The Chicagoland, Madison, Green Bay, Indy Tour!

I’m taking a few days off in Wisconsin – as my sister is getting married in Green Bay this coming weekend. There’s a flurry of activity here – but it won’t involve the radio. For the first time since I can remember I am not doing “Dialed In” and will be off Wed., Thurs, and Friday of this week.

I am headed to Indy early and staying in the Midwest since Chicago so I will return to “Dialed In” next Wednesday, LIVE from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I always love covering the Brickyard – it’s something special so I’m looking forward to that. Right now though being spoiled by my mom and having meals made for me instead of coming home from a trip to an empty refrigerator. Can we ever get enough of our mom’s home cooking?

The weather is so beautiful here – and it’s great for the soul to be home after so much traveling. I’ll tell you all about the wedding when I return…it’s turned into a huge affair with family and friends I haven’t seen for years and I’m so lucky that out of the blue, not knowing the race schedule, my sister picked an off weekend for her wedding, which makes it easier for my schedule. (IE: No leaving the reception to check out the race on TV lol) My sister has invited some of my friends from high school and so I’ll get to see friends that I have not seen in forever. I’m looking forward to it.

Enjoy the weekend and I’ll catch you Wednesday 7-10 EST from Indy on the Midwestern tour!

Claire B

RACING NOTES:

Danica Patrick

I still think that Danica Patrick is not coming to NASCAR. We’ll see her show up here and there. It will rouse suspicion and plant seeds but in the end, I think she knows what it would take to move into NASCAR and it’s a gamble for her. Almost everyone who knows the sport says that it would require starting out in the Nationwide or Truck series for a while….and I just don’t see her doing this at this stage of her career after what she’s accomplished in open wheel. However, stranger things have happened and it’s weird economic times in both NASCAR and Indycar. She’s a smart cookie. She knows what it would take. I know she visited Stewart Haas racing for a tour, something that was NOT kept hush hush. If she was thinking about it seriously don’t you think that it would have been a closed door visit – kept secret? I think she’s in the mix and wants to be just that- it’s smart for her at this stage-but as far as actually moving into NASCAR. I do not see it. Unless she gets an offer that she can’t refuse.

I like Danica. I went to Chicago to interview her when she announced her “Go Daddy.com” Indycar sponsorship. She was really a lot of fun and I asked her all the tough questions, like was she really the ice princess that some said she was. She laughed and the interview was easy, as she answered everything I threw her way openly and fairly. She was actually very easy to hang out with. I met her mom and dad and husband and interviewed her folks as well. She’s really a pretty amazing woman. She knows what she wants and she is not afraid to go for it – for that she gets the reputation for being cold. I didn’t see her that way. I still don’t think she’s coming to NASCAR but whatever she chooses she’s talented and extremely marketable and whatever she decides to do she’ll be front and center.

Brad Keselowski Full Time Nationwide:

Brad K. would rather race and not spend his time worrying about where he’ll go next but he’s in a good position. I talked to him about his next move at Chicagoland.

CBL: Are you still working on next year? Everyone’s watching you

Keselowski: “Yea, You know I am working on it. Don’t have any answers on it – making progress. Things look good, they look very good for me to be back driving this #88 Nationwide car full time which is just as important to me as running the Cup series. So that’s all coming together nicely, not there but it’s coming together and I’m looking forward to it.

NAPA- A Sponsor’s View of Michael Waltrip, Martin Truex Junior and NASCAR Sponsorships:

I spoke with Bob Susor, who is the president of NAPA about their continued sponsorship at MWR

CBL: What pushed you over the top as far as sticking around?

Bob Susor: “Oh I think it’s just the overall good job that Michael has done for us. The fact that he had good, what appeared to be good technical support and have been able to recruit some high quality people.”

CBL: What about selecting Martin Truex Junior…how heavily did you recruit him? Did you interview him? What was the role NAPA played in selecting him?

Bob Susor: “Well we did interview him and wanted to make certain that he had a personality that fit our customer demographic and our internal organization as well. We think he’s kind of our kind of guy. We think we’ve got the opportunity to help him develop a personal brand maybe beyond where he’s gone to this point as well.”

CBL: What makes him your kind of guy?

Bob Susor: “Very low key. Just kind of a guy next door, son of a hard working entrepreneur and that’s pretty much our customer base.”

CBL: But Michael’s not that low key.
Bob Susor: “Well Michael’s Michael. You know there’s only one Michael and we like Michael because of how shameless he can be. (laughter). They are different personalities but we think having the combination of both….of course and obviously we think there’s the opportunity for improved performance as well.”

CBL: Did you look at video tape, study driving performance records etc?

Bob Susor: “We really didn’t look at video tape. We had seen him do interviews before because when we were with DEI previously we had been exposed to him so we had a little prior exposure to him. You know the fact that he’s stayed out of trouble off the track. That’s a big plus for us as well..”

CBL:And how to you see the landscape for sponsors?

Bob Susor: “Ahhh I understand it’s pretty tough out there. For our business, it’s an ideal demographic. It kind of matches up very nicely with what we do. So I’m not certain how others are viewing it but for us we think it’s still a good investment.”

—————

I hope everyone is enjoying the post July 4th summer fun! It won’t be long before we’ll be at Indy racing the Brickyard.

I’m excited to return for the weekend to Green Bay where I have not been for so long I think I will need a road map to find my way around.

Enjoy the day!

Claire B

It’s raining at Chicagoland Speedway (2:25 p.m. EST) – Jet dryers are on the track but it’s iffy but possible we’ll sneak the Nationwide race in here. Everyone’s hoping that mother nature cooperates.

Here’s my broadcast schedule -

“Dialed In” – is scheduled to be on the air from 7:00-7:30 p.m. EST tonight (Friday July 10) leading up to the start of the Dollar General 300 powered by Coca Cola. If the rain halts the race or the start of the race and MRN Radio throws it back to affiliates – then “Dialed In” will be on from 7-10 p.m. EST. I’m broadcasting from the Safety Clean Trailer in the garage here at Chicagoland Speedway.

Saturday- Dialed In is on from 2:00-4:15 p.m. EST -leading up to the start of the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio pre race show at 4:15 p.m EST. The MRN start of the Lifelock.com 400 is at 7:15 p.m. EST.

After the race I’ll be LIVE in Victory Lane and on the SIRIUS NASCAR Post Race Show until 1:00 a.m. EST.

More coming from the media center as it happens.

Next Week’s Schedule:

My sister is getting married in Green Bay Wisconsin on the off weekend between Chicagoland and Indy races. “Dialed In” will be off next Wed, Thurs, and Friday so that I can attend the Wedding. I will be LIVE from Indy on Wednesday, July 23rd

I’ll be back with more during the rain delay and practice.

Still raining here at Chicagoland.

Claire B

Broadcast Schedule:

“Dialed in”— 2-4:15 p.m. EST today
Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show 4:15 p.m. EST
POST Race: LIVE in Victory Lane immediately following the race

Happy 4th of July – God Bless Our Troops:

Since I travel a great deal I seem to spend nearly every other day either getting on or getting off of a shuttle at an airport.

So I’m getting on the shuttle at the airport at Charlotte and we were all wedged in the bus like sardines. As the bus pulled to a stop a young man began to literally unload the bags off the buss for several of us who were without help. We sure did not expect, nor ask for the assistance. “You are so kind,” I said to him, as I had a huge broadcast box a rolling bag and suitcase which would have required three trips off the shuttle and some massive lugging. “You must have been brought up by great parents,” I said to the man. “Thank you so much.”

“Ma’am,” he said, “I’m a US soldier,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been in.” I stopped, looked the young man in the eyes and said “Well God Bless you.” I was stopped in my tracks by his kindness and pride.

Today we stop and we thank the patriots, and young men and women who are the cream of the crop and who today, are representing us and keeping us secure around the world, or in past conflicts.

I won’t forget that young man. It sticks in my mind. I hope God keeps him safe.

