, Sadler did spend a couple of hours Thursday at Sparrow Hospital, the Children's Miracle Network area hospital in Lansing, Michigan and that was a good thing. But the premise of having a third party to donate a substantial amount of money to a charity for a win does lend to the ‘tin foil hat’ theories if they came to fruition. Chances are Lloyds of London has already ‘done the math’ and realized that the odds are pretty good to risk a million dollar payout on a driver who has one top 5 in 19 attempts and an average finish of 23rd.
And lastly, I have been cautiously optimistic about the way the 19 has been running over the past couple of months, and taking aside the ‘bad luck’ excuse weeks is the 19 really becoming a contender or an apparition? I have voiced displeasure in the past concerning how the 19 seems to be more concerned with ‘track position and two tire stops’ more than ‘fixing the car’ and making it better for the final 1/3 of races and I still think that displeasure is justified. Looking at the NASCAR scoring loop data, the numbers still tell a story that the 19 does significantly more ‘passing’ in the pits than on the track. The final results over the past few months also show the risk verses reward with relying too much on such a strategy. Is the 19 better than they were this time last year? Of course it is and things will only get better I think. But playing the strategy game week after week and rolling the dice is not the best way to prepare a race team to be a contender next season.
Time to reload the plinker!
The ‘tongue and cheek’ picture above is one that is linked from this blog by other sites more than any other picture for reasons that I have no idea. Literally, this blog receives over a 100 hit a day from this, but really that’s not important. We all have heard the engagement news and fall out by some from it, but I have to wonder something. According to Sadler, his future wife has in three weeks, already made all the wedding arrangements for a January wedding. Three weeks? I’m thinking that the Sadler PR Machine should employ Amanda to plan and get the details for the next ‘bigger than ever’ Sadler Barn Party. That way Sadler fans would not have to wait and wait and wait for the ‘more info coming soon’ excuses in order to make travel plans.Speaking of the Sadler PR Machine, they have been working overtime the past few weeks and there are all kinds of ‘feel good’ fluff stories being written. Even going so far as Brett Griffin making a few token appearances on the Sadler Fan Club Message Board. While his presence is always welcome and insightful, this time Griffin dropped the ball on a few pending and direct questions. Griffin conveniently ignored questions concerning the demise of VLP. Frankly, the fans just want to know what happened, after all it was Brett and Elliott that less than a year ago, spoke of ‘how great and fun this is going to be’. But like most Sadler PR nightmares, just don’t speak of it and it will eventually go away.
Seems I am not the only one who is critical of the Sadler PR Machine and just how behind the times they seem to be. NASCAR INSIDERS recently blogged about the 'BEST and WORST' NASCAR driver websites and guess who was 'number two' on the worst list? Yep, it seems that they have also seen through the facade of ElliottSadler.com and the presentation there. Quoting the blogger:
"If I was a race fan searching out my favorite driver’s website, I’d want a slick place where I could hang out, get news, see some photos, or maybe catch a podcast or a blog. These five just don’t deliver........In today’s corporate NASCAR, I feel like it reflects badly on drivers who have a crappy website. I’m sure their sponsors are less then thrilled also. More and more, the first place most of us go for information is the internet."
Remember all the promises of 'exclusive' content and that Sadler himself would be 'stopping by for frequent updates'? These guys would like to have seen those claims actually become reality aswell.
Remember a few weeks ago the comments made by Elliott Sadler and his opinion concerning the Roush/Yates alliance and that Roush ‘never helped Yates and still doesn't’? I made it clear that he was simply doing the ‘Sadler Speak’ routine and made a small mention wondering how Robbie Gordon feels about his alliance with GEM. If you were listening to HotPass from the Watkins Glen race during the red flag you would have heard Robbie expressing his discontent to Larry McReynolds that ‘he wasn’t getting the same engines as the other GEM cars’. I received the normal hate emails not liking my comment to Sadler about ‘glass houses’, but it seems that it is justified in this case at least Robbie thinks so.
On to Michigan, and a pretty unusual promotion for the 19 team. It seems that Stanley Tools and Ace Hardware have pledged a million dollar donation on one condition. That the 19 goes to victory lane on Sunday. So Sadler jumps on the bandwagon and once again requests his fans to donate money by stopping by an Ace Hardware store and purchase a "Racing for a Miracle" icon. Again we see the ever growing trend of a multi millionaire holding his hand out to the masses whom many are living pay check to pay check. (more on this in a future blog) To his credit, Sadler did spend a couple of hours Thursday at Sparrow Hospital, the Children's Miracle Network area hospital in Lansing, Michigan and that was a good thing. But the premise of having a third party to donate a substantial amount of money to a charity for a win does lend to the ‘tin foil hat’ theories if they came to fruition. Chances are Lloyds of London has already ‘done the math’ and realized that the odds are pretty good to risk a million dollar payout on a driver who has one top 5 in 19 attempts and an average finish of 23rd.
And lastly, I have been cautiously optimistic about the way the 19 has been running over the past couple of months, and taking aside the ‘bad luck’ excuse weeks is the 19 really becoming a contender or an apparition? I have voiced displeasure in the past concerning how the 19 seems to be more concerned with ‘track position and two tire stops’ more than ‘fixing the car’ and making it better for the final 1/3 of races and I still think that displeasure is justified. Looking at the NASCAR scoring loop data, the numbers still tell a story that the 19 does significantly more ‘passing’ in the pits than on the track. The final results over the past few months also show the risk verses reward with relying too much on such a strategy. Is the 19 better than they were this time last year? Of course it is and things will only get better I think. But playing the strategy game week after week and rolling the dice is not the best way to prepare a race team to be a contender next season.
Time to reload the plinker!
2 comments:
Your aim is true.
I recently discovered your blog and find it fascinating. I have followed Elliott Sadler for several years. I always thought he was this nice "aw shucks" kind of guy from Emporia,VA,but your blog is an eye-opener. I coughed up the 25 bucks and joined the Sadler Fan Club at the beginning of the year and all I've had is an envelope with a Best Buy card with Elliott Sadler's picture on it along with some Tylenol. Since then,nothing else. It seems they said there would be four newsletters this year. Well here it is August and not a single newsletter has arrived. I understand that Bell Sadler has struggled with breast cancer. My grandmother lost her life to breast cancer so the Sadlers have my thoughts and prayers but promise only if you can deliver and not hang your fans out to dry as the Sadlers have apparently done. I have a feeling that come 2009,the $25 I sent the SFC every year won't be going there any longer. Keep up the excellent work.
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