Claire B. Lang, Phoenix International Raceway, November 13, 1:00 p.m. EST

I’m sick and tired, honestly of NASCAR fans being typecast. I live my life at NASCAR tracks and I look into the stands and walk with the crowds at the races and talk to fans on the air during my “Dialed In” show and they come from all walks of life, all incomes and yes, they do drink Starbucks.

Starbucks dips their corporate toe into NASCAR this weekend – with Starbucks and Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew logos on the TV Panel of the No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr., an associate sponsorship. In addition, a fleet of Starbucks branded golf carts will be combing the PIR property passing samples of Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew.

This associate sponsorship led Caleb Hannan who writes for Seattle Weekly to blog a story with the headline, “Attention Starbucks: NASCAR Fans Might Not Be In Your Target Market.” The story featured the back of a fat, hairy race fan with the #3 carved in the hair in his back and a caption that reads, “Dale Earnhardt’s biggest fan can’t start his day without a carmel Macchiato.” Of course the caption was tongue in cheek. Caleb who admits he has never been to a race, says that the few NASCAR fans he has befriended all looked alike, “White dudes with ball caps and empty Mountain Dew bottles half-filled with their Skoal backwash,” he writes. He says Starbucks might not be able to interest most NASCAR fans in the product they sell, and refers to the fact that $4 does not describe what NASCAR’s average fan might spend on a cup of coffee, but says since they love themselves some chew maybe they can use the Starbucks cups as spit receptacles.

I read Hannan’s blog and frankly – it really set me off. So I discussed it on air and asked for fan reaction. Whew, still getting emails today, and all from well-educated, smart , non-dipping NASCAR fans who want a piece of Hannan so they can tell him how uninformed he is on the NASCAR fan base.

Three hours of calls later, one of the final calls on my “Dialed In” show was from a trucker whose daughter runs a Starbucks. He said on Sundays they drag a big screen TV over to the local Starbucks and all gather there to watch the race.

I’m sick of references to NASCAR fans as if they are stupid -because they are not. They follow one of the most complicated sports in America with mechanical issues and rules that have been created to beat out the most brilliant of engineers. I have discussed this with engineers who came over from F1 who say that the engineers in NASCAR would rival the engineers in any auto sport in the world.

According to Marketing Research the average NASCAR fans has completed a higher level of education than the average American. Now I’m not saying some fans don’t fit the perception that some of America has of this sport’s fan base…but the NASCAR fan base is a cross section.

And that cross section called in to my radio show for three hours straight last night.

Below are some of the emails that I have received. I think they speak to folks like Caleb Hannan whose father is a race fan, but who has not backed up his story with any stats, interviews, background or information. He’s simply trying to pass is one sided bias from Seattle.

EMAILS :

I think its great that starbucks is going to be on a nascar car! Like a whole lot of your listeners I am a truck driver. I drink a lot of starbucks coffee but I’m not overweight or scruffy faced although I do have long hair. Anyway I think we should take this guy 1 of those 10 cent instant coffee machines like they have at a lot of shippers! Hell the way you described that pic he probably thinks earnhardt sr is still racing!

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Mmm. Starbucks. Good stuff.
V-ger

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It would be cool if you got the president of Starbucks on
I bet they know exactly what they are doing
I think it a smart move
Two big brands makes sense to me
Eugene needs to write for mad magazine

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If NASCAR fans stopped drinking starbucks they would have to close more stores.

Rush
Va
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Claire B:

I am looking forward to getting the email address for the Seattle goober. I am really going to give him a piece of my mind. After spending 5 days in the campgrounds at Talladega, a small piece is all I can afford to. In a way he’s right. I don’t drink Starbucks, but I have been known to by a double espresso or a good friend of mine, who came rushing in off the road and had to go right on the air.

Heck Claire, I don’t drink coffee at all anymore. I gave up tobacco products going on 10 years ago. Some people just feel the need to bash the NASCAR nation. I think it’s a good idea to get this clown on your show and let him find out first hand how wrong he really is.

Your friend in speed
Dennis from Missouri
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………………….My wife and I live in North Central Nevada though my wife is originally from the Seattle area. Being as she still has family in the area we spend plenty of time in Seattle drinking ……. yes “Starbucks Coffee“. Oh by the way our entire family are all NASCAR fans.

I find it all rather ironic. The way I see it some 80 to 90 % of the NASCAR fan base makes more annually than this guy, as well they have been exposed to more culture than this guy will ever know. I do understand where he might get this impression though as many of us toothless, barefoot, moonshine run-n heathens travel thousands of miles to camp in a parking-lot in our quarter million dollar Coaches and RV’s just to watch a bunch of cars go around in a circle.

These days ignorance is no excuse for this kind blasphemy. The NASCAR Culture is like no other and is as broad as the world is wide. For this small minded simpleton to express himself and his Starbucks Coffee as somehow better than those of us who are the fans of NASCAR is a travesty. Ultimately I feel sorry for him and his small view of the world we live in.

Thank you,
Scott
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Claire my family are huge Nascar fans from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.For the past 8 years we’ve made the 2400 mile round trip to the August Michigan race.( Driving)
I was even chosen one of their “Fan of The month” contest winners for October 2006.
Over that time we have met some incredible people. One such couple we like to call the “4 rows over & 3 cars up” people. It seems every year we park in lot 11 our friends usually show up at our car within 1/2 hour. It”s like magic. There’s a huge parking lot but somehow we always manage to find each other.
In 2007 our Nascar friends invited my wife, son & myself to come visit them in Iowa the week before the race of which we accepted. No one knew what the other did for a living & the only common thread was theirs & our love for Nascar. I was shocked to find out my friend was an Attorney at Law. The way he was dressed there was no telling what he did. Turns out he is what I like to call a “weekend Redneck”. Beer & a tee shirt on the weekend & a business suit for the rest of the week. My wife is the same way. Business suit all week & race nut on the weekend. See even Canadians can be “Weekend Rednecks” & know what Clair we love it & wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Hey Claire,

Now that my blood pressure has returned to normal, I would like to elaborate on a couple of items regarding this “article?” in the Seattle paper.

Firstly, I certainly sure that a corporate giant like Starbucks would not invest time or money in a venture that would not be beneficial to their bottom line. To that end, many of your callers (self included) are big coffee drinkers, regardless of profession. Therefore, Starbucks’ step into NASCAR appears to be a nature fit. Here in Canada, many of my coffee buddies are dyed in wool “Tim Horton’s” drinkers, but their passion for the sport is none the less there. These fans included fellow provincial government employees, military personnel, truck drivers (both local & long haul), CPA’s and the list could go on forever. My point is that NASCAR appeals a very WIDE portion of the population.

Secondly, if this gentleman (and I’m trying to be polite!) was to actually step-up and face the fans, he would find his face covered with egg. Tom from Texas (or was it Mike from Cali) said he would be run out of town on a rail. Frankly, I really doubt that Mark (your producer) will convince him to get on air with you and the fans.

Thirdly, for him to say that NASCAR fans would not pay Starbucks’ prices is foolhardy. You know very well how far some of us travel to attend races. Las Vegas for my granddaughter and I is approximately a 3 DAY DRIVE (that’s one way because I’m the only driver, Alyssa is only 7)! Just getting off the island (Vancouver Island) the ferry costs are about $50 + each way. Add in accommodations, meals and GAS, and this calculates to about $1000 just to get there and then home again. Then there’s hotels, meals and tickets (not forgetting souvenirs) once we get there. $4.00 for a coffee seems pretty reasonable, don’t you think!!!!!!!!!!! (Needless to say, this is a once a year trip.)

Anyways, I will get off my “soap box” and will close for now. I would, however, like to say how much I enjoy the 128 Sirius NASCAR station. On my way to work and the drive home is made far more enjoyable because of Sirius. My best wishes to all and keep up the good work.

