A NASCAR Pay Cut

Kyle Busch is Getting a Pay Cut

By Buck Black Jr

But so are Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. All drivers will have a pay cut in 2010.

NASCAR is slashing the amount it will pay race teams by about 10% for the 2010 season. The move is part of a NASCAR cost-cutting initiative.

Race track operators will benefit the most from the discounted race purses.

Speedways are required to put at least 25% of their television money toward race purses. The money tracks will receive from television networks will increase by about 2.5% in 2010. Even as the tracks are handing out less at the pay window to drivers.

But attendance at NASCAR Sprint Cup races will continue to be off in 2010. So the reduced purses will help offset the loss in ticket sales.

To their credit NASCAR tracks have been offering race fanss lower ticket prices to get people in the grandstands.

For what it’s worth International Speedway Corporation owns about half of the tracks on the Sprint Cup series schedule.

NASCAR is essentially owned by the owners of International Speedway Corporation.

“NASCAR did the right thing to work with the tracks to reduce their costs in order to manage the economic realities,” said Ramsey Poston, NASCAR’s corporate communications honcho.

“Tracks have done a great job reducing ticket prices and enhancing the fan experience. Likewise, we worked with the teams to contain costs.”

So it seems that the speedway operators are trying to hold their own while taking money from drivers and race teams.

Does that seem fair?

2010 NASCAR Rule Changes

Jeff Hammond Recaps NASCAR’s 2010 Rules Package

Michael Waltrip on Fox Business

Michael Waltrip Talks About the Business of NASCAR

Waltrip discusses NASCAR marketing and sponsorship on Fox Business. Take a look.

Confessions of a Disappointed Dale Earnhardt Jr Fan

Confessions of a Disappointed Dale Earnhardt Jr Fan

The following is a guest post from Casey Miller. Interested in guest posting? Please contact me.

My name is Casey, and I’m a Dale Jr fan.

Junior. I first heard about you in 1998 when you showed up at Daytona to run the Busch race. I didn’t have a favorite driver at the time, but I was keeping an eye on you.

When you won 13 races and 2 Championships in 2 years in the Busch Series you had my attention.

When you won your first Cup race at Texas in 2000, in just your 12th Cup start that’s when I decided you would be my driver. It had taken Jeff Gordon 42 tries to get his first win. It took Dale 16 to get his.

You really gave us fans a reason to be fans. And not just with the way you drove the race car, but with the way you handled yourself off the track as well.

My heart went out for you after the Daytona 500 in 2001. And then again one week later when you crashed on the first lap at Rockingham.

But you came back to Daytona in July and put that No. 8 in the Winner’s Circle. I was so proud of you.

You owned Daytona and Talladega there for a while. You even won at Talladega 4 times in a row. I think you learned a thing or two about drafting and restrictor plate racing from Dale.

You’ve won the Daytona 500.

You’ve won 6 races in one season in 2004, and you have 18 victories so far in your career. That’s 39^th on NASCAR’s All Time Win List.

You’ve contended for Championships, and I believe you will win one.

But I was disappointed when you left DEI. I thought you should have stayed there and worked things out with Teresa. I think DEI would have been a NASCAR dynasty with you as the driver and majority owner. Teresa just would not give you the tools and equipment that you knew you needed, and she wouldn’t work with you to make a deal for you to take over the company.

Funny how as soon as you were out the door Teresa was down the street making a deal with Chip Ganassi.

I was disappointed when you went to Hendrick Motorsports. After all this was Jeff Gordon’s and Jimmie Johnson’s team.

I was also excited when you went to Hendrick Motorsports. After all this was Jeff Gordon’s and Jimmie Johnson’s team.

How many wins and Championships did they have between them?

I was excited when you won the Budweiser Shootout. Your first race in the 88 car.

You were running up front almost every week. You won at Michigan. You should have won at Richmond when Kyle Busch wrecked you at the end of the race.

But then the wheels just seemed to fall off.

I was disappointed when you had a string of problems on pit road last year. You said yourself that you lost confidence when that happened.

“Coming down pit road and getting in your stall is like breathing. You don’t even think it when you’re doing it, you just do it.

“It really made me start thinking about it, and I backtracked – I actually got a complex about it and became sort of something I definitely was not confident about.” ~ Dale Earnhardt Jr as quoted in The Sporting News.

I was disappointed when drivers, broadcasters and fans seemed to be turning against you after last year’s Daytona 500, blaming you for the big wreck. I’ve watched the replays closely, and you were obviously forced into that position. The wreck was, as they say, just racing.

I was disappointed when Rick Hendrick took Tony Eury Jr away from you rather that giving the two of you the support you needed.

And I was disappointed when the 2009 season ended without seeing you in Victory Lane.

But I am encouraged by what I hear from you this year.

You sound excited and ready to get down to business.

I especially like what you said about being ruthless.

“We’re just going to go out there and try our hardest and be ruthless from the first lap to the last,” Earnhardt Jr said.

Dale Jr, this is going to be your year. This is going to be your year.

I believe you can do it.

But more importantly, I believe that you believe that you can do it.

Can Dale Jr do it in 2010?

Dale Earnhardt Jr SI List

Dale Earnhardt Jr Named to SI Fortunate 50 List

Sports Illustrated has released its Fortunate 50 List – The sporting equivalent of the Fortune 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr ranks 11^th on this year’s list. He is the highest earning NASCAR driver.

Earnhardt’s earnings were $26,611,290 in 2009 according to the article. Most of that came from endorsement contracts, and not from his Hendrick Motorsports salary or NASCAR winnings.

What do you think about that? Not bad for a kid from Kannapolis who used to be an oil change tech at the local Chevy dealership, is it?

