Tuesday, June 26, 2007

NASCAR hits hard at Hendrick - but not that hard

NASCAR came down hard against the 24 and 48 teams today, giving them identical penalties that befell the 8 team after Darlington: 100 points (owner & driver) lost, $100,000 fine, and a 6 week suspension for the Crew Chief. This was on top of both teams being unable to practice on Friday, and unable to qualify as well, forcing them to settle for the 41st and 42nd starting spots, respectively. Gordon finished 7th, while Johnson finished 17th in Sunday's race at Sears Point.

While the COT penalties were identical to that of the 8 team, their effect is not. Gordon had led the points by 271, now it's only 171. He is still up on 13th place by 700+ points, and still has the same amount of wins bonus at the Chase cutoff as he did before. Johnson falls from 3rd to 5th in points, but remains 366 points behind Gordon, and is up on 13th place by about 350 points. Like Gordon, Johnson also still has the same amount of wins bonus as he had before.

With 10 races until the Chase, barring a major injury keeping either from several races, they will make the Chase. The 8 car is on the bubble - they were in Chase territory when the penalty was applied, and had to climb back into place. The 8 is 96 points ahead of 13th - but would have been 196 and in 10th place.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Esposito - the steal of the draft

A year ago, Angelo Esposito was predicted to be the #1 overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft. Since then, he slid down several charts but was still thought to be a top-10 pick. No one expected him to fall down the board as he did last night - falling all the way to #20 and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He is a center, and God knows the Pens are loaded at center with Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Talbot and Christensen, but GM Ray Shero stuck to getting the best player available when the Pens turn came. If he can transition to a wing as well as Staal did, combined with not having the pressure of being "The Guy" with the Pens (that he faced in Jr this past year), he will thrive in Pittsburgh.

In other news, my prediction of the other night turned out incorrect - it was announced yesterday that the Pens had re-signed both Roberts and Recchi. I had predicted that Recchi would stay but that Roberts would be lured elsewhere. Good and glad to be wrong in this case - Roberts brings a lot to the team.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Pre Draft thoughts - will Recchi and Roberts stay or go?

With the 2007 NHL Entry Draft just 24 hours away (the first round is in prime-time on Vs, DirecTV channel 608, tomorrow evening at 7pm), and free agency not far behind, the question in Pittsburgh is whether 8 and 10, Recchi and Roberts, will stay or go. Both are unrestricted free agents, free to negotiate with any team after midnight on July 1st.

Roberts waived his no-trade clause in his prior contract to come to Pittsburgh from Florida at the deadline. He has said he wants to be close to his daughter in Toronto, and it was rumored he would only waive the no-trade clause for the Maple Leafs or the Senators. The NHL world was surprised when he landed in Pittsburgh, and many speculate that the Sens failure to get him cost Ottawa GM John Muckler his job early this week when he was fired. (The Sens beat Roberts' Pens in the first round, 4-1, and made it to the Stanley Cup finals, but lost 1-4)

If Toronto or Ottawa is determined to shell out $, they should easily be able to beat what Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero is willing to offer.

As for Mark Recchi, the Pens brought him back for 2006-2007 at the $2.28M that his contract option would have been had it be exercised by Carolina after the Pens had traded him at the deadline. Carolina declining the option allowed Recchi to sign with any team he chose to do so with, even though he had just won the Cup with Carolina, and Recchi gladly took the Pens offer. Recchi had a strong season overall, but he struggled down the stretch. The question is, how much will Recchi be willing to take to stay in Pittsburgh? It is thought that he would have few other suitors, and his offseason home is still in Pittsburgh from when he was here the first time. Ideally he will retire a Pen, but there is yet some life in his legs.

Gut prediction: Roberts gone, Recchi back at a reduced salary.

Monday, June 18, 2007

A good read on TNT rushing to Van Helsing

John Daly of the Daly Planet expresses well what had bothered me yesterday but I did not take the time to write about, where TNT started the Van Helsing movie with near 15 minutes left on their NASCAR time slot.