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Hi Claire,

I am going to search for that journalist’s contact info to let him know how ridiculous and ignorant is his narrow minded, uninformed and insulting view of NASCAR followers. I only caught a part of your show tonight but was totally outraged. I am one more example of everything that contradicts the NASCAR stereotype: I am an Assistant Principal with four college degrees (one at the graduate level and one post-graduate), working in a community that pays $33,000+ in school levy taxes alone. My salary is obviously not very chintzy, in the 6-figure range; and I am a NASCAR nut. My car has Tony Stewart personalized plates (2 DEGA), there is a big #14 on my rear window as well as a bumper sticker proclaiming myself a “Long Island Redneck.” I own and drive a high end RV and love nothing more than living on the road and tailgating on the infield. I can mingle at any black tie affair with a martini on one night and then hang around a campfire sucking down a longneck on the next. How dare this guy suggest that NASCAR fans are uneducated and Starbucks is above us. His article does nothing more but perpetuate the stereotype of how ignorant is the non-NASCAR fan as they have not clue to how intellectually stimulating is our sport.

Thank you for this opportunity to vent. Thank you, too, for another great show!

Sincerely,
Michele
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I drink starbucks am a 35 year NASCAR fan

Daland

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On behalf of all humans who love Nascar I would like to invite the seattle weekly human to the woodshed for a cup of Starbucks with a lot of Happy Jack in it. Ie. Jack Daniels. Lol
Respectfully
Jeff
Grand Rapids MN
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Hey claire i’am clean a trucker and a NASCAR fan i refuse to pay for coffee at truck stop but I will spend money on a STARBUCKS.Tony TX
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Kaleb. Put down the Seattle Best coffee. Borrow some money and buy a cup of Starbucks. Take a drink and wake up and smell the coffee. If you had been drinking Starbucks you’d be awake during the races to be able to actually write something of truth about our sport. Any new sponsor in Nascar is awsome. It even helps expand our fan base. It is the perfect TARGET MARKET for Starbucks. What we save on ticket prices compared to NFL or MLB or NBA we can buy STARBUCKS. And lots of it. Many fans already do. Don't write about things you don't understand. We have all colors and nationalities of fans. Not just white rednecks. Wake up Idiot. Why don't you go write about something more up your alley like SLUG RACING ON SALT FLATS. I really hope your computer gets a virus and melts. Sincerly a very pissed off TRUE FAN of Nascar. Chris in Montana. Thanks for letting me vent Claire B.

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And the emails keep coming in. I’ll post more.

What’s your take?

Claire B

Dallas/Fort Worth 11/08/09 – Claire B Lang 5:48 p.m. EST Sunday

As the Lowe’s team lifted the cover on the #48 team’s crash cart to begin work on Johnson’s destroyed race car – I noticed the Lowe’s logo and the slogan printed adjacent to it in large white letters, “Let’s Build Something Together.” That is exactly what the Chad Knaus (crew chief) and Ron Malec (car chief) led race team did – they rebuilt the 48 car after a second lap crash not of their driver’s making.

As I watched the Lowe’s team work on their race car, I was expecting Johnson to jump out and grab a wrench and Chad for to ask him ( as he does in the Kobalt tools commercial), “What are you doing Jimmie?” And Johnson would reply, “I’m helping fix the car Chad.” But Johnson stayed right were Knaus wanted him -inside the car ready to pilot it back out when the time was right, because Knaus had supreme confidence that this car was returning to the race track.

The team replaced the rear end housing, drive shaft, rear deck lid, mounts, front end, welded the chassis and the list goes on and on. It’s easier to list what this team did not do to their race car. Watching this team work exemplifies what makes the 48 guys so good.

It’s as if they had rehearsed this scenereo to perfection. There were some 15 Lowes guys working in sync, without speaking, on the points-leading race car while three NASCAR officials looked on. Knaus, as always, carried himself like the team owner, keeping calm and overseeing a major reconstruction project.

Twenty five media folks, local, national, print, broadcast, all standing around watching the one hour plus repairs on Johnson’s ride in the garage here at Texas Motor Speedway. Their comments initially ranged from, “He needs to man up and get out of the car and talk,” to “This is so smooth it’s like watching doctors work in the ER,” to “They’ll never get this car back out there,” to “that’s incredible.” Most of the comments were about how this team went to work, didn’t show even so much as a frown or a facial expression of any kind, any of them, and, like machines, went to work to get the car back on the race track.

There was Chad Knaus pounding sheet metal to bend it using the side of the garage stall’s concrete wall to bend the piece. They were welding, pounding, fitting, inspecting, and screwing metal, hoses, tape and wiring. They carefully used a broom under the car several times to clear the way for the tires as they prepared to pull out of the garage and at one point welded near the gas tank and a fire extinguisher and safety tarp were brought over.

Three times, they’d get close to being ready to take the car out and Chad or one of the officials would see something that needed attention. So, once again without expression, the appropriate member of the team, or Chad or Ron would move in and finesse the area one more time.

Chad would feel around the spoiler, or a rim or area he was concerned about and the team would watch him like a hawk, instinct telling them what they needed to do next. Watching this team work on their car –one just knows that most of these guys know this race car better than they know their girlfriends, wives and family members.

As the car pulled out to return to the track, I watched the members of the 48 machine run out like a football team chasing on to the field to return to the pits. Leading those running out of the garage towards the gate that leads onto pit road was car chief Ron Malec and, as he ran, he turned around quickly once and look back over his shoulder at the team guys running behind him. His face lined with grease and sweat, he gave them a thankful and confident warm smile, in a trademark 48 calm and focused way – he did so faintly but I’m sure they picked up on it because I did.

And on the 48 went to take, once again, the field of battle in a car many thought would never make it back on this race track today.

Over the years I’ve covered this sport I’ve seen many teams make incredible repairs to race cars that we thought would never make it back out onto the race track- so this is not a first.

It was something to watch though.

They made it seem easy.

It’s Claire B Lang and Mike Bagley in costume at “Hallo Dega”

Claire B

Hey! Today I’m busy answering emails and believe me my mail box at ClaireBMail [at] ClaireBLang.com is full of emails on all sides of the Talladega race issues. I thought you might like to see some of my emails and so I’ve posted a bunch of them along with my answers.

Let me tell you something the wrecks at Talladega sure get attention. I was at the grocery store today and at Starbucks and folks who never even watch racing knew of the wrecks. It’s kind of sad that cars flipping end over end get so much attention from folks who don’t know about our sport. But it does get the headline, the photo, the Sportscenter video replay and the conversation jazzed up.

Here’s a list of emails from my box today.

Claire B

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CBL: The the morons in the media (d cross for one) try to tell us to love Johnson…. we’ll hate him –all there is to it…We hate the points system and Johnson is a part of it…He’s only a 2 time champ in my mind.. so they don’t need push this whole making history of 4 time champ …In my world he’s going for number 3 right now and is about 80 points out of the lead..France and Johnson can kiss my…I hate what they’ve done to this sport…

Hey – I have an issue with the Minn. Vikings too cause I’m a Packer Fan – but even if you hate Johnson isn’t he just doing his job? If your favorite driver was doing same would you feel better/happy? Just asking.

CBL

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Claire,

NASCAR has put cowl flaps on the cars to keep the front end on the ground. They have put flaps on the roof so when they get sideways they will stay on the ground. So when are they going to engineer flaps on the trunk so when they get backwards they stay on the ground??

Can you ask NASCAR this question for me and let me know what they say?

I’m tired of being worried when a driver flips like Newman did thinking that a trunk flap may help a driver when they get turned backwards.

