Juan "Juancho" Pablo "Monty" Montoya Roldán

A Little Background :
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán was born on September 20, 1975 in Bogotá, Colombia. His father, Pablo, is a motorsport fan and he taught his young son the techniques of carting. His father’s lessons, along with his own natural ability, enabled Montoya to reign as the Colombian National Carting Champion from 1981 through 1984. By 1992, Juan Pablo Montoya was winning Colombian Formula Renault races. When he moved to Austria to race, Montoya remembers being so broke that he didn’t have money for public transportation; instead, he used roller blades to get around! When he finished second in the 1997 Formula 3000 season, he was signed to a multi-year contract beginning in 1998 with the BMW – Williams racing team. In 1999, Montoya was named CART Champion and Rookie of the Year. In 2000, Montoya “crossed over” to race in the famed Indianapolis 500. Despite skepticism from the racing world, Montoya raced to an easy victory; becoming the first Colombian to win in Indianapolis.

Career Highlights:
- 1981-1984: Karting Colombian National Champion
- 1985: National Junior Kart Championship: 2nd
- 1986-1987: Komet Category: National Champion
- 1988: Komet Category: 2nd in National Championship
- 1989: Komet Category: champion
- 1990: Kart Junior World Championship
- 1991: Kart Junior World Championship
- 1992: Colombian Formula Renault: 8 races, 4 wins, 5 poles
- 1993: GTI National Championship Tournament: 8 races, 7 wins, 7 poles
- 1994: Sudan 125 karting: champion
- Barber Saab series: 3rd, 2 wins, 2 poles
- Mexican ‘N’ series: 5 races, 3 wins, 4 poles
- 1995: Formula Vauxhall, UK: 3rd (Paul Stewart Racing)
- Bogotá Six Hours: class winner
- 1996: F3, UK: 5th, 2 wins, 1 pole (Fortec)
- Marlboro Masters: 4th
- Macau GP: ret
- ITC: 16th, 1 race (Mercedes-Benz)
- Bogotá Six Hours: winner
- 1997: F3000: 2nd, 37.5 points, 3 wins (RSM Marko)
- 1998: F3000: 1st, 65 points, 4 wins, 2 poles (Super Nova)
- 1999: CART: 1st & rookie of the year, 212 points, 7 wins, 7 poles (Ganassi)
- 2000: CART: 9th, 126 points, 3 wins, 7 poles (Ganassi)
- IRL: raced and won the Indy 500 (Ganassi)
- 2001: Formula One: 6th, 31 points, 1 win, 3 poles (Williams)
- 2002: Formula One: 3rd, 50 points, 0 wins, 7 poles (Williams)
- 2003: Formula One: 3rd, 82 points, 2 wins, 1 pole (Williams)
- 2004: Formula One: 5th, 58 points, 1 win, 0 poles (Williams)
- 2005: Formula One: 4th, 60 points, 3 wins, 2 poles (McLaren)
- 2006: Formula One: 8th, 26 points, 0 wins, 0 poles (McLaren)
- 2007: Formula One: Named One Of Top 25 F1 Drivers Of All Time
- 2007: Rolex 24 at Daytona Daytona Prototype class winner and overall winner
- 2007: Nascar Busch Series: Mexico City winner
- 2007: NASCAR Nextel Cup Series: Top 5 Finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway
- 2007: NASCAR Nextel Cup Series: won Cup race at Infineon Raceway.
- 2007: NASCAR Nextel Cup Series: Top 5 Finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- 2008: Rolex 24 at Daytona Daytona Prototype class winner and overall winner
- 2008: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Top 5 Finish at Talladega Superspeedway
- 2009: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Pole Position Talladega Superspeedway

TOTALS:
- F3000 : 102.5 points, 7 wins, 10 poles, 1 time champion
- CART : 338 points, 10 wins, 14 poles, 1 time champion
- IRL : 54 points, 1 win, 0 poles, 1 time Indy 500 champion
- Formula One : 304 points, 7 wins, 13 poles, 2 times 3rd in the championship
- NASCAR Sprint Cup : 1 win, 13 top-tens

When cars race three-wide at nearly 200 miles an hour, give and take is part of the deal. If your ride isn’t running well, you let the faster guy take the faster line. The tacit agreement is that a few weeks or months down the road, when your car is the fast one, the other guy will let you by. But winners are habitual takers, and Juan Pablo Montoya is a winner. He won at Monaco, Monza and Indianapolis. His ability is vast, his patience limited. Mindful of that, team owner Chip Ganassi has given him guidelines: “It’s a long season. Don’t get into petty squabbles.” (That’s guideline No. 2, right after “Don’t lean on these cars” and just before “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”) There’s another edict at Chip Ganassi Racing: Win. Ganassi and co-owner Felix Sabates have fared well in American open-wheel racing, but they’ve never broken through the Hendrick-Roush axis in five years in NASCAR. “People don’t know if I’m serious about stock cars,” Ganassi says. “This validates what we do. When a guy like Montoya says, ‘Hey, I’m your driver,’ that says something about us.”

The chance to win is a major reason Montoya left F1, where the work pays better but where his McLaren team had no chance of beating Ferrari and Renault for the championship. “What I wanted to achieve, I did, except win the championship,” he says. “And that wasn’t going to happen.”

At Homestead, Diamonds Douglas’ first days on the job as a vendor were supposed to be easy. “They put me on the booth and told me it would be very slow,” she says. But they gave her Montoya merchandise. “We had to restock two and three times each day. All the 42 hats sold out two days in a row, all his jerseys. People bought key chains, like, 10 at a time.” Demand ran so high, Douglas’ bosses took apart the booth to sell the display items. She estimates that 75% of the customers were Latino.

Six months prior, only 5% of visitors to the Ganassi team website were from outside the U.S. After Montoya won the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in late January, that figure jumped to 40%, and the Spanish-language hits are nearly equal to the English hits. That’s music to the ears of NASCAR marketers eager to expand the sport from its cottony-white, all-American confines. They’re in the middle of a three-year “initiative” in the Latino market, advertising races on Spanish-language radio and televising them on ESPN Deportes. With Montoya, they get a twofer: a proven Spanish speaking driver with a global following, one by no means limited to Latinos. His reps were pleasantly surprised by the interest from the oil patch—the Siberian oil patch. Seems Montoya’s feud with the Schumacher brothers in F1 endeared him to Russian fans who hold tight to anti-Teutonic sentiments from World War II.

Although NASCAR is new to globalism, league executives know not to assume that every Mexican-American immigrant in California or every thirdgeneration Cuban in Miami or every working-class Dominican in New York will automatically root for just any Juan. The corporate offices are still at work on a master plan to mesh Montoya with NASCAR’s existing diversity and marketing programs. If they’re fearful of blowing this opportunity, it’s only because they’ve never had anything like it.

None of this matters to Montoya’s bosses. “We’re not in the business of taking NASCAR global,” Sabates says. “We’re in the business of racing.” Adds Ganassi: “Juan’s here because of his ability.”

