the jade gurss blog

Congrats to Kasey and the Bud Team

A gutsy call in the pits and some good fortune from the fan vote launches Kasey Kahne into the winner's circle at the All-Star race. He's the third to win in Bud colors - preceded by Darrell Waltrip and Dale Jr. (As a bonus trip down victory lane - uh, I mean memory lane, you'll find the chapter about Junior's win in what was then known as The Winston in 2000. It still ranks as one of my most memorable nights among many...)

Too Hype: Is anyone else bothered by the oft-repeated Lowe's Motor Speedway hype which claims the 600 weekend is "the biggest Memorial Weekend party in the world?" It was even included in the pre-race invocation for the hooligan race/last chance/Shootout. Are they aware the holiday is celebrated only in our country, and despite its tarnished image, the Indy 500 still draws a larger crowd on raceday? I guess it's no different than small, local companies using "International" or "Worldwide" in their corporate name.

Shall we start a petition?: Who's with me to petition for Krista Voda to replace Chris Myers full-time on the Fox telecasts?

Now on to our book excerpt... (with photos - as always - from Harold Hinson Photography.)

THE WINSTON

an excerpt from DRIVER #8
copyright 2002 - Warner Books/Dale Earnhardt Jr.
by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jade Gurss

Chapter 15

"hey now, you're an All-Star..."  also known as
"Pit That Son-of-a-Bitch"

      After Richmond, the tour takes a break for a weekend, and it couldn’t come at a better time.  The Winston Cup schedule is the longest of any professional sports season in the world; so to say it is a real grind is a fucking understatement. After a win, you feel like you’ve earned a chance to relax and celebrate. Most of the time, there is no opportunity to enjoy it because there are so many media and sponsor commitments and everyone is right back at the next track in only a few days.  But, having a week off right now is awesome. We can savor that feeling for as long as possible.

    But, the feeling goes away immediately the following Friday, when I learn that Adam Petty has been killed in a crash at New Hampshire. He was practicing for the Busch Series race when he crashed into the wall head-on in turn three.  Adam was only 19 years old, and he was the first fourth-generation American athlete, following his father Kyle, his grandfather Richard and his great-grandfather Lee Petty.

    I can’t believe it – I looked at him almost like a classmate even though he was younger than me. We grew up together, playing in the infield at race tracks with other kids like Jason Jarrett while our dads were busy racing. We shared a lot of interests and we shared a lot of laughs -- he was always smiling and easy going.  He had his grandpa’s electric smile that looked like it was always lit by some sort of hidden spotlight. The fans loved him, and he had the same kind of easygoing, friendly-to-everyone temperament that the entire Petty family seems to carry. He and I also shared the same sort of pressure of trying to live up to the legacy of more than one generation of great race drivers.

(Click to read the remainder of the chapter)

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Here's your shot to help decide who will win the freakin'spectaculous set of double-disc NASCAR DVDs. Practice now for your voting in the November general election... the selections rest in the right-hand column - so click now or forever hold your peace. (Or piece, if you prefer.)

I shouldn't have been shocked - but I was surprised at the high volume of nasty or venomous entries. What I can't understand is how many people claim to be fans, yet do nothing but piss and moan and complain. Until the race starts. Then they're there in the grandstands or in front of their television, ready for yet another round of Sprint Cup action. If a sport I followed made me so seemingly miserable, why would I continue to support it? Anywho - I'm open for suggestions/theories/ideas on that topic. You know where to leave the comments.

One good sign: we had entries and comments from more than the usual three or four people who usually fill the comment section. Whoo hoo! Keep on writing.

We'll announce the winning entry next week - May 22. If you'd like to see all of the entries, scroll to the entry below and select "Comments."

More fun from Jessica Hagy's "indexed" blog...the first is appropriate for the typical racetrack...

 

 

FREE STUFF!!

             

Did I mention FREE STUFF?!

Here's your shot to earn a free gift from fingerprint inc. and the fine folks at A&E Home Video - valued at more than $40.