Happy 4th of July!

Race Day- Daytona
Blog Thoughts – Daytona Site of Major Story Lines Over the Years

Daytona International Speedway has been the site of so many story lines over the years. Set up your computer, microphone, broadcast unit or photographers at DIS for NASCAR events and you’re sure to have cars that don’t pass inspection, penalties issued, “big one” crashes, comments from the sports owners that send reporters running to feed, a few celebrities and plenty to talk about. Think about all the major story lines that have broken while we’ve been here covering stories at Daytona. The list is long.

This weekend we’ve been on the Jeremy Mayfield watch. We’ve all heard that he’s coming to the race track – that he’ll make an appearance but we’ve not seen him. Perhaps today – and if he shows – it’s sure to be the story of the day pre race.

Here are some comments from drivers here in the garage and media center at Daytona to tune you up for the running of today’s Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup Series race:

To Kyle Busch:

Was the bottom lane the place to be tonight (after Nationwide race)? “It was and I expected it to be that way tonight. The inside lane I figured was going to be the way to go because these cars are wide open the whole time almost. I think tomorrow it will be the top. The outside lane carrying the momentum is definitely going to be the better lane.”

To Jeff Gordon:

How is the rubber that the Grand AM cars are going to put down on the track before your race tomorrow night going to affect the race?
“I haven’t really thought about it a lot to be honest with you. It’s a good question but we won’t know until tomorrow. You know this track is always pretty hot and slick and those guys run pretty much around the bottom and I don’t know, I don’t think they are going to lay a ton of rubber down. So, I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue but we’ll find out once we get out there. You know this place is kind of strange for putting rubber down on the track anyway it’s not like most tracks because the radius of the corners is so big and its fairly abrasive and what wears tires, I can’t really say that it lays a lot of rubber down and if it does, it won’t take us long to get the Goodyear rubber laid in there.”

To Juan Pablo Montoya:

DO YOU BRING THE MENTALITY OF LOOKING AT POINTS FROM FORMULA ONE?: “Point are important in every series. A lot of guys that you get in here are guys that are winning races. When you’re winning races then you can have a bad weekend. If you finish first in one and 30th in another one then it averages out to like 12th or something with the points. It’s not bad, but when you’re finishing 10th and you have a 30th then it goes to 18th or something like that. It really hurts it. If our good weekends were to be a little bit better then it would be a lot easier. Then you can say, ‘I’m going for wins,’ but we’re not.”

To Greg Biffle ( who will have to start tonight’s race from the back because he will be in a back-up car that didn’t complete a lap during Thursday’s practice sessions. Biffle’s primary car was wrecked very late in the second practice session)

Since the car hasn’t made a lap yet, when the race starts what’s on your mental check list of things to check on the car right off the bat:
“Really, in the old days, it used to be tire rubs. Do you smell smoke? Nowadays, with the bodies being templated all the same and the suspension and all that, that kind of stuff is out of the question. So, really, as long as everything feels right – and these cars, we’ve been doing this so long, we unload cars all the time, they’re brand-new, and test all day, like at Indy. We unloaded the car, tested all day and then put it back on the truck, and we had no issues. So, I feel confident. And, really, the cars are brand new and have never turned a lap at every race we bring them to – because all of the parts come off of them, and they’re all put back on, and engines and everything else. So, technically, they’re all brand new every time we unload them for the day. But, yeah, we have little issues we have to fix. Here, we won’t have that issue. But, we have a big race track, two and a half miles, so you can do a lot of stuff under caution, as long as it’s not major. If you have little issues you need to fix or address or work on, here you have plenty of time. Track position, here, is not that important until the fifth hour.”

So the only benefit lost by starting in the back is not knowing right away how the car reacts in traffic? “Yes. Yes, that would’ve been nice for this not to rain out, we qualify in the top 20, we start there and then we could’ve gotten a feel for it right out of the gate. But, there’s a part of me that doesn’t mid starting in the back so I can figure it out on my own and then start working through traffic – because, inevitably, sometime during the night, you’ve lost some track position, you got out of line and get shuffled out and end up 30th, you get back in there and race your way back to 10th. So, you’re back and forth anyway. So, really, it’s a non-issue.”

To Tony Stewart:

HOW WILL THE NEW DOUBLE-FILE RE-START RULE AFFECT THE RACING THIS WEEKEND AT DAYTONA?
“I don’t think it will, honestly. As quick as people get shuffled forward and backward here anyway, I don’t think it matters. I think last weekend was more critical on which line you were in. But I don’t think for Daytona, I don’t know that anybody is going to sit there and say well, I’m going to ride third here because I want to restart on the inside. I mean you know don’t know if you’re going to get a caution. You don’t know when it’s going to come out. Nobody’s going to plan their strategy around a caution and where they’re going to re-start with it.

“You’re not going to decide. You’re just going to try to get to the front and stay at the front. If you can do that, you’re a much better racer than I am because I can’t think that far ahead. Nobody is going to be able to plan and put themselves in those kinds of situations. You’re just going to have to take it as it comes. It’s no different than if four guys pass you on one lap, that’s where you’re at when you restart. So, nobody’s going to try to plan that and say well, I’m just going to ride third so if we have a caution and have a restart then we can do something.

To Jeff Burton:

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE HEAT AT DAYTONA AT NIGHT VERSUS WHEN THE JULY RACE WAS DURING THE DAY?:
“The cars are hotter then they were then, but we have more things to help the drivers than we did then as well so they kind of counteract each other. I like the morning because I can remember leaving here race day and being home, back in Charlotte, in time to be on the lake. It was kind of fun and coming down here was always kind of like a vacation. The teams, we would practice in the morning, the garage would be closed down by one o’clock or 12 o’clock, the way I remember it. Back then the teams weren’t so big that they’re families would come down and they would rent hotels on the beach and it was just a completely different environment, it was much more relaxed than it is now. This was almost like a race and an off-weekend at the same time. We don’t really have that atmosphere anymore. The intensity has picked up so much and it’s so competitive that there’s never a relaxed moment. It was fun to race at 10 o’clock, at the same time I think the fans like the night race a lot better. Obviously, it gets cooler as the race goes on versus it used to get hotter as the race would go on. But you would be done really so it wasn’t that bad. It is hot here, but it’s just what we do.”

I’m in my hotel room getting ready for today’s race. I’d better pick it up – much to do before my show starts over in the media center. I look forward to the heat, fireworks blowout, story lines, arguments, last-minute breaking news from the garage, fireworks filled summer 4th of July event that is the Coke Zero 400…..Let’s go racing!

Victory Lane: A Moose, A Lobster, Kid for a Winner , Mom, Dad & Coach!

Congratulations to Joey Logano on his first Sprint Cup Series win! When a driver scores his first Cup win and I’m in Victory Lane I try to soak it all in (no pun intended on the word soak) and etch it in my mind so that years from now I can reflect on more than simply a number in a record book. With this particular victory celebration, I will remember, a bit of chaos, a gigantic lobster, an almost stunned to be there and thrilled young driver (heck even the car chief seemed a bit shocked to have pulled this one off), a smart crew chief, Coach Joe Gibbs and the rain.

At a distance, I’m sure, Logano has seemed almost too good to be true – leaving folks to look for cracks, but there are not any. Looking ahead I think that Logano will show that he’s edgier than he may initially come across (remember how young he is and that he’s a rookie) and not afraid to say what he thinks. Later in his career, we’ll see how hard-charging he is and so not shy about doing what it takes to win. In this case, Logano’s job was to listen to his crew chief, follow directions, and do what many missed, work his way up from his 24th place starting position to be in position to win should it be his day when the rains opened up and victory fell from the sky. The kid did his job.