Rush Cregger
Virginia

Hey Rush: I’ll have Series Director John Darby on with me on “Dialed In” on Competition Wed on Wed. on my Sirius NASCAR Radio Show in the 7:00 EST time hour. I will ask him.Thanks Rush.
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Dear Claire;
Well I thought the race was really good, ok until 5 laps to go, there was a fair amount of side by side racing and yes strategy in the middle of the race. All and all pretty good racing until the 2 terrible accidents at the very end of the day. Thank goodness no one was hurt, Ryan Newman’s wreck was just frightening, and he had several valid points about this car going airborne too often at the superspeedways. After the race I heard a few comments that maybe the wing may be part of the problem with these flipping accidents and I have to wonder if it isn’t the reason too. In Ryan’s accident it almost seemed like an invisible hand pulled the car up by the wing, also the fact that the car has higher center of gravity forces more air under the car and that higher green house makes the car less stable at the wheels. And I don’t know what can be done to change this short of a complete change to either the car or the track, and neither will happen.
For all the complaints of drivers that they didn’t like NASCAR telling them how to drive, my question is what was NASCAR supposed to do. They were facing the fall out from the final lap accident in the spring they needed to react, certainly the car kept the drivers safe but what about the fans and track workers the bottom line is that they have to keep those cars earthbound. I think we confuse drafting and bump drafting with what goes on at the superspeedways and that is slam drafting. Too many drivers are slamming into the cars ahead of them and because of the center of gravity of these cars being so much higher the cars aren’t as stable and they can be turned into traffic in a split second. NASCAR is between a rock and a hard place here; they can’t and frankly won’t make infrastructure changes to try to prevent these accidents so they have to control how the drivers run the race to attempt to circumvent the big one.
As for the drivers what a fine day for Jamie McMurray, he was good all day and won the day on fumes, and nice finish for Dale Jr.. And if anyone needed that finish it was Dale, hopefully some much needed stability on the 88 team will translate to good finished. And we now know that Jimmie Johnson will be the champion, because frankly unless he is kidnapped by Bedouin’s the 48 team will not make the mistakes necessary for another team to win the title this year. And if a team had luck it was the 48 team yesterday, the car seemed off and at times he looked like he might loose the draft but Chad made maybe the best call maybe in the chase ever. Come in for gas before they red flagged the race, it kept Jimmie out of harms way for the final restart and gave him a great finish. Conversely for my driver Jeff Gordon the decision to stay out will be the one that cost them a chance at the title. To be fair Stevie was right every time on fuel mileage races and it did make sense not to give up the track position especially since they had a serious chance to win the race. With all that I have to think Stevie may second guess himself on that decision, certainly it was clear that they would need to red flag the race to aid Ryan and you take a chance with fuel pressure after the car is shut off. Still there is a lot to race for the 24 team, get as many wins as possible and finish in 2nd place, both are very reachable goals. And for Hendrick as an organization it would be to try to get Ryan Newman up to the top 5 and have all HMS cars and Stewart-Haas Cars in the top 5.
And a couple of final notes; what an excellent finish for Chrissie Wallace 13th in her first race at Talladega, after the race her dad just beamed. After watching Chrissie’s great day I still have to wonder why we don’t see more companies using racing to attract female fans. Why aren’t Revlon or L’Oreal or Victoria’s Secret sponsoring drivers aren’t like Chrissie Wallace or Sarah Fisher in IRL or Ashley Force-Hood, heck Ashley is racing for the Funny Car Championship. What these and many other companies forget is that half of racing fans are women the person in most homes who makes the purchases for the most part. They have the chance to attract customers and do a good thing by helping more young talented women race. Because without the dollars these young drivers will never get the chance to race, just look at Chrissie’s career. I have seen her in a few races and she is very good but it will be difficult to improve when she can’t race more than a couple times of year. And I know that you don’t cover F1 much but I did watch the end of the race and the new Abu Dhabi track is spectacular especially under the lights and there was some close racing at the end. I was shocked by the new driving champion Jensen Button doing everything but spinning out cars to try to finish in second.

Thank You, Sue from Shorewood, IL
Sue: Not much was said in the media about NASCAR doing this to try to ensure the safety of some of the very fans that it upset. I don’t think anyone wanted to see anyone hurt, drivers and especially fans. If it’s not the right solution or was made to last minute, well then something else will be thought of. Elliott Saddler suggested they lock the drivers in the room and have another meeting. Seems Talladega will always be insane. It seems there is no perfect solution to cars going that fast – Thanks for the email. I’ll continue to ask NASCAR their thoughts on aftermath. CBL

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Claire, firstly I want thank you for being the hardest working person in NASCAR radio. I truly feel you put the listeners first and appreciate your hard work. About the race…Jimmie Johnson commented this morning that Talladega is designed for speed and alluded to the potential risk as being more related to track design. I want to throw out the idea that what if the danger IS the track and, if so, all that NASCAR is doing such as the bump drafting enforcement and restrictor plates are just band-aids. Perhaps they need to drop the angles of the turns to force drivers to reduce their speeds. I know it is expensive, but what is a life worth?
On a second note, I have a big issue with NASCAR’s failed attempt at being big brother on the corner bump drafting, as evidenced by their not black flagging any driver. In football for example, a penalty is called as many times as the infraction occurs. In the race that might have been a few times per lap. If they had black flagged anyone bump drafting in a corner the whole race would have been blown. In my opinion it is an all or nothing thing. They call every single infraction or have no ethical leg to stand on if they attempt to penalize a driver.

Won’t take up too much of your time. Thank you for being so special.
John Robinson
East Hampton, CT

John you make a point – everyone has said that this is a very difficult rule to enforce and other series have not been very successful at trying to enforce it. It’s not an easy solution.CBL
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Hi Claire, I sat on the couch for what felt like an hour waiting for them to get Ryan out, holding my breath I want to know why the roll bar collapsed .Rantin-Ray

Me too Ray, Me too. CBL

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Hi Claire,

If Newmans car had been on fire we would all be having different
discussions today. To me there was not enough urgency in getting to
him and getting him out.

Rob C
St.Petersburg, Fl

Rob: It always seems like that….I mean minutes seem like hours during these situations when they are trying to get a driver out safely, but when you are on the couch it’s easy to be an arm-chair safety worker. I’m just glad that he’s ok.

Claire B

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Hi Claire,
Just wanted to say that I thought the race today was a total bore. I really think that the time for tracks like Talladega and Daytona have passed. NASCAR doesn’t seem to want the drivers to race at these tracks anymore so they might as well just scrap them. Also I think that Brad Keselowski is a menace on the track. He has raced in 2 plate races this year and caused big wrecks in both of them. In the spring he sends Edwards into the fence to win and today causes Kurt Busch to wreck taking out many others. Someone needs to take that boy out to the woodshed. It really sickens me and shows what a sad state NASCAR is in when someone like Brad had a solid cup ride for next year and someone like Mears might not and Stremme doesn’t.

David Romanowski
Endicott, NY

Hey David: Well Brad is a young Buck with a lot of “want to” and up on the wheel. When he mixes up with Cup drivers the end of this year and next…I am sure that he’ll learn a lot. As I’ve always said the Cup guys are a little “self policing” on aggressive young guys who come in.. He’ll learn his perfect balance and place. It will be fun to watch. Having him in the Cup Series early now this year will be fun to watch through Homestead. See – there is something to watch besides the Chase. LOL

Claire B

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Hi Claire B.
That was Freekin Awesome Go McMURRY AWESOME!!!!AWESOME!!!!AWESOME

Yea! I was really happy for Jamie too! And his whole team. CBL
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GO VIKINGS LoL You need a purple Farve jersey.