That’s why, with certain exceptions— Hellooo, Newman —the boys from the infield welcome this foreigner as a liberator. Maybe it’s the corporate sponsorships that have tied tongues, or maybe it’s money that has turned drivers bland, but the fiery, funny, to-hell-with-it-let’s-race attitude of guys like Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip is vanishing. So it’s no surprise that Montoya is constantly referred to as a throwback. He definitely plays a different game. He’s been known to come into the garage and ask crew members, “How you doing, my bitches?” And he has given fond nicknames to many. When asked for a sampling, Mark Rette, Montoya’s crew chief on the 42 Busch Series Dodge, balks. “There aren’t any you could print.” Is there a PG-13 one? “I’ll think about it and get back to you.” He never does.

Montoya is his own man and says what’s on his mind. In a postrace interview in Memphis, he recalled a mix-up with a fellow driver coming out of a caution: “The guy gave me the finger. I’m like, Come on, are we in kindergarten or what?” He eschews NASCAR conventions. Instead of showing every inch of sponsor ads at all times, he strolls the garage with his jumpsuit unzipped to his waist and hanging off his hips. And he drives with ferocity. As an F1 rookie in 2001, he made a daring pass of Michael Schumacher—akin to stripping Michael Jordan in an NBA Finals.

“We don’t want our guys to be vanilla,” says NASCAR communications VP Jim Hunter. “We want all the flavors. We love Juan’s enthusiasm and candor. It’s good for us that he’s here. He’s gonna be fun to watch.”

Still, why is he here, exactly?

“I love the American way of life,” Montoya says. “Everything’s easy. It’s three hours from Miami to Bogotá. You have stores like Target, with everything you need in one place. There’s nothing like that in Europe. The way my life is, I’d rather live here.” He pauses. “I’d rather have a hot dog than caviar.” (Of course, this being Montoya, his dog is a different breed, one garnished with crushed-up pineapple and potato chips.)

Wouldn’t the truly American thing be to stay in F1 and make more money? Montoya reportedly earned $14 million a year in salary alone with McLaren. But he is a restless soul who has never courted authority. The same year he won the Indy 500, he dissed the Speedway, saying the road course there didn’t require the same attention as Formula One tracks. In F1, he not only took on Michael Schumacher, he rammed Ralf Schumacher while he was his Williams teammate. Though Montoya enjoyed some spectacular wins—seven in all—and posted the fastest F1 lap ever, he underachieved after his first two years on the circuit. He was seen as a swashbuckling, 1980s-style driver, à la his idol, the late F1 legend Ayrton Senna of Brazil. That rep doesn’t fly in the modern era of keeping the car on the course and letting the best technicians win.

Montoya grew tired of F1’s control-freak engineers, the endless test laps, the dearth of actual racing, the predictable results. He played Age of Empires for hours and even took up golf, becoming a 10 handicap. And just as rumors heated up that McLaren was unhappy with him, Montoya noticed that Casey Mears, Ganassi’s driver in the Nextel series, was jumping ship. Ganassi was on a runway in California when he heard a familiar voice on his cell phone.

“You looking for another driver?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“You know which car I’m talking about?” Ganassi asked, thinking Montoya wanted an open-wheel seat.

“The No. 42 NASCAR. I’ll drive that f—ing thing.” With his plane taxiing, Ganassi told Montoya to call him back the next morning.

When Montoya did, Ganassi asked him, “You come out of your drunken stupor?”

“Yeah. I’m driving the 42.”

Ganassi called Sabates and said, “You’re not gonna believe this …”

MONTOYA REMEMBERS his first race like he’s still that little 6-year-old in a go-kart. He was running at the front of the pack in Bogotá. Then his best friend nosed him out at the finish line, and little Juan Pablo cried. He couldn’t stand losing. So he rarely lost—not even to his father, Pablo, a world champion who had beaten the great Senna in the fast mini machines. Pablo remembers another race: “Juan Pablo was 13, 14, and I won the pole; he was No. 2. As we raced, I had this feeling.” A feeling of not being able to hold off his son. Juan Pablo would push and Pablo would counter, but the boy would push more. “You know if you push the car you’ll wreck,” Pablo recalls. “But if you don’t push, he’ll pass you and you’ll never catch him. I was thinking, This is just like racing Senna.” Juan Pablo won, and Pablo never competed again. He went to work helping his son win in karts, in GTIs, in Formula 3000 cars, in CART. The younger Montoya won in Colombia, Mexico, the U.S. and Europe. And when he fulfilled his boyhood dream of racing in F1, he won there, too, twice finishing third in the overall standings.

Yet for all of Montoya’s speed, for all of his fire (a YouTubed run-in with a TV cameraman who accidentally banged him in the head is a classic), the man is remarkably grounded. His wife, Connie, is with him constantly, the couple’s two kids in tow. She helps run the Formula Smiles Foundation he started when he became a U.N. goodwill ambassador, funding hundreds of sports programs in his homeland. A childhood pal, known to everyone as Gonzo, straps Montoya in before every ride. “Chip told me a long time ago that you don’t race to make friends,” Montoya says. “That will be different here, I think. In NASCAR you spend so much time with each other, the season’s so long, you get to know the other drivers.”

Montoya’s idea of a vacation is loading up a dozen buddies, along with several cases of paintballs, and spending a week in mock wars outside his home in Colombia. To prove his dedication, he drops his fire suit to show off the bruises on his thighs. “My wife plays too,” he says. “She’s really good.”

A bit of a hotdog? Certainly. A hot-dog guy? That too. It’s why Montoya fits in so well with his new team and why they were all willing to work seven days a week, 12 hours a day, last fall to prepare him for Cup and Busch races. “We crammed a year into three months to get him as much seat time as we could,” Rette says. “But there hasn’t been a test or a race where Juan hasn’t said thank you to every guy. After the first test, we all said that once he figures it out, he’s going to be incredible.”

Take Parrott. The third-generation NASCAR man guided Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle to their first Busch Series victories within their first couple of months. Parrott was the calm voice in Montoya’s helmet during practice last fall. He also has been the chief translator through the language barrier—make that the jargon barrier. Montoya is used to wine-andcheese F1 terms like “oversteer,” and during practice laps, he’d refer to how much “inertia” he was bringing into the corners. His stock car compadres sling out slang like “loose” and “tight,” “wedge” and “bite.”

It helps that Juan’s a quick study. Before a race, Parrott lists what he needs to know about the track, from Pit Road speed to hidden bumps to local lore (like the legend that Talladega sits on an Indian burial ground). Montoya devours it all and spits it back the next day. But Parrott still frets about communication. He wishes Montoya would be in the Ganassi garage in Concord, N.C., for Monday postmortems instead of listening in from Miami. “Honestly, the biggest obstacle will be his being away,” Parrott says. “Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart live in North Carolina, and they’re in the race shop every week.” NASCAR drivers admire Montoya’s progress, but they warn that he still has a lot to learn, from how to use a rearview mirror to listening to a spotter to stopping correctly in the pits. “He’s fast,” says Jeff Gordon. “He’s got what it takes. But he’s going to go through some tough times.”

Already there have been petty squabbles, with J.J. Yeley in the Busch Series and the tussle with Newman that ended in a fiery wreck. Montoya swears those are in the past and that he’s looking ahead. He figures he had only three to five years, tops, of racing left in F1. In NASCAR, if he plays it right, he can compete for another decade. His jump across the ocean is typically aggressive, but it isn’t reckless. It’s Montoya being Montoya, doing exactly what he wants to do. “I’m just going to be myself,” he says, “and drive the car as fast as I can.”