I received so many emails after the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 – I couldn’t possibly post all of them. The comments were all over the board. From congratulations to young Joey Logano to notes about the TV coverage and the rain shortened race to comments about the attempted three wide move of Kyle Busch during the double file restart on lap 175, which led to the crash involving eight cars, which he later apologized for. Was the apology enough? Martin Truex Junior was really angry – steamed would be the word and you can’t really blame him. “I hate that it happened,” is not a new phrase in NASCAR – and the question I am left with today is a simple one. Do fans want to see bold, aggressive moves (with rain coming) that may or may not end in what we saw?

Would you rather Kyle Busch not have made the move? I am asking honestly. It doesn’t matter who you follow as a driver..is this or is this not the kind of move you want to see? If you can separate who you root for and how this affected your driver – I think the question is a simple one. Do you want the guy to go for it or not? Martin Truex Junior was clear that he felt it was a “stupid” move – and it did take out a number of cars. What direction are you taking on this?

I had some great conversation on my radio show from some who said that Kyle Busch should be repaid by one of the drivers who were angry about his move – and who crashed as a result of it. They said that if that happened Busch would be more careful next time when he wants to get aggressive. This is true – it’s how the garage has worked in the past.

The garage has always regulated itself. That is in the DNA of the sport. When drivers have had enough of someone or don’t like his moves they put the hammer down on the guy. Do you want the hammer down on this move? Or, do you like it when a guy takes a chance and goes for it with rain coming.

You’re the fans – You buy the tickets, you pay the bills. Tell me, what is it that you want? If we want drivers to go for it then we are going to see some of this. If we don’t the racing will be more finesse racing. That’s ok too. The question is what do you want?

Here are some, in some cases a portion of, the emails in my box today:

Part of an email from Michele in Virginia:

……..I am a Dale Jr fan. I am proud of my driver both on and off the track. I am patient and I feel he has the talent. There hasn’t been much to cheer about lately, but I am a believer that things move in cycles. BUT, I am the first to omit, that if it is the middle of the race and the guys are just logging laps (so they can get to the end and be in a position to win), it is Kyle Busch that I am going to be watching to see what he is going to do next. I know I am going to be rewarded with him going three wide into turn 1 on the outside during a restart, passing six cars along the way and stirring up the next controversy for the next week of talk radio call-ins.

With all this as background, it came to me this morning that the reason everyone is talking about Kyle Busch 24/7 – from the listeners to the media to the radio/TV hosts – is because we want a rival to Kyle and there just isn’t one out there now. Kyle is the “black hat” – the bad boy – the young upstart who won’t follow the rules – in life and in racing. The problem is we don’t have a “white hat” racing on his same level, on the edge, to balance him out. What is the first thing a caller says when he calls in to complain about the latest misstep by Kyle – “the boy can race, BUT….” – and then they list their latest complaints. He said the wrong thing to the media… he didn’t stop and talk to the media… he wasn’t gracious enough in victory lane… he wasn’t….. Since we don’t have the white knight who can race the same way Kyle can AND say and do everything the fans want – they attack Kyle the persona and the personality, because they can’t hold up their driver to argue about the racing. Other drivers will have flashes of brilliance across the series, but no one is racing like him every race.

Face it what we really want is a rivalry where both drivers are evenly matched in skill and equipment. We want both drivers to be racing on the edge for a win every lap. We want one to go three wide to the outside while the other is making it four-wide on the inside. We want them to beat and bang and then we will hold our breath as we wait to see who wins this time. Because we know they are so evenly matched, that the outcome may be different next time. Then, we can spend the next week calling into the talk shows talking about the RACING!!! Not how someone was acting with the trophy in victory lane.

And here lays the problem…. I am not sure this is even possible. But it is what every fan wants.

Am I a Kyle supporter…. probably some. I love to watch him race across the three series. He is driving on the edge to win the race. But it is a crash and burn mentality of a 20 something that probably won’t win him a championship. Did I like him smashing the guitar at Nashville? The 45 year old mom part of me shook my head, wrinkled my nose and threw my hands in the air saying “that stupid inconsiderate kid.” But part of me also feels like that 20 something. That part of me still exists and was under the stands at Charlotte during the multiple rain delay doing Jell-O shooter – that part thought “YEAH!!”. That is the blessing of age – we learn to control our inner 20 something and act appropriately. But is it as much fun??

I hope that Kyle remains Kyle – with all his mis-steps. He sure is fun to watch. AND, I hope someone comes along soon to be the rival. I am ready for us to go back and spent time talking about this week’s race winner or the three-time consecutive champion. It has gotten to the point that what Kyle did or didn’t do overshadows the remaining 42 drivers. NASCAR is not about one driver…. But, there is always the next race!!!

As always, thank you for all you do! Dialed In is still the best show on the NASCAR channel!

Michele
Richmond, VA

From Jeff in Minnesota:

Oh ok its ok for Dale Sr to rub and bump every chance he got in every race he won but its not for Kyle?. Kyle should start grinning at interviews.
Respectfully
Jeff
MN

From Jim in Florida:

I think the TV coverage could be better. The announcers seem to have a small # of drivers they are going to talk about no matter what happens during the race. It would have been nice to know what happened to the #9 about half way of the race. He had driven up to 5th place when the caution flag waved. When he came out of the pits he was 19th. I think a short explanation was in order, but not one word was ever said about. This brings me to my question. What did happen on that stop? If you don’t know maybe you could ask and let me know. also last week when I looked at the standings Kahne was only 3 points behind the #42 the #9 finished 10th today and the #42 12th why is the #42 still ahead in points? thanks
Jim, in fl.

From Race Fan:

Claire:

What are some of your listeners drinking Junior Johnson’s sippin’ whiskey?

For the sake of argument lets say the same holds true for mid-race yellows that come just as pit stops start.

Some drivers make it to pit road before the yellow but then…. NASCAR parades around for 10-15 extra laps before opening pit road waiting for other drivers to run out of gas.

Just as nutty as one of your emailers I should think.

On the rain issue and earlier starting times…. Since when does it NOT rain at 1pm vice 2-3pm?

From Dusty:

Brian (Vickers) should know about stupid being forever, he lives it everyday. Can you say takes out the front of the field at Daytona including Kyle or maybe that his only Sprint Cup Win was accomplished by crashing a teammate. Oh & it couldn’t be JRs fault for spinning his tires on the restart cause JR never does anything to cause a wreck. Maybe instead of bashing Kyle about him being a hard charger Truex should try being a little more of a hard charger himself. I believe it’s 1win to 15wins in favor of Kyle. That’s Dusty’s opinion.

From Joyce:

For the most part I thought today’s race was the best I’ve seen so far this year. I love the double file restart, only hope the drivers will learn how to race the new format and not cause a “big one” like on lap 175. I’m sure Jr. didn’t spin his tires on purpose and I am also sure Kyle didn’t run into Martin Truex Jr. intentionally, I hated the wreck, but the side by side racing for the lead was awesome. I also loved the lap 151 caution for debris and how the race cars took care of it. LOL

I think the television broadcast would be more tolerable to watch if the commercials weren’t so mind numbing repetitive, if they would just change them up even if it were for the same product I would like it better. I’ve even decided to boycott some of the wares the ads hawk just because I feel like they are trying to tattoo their product on my brain…

Joyce,
Arkansas

From Bob in New Hampshire:

Claire B–

I trust you enjoyed your trip to the White Mountains and a big fat lobster. Just wanted to give credit to the New England race fans who filled at least 99% of the seats at NHMS today. After watching a sea of empties at Atlanta, Texas and other tracks, the full house in Loudon today is worthy of note when people start talking about future race date allocations, don’t you think?

Sorry about all the rain! Enjoy Daytona and thanks for all you do.

Bob in NH

From Marv:

Hi,

Let’s just say this is one of the lamest NASCAR seasons ever. Another rain win by someone who was not remotely competitive all day just like Kenseth and Ruetimann. They should have run 10 more caution laps to run the lame cars out of gas. Add to this debacle the fuel mileage races and this season really sucks. I usually get to 4 or 5 races a year and I am not renewing season tickets for a couple of tracks next year.