Shut up!!!!! (LOL). Darn I picked that one wrong. I went with my heart on Sirius Pigskin Pickems….I went with Green Bay. All my family at home – in mourning. Go Green Bay. CBL

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I usually like any wrangling. In this case Jimmy Johnson I do believe feels trouble in his central nervous system as well as sees the air with his central nervous system like MR. Dale Earnhardt. Folks get ready for MR. Jimmy Johnson and you soon love him like Big E. Hes not a errogant man at all. Hes smooth in public. Most of us racing degenerates are not. LoL.
Respectfully
Jeff from MN

Thanks Jeff….you can go to the K-Mart parking lot like they used to and scrap it out with the fans of other drivers in the field. Kidding. Actually – Jimmie up close is a really nice guy..but everyone has their own take based on who their driver is. I can tell you one thing..there isn’t anyone in the field who isn’t already working on beating him each race in 09 and fixing it so they can charge at him in 10. CBL
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You’re mad that the Vikings come and brought Brett Farve by to Green Bay and they ran over your Packers. Ole’ well, remember that basically the Packers didn’t want Farve anymore. He’s still got the talent and ability and the drive to play, so get mad at your Packers for getting rid of him.
Chris in TX

Chris: Yea good point. But you didn’t convince me to drain the Green and Gold from my veins. I still was hoping GB would put him back in the box when he came into our house. I like the guy – but I still have a hard time trying to beat the Pack (and doing it LOL). Oh that was so hard. I’m mad at everyone about that game. Claire B
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What is all the complaining about(bitchn) !!!!!!!!! If it is no wrecks at Bristol because of the new configuration, its the cot. Can’t race with it, It’s boring !! Can you give us all a break PLEASE. I cannot believe we cannot go though 1 race without complaining. Three wide, four wide racin and you got the big one with Ryan on his head!! Excuse me !! Its Nascar IT’S racing 200 mph if you don’t like it, watch the Boston Marathon !!! Mike from St. Louis

Louis:

Louis: You make a good point. I was looking back over history to what other drivers said at the care center over the past races after crashing out at Dega to see what they said. I can recall divers slamming things after their cars got tore up in the All Star Race..but now with the economy bad and everyone so sensitive about things it really does stick out like a sore thumb. It’s tough times for everyone…making the fans happy is a priority but is there any way to make everyone happy – and keep them safe? Not sure. I am glad I am not in charge. CBL
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Claire B – Ok, that was officially scary. I was really concerned that we’d lost another driver for a while there.
And sure it was a great race – if you think WWE is a great sporting event. What a fiasco.
The late David Poole argued very strongly that they ought to bulldoze those banks down and I think I may agree with him.
My .02
Brad T
MA

Hey Brad, I too was worried about Ryan. Well there have been folks on several sides of the “bulldozing” concept. It’s been talked about on SNR for hour some disagree – some agree. It was scary…you are right. CBL
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If it weren’t for Newman’s wreck, and the one on the last lap, this would’ve been a super boring race. This race was almost as boring as most of the California races. Not that wrecks make racing exciting. However, side by side racing is exciting and Talladega and Daytona are about the only tracks you can see side by side racing at anymore. I thought that, in addition to safety, that’s what the COT was supposed to bring to the sport. The car is safe but the racing, I don’t think, is as good. If there is a lot of side by side racing they’re not showing it on TV. In which case, means the coverage is lacking.
Michael

Michael – Thanks for the email. Does that mean that you watch for the crashes? Not that that is bad just wondering. Claire B
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Another week ESPN failed to interview the top finishers. Instead they rush to give the Hendrick boy’s interviews. Maybe next week they won’t even interview the winner, if they’re not a Hendrick team.

Well – I hate that….I think there are so many stories to tell the next few races — including stories that lead into next season….and preparation and watching drivers like Joey Logano, and Brad Kezelowski, and what Dale Junior’s team does, and a whole list of other drivers. I think there are many stories beyond the chase.
Claire B
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Just saw Newman’s wreck at Talladega. It looks like the wing on the cup cars creates lift when the car points backwards. Safety issue Nascar needs to look at????
Michael

Rockingham
Hey Michael – Jack Roush made some great roof flap comments — after the race. I will definitely ask John Darby about roof flaps on Wed during “Dialed In” and “Competition Wed” tomorrow. Roof flaps can’t possibly stop everything especially when another car is involved and helps launch the flip. Check into “Dialed In” if you can with Series Director John Darby on Wed on Sirius NASCAR Radio.CBL

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All: Thanks for all the emails and while I’ve answered them quickly – I’ll talk about them in more detail on air on Wed. on “Dialed In” and further discuss. I have found the fans of this sport to be so smart and to be very critical and hold the sport up to a lot – because they have found the sport to be so special and many grew up with it. That’s ok. The more loyal that you are to a sport the more you expect from it and so it makes sense that fans would be critical and hold the sport to a lot of what they expect.

I appreciate your emails and have a whole bunch more…so back to answering them and I’ll catch you on “Dialed In”. I’m headed to Texas on Thursday morning.

Can’t wait. Love Texas, Dallas Fort Worth and Texas Motor Speedway. It’s great fun and there will be a bunch to talk about.

As always, thanks for listening and for emailing.

Claire B

Claire B.’s Broadcast Schedule – From the Heart of Racing

Tonight – a special broadcast on “Dialed In” on Sirius NASCAR Radio that is near and dear to the hearts of the members of the racing community. The second annual Jail and Bail” at the Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson, NC. will be the site of tonight’s broadcast of “Dialed In”. (7-10 EST). I’ll be broadcasting LIVE from the event to take you inside some of the fun and sincere caring that makes up the folks who work in the NASCAR garages and on the road.

The event, supported by Best Buy and the NASCAR officials right up to the highest level began when the officials who worked with 28- year-old NASCAR official Brienne Davis wanted to do something to honor her after she was killed in an auto accident in the spring of 2008. Tonight’s event will feature NASCAR celebrities being “locked up” in an effort to raise money for the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund at the NASCAR Foundation. Country music star Rodney Atkins will be there tonight and a list of drivers celebrities and officials.

Brienne was a Universal Technical Institute graduate and proceeds from the event tonight will benefit the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund which was created to encourage women to seek a career in the automotive industry and is intended to provide an opportunity for a qualified female student who wishes to attend one of the 12 UTI campuses across the US.

It’s also intended to honor Davis – who was smart, and spunky, respected as an official and was well liked within the garage when she was taken away too early in a tragic auto accident.

Brienne was special and she always smiled. Tonight, we’ll share some of the laughs and fun and raise money in her name. I hope you can join us in person at the Brickhouse Tavern ($10 per person) – or check out how you can pitch in on nascar.com/foundation. I hope that you can listen to ‘Dialed In” LIVE from the event 7-10 EST tonight.

NOTE: At the time of Brienne’s death this web site did a tribute to Brienne and had quotes from NASCAR officials about her and postings from you. Click here to remember Brienne and reading what was posted at the time.

Rest of the weekend CBL schedule:

Saturday night racing and a short weekend has shortened the broadcast schedule this weekend.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
“Dialed In” LIVE From the Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson NC 7-10 EST

Thursday, October 15th, 2009
“Dialed In” LIVE from LMS AFTER Qualifying is over (Qualifying begins at 7:00 P.M. EST on PRN) until 10:00 p.m. EST

Friday, October 16, 2009
An extremely short “Dialed In” LIVE from LMS from 7:00 p.m. until the start of the Dollar General 300 Nationwide series race on PRN at 7:15 p.m. EST

Saturday, October 17, 2009
CBL will be on the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race show LIVE from Victory Lane after the Sprint Cup Series NASCAR Banking 500 on PRN

Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Special LIVE “Dialed In” from 11-2 p.m. featuring the drivers who will be competing in the NASCAR Diversity Combine next week. LIVE appearances but tons of young drivers competing in the combine.