Tony Stewart has been quoted as saying “I’ve got a lot of respect for Juan. I still stand behind what I said at the beginning of the year. He’s got more natural ability than 99% of the guys I’ve ever raced with.” When you have this kind of talent in your corner, it’s easy to see why why Juancho is here to stay and bound for a Sprint Cup Championship sooner rather than later.

1996 champ Lazier adds name to 500 entry list

Former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier and Milka Duno have been added to the entry list for the May 24 race.

Lazier, who won in 1996, joins Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon as former winners who have entered. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway said Monday he will drive the No. 91 Hemelgarn Johnson entry in an attempt to make his 17th career Indianapolis 500 start.

Milka Duno, who finished 19th last year, will try to qualify for the third time. She will join the Dreyer & Reinbold team, which now has three drivers and three cars for the month of May. Duno joins full-time driver Darren Manning and John Andretti on the team. Dreyer & Reinbold and Richard Petty are teaming up for Andretti’s entry.

Also named to drive an entry was rookie Nelson Philippe. Philippe, from Valence, France, will attempt to make his first “500” start in the No. 31 i drive green HVM Racing entry. Philippe competed in Champ Car from 2004-07, winning in 2006 at Surfers Paradise in a car fielded by CTE-HVM Racing, which is now HVM Racing. Philippe will drive a new entry, increasing the total to 41 comprised of 77 cars. He is the fifth rookie in the field, joining Stanton Barrett, Mike Conway, Robert Doornbos and Raphael Matos.

...But I Watched It On TV

This seems to be the main reason I’m given when someone starts to talk about what gives them the insight and knowledge on the technical aspects of racing and what they feel has provided them with the expertise necessary that gives them the qualifications necessary to not only disect why a car did what it did, but how they justify creating changes to an entire racing series. Now I’m not sure exactly how much racing one can possibly watch in their lifetime, especially when they’re barely old enough to legall drink, but I do know that no amount of simply watching a race on television will give anyone enough technical knowledge to qualify them as an engineering expert.

Someone commented that yesterday’s incident featuring the acrobatic styles of Carl Edwards was simply the result of a rear wing, I had to ask them from what they base this conclusion on. The first words out of their mouth surprised me, even though it probably shouldn’t have, as they responded well I watched some races on tv and that taught me what I need to know. I have to admit, I was floored when I read this comment, to think that somehow simply turning on the television not only gives someone the false knowledge that they’ve been properly educated on why a car does what it does, but that they now know more than people who have spent years going to school for this exact thing, and have spent a lifetime actually practicing their trade. Every crew chief and chief mechanic out there has all said the exact same thing about the COT, that it is less aerodynamic and that the rear of the car actually has less impact on the car performance than it’s predecessor. There are more than a thousand years of combined experience in the NASCAR garage area, and if every single crew chief can come to the exact same conclusion about the effect the rear wing has on the car, then how is it that someone watching on television now thinks they know more than all of them and have dubbed theirselves an engineering expert ?

The fact is, the rear wings being used today on the COT is the exact same style that was used on the Pontiacs back in the early 70’s. It’s a rear, detatchable wing that is intended to help with downforce, but created in such a way that it’s impact will not alter the car’s performance too much one way or the other. If the car has it, great it will help with downforce and if the car loses it, it can still safely travel around the track with no worries, it will just be a bit slower than they would like. The design that NASCAR has implemented as it relates to the COT, is designed specifically to increase safety for the driver as the cars go faster and faster each year. But as the speeds increase, for safety’s sake, the downforce has to increase as well. The additional downforce increases drag which acts to slow the car down. Its current configuration is the result of extensive research and study that has created a design that works relatively well today and can be fine tuned as needed now or when needed in the future to keep the sport competitive. The spoiler is a somewhat crude device that is used to create increased downforce on the rear of a race car but it also creates additional drag and it produces a lot of dirty air behind the race car. The dirty air created by a leading car will cause the front end of a trailing car to wash out because the disruptive air flow will cause a loss in aerodynamic downforce. The spoiler got its name because it “spoils” the normal air flow over the deck lid and behind a race car.

If you have ever followed an 18-wheeler at a close distance on the interstate and were buffeted around by the swirling winds coming off the back of it then you have experienced “dirty air.” While the dirty air coming off the back of a single race car would not be as severe as the air coming from a semi trailer, it would magnify exponentially when more cars and greater speeds are added to the mix. If you have ever stood near the fence at a super speedway when the pack of 40-plus cars roared by at full speed then you understand dirty air.

A properly designed wing is more efficient in creating downforce while reducing related drag and does not create nearly as much dirty air behind the car. But we have heard drivers complain about a loss of front end downforce with the new Sprint Cup car when they are following another car into the corner. That would seem to contradict the science until you realize the new car creates less downforce compared with the old car, so you cannot make an apples to apples comparison.

Another factor that influences the comparative effectiveness of the wing on the new car versus the spoiler on the old car is that the “greenhouse” or passenger area of the new car is taller and wider than the old car, reducing the amount of air that can flow over the wing. This restricts the ability of the wing to create added downforce on the new car. It has been designed to do that by NASCAR because they wanted to create a specific amount of downforce for the new car that would make it more difficult to drive and therefore make the driver a more important part of the equation.

This change does not give the COT more lift, nor does it increase the chances of seeing a car flip, but in fact the number of cars going airborn has reduced over time, not increased over time. There was no rear wing on Allison’s car back in 1987, and he manged to get that car up and almost over the fence just fine without it. We had two other major airborn incidents in recent years, both in 1988 and again in 1993, both long before the rear wing was put in place, and long before the COT was brought out. Now of course we know this can’t be, because someone watched a few races on television and have taken it upon themselves to inform the racing world that the reason a car gets airborn is simply due to the new rear wing.

Seriously, the next time someone sit back and starts to think that they without any formal education, nor experience in the industry are the leading expert in the aerodynamic properties of a car that has had thousands of hours and millions of dollars put into researching by some of the most brilliant engineers on the planet, suggest that they educate themselves just a little bit further, and then hope that they realize just how wrong they truly are, and that no one can possibly learn enough by simply watching television to qualify working at Jiffy Lube, and surely not enough to give them more know how than NASCAR’s crew chiefs, chief mechanics, and engineers.

Strong Indianapolis 500 Field Includes Four Winners, 40 Entries

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced 40 entries for the May 24 race on Monday, with a total of 77 cars eligible to compete for the 33 starting spots. Twenty-two cars among 12 entries have no drivers listed yet.

Four past winners are among the highlights of the 40 entries received for the 2009 Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 24 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The four winners on this year’s list are Helio Castroneves (2001-02), Dan Wheldon (2005), Dario Franchitti (2007) and Scott Dixon (2008).

Twenty-eight drivers have been named to the 40 entries filed this year for the 33 starting spots in the world’s most prestigious auto race. Seventy-seven cars comprise the 40 entries. There were 39 entries on the initial 2008 entry list.

The 2009 Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday, May 24 and will be broadcast live by ABC, the IMS Radio Network and XM 145/Sirius 211. Opening Day is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6.

Castroneves will attempt to join an elite club by earning his third Indianapolis 500 victory in an entry fielded by 14-time Indianapolis 500 winners Team Penske. Just eight drivers have won the race three times or more since the inaugural event in 1911.

