Academy Sports To Sponsor HOFR No. 96, Labonte

Hall Of Fame racing announced that Academy Sports + Outdoors will sponsor Bobby Labonte and the No. 96 Ford for five races next season beginning at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The retailer will also sponsor the car at the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

HOF Racing, in addition to signing Labonte, recently formed an alliance with Yates Racing, and has secured sponsorship from Ask.com.

Tire Issues For Earnhardt Jr. Again

Last year it was engines, this year it is tires that plague Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

Last weekend at the Amp Energy 500 from Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt Jr blew, or cut depending on who you ask, a tire in practice and crashed. He had to go to a backup car.

This weekend at the Bank of America 500 from Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Earnhardt Jr. blew a tire on lap 103, hitting the wall and sustaining heavy damage that would effectively end his night.

At the Camping World RV 400 from Dover International Raceway, Earhnardt Jr. blew a right side tire and spun, again effectively ending his race.

At the Coca Cola 600 from Lowe’s, Earnhardt Jr. was leading when he blew a tire and hit the wall.

Add these incidents in with all the times Jr. complained of a bad set of tires and it makes you wonder what is going on. Personally, I think there has to be something with the set up of the car, for him to be blowing tires so often.

To quote Harry Hogge from Days of Thunder: “There’s [43] other vultures out there who manage to finish the race on THEIR tires.” Why don’t you see other teams having so many tire problems?

I don’t know the answer to that question. But, in the off season, this team better figure out what this issue is and fix it, otherwise this team won’t be winning a championship any time soon.

Edwards, Harvick Confrontation

ESPN is reporting that Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick were involved in an altercation in the Nationwide Series garage at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

According to eye witness accounts, Edwards approached Harvick to talk. The conversation turn “heated,” and Harvick turned to walk away, when Edwards grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. Harvick then shoved Edwards, according to witnesses, who landed on the hood of Harvick’s No. 33 Chevy, leaving a dent.

Harvick’s motorcoach driver then put Edwards in a headlock. No punches were thrown.

Edwards said:

The deal with me and Harvick is between me and him and there’s nothing else to talk about. I’m not talking about that. That’s just what it is. We know where each other stand and that’s it.

The exchange was said to be the product of a handwritten note Edwards left in a seat on Harvick’s airplane following the AMP Energy 500 last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The note facetiously thanked Harvick for disparaging comments he made toward Edwards on ABC following a multi-car wreck on Lap 174 of 188, which was triggered when Edwards tapped teammate Greg Biffle.

Harvick said:

I know that his fans won’t be very proud of him sitting back there riding around like a pansy. If he had been racing all day, maybe he would have known how long the front of his car was.

NASCAR Rulebook: Subject To Interpretation

If this weekend’s Amp Energy 500 from Talladega Superspeedway taught us anything, it taught us that NASCAR’s rules are always subject to interpretation, depending on the star involved.

Somewhere between the words spoken in the driver’s meeting before Sunday’s race and the feeling of jubilation Regan Smith felt as he took the first checkered flag of his career was the defintion of the word “allowed.”

The rule lends itself to interpretation. It says that you cannot go below the yellow line and advance your position, unless  you are forced down to avoid making contact with another car. But, what constitutes being forced below the line? Tony Stewart clearly blocked Smith. Smith’s nose was beyond Stewart’s quarter panel, yet Stewart moved down to keep him from getting to the inside. So Smith went below the yellow line, feeling like he had been “forced” down there.

This is nothing new. Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed Matt Kenseth with two tires below the yellow line in 2002. And, earlier this year, Kyle Busch did the same thing to Jimmie Johnson. NASCAR allowed those passes to stand. Why was this one different?

Some would argue that Smith couldn’t have been further to the inside without being on pit road. That’s a valid argument. All four of Smith’s tires were below the yellow line, compared to Earnhardt Jr. and Busch’s two.

But, others might argue that there was another factor: Tony Stewart. Stewart is one of NASCAR’s biggest names, and he hadn’t won a race this year, his final year with Joe Gibbs Racing. Do you think NASCAR didn’t consider that when making its “interpretation?”

Let’s say Earnhardt Jr. made the same pass on Travis Kvapil. I’m willing to bet that NASCAR would have determined that Jr. was “forced” down below the line.

I think NASCAR leaves enough flexiblity in its rulebook for situations just like this one. That way, NASCAR can, in some ways, give fans what they want.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it is rigged. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. But, NASCAR’s interpretations of the rules on race day certainly seem more subjective than objective.

Race 4: Amp Energy 500

After Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team lost an engine, Jimmie Johnson‘s team was nervous about their engine. They checked it out before the race, which meant they had to start at the back of the pack. Because they were starting in the back, they decided to hang back. But shortly after the drop of the green flag, something was wrong. Johnson lost the draft and lost a lap early. A caution on lap 45 got Johnson back on the lead lap. On lap 53, David Reutimann blew a tire, and a piece of it his Johnson’s nose, breaking his splitter. After some repairs, Johnson hung towards the back of the pack. The strategy paid off, as he missed the two big ones. He finished ninth.

