JJ on TV Monday

Jimmie Johnson will be on TV Monday, Jan. 18 during the following shows:

• The Today Show - Monday at 10:30 am ET on NBC
• The Jimmy Fallon Show - Mon. Night (early Tues. morning, technically) at 12:35 am ET on NBC

I'm guessing no Chad (they'd so have to drag him away from the shop kicking and screaming this time of year...and really, who wants that?), but at least we'll get to hear what the team's been up to recently. Well, unless Kathie Lee wastes time making him do some kind of inane trick LIKE THEY ALWAYS DO whenever the NASCAR guys come on the show. Although I guess it's probably not limited to NASCAR drivers...that just happens to be the only time I watch the show. :P

Oh wait, I was thinking of Live with Regis and Kelly, sorry - I'm stuck in the '90s and keep forgetting Kathie Lee's not on there anymore. Eh, all those things are kind of the same, though; honestly, I don't watch that much TV, other than NASCAR...and hockey...and NCIS and The Mentalist, because those are rad shows. Speaking of hockey, I'd just like to say GO RED WINGS!! Kick some Blackhawk butt tomorrow! Uh, not to insult Chad's home team or anything...sorry dude, but I love me some Wings.

SceneDaily: "Chad Knaus is no Mark McGwire"

From Scene Daily:

Mark McGwire’s less-than-stunning admission that he used steroids will surely reinvigorate the debate about the validity of his career statistics and records.

While there is no direct correlation to NASCAR when it comes to assigning an asterisk next to the accomplishments of drivers or teams, allegations of cheating will surely persist even with the new car and its reduction of gray areas.

Simply put: Enhancing one’s performance in NASCAR is best accomplished by mechanical means. After Jimmie Johnson won his third straight Cup title in 2008, and while sitting across from Chad Knaus in his office at Hendrick Motorsports, the topic of cheating was raised.
Knaus thumbed through a NASCAR tech bulletin and said he’d never done “X” when the sanctioning body decreed that “X” was illegal.

“I don’t have one regret whatsoever. Nothing,” Knaus said on that day late in 2008. “We’ve pushed the limits on a lot of things, and you have to. We’ve got I don’t know how many rules in the rulebook just because of things that we’ve done. Hell, I like that. That’s good. I think that that is what it’s supposed to be.”

The public perception of Knaus as a cheater may persist because of high-profile suspensions and fines he was hit with by NASCAR in 2006 and 2007. But he is not one to worry about that label outside of the garage area.

“No. Because ultimately the people that know what we do for a living know that I’ve really not done anything wrong,” he said.

Clearly, McGwire could never say the same.

Even though I agree with the author, I'm not sure why this needed to be stated again just because the McGwire thing came up (other than because we've hit rock bottom of the off-season and don't have anything else to write about, which I understand, hehe).

The only thing I really have to add to this is that to me, sports like baseball and football are supposed to be a celebration of the natural human physique - it's supposed to show off the height of our strength and abilities as given to us by nature. To take steroids and other performance enhancers is kind of missing the whole point; instead of being a celebration of who we are, it becomes a sort of arms race to see how far away we can get from being ourselves.

That is not to say that arms races don't have their place; what humans have been able to do over the centuries with our increasing level of technology is amazing. I mean, we've been to the moon, for Pete's sake - that's pretty rad! And that was 40 years ago! Therefore, it's only right to celebrate our technological advances, too, and that's where NASCAR comes in.

The whole point of technology over the span of history has been to one-up our previous achievements - from the wheel to the wagon to the train to the car to the rocket ship - so sports like NASCAR and Formula 1 are built on this foundation of wanting to take everything to the next level. Our imaginations (and the rules book, hehe) are our only limits, so it just seems natural to me to want to take something as far as it will absolutely go.

Of course there have to be rules governing races for practical reasons (unless they're destruction derbies), but the very nature of the sport makes us have to push the envelope out of necessity. If you're not testing the outer limits, you're not winning, and I think that's how it should be. Chad Knaus is the master of that. It's his job to make sure that car goes as fast as it can, and by God, he does. If that includes trying something in new territory that hasn't even been thought about before, and therefore isn't covered by the rule book, well, it'd be kind of dumb NOT to try it, don't you think? Anyway, the point is, Mark McGwire can only go so far before he just can't hit that ball any harder, but there's no end to what Chad Knaus can do with a car. Our bodies have finite limits, but our imaginations can take us anywhere with only self-imposed boundaries. That's how I see it, anyway, so the two are operating on completely different philosophies. (Did anybody actually read to the end of this? Well, I got it out of my system, anyway!)