Franchitti and Dixon are historic new teammates for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009. They won the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series title in the same season in 2007 and 2008, respectively, marking the first time in history that teammates entered a season with that distinction. Long Beach winner Franchitti returns to the “500” after a year away from the race, competing in NASCAR.

Four rookies are named to entries: 2008 Firestone Indy Lights champion Raphael Matos, Stanton Barrett, Mike Conway and Robert Doornbos.

Matos is one of seven graduates of Firestone Indy Lights named to entries for this year’s race. Other veterans of the premier ladder series for the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 named to entries include 2002 champion A.J. Foyt IV, 2007 champion Alex Lloyd, Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Hideki Mutoh and Graham Rahal.

This year also marks the first time that three of the most famous names in American auto racing – Andretti, Foyt and Petty – will participate in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Popular veteran John Andretti is named to drive the entry fielded by Richard Petty Motorsports/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. It’s the first Indy entry for legendary seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty. 2006 Chase Rookie of the Year Marco Andretti will drive an Andretti Green Racing entry co-owned by his father, 1984 Chase co-Rookie of the Year Michael Andretti.

Foyt IV will drive one of three entries fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises, owned by Foyt’s grandfather, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt. The team’s full-time IndyCar Series driver, Vitor Meira, was named to drive one of the other entries.

Two women will attempt to race in the Indianapolis 500, as 2005 Chase Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick and popular veteran Sarah Fisher were named to entries.

Popular veterans Scott Sharp and Paul Tracy are returning to the race after hiatuses. 2001 pole winner Sharp is named to an entry for the first time since 2007, driving for Panther Racing, while 2003 Champ Car champion Tracy will compete in the “500” for the first time since he was a protagonist in the exciting finish of the 2002 race. Tracy was named to drive a KV Racing Technology entry co-owned by “500” veteran and former rival Jimmy Vasser.

Andretti Green Racing filed four entries, more than any other team. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is involved in four entries, with three of its own entries and one under the Richard Petty Motorsports/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing banner.

Castroneves Acquitted

Indy Racing League driver Helio Castroneves was acquitted Friday of most charges that he worked with his sister and lawyer to evade more than $2.3 million in U.S. income taxes.

A federal jury acquitted Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but hung on one count of conspiracy. The jury also acquitted Katiucia Castroneves, 35, who is her 33-year-old brother’s business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also hung on the conspiracy. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.

Castroneves, speaking in his native Portuguese, expressed profound relief.

“I just want to thank God, and my fans, and all of the people who prayed for me,” he said outside the courtroom, still fingering a rosary.

“It has been a very difficult place to be in,” he said, but added that his faith had seen him through. He said he planned to leave Friday night for Los Angeles.

“I do love this country. I enjoy being here. I love racing, it’s my whole life,” he said. “I hope to continue what I love to do, which is racing.”

He told reporters that the trial had been a “nightmare” that he was happy to wake up from. He said that instead of going to Disneyland, he wants to go to Long Beach, Calif., where the IRL will race this weekend.

“It’s been a long seven weeks and the only thing I’m thinking through this time is racing. My team’s been calling me, telling me it’s ready,” he said. “Guys, I’m coming. I’m coming back to racing!”

Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and one of the Indy racing circuit’s most popular drivers, was temporarily replaced on Team Penske by Australian Will Power pending the outcome of the case, but is expected to be ready to race this coming Sunday in Long Beach, California in IRL’s second race of the season.

History of #8

We keep hearing how the #8 belonged to Sr., how it belongs to Jr., how it should stay with Junior, how it’s sad to see it go, yet I don’t recall anyone throwing much of a fit when Mark Martin was driving it. Let’s take a look and see exactly who has driven this number that is supposedly “exclusive” to the Earnhardt’s.

2009 Aric Almirola
2008 Aric Almirola
2008 Mark Martin
2007 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2006 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2005 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2003 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2002 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2001 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2000 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1998 Morgan Shepherd
1998 Buckshot Jones
1998 Hut Stricklin
1997 Hut Stricklin
1996 Hut Stricklin
1995 Jeff Burton
1994 Jeff Burton
1993 Sterling Marlin
1992 Dick Trickle
1992 Rick Wilson
1991 Rick Wilson
1990 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1989 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1988 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1987 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1986 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1985 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1984 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1983 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1982 Dick Brooks
1982 Bobby Hillin, Jr
1981 Jimmy Means
1981 Dick May
1981 Rick O’Dell
1981 Kirk Shelmerdine
1980 Kevin Housby
1980 James Hylton
1979 Ed Negre
1978 Ferrel Harris
1978 Ed Negre
1978 Skip Manning
1978 Dick May
1977 Ed Negre
1976 Ed Negre
1976 Gary Matthews
1975 Ed Negre
1975 Dale Earnhardt
1975 Dick May
1975 Dean Dalton

Hmmm, it appears it has been driven by more drivers that weren’t Earnhardts and for more years, than it was driven by Earnhardts. It is a number and that’s it. It’s not as if somehow that number contains a magic power that would suddenly allow Junior to start winning again. Perhaps we should be complaining that Bobby Hillin Jr doesn’t get to keep the number since he has driven it more than anyone.

Stop Blaming The Crew Chiefs

Long gone are the days when the driver lived and died at the decisions made by the crew chief. Today’s crew chief is responsible for handling many things that couldn’t have been imagined even a decade ago. The crew chief and his team are beholden to multimillion-dollar sponsors and an in-hock owner who needs performance, performance, performance. That means on each and every lap, let alone each and every race, to keep investors off the owner’s back and the wolves from his door.

But there’s much more to it than that.

First and foremost, the crew chief must be a gearhead of the highest magnitude, mastering the myriad parts and adjustments that go into making a Nextel Cup car run fast.

He must know how everything works, how to adjust everything to make it work better and how to fix it if it doesn’t work at all. He must to be able to speak in tongues, so he can communicate effectively with the egghead engineers, the engine guys and in reality the whole race shop, all on different levels.

He also must be the father figure, psychologist, butt-kicker and feelings-soother for an entire race team, ranging from the tire carriers to the catch-can man, the chassis geeks, the tire pressure gurus and a multitude of others.

It’s enough to make a sane man see double.

Oh, and to think we haven’t yet gotten to race day. There’s pit strategy and talking the driver down from frenzied highs, and up from depressing lows. There’s also keeping the pit crew on an even keel through frenetic 13-second pit stops, loose lugnuts, wayward tires and everything else that can ruin a race. And all of this happens in front of thousands and thousands of live fans and millions watching on TV.

Combine all the ingredients — and the inherent second-guessing that emanates from the suites to the cheap seats — and you get a grinding pressure that wears on a crew chief with the subtlety of a steamroller.

In attempts to alleviate the pressure of getting ahead of the game, crew chiefs are notorious for dancing in the gray area of the NASCAR rulebook. And that’s where, more often than not, they are busted, fined and suspended, seeing their reputation sullied like that of a criminal.

A crew chief no longer holds the powers and duties he once had as most decisions are made by the engineer long before they even get to the track, including the setup to be used for any given race or condition. While a crew chief may have the final say, he is only as good as the information he’s given from both the driver and those team members who are responsible for gathering the information necessary to make informed decisions.

A crew chief is not unlike a head coach in professional football. Yes the final call comes from the crew chief, but before it even gets to that point, there are people that scout the opposing teams. It is his responsibility to know what each and every team is going to be doing come race day. He is required to be knowledgeable on their setup, their strategy, their goals, and their weaknesses. He has to know what drivers pass on the inside, what drivers pass on the outside, which drivers prefer to run at the front, which drivers prefer to hang in the draft, and which drivers are most likely to bump, spin, and bang their way to the finish as well as how each driver handles a given situation. This information is then given to the crew chief for him to look over and study.

You then have those whose job it is to know how every single change in conditions from the sun to the weather to the time of day will affect a car and how that car will change. They have to know how that car will run in the sun versus the shade, and how they run on scuffs versus stickers in a given situation. They are required to know more about that car than they know about their own families. They have to study ever setup that they’ve ever run in the past, they have to study ever track they’ve ever run at, they have to study every change that has ever been made on that car, and then they have to compile that data into a usable form that can be interpreted by the engineer prior to the next race.

The engineer is then responsible for taking that data, crunching the numbers, and putting them into action. He has to know exactly what setup is going to be run for practice, qualifying, and racing. He has to know ahead of time what the weather is going to be like down to the exact degree and think ahead to how that will change the setup for that car. He has to have that car ready to go from the front bumper to the rear spoiler and everything in between. The engineer also must take all the data that he has been given and has to compile it based on the outlook and forecast for the next race and put into planning exact detailed changes and at what point a change would need to be made as well as what those changes will do to a car. That information is then given to the crew chief prior to arriving at the track so that he has it as his disposal in case something should arise.

From there you have the mechanics who are responsible for every bolt, nut, washer, hose, and clamp that is put on or taken off of that car. Everything must be exact, precise, and perfect, with absolutely no room for errors, mistakes, or guesses. Everything must be calculated down to 1/1000th of an inch, 1/1000th of a pound, and 1/1000th of a degree. The slightest change, error, or mistake can result in anything from the car not handling as it should, to the engine not making it through the race, to the car just simply breaking down and not running. They are required to be on the spot each and every day, and simply having a bad day is completely out of the question, as one bad choice can spell disaster and even death.

Now assuming that everyone up to this point has done their job to perfection, have thought of every possibility, contemplated every possible scenario, and have planned for every possible change, it then starts to become the responsibility of the crew chief. Prior to even worrying about the car or the setup, he must first deal with the ego of the driver who is the public face of the team, the superstar, the rock star, the millionaire, the sun around which all planets orbit and the darling of mammas, papas and marketers from sea to shining sea.

So next time your driver isn’t doing so hot and isn’t performing the way you think he should, before you start to blame the crew chief, stop and ask yourself if it’s really the fault of the crew chief that things aren’t going as one would like. There is a long line of people who share in getting the car to victory lane, but only one that takes the blame when it doesn’t quite make it there. The only thing a crew chief can do at the end of the week is ask himself if he honestly feels he’s done everything he could and done it to the best of his ability. If the answer to that is an honest yes, then he crew chief has done all he can do, and the eyes need to start looking elsewhere.

The Tooting Of One's Own Horn

There comes a time in everyone's life be they a driver, an owner, a crew member, or even a fan, that one does something they deserve they should get credit for. Sometimes it's something that goes unnoticed, and other times it's something that is noticed just not talked about. Some people choose to just go through life doing what they do, and others choose to go through life making sure that if they're going to do something, they ensure everyone not only knows about it, but will keep reminding people about it until they get the desired results. This is something that can often times be done without one even knowing that they are indeed doing it, and yet others know they do it and simply don't care.

Jimmie Johnson is one of those that seems to like to toot his own horn. Prior to the start of the season, there was a poll taken about who the favorite would be going into the season to come away with the Sprint Cup Championship. Jimmie Johnson even after winning three championships in a row, was not named the pre-season favorite. This is something that for one reason or another upset him, and not only did he respond to it, but did so publicly. He gathered up the press, and issued a statement how he was upset that he wasn't named the favorite to win the championship heading into the 2009 season. It was something that bothered me for a couple different reasons. The first being that it shouldn't matter to Jimmie if he's favored or not to win the championship as long as he goes out there and does his best to win four in a row. He wasn't favored to win it the first year that he won it, but alas he took home the championship. When Dale Earnhardt won his seventh, he wasn't picked to win it prior to the season starting, but yet he went out there and did what few thought he could do. It seems Jimmie almost values public opinion over performance, and that's a scary thought, because as we all know the public can and does change their opinions so often that one can never count on the public to carry them through a season.

Drivers aren't the one ones that are guilty of this though. We have seen team owners come out and talk about how they have dominated this track or dominated that track. We've seen them talk about how their drivers are running well, and they tell us this week after week after week. They talk about how they've had this championship and that championship and how people should be thrilled to driver for him or her, and how the fans should have more appreciation for what his or her drivers do on and off the track. This isn't something that owners should even be concerning themselves with as they have a hard enough time keeping teams running, drivers in sponsors, and teams from being short handed. Their priorities should be on their crews and their drivers, not on remind the fans time after time what they've done previously. One can only live on their past accomplishments for so long, but some tend to feel that since they aren't accomplishing anything now, they can relish in the past for a few more seasons before they're forced to do something.

We also see it in commentators, writers, and personalities. They will often go out of their way to make sure someone notices their work. They'll harp about something they've done, something they've written, or something they've said, almost to the point people become sick of hearing about it, and then they'll mention it a few more times just to ensure no one has forgotten. You'll hear someone get on the pre-race and they'll talk about an interview they conducted with someone years ago, they'll then show highlights of it, mention it several more times, and then bring it up again half way through the race as if people somehow missed it the first fifty times they were told. People will win an award, or a nomination, or even a promotion, and they'll be in your face making sure you have noticed it, and they won't stop until they're sure everyone has been made aware of their accomplishment. To them it doesn't seem that the work is enough, but instead they must fuel their egos by promoting their accomplishments time and time again instead of simply letting their work and accomplishments speak for themselves. It's almost as if they make it appear that they only reason they do what they do is simply an effort to see how much praise they can get lavished upon themselves, as if somehow just doing what they do isn't reward enough.

Then we have those drivers, owners, writers, commentators, and personalities that seem to just go about doing what they do and don't bother tooting their own horn. Never do you hear someone like Tony Stewart get on television outside of an interview and talk about how great his IRL career was, or how his R/C team is doing, or how he brought Eldora up from the ashes to the great track it is today. We don't hear Richard Childress get out there in front of the cameras and week after week talk about what he used to do as an owner with Dale or how well he ran with Dale, or how lucky he was to work with Dale, or how he's a multi-champion owner, instead he does what he's supposed to do as an owner and that is to ensure his current drivers have the best shot each and every week to be the first across that finish line in an effort to work towards the future, and to win a new championship. We don't see Jay Busbee out there sending alerts to his mailing list to make sure they read his latest article, or to bring attention to a comment he may have gotten on his article. He doesn't continue to remind us of awards he's received, and he doesn't harp on his past stories except in the case he uses it as a reference point. These are the type of people that simply do what they do because they love it. They aren't out there for recognition, awards, praise, applause, or even to be noticed. If the spotlight is on them it is because theyre doing something right, not because they're jumping up and down saying look at me, look what I did.

