Sprint Cup N's & Q's: CARFAX 400

There's no car foxes -- see the commercial -- around this Michigan edition of Sprint Cup Notes & Quotes.

Brian Vickers seems to be a polar opposite of Kyle Busch in that he doesn't let things stick to him. He said as much during his post-race press conference Sunday night when asked about his run-in during Saturday's Nationwide Series race with Busch -- a former Hendrick Motorsports teammate.

"You know, there's some people that you meet in life that are just gonna do stupid things. You just learn to accept it. You just don't let it bother you. You know, you have patience," said Vickers. "You just live your life and run your race.

"In a lot of ways I feel sorry for Kyle, that he lives that angry about stuff, something so small. I hope that he can get past it. I don't have any hard feelings. I'm ready to just go race. That's the way I approached today."

Of course, Vickers had a bit of Busch in him just a few weeks ago when he angrily consulted and then verbally bashed his Sprint Cup teammate Scott Speed after a Nationwide race at New Hampshire. I suppose it all depends on which end of the bad move you end up on.

Despite Jeff Gordon making it clear Friday that he's done talking about his back, someone managed to squeak in a question about it during his media visit after a 2nd-place finish -- his second straight runner-up result at MIS.

Gordon, as usual, deflected it well.

"My back is fine," said Gordon. "I would rather be third in points right now and had that win today. That's all that really matters at this point for us. We're having a great year. We're showing that we're strong, a great team."

A mistake in preparation for Tony Stewart prior to Sunday's race appeared to do in any chances that the Sprint Cup point leader had for running for the win.

"We struggled today and we had a problem at the end of happy hour that we found yesterday and didn't realize it," said Stewart. "We had a spring that was out of a bucket and so we got all of our loads, and pre-loads all messed up."

While I'm no suspension ace and couldn't tell what "out of a bucket" is referring to, I know one thing: it wasn't good considering Stewart wound up 17th. Stewart held the points lead following the race, but it made him keenly aware of the tiny problems that can bite race teams in the Chase.

"It just shows that you can't let your guard down," said Stewart. "Especially in something as simple as happy hour like that. We just had one little mistake and it got us behind going into today, so it just shows that you can't relax and you can't lose concentration and you have to stay on top of it."

Hand it to Michigan International Speedway and track president Roger Curtis. He announced Sunday that everyone who either renews a ticket or wants to make a deposit on one (see track website for details) will be paying less in 2010. All seats, no matter the location, have been discounted.

His track couldn't have got a better advertising boost than when the brief rain shower deluged MIS just laps in to the race -- allowing ESPN to interview the track president when most of the race audience was tuned in.

Ryan Newman is looking to run 1,100 miles laps this week at Bristol.

He'll get it kicked off on Wednesday by racing both the Truck Series and in the modified series events before running the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races on Friday and Saturday nights. Newman apparently asked team owner Tony Stewart if he was OK with the heavy load and Stewart, naturally, didn't have a problem with it.

If you need a fun race to watch on Wednesday night, be sure to check out those modifieds. They get around Bristol faster than Sprint Cup cars and actually need restrictor plates because the power to weight ratio is so high.

Just in case you're hanging around the White House on Wednesday, be sure to catch a few of NASCAR's royalty waltzing the halls of America's most famous home.

Jimmie Johnson, the three-time defending Sprint Cup champ, will be the main guest of honor, but 8 of the other 11 drivers who made the Chase in 2008 will also be on hand. Those will include Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Kyle Busch is entered in Wednesday night's Camping World Truck Series race and won't make it and neither will Matt Kenseth or Kevin Harvick thanks to 'scheduling conflicts'.

Plenty of past champs and a special guest, none other than Mr. Juan Pablo Montoya, will also be on hand.

Here's to hoping that at least one White House staffer won't be sleeping Tuesday night in anticipation of meeting some of the biggest names in NASCAR.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

8-18-2009 @ 2:58PM

ek865 said...

1100 miles? Wouldn't that be 4400 laps?

8-18-2009 @ 8:59PM

Geoffrey Miller said...

Ek-

Ah, you caught a mistake. It actually is going to be 1,100 laps run by Ryan Newman, making it 550 miles total if he completes them all. The track is a half-mile in length, not a quarter-mile.

So, if he were to run 1,100 miles, it'd be a 2,200-lap weekend. Youch!

Good call.

-G

8-18-2009 @ 10:20PM

Kim said...