He writes:
Basically, TNT did the mandatory interview with the winner, interviewed both DEI drivers, and then sprinted for the airplane. There was not a moment after the race where anyone except Larry McReynolds was "fired up" about what just went on during the race. If this had been an event that ran long on time, fans might understand. After a long rain delay like Pocono, leaving quickly is understood.

But, for a network like TNT who has only six NEXTEL Cup races in their entire schedule for the year, this was strange. When you add-in the fact that fifteen minutes remained in the scheduled time slot for this event, it becomes even stranger.


NBC was guilty of this last year, and some of the team are the same (Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach, Jr., for example), of rushing off into the sunset, sometimes with barely more than the winner's interview. In most cases, the race went past the scheduled allotment of time, and it was hurry up to get back to whatever other programming was on. As Mr. Daly notes, last week's Pocono coverage makes one wonder who runs the operation over there, as TNT stayed with the rain delays much longer than expected, even though it was well past the original time slot.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

DEI surprises with two top-5s at Michigan

DEI drivers Martin Truex, Jr., (2nd) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (5th) finished strong at Michigan, in a race where Truex led lots early, and Earnhard led once during green flag stops midway through. Carl Edwards broke a near-two-year losing streak in earning the win, with Truex some 2 seconds back. Truex beat 3rd place finisher Tony Stewart to the line by some 17 seconds. Only 9 cars finished on the lead lap, as Edwards lapped 10th place finisher Michael Waltrip (made the race and had a good finish, but is still 48th in owner points) coming to the white flag, and almost lapped Jeff Gordon (9th) at the checkers.

The finishes put both DEI drivers in the Chase, with Earnhardt finally overcoming the 100 point penalty after Darlington. Truex sits in 10th, Earnhardt 12th, with 11 races left to the cutoff. Truex's runner-up finish continues an average finish of 2nd from two races to three, having finished 3rd at the rain-shortened Pocono race and having won at Dover.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Crosby nets "triple crown" - Hart, Pearson & Ross

The Penguins Sindey Crosby took home all the hardware last night at the 2006-2007 NHL awards ceremony - he already had clinched the Art Ross Trophy as the regular season point leader, and took home the Lester B. Pearson Award (best player voted by players) and the Hart Memorial Trophy (MVP as voted by the writers). He won both the Pearson and Hart going away.

Penguins Rookie Evgeni Malkin came away with the Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year, winning over Paul Statsny by a wide margin. Pens rookie Jordan Staal came in third in the voting. Coach Therrien accepted on behalf of Malkin, who was out of county. Therrien made a joke that he left messages for Geno in English and in Russian - and that his "Russian must not be so good".

The only trophy the Pens were up for but did not win was the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year. Pens coach Michel Therrien finished third in the voting behind Vancouver's Vigneault and Buffalo's Ruff. The other two were separated by less than 10 votes, with Therrien

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

It must be bad news for the rest of the field...

Fred hasn't even formally announced yet and he's already pulled even with Giuliani in the polls for the GOP nomination. The other Republican candidates are quaking, and the Democrat candidates are sending attack-dogs out after Fred as well.

Fred has a dirty secret - his stances are well known, and they aren't changing. That is one of the things that brings voters to him, and that is not good news for others who have problems with changing their mind over time.

NHL Awards Banquet tomorrow

Thursday marks the last step in the 2006-2007 season in the form of the Awards Banquet, where the winners will be announced for the major awards, and the trophies presented. It will be televised on the Versus network.

Next up after that is the 2007 Entry Draft, to be held in Columbus on Friday June 22 (Round 1 @ 7pm) and Saturday June 23. (Rounds 2-7 start @ 10am) The draft is quickly followed by free agency on July 1.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Thoughts on Dale Jr going to Hendrick

As odd as the thought seems in the abstract, this factoid from an evening NASCAR.com article sheds new light on the whole "enemy" concept some Dale fans may have concerning Earnhardt and Hendrick:



Hendrick, with six total championships on NASCAR's premier series, fits with Earnhardt's desires to drive for a contender and to continue to pilot Chevrolets. The Hendrick team also had ties to Earnhardt's late father, who shook down the first car the organization ever built, and was behind the wheel when team owner Rick Hendrick recorded his first NASCAR victory in a Busch race at Charlotte in 1983.

