Autoblog

Recent spots for Armor All that feature NASCAR's perpetually unshaven Tony Stewart almost make one forget what emblem is now placed on the front of his race car. The television commercials show Stewart staring longingly at a shiny Chevrolet Corvette, despite the fact that he now rolls around the track in a bestickered-to-look-like-a Toyota Camry. Even though Stewart's contract with Joe Gibbs racing extends through 2009; rumor has it that he has been in talks with Haas CNC Racing to put him back behind the bowtie logo by next year. The team gets its Chevy engines and race support through Hendrick Motorsports. There is also an indication that Stewart is interested in a 50-percent stake in the Haas CNC team.

A more controlling team role seems like one that would better suit a vocal driver like Tony Stewart, as he would only have himself to yell at after one of his media outbursts. Plus, any problems with team management would be between he and himself. The situation's likelihood is still a bit far fetched at this point though, as Joe Gibbs Racing seems unwavering in releasing Tony Stewart from his contract early.

[Source: Star Tribune, Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty]

You've heard it all before. "People watch car racing for the crashes," has been a familiar refrain for what seems like forever. While that stereotype surely applies to a portion of the viewers who tune in, most fans watch motorsports because they like motorsports. (How novel, we know.) That said, there's no denying that some crashes are hard not to watch, regardless of your level of interest in racing.

One these occurrences took place yesterday at the Texas Motor Speedway during qualifying for tomorrow's Samsung 500 Sprint Cup race. Michael McDowell was piloting his #00 Aaron's Toyota Camry when the rear end got loose coming out of a turn. Things then got very bad, very quickly, and McDowell went into the wall at around 180 miles per hour. The engine bay burst into flames and the car went into a slide on its roof that led to several barrel rolls before it finally came to rest. Track officials helped McDowell out of the burning car and with a wave to the fans, he walked away.

It's got a silly name, it's not much to look at, and it further homogenizes the field, but the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow seems able to take some very serious punishment while keeping its driver safe. Ultimately, that trumps everything else. We're glad to see that McDowell's okay. Bummer about your car, though, dude.

Thanks to Taylor for the tip.

[Sources: NASCAR, YouTube]

Click above for high-res gallery from Kobalt Tools 500

Toyota is hoping that there is some life left in the old adage, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." While we can't imagine many NASCAR fans driving off the showroom floor in a brand new Camry because of Toyota's 1-2 finish at the Kobalt Tools 500, they do have a few full-size Tundra pickups that could use some help rolling out of dealer's lots. Toyota realizes this, and Les Unger, national motorsports manager of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., notes that there are upcoming NASCAR races in pickup-rich areas like the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest, and Toyota also competes in the Craftsman Truck Series. We can expect to see plenty of NASCAR-specific marketing coming out of Toyota in the near future to promote its historic win, and with industry-giant Joe Gibbs behind Toyota's future NASCAR success, expect to see more of the Camry in the winners-circle.

[Source: Automotive News]

Following this past weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup second place finish, Tony Stewart was not a happy camper. When interviewed after the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sounded off on his great dislike for the series tire sponsor, Goodyear. Many other competitors, from the likes of Dale Earnhart Jr. to Jeff Gordon, also made comments on the difficult tire/track combination experienced during the race, but the hot-headed number 20 was the only one to forgo any sugar coating. He hinted that the tire manufacturer's departure from other prominent race series was a move resulting from incompetency. He claimed, "They (Goodyear) don't have the technology and the people that are smart enough to build a tire. This was pathetic today." He also threw out a comment on how he no longer felt safe in anything equipped with Goodyear tires, including street use. When all was said and done, Mr. Stewart delivered the sponsor a severe verbal beating.

On Monday, Goodyear issued a reply to the heated commentary with a rather text book response. It contended that the company's exit from numerous race series was simply due to the high development costs necessary to compete, not technical inability as implied by Stewart. They also defended their choice of rubber compound by pointing out the lack of issues during numerous test events, along with the absence of complaints after the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. They even mentioned that despite driver grievances, in the eyes of Goodyear and NASCAR, the event was satisfactory. Although, as anyone that received a report card knows, satisfactory should not be the ultimate goal. Goodyear will get a second chance when the series returns to Atlanta in the fall. Hopefully Tony Stewart will have to eat his words once a more extensively tested tire compound is developed for the event.

[Source: Speed TV, Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty]

Many of us here absolutely love The Onion. Though some of us think it was much funnier before the .com was added and when it was only available in a dead-tree version, it still routinely gets laughs out of us.

Now take that irreverent, sarcasm and point it at NASCAR. Not much challenge making fun of the often-lampooned racing series, you might say. But Black Flagged Online does it pretty well. The site features headlines like, "Mike Joy One Boogity Away From Jumping From Broadcast Booth," and "Daytona Fence Relieved with Stewart's Third Place Finish," to classified ads selling things like a 30-pack of Natural Ice with any opened cans at half price.