Carl Edwards started the race opting for a similar strategy as Johnson, hanging towards the back of the pack. He used some interesting pit strategy, staying out when the leaders pitted to avoid trouble on pit road. Ironically enough, when Edwards did pit with the leaders, he left his pit stall a little too hot and spun out. For much of the race, Edwards drove around the back, barely earning a mention on TV. He was doing exactly what he said, staying out of trouble. On lap 174, Carl Edwards was pushing Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle to the front. As they entered the corner, Edwards was bumping Biffle. Biffle got a little bit loose, and Edwards bumped him again, turning him into teammate Matt Kenseth. Biffle then slid back up the track into Edwards and Earnhardt Jr. Several other cars were collected including Chasers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.Edwards finished 29th.

Greg Biffle started the day quietly, staying the middle-to-the-back of the pack, keeping himself out of touble. Towards the later stages of the race, Biffle start running towards the front, and showed that he had a car capable of running up front. In the closing laps, Biffle made his move to the front with Edwards pushing him. As Biffle entered the corner, Edwards was bumping him into the lead. As the two got into the middle of corner, Edwards bumped him and sent him spinning into Kenseth, and back up in Edwards and Earnhardt Jr., effectively ending his day. He finished 24th.

Jeff Burton had a realatively quiet day, running in the back, in the middle and up front. He went virtually unnoticed, though he did lead some laps, until the closing laps. He started the green-white-checker in fifth place. He managed to break Aric Almirola from his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Regan Smith and  Paul Menard. However, he could not mount a charge in the closing laps, and he wound up finishing fifth.

Clint Bowyer had a quiet day, much like his teammate Burton. He ran in the middle of the pack, and never led. He did manage to stay out of trouble and turned a mediocre day into a repectable sixth place finish.

Kevin Harvick had a decent car. He too led some laps, like his teammate Burton. He was working from the back of the pack to the front, to the back and to the front again. His day was pretty up and down, as can be expected at ‘Dega for anyone. Then, on lap 164, Harvick made slight contact with someone and spun into the infield grass. He didn’t hit anything and was able to keep going. But, 10 laps later, he was caught up in the melee that was created when Edwards and Biffle got together.

Tony Stewart started the day hanging in the middle to the back of the pack. Then, as the race got closer to half way, Stewart started flexing some muscle and was running up front. At lap 80 he took the lead for the first time. He would hover around the front, waiting to put himself in position to win in the closing laps. A caution brought out by Jamie McMurray on lap 184 sent the race into overtime. Stewart led at the green-white-checker. He had Dale Earnhard Inc.’s Regan Smith, Paul Menard, and Aric Almirola behind him. Those cars were strong and Stewart seemed like a sitting duck. When the green flag flew, the cars stayed single file. Stewart took the white flag, with Smith and Menard behind him, Almirola got shuffled back. On the final turn of the last lap, Smith look outside. Stewart blocked. Smith looked inside, Stewart drove all the way down to the yellow line. Smith drove below the yellow line under him, and passed him to take the checkered flag. But, because the move was deemed illegal, Stewart was declared the winner.

Jeff Gordon had a decent car, moving from the front to the back to the front again. On lap 53, David Reutimann blew a tire. Gordon swerved to avoid him and made contact with Jon Wood, and turned into the outside wall, ending his chances at a win. His team fixed his car and got him back on the track to turn some laps. On lap 183, his engine expired. He finished 38th.

Matt Kenseth drove an unevenful first half of the race. He ran near the front, but was relatively quiet. He lead early, a couple of times. But, his day ended early when Edwards and Biffle made contact, on lap 174. Biffle slid down the track into Kenseth. Kenseth slid up into Earnhardt Jr. and Edwards and hit the outside wall. Then Jr’s pushed Kenseth across the track to the infield where both cars came to rest. He finished 26th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. started in the back after having to go to a backup car due to engine problems and a blown tire. He hung towards the back for a few laps at the start of the race, but flexed his muscle early, leading early and often in the race. He proved that he had one of the cars to beat, pushing people to the front and then passing them as if they were standing still. He narrowly avoided trouble on lap 68, when Brian Vickerss blew a tire and took out Martin Truex Jr. who was running second at the time. But, on lap 174, Jr. wasn’t so lucky when he chose to move to the outside lane shortly before Edwards and Biffle got together and he was collected in the aftermath. He finished 28th.

Kyle Busch managed to avoid major trouble that plagued him early in the Chase. He ran in the middle of the pack, sometimes moving up into the lead, then being shuffled back in the pack. He sustained some damage in the Edwards-Biffle melee, but still managed a positve finish compared to other Chasers. He finished 15th.

Denny Hamlin had a strong car early, pushing people to the lead and leading himself. But around lap 97, he reported a votage problem and the team was concerned the car wouldn’t start on pit road. But, that wouldn’t matter because one lap later, his right front tire exploded, sending him into the outside wall hard. After getting out of the car, he was put on a stretched and taken to the care center for evaluation. He was awake and alert and was transported to a local hospital. Reports are that he sustained an ankle injury. He finished 39th.