Blast from the Past: Richmond and Atlanta

Slim pickins today, I'm afraid; there was only one pic from Richmond that I could find, so I'm combining it up with Atlanta - how's that?

Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Speedway, 9/12/09

Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, 9/5/09

(I think these are all from practice)

(Hehe, I love this pic: "Jimmiiiiie...")

(Aww, there ya go, you got a smile out of him that time!)

While I'm here, I just wanted to say, as a patron of Auto Club Speedway, I'm incredibly happy to hear that the fall race is being shortened to 400 miles. I was already happy when they moved the race from summer to fall last year (because otherwise, I don't think I would've gone...way too hot), and now that it's going to be shorter, I think it'll be perfect. Also, since we're talking about race lengths, the Saturday night Phoenix race in spring is actually going to be extended to 500 miles, which will be cool - I love night races. (story at NASCAR.com)

The Chad Went Down to Georgia

I know the Charlie Daniels Band already has one song about NASCAR ("The Intimidator"), but while I was bored a few days ago I figured there was room for another, so I reworked "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" to tell the tale not of Johnny and his fiddle, but of a NASCAR crew chief and an epic battle of good and evil. Well, I tried, anyway...here's the result (try not to laugh too hard, hehe):


The Devil went down to Georgia; he was looking for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind, so he was willing to make a deal,
When he came across this young man crankin' on a stock car and runnin' it hot,
And the Devil jumped up on the team's war wagon and said, "Boy, let me tell you what,
"I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a race car driver too,
"And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.
"Now you set up a pretty good race car, boy, but give the Devil his due.
"I'll bet a trophy of gold against your soul, 'cause I think I'm better than you."
The boy said, "Well, my name's Chad, and it might be a sin,
"But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret, 'cause I'm the best that's ever been!"

Chad, call up your crew and work on tunin' that 48 car,
'Cause hell's broke loose in Georgia, and the Devil deals the cards,
And if you win you get this shiny trophy made of gold,
But if you lose, the Devil gets your soul.

The Devil climbed right in his car, and he said, "I'll start this show,"
And fire flew from his tailpipes as it roared to life on pit row.
Chad turned to Jimmie with a steely look and said, "Just do your best."
He didn't tell him that the stakes at Atlanta were higher than all the rest.

Now, the Devil was leading when Chad said, "Well, you're pretty good, ol' son,
"But sit back during this pit stop here, and let me show you how it's done!"

"Fire in the pit stalls, run, boys, run,
"Jimmie's coming in in 3-2-1,
"Take four tires and fill up the gas,
"Go down a round on the track bar, fast!"

The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat;
Jimmie passed him off pit road and never let up on his 2-second lead,
And Chad said, "Devil, just come on back if you ever want to try again.
"I told you not once but FOUR DAMN TIMES, we're the best that's ever been!"

Caption Time!

...because I really have nothing to say, hehe.  Come on, Daytona!

Chad: "But Jimmie, I never get to drive the car, it's not fair!"

JJ: "Maybe next time, Chad."

Chad: *pouts*

 Chad: "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Crew Member: *grabs throat, gasps for air*

Chad: "WHAT did you say about my plaid shoes?! Say that again and your BUTT is gonna be red checkered, smart-***!"

Daytona, '07:

Jimmie: "Hey, Chad, I've got a great idea! Now if you took the back window and--"

Chad: "Um, actually, I think we're good on the windows this year, buddy..."

Changes to Car, Rules in 2010

This isn't strictly Chad-related, but it's one of the most relevant articles about NASCAR I've read all winter:

NASCAR Says Rear Spoilers, Yellow Lines, "No Bumping Zones" May Disappear in 2010

NASCAR's Managing Director Corporate Communications said today that the sanctioning body is investigating the possibility of replacing rear wings with old-style rear spoilers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, in time for the start of the 2010 Daytona 500. However, Ramsey Poston told Sirius NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody that the change has nothing to do with cars becoming airborne during high speed crashes at the circuits two superspeedways; Daytona and Talladega.

"We took a car to the wind tunnel after last year's fall race at Talladega and recreated Ryan Newman's crash to as high a degree as possible," he said. "Those tests showed beyond any doubt that the rear wing had no effect on the way that race car took off.

"With that said, we talked to 14 different drivers at the NASCAR Technical Center yesterday, and all 14 of them were in favor of going back to rear spoilers as a way of increasing downforce and improving competition. As a result of the input we have received from those drivers, and others, I think it's safe to say that we are taking a very serious look at the possibility of reintroducing rear spoilers for the 2010 season."

If NASCAR elects to move forward with the change, Poston said the sanctioning body will wind-tunnel test the package almost immediately, before scheduling an on-track test session prior to the start of SpeedWeek 2010.

Poston said NASCAR has met with every track operator since the end of last season, along with drivers, owners, crewchiefs and even media partners in an effort to determine what might be done to improve competition, and that the rear wing/spoiler is only one item on the list.

"If it helps us improve competition, we will move forward with it," said Poston. "There are other changes that we will announce during the annual Media Tour that I think will be welcomed by everyone; drivers, crewchiefs, team owners and especially fans."

Poston revealed that NASCAR is likely to loosen the reins on drivers next season, saying, "We're going to let the drivers drive." While declining to give specifics prior to the official announcement, it is expected that NASCAR will eliminate the controversial "no bumping zones" at superspeedways, and possibly even the rule prohibiting drivers from racing below a yellow line at the bottom of the banking at both Daytona and Talladega. (from Sirius Speedway)

Interesting! Obviously safety's the main priority here, but since it isn't a concern in this case, apparently, I wouldn't mind them going back to the spoiler, just because I think it looks a little better than the wing. Plus, if they think it really will improve competition, then heck yeah, go for it.

I'll be glad to see the "no bumping zones" go, if they do decide to get rid of them. I'm not so sure about the yellow line rule, though...that seems like a "danged if you do, danged if you don't" situation. On one hand, it's like having a wall down there so nobody can do anything too crazy while trying to pass, but on the other hand, it's a little too much like a wall because then it forces drivers to do other kinds of crazy stuff to avoid getting too close to the line. The jury's out on this one...I'll defer to NASCAR without any whining or complaining this time, hehe.

2010 Paint Schemes

You've probably already seen these, but in case you haven't, here's what the cars will look like next season. Sorry for not posting the pics directly, but I didn't want to steal from Jayski.

2010 Paint Schemes (Jayski.com)

The black and silver one with the Kobalt sponsor at the bottom is pretty much the same as last year's, but the first one got a major overhaul, going from blue and silver to blue and white. Hmm, I think I liked last year's with the silver better... I'm not really a big fan of white on race cars in general; I wish they had run Dale Jr.'s green-and-black car that he had at Talladega for most of the year instead of the green-and-white one, myself. Similarly, my favorite 48 car is from 2008, which also has a lot of black on it.

I wonder what kind of hat Chad will have next year, speaking of color schemes. Black, white, or tan...hmm! Once again, I'd go with black, myself (what can I say - must be the Earnhardt fan in me), but I liked last year's white one too, though...made him easy to spot against all the other guys' black hats, plus I liked that the "48" was more prominently displayed, so I don't feel like a walking ad for Lowe's. My dad's got one of the '08 black hats (yes, I turned him to the Chad Side, hehe), and someone actually asked him if he worked at Lowe's...oy! Obviously, Chad doesn't need a hat to tell the world he's with the 48 team, but it'd be helpful for the rest of us, though. As for tan...it looked good on him, so no complaints there, but I like the last couple that have been more in line with the paint scheme.

Blast from the Past: Loudon Edition

As promised, a new edition of the Blast from the Past series.

Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 9/20/09

 

 

 

 

 

I think the last one's from practice. In the future, photos from race day, practice, and qualifying will probably all be mixed in together unless, like with today's set, there happened to be a specific note about it, but at least you'll know which weekend they were from.