Marv Odell

From Dallas:

i don’t feel Kyle was the big cause of the big wreck.dale jr caused it by spinning his tires on the restart.
7 times out of ten their will be a wreck. and what Kyle said on the restart it is pretty close quarters and watching that double file restart,it was bumper to bumper for at least 2 laps. maybe if Martin Truex jr would of responded and made a hard left turn the wreck might not of happened. he knew what was gonna happen.in other words u check up your gonna get rear ended thanks

dallas

congratulations to joey logano

Randy from Ilinois:

I just know Truex has been running good and can’t catch a break….I could care less that NASCAR gave Logano a win…Lets see now we’ve got at least 3 wins this season that guys didn’t deserve or earn…So I didn’t get all mushy over NASCAR giving the boys the wins….They say a win is a win I quess…
Randy
Old School With An Attitude

From Tony in NY

Sure people would be mad if the race time got moved up for weather. Besides the fact that race fans generally like to gripe, I really think that race fans would be disappointed if they found they missed the call to fire engines.

Congrats to Joey. I’m happy with the win even with my favorite driver finishing second.

Tony in NY

—————————————————————

Well – in NASCAR the show must go on. The haulers and teams have to pick up and move on to Daytona on Wednesday. It’s a quick turnaround and everyone will be scurrying to get it all in place for the Fourth of July Daytona NASCAR show.

In our sport – we race, we run around rain, and when we get it dumped on us the decision is made from the tower and we move on.

We have to – the show doesn’t stop.

Thursday, Joey Logano visited the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) and David’s house which gives health care to young children. While there he dropped off several video game consoles and games from his NASCAR Nationwide Series sponsor, GameStop, and visited with many of the children and families who use David’s House while receiving treatment at CHaD. Logano also made the trip next door to CHaD to visit with children who were not able to make it to the David’s House event.

Maybe the skies opened up and the win was a Karma win!

What I will remember of this win was an almost dazed with victory Logano. He handled victory lane and the media exceptionally and I don’t mean that as if he didn’t know what to do. He was fine in Victory Lane. I have been to victory lane with seasoned drivers with many wins who as a result of a finish could not seem to really soak in the win yet. It was so like that for Logano. He had dreamed all his young life about this moment and there he was….he got it thrust upon him when the skies opened he was moved, hustled, hugged, photographed and interviewed and it still had not sunk in.

He was being hugged by a moose character, handed a gigantic live lobster, embraced by coach Joe Gibbs, visited by Tony Stewart, beamed at by his tearful mom and proud dad who was handling the cell phone calls, yelled at to face a different direction by photographers pushing for space in a crammed garage as the car is being wheeled in and the trophy slid in front of him. He just kept smiling and smiling. He was warm and interesting in the interview, but he was a bit dazed by the win. That is what I will remember. It was almost surreal.

Today, and tomorrow, he’ll relive and relish it.

He’s a great kid and I congratulate him.

Enjoy the day!

Claire B

Hey all! I hope this finds you all well.

I’m on my way to the airport but figured I’d drop you a line with my broadcast schedule for the weekend and some thoughts for the day.

Dialed In: (Schedule for Thursday – Sunday)

Thursday, June 25, 2009
“Dialed In” 7-10 EST from New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Friday, June 26, 2009
“Dialed In” 7-10 EST from New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Saturday, June 27, 2009
“Dialed In” 1:30-2:00 p.m. EST — Leading into the Start of the Camping World 200 Nationwide Series Race

“Dialed In” AFTER the Camping World 200 Nationwide Series Race until the start of the Memphis Travel.com 200 Camping World Truck Series Race at Memphis at 5:30 p.m. EST

“Dialed In” AFTER the Memphis Travel.com 200 Camping World Truck Series Race until 10:00 p.m. EST

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Claire B Lang in the booth for the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show 10:00-12:00 EST

Then: In Victory Lane for the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race Show

Followed by “Dialed In” until 11:00 p.m. EST Sunday after the Post Race Show

Three for Three on the Bets:
How the Heck Did That Happen?

I have taken bets for three weeks- wild bets on the races pitched by the listeners. I’ve taken one a week. I take the scraps…meaning they pitch the bet and I take the side that they don’t want. I’m not actually betting something I’m taking the other side of their bet. Sometimes they are crazy bets and yet –I keep winning. I have no idea how that keeps happening. Maybe karma for taking the underdog in the bet.

The week before last I bet with John in Louisiana. He’s a helicopter pilot that takes workers out to the oil rigs. He bet that that Dale Jr would finish in the top 10 at Michigan and he lost. He had to take picture next to his helicopter with a sign….(see picture here posted on site). I loved it…..you have to zoom in to read the writing on the sign but it’s a good one. Just posted today (6/25/09) along with this column. Most of the time the bets I take should never win. Last week I took the other side of a listeners bet that Kyle Busch would finish ahead of Carl Edwards. He picked Kyle and I had Carl. Well – Kyle who started second finished way below Carl at Infineon when it was all over. I won again. How did that happen?

Richard Childress Racing –Regrouping

What is the reason for the slump at Richard Childress Racing? Yesterday, Clint Bowyer had some thoughts about it that led me to believe that like some other teams, without testing -they shot the direction they figured was right and they went the wrong direction:

Clint Bowyer: “Kevin last year at the end of the year was really running good and they were on some drastically different things that we were running at the time, so we all kind of over the off-season put a lot of — our eggs in that one basket, hopefully that being the answer for the year starting off strong. It just wasn’t. So we have had to drop back and punt so to speak. We have had to come back and cut our cars up and change front clips, change body designs around, aero designs around, whatever the changes were. It takes time to get those all acclimated and back in place as a group and as a whole so we can all get back to running well. That’s kind of where we are at. We are starting to see all of the hard work of getting things back to where we were, you know, and going down the right path. We are starting to see some results, especially on my side. So I’m excited about the races to come here. I think we have got ten races left, to be a part of this Chase, I feel like we are starting to run good at the right time…….. But it takes that long to find the problem, fix the problem and get those changes that you’ve made acclimated into the system. You know, when you’ve got an organization as big as ours, it’s not something where you can just make one change and fix the whole problem. Everybody’s cars have to be changed. You know, if we find advances in the engine department, we have to make sure that those changes will live, and so a lot of sim and a lot of dyno work goes into place and making those changes and making a smart change.

So that’s the thing is when you get behind, it just takes a while to dig yourself out of that hole. I feel like when I said “stop the bleeding,” I feel like that meant we found the problem, we fixed the problem. And now it’s taking a little bit of a problem to get that problem and get those changes acclimated into our system. We are already starting to see results and things turnaround.”

————————————————-

It’s going to be an interesting weekend. If I don’t get going I’ll miss my flight and then – I’ll not be there to blog you from the track…so I’d better get in gear.

Enjoy the day.

I’ll write you when I get to New Hampshire.

Claire B

Fathers Day – June 21, 2009

It’s Sunday, race morning, Father’s day and I’m walking down pit road prior to the start of the Toyota Save Mart 350. Ryan Tschudi, the quiet and sincere underneath mechanic for the 77 Mobile One Dodge walks up to me and asks if I have already done my SIRIUS NASCAR Radio show for the day. I tell him that I just finished the broadcast…..why? He said that he wanted to do a shout out to his dad for Father’s day.

The stunt pilot for the Red Bull Helicopter is doing flips in the air, the Infineon Raceway girls are posing with teams up and down pit road, the colors and sounds and energy of the moment are beyond intense. The pre race is unfolding and Ryan is thinking about his dad.

I raised my microphone, turned on the m audio player and asked him to do a shout out to his dad if he’d like. I’d find a way to work it into the post race show even if they do not win and visit Victory Lane. I’m thinking I will have to be creative on getting this one on a post race show but, darn it, I’ll find a way to do it. He said he didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. He had heard me have the guys do a shout out to their dads on the Friday broadcast and wanted to have his dad included. That’s cool.

