He Said, She Said: Outstanding
Brothers at Memphis
to “Botch-lanta”
October 31, 2007
Everett
Mugg and Debbi Willis - SCR
Keselowski Brother’s Shine in Memphis:
He Said: Brad and Brian Keselowski showed that the racing blood in their veins runs true Saturday in Memphis.
The sons of 1989 ARCA Champion and Craftsman Truck winner, Bob Keselowski, both scored top 10 finishes (Brad 9th and Brian
10th) in a Busch field filled with Cup regulars and Cup development drivers of most major Cup teams. Younger brother Brad
drove for Junior Motorsports while Brian drove a Keselowski family car. It is nice to see true Busch teams compete and do
well against the Cup regulars and it is even nicer to see a family entry score a top 10. Brad is well on his way into the
upper levels of NASCAR but his equally talented brother Brian is still seeking sponsorship for a full time ride. Running a
very limited schedule in the ARCA RE/MAX Series the last couple of years, Brian has been extremely successful. Brad attracted
the attention of Dale Earnhardt Jr. earlier in the year and Jr. finally called Brad to race for him in June, after watching
Brad drive a Truck for Germain Racing. What started out as a three race deal, turned into a deal for the rest of the season.
She Said: You won’t get an argument from me on these two young
drivers. Seems their racing roots are strong and dad has done a good job instilling the competitive spirit in both his sons.
What I found interesting though, was that the “family entry” driven by Brian actually placed right behind the
JR Motorsports-owned entry that brother Brad drove. That’s
some serious kudos to a family entry to place top ten in such a competitive field! Jr. has shown some smarts in snagging Brad
Keselowski for this season. I only hope he hangs on to him and can fully develop him like he was properly developed up until
now before throwing Brad into the ring with Cup drivers.
Villeneuve: Not Just Buying a Ride but the Whole Team?
He Said: It is being reported that Jacques Villeneuve is buying part or all of Bill Davis Racing (BDR). It is
common practice in racing for drivers to bring sponsors or money to the teams they drive for but this may be the first time
a driver has bought the team. Does this set a new low for NASCAR? Already there is doubt whether the best drivers ever get
a shot to compete because they lack the money or do not have a sponsor in their pocket to bring to a team. Will this new development
mean that NASCAR will become the “sport” or the rich elite? Is it a new form of job security for a driver? Will
we see Bill Gates driving a Cup car in the future?
She Said: Well, now there are a slew of thoughts in all that but I
don’t think you need to be jumping from the racetrack into cyberspace! Villeneuve is making his own way into the world
of NASCAR with a big splash but not in a splashy way or he wouldn’t be buying Bill Davis Racing, he’d go after
a big dog team and partner up there somehow. I think this is his personal insurance in his own investment. Not only is he
insuring he has a ride because he has the say so about the team, but he is also insuring his future in having say so about
other drivers’ futures in the sport. Personally, I find Villeneuve’s approach keenly refreshing. He’s not
coming in with an attitude like he’s the next best thing to hit NASCAR. He’s done what he wanted where he was,
accomplished a set of goals there, and now he’s moving on to his next set. It’s almost eerie how calculated he’s
moving along. I think it’ll be very interesting to see how he performs against the likes of our own superstars in the
sport and his own crossovers like Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, and soon Dario Franchitti. New blood in a new way may
be very, very good for NASCAR.
It Ain’t Over ‘til the Fat Lady Sings:
He Said: All the major media outlets seem to be ready to crown Either Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson the 2007 Cup
Champion. They have been ready for the last two weeks. I, like most of the drivers am not ready to give Rick Hendrick the
trophy just yet. With three races to go, anything can happen. Let Gordon and Johnson have a bit of bad luck in any race and
the door is wide open. If they do poorly in two, they could be on the outside looking in. The three tracks remaining have
not been kind to Gordon, especially Texas.
While it may take a miracle for Martin Truex Jr. to win the Championship, two DNF’s by Johnson and Gordon and one DNF
for Bowyer would leave the rest with a legitimate shot. There is just too little of a lead and too many races yet for me to
say it is over.
She Said: I concur. What are we coming to, we seem to see eye to eye
more and more?! Seriously, I am totally befuddled as to why NASCAR would go to such great lengths to create the Chase, only
to have the media and their own experts practically shut it down midway through and are ready to crown a Hendrick Motorsports
(HMS) driver before the Chase plays itself out! Whatever happened to suspense? Surely they must realize it’s downright
infuriating and discouraging for the fans of the other 41 drivers out there to listen to the non-stop chatter of praise for
the Hendrick organization week after week. One could record it for a sleep aid, its mindless droning. In fairness to the broadcasters,
I realize they can only work with what they’re given but I’d sure like to see someone say forget it, I’m
not going to talk about them again! As for track results, fortunately, Lady Luck still has something to say about the outcomes.
SCR is looking for writers in all the series we cover, if interested
email us at scr@stockcarreview.comto receive further information.
No Brains on Top of the Pit Box?
He Said: What were the crew chiefs thinking on lap 318 when Johnny Sauter’s tire shredded? It seemed obvious
to me that there was no way they were going to get the race going with more than about 10 laps left, and given this years
history, at least one more caution. While no one could predict Denny Hamlin would have water in his fuel and it was still
a stretch to try to finish with what he had, why did no one just do a splash-and-go? Why did some teams take 4 tires? If 10
teams had done a splash-and-go I doubt the tire takers (whether 2 or 4) would have had enough time to get to the front whether
there was a caution or not. Or the chasers, Kevin Harvick especially would have benefited from doing a splash-and-go. That
team needs to stop thinking about not losing any more ground and start concentrating on how to make up ground. A splash-and-go
at the end would have done it for him.
She Said: I’m not willing to say there are “no brains
on top of the pitbox” but I’m not really sure the crew chiefs were thinking very clearly considering the circumstances.
Frankly, if they were, they’re running scared of their own shadows because they made some serious lapses of judgment! Lap
318 of a 325 lap race leaves only 7 laps to the finish, and two crew chiefs called for four tires while all the others took
two tires and/or just a splash of gas. Cautions breed cautions. Nothing different about this finish than all the
other races to date that have been finishing with one wreckfest after another. Todd Berrier and Richard Childress both counted
on Harvick being able to leap the field on new tires. I’m beginning to think they think he’s Superman on
wheels! Granted, 47 laps were too long on those tires and Harvick was losing ground fast but two tires would have been better
and track position might have resulted in a top ten finish instead of top fifteen.
Don’t get me started
on Denny Hamlin! ‘While no one could predict’? Puhleeze! Here’s a direct quote, "All day we'd been getting
water in our fuel," Hamlin said. "The water displaces fuel and so we weren't getting the full potential of fuel. We just took
it apart again and pulled some gas out of the fuel cell and once again, we got water." “All day” indicates foreknowledge
of a ridiculous problem with that car. Only Hamlin’s crew chief was willing to gamble by staying out and he knew he
shouldn’t have as he KNEW there had been water in the fuel ‘all day’ long. The melee that ensued from the
lack of response by Hamlin’s water-tainted engine could have been avoided, but I’m sure they were also gambling
on the notion that perhaps it wouldn’t happen this time. The laws of mechanics dictated otherwise and the dynamics of
restarts resulted in the fiasco finish! I’m all for gambling, but be reasonable with your bets and don’t do it
at the expense of the rest of the field. With a finish like this, “Hot-lanta” went from exciting, nail biting
finishes, to anticlimactic, confusing and frustrating “Botch-lanta”!
2006 StockCar Review.