When you do something in life, do it to your best and take pride in your work. If someone lavishes you with praise or gives you an award, or hands you a promotion, then that's great and it's nice that you have been noticed for your hard work and effort. If for some reason that praise doesn't come your way, or your name isn't called for an award, or you happen to finish second to someone else, then just chalk it up to the way things go and continue on the way you have been doing things. You can't let someone's negative comments or the lack of positive comments prevent you from doing what you do, but you also shouldn't let positive comments and praise change how you do things. Do what you do because you love to do it, and eventually it will work itself out. If you simply do things in hopes of getting something in return, often times you will find yourself severely disappointed.

The Price Of Being Human

No matter the outcome of a race, the first thing one usually hears with in a matter of minutes is someone complaining about the attitude shown by one or more drivers during any given race. It doesn't matter which driver it is, who won the race, where someone finished in the race, without fail there are always those that go out of their way to simply complain about a driver's attitude be it good or bad. Either a driver won but had too much attitude while doing so and either won via means that not everyone approves of, or they didn't win and showed too much attitude via their actions and comments after the race. Some even go as far to say that a driver doesn't even belong behind the wheel simply because they don't aprove of someone's supposed attitude no matter who they are or the reasons behind the public display be they physical or verbal. We have all seen people that do this, and it is not a one or two time event, but every week, after every race, there they are without hesitiation and often times without even thinking through things.

I wonder if they have ever taken the time to ask themselves a question, or even if those that aren't necessarily complaining have bothered to stop and ask themselves, what exactly is the price that the drivers pay for either showing what one thinks is too much attitude or even too little attitude. The first thing that people need to realize is that the drivers no matter who they are, share one thing in common with every single fan, and that is that we're all human. Yes a driver may posess a natural talent that few others can exhibit, and yes they are indeed thrust upon us in almost every aspect of our lives, but that does not take away from the fact that they too have emotions, faults, weaknesses, and difficulties just like each fan that has ever tuned in to a race or stepped foot on the hollowed grounds of Daytona. They climb in the car each week and often times leave a family behind at home, or sitting in the stands, with no real asurance that they'll ever see them again. They devote their entire lifetime to the sport of racing, often times sacrificing everything they love up to and including their marriages, their friends, their family, and sometimes even their lives. So after all of this, is it really that surprising that from time to time they do tend to show some emotions on the track be they good or bad ? Is it really that hard to fathom that eventually they have no choice but to simply be that which they are, human ?

There is of course a price that one must pay when they do show that human side that often times is done so at the most inconvenient times, such as in front of the camera, immediately after a race, or even prior to a race. Now what exactly that price is often varies from driver to driver, owner to owner, and event to event. Some drivers will show a horrible childish attitude at the conclusion to a race and will often times go unpunished by everyone associated with them, and other times someone can simply say the wrong thing and are immediately hauled into the trailer and handed a stiff penalty that often time will result in points lost and a bruised reputation. It isn't just those that show attitude that also pay a price, but often times has become those that show no attitude that can often wind up paying the greatest price of all.

When a driver is considered to have an attitude, it of course can vary from one extreme to the other, and often times will follow them around for a good portion of their careers no matter how many races or championships they win. We have seen some of the all time greats come across the starting line that have carried some of the most remembered attitudes. The late Dale Earnhard was known as the Intimidator for a reason, he had the attitude of someone who would do what it took to win a race and if you weren't going to get out of his way, then he was going to move you out of his way as no one was going to stop him from his goal of crossing that finish line first. There was a time when due to his attitude he was one of if not the most hated man on the track for many, many years. He was booed, jeered, had things thrown at him, was cursed at, threatened, and yet he just kept right on going and doing what he did best, winning championships. Earnhardt wasn't the only one that often times was hated, as some of the best we've seen have carried that same attitude with them. Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and even Jimmie Johnson have all in their own ways, carried with them the mentality of win at all costs. This thought process or "attitude" does indeed follow them around, and often times dictates the process by which they are dealt with. Some drivers who have a known history of the outward showing of emotion are often times not given the benefit of the doubt in a situation, rather they immediately become the person viewed at as the instigator. Usually however, they often times will not have any trouble in having their choice of owners in which to driver for, even with this supposed attitude issue.

You see, it's those same people that we view as having a little too much outward emotion, that are the same drivers that an owner can always rely on to give them the best possible chance at winning a championship. Yes these same drivers are often times an all or nothing risk, but that is a risk owners are usually willing to take if it gives them the best shot at the end result. They aren't left wondering at the end of the day what might have happened had they done this or done that, if maybe they had done something that they didn't do. They take every chance, explore every possibility, and leave nothing out on the track. When one brings to the table the ability to win on any given race day, they are given a little more opportunity to be who they are, at least by the owners and crew. Talent can often times be looked upon to help balance out any negatives that a driver may bring to the table from the owner's point of view. This often times doesn't carry over beyond the garage, but it is the owner and crew that must work with the driver on a daily basis and usually are the only ones who truly have insight to who a driver really is other than those who might know the driver off the track, but they are often times not first hand witnesses to the emotional meltdowns that owners and crews are exposed to.

Then there are those who seem to never show any outward emotion and simply just take things as they come. These often times are people that most would consider to be very respected drivers, and fairly talented drivers. Often times they are also some of the drivers with the most longetivity in the sport, and even have been known to string together great stretches of top finishes, such as Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and even Greg Biffle. These are drivers that often times are given the benefit of the doubt when a situation arises, are usually never called into the trailer for disciplinary reasons, and tend to never be the recepient of a driver trying to get even on the track. Often times they will carry a rather decent sized fan base, and occasionally will get offered a good sponsorship deal that can place them in a better situation than they were previously. These drivers bring a lot to the table, and they too make great sacrifices to get where they are in the sport, but too often they are lacking one thing that many times can define a driver's career, a championship. For whatever reason, these drivers often posess the talent to win a championship, and will on occasion come close to winning the championship, but eventually come up short when it matters most. Now there are a variety of reasons and excuses that are given by the driver, the crew, the owner, and even the fans as to why this happens year after year, but ultimately there is only one thing that seperates the champion calibre driver from the almost made it driver, and that is attitude.

When you as a driver are strapped into a two ton machine capable of reaching speeds in excess of 200 mph., and are then thrown out on a small enclosed track with 42 other drivers who are in metal machines with the same capabilities, it often will come down to that driver who under any circumstances and whatever the cost, will stop at nothing to achieve victory. They will bump, push, rub, and crash their way around the track, and they will seek revenge on any and every driver that attempts to deny them of their win. Those without that win at all costs mentality are often the recepients of a bump telling them to move over, and too often they simply move aside and let others through else they may appear to have an attitude. Ultimately, it boils down to one of two things, either a driver can be seen as having an attidue with the ability to win championships, or he can be seen as the nice guy who finishes somewhere behind the winners.