The “Dialed In” With Claire B. Lang Broadcast Schedule in California Speedway this weekend is as follows:

Thursday, October 8th
“Dialed In” LIVE from California Speedway
7-10 EST

Friday, October 9th
“Dialed In” POST Sprint Cup Series Qualifying until 10:00 p.m. LIVE from California Speedway

Saturday, October 10
“Dialed In” 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.EST leading into the start of the Copart 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. LIVE from California Speedway

“Dialed In” after the Copart 300 until 9:00 p.m. EST

Sunday, October 10th

CBL on Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race show at 11:30 -1:30 EST LIVE from California Speedway

CBL in Victory Lane post race and in the field for two full hours on the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race Show

“Dialed In” after the Post Race Show until 11:00 EST

Welcome to Dover. The forecast is part of the conversation this weekend – as is Mark Martin’s age, the chase format, the high banks of Dover, concrete versus asphalt, pit road incidents and what to do to prevent them, and partial schedules for drivers (i.e. Jeff Gordon and would he ever go part time)

Let’s start with the weather: This is one of those weekends that might be affected by rain – but hopefully we’ll be able to make it through without significant delays to the schedule and/or impact on the racing. So let’s start there:

Here’s the latest weather forecast for Dover:

DOVER FORECAST:
Sep 25 Friday
Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. High near 70F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph.
Sep 25 Friday Night
Some passing clouds. Low near 55F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.
Sep 26 Saturday
Cloudy early with showers for the afternoon hours. High 66F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Sep 26 Saturday Night
Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 59F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Significant rainfall amounts possible.
Sep 27 Sunday
Cloudy with rain in the morning. Highs in the upper 70s and lows in the low 60s.

Claire B.’s SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Broadcast Schedule:

Here’s the broadcast schedule for “Dialed In” on Sirius NASCAR Radio and for met this weekend.

Friday, Sept. 25th

“Dialed In” with Claire B. Lang 7-10 EST

Saturday, September 26th
“Dialed In” 2PM-3PM leading into the Dover 200 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race
Also “Dialed In” after the race until 9PM ET

Sunday, September 27th

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre-Race Show
10:15AM-12:15PM ET (Claire B.in Studio)

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race Show (two full hours after the Sprint Cup Race) – (Claire B. in Victory Lane)

After post race: “Dialed In” with Claire B. Lang until 10:00 p.m. EST

Now what’s going on here in the Media Center at Dover:

BREAKING NEWS: Here in the Media Center today at DIS:

Mark Martin’s Age Continues to be a Topic:

To Brian Vickers: How amazed are you with Mark Martin’s accomplishments this year?“It’s crazy to think about that. It really is. …….. Why is he still doing so good at that age? I think it has less to do with his age and more to do with the fact that he’s still really hungry. If he had won four championships, would he still be able to do it at 50? I think desire has more to do with it than age. He is still real hungry. And what he has, and is a huge advantage over any of us, is he has just as much desire, but he has a lot more experience. I think experience in these cars goes a long way. We don’t have the telemetry. We don’t have the computers telling the crew chief what to do to the car like Formula One does. I think that’s where the experience comes in. Knowing these tracks and understanding these tracks, 500 mile races. It’s easy to say it, even for a young athlete, that you gotta be there at the end of the race to win it, but it’s much harder to do it. Mark is always there at the end of the race. He’s had some problems at the beginning of the season, but most of those, were those his fault? I’m proud of him. I’m impressed. I admire him for what he’s accomplished throughout his entire career, and especially what he’s done this season. I think he’s a huge threat to win the championship. I don’t think his age hurts him whatsoever. I don’t see that as being old, me personally. But I’m not 50 yet. I might change my mind when I get that age. I think most of the time, when a very talented athlete — even a race car driver — gets to be that age, if they’re still in the sport, then they’ve probably had a certain level of success. And with that, they get, ‘Okay, well I’ve already done it. Do I really want to push myself to do it again? I’ve won four championships, or five, or six or seven or whatever.’ They probably lose a little bit of desire. Mark is hungry. You can see it. You can see it even when you talk to him. You can see it on the race track. He’s never won a championship before and he wants it bad. He’s got more experience than anybody and he’s probably in better shape than most of the guys in this garage.

To Mark Martin: ON YOUR DECISION TO SIGN A CONTRACT EXTENSION – COULD YOU JUST TALK A BIT ABOUT WHETHER THERE WAS MUCH SOUL SEARCHING INVOLVED? Mark Martin: “Really things are going really, really well. I’m having the time of my life. It’s a little long-range for my liking but for Hendrick Motorsports planning purposes, sponsorship deals and all those things it made sense to go ahead and make the commitment so they could plan longer term than just a year. I’m definitely having a blast. I’m having the time of my life and I think that’s obvious. So I was comfortable with it.”
Other topics:

PIT ROAD INCIDENTS INCREASING -SOWHAT IS THE FIX?

To Brian Vickers: Would it be safer if NASCAR penalized drivers for hitting crew members or other cars on pit road?
“Well, are they going to make the crew guy run a lap if he jumps out in front of a car? They do it. I think that in the heat of the battle — it’s tough. The last thing I want to do as a driver is hit a crew member — I can assure you. I don’t think there’s a guy out here who wants to hit a crew guy. But, when you pull in your pit box and the crew guys they get up on the wall and they’re anxious and they’re ready to go and their car is a few behind you and they jump out a little bit early and they’re watching this and they’re not paying attention to here — oh, trust me, I’ve had plenty of guys jump out in front of me. And, I’ve had guys that they have a tendency to swing way out of the box. They run around the car about four or five feet out in pit road — they’re not even in their box.”

GORDON SAYS IT DOESN’T MAKE BIZ SENSE FOR HIM TO GO PART TIME
Jeff Gordon says since he has equity in Hendrick Motorsports he doubts he’d do a partial schedule in the future because he doesn’t see where it would make good business sense for HMS. He says if he’d go to Rick Hendrick and tell him he’d like to go to partial schedule that Rick probably would allow it – but it would never be with the intention of coming back one day to a full schedule. It doesn’t look as if this is something he’s considering.

Stewart has not talked with Danica:

Tony Stewart says he has not talked with Danica Patrick since the announcement was made that she was staying in Indy Car and had signed a new contract with Andretti Green Racing – that out of a report in the Indianapolis star.

That’s it for now. More later. I’ve got to get back out in the garage.

Enjoy the day.
Claire B

Excruciating Wait Until Saturday for Sprint Cup Drivers

It seems so unusual for there to be no track action on Friday. I get a kick out of how “on go” the drivers usually are. They can’t wait to get back to the race track and climb into their race cars. For those who have to hold their own or make up valuable and hard earned points to make it into the chase at Atlanta Motor Speedway it’s got be excruciating to wait until Saturday to get back in the race car.

Sure there are appearances and golf tournaments and sponsor events (see some of the driver appearances below) but the time will tick by on Friday – and this weekend for a stack of drivers there’s so much on the line.

Broadcast Schedule:

Sept. 3 (Thursday) “Dialed In” 7-10 PM EST
I’ll be on the air 7-10 p.m. tonight with “Dialed In”

Sept. 4 (Friday) “Dialed In” 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from AMS
“Dialed In” will be LIVE from Atlanta Motor Speedway 7-10 p.m. EST. There will be no track activity but I’ll have a party for the listeners on air –and will be in the media center broadcasting

Sept. 5 (Saturday) “Dialed In” 2-4 p.m. EST LIVE from AMS
“Dialed In” will be on air from 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. EST leading into the start of Pep Boys Auto Club Qualifying (MRN coverage) Be sure to set your watch for qualifying as it’s on Saturday of this week.