Man, I wish I could be a fly on the wall at The White House tomorrow. Better yet, I would rather be there. I am sorry, politics aside, but how COOL is our President to invite the most famous drivers in NASCAR to a White House luncheon with him? That is just way cool! I don't care if he's a democrat or a republican, he's got a fan in me for being a fan of my favorite sport! Kudos to Mr. Obama for being one cool dude. I can't wait to hear or read some interviews with the drivers after their White House meeting. Just too cool!

Kim

8-19-2009 @ 6:50AM

illsell4u said...

Kim, I am far too cynical to believe the President is doing this for any reason other than to give him a boost among a different demographic. While there is a small chance he is a Nascar fan, I doubt it. The man is a masterful politician. His only motivation is to get the sheep to flock to him and give up more of our rights and freedoms. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.
mbl

8-19-2009 @ 9:30AM

Yes, Mike...you are cynical my friend, but that's okay. That's your right. I have read and heard that Mr. Obama is a NASCAR fan and that is why he has invited the guys to The White House. Now, it could be grandstanding like you said, but do you really think he would waste his time if he wasn't into it just a little? I mean the man is pretty busy and all.

As I've said from the beginning, I am giving the man at least a year in office before I pass judgement on what type of President he is or isn't yet. :-)

Kim

8-19-2009 @ 10:13AM

The problem with giving him a whole year is how much damage is he doing to our national deficit in that time frame. He has already spent more in 6 months than any President before him did in their entire term. All that in 6 months. It is NOT the governments money, it is our the peoples, money. I now have a gun to my head from the government telling me I have to pay more in taxes to pay for all this stuff.
I had no problem with an economic stimulous for the working people of our country. We all should have been given a 6 month grace period from paying any federal taxes. Look at yours and William's paychecks. Do you think you could have put the money you pay in taxes every paycheck to better use than the governemt if they had decided to let you keep your money and spend on things like, ummmmmmmm, FOOD, BILLS, CLOTHING, SHELTER? Had the government done that it would have been the same amount of money they are INCREASING the tax burden on all of us with. Yes babe, call me cynical but I believe I am old enough and wise enough to know what I need to spend my money on much better than the governemt is. I do not believe in "redistribution of wealth". I do not believe "from all according to their needs, to all according to their ability to pay". That is the socialist dogma and it is exactly what our President is trying to do in that first year you want to give him in office before the people wake the hell up and realize what we have all given up.
That system worked so well in the USSR, China, Cuba, and North Korea. Why is it going to work any better here?
When there is no incentive to excell, people stop trying to do so. When everyone just wants to be average, the averages go down because the people at the bottom get treated better than they deserve, the people in the middle are already there, but the people at the top quit trying because there is no reason to put out the effort. Therefore, the "average" actually decreases.
The top 5% of income earners in this country already pay over 50% of the income tax money collected by the government. While I am NOT a part of that group, I realize that they pay their fair share. The problem is that our government simply spends too damn much.
mbl

8-19-2009 @ 10:46AM

Mike,

I understand what you are saying but I think too many people refuse to acknowledge the fact that not everything is Mr. Obama's fault. Why is there no George Bush blaming? He is going down in history as one of the worst Presidents of all time! HE inherited a surplus from Bill Clinton and HE is the one that drained it and put us in a huge deficit. Obama's problem is he inherited a "crap sandwich" when he took over and no matter how hard he tries, he is NEVER going to make the majority of Americans happy and it's unfair to him.

At least we finally have a President in office that is willing to TRY new things and is working to bail us out of the deficit in this country. Come on Mike, you are a business man as I am a business woman and we both know that sometimes you have to spend money to make money! Obama's "Cash for Clunkers" program is a HUGE success, so much that the government just had to issue more funds because so many people ran out to purchase new vehicles that it drained the funds. There are two things in America that will help stimulate spending and bring us out of a hole and those two things are: Americans buying cars and Americans buying homes again. Mr. Obama is doing everything (in my opinion) possible to see that Americans CAN get back on their feet again and purchase new cars and homes and stimulate the economy. He is also trying to do what is right as far as the wars are concerned. Get our troops out of Iraq where they had no freaking business going to in the first place, and put more troops in Afganastan where the REAL problem is! He has to clean up "George Busch's" war. He is the first Democratic President to NOT cut funding to our military. I am married to a military man, so I know what I am talking about where military funding is concerned. He is the first Democratic President in recent history to have actually INCREASED military funding.

I don't think he is getting credit for the things he should be getting credit for. Too many people are too quick to trash him and blame him for all of George Bush's mistakes. Are all of Obama's plans acceptable? NOPE, but at least the man is trying to come up with new things and new ideas! That was his campaign promise and so far, that is what he is trying to do. Do I agree with everything he does or is trying to do? NOPE, but like I said, at least he as the balls to try!

I am a working class Mother of three children as you know, Mike. I do not live high on the hog. I live paycheck to paycheck. Does it suck? You betcha! Do I expect to have someone richer than I bail me out? Nope! I just took on a second job to make more money for my family all while working my other job, trying to obtain my Master's degree, and coaching my daugther's cheerleading squad and rushing the other two boys back and forth to all their sports and activities all by myself because my husband works nights. I have no help from anyone and I don't want any! I had these children and they are my responsibility, not yours and not our governments! Taxes need to be based on income, period. Those who make less, pay less. Those who make more, pay more, period. The rich are rich for a reason, Mike. They are afforded more deductions at tax time then you or I could ever claim. The tax bracket does need tweaking and I support that a proper amount be taken out per person based on what they make.

Well, now we've turned this into a political board. Oh well. Hopefully some will respond and have fun with it. :-)

Kim

8-18-2009 @ 11:58PM

nzcr14 said...

The bad news about this file is RYAN OLDMAN running
4 races this week.He is in a new built team where STEWART has been breaking records and status quos and RYAN FATMAN after a seson start flash has not been able to even be finishing in the yop 10's for the last 8-10 races.BY SUNDAY HE IS GOING TO BE WORTHLESS in the main race and finish in the looser
section again and slip even further back in the chase.

THE GOOD NEWS, about this file is;
KYLE BUSH WILL NOT BE AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
It would be a huge public relation embarassement for
OSAMA to conceive this high level meeting to a nasty
cackey, punk breath like the KYLA.
Most TV around america livingrooms would be going off and OSAMA and his white house public relation
team WILL HAVE A LOTS OF DAMAGE CONTROL TO ENDURE.
works for me...

8-19-2009 @ 9:44AM

Jack said...

Yeah and illsell4u knows what he is talking about Kim. We just got rid of eight years of exactaly what he is complaining about. Talk about sheep. LOL

8-19-2009 @ 11:11AM

Economics 101 and 102. You cannot increase debt while income has decreased. That is not sustainable.
Imagine you are a two income family and one person loses their job. You were paying all your bills but were not saving any money. So, for the next 6 months you decide to start going out more and spending MORE money, not less. How do you do this? You just charge it all on your 11.9% interest rate credit cards. That actually will work UNTIL you max them out. You now have interest payments you did not have before and you still have less income. Let me know how that worls our for you. Oh yeah, I forgot, just declare bankruptcy. Let the banks take the hit. After all, they are the ones that gave you the crdit cards in the first place, it must be their fault.
Now, how does that translate into our current situation? The government has increased spending to the point that no matter how many times they tell you they are only taxing the RICH people, it is mathematically not possible. The middle class will get a tax increase when the bills come due. There is no way possible for the top 5% of wage earners to pay for 100% of the increase. GROW A BRAIN, USE IT TODAY. I personally do like the fact that my tax portion of the national debt has gone up and additional $13,000 in the past 6 months. Why, because I am not brain dead and realize that in the next year or two when the bills come in the government is going to turn to ME to pay what THEY spent.

8-19-2009 @ 11:41AM

Kim, I know exactly where much of the current economic situation came from. It was from the free wheeling, easy credit, anyone can and should own a home mentality that our government and banking industry allowed to happen. YES, my profession took full advantage of the situation as it all unfolded. I cannot tell you how many times I saw people buying houses that had no business buying a house. I was in shock and awe at the number of times I saw people come to close and walk out the door with money in their pockets left over from the deal. When I boght my fist house at the age of 24 my wife and I had saved up $20,000 cash we used to put down on the house. I knew that no matter what I was going to make that mortgage payment to save my hard earned investment. how in the world could banks ever think it was a good idea to let people buy a house with not only ZERO moneyt down but actually have hundreds left over when the final numbers came in and take that home too?
Now, you take that person that has ZERO investment in a house and has never saved a dime in their life and they get laid off work. How hard do you think that operson is going to work to save that house? They don't even try. They have NOTHING invested in it. So now the bank is in the real estate business, not the money lending business. As more and more houses get foreclosed on, more and more houses are placed on the market. Prices go down due to oversupply. A person that wants to move that bought a house a year or two ago cannot afford to now because they owe more money on the house than it was worth when they bought it. No problem, here comes the SHORT SALE, selling a house for less than it is worth and the bank takes the loss. What is allowing this to take place? ECONOMIC STIMULOUS MONEY. YOUR money, MY money.
Now, go back a few years and find out who was in charge of banking and lending practices in our country that allowed this wonderfull idea of buying a house with NO MONEY DOWN and you will find out who is really to blame. Heck, I don't even really have a problem with no money down but it should have been limited to people with a 700 credit score or better, not 590.
The banks are sitting on thousands of foreclosed homes accross the country right now in several areas. Why? If they put them all on the market at once the market will collapse even further and the houses will be worth even less money than they are today.
So yes, I am all to aware of the main reasons for our current economic problems. They started in the banking and real estate industries and have taken down the rest of the economy with them. I am also all too aware of who was to blame, the same people that many are looking to get us out of the current situation, the Congress and who is currently in control of the Congress and who has been in control for the past three years.
mbl