Also worthy of reading are readers' letters and the editors' responses. One quite-offended NASCAR fan's recent complaint got this response from the site, which we think sums up what BFO is all about:

Please keep in mind there are two things that blackflaggedonline.com doesn't worry about: the truth and fancy luxuries like web design. We are like drinking a cheap beer out of a brown paper bag. No frills.

Funny stuff. And please, if you, too, are offended by their humor, write them a letter so we can get even more laughs out of their response to you.

[Source: Black Flagged Online]

Regardless of whether or not you're a NASCAR fan, there's no denying that the motorsport is starting off its 2008 season in the best possible way. Early festivities for the season opener Daytona 500 began this past weekend and resulted in Jimmie Johnson, last season's champion, taking the pole position. Next to him on the grid will be a somewhat redeemed Michael Waltrip, who was embroiled in a scandal at last year's Daytona 500 that resulted in the largest ever fine handed down from NASCAR at the time.

That would probably be enough for a great kick off to the season, but the newly minted NASCAR Sprint Cup is swimming in merchandise sales after Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout on Saturday in his first race as a member of Hendrick Motorsports. Driving his new No. 88 Chevy, Earnhardt Jr. came out swinging in this exhibition that nets no points for the winner, but is a good omen for winning the 500 next weekend.

[Source: ESPN, Photo by John Harrelson/Getty]

The stupendous amounts of money being spent on the presidential race have got supporters of non-front-running candidates coming up with novel ways to keep up the fight. Aficionados of Republican candidate Ron Paul have created Ron Paul Racing, a web site gathering pledges to brand a NASCAR car during this year's Daytona 500.

This line says it all: "RonPaulRacing.com will reach millions of new supporters as the RON PAUL car shoots down the front straight at 200 MPH screaming 'FREEDOM.'" The site isn't accepting donations now, merely pledges for donations. As of this writing they've collected more than $10,000, but they're looking for more, "all the way to the millions."

The site is apparently in talks with teams about branding. The '08 car belongs to Aric Almirola, but we imagine that's simply a placeholder and they don't really plan on working with the guy who ended last season with an average finishing spot of 34.5. That wouldn't send the right message, would it? If you're so inclined, head over to Ron Paul Racing and let them know you're a fan of freedom. Oh, and the site's musical accompaniment is Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55." If nothing else, we support that (where legal, of course). Thanks for the tip, scanner scott!

[Source: Ron Paul Racing]

Jon Denning, right. Photo courtesy of jondenning.com

The other day I came across "Before the Thunder Rolls: Devotions for NASCAR Fans", a Christian prayer book written by a former NASCAR chaplain. It brought to light for me the degree to which stock car racing and Southern Baptist Christianity intersect. Drivers of Catholic background like Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Dario Franchitti may be making inroads into the sport, but that's of little consolation to Jon Denning.

The budding Jewish racing driver from New Jersey says he's encountered a surprising degree of antisemitism during his climb up the NASCAR ladder. The 20-year-old driver, currently on a visit to Israel, races in the lower-level Whelen All-American Series. He has won seven races in his career and was ranked among the top 500 aspiring stock car drivers before his sponsorship ran dry. Over the course of his experience so far, Denning has described an alarming degree of racism and bigotry in NASCAR, and was even told by colleagues that if he accepted Jesus he'd have better luck on the racetrack. Ouch. Although NASCAR has a diversity program in place, Denning has been refused three times, having been told the program is only for women, Hispanics and African-Americans.

[Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency via Winding Road]

Fines in NASCAR are a common occurrence, and the amounts billed to these bad boy oval racers can be very large. All that money used to pad the deep pockets of the NASCAR gods, but the racing series has announced that all those greenbacks will henceforth go right to the NASCAR Foundation. The NASCAR Foundation is a charitable juggernaut that doles out cash to many different worthwhile causes, some of which are already in the NASCAR family. Now if Jimmy Johnson or Kurt Busch cheats or flips off the crowd, all that money leaving their pockets could go right back into their own charitable organizations. This decision was a good PR move by NASCAR, and though it's not our money to distribute as we please, other racing organizations should follow suit. We wonder if the knowledge that charities will benefit from their indiscretions will encourage NASCAR drivers to break the rules even more.

[Source: NASCAR]

After several years of competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series, Toyota became the first import manufacturer to jump into the big leagues of NASCAR Nextel Cup racing in 2007. The Camry-badged Nextel Cup car started off last season with some high profile rules infractions at the Daytona 500, but actually managed a halfway decent season with two top five and 11 top ten finishes. Given the number of cars that run NASCAR races, that's a better percentage than Toyota's ever managed in Formula One. However, like the F1 team, a Toyota NASCAR entry has yet to score an outright victory.

Toyota's Motorsports VP Jim Aust has declared that this situation will not stand. While the F1 team has been given until 2010 to get its act together, Aust is pretty adamant that the Camry will start winning in 2008 when NASCAR dumps Nextel as its primary sponsor and renames its series the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Now that the company has sorted out its engine for next season's Sprint Cup cars and Joe Gibbs Racing has switched to Toyota, Aust feels that Toyota's time has come. We'll see.

[Source: Toyota Open Road Blog, Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty]