-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
Sprint Cup
CUP: Friday Richmond Notebook
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a huge Washington Redskins fan...
Dale Earnhardt Jr. , driver of the No.88 National Guard/Diet Mountain Dew Chevrolet, stands in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Editor’s note: This notebook will be revised throughout the day at Richmond International Raceway. Check back for updates.
JUNIOR LIKES RGIII — With the National Football League draft in high gear, longtime Washington Redskins fan Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he was happy to see the ‘Skins draft Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III in the first round. Washington traded three first-round and one second-round pick to get the Heisman-trophy winning quarterback and Earnhardt said he is looking forward to RGIII reversing the team’s sagging fortunes.
“I hope it is a good deal, I hope the ‘Skins are successful,” Earnhardt said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “I hope Robert is successful. He seems like a good guy. It’s going to be fun to be a Redskins fan and see how that plays out this year and see how well he does. I know all the Redskins fans are excited and expecting big things, so am I.”
Earnhardt said he’ll start the 2012 NFL season with high expectations.
“Well you always go in every season hoping for the best and trying to justify the players, the positions they are in and what the teams potential can be,” Earnhardt said. “Every year you start off wishing them to the playoffs and justifying how that might happen. Then the season plays itself out. This season is no different.”
BRISTOL DRAWS BRICKBATS — On Wednesday, Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith announced that the upper lane of Bristol Motor Speedway will ground down and flattened out in an attempt to put some more drama back in the racing. The idea hasn’t gotten much traction with drivers so far.
“I think they’re wasting their time,” NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle said Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway. “You’re not going to cut the banking out unless you cut several feet (of track) out. ... I don’t know. I think there are better ways of getting a better show there.”
Biffle had some very definite ideas. “The first thing I’d look at is the tire,” he said. “The second thing is ... if they ground the bottom groove from the center of the corner off and (gave) it a little more grip — then can dictate when they grind it whether they make it smooth. I’m sure that’s hard to do, but if the bottom groove had a little bit more grip coming off the corner, that would probably fix it.”
Kevin Harvick said he was disappointed that drivers were not consulted as to their opinions on what should be done at the track.
“I’m happy that they’re going through the effort that they’re going through, to try to fix it,” Harvick said. “Obviously when they changed it, they tried to make it better. But reading all the stuff this week and listening to the things that were said this week that they don’t want the drivers’ opinion. That’s fine. It’s just one of those deals.”
Biffle was miffed, too.
“We’re the ones driving on the track,” said Biffle. “We’re the ones who knows what it needs. How can somebody who doesn’t drive on the track know what it needs?”
“You can only give responses if you’re asked,” added Jimmie Johnson.
KENSETH SEES CHANGES — Much in NASCAR has changed since 1998, when Matt Kenseth made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut. One of the things that has changed significantly is the structure of Roush Fenway Racing, the three-car team Kenseth drives for.
“When I started it was a five-car team and Mark (Martin) and Jeff (Burton) were over here and Chad (Little) and Kevin (Lepage) were over here,” said Kenseth. “It was really different and nobody talked to each other or shared information. They had their two little groups and it was hard. It is different today because the cars are almost identical and we share every single thing that goes on from the second they start getting built until the race starts and through the race and everything.”
The other big change is the cars themselves. Back then, teams could use a lot more creativity in building their cars. From a team perspective, now the cars are virtually identical in the Roush Fenway fleet, which didn’t used to be the case.
“If you look at the last couple years all our cars run fairly close on the race track,” said Kenseth. “Usually, typically you don’t have a guy win and another guy run 20th and really miss it. It seems like we are all closer to each other than I think you were in years past.”
Kenseth attributes that to the current generation NASCAR Cup car, which was known as the “Car of Tomorrow” when it debuted in 2007.
“I think most of that is really NASCAR and the rules package,” he said. “If you look over the last five or six years from the COT car with how tight all the templates and tolerances are and the gear rules and dyno on the engines. Everything is so close to being the same it is hard to get very far out on a limb anymore.”
VANILLA, MY ASS — One of the strangest moments of Friday morning occurred during Jimmie Johnson’s media availability at Richmond International Raceway. Johnson, the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, recently completed a somewhat bizarre video with Red Bull athletes Travis Pastrana and Andy Bell. The seven-minute video, “5 Steps to Becoming a NASCAR Champion with Jimmie Johnson, Travis Pastrana and Andy Bell,” features the Red Bull athletes ice diving in Speedos, Johnson giving haircuts with a garden shears while wearing a raccoon hat, and a Monty Python-esque slapping scene.
Told by a reporter that the video was both funny and disturbing, Johnson said “I don’t disagree.”
Johnson said he had fun making the clip.
“It’s very true to what Travis does,” Johnson said. “It’s a little different for me, which was fun. Luckily I wasn’t asked to be in a Speedo or take my shirt off or wrestle and beat each other up like those goons did; or swim in the ice or swim in icy water. But it was fun to be a part of that thing. I’m glad people enjoyed it and I do agree. It was slightly disturbing.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
JUNIOR LIKES RGIII — With the National Football League draft in high gear, longtime Washington Redskins fan Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he was happy to see the ‘Skins draft Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III in the first round. Washington traded three first-round and one second-round pick to get the Heisman-trophy winning quarterback and Earnhardt said he is looking forward to RGIII reversing the team’s sagging fortunes.
“I hope it is a good deal, I hope the ‘Skins are successful,” Earnhardt said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. “I hope Robert is successful. He seems like a good guy. It’s going to be fun to be a Redskins fan and see how that plays out this year and see how well he does. I know all the Redskins fans are excited and expecting big things, so am I.”
Earnhardt said he’ll start the 2012 NFL season with high expectations.