Sept 6 (Sunday) “Dialed In” 2-3:30 p.m. EST LIVE from AMS
“Dialed In” will be on the air leading up to the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show LIVE from AMS

“Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show” – 3:30 – 5:30 (I’ll be in the booth)

(MRN’s Inside track follows –the MRN coverage of the Pep Boys Auto Club 500 starts at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sirius NASCAR Radio

Driver Appearances
A number of NASCAR drivers will be making local appearances around the Atlanta area prior to the Pep Boys Auto 500 race weekend. Below are a few driver appearances preceding Atlanta Motor Speedway’s first Sprint Cup night race:

Clint Bowyer: On behalf of Prilosec OTC, Clint Bowyer will sign autographs at the Walmart located at 11465 Tara Boulevard in Lovejoy on Thursday, Sept. 3 from 7:00 through 8:00 p.m. Two hundred tickets will be distributed at 5 p.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis.

David Reutimann: David Reutimann will be making an appearance at Dick’s Sporting Goods at 1855 Jonesboro Road in McDonough on Friday, Sept. 4 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.

Casey Mears: Casey Mears will kick off a month-long celebration of Jack Daniel’s birthday by signing autographs Friday night at Southside Steve’s from 7 to 9 p.m. at 715 Industrial Blvd. in McDonough, Ga. On race day, Mears will sign autographs and meet fans at the Jack Daniel’s merchandise trailer from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Display Lot. A limited number of tickets are available prior to his appearance and issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Chase to the Chase – Get ready – Atlanta is going to be a doozy!
“All of them are important. No matter where you are in the points and in terms of the Chase, a good run always helps. We feel like we’re in a pretty good spot but we definitely will not take anything for granted. We want to go to Atlanta and win, just like the other guys.” Denny Hamlin

Story Line: The story of the weekend is the points position of the drivers on the bubble for the chase, or around the bubble. You can write it any which way you want..but it all comes down to this:
(Pos) (Driver) (Points +13)
8 Greg Biffle +75
9 Juan Montoya +64
10 Mark Martin +60
11 Kasey Kahne +52
12 Matt Kennseth +34
(Pos) (Driver) (Points -12)
13 Kyle Busch -34
14 Brian Vickers -39
15 Clint Bowyer -112

More when I get to the track. Beautiful day here in Charlotte NC. Enjoy the day!
Claire B

Hey and Greetings from Bristol:

It’s a short weekend here at Bristol. I’m not on the air today on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio with “Dialed In” because Sprint Cup Qualifying will go right up to the start of the Nationwide Series Race the Food City 250 and PRN radio’s coverage of the race.

I will be standing by just in case there is any time between qualifying and the start of the Nationwide race but I’m expecting the coverage will stay seamless on PRN between the two events and that they will not throw it back to me.

However, it does look like rain here and I’ll be doing rain delay coverage (seems like a weekly event) so will be close to the microphone

So how’s your day?

Here’s a run down of my broadcast schedule for the short Bristol weekend:

Saturday, August 21

“Dialed In” With Claire B.
2PM-3:30 p.m. EST

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre-Race Show
3:30PM-5:30PM ET – I’ll be in the booth – Steve Post in the garage
Sirius NASCAR Radio Post Race Show:
I’ll be in Victory Lane LIVE when the race is over for two full hours after the race.
FROM THE GARAGE/MEDIA CENTER:

Brian Vickers signs a new deal with Red Bull Racing and Stands up to Kyle Busch
“He’s out of Rope”

The media session here at Bristol Motor Speeway is always loud. Brian Vickers and Jay Frye (GM Red Bull) came in to talk about Vickers new contract with Red Bull. But as loud as the cars were outside on the track —the sound in the room of Vickers saying he’s not taking any guff from Kyle Busch was so loud that everyone in the room took note. After being asked questions about Busch – and answering them no uncertain terms – Vickers left the room after delivering his own closing statement that pretty much clarified any questions about how Vickers feels about racing Busch.
I included below the full transcript on the issue- as well as the closing statement that was not included on the initial transcript. Enjoy.

Are you still upset about what happened with Kyle Busch following the Nationwide race at Michigan?
“I’m not still mad about it. Like I said after the race, definitely I put it in the memory bank for the next go around. I don’t know if you want to call it ‘strike-one’ or ‘strike-two,’ but either way he’s (Kyle Busch) out of strikes. It’s definitely in the memory banks – it’s not something I’m mad about. I wasn’t mad about it at the time, to be honest with you. Like I said last week, in a lot of ways I feel sorry for him. I hate that he lives in such an angry place. To be so mad about something so small – it must be miserable to live like that. That’s just not the way I live my life. I’m very blessed to have great parents that raised me to be a very different person. I’m in a great position there and I’m very lucky that way that I was raised differently. I’m fine with it – whatever happens moving forward – the ball’s in his court. I’m willing to race him hard and clean and move on down the road and if he’s not willing to do that then I’m willing to take whatever path he chooses. I’m going to race him the way he races me – he knows that and he’s been aware of that for a very long time and that’s not going to change.”

What is your outlook on what winning should mean to a driver?
“I think it should mean a lot. I think pitching a fit and a tantrum after a race — I wanted to win that race as bad or more than he (Kyle Busch) did, but I handled it very differently. He was mad because I raced him. He was mad because he said that I should’ve let him go so that the 88 (Brad Keselowski), who didn’t deserve to win, shouldn’t have won. That’s what he told me. That the 88 (Keselowski) didn’t deserve to win and if I would’ve let him go and let him win, then the 88 wouldn’t have. And frankly, I don’t really care if Kyle Busch wins and I’m proud of the 88 (Keselowski). Good for him. He snuck by both of us. It’s my job to race for the win and that’s what I want, is to win the race. If I can’t win, I don’t really care who does to be honest with you. My concern is not him. I think it’s good to have for the sport, to have emotion — maybe someone getting out of the car and pitching a fit and crying is a good thing. It definitely made a lot of headline news. But, when I talk about being upset about a small thing, he probably caused — I don’t know. The damage he caused between his car and my car post-race, running into my car, was a lot. The way he got out of the car and how angry he was, I just feel bad for him. I’m mad that I didn’t win the race, too. To live with so much anger, I don’t know. It just must be miserable, to be honest with you. I don’t know what you expect out of someone who wants to win the race. I love what I do and I’m very upset if I don’t win, but if that’s what it takes to win, then maybe I don’t want to, because I don’t want to live my life that miserable. I just don’t. It’s just not who I am. I just don’t want to be that upset because I didn’t win.”

What do you mean when you say Kyle Busch is out of ‘strikes?’
“What do you think it means? I’m going to race him the way he races me, but he’s out of rope.”

Do you have a rivalry with Kyle Busch?
“It depends on how you define rivalry. Do I concern myself with where he’s at? No.”

ALSO NOTE: VICKERS ADDED A STATEMENT AT THE END WAY WORTH READING – I TRANSCRIBED IT

In closing I will say this. You know most importantly – focusing on last week , you know I was really proud of the effort by everybody on both teams Dollar General and Red Bull. We sat on two poles had a second and a win. You know obviously I wanted to win the race really bad but I know you guys want to make something a lot more out of it for a story. You want to create a rivalry. I understand that. But it is what it is. My point is and I am going to race him the way he races me. In my book he’s out of rope. I’m just done. I’m just to my limit. To answer your question again…if you think he acted appropriately would you have acted that way? Ok. So Yea I understand. That’s all you got to think about. I mean I think I made it very clear. Obviously I want to win races really, really bad. But a lot of life is how you handle yourself too. That’s the bottom line.

————

Woah how about those comments from Vickers? I can’t wait to see what happens if the two tangle here at Bristol. Hard to avoid each other – everyone tangles at Bristol Baby!