“I want to wish my dad LeRoy a happy Father’s Day,” Tschudi said into my microphone.
“My dad is actually headed to Texas right now, he’s taking a load down to Dallas. Happy Father’s Day!,” He added.

I called my dad (John Bennett) today. He’s up North in Wisconsin with Mom at the lake fishing and enjoying the day. I appreciate all he did for me in my life and I am lucky that I can go on the radio and shout out to him and tell him so.

So many of the guys who are never home for special days and anniversaries and Father’s Days cannot. They would trade what they do for anything,but guys like the underneath mechanic on a team are unsung heroes of race teams. No one gives them attention and when the cameras are rolling and the live broadcasts are happening and the features are being shot – they are where they live, underneath the race car. They get no attention and they ask for nothing for themselves.

I think it’s really great that Ryan came up to me – and while he’d never ask for something for himself – he wanted to do a shout out to his dad.

I’m sure he didn’t expect me to mention it in my blog.

But you know it’s the small things about this sport that make some of the best stories and most compelling stories in NASCAR. On pit road and in the garage and back at home at race shops there are guys who would do just about anything to get to Victory Lane so they can call their dads from there and give them some attention.

Happy Father’s day to all the guys in the sport and all the fans back at home.

Ryan thanks for the shout out to your dad. I know that you never figured it would be in this blog – but you know your dad must be pretty special and that is way cool.

More Later – Enjoy the day!

Claire B.

I just arrived at Infineon Raceway and am setting up my home away from home in the studio here at Infineon Raceway. I got a bunch of email about whether I’m going to Wisconsin and the Milwaukee Mile again this weekend instead of Infineon which has been the mode the last couple of years.

This year, while my heart will be home with family and friends I’ve met in Milwaukee, I’ll be situated in the Sonoma Valley covering both races. Since I am in the booth for the pre race show it would be hard to anchor the show from a bar in Milwaukee across from the Milwaukee Mile. But it sure was fun wasn’t it? I’ll figure out a way to do that again one day – but this weekend I’m in the beautiful Sonoma Valley.

My “Dialed In” With Claire B. Lang broadcast schedule is as follows:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dialed In 7-10 EST LIVE from Infineon Raceway

Friday, June 19, 2009
Dialed In- 3-6:30 EST LIVE from Infineon Raceway (pre Sprint Cup Qualifying)

Saturday, June 20, 2009
Dialed In -5-8:30 p.m.EST leading up to the start of the NorthernTool.com 250

Sunday, June 21, 2009
Dialed In – 11-1 p.m. EST leading up to the start of the Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show.

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show- Sunday, June 21 – 1:00-3:00 p.m. EST
Claire B. will be in the booth for the Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race Show

SIRIUS NASCAR Radio Post Race Show – Sunday, June 21 POST RACE
Claire B will open up LIVE from Victory Lane on the Sirius NASCAR Radio Post Race Show

Enjoy the day!!

Oil Rig Helicopter Pilot’s Bet on Dale Jr’s Michigan Finish:

NOTE: See the photo of John in Louisiana’s landing spot (he’s the guy who made the bet with me last week that Dale Junior would finish in the top ten at Michigan. He lost the bet so he is going to send me a photo of him with a sign indicating he lost and with at least one of the oil rig guys near the helicopter and the sign. Check out where John has to land his helicopter when he shuttles the guys to the rig each day woah!

Read these Billy Joel Lyrics and then my notes below it.

Pressure (Billy Joel)

You have to learn to pace yourself

Pressure

You’re just like everybody else

Pressure

You’ve only had to run so far

So good

But you will come to a place

Where the only thing you feel

Are loaded guns in your face

And you’ll have to deal with

Pressure

You used to call me paranoid

Pressure

But even you can not avoid

Pressure

You turned the tap dance into your crusade

Now here you are with your faith

And your Peter Pan advice

You have no scars on your face

And you cannot handle pressure

All grown up and no place to go

Psych 1, Psych 2

What do you know?

All your life is Channel 13

Sesame Street

What does it mean?

Pressure

Pressure

Don’t ask for help

You’re all alone

Pressure

You’ll have to answer

To your own

Pressure

I’m sure you’ll have some cosmic rationale

But here you are in the ninth

Two men out and three men on

Nowhere to look but inside

Where we all respond to

Pressure

Pressure

All your life is Time Magazine

I read it too

What does it mean?

Pressure

I’m sure you’ll have some cosmic rationale

But here you are with your faith

And your Peter Pan advice

You have no scars on your face

And you cannot handle pressure

Pressure, pressure

One, two, three, four

Pressure

Pressure

Exposure, Television Mentions, Superior Performance More Crucial Than Ever

The song “Pressure” by Billy Joel summarizes the state of drivers and team members in the sport headed into this weekend’s race here at Infineon. It struck me of late that when I am live with the winners in victory lane how many drivers and crew chiefs are now talking about the great vehicles that the manufacturer that they race for puts on the show room floors. Arm chair quarterbacking after the fact is always easy but maybe some more of that should have been going on before the economic crisis hit Detroit’s big three.

Tough times teach us a lot – and I always say when times are tough the Good Lord is preparing us so that we’ll be humble when we win the lottery. Good times are coming. What lesson are we supposed to learn at this juncture? Am I the only one who thinks that some of what we have experienced, yes even in our sport, has made us appreciate it more?

While GM teams ponder where to cut back to assist GM in their restructuring while professing long-standing support to Chevrolet – sponsors looking ahead to renewing or signing contracts with the sport look to the performance of teams and drivers like never before.

Team members are uneasy, not sure where budget cutbacks will come from and hoping this is not the weekend that they mess up. Team owners and drivers say that they are resourceful and I agree. No one has seen yet what teams and drivers and crew guys will do to make teams thrive in tough times. I think it’s not like anything you’ll see in other sports — I think the resourcefulness of folks on NASCAR teams (creativity is what made winners in the sport) will lead to decisions that no one has yet thought of. Other sports – No I don’t see that resourcefulness not to the level of what will come from decisions made in tough times by smart team owners. Add to that the loyalty of the true fans and even in tough times, maybe more so in tough times, the sport will find a way.

The pressure to perform which has been a part of this circuit forever is ramped up to a level these days that will absolutely affect the racing -perhaps for the positive. This is not the time to be mediocre and survive. This is a time when funding is on the line like never before and no one can race unmentioned at the back of the field and stay in the game for long with sponsors looking for the payback on every penny to justify the spending to boards of directors. Does NASCAR give the payback to sponsors? With everyone on their game yes – and the game will be stepped up.

Drivers and team members know that, and since these guys (team members) do not dwell on the negative but rather the perpetual series of opportunities for hope that each race presents – they are not talking about it much. Where will the cutbacks come from? What programs, what team members and are layoffs in the future for these teams? These questions are inside, unsaid within the sport this race weekend.

Those answers are yet to come. Team owners are positive and loyal and they will find a way.

But as we head into this weekend -even more so than ever…for many in the sport – there is more pressure.

Welcome to Sonoma. It’s going to be a heck of a race.

Greetings from Michigan International Speedway
NASCAR CEO Pre-Race – Manufacturer Cuts, Economy, Four Team Limit, Best Racing in the World, Most Loyal Fans In Sports

It’s a beautiful day pre-race in Michigan. There’s so much to talk about leading into today’s race. I wanted to get a quick post up from the chat NASCAR CEO Brian France had with reporters in the deadline room shortly before the race started. Here’s the transcript – of what he said in response to questions. I’ll have more to tell you when the race is over..for now enjoy the race. I’ll post tidbits when the race is over.