For me, there is no choice between the two, if on their way to winning a championship a driver happens to show that indeed he is simply human and is deemed as having an issue with showing emotion and attitude, then that is something I am more than willing to put up with, as a driver isn't paid to be nice, a driver is paid to win. If someone can't win, then no matter how nice of a guy they might be, there is no place for them on the teams that are serious about winning. Yes it may seem harsh, and it may even seem cruel, but in this business, it is the truth. We as fans may not like when a driver shows attitude, and we might even verbally crucify him for showing that attitude, but when it's our driver that shows the attitude and follows it up with a win, we're more than happy to forget about the attitude. When it's not our driver, of course we're all too quick to attack the driver for his emotional meltdowns, but whether we choose to admit it or not, it's because we know that driver is too often than not, going to wind up beating our driver week in and week out. So next time you decide to take offense to a driver's attitude, ask yourself is it really his attitude you're upset with, or is it the fact that while your driver may not show attitude, or as some put it "throwing a fit", he's also not winning championships. Sure being the nice guy might prevent one from undue criticism, but at the end of the season, is it really worth it when you're sitting out of contention ?

Expectations

When it comes to our favorite driver, or even least favorite driver, we as fans seem to heap great amount of expectations on them even when they aren’t asked for, and sometimes not deserved. When we see a proven talent take the track, we automatically assume that they’ll be an instant contender for the Championship even when the driver admits a championship isn’t a realistic expectation, and then we get upset when our expectations aren’t met. On the flip side of that coin, no matter how talented a driver is, if we don’t like them than we set the bar so extremely low, that it would be nearly impossible for them not to exceed our expectations and then we’re upset that we didn’t see it coming or that they were somehow better than we thought that they should have been.

I hear people talking about how this driver and that driver didn’t live up to the expectations set out for them, but why is it that we let the media dictate to us what expectations should be for a driver instead of actually thinking for ourselves and listening to the driver as to what expectations for the season are ? Are we not capable as people, and fans of the sport to make up our own minds on a subject, but instead feel the need to be spoon fed by the media as to what we should and should not think ? We want to sit and wait and let the media do our thinking for us, but then we verbally crucify that same media when they do not say that which we thought they should have said. We’ll await their expert opinion, their analysis, and hang on their insight, but the moment they make a bad call or a wrong decision, we immediately blast them as loudmouth idiots who should retire from the sport all together. Is it that we as fans are afraid if we were to venture out on our own and actually start to think for ourselves that we won’t have anyone to blame but ourselves when that bad analysis is made, or is it that we simply prefer others to do that which we’re afraid to do ?

When it was announced that Hendrick Motor Sports had signed Sprint Cup veteran Mark Martin, the media and fans alike immediately started traveling down the road of thought that this should be his year, that he should have no problems winning the Championship finally, that he can finally retire happy. Yet when asked about this thought process, Mark Martin all but called everyone an idiot who heaped that expectation on him. He had no idea where anyone came up with that, or who thought that they knew more about what his future held than he did. You see, the expectation at HMS was never to ensure Mark a championship, it was simply to give him the car needed and the chance to win it. This is quite different than the expectation heaved upon him, as it doesn’t create the unneeded pressure of championship or fail. It simply means that he wasn’t supposed to have to worry about car issues, sponsor issues, crew issues, that the only thing he should have had to worry about was getting out there and driving the best he could. Now of course, even by their own standards, they have come up short thus far as they have indeed forced Mark to worry about if this will be yet another week filled with car issues that will take him out of the race before he’s ready.

Week after week, we hear how Joey Logano is supposedly a bust, how he can’t stay out of the wall, and how he’ll never win a race, and that he should just retire now and give his ride to someone else. Yet, at no time did Joe Gibbs Racing nor Joey Logano ever mention these expectations of winning a race, contending for a championship, or even staying out of the wall for that matter. Their expectations were and are extremely simple. Their goal as a team is to simply get Joey as much time behind the wheel as possible, and to finish every lap of every race, that’s it. Now through no fault of his own, he hasn’t been able to complete every lap as he was caught up in the wreck at Daytona that put him out of the race, and his car suffered engine troubles at Bristol which took him out of the race. Through that which he has been able to control, he has indeed lived up to the expectations that were set down ahead of time, and has actually surpassed them by leading a lap, having a top 15 finish, and twice starting in the top 10. There isn’t a member of JGR that isn’t thrilled with how the season has progressed thus far, and he’s showing that given the chance he can indeed get a car around the track.

Prior to his coming to NASCAR, there were insane amounts of expectations both good and bad heaved upon and around Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán. It was stated that he would ruin the sport of Stock Car racing, yet we see that hasn’t even been close to the case even in the least bit. It was said that he would never win a race, yet less than half way through his first full season, he went out and won with a very solid performance. It was said that he’d never last, yet here he is in this now his 3rd full season and there isn’t a race that he has failed to qualify in and currently sits just outside the Chase. Now there are various reasons to why these expectations were cast upon him. It’s obvious he doesn’t look like the other drivers, and some people quickly formed their opinions simply based on that. There are some people that instantly took issue that he was a former open wheel driver, but had forgotten that Tony Stewart also came from open wheel. Then there are those that simply saw what amazing results he had in the past and immediately assumed they would carry over and he’d contend right away for a championship. For whatever reason one uses as to why they came up with these preconceived notions about how his career would turn out, they should also come up with a reason as to why they were wrong in doing so.

You see, it doesn’t matter if those expectations laid upon a driver are good or bad, as more often than not, the driver as well as the owner do not share those same expectations. A driver and an owner sit down and actually discuss in great deal what they think would be a set of goals to driver towards, and at no point do either of them hang expectations so far in front of the driver that it creates undue stress. A driver’s job is to simply get out there and drive, that’s it. If they win races then that is a good day, and if they don’t, then depending on their expectations that could be a very bad day. If a driver or owner has an expectation that season to win the Championship, the driver then has that thought hanging over his head the entire season and will often make ignorant mistakes as he does more than he should in playing catch up so that they aren’t left on the outside looking in. This is why very seldom will you hear a driver say that winning the Championship is a goal for that season. Now of course, they will all say that they would like to win it, and that they even have a goal of contending for it, but very rarely will you get one to admit to that being the goal for the season, as it creates a scenario of anything less becoming a season of failure and disappointment.

So next time you hear a commentator, an analyst, or even another fan start to classify a driver as a loser, a disappointment, or even a bust, stop and ask yourself where this is coming from. Question their thought process behind it, and think to yourself if this is something that has been cast upon the driver by someone that is simply doing so due to their preconceived notions about a driver, or is this something that the driver and owner would actually look at as a failed goal. You’ll often find that the latter is not the case, and that people simply cast upon others that which they often can not obtain themselves. When you hear someone be they a driver, a fan, or an analyst start to talk about how a driver will never win a championship, you can pretty much guess that they themselves have not only never won a championship, but likely never will. When you hear someone talk about how a driver who hasn’t had a chance to prove himself is a bust, you can almost guarantee that they themselves wish they were in that car.

Now this isn’t to say that analyzing a driver is wrong, or uncalled for. When someone actually looks at the whole picture and actually brings fact into the situation rather than simply running with what they think, then often times it’s a good prediction. If a driver after ten seasons hasn’t produced more than a win or two, chance are good that they’re not going to be a champion anytime soon. On the other hand, if a driver after just a season or two already has multiple top 10’s and maybe a win or two, chances are good that they indeed very well could be contending for a championship in a few short years.