8-19-2009 @ 9:00PM

Mike, yes it is true that people should definitely be able to pay for a home that they are purchasing. That being said, what's wrong with every American wanting to own a home? Is that not part of the American Dream? Homes during the selling and buying boom were also severely overpriced for what they were. But thanks to those who have screwed up our economy, my husband and me who are 34 and 37 years old and who have saved money for our FIRST HOME, cannot even get one now! We cannot even get a foreclosed home! We have a $20,000.00 down payment and are being told by the banks that it's not enough. They want $40,000.00. Does that seem fair? We are lower middle class, hardworking Americans who have worked very hard for what little we have. The only thing we want is a home. We haven't even been able to go through the Veteran's Department to get our first home loan through them and my husband served this country for eight years!!!! That's bull&*^%! So yes, if Obama wants to help people like us purchase our first home, people who CAN afford it and people who have $20,000 for a down payment, then I will continue to support him!

Kim

8-19-2009 @ 9:19PM

I will send you an email with some info that you may or may not already know.
There is nothing wrong with the American Dream of owning a home. But please keep in mind that it is the American DREAM. It is not a right, it is a priveledge. It is unfortunate but the lenders that once gave anyone that was breathing a loan to buy a house now only want to lend you the money if you do not need it. I know that Ohio was very hard hit on the foreclosure market. For that reason the lenders in Ohio are probably being absurd in their requirements at this time.
mbl

8-19-2009 @ 12:55PM

Bob said...

*While I am against discussing things such as politics or religion in this format (and most of the time even in person), I definitely side with Mike on this. It's not cynical, either. All the window-dressing in the world doesn't hide the fact that we have a very slick politician in charge, and his socialist agenda is going to cause serious damage to what made America what it is. Yes, the last president cut taxes (which I was against from the start) and increased spending, putting us in a big hole, but the new one is using an even bigger shovel on that hole, and uses it faster than anyone before him. I don't want to give the man a year, or even another ten minutes. Unfortunately, our choices have become so limited at election time anymore, it's always a choice of the lesser of two evils.

Alright, I'll get off the soapbox now. Just wanted to say I get you, Mike, and I'm just as worried about our future. You're NOT being cynical, you're being realistic. Peace y'all.

8-19-2009 @ 2:15PM

dongo4345 said...

wow you people turned this nascar thingie into a political debate.save that for cnn or something else, fox news whatever. were talking nascar here .as for jimmie at the white house today that is really cool and who wouldnt want to be there today. thats great.hope whiny azz kylie busch isnt present,hell whine about not gettin fair treatment on the track lol

8-19-2009 @ 2:35PM

Damn this is like reading Sean Hannity's teleprompter. You talk about socialist dogma but I'm willing to bet you'll be right there in line when your Social Security and Medicare kicks in, both socialist programs. That would be a little hypocritical wouldn't it. But then that's rather a common thing among the Right.

I don't remember you complaining about wasted tax money when the Bush Administration was spending billions after billions on a illegal war and harboring total ignorance about the strength of the economy that helped drive us into this recession in the first damn place plus chopping up the Constitution to suit their own idealism. So why are you complaining now? Compared to those Whitehouse renegades this President is a saint.
Personally I would much rather see my money spent on social programs than pissed away on an illegal war paid for with our tax dollars and the blood of our soldiers.

