Somewhat coherent Notes & Quotes to wrap up NASCAR's first trip to Michigan in 2009:
What will NASCAR learn from Pardo's brutal crash and tragic death?
The death of NASCAR Mexico driver and champion Carlos Pardo in a horrific crash during the final laps of a race on Sunday is certainly tragic. However, the fact that his car was able to make such violent contact with the end of a temporary wall is just as shocking.
Let's hope NASCAR makes sure such an angle of impact can never happen again.
The NASCAR on FOX television crew tried to play it off as an accident, but Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon was having none of it.
"I'm really looking forward to having a new driver in the [No.] 55 next year," said Gordon during his post-wreck interview, mad after Michael Waltrip bumped him into the Phoenix International Raceway turn three wall Saturday night in the Subway Fresh Fit 500.
No, Gordon doesn't have insider infomation about Waltrip's 2010 plans, but rather he was just citing comments that the driver/owner made at the beginning of the season.
Veteran racer Mark Martin is the "cautious" in the expression, "cautiously optimistic." That's why his unabashed excitement coming into the season was a story in and of itself.
His fans and competitors alike hoped a prime job in the No. 5 Chevrolet for mighty Hendrick Motorsports would land this popular four-time championship runner-up a last really good -- perhaps long -- shot at a Sprint Cup title. Instead, a string of uncanny bad racing luck -- uncharacteristic Hendrick engine problems and a flat tire -- have left Martin ranked 34th in the standings entering Sunday's race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
He's got only a nine-point cushion on 35th place, and a fall outside the top-35 will cost him a guaranteed starting spot on the grid beginning next week, when the guaranteed starts are allotted based on the current top-35 standings.
Just as surprising as seeing Martin in this perilous predicament is the high-quality company he's keeping there.
NASCAR drivers aren't exactly strangers to making television cameos, but they've yet to be the perfect match Michael Waltrip landed this week.
Waltrip, ever a character in the NASCAR garage, enjoyed his first off week on the NASCAR schedule by flying out to Hollywood for the taping of an episode of NBC's My Name is Earl. The cameras started rolling this week for the comedy sitcom that's scheduled to air on Thursday, April 30.
And from the looks of things, Waltrip's role won't be too much of a stretch for the Kentucky native.
Prior to the 2009 season, an outlandish guess would have been picking a car from Michael Waltrip Racing to be fifth in points after three races.
No, that's not a slight to the organization. It's just that previous success wouldn't exactly lend to such results.
MWR's David Reutimann, however, isn't afraid to buck that trend -- as was clear after he earned his best career finish last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
During a January preseason test session at Daytona International Speedway 15 years ago, I asked NASCAR Cup driver Mark Martin who he thought would win the Super Bowl, which was only a couple days away.
"Who's in the Super Bowl?'' was his reply.
And to be fair -- in those humble days well before NASCAR's growth spurt -- most NFL players probably couldn't name a race outside of NASCAR's Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 or a stock car driver other than Richard Petty.
But those times are long gone and it speaks as much to how far NASCAR has evolved as to how popular the Super Bowl has become.
NASCAR is no longer the forgotten Southern stepchild of professional sports. The redneck stereotype is outdated and short-sighted and some of stock car's best are sharing the weekend Super Bowl spotlight right alongside the biggest names in sports and entertainment.
Michael Waltrip was one of the drivers on hand for this weekend's Preseason Thunder preview event at Daytona International Speedway, and judging from the transcripts, he certainly had some of the more interesting quotes.
Those quotes included Waltrip -- the winner of the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500s while driving the No. 15 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- admitting that jumping into team ownership has hurt his driving career and that if his personal results don't improve pretty drastically in 2009, he might be forced to hang up the driving gloves in 2010.
For a preseason preview event, Waltrip's words definitely were somewhat of a surprise.
CORNELIUS, N.C. (AP) -Mike Skinner will take over Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 00 Toyota in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, replacing rookie Michael McDowell for the next three races.
Waltrip said Tuesday he asked the veteran Skinner to help the team evaluate where it can improve its on-track performance, as Skinner did earlier this year when he drove five races for Red Bull Racing, replacing A.J. Allmendinger.
"Michael Waltrip Racing is fully committed to our sponsors, the success of our race teams and ensuring Michael McDowell, Josh Wise, David Reutimann and I have the necessary tools to succeed as drivers," Waltrip said. "We've asked Mike Skinner to evaluate areas where we can improve our on-track performance."
Skinner's efforts were a big hit with Red Bull Racing and A.J. Allmendinger especially because he essentially cemented to the race team that what A.J. was feeling and communicating to the team about the car were accurate.
To me though, the best way to improve on-track performance at Michael Waltrip Racing would have been not jumping to a three-car team for its debut in 2007. And it's second step should have been hiring a veteran for the No. 00 instead of stock car novice Michael McDowell for 2008.
Miss the race? Wanna re-live the green-white-checkered finish? Here's your chance, thanks to Youtube.
Watch below for the Jeff Gordon-spinning, David Ragan-near-wrecking, Michael Waltrip-wall-banging, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch side-by-side finishing awesomeness that was the end of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in all of its glory from the live TNT broadcast.
The fun starts below as the field takes the final green flag of the race:
Gordon gets the on-track fireworks show started by getting turned around by Carl Edwards while riding in second place after the leaders exited the tri-oval under the green flag. Gordon took blame for the incident, though it left him with a disappointing 30th-place finish.
Somewhat coherent Notes & Quotes to wrap up NASCAR's first trip to Michigan in 2009:
The NASCAR on FOX television crew tried to play it off as an accident, but Sprint Cup driver Robby Gordon was having none of it.
Gaye Busch has a very reasonable explanation for the simultaneous success of both her sons -- NASCAR's reigning super siblings Kurt and Kyle.
Veteran racer Mark Martin is the "cautious" in the expression, "cautiously optimistic." That's why his unabashed excitement coming into the season was a story in and of itself.
NASCAR drivers aren't exactly strangers to making television cameos, but they've yet to be the perfect match Michael Waltrip landed this week.
Prior to the 2009 season, an outlandish guess would have been picking a car from Michael Waltrip Racing to be fifth in points after three races.
During a January preseason test session at Daytona International Speedway 15 years ago, I asked NASCAR Cup driver Mark Martin who he thought would win the Super Bowl, which was only a couple days away.
Michael Waltrip was one of the drivers on hand for this weekend's Preseason Thunder preview event at Daytona International Speedway, and judging from the transcripts, he certainly had some of the more interesting quotes.
Current Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner is back in the Sprint Cup Series. 