When Jr. made his announcement in May that he was leaving DEI, there were three possible locations given his self-restriction to Chevrolet: Childress, Gibbs & Hendrick. Childress was always the sentimental favorite, since Dale Sr won 6 championships in the RCR 3 car. But the pressure Dale Jr would face there would be intense, something it seemed he was not ready for. Gibbs refusal to have a sponsor such as Budweiser all but ruled him out, even though Dale Jr would have fit very well with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Hendrick had a full stable to NASCAR's 4 team limit, but would seem to be the best fit for Jr.'s career development.

I don't have to like Jeff Gordon or Hendrick as a person, but my guess is I will mellow over time, much like once JG broke the 76 barrier, what does it matter to me how many more he wins? I think the dislike had more to do with the Sr-Gordon rivalry of the mid-90s, even knowing the two were friends off the track.

Enter today, and the leak of information that Jr will announce tomorrow he is indeed moving to Hendrick, and the rampant speculation he will supplant Kyle Busch in the 5, much like he did earlier in the year at Texas, after Busch had wrecked Jr, and left the track thinking his car was done. Jr was asked to get in the car as a favor to a friend on the 5 crew, so he did. Speculation ensued that Jr might be going to Hendrick then, well before his May announcement he was leaving DEI.

(EDIT - I saw this ESPN article by Terry Blount Wednesday morning, with some thought similar to mine, but perhaps better said)

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Craftsman Twin-75 night at ODS

Last night I was able to attend an evening at Old Dominion Speedway for the first time since the 2006 season. Although the day itself was a roaster, the evening was quite pleasant. The adult admission was $15 for this slate of races - Twin-75 lappers for the Late Models, 50 laps for the Grand stocks, 30 for the mini-modifieds and 30 for the speedway sportsman. The fields were smaller than I had remembered - there were 5 cars in the speedway sportsman race, and even the late models only had 11 for the first race.

The programs are again $3 this year, but the cover is on heavy gloss paper this year, an improvement in quality over last year. Fosters no longer has the food concession at the track - I was a bit disappointed to learn that after I had arrived, as I had only though to bring bottles of water and did not pack in food. (I would later order takeout from Philadelphia Tavern in Manassas - the best cheesesteaks around - not as good as Geno's in Philly, but it'll do in a pinch)

There were plenty of spins and wrecks on the night - including one on the first lap of the first Late Model race that knocked out the eventual 1st and 3rd place finishers in the 2nd late model race. Lots of loose race cars, and the occasional black-flag for spinning another competitor... Results

Craftsman Tools was the major sponsor for the night - from gifts to fans, both those wearing Craftsman logo items to those ticket numbers randomly pulled, to larger gifts to the winners of the major race divisions.

Also different for 2007 was the moving of the track entrance from along the frontstretch where it had always been over to off of turn two. The former location now sports a brick wall backed by a dirt berm. There have also been some wooden stands erected in turns 1 and 4, apparently for local TV, as it was announced that Comcast has been televising select races from select nights on their local cable outlets. In addition, the track itself apparently tapes every race, and gave out a few DVDs of those to people with birthdays.

I for one am glad that the track has survived to another season, and would hope that they will race again in 2008, and I look forward to making it back several more times in 2007.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

ODS lives another year

I am a little late to the party, only learning today that Old Dominion Speedway (ODS) in Manassas, Virginia, has survived to open for the 2007 racing season, both on the short-track and drag-strip.

Last season, the track was sold to developers, and it was thought that 2006 would be the last season of racing. Enter the slight downturn in the Northern Virginia real estate market, and a temporary reprieve from demolition.