NASCAR Encouraging Aggression

NASCAR is Openly Encouraging Increased Aggression by Its Drivers

It quickly became clear today during a press conference at the NASCAR R&D Center that NASCAR is not only telling drivers to take the gloves off – but that NASCAR is openly encouraging more aggressive behavior by competitors. Both on and off the track.

NASCAR is a Contact Sport

“This is a contact sport,” NASCAR CEO Brian France said in his opening remarks. “This is the best racing in the world.”

“We have an eye on putting things back in the driver’s hands. We’re going to loosen up.”

Then France repeated his opening mantra once again. “We want to see more contact. This is a contact sport.”

Bump Drafting is Back

NASCAR also announced that they were eliminating the restrictions on bump drafting that made last year’s Talladega race so boring.
NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton made no bones about where NASCAR stands on giving the drivers the freedom to bump draft. “Boys have at it and have a good time,” said Pemberton. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

Pemberton also revealed that restrictor plates at Daytona would be less restrictive this year. The plates will have 63/64” openings this year. The largest openings in 21 years.

So why did NASCAR decide to give teams the bigger restrictor plate? “We felt like it was important to give the drivers a little more horsepower – a little more throttle response,” said Competition VP Robin Pemberton.

No More Wing

The wing will also soon be gone off the rear of the car. Pemberton confirmed that Sprint Cup cars would return to the use of a spoiler early on in the 2010 season. But for Daytona the wing remains.

So why is NASCAR doing away with the wing and returning to the spoiler? “The spoiler has come on for the car to look more like it used to and drive differently,” explained Brian France.

“If we didn’t think that the racing would be improved – spoiler vs. wing – we wouldn’t have done it.”

Indeed the spoiler makes the car look a lot more like a stock car and less like a tuner car.

Now NASCAR needs to get rid of that splitter on the front of the car. Brian France indicated that was a possibility. “The front end is something we are looking at,” said France.

The yellow line rule at Daytona and Talladega will stay in place for now, however. NASCAR met with drivers and teams about doing away with the double yellow line which prevents drivers from going below the line to advance their position.

Eliminating the double yellow line rule was seriously considered – and it may eventually be done away with. But not yet.

Encouraging Drivers to Show Personality

NASCAR President Mike Helton said that NASCAR was “encouraging the characters of the sport to show their personality.” But he also left some wiggle room as far as how far NASCAR is willing to go. That doesn’t mean you get a free pass out of jail,” he said.

So is NASCAR putting the show over safety in promoting their racing as a contact sport?

Mike Helton doesn’t think so. “NASCAR racing from day one has always been highly competitive,” said Helton. “If you ain’t rubbin’ – you ain’t racin’.”

“We’re the last people that want to over-regulate the sport. We’re very careful about what regulations we ease up on.”

“These cars are safer than 5years ago,” Helton continued.

More Exciting Racing

“Obviously the racing is going to get more exciting,” said Sprint Cup Director John Darby.

So drivers, put your big boy pants on, pull those belts a little tighter, make sure that helmet is strapped on tight, and hold on. This is going to be a wild ride.

Is NASCAR going down the right road? I believe so. What about you?

 

 

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National Guard Dale Earnhardt Jr Screensaver

Dale Earnhardt Jr National Guard Screensaver

This is an animated Dale Earnhardt Jr screensaver from National Guard. It’s like watching a mini Dale Jr movie. This is the best Dale Jr screensaver I have seen so far. I have it on my computer.

Dale Jr is shown on the racetrack driving the No. 88 while a National Guard helicopter flies overhead.

Thanks to the National Guard for putting out this great screensaver.

You will need to download the screensaver to your computer, and then click on it to install.

After you download it check your Desktop or your My Documents file under Downloads. Look for a file named dale-jr-screensaver and click on that to install.

Installation Instructions:

1. Click the link below
2. Locate the downloaded file on your computer (usually it is on your desktop or in My Documents under Downloads
3. Look for a file named dale-jr-screensaver and click on that to install
4. If you are asked if you want to install click Yes then Install

Click here to download and install

Dale Earnhardt Jr Opens Another Bar

Dale Earnhardt Jr Opens Another Bar

Whisky River is coming to Florida. Dale Earnhardt Jr opened the original Whisky River in Charlotte, and now he plans to open another Whisky River in Jacksonville.

The bar will be located in the city’s Southside at St. Johns Town Center. Earnhardt plans to open in March 2010.

I can’t wait to hear from all of you who say that Junior has too many interests outside of racing, and that he is spending too much time at his bar in Charlotte.

What do you think of this latest move?

What if Dale Earnhardt Did Not Drive for Richard Childress?

What if Dale Earnhardt had Driven for Junior Johnson Instead of  Richard Childress?

Rick Houston over at NASCAR.com asks Richard Childress a very important question.

How would Richard Childress Racing have turned out if Dale Earnhardt had raced for Junior Johnson instead of Childress?

“You’ll never know,” said Childress.” Dale was a huge player.”

The article details how Junior Johnson had a deal with Earnhardt, and how Dale nearly went to drive for Johnson before sponsor conflicts came to a head.

Junior Johnson surely regrets the deal he brokered to send Earnhardt to the No. 3 car instead of a Junior Johnson car.

So do the sponsors who refused to back Earnhardt as his career was getting started.

Richard Childress would not have 6 NASCAR Championships without Dale Earnhardt.

But that street goes both ways. Earnhardt and Childress had a chemistry that would have never existed between Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson.

Dale Earnhardt would never have 7 NASCAR Championships without Richard Childress.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Answers Questions

Dale Earnhardt Jr Answers Questions at Daytona

Daler Jr at Daytona International Speedway answering questions about the upcoming 2010 season. Thanks to Cup Scene for the video.

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