The first is a two-disc set commemorating the 50th running of the Daytona 500. "50 Years of the Great American Race" includes a massive amount of race footage, including options to watch segments of the 2008 race from the in-car cameras of different drivers (like your own DVD version of DirecTV Hot Pass). The set also includes a number of historical features of the most memorable 500 moments and a round-table discussion with many past winners such as Mario Andretti, the Waltrip brothers, David Pearson and more.

The second set wins for cheesy title of the year (even though it's only May) and it's not yet been released, so you can be the first on the block to get your grubby lil' hands on it. Impress your friends and neighbors! It is also a two-disc set with the title "NASCAR Full Throttle Adrenaline, Parts One and Two."  I've not seen this one, but you can assume it's the usual fare from the NASCAR Images folks - beautiful slo-motion footage, poorly written scripts and NFL Films-style voice over.

SO - here's the deal. One of my first entries when I switched to this new blog locale was about a book called "Not Quite What I Was Planning." (If you missed it, the post is here.) The theory of the book is simple: write a six-word biography of yourself. However, we'll steal a page from the Freakonomics blog and make this a twist on the concept.

WRITE your best six-word biography/motto/slogan for NASCAR. You have 60 years of history to distill into a catchy six-word bio. ("Shake and Bake, That Just Happened" is indeed six words, but I don't think it properly catches the full scope of the contest.) We will select the best ones and put them up for a reader's vote to choose the winning entry. The person who wins will have the two double-disc DVDs rushed to their home or office courtesy of fingerprint inc. and A&E Home Video.

So - start writing. Enter as often as you'd like in the comment section of this blog post. When you enter a comment, the system asks for your email address: this is completely anonymous except to the webmaster so I can contact you when/if you are victorious!

You have until May 15 to submit your best efforts.

Why No Junior/Richmond Post?

Yeah - I got your emails. No, I didn't feel the need to blog about it instantly. (Just part of my therapy for removing myself from the past decade... ha)

What can I say about the last couple of laps of Saturday night's race at Richmond? I felt horrible for Junebug, but what about the other protagonist?  My lack of response is the same reason I rarely rail about Dubya any longer: if you don't know he's a turbo goof by now, nothing I say will convince you otherwise.

A RARE EXAMPLE: Honesty - and a sense of humor - on an American business site. See "the Anti-Portfolio," or the ones that got away.

RAPTURE READY: A new book about the awkward place modern evangelicals have in our culture - is reviewed by Slate.com. Just who IS the Jon Stewart of the christian corner of the world?

199 LIVES: The Travis Pastrana documentary was in theaters for... two days. And it's not yet on DVD for your perusal. But it's quite a film for your future "must see" list. If he had the right publicist behind him, he'd be as big as Dale Jr. My gut thinks he already is bigger among the 25-and-under crowd. Maybe someday I could produce a NASCAR-related documentary as compelling as this one.

And here's a public service for all the ladies out there:

Richmond -- The Best Racing?

Headed off to Richmond for Friday's full day of action. It's always a track I look forward to, so I figured I'd make a goofy list of my fave tracks to attend and a few reasons why. Your mileage may vary.

1.) Richmond -- Nightmare traffic can hamper the experience, but there is absolutely no better racing at any other track on the circuit. Side-by-side action lap-after-lap. A short track that races like a superspeedway. Plus, they race at night, so watch the cars glitter, the pipes belch flames and the brakes glow cherry-red. A great atmosphere - and it's really about the racing.

2.) Bristol -- Not as much of a crashfest as the days of the black #3, but there is no other track where the 160,000 people loom over the track and make as much noise as the race cars. This is a vote for atmosphere and electricity in the air. Bring your earplugs.

3.) Atlanta -- Of all the cookie-cutter tracks, Atlanta almost always produces the most entertaining side-by-side racing and exciting finishes. The facility is nothing to crow-about, though they recovered splendidly from a tornado a few years back. New highway additions have also improved their severe traffic issues - which would have kept the track off this list previously.

Others with high marks in certain areas:   Talladega: the most nail-biting tension. A nice place to visit but I wouldn't wanna live there.  Las Vegas: their new garage/media complex sets the bar high, plus... it's Vegas,  Charlotte: for always being the first to many innovations, Kansas: perhaps home-state bias, but beautifully designed for fans and competitors, and location, location, location as it's adjacent to two major interstates.