ODS presents an evening of racing that is still affordable to the masses - with adult prices ranging from $15-20 depending on the card. The Saturday night on the short-track features 5-6 racing series each night, with shorter distances and breaks in between that you don't see at the major league NASCAR level. ODS's premier division, the Late Models, competes against other tracks in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, and ODS had the 2003 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series National Champion, Winchester's Mark McFarland. (McFarland would later get a ride in the NASCAR Busch Series in the 88 Navy car for JR Motorsports for 2005, and part of 2006 before he was replaced by Shane Huffman) McFarland won a whopping 15 of 17 late model races at ODS that season - and finished 2nd in each of the other two. That same season, he ran late models at another track in Southeastern Virginia on Friday nights, and won the track title there too.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Day 52 - silent again

Day 52 sees GM/Saturn/Saturn of Manassas silent again. It has been 23 days since Saturn of Manassas was last heard from (that was by phone from the service clerk).

Busch penalty puts Truex in Chase top 12

The heavy penalty against Kurt Busch (#2 Miller Lite Dodge) that NASCAR imposed on thursday, that of a 100 point hit in the standings, both driver and owner, moved Martin Truex, Jr., into the 12th and final spot for the chase, still 632 points behind the leader, and bumped Dale Earnhardt, Jr. into 14th in the standings, just 23 points behind Truex. The surprise in the mix is Mark Martin, who, despite missing three races, sits in 11th in Driver points and is still in chase contention.

Truex's win on Monday was the first for the DEI #1 car since Steve Park at Rockingham in February 25, 2001 - a week after Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap at the Daytona 500. The only other time the DEI #1 car won was in August of 2000 at Watkins Glen, also Steve Park. DEI's cup wins now stand at 17 for the #8 car (All Dale Earnhardt, Jr.), 4 for the #15 car (all Michael Waltrip, three at Daytona and one at Talledega), and now 3 for the #1 car, for a total of 24 team Cup wins, including three Daytona 500s. DEI has also won the All-star race in the #8, and the Bud Shootout as well in the #8, and a Nextel Open event with the #1 car this year.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Anaheim Drinks From The Cup

The Anaheim Ducks (Formerly the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) won hockey's holy grail last night, beating Ottawa in 5 games. They became the first team west of Colorado to win the cup since 1925's Victoria Cougars, before the NHL took full control of the Cup.

Day 51, no green card from Saturn of Manassas; no reply from GM

Thursday June 7, 2007's mail delivery came and went with no items from Saturn, GM or Saturn of Manassas. Today is two weeks since Saturn's Jill Lajdziak received our letter, with still no response by like means. Saturn of Manassas is still AWOL on the green return-receipt card - they should have gotten their copy of the letter prior to the three Detroit GM addressees. GM received their copies 9 days ago and have not made any further contact. Perhaps it is time for a letter directly to GM about Ms. Lajdziak's failure to respond.

Fred Dalton Thompson for President

I previously endorsed Fred Thompson here, but now that his fundraising machine is live, I have backed up my endorsement with a contribution. You too can contribute.




RedState has some details behind the new I'm With Fred site.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Day 50, Awaiting response; GM receipt cards in, SoM AWOL

Two weeks ago today a letter was Fedexed to the General Manager of Saturn Corporation, Jill Lajdziak. No response has yet been received. Copies of this letter were sent certified, return receipt requested to three at GM in Detroit and Saturn of Manassas on Friday, May 25, 2007. The green reciept cards for the three at GM arrived today, Wednesday June 6, 2007. The one local, that of Saturn of Manassas, still has not arrived.

Now that receipt by the three at GM (Chairman & CEO G. Richard Wagoner, Jr; President of GM North America Troy A. Clarke & VP of GM North America for Sales, Service & Marketing Mark R. LaNeve) has been confirmed, now we await a response. All three were signed for by the same person, a D. Anderson, on Tuesday, May 29, 2007.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Day 49, GM silent still

Day 49, Tuesday June 5, 2007, saw still no return receipt cards from any of the GM Detroit addressees, nor the Saturn of Manassas local addressee.

more subaru - on subarutribeca.blogspot.com

I've branched out some of the Subaru content to http://subarutribeca.blogspot.com/ - check there for additional posts about the ongoing experiences with our new Tribeca.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Truex breaks through with 1st win at Dover

DEI driver of the Bass Pro Shops #1 Chevrolet, Martin Truex, Jr., scored a breakthrough win at the rain-delayed race at Dover today. Truex started 26th on the field, but went on to lead 216 laps en route to his first career NASCAR points win. (He won the Nextel Open two weeks ago at Charlotte, to transfer into the All-Star race, but that's not a points race. He won't have to race the open next year, as this win gets him directly in the All-Star race in 2008). Polesitter Ryan Newman led 135 laps, but finished 2nd, some 6+ seconds behind Truex.

Truex's win broke Hendrick's five-race winning streak, and was the first non-Hendrick car to win a Car of Tomorrow race. (Kyle Busch and two each for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson) For 2007, there has been one ford win (Kenseth @ California), and of the 12 other races, all have been won by Chevrolet -- Hendrick has won 9, split 4 for Jimmie Johnson, 3 for Jeff Gordon, and one each for Kyle Busch and Casey Mears; RCR winning two, Harvick at the Daytona 500 and Jeff Burton at Texas, (plus Harvick won the All-star race); and now Truex at Dover.

The sad news: NASCAR announced the death of William C. France (Bill France Jr) during the race, spoiling some of the celebration for Truex. France had overseen the modern era of NASCAR, taking over for his father in 1972. It is a sad day for NASCAR - as much as his father was responsible for getting things off the ground, it was Bill France Jr who saw racing into the national limelight and #2 sport.

Kudos to Subaru of America

Our recent purchase of a 2007 Subaru Tribeca featured version 1.1 of their navigation software. A visit to my.subaru.com this AM saw version 2.0 for sale on there, for a price of $248. I was curious how long the new version had been out, so I sent an email from their contact form online. Specifically, I wanted to know whether the 2.0 had been released before we had purchased our Tribeca on 5-30-07. The answer was yes, but that 1.1 was current when our vehicle was manufactured. I had stated I didn't feel paying $248 was right if 2.0 had already been released, and although I did not specifically request it, Subaru will be sending the 2.0 version to us free of charge.

Subaru's response was lightning fast for a web form - under two hours. And in a stark contrast with Saturn, Subaru did not attempt to make excuses, they made it right. Subaru appears to understand customer service. $248 might not seem like much after purchasing a car of over $30k, but Subaru exhibited yet another reason why they are a good company to deal with.
Their small act of "goodwill" will get retold as much as Saturn's failure to back their product.

Day 48, still no green cards from GM, Saturn of Manassas

Monday, June 4 passed with the four green return-receipt cards still out there, not yet delivered to my mailbox. GM's timing is almost understandable, as they would have gotten the letter copies on our about May 29-30. Saturn of Manassas's is not - as they would have gotten their copy on May 26, 2007, more than a week ago.

One begins to question whether they are refusing to sign for their mail - and in the process deepening their sink into poor customer service.

This story is getting around - to more people and in more states than GM would care to admit. The more I tell the story, the more it gets retold, by people here in Virginia, and as far away as Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois. It spreads from there to Maryland, California, Texas, Massachusetts and Georgia.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Day 46, Still Awaiting GM's response

Just like day 45 (Friday), Saturday June 2, 2007 passes with no green return receipt cards in the mail, not even from local Saturn of Manassas, who should have received the letter on 5-26. (The copies of the Saturn letter were sent certified, return-receipt requested, from the Fairfax main post office, 22030, on Friday, May 25, 2007 - Saturn of Manassas is local at 20109)

One must wonder if Saturn of Manassas is refusing to pick up their mail.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Day 45, Still Awaiting GM's response

Friday June 1 makes day 45 in the saga, with no response yet from GM or Saturn of Manassas, and none of the green return receipt cards have arrived yet, not even from the local dealer, whose copy of the letter should have been delivered to them on Saturday, May 26, 2007.