the jade gurss blog

Happy Holiday Weekend

Just as Freddy Mercury and the boys imagined it...

Did He Hit You?

With the high likelihood of Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and Hendrick Motorsports winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship this weekend, I thought back eight years to my first brief brush with Knaus on June 24, 2001.

It was a sunny and warm raceday at Sears Point (nee Infineon) Raceway in Sonoma, only two weeks before Dale Jr. would score a dramatic and emotional victory at Daytona. The confidence level was never very high at the California road course, so the Budweiser team and driver seemed almost relieved to score a lead-lap finish in 19th place, despite several late-race, off-course excursions. 

“God a’mighty!," Dale Jr. laughed on the radio during his cool-down lap. "Those last couple o’ laps were crazier than hell! I came into the hairpin coming to the white flag and it was just a wall of dirt and smoke and shit all over the place. I just tried to get through it…”

As he pulled toward the team hauler, the first thing Dale Jr. asked for was a towel. In hot, dry weather, he would occasionally get a nose bleed inside the racecar.  He took his helmet off and began to wipe away blood when he quickly and urgently said to me: "Here comes Stacy Compton! Stand right here -- just in case!"

Just in case of what I was unsure, but I suspected the possibility of some post-race aggression. 

It seems Dale Jr. had provided some final-lap, extra-curricular contact on Compton, who dropped to the 24th position driving for the underdog No. 92 Melling team. Compton strode up the red No. 8 car as I stepped aside slightly, bracing myself to somehow leap into action if needed. 

 "What the hell was that?!," Compton asked with anger as he stuck his head slightly inside the window. "I don't race you like that!"

"I didn't mean to get into you," Dale Jr. replied. "I was just holding my line!"

"Well, we don't race each other like that. That's bullshit! (Or perhaps something stronger but closely resembling that remark). We've always raced each other clean, and I'll remember that!," spat Compton as he stood and walked away. 

Junior quietly chuckled and began to unhook his seat belts, then said warily, "Oh no, here comes his little crew chief. Stay right there." 

Enter Chad Knaus, then a rookie crew chief with the Melling team, who walked, notebooks in hand, toward the car and saw Dale Jr. with a bloodied towel. 

"Did he hit you?!" Knaus snapped.

"Naw," Junior drawled, bracing for a tongue lashing or worse from the tightly wound crew chief. 

"I wanted to say 'thank you,'" were the surprising and very unexpected words from Knaus. "We need our driver to get up on the wheel, and if he's in your way, you just move his ass over! Thanks, man."

After climbing out of the car, Junior shook his head and laughed about the intense crew chief. "That was... strange." he said.

Thanks to EnduranceKarting.com!

Big thanks to Johan and Karen Schwartz from EnduranceKarting.com for running a superb event on a glorious Sunday morning at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It was B.A.F.**

(**= Big Ass Fun!)  

Dr. John Connaughton and yours truly teamed in the Sunday enduro, finishing second in the GT40 Pro category (for racers 40 and older... aka Geezers... ha!) and tenth overall in a 27-kart starting field of drivers from across the U.S. and Canada. 

In semi-related news, it was very surprising to learn that your kind author is currently ranked among the Top-50 'indoor' kart racers in the United States. Somehow the kind folks at IndoorKartingNews.com awarded me their "Hard Charger Award" for the month of October. (The linked page loads slowly if you see no story at first.) Fame is fleeting however, as I'll certainly drop out of the top-50 in November since I didn't attend the National Indoor Karting Championships several weeks ago in Phoenix. 

Up next? The second annual 12 Hours of Victory Lane in Charlotte the weekend of Dec. 5. 

In Praise of The Jayhawks (the band)

It's been a long while since I've written about music, and I was inspired this evening while listening to the chiming tones of the Jayhawks.  

Though Minneapolis was a hotbed through the 1980s with rock and R&B acts like His Purpleness (ahem... Prince), the Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum and the Time, the early 1990s marked the emergence of  a self-described "incredibly loud folk band" known as the Jayhawks. They soon became one of the involuntary leaders of the American musical movement known by the interchangeable names of Alt-Country, Americana, No Depression, or (my fave) Y'all-ternative. (See also: Uncle Tupelo and Gram Parsons.) 

The Jayhawks were led by the twin towers of singer/songwriters Gary Louris and Mark Olson, whose delicate voices blended in a glorious, silky manner which echoed the harmonies of the Everly Brothers and was compared to other famous duos like Lennon and McCartney and Difford and Tillbrook. These days, their soaring sound can be heard in acts like Keith Urban, who owes a debt of gratitude to the Jayhawks. (In their later albums, the combo also included former Kansan Tim O'Reagan on drums and harmonies.)

Here are a few of their finest and tastiest cuts... (Click the icon for the audio)

Waiting for the Sun

"Waiting for the Sun" from the 1992 album "Hollywood Town Hall"

Blue

I'd Run Away

"Blue" and "I'd Run Away" from the 1995 album "Tomorrow the Green Grass"

I'm Gonna Make You Love Me

"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" from the 2000 album "Smile"

Enjoy.