Enjoy the day.

Claire B

Finally arrived after massive delayed flights and a closed runway at Charlotte’s airport back at home at 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday night. That was ok because it was after a great race with tons to talk about with you all. I received much email and am going to post some of the notes I got from you below as well as some conversation about the race at the Glen.

Tomorrow, it’s off to Michigan and I am hearing that there is no chance of rain in the forecast there. If that changes or if anyone hears differently – please don’t tell me. We’re due some sun at MIS and for the race fans. God bless the race fans who braved lightening and weather and banded together under the grandstands and then resurfaced on Monday for the Sprint Cup Series race at the Glen.

I also wondered this – what about the fans at home who watch on TV. For fans who traveled to the race, and the teams and drivers and the traveling group that is NASCAR the week was thrown off a bit by a second rain delayed race. How does it affect those of you who are at home watching on TV and scheduling your TV time and weekend around watching racing? Did any of you take off another day to watch the race? Email me: insidercbl@aol.com

Here’s my schedule for the week/weekend on air: Check claireblang.com for updates and also check out my column in Challenge Magazine at most all Pilot truck stops across the country. America’s truck drivers are the kindest and most compassionate folks ever – I’ve gotten to know them over the years on satellite radio and this column is a chance to give them something special.

Claire B.’s SIRIUS NASCAR Radio “Dialed In” SIRIUS NASCAR Radio – Channel 128 (Best of SIrius on XM Channel 128) schedule this week:

Wednesday, (tonight) August 12
“Dialed In” wth CBL- 7-10 p.m. EST

Thursday, August 13
“Dialed In” with CBL 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from Michigan International Speedway

Friday, August 14
“Dialed In” with CBL 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from Michigan International Speedway

Saturday, August 15
“Dialed In” with CBL -2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EST LIVE from MIS leading up to the start of the Nationwide race – the Carfax 250 at MIS

Post Race: “Dialed In” with CBL after race until 8:00 p.m. EST

Sunday, August 16

CBL in the booth for the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show LIVE from MIS 10:15 a.m. -12:15 p.m. EST

CBL in Victory Lane LIVE and on the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race show for two full hours after the race

Followed by:

“Dialed In” wit CBL until 10 p.m. EST Sunday night breaking down the race post the post race.

That’s my schedule for the week. Here (BELOW) are some of the emails that you have been sending me this week. You all are very good…raising some great points and bringing up good issues. Keep sending them on at ClaireBMail [at] ClaireBLang.com

Thanks.

“Dialed In” MAIL BOX….. The glenn
Posts to ClaireBMail [at] ClaireBLang.com (Claire B)

Hey Claire,

Can u check on something for me? I am trying to figure out why
Stremme was not penalized for running over his front air hose on the
last pit stop. There was even an official standing right there, and I
do not think the rule has changed, has it?

Thanks.
Hey: Thanks for the note. I checked with Kerry Tharp with NASCAR who contacted David Hoots – race director. Here’s your answer:
Referenced 9-15 P in the 2009 rule book: (…when a car completely runs over or under its air hose or over any other equipment within its assigned pit box, the driver may be instructed to return to the car’s assigned pit box for inspection at the direction of NASCAR officials …)The two key words of the rule are “completely” and “may” be penalized. Not in Rule book, the official has the discretion to not make the call if only a part of the hose is clipped or left remaining

The above interpretation of the rule was applied in this particular case involving the No. 12 car

Claire

the people that keep saying Kyle bush need to change are crazy….i have raced from my 5th birthday and i am 58…2nd place is first looser….this crap about being happy with 2nd or 3rd is dumb….1st is the only winner …i think he is great he cant say what you want to say so dont say anything…..m&m mars candy is the only one that counts and Joe Gibbs
say he see a different Kyle….these dumb people they complain should just shut up…..Kevin harvick is saying what it takes to get his team to let him out of his contract….he just a cry baby i can remember when he was the one running all over everyone……again everyone leave Kyle alone …..he is the best driver all around in nascar now

David Watkins

Response: Hey David. Thanks for the email. David I agree —he won’t live with second. But I think winning championships requires that you cannot let that throw you or your team off when you finish less than first. It takes being solid no matter what the issues or the day —-I don’t criticize him for his spirit I LOVE that. But I do think to win a championship he has to find the right balance between the total and complete all consuming desire to win and being up on it and not letting it get to him. It think he knows that and is working on getting there. It’s a tough edge of the razor to find. Thanks again.

Claire B

Hi I missed your show all this week————-sorry———–. What was your opinion of the #11 not getting the same penalties as the #7 and #12? Also about the # of free passes a driver can get. I don’t think that any driver more than 1 lap down should get a free pass. Everyone is bragging on the #48 for making up 3 laps. They didn’t make up anything it was given to them. Once again the no reason for cautions that you know I hate played a major role in the race. I don’t mean it changed who won, but it did allow several teams to get far better finishes than they should have had. A good example was the #12 hitting the wall ,but kept going and they immediately threw the yellow flag. I looked hard ,but could not see anything on the track,nor did TV say anything about anything on the track.Have you ever thought about the advantage a team like the #48 last week has getting 3 lucky dog passes in a row. They get a lap back which everyone knows ,but think of all the extra time they have to make changes to the car that other teams that are good enough to stay on the lead lap don’t have. Just another way that NASCAR in it’s infinite wisdon effects the outcome of a race. thanks jim in fl.

Thanks Jim. I grilled series director John Darby on this topic on air on “Competition Wed.” on “Dialed In” after Pocono. I’m sorry you missed it. I am going to try to get the tape and transcribe it so that you can catch up on what he said. I’ll try to do that as soon as we have a race weekend that is the normal length. I am slammed to get to Michigan tomorrow. Maybe should have gone directly to Michigan from Ithica huh?Hey, maybe can transcribe it on the flight. Will work on that and will post it here as well. NASCAR basically said that the #11 wasn’t malicious although hard racing and they felt that the 7 and 12 were in their eyes after seeing tape. Debris cautions we can and do debate every single time they come out. Like you I want to see what they are. Three lucky dog passes – sometimes those work in your favor sometimes they don’t. I will try to get that tape done so you can read discussion with Darby on all this. Thanks for the email. My opinion – we have a complicated sport with strike and ball calls….we’ll be debating them until the cows come home. Some I agree with some maybe not so much. I do think that NASCAR tries to be fair with the calls – and depending on which driver folks like opinions are varied. It’s part of the sport – that will never change.

Hey thanks for the email.

Claire B

Hi Claire,

I thought you might get a kick out this. It was in the Press and Sun Bulletin (Binghamton, NY paper). It’s not the headline of the story for the nationwide race, but it was the first sentence of the story. “Marcos Ambrose out Kyle-Busched Kyle Busch.” I thought it was clever.

David Romanowski

David: Thanks Loved it. To the rest of you keep sending headlines from your area. Good stuff.
Appreciate it David.

Claire

Claire,

I don’t dislike Kevin Harvick. He is a great guy and a hard racer and I like him. I’m not extremely upset about him saying he didn’t want to bother going back out (at Glenn)….but I am extremely disappointed.

You asked what we would think if the roles were reversed and it were Jr. Well, I think Jr has shown time and time again that he is not like that. He is known for staying in it to get everything he can get…every position…every point…even if he does not actually gain anything in the end…he always tries. Jr is having just as bad of a year as Harvick is…if not worse. I know he is under much more intense pressure….yet he still handles everything with class and never gives up. He gives his team everything he can give them. He has awful luck and I know he’s frustrated but he does not use that as an excuse to give up.