Is Obama doing everything right? No He isn't. But I can tell you this, no matter what he does or tries to do he will be crucified by the right wing smear, hate, and propaganda machine led by Hannity, Limbaugh and Beck. The sheep will follow as we can see. Is it any wonder why the GOP is dying on the vine?
You don't need to grow a brain Kim, your brain is fine. To put others down is a favorite of "righties". They like to think they're schooling the rest of us. LOL BAA!

8-19-2009 @ 3:17PM

Jack, I have been self employed since I turned 24. I am now 48. Almost every penny that is in my social security account came from ME, not an employer. You may be one of the few people that actually know that EMPLOYERS in this country have to MATCH every penny that is taken out of your check every week. Self employed people ARE the employer so we pay DOUBLE. Currently, I pay in 15.2% of my income in social security. So, you are DAMN RIGHT. When it is time to collect, I plan on getting back a FRACTION of what I have paid in. It is HARDLY a double standard to get back SOME of the money I paid in. I would have gladly paid that into my own 401K if I had been given the option. Oh wait, the rebublicans wanted to do just that but were voted down by the democrats.
It wasn't my good friend Kim that I was refering to when I said GROW A BRAIN. It was you, Jack. I am quite certain Kim knew that.
If you really want my opinion on the war in Iraq it is quite simple. If the goal had been to remove Hussein we should have done that and left. We did not have to have a full fledged war, destroy that country's infrastructure only to have to pay to rebuild it, in doing so. Kill the guy, kidnap the guy, whatever, I don't care. But no, we did not have to get into a long protracted war with no exit strategy.
Busch had plenty of problems. Number one was that he did not LEAD. Number 2 was that he was not capable of communicating his thoughts well enough to convince people to rally behind him. The last President that did that effectively was Ronald Reagan. President Obama is able to do that and has done so up until this point. The problem is, that now he is telling everyone to drink the koolaide and some people are starting to wake up out of the trance. They are just now starting to realize that while "change" was needed the change we got is going to end up being a nightmare.
mbl
Thanks Geoffrey for opening the door on this one for me.

8-19-2009 @ 4:07PM

Don Emerson said...

Kim, you need to quit looking at the world through those rose colored glasses before reality comes along and takes a big bite out of your ass. Obama knows so little about Nascar that he'd probably order a beverage to go with his restrictor plate. He's a politician through and through, nothing more. I have to agree with Mike, Obama is flushing our country right down the toilet of excessive spending. I don't like him, his wife, or his politics. It's sad that the presidents wife can only be proud of her country for the first time only after her husband is nominated for president. I don't need a microscope to tell me who wears the pants in that family. But then again, Kim is a woman, and as such she is limited biogically in her thinking process. Women and blacks don't do well with intangibles and abstacts, they struggle just to understand the basic concepts of reality. They leave it to their leaders to tell them what to do and what to think. In the blacks case, it's their preacher, in womens, it's some slick politician, feminist, or their husband. Unfortunately in America, the sheep end up calling the shots and running the show through sheer numbers, while the rest of us are left to wonder at their stupidity. Works for me.....

8-19-2009 @ 9:12PM

Emerson,

That was a LOW, LOW blow! You are calling me a "sheep" but then you make sexist and racist comments such as you did? Why can't you express yourself without tearing another person down? Your damn right I am a woman and let me tell you something else, Don....I have a pair of balls bigger than most men I know and I am not afraid to show my ass so to speak when need be! I DO NOT drink "koolaid" from anyone, never did, hated it even as a child! I am not "limited" in my thinking! In fact, I am actually the type of person that has some very broad spectrum thinking. But then again, I am trying to explain myself to an egotistical pig! I have to deal with men like you on a daily basis that have no respect for women and you know what, it makes me laugh.

When I assert myself with men as I do often, I am called a "bitch" and a "whore." I am good at what I do as a Property Manager and as a Broker. I successfully put myself through college with three children while working. I am still working, still have three children and am working on my Masters degree. Why is it when a man is assertive or aggressive he is a success? But when a woman is assertive and successful, she is a "bitch?" Talk about drinking koolaid, Don...you are still stuck in the 1950's. Jump into the 21st. century with the rest of us!

Kim

8-19-2009 @ 4:56PM

DON EMERSUCKS, SHE may be limited biologically as for being a woman, even though i doubt it BUT BY NOW IS OBVIOUS TO EVERYBODY THAT YOU ARE LIMITED ANATOMICALLY SHAMEFULL IN YOUR GENITALS SIZE AND BRAINS.YES EXACTLY WHERE A MAN MATTERS THE MOST!!!.
works for me....