Take care…Enjoy the race:

(MEDIA asking NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France about issues of the day on Sunday pre- Lifelock 400)

What about the cutbacks in NASCAR from GM :

Well obviously they’re having a you know everything that they are doing – every program’s being affected and we’re no different. We were hoping to have the most minimal of the impact with their decisions to restructure their business and the details aren’t all out yet as to exactly what that will mean to us but obviously we are affected. I think our job now is to figure out how to be good partners with them. They’re trying to restructure their entire company and be a different company on the other side and for us to be a part of that and I think we will. I’m very confident that they will be in the sport for many, many years because it works well but obviously under different terms and our teams are affected that’s more than any one – the tracks have already felt the restructuring last year and now individual teams at all levels are going to feel it and that’s not the best case scenario for us but it’s the reality of where we are and we’ll deal with it.

Obviously they want to come out of bankruptcy do you think NASCAR is still a good viable model for them or other manufacturers to help make that happen?

Well sure I think we’re the best opportunity to help build a new company, sell different cars – the same cars or a combination thereof. So I’ve always felt good about that and they do too it’s just the reality of having to do a restructuring across the board and what they said is when they got done reviewing that, that there would be some hard choices and obviously these are the result of those hard choices.

Are you going to go to Detroit and talk with the big cheese about your deal and their deal?

Well we have. We’ve been talking to them all along. I went in last year -ah last fall to all the manufacturers, myself and Mike Helton and Jim France and others. We’ve been in constant contact with them – they are a big integral part of what we do and that is unchanged.

With all this uncertainty are you actively talking to companies that might end up healthier, such as Honda – the German companies?

Well we have been talking to people off and on for a long time. These are decisions in terms of a new manufacturer joining the sport that would take a long time to evaluate and actually enter. So those aren’t something that if we turned the light switch on tomorrow morning that it would happen – but of course we are the preeminent place in North America for car manufacturers to build their business with an auto racing group. So we remain that and clearly there are some companies that are going to look at opportunities that may not have even been there in the past that could be presented in the future. Now listen we’ll have our philosophical approach to that in terms of welcoming new companies in as we did with Toyota – it is under a very clear set of circumstances that manufacturers come to NASCAR to compete and that will not change.

Are there two or three that seem particularly interested or you have hopes for down the road?

Well, I am not going to name names. But we have companies that are interested in particular in developing the North American market as robust as they can. And you’re well aware as we all are that there are lots of foreign manufacturers now producing cars here in America, as Toyota did. That was part of the rationale that Toyota used that that helps them associate more with this market and we are the preeminent place to consider should a company want to do that.

Is the development of generic race cars – have anything to do with mfg support?

No I don’t think that’s the case. Although it was certainly very helpful because the costs have come down so when some of the teams are affected whether direct support or technical support in theory and it’s certainly our expectation that the new car will serve that particular problem well and those teams will still be able to put competitive race cars forward albeit not as easy and not under the best of circumstances but it certainly gives them an opportunity to stay in the game and that’s what we’re going to be working with.

Are there certain things that NASCAR can do to help the teams. Do you have to reassess some things to help these organizations and would you consider the four car team limit?

Let me say , look the four car limit is designed to increase new ownership and that remains the case. If you had seven, eight or nine teams under one place that is too daunting of a task for a new team owner to come into NASCAR. We still believe that now more than ever. The question is with falling revenues in every sports league – what are you going to do to help figure out the way forward. For us, we have the, as you well know, a huge interest in the sponsorship level we are more dependant on it than anyone else so we are affected. So for us it’s going to be helping our teams, tracks and other constituency members figure out new companies that are building their brands, new technologies. You’ve heard me talk about the green industry that will be created over the next five or ten years we want to be a part of that – the green economy – in some intelligent way – we will be. So we will be looking at figuring out like anyone in our position – how to create new opportunities for new companies building brands or services here at NASCAR because existing companies that our teams in particular have relied on are changing and that’s just the reality.

Can you ask a team that has five cars all fully sponsored like Roush to drop a car in today’s economic environment because of that rule?

We’ll listen, listen we made the rule several years ago and that’s the timing of it and it may not be the perfect timing given the circumstances but the conclusion that we want to get to is the right one and we’ve worked, listen we gave Jack (Roush) an enormous amount of runway and we’ll continue to work with him if there’s anything we can do to make that adjustment easier then we will and Jack’s aware of that.

Do you think today’s race car (car of today) has done what you wanted it to do?

We think it has and it doesn’t mean that in our town hall meeting that we had a couple of weeks ago that there aren’t some adjustments that we can make to do even better and that’s what we talked to our teams about in particular, talked to the drivers directly had them all under one place as you are all aware and that was very good for us, very effective. But listen, the new car is putting on great racing and it’s always debatable when you try something new that something is going to be better than it was before and invariably you get fair debate about that. But as things settle down and settle in and more important as the teams and the drivers get more comfortable with this car – which has been no small thing. It’s very new very different form the old car…that takes some time. That’s settling in and to the extent we can make an adjustment and we think we have some things we’ll look at and they’ll be adjustments they won’t be wholesale changes – to make this even better for the drivers. We want them to feel as great as they can about the cars they are driving that is why we had a great meeting a couple of weeks ago.

There are ominous reports of Brickyard attendance as low as 100,00 or 150,000?

No – I think that’s overstated by far. I don’t know what the attendance will be we won’t know – but we also know that people are buying tickets later -much later in the cycle. Our fans are waiting as they are all nervous – I understand that. They are also waiting a little bit to figure out if we can get the track correct which we will in terms of the tire issues we had. So listen depending on where we are we are going to have some – I would call it in the grand scheme of things – some modest attendance dips we are going to have some – and that’s to be expected and the whole country’s down.

If fans stayed away from there in part out of anger in a certain sense at least in the short term that would be understandable don’t you think?

Listen I’m not going to put my shoes in every race fan’s..that’s their choice they attend what the events they want to attend. The Brickyard is a spectacular venue for us has been since 1994 and there’s been some great racing , great tradition and that’s going to continue. Sometimes things happen where everything lines up in the reverse of what you’d like to see. That’s happened here in Michigan where it’s probably the hardest state hit with unemployment job loss and you know the idea that NASCAR can cruise around and do business in every state and not have some effect on this economy and have the sponsorship business model and be tied to the manufacturers in the way they are and to not feel that – That would be unrealistic to think that would be the case. But what I have said and I’ll say it today – When you look at it – and I look at this every day -we are doing better than most. We are not perfect, we’ve got our issues but we are doing better than most industries, most sports. We have some spots we want to improve on a lot of spots we want to improve on. But we will get through a tough time – and our fans are the most loyal in sports and we will do what we have always done which is put the best racing in the world forward and that is what is going to be what is the deciding factor long after the economy turns the corner and gets better again. Have a great race today.

(end of session with France)

……..

There is a lot of talk about a GM meeting supposedly to be held with teams this week to outline what is coming next for Chevy Sprint Cup teams as far as cutbacks. Everyone in the garage is buzzing about what might happen and which teams might be affected – how much and who would be affected the most.

Enjoy the race – it should be a good one!

Claire B

I’ll be covering details of this story and will keep you posted.

Note: CBL’s Broadcast Schedule this week is below this most recent blog posting

Phone Lines Light Up – At Mention of KB’s Name

The phone lines are on melt down ever since Kyle Busch did the “rock star”, share-the- trophy-with-the team smashing of the Gibson Guitar trophy at Nashville. He won the Nationwide Series Race – but he crashed the trophy- in victory lane. It was impulsive but real emotion – yet he got criticism for being over the top.

Kyle’s fans want him to push the limits, race hard and have an outside- the-box, less than vanilla persona. Non fans are livid. One thing is for sure – simply mention this racers name and the phone lines light up. Folks want to talk about and weigh in on Kyle every week.