Your Turn

I see the gaping collective yawn regarding paint schemes, so let's stir the pot with a purely hypothetical (emphasis added) question: if there were a book written about Dale Jr's "Budweiser" years, what events would you most like to read about? What behind-the-scenes stories are you most interested in learning? Here's your shot to have your say, so let the suggestions fly in the 'Comments' section. 

What I'm Reading These Days: 

The Lefsetz Letter:  Unless you're really into music or the music business, some of this is a little 'Inside Baseball,' but there's no mistaking his passion for the music. I don't always share his taste in artists, but I love the energy.

Awkward Family Photos: Oh, devilish good fun. Who doesn't have a few of these stashed away in a shoebox somewhere?

Jeff MacGregor: Some might recognize Jeff from his NASCAR book "Sunday Money," but he's now doing a column at ESPN.com on the question of "what are sports for?" A superb literary writer who's scary smart and always set on full power. 

Corn Flakes with John Lennon: the new book by Robert Hilburn. Sadly, it's not available for the Kindle. 

Autosport.com: All fast things not-NASCAR. (And some NASCAR too, if you must...)

Wired.com: 'cuz it's good to be informed. And wired.

Google FastFlip: New and interesting. For interesting news.

UPDATE: For those who enjoyed the Greg Moore blog entry (see below), here's a lengthy piece about Greg from a Canadian paper. A lot of good memories with Dario Franchitti, Jimmy Vassar, Max Papis and Tony Kanaan. It will be 10 years ago on the last day of October.

There is one here as well (with several nice photos), and I'm sure more to come in the next couple of days. 

SPEEDtv.com has a rememberance from Robin Miller and a nice photo retrospective as well. 

What's Up With Special Paint Schemes?

Special paint schemes in the Cup Series used to be just that: special. It was a one-time thing, maybe at the All-Star race or perhaps the Bud Shootout. Now, we see untold numbers of paint schemes that cascade across the season, which undermines any effort to be memorable, unique or meaningful. 

The confusion of running multiple paint schemes is a problem that will only get worse as teams increasingly rely on many sponsors for each car. By rotating five or six sponsors and paint schemes, the ordinary fan has no idea what to look for each week. Quick - do you know what color Jamie McMurray's car will be this week? Can you guess what sponsor Elliott Sadler's car will have? My bet is unless you are an extreme fan, you have no idea. And that is not good for any of the companies spending millions of dollars to go racing. Will teams and sponsors follow the lead of the No. 5 Hendrick car, where multiple brands work together as a part of a single, universal scheme? 

The one-off specials were also used to sell more merchandise and die-cast cars. Based upon the financial gloom facing Motorsports Authentics, it seems only drivers whose name ends in "Earnhardt" truly move product these days. 

In case you missed it, Budweiser and the USOC announced that Kasey Kahne will drive a special Olympic-themed paint scheme at the first two races of the 2010 season. The proceeds of the diecast sales will go to the USOC. So, why would I have a negative view of such a well-intentioned cross-promotional program? Tell me, will you buy an Olympic diecast? And will you tune in to look for a white Bud car in the biggest race of 2010? (Seriously, use the "Comments" section to have your say.)

The photo above is the only passable one I could find in an extensive web search (which is another issue altogether). Quick -- tell me how that photo says "Budweiser" in any way? The underwhelming bland design (Oh, I get it... white... snow... winter Olympics) is one thing, but the brand messaging is even worse, which is surprising based on the track record of the good beer folks in St. Louis. Historically, the Bud marketing team fought to keep changes to the look of the car to a minimum each season, relying upon an immediately recognizable design.

The Daytona 500 coincides with the Olympics, so the timing - on first glance - makes sense using racing's biggest stage to promote Bud's sizable USOC investment. The tie-in between the two programs has history, as Bud has run Olympic paint schemes in the past. Dale Jr. ran an Olympic paint scheme at Bristol in August of the 2000 season. However, that scheme merely added flourishes to the recognizable red design. 

By running a non-descript car in the event that draws the largest television audience of the 2010 racing season, Budweiser will fail to leverage more than a quarter-century of NASCAR equity. How many will tune-in to see the red number 9 car - only to be forced to search for a plain white car out of a field of 43? 

The lessons of 2004 have been forgotten, when Dale Jr. won the 500 with the "Born-on dating" color palette. It was a missed opportunity for Budweiser, not only because it didn't show up well on television, but for many years to come. The iconic, simple and bold red scheme is not associated with a memorable Daytona 500 victory. 

To boil it down to the simplest terms, the goal is to make it easy for fans to find your car and your branding on television week after week. Viewers, whether they be die-hards or casual, shouldn't have to search. 

Maybe I'm missing something, as the Budweiser sports marketing people have a long track record of doing things very much the right way. Because of that, maybe I'm holding them to a higher standard.  Still, this one seems like a swing and a miss.

-----

According to People.com, Dale Jr. will be a presenter at the CMA Awards. I wonder how much arm-twisting was applied to get him to agree to that appearance? Could it compare with his 2001 appearance at the MTV Music Video Awards? You can read all about that evening (in three parts!) by clicking the link to surf on over to ye olde blog. (Did I mention it's in three parts?)  

WTH?!

Vintage fun. (Those were the days...)  Feel free to add your two cents in the "Comments" section below. Enjoy.