“Well you always go in every season hoping for the best and trying to justify the players, the positions they are in and what the teams potential can be,” Earnhardt said. “Every year you start off wishing them to the playoffs and justifying how that might happen. Then the season plays itself out. This season is no different.”
BRISTOL DRAWS BRICKBATS — On Wednesday, Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith announced that the upper lane of Bristol Motor Speedway will ground down and flattened out in an attempt to put some more drama back in the racing. The idea hasn’t gotten much traction with drivers so far.
“I think they’re wasting their time,” NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle said Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway. “You’re not going to cut the banking out unless you cut several feet (of track) out. ... I don’t know. I think there are better ways of getting a better show there.”
Biffle had some very definite ideas. “The first thing I’d look at is the tire,” he said. “The second thing is ... if they ground the bottom groove from the center of the corner off and (gave) it a little more grip — then can dictate when they grind it whether they make it smooth. I’m sure that’s hard to do, but if the bottom groove had a little bit more grip coming off the corner, that would probably fix it.”
Kevin Harvick said he was disappointed that drivers were not consulted as to their opinions on what should be done at the track.
“I’m happy that they’re going through the effort that they’re going through, to try to fix it,” Harvick said. “Obviously when they changed it, they tried to make it better. But reading all the stuff this week and listening to the things that were said this week that they don’t want the drivers’ opinion. That’s fine. It’s just one of those deals.”
Biffle was miffed, too.
“We’re the ones driving on the track,” said Biffle. “We’re the ones who knows what it needs. How can somebody who doesn’t drive on the track know what it needs?”
“You can only give responses if you’re asked,” added Jimmie Johnson.
KENSETH SEES CHANGES — Much in NASCAR has changed since 1998, when Matt Kenseth made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut. One of the things that has changed significantly is the structure of Roush Fenway Racing, the three-car team Kenseth drives for.
“When I started it was a five-car team and Mark (Martin) and Jeff (Burton) were over here and Chad (Little) and Kevin (Lepage) were over here,” said Kenseth. “It was really different and nobody talked to each other or shared information. They had their two little groups and it was hard. It is different today because the cars are almost identical and we share every single thing that goes on from the second they start getting built until the race starts and through the race and everything.”
The other big change is the cars themselves. Back then, teams could use a lot more creativity in building their cars. From a team perspective, now the cars are virtually identical in the Roush Fenway fleet, which didn’t used to be the case.
“If you look at the last couple years all our cars run fairly close on the race track,” said Kenseth. “Usually, typically you don’t have a guy win and another guy run 20th and really miss it. It seems like we are all closer to each other than I think you were in years past.”
Kenseth attributes that to the current generation NASCAR Cup car, which was known as the “Car of Tomorrow” when it debuted in 2007.
“I think most of that is really NASCAR and the rules package,” he said. “If you look over the last five or six years from the COT car with how tight all the templates and tolerances are and the gear rules and dyno on the engines. Everything is so close to being the same it is hard to get very far out on a limb anymore.”
VANILLA, MY ASS — One of the strangest moments of Friday morning occurred during Jimmie Johnson’s media availability at Richmond International Raceway. Johnson, the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, recently completed a somewhat bizarre video with Red Bull athletes Travis Pastrana and Andy Bell. The seven-minute video, “5 Steps to Becoming a NASCAR Champion with Jimmie Johnson, Travis Pastrana and Andy Bell,” features the Red Bull athletes ice diving in Speedos, Johnson giving haircuts with a garden shears while wearing a raccoon hat, and a Monty Python-esque slapping scene.
Told by a reporter that the video was both funny and disturbing, Johnson said “I don’t disagree.”
Johnson said he had fun making the clip.
“It’s very true to what Travis does,” Johnson said. “It’s a little different for me, which was fun. Luckily I wasn’t asked to be in a Speedo or take my shirt off or wrestle and beat each other up like those goons did; or swim in the ice or swim in icy water. But it was fun to be a part of that thing. I’m glad people enjoyed it and I do agree. It was slightly disturbing.”
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
Shake and Bake: Recent Posts
-
Race Day Blog: Sights and Sounds From the Sprint All-Star Race »
-
Daryl Wright Breaks It Down With Pit Road Rapper Kenyatta Houston »
-
Daryl ' Vodkatime ' Wright Takes To Charlotte Motor Speedway »
-
Brad Keselowski's All-Star Car Features Awkward Kyle Busch Photo »
-
Kyle Busch Kicks Off All-Star Weekend With Trucks Win »
-
Dale Earnhardt Sr., Father of the All-Star Paint Scheme »
-
Charlotte Television Schedule: Sprint All-Star Weekend »
-
Trickle Was A Legend »
Kansas Speedway
LATEST HEADLINES: NASCAR
-
CUP: Busches Falter In Final Shootout
Kyle, Kurt Busch lose top spots on pit road prior to 10-lap finale…… -
CUP: Johnson Sets Record With All-Star Win
Jimmie Johnson is now the only four-time winner of the Sprint All-Star… -
CUP: Saturday Charlotte Notebook (UPDATE 14)
Jimmie Johnson wins the the All-Star Race... -
CUP: McMurray, Stenhouse Advance To All-Star
Jamie McMurray dominates Showdown to move into All-Star field with… -
EXCLUSIVE: Kahne Says He And Kyle Busch Are Cool
Kasey Kahne spun out racing Kyle Busch for the lead at Darlington… -
CUP: JGR Heavily Favored, But No Slam Dunk
Joe Gibbs Racing is five-for-five on intermediate-length tracks this… -
CUP: Earnhardt Fond Of 'Home' Track
Dale Earnhardt Jr. grew up a few miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway...… - More News