Because I simply could not get to all the KB calls on my show the other day and needed during the pre race coverage to get on with covering racing – I asked my listeners to write what was on their minds and that I’d post a great sample of them on my site in an unbiased manner. Here goes:

From Tennessee:
I live in Tennessee and I thought what Kyle did was AWESOME! Be a ROCK STAR if you like. It’s his trophy to do with it as he wants. The people that are getting upset need to first accept that the guy is great and second, get a grip on the history of music and rock and roll. I guess they are mad because Nashville is not Rock and Roll headquarters. Cleveland, OH is. If Sam Bass is OK with it, than the rest of the world needs to take a chill pill. Way to go SMOKE!

From Jesse in Orlando:
This kid is slowly pushing the limits of what fans will tolerate in a supposedly professional racer. This kid tries every, way shape or form to irritate and unsettle some traditions of NASCAR. Plus this person is a role model for future generations, you do not teach destruction to young people. Kyle is not a rock star, he is a sports figure. We do not want children imitating this imbecile. Kyle mostly acts before the mind goes in gear, he has no conception of fallout. This causes him to be extremely dangerous. It doesn’t matter whether or not he had Sam’s or NASCAR’s Blessing. He is a shock jock of the first order and therefore will likely drive many parents to prevent their kids from watching NASCAR. Controversy only causes momentary spikes in ratings. I also take offence to the many times this is being replayed on TV. This is to give Media fuel for the fire. This will not ultimately help the TV nor Radio ratings as this gets old quickly. Too bad he doesn’t know how to lose, he would go much further if he did. Life is the judge of how successful a person is, and this kid is not winning this war. Plus there are a slew Rock n Roll figures that committed suicide because they could not deal with reality. Trophies are not expendable guitars. Ask any racer who has lost ones in fires or had them stolen. Many non-fans who viewed “Talladega Nights” thinking this is what NASCAR is all about. Not a true picture of what NASCAR racing is at all. Kyle is portraying the same image as Ricky Bobby, and I take offense. For every action there is reaction, mine is disgust.

From Mike:
KB is an idiot. If he wanted his to have a piece of the trophy order one and cut it up for them . But don’t show disrespect as many of us saw it . Yes he can drive a race car, and if I were J.D. Gibbs he would be standing tall in my office Monday morning. Idiot!!

From Kenny in Delaware:
Kyle Bush. What can be said? I’m not a fan per say but here is another case where I give kudos. The trophy smashing was a classic. I don’t think he meant any disrespect to Nashville Super Speedway or Sam Bass. He wanted his crew to have a piece of the trophy. There are many rock band guitarists who smash their guitars at concerts. I believe he was mimicking that act and also getting his team the pieces he needed to give to them. It is freedom of speech. A way to express himself. Many will agree with this act and many won’t. But it was his trophy and his choice. It was his freedom that let him do this. And it is his right.

All sports need more celebrities who are spontaneous and natural and not some puppet on a string who always do what is politically correct. This is what makes Kyle, Kyle. I applaud him for it and encourage him and others to continue on with being themselves.

From Brian in Morristown, Tennessee
Can you say “Actions detrimental to NASCAR Racing”!!!!!!!!!
Kyle Bush’s actions in winners circle should brought into question. Is it appropriate for anyone to destroy there trophy. Yes you can say it was a “rock star moment” but after that I don’t care to even see him on the track again. I’m not Kyle bashing, I would be upset without regard to whoever did something like, that it’s just un-sportsman like conduct. If he wants to do something to share with his team, why not tear up the winnings check and hand out the pieces. Yes it is his trophy, but he is a representative of the NASCAR family.

From Cheri in Kentucky:
I was appalled when I saw Kyle Busch smash the trophy at Nashville. Not only was it a trophy, it was a work of art. His “rock star” analogy does not work. When a rock star smashes his or her guitar, it is the instrument they use to touch the fans, the “tool” of their trade. And it can easily be replaced. They don’t smash their platinum records, or music awards. These are displayed proudly. Kyle smashed a trophy, a work of art, and what should have been a revered memento of his win at that track. If he wanted to emulate a rock star, he should have taken a saws-all to the car, the tool of his trade. Sam Bass’s comments after he talked to “kyle” show that he is a class act. No artist could appreciate seeing a piece of their work destroyed by a brat. I do not blame the fans at Nashville one bit for uninviting him to their local track. That young man is in need of some serious “home training.” He is a perpetual sore loser, and cannot even figure out how to be a gracious winner. His actions make NASCAR less enjoyable for me.

From Heidi in Lewisberry PA
I defend Kyle’s right under the Constitution to do what he did to the Sam Bass guitar and even found it honorable that he would keep the promise he made to his crew to smash it, so all may have a piece of the trophy. I even found it to be an entertaining Victory Lane celebration. However, at the same time the guitar was smashed, my heart cried. It wasn’t just a guitar that was smashed, it was a piece of artwork that was destroyed. I found it comparable to burning a fine piece of literature or even the flag of our fine country.

From Bryan:
Plain and simple. Sounds like Sam Bass accepted Kyle’s explanation, so that should be the end of it. What some people don’t understand ,is Kyle was just doing his imitation of Pete Townsend, and Paul Stanley. Two rock icons that were known for breaking guitars on stage. I’m sure there are others besides them, that has done it. For those who got offended, or feels disrespected.get over it! Sam is and so should you. What’s next, you gonna sue him for pain and suffering?

From Texas:
Claire no matter what Kyle does he is wrong.Tony in TX

From Bob in Bedford, Texas
I was delighted to meet you a couple of years ago at TMS. I wanted to share my disgust about Kyle Busch’s destruction of the beautiful Gibson. I am a guitar player and own some beautiful Martin acoustic instruments. I am sure there are thousands players like me that are NASCAR fans and will NEVER have anything but disgust at his wanton destruction of a beautiful instrument made more special by the artistry of Sam Bass.

I sort of admired Kyle for his skill but now realize he is so far removed from the fans that he has no regard for this valuable instrument. I guess it just shows what happens to these kids when they become millionaires before they reach 21. I don’t buy the stupid excuse that he wanted to share it with his team.

A pox on his house.

From Kevin In Fort Myers, Florida:
I think that KB is a good driver but he is immature! very immature!!
I thought that the guitar smashing was disrespectful for the sport/sam bass/and the tn speedway
He would have finished better at pocono if he wasn’t such a punk at Nashville. Karma!
Kevin House

From Alberto in Nazar, Texas
I sent an email last year about Gordon blaming Jr when he got beat by Kyle Busch- just so you know…..let’s talk about what’s happening now. Brace yourself. I hear a lot of phone calls about Kyle that scares the hell out of me- the state of mind of the callers is what scares me. Yesterday I blew my top when I heard a lady with a husband and 2 daughters who loves Jr and Harvick complain about Kyle’s statement-so hear me out. I can’t tell you what Kyle was thinking when he said that but I’ll tell you what I think he was thinking-he was putting himself on the line to defend a friend who is going to become the next victim they are going to have with the mess with Jr. He was concerned about the crew chief that helped him out when he was driving the #5. He knew the facts -the risk-and that’s why he said what he said. So I’d like to tell that lady to spend more time teaching her daughters not to hate anybody. Being hateful to others is wrong and is not the right way to live. I am not a Kyle fan-my driver died a long time ago. And a lot of your listeners don’t know he won lots of races driving Oldsmobile #2 , Pontiac #2 and Ford #15 before he drove a bowtie product-#3. When someone put a mike in his face he spoke his peace and a lot of times they had to turn the mike off.- when he was running to his hauler trying to escape people chasing him he said “I don’t have a TV in my car”- “its just racing Man”. Kyle reminds me a lot of him. I don’t think he has to look back at anything or apologize to the Jr fans because Jr is not
winning races. If he goes and says what he feels they bitch about it-and when he runs to his hauler without talking to anybody they bitch about it. Get over it Man. This is not a beauty parlor contest-it’s just racing.