Maybe I'll do the worst tracks sometime soon, but you can go ahead and mark "Pocono" at the top of that list in permanent Sharpie.

GOOD NEWS: The pig has been found!

From WIRED Magazine: Racers are "Elite Athletes"

WIRED Magazine presents an unbiased look at the physiological and mental elements of piloting a racecar at or near 200 mph with an interactive chart. The graphic is of a Formula One car, but the text includes a lot of NASCAR-related details.

Send the link to your nitwit friends who argue racecar drivers are not athletes. (Or those who soberly insist "I could do that... it's easy...")

In other news:

Atlantic City Cocktail Waitress Crowned in Mistress USA Pageant

and get your MILF ISLAND t-shirts before they're gone! (In case you're not familiar with the show, click to watch the latest!)

Ya think the drivers have it easy?

While it is true the drivers get most of the attention, glamour and the big payday while risking limb and well-being on the track - it is not (usually) true they get to lounge and do nothing while they're not in the racecar.

Here is a small photo album to give you a quick look at the items awaiting an autograph this week for Kevin Harvick. And these represent only this week. The Sharpies are ready and in-place for him to sign each of the items.

I'm not claiming KH (driver of the ol' two-niner car) is under heavy strain while signing the items, but imagine doing this 52 times a year in addition to all of the sponsor appearances during the week and the autographs signed at the track during each two or three-day race event.

Limber up that wrist and get to signing!

Oh, and by the way, he hates gunk.

SOOO cool to see Ashley Force put it on her ol' dad in the final round at Atlanta to becomes the first female Funny Car winner. In my years with the Bud crew, I recall them being star-struck only three times: 1.) when Duane "the Rock" Johnson was at the track in Texas (They are still mad at me after I had promised he was scheduled to visit the Bud hauler but couldn't because he was running late.), 2.) when the scruffy guys from "The Deadliest Catch" were at Charlotte and 3.) when Ashley Force visited at Las Vegas. Her autographed hero card stayed in the Bud lounge the remainder of the season. I don't recall too many complaints when visitors such as Sheryl Crow or Pamela Anderson came to Bud pits to watch part of a race, but I think most of 'em were too shy to say much to either of them.

Saturday's Completely Random Rantings

Why Tivo is one of the greatest inventions ever: This weekend's races in Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Truck Series, ARCA, F1, GP2, NHRA and the IRL. Luckily I have two Tivos to keep up - and also allow time to actually eat and have a weekend of sorts including a Sunday afternoon Endurance Karting race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. (Photo added only under duress... thanks to teammate Dr. John Connaughton. Full disclosure: we were fifth overall, but first in the "old men" category.)

Get Well Dario: The hit Dario Franchitti took from a careening backmarker (after his car suffered a blown rear Goodyear tire) was incredibly scary. The flipping/twisting crashes get the airtime, but the kind of grinding impact into the side of Dario's car is where a driver is very likely to be injured. I was relieved to see him upright - though limping - to the ambulance. And WTF was Kevin Lepage thinking? It's only April - but he has secured a win for the dumb-ass move of the year award. Another very scary moment indeed.

MULLET STRATEGY:  I am convinced several major websites are using the mullet strategy with their motorsports pages/writers. These are major search or sports sites with millions of hits - yet have the worst motorsports beat writers. It's one thing to be a less-than-sparkling writer, it's another to be consistently wrong, inaccurate or driven more by ego than facts. A recent example was a hatchet-job on Danica Patrick's win in Japan - completely without validity except to feed the author's ego. I'd mention the sites, but why give 'em more traffic than deserved? (This is NOT to be confused with having a "big hair house...")

UNO-DOS: How about a 1-2 Truck Series finish in Kansas for Kevin Harvick Inc? One year ago, KHI cars finished 1-2 at Talladega with Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart in the Nationwide Series. It's win #34 for #33, Ron Hornaday.

LIKE WEARING A FULL WINDSHIELD ON YOUR NOSE: Kyle Busch MUST have a million-dollar sunglass deal. It would take at least that much to get me to wear something that big and ugly on my face.

Just for Laughs:  Winning sarcasm at "Stuff White People Like." Their list is up to #96! What items would you add?

Fingers crossed for a safe Cup race Sunday.