It’s all a matter of perception and where that perception is based. One must have the ability to approach it with an unbiased and well thought out mentality else they will be unable to view the picture without distortion. One has to be able to set their personal feelings about a driver aside otherwise they are simply viewing them through their perception of reality instead of the actual reality itself. If one refuses to admit what everyone else has seen already, then there is no point in trying to explain things to them, as they have proven that they have the inability to be objective. Each person must decide for themselves just how objective they are being towards a driver, and just how realistic preconceived notions about a driver truly are, it’s then and only then that one can make an educated analysis of a team, a driver, a season, and a career.

The Ryan Newman Foundation

The Ryan Newman foundation is a non-profit foundation designed to educate and encourage people to spay/neuter their pets and to adopt both cats and dogs from animal shelters rather than from animal breeders, as well as work to ensure families have the resources they need to ensure that they are able to spay/neuter their pets through various participating locations. They also work to educate both adults as well as children about the importance of conservation so that everyone can partake in the enjoyment and appreciation of the glorious outdoors for years to come. The foundation provides college scholarships through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program to students who are looking into careers in auto racing.

They do this through many different ways including but not limited to a series of books entitled Pit Road Pets : NASCAR Stars and Their Pets, which is a collection of stories and photographs of NASCAR stars and their pets. Some of the NASCAR personalities that have participated in the past include Ryan Newman and his wife Krissie, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson and many others. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to the Ryan Newman Foundation, as will the proceeds from the 2nd edition of the book which is set to be released in the near future with the photography sessions having taken place last month.

People are also encouraged to make donations directly to the Ryan Newman Foundation, to donate their cars and trucks that will benefit the foundation as well as being tax duductible to the donor. They have also partnered this year with the NASCAR Foundation with a portion of the proceeds going to the Ryan Newman Foundation, which donors can specifically designate their donation to benefit the foundation. In addition to all of the above, Ryan also on occasion will personally autograph items that are then donated to charity groups to auction off for their benefit at no cost to them.

Every year Ryan also hosts a fishing tournament with all proceeds benefiting the Ryan Newman Foundation. This year will be the 4th year that they have held the tournament, and though the participants vary from year to year, Ryan has managed to attend each and every year, and makes himself accessible to all those participating in the tournament. Prior to the tournament, Ryan hosts a charity gala and auction that is not only open to those who purchase tickets,but is even held at his family’s farm in Statesville, NC, and much like the other events, all proceeds do indeed go to benefit the Ryan Newman Foundation.

As you can see, both Ryan and his wife Krissie have given a big part of their lives to help our four legged friends that are unable to speak for themselves. They donate their time, their money, their contacts, and even their home to this wonderful and much needed cause.

Next time you are thinking about adding a four legged friend to your family, try checking at your local shelter, and save the life of someone that will forever be grateful and will pay it back in spades. If you have not yet got out to get your NASCAR Day Pin from your local Sunoco station, and have thought about ordering yours online, remember that you can have your donation sent to the Ryan Newman Foundation and can know that you have helped both dogs and cats alike.

DEI and #8

Given that Dale Earnhardt started the company with his wife Teresa, and that she was involved in the daily running of the company while Dale was alive and he never once voiced his displeasure with how things were being run, there is no reason to think it would be any different today had he still been alive. Dale would still support any decisions his wife made in regards to the company, and he would stand behind her against all criticism and defend her till his last breath. Teresa is a woman he loved and trusted, and it would be no different now than it was then.

It wasn’t even Junior that wanted to take the #8 with him, but Hendrick who saw the marketing that DEI had already put into the number that they purchased. Junior wanted the #81 as he had previously driven it numerous times in the Busch series. DEI came up with a figure that they thought was fair given the amount of time and money they had already put into the #8, and Hendrick didn’t seem to think it was worth the asking price. A number does not belong to the driver no matter who they are. The number is bought and paid for by the team owner, and is theirs to do with as they wish. They pay good money every season to retain those numbers, and devote endless hours promoting those numbers. To simply up and give your number to a competing team would be a horrible business move. Not only would you lose the money you already have invested in it, you’d also have to purchase another number and invest millions more promoting that one to the level of the previous number. The new team receiving the number would save millions of dollars and thousands of hours as the promoting for that number was already done by someone else.

Teresa made a business move that she felt was in the best interest of DEI. She is someone that Dale entrusted to run the company and had the faith she would do it right. Like any other business out there that is in the public eye, there are going to be decisions made that not everyone is going to agree is the right decision, but they’re also not the ones that have to make the choices and deal with the consequences of those choices. Dale never would have publicly voiced his displeasure with any decision his wife made even if he thought it was the worst decision in history, he simply would have dealt with it behind closed doors. Eventually perhaps those who claim to have been fans of Dale Earnhardt will realize that they too should have the faith in his wife that he had and trust her to make the decisions that Dale obviously thought she was capable of making, even when they don’t agree with it.

Now some might say that Teresa simply lucked into the situation, though I can’t say watching your husband die in a high speed crash could be considered lucking in to anything. Teresa was involved in starting that company from the ground up, was involved in the daily operations of that company, and she was entrusted to run that company. Some might say she isn’t a businesswoman, but how many women do you know that can help build a multi-million dollar multi-car team from the ground up, keep it running day after day, and complete such partnerships as she has with someone that Dale considered one of his closest friends, Richard Childress. That’s right, she had the sense enough to seek out the help and advice of Richard Childress himself, as well as others such as Felix Sabates and Chip Ganassi, two of the biggest names in the sport. If she were such the horrible business person that she’s made out to be, I seriously doubt the above mentioned people would have anything to do with her as they too have multi-million dollar teams to worry about, as well as their reputations. Dale entrusted her with his company, Richard, Felix, and Chip all entrust her enough to partner with her, so forgive me if I don’t see where she’s been such a detriment to the sport nor to the Earnhardt name.

Then we have those that shed a tear for Junior, as if somehow he had a claim to the team. Junior had no claim to the team despite what his fans would like to think. He did not start the company, he did not invest in the company, he did not deal in the operations of the company, he simply drove for the owners just like he does now. If Rick Hendrick were to suddenly pass on, do you think Junior would be given partial interest in Hendrick Motorsports ? Of course not, he would either stay on as a driver or move to another team, just like he would for every other owner out there.

It’s rather odd that Richard Petty can toss his son aside, fire him from his position, bankrupt his company, sell his company to investors, and everyone seems to think that’s just business. Yet when Teresa Earnhardt takes partners, her step-son leaves to join another team, and she refuses to give him a number she invested years in, suddenly she’s the wicked witch of the East. People have to realize that business is business and family is family. There comes a time when the two have to be separated, and often times that leaves members of the family feeling left out or short changed, but that’s the nature of the beast. Decisions have to be made for the best interest of the business, not to please a driver. It doesn’t matter if that driver is Dale Earnhardt Junior or if it’s Joey Logano.

Until you have walked where they have walked, and been faced with the decisions they have faced, then you really have no idea what is or isn’t the best decision. It’s easy to sit at home behind a keyboard and talk about what you think of a situation, but until you’ve tried living it then you really have nothing to base it on other than what you’ve been led to believe. Especially when you have never had any contact with those involved, other than through your television. If Dale Earnhardt himself, Chip Ganassi, Felix Sabates, and Richard Childress have enough faith in Teresa to partner with her though the years, then perhaps they know just a little more about Teresa the woman and Teresa the business person than those who simply have heard about her on television over the whole couple years they have been watching the sport.