Love you and God Bless You-I listen to you all the time

From Ron in Chicago:
The very instant I saw Dumb#%& Kyle Busch try to smash his guitar into pieces I thought “I can’t believe how big of As57ole he really is! Buy doing what he did, I and many others, thought he disrespected Nashville speedway, Gibson Guitars, Sam Bass and everyone who has ever won one of these rare and beautiful guitars. I noticed that after he did that the representatives from Federated Auto Parts (the race sponsor) walked out of victory lane. I think someone should but this idiot in his place. Sure he is a great driver, but he has ZERO respect for almost everyone and everything. Why does he think his crap doesn’t stink, and that everyone else at any given race is below him. I for one, even though he is a great driver, will NEVER be a fan because it is time for him to grow up, act his age and show just a little responsibility for his actions. I say, I hope he never sells another die-cast, hat, shirt or anything else. I would really like to see M&M’s pull their sponsorship and move it to a driver that would do them proud. Kyle is just a immature BRAT.

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You are either on one side or the other regarding Kyle Busch and, on this issue, there is a line in the sand and the NASCAR fans are divided. Some folks are really upset. I can understand some of that – it’s everyone’s right to have an opinion and for some – Kyle should have thought through the perception of it all even though it was his trophy.

Fans always bring in him talking to the media or not when he doesn’t win. I am used to taking the approach the drivers take – race someone as they race you no matter what he does to anyone else and Kyle has always been fair to me and never rude, not once. I don’t run after race car drivers as the run from the track if they don’t want to be interviewed – you know that. I usually figure I’ll give the time to someone who wants or needs the exposure at that moment. If a guy is too mad to talk – it means that he is so mad he doesn’t want to talk. I think I get the picture. Sure everyone wants to hear what he might say.

Kyle has admitted himself that he is a sore looser and indeed he is – even he admits that. Way too much sometimes it seems but how do I know what motivates him to be up on the edge? Does racing so many races in so many series keep a guy up on it emotionally to the point that keeping the edge prevents him from handling not winning in an appropriate manner? I wonder.

Point is – it doesn’t matter what Kyle does –appropriate or not – people want to talk about him. He gives us fodder plenty of times to discuss his actions but even on a quiet week for him – I mention his name related to qualifying or practice and the phone lines light up. It’s wild to see. Do folks want him to misbehave so they can talk about him? Do fans desire that in a sport?
I’ll post more of these later – I am just getting unpacked from Pocono. I’ve not posted for a while -but have now caught up on things and will be back on the blog regularly.

Broadcast Schedule This Coming Weekend:
Dialed In with Claire B. Lang at the following times:
Wed. June 10 –“Dialed In” 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from Charlotte, NC Studio
Thursday, June 11 – “Dialed In” 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from Michigan
Friday, June 12 – “Dialed In” 7-10 p.m. EST LIVE from Michigan
Saturday, June 13, “Dialed In” 1-1:30 EST LIVE from Michigan leading into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 200 in Michigan
AND Saturday “Dialed In” 4-8 p.m. EST LIVE from Michigan leading into the Meijer 300 Nationwide Race in Kentucky

CBL Pre and Post Race:
Sunday, June 14th -Claire B is in the SIRIUS NASCAR Radio booth for the Sirius NASCAR Radio Pre Race show which starts at: 10:15 a.m. EST
Claire B will be in Victory Lane LIVE after the race and “Dialed In” will follow the post race show two hours after the race is over until 10 p.m.EST.

Time to unpack!
Enjoy the day.
Claire B

Standing By In the LMS Garage

I’m here in the Lowe’s Motor Speedway garage talking with team guys about the chances that we’ll get this race in and that it will indeed be the Coca Cola 600 and not the 500 or less. The weather is teasing us with moments that appear brighter with dark clouds on the horizon and green blobs on the weather radar. Many of the team guys told me that they were to be working Monday anyway so they might as well be at the race track. Others were planning family or team cookouts and several said that if this race gets done soon enough they are going to head to cookouts that will be several hours delayed. Several team guys told me that their marriages depended on days like this Memorial day off to hang with the family. Instead, they’ll be racing because that is what they do.

Tuesday NASCAR Meeting – R&D Center

Everyone here is talking about the Tuesday meeting that NASCAR has called with primaries on the teams. While everyone is talking about what the meeting might mean related to tweaks to the car of tomorrow there’s no indication that has anything to do with the meeting. Crew chiefs are not a part of the meeting because it’s not about nuts and bolts. The meeting’s to be held at 10 and 2 p.m. will include drivers, team owners and team general managers if they’d like to come. It’s an open forum and the conversation in the garage is who might speak up and who are the leaders in the sport who might stand up and express their thoughts openly. Names in the garage being brought up, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Michael Waltrip. Some drivers told me that they do not feel it is their place to stand up and that they will go and listen but that they miss a guy like Dale Eanrhardt who would have NASCAR’s ear. With E it was a two way street – he’d not only go tell NASCAR what he thought – they’d come to him to solicit advice. Let’s not forget though that NASCAR has had these meetings several times a year recently when they feel it just might be a good time to lend an ear and an open forum to the teams. NASCAR has always said that their door is open and that drivers do come in and vent and offer suggestions. From within the garage – there is conversation today that they miss Dale Earnhardt at times like this because they trusted him to speak up on their behalf behind closed doors.

H.A. Humpy Wheeler – “It’s just how you treat people”

I was on the air with “Dialed In” for the rain delay coverage here at LMS and talking about some of what Speedway Motorsports CEO Bruton Smith had to say in a sit down with the media here on Saturday. You could have heard a pin drop in the room when he addressed the controversial topics of the day and talked about why he and former track president H.A. Humpy Wheeler and he parted ways on the worst of terms.

Humpy, who retired, had been invited by Tony George to go to Indy for the Indy 500 this past weekend….and there was word that Humpy had not been invited to attend the 50th running of the Coca Cola 600 here at LMS.

While discussing what Bruton had to say my cell phone rang. I was on air – which makes answering a cell phone difficult but managed to get the phone answered off air while on air which is kind of like walking a tightrope while dancing. It was Humpy Wheeler, calling and I asked him if he’d come on air with me and open up about his side of the story. He agreed and I appreciate it.

For 45 minutes, Humpy answered my questions and talked about not only how he felt about not being invited to LMS for the 50th Coke 600 (Bruton says he does not invite people and that Humpy has a NASCAR hard card to get in) but also how he felt about other issues of the day.

Humpy Wheeler is the real deal. I got laid off of a job at one point in my career and it was not easy. Funny how your phone rings when you are all that – but when you are down and out for one brief moment in your life (even if it lasts an hour a day or a month)- the phone calls come only from those who really are your friends. You never forget who it is that is there for you in tough times.

Humpy called me at my house while I was languishing in self pity and feeling pretty down and out the day after I got laid off. I had no idea that he even knew how to reach me. He talked me through the time in his life when he lost his job through no fault of his own (because of tough economic times) and how it felt and advised me to never look back. I had never figured a guy like Humpy would have had that sort of moment in his life but he did.

This rift between Humpy and Bruton is sad and private, because none of us knows what actually goes on behind closed doors. Both of these guys love racing and the two made magic together. Bruton is a hugely successful man who has always been kind to me on his property covering this event and Marcus Smith is working hard to carve his own niche as president of this track and to serve the fans in a way that will make the guests to his dad’s track proud.

But Humpy should not feel that he is not welcome at LMS (whether it’s intended or not) and Humpy Wheeler is valuable to the sport.

I will tell you one thing – Humpy taught me a valuable lesson – I now call everyone I know who is laid off, fired, or looses a job due to the economy or for any other reason if I have their number. We often feel the person will be bummed out and that they will not want the call – but I have never found that to be the case.

Humpy will survive – he doesn’t need an invitation to LMS to continue to be called on for quotes and respected for what he accomplished in this sport and Bruton says he doesn’t invite folks and that Humpy could come with his NASCAR hard card. Maybe so.

Like I said – no one knows what actually went on behind closed doors and we’ll never know for sure.

All I know is that these are two powerful guys in the sport and I wish they could get along.

I also appreciate the call from Humpy.

Claire B