Just like today. His brakes went out and he wrecks…just bad luck every week. Yet, he still tried to go back out there. From what I gathered through e-mail updates(I was working) today, he did not gain any positions but at least Jr still tried. Everybody gets frustrated and has a bad day and you want to throw in the towel. But you can’t give up…and i’m damn proud to say my driver Dale Jr never gave up!!!!….that means a lot to me as a fan!!!!!

Jennifer in SC

Jennifer – I guess I try really hard when someone says something about a driver to change names with another driver (any driver from Gordon to Earnhardt to Bowyer to anyone else on the line up) and see if fans would say same thing. I guess sort of like a fairness meter. I do it all the time….I am sure not implying that another driver would have said that. The drivers who came out of the care center all banged around were kind to stop and talk after that. I appreciate whatever a driver says at that point and if he’s frustrated I guess that would be the ultimate of frustration. Some fans said they thought Kevin was saying he didn’t want to go out there to be crashed by someone not as experienced at road courses again…..perhaps so. It seems like he was just so frustrated. Not sure that works in anyone’s favor. Read rest of emails below. I got a lot of them. Fans are passionate about Harvick.

Claire B

I am not worried about Kevin Harvick at all Claire. I believe he was just fed up with this car, this race, this entire season.. It has been devastating for him, his team and the whole organization. That interview culminates the feelings of all the guys and girls on that 29 team, and probably the 31 and 33 teams also. But they don’t give up and they didn’t either. The team worked on the car, and Harvick got in the car and drove it as hard as he could until he couldn’t anymore. So there are no worries for this huge 29 fan and there shouldn’t be any worries with the rest of us.. Don’t worry guys, he’ll be alright, maybe he’ll end up at Stewart-Haas Racing! Either way, I will support him and the RCR organization.

Thanks Claire

Lee
MS

I guess he was never a rookie.TONY TX

I was going to ask you to send the 14 around but i dont think he needs your help. he did it fine on his own. GO TONY!!

jay in nh

I think Kevin did not want to go out there and be with racers
who were over their skill level – who could wreck him again.

Joanna

Harvick is a big crybaby jerry in

When something happens like Kasey Kahne and Sam Hornish getting together and a big nasty wreck ensuing, how does the driver (in this case Kasey) block that out of his mind to continue the race and not dwell on what happened? It also seems like some drivers may be able to block it out better than others. Is this also the case?

Heidi
Lewisberry, PA

Heidi: Yea they have to. If they don’t they would make more mistakes and have “road rage” incidents that would really be counter productive. It is hard to think of how these racers don’t have more “road rage” since they are so ultra up on it to do what they do -so much more competitive than most of us to get themselves to the edge of speed like that. It’s pretty amazing. But most of them that attain championship status have the ability in the car to keep that in check and find a focus spot that keeps them that way. Good point…yes. you are right. Thanks for the email good point.

Claire B

Hi Claire B.
Have they made any changes to the run off area in turn 9 i don’t remember the crashs being that violant there…Now they hit hard and get spun right out into the race traffic…I see its still grass if they haven’t changed anything they need to…
Randy Henry
Old School with an Attitude
Go Martin Truex Jr….KICK ASS AND TAKE CAR NUMBERS
glad everyone is ok in the kandy kahne I can destroy half the field wreck.. Hornish and Gordon in particular took huge shots—-nascar busted jr for speeding….im in shock

Claire:

Jeff was just on ESPN and they asked him why JJ was so much faster
than the other three. Jeff said he just wasn’t aggressive enough in
qualifying. But he also said that Jimmie and Chad had been working
hard on their road course program. He said they’ve found some things
on the car and after tinkering with the car, they seem to have found
something that works in the COT. Yeah, and tinkering is probably the
right word. Jeff said they had hit on something like he and Ray had
back in the ’90s. Hmmmmm.Technique? Are you kidding me? Nah- it just goes back to that same old twosome for JJ: he’s the luckiest person on the planet and he has
Knaus for a crew chief. How good would his “technique” be without
Chad’s black magic? I’m sorry; Duchart is copping out.

Ann from Indiana

Ann- you are really such a Jeff Gordon fan and I’m sure that he’s thrilled to have folks like you who would go to war for him. I told you that that 48 team had been consumed with energy about doing well at this road course. I think there is some merit in What Doug said….and remember he’s unbiased across all the teams. While the drivers were looking for speed the organization said it’s also about technique. I can tell you that that is exactly what Marcus Ambrose told me when he was on the air with me. He said the technique on these road courses can make such a time difference on every turn –it’s hard to put it into words how important that is and how different it is between drivers at these road courses. Remember the COT is a factor here too along with the driver. I agree with all – it’s a mix.

Better luck for your team this weekend Ann.

Appreciate the emails always.

Claire B

hey CBL it sounds like you guys are having a blast in the stuido 1 question for ms sprint cup what is the weridest victory lane you have been in and one tip if your gonna enjoy beer enjoy it responsbly thank you guys

Collin
From Michigan

Collin THANKS. We did. I ran down during the break before they threw it to us for rain delayed coverage and got as many folks as I could. I ran into the band going up the starts to the green room and snagged them, as I did my buddy Jim Utter in the deadline room and Miss Sprint Cup etc etc. I want the rain delayed coverage to be as full of what is going on at the track along with calls as I can because I want you to feel as if you are there. Your note made me want to work harder and gave me energy to do that thanks.

The wildest one so far –well NH with the lobster is right up there. Rain moved victory lanes tend to be insane. I’ll have to think back. Will do so on flight to Detroit.

Thanks you are so kind. It’s great to cover NASCAR for folks who appreciate it. like you. Appreciate your taking the time to write.

Claire B

Hi Claire,

Great Race for Marcos Ambrose nice to see him get another win. These races have been great with the double file restart, I hope Nascar keeps it going. Going to be a great race for the chase and chase.

Of Course Kyle Bush still cries, thought he was going to step on his bottom lip (post race interview) and have to go to the care center. IF Kyle had made the move Marcos did, he would say “that is racing, he just can’t handle it” if it is a great move on him….it is time to pout and cry.

Don’t you want to be at the Bush Thanksgiving table if Kurt makes the chase and Kyle don’t? Wouldn’t you really want to be there if Kurt won the Championship and Kyle don’t make the chase. Wait would Kyle even be there or would he still be off pouting. HE would probably have to go to Jeff Dickersons house so he can tell him how great he is and rock him to sleep….lol…

Have a great day, hope they get the race off today, hope Kyle has something to pout about tonight. I think guys are finally standing up to him, and doing to him what he does to them. He doesn’t like payback or people to race like he was.

Gene Burkhart
North Port, fl

Hey Gene: Thanks for the email….Yea thanksgiving at the Busch house would be fun any time! I do think the boys support each other more than it shows in the media or on live TV. I think they wanted to establish their own identities at one point so they are not always hanging on each other in public view but I think they wish the best for each other and are closer than it looks. If I get to their house for Thanksgiving ever you’ll get the first report LOL

Thanks for the email. Great to hear from you.

Claire B

idiots! this has nothing to do with the West coast!! l had to miss race at Calif spdwy because of rain,should l blame it on the East coast?

Boy if that isn’t a good point. Can’t we all just get along? Or like the clip I have from Ryan Newman, “World Peace!” On to Michigan……I do wish the races were earlier. I was driving from WG to my hotel Monday and it was still light out….better for the fans better for everyone.

Better get my suitcase out of the truck and turn it around for leaving tomorrow so gotta run.

Thanks for the email. Loved it. Sign your name next time ok? Or do you think the East Coast will get you?

Can’t we find some middle ground people?

Claire B

That’s it for now folks – I really do have to go. Thanks for the emails to insidercbl@aol.com. Can’t wait to see what unfolds at Michigan. I’ll be live there tomorrow.

Enjoy the day

Claire B. Lang