Junior Nation is taking it to the streets. Or, more accurately, the information superhighway.
Distraught, disillusioned and just flat-out disappointed all season long, you could feel the fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. reaching their collective breaking point during last weekend's events at Lowe's Motor Speedway. They have watched patiently as the six-time Most Popular Driver went oh-fer this season, free-falling to No. 22 in points, while his teammates sit 1-2-3.
Now, they're done being patient. They are demanding change, spurred on by the disaster at Lowe's.
First, there was Thursday night's horrible qualifying effort. Then Friday's stunningly depressing news conference, which was originally intended to be a lighter-than-air announcement of a sponsor/fan promotion. That presser was followed by a slightly uncomfortable one-on-one interview with Nicole Manske of "NASCAR Now" and a hint from team owner Rick Hendrick that Earnhardt's current crew chief Lance McGrew could be back at the reins in 2010. Two weeks ago in this blog we showed that McGrew, for all his internal Hendrick credentials, hasn't fared any better than ousted crew chief/cousin Tony Eury Jr.
Then Earnhardt broke a transmission during Saturday night's race, leading to yet another brutal finish. That was followed by David Newton's Wednesday story that included comments from another former crew chief, Tony Gibson. Among Gibson's comments: "He just needs a change, a whole package change. Listen to his voice. He's asking for that. I've been around him for a long time. I know."
That quote was apparently the tipping point for fans. On Wednesday afternoon an online petition went up, asking Rick Hendrick not to make small changes or keep things as-is, but rather to blow the No. 88 team up and start over in 2010. The plea atop the signature page reads:
We have suspected for quite some time now that there is a problem somewhere within the 88 team, either in the shop or at the track. The statements released today from Tony Gibson have proven that our gut feelings were accurate. The fans would like this to be taken care of immediately! We the fans thought our equipment would be first class at Hendrick Motorsports. Please act now.
Thank you,
Junior Nation
The goal is to reach (of course) 8,888 signatures. As of 9:20 p.m. ET that night it was up to (of course) 88 signatures. They came in from Canada to the Carolinas, from Connecticut to California. Is Mr. H listening? We'll see.
After Further Review ...
In Wednesday's blog I recounted the story of the mystery surrounding Bobby Allison's career wins total. In that story, Allison argues that NASCAR doesn't want to give him credit for his 1971 win at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., because it would take away from Richard Petty's magical total of 200 career wins. Petty finished second and I incorrectly stated that he was credited with the Cup win. (Though, in my defense that's published in multiple places.)
Shortly after the story was posted, NASCAR statistical guru Mike Forde tracked me down. "Good stuff as usual, but I wanted to correct a myth that seems to be going around about this Allison 85-win issue. Petty was NOT credited with a win for that race. There were a full 200 occasions where Richard Petty crossed the finish line first."
As always, the king of the Driver Rating had the numbers and the spreadsheet to back up his argument. And I, a lifetime member of the Richard Petty Fan Club, exhaled knowing that his 200 wins were in fact, 200 wins.
Throttle Linkage
•With the images of the sparse Lowe's Motor Speedway crowd still burned in our brains, here's a great story in the Sports Business Journal about sagging ticket sales.
•USA Today's Nate Ryan talks to the new Charlotte-based US F1 team about its ongoing infatuation with Kyle Busch.
•The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Ga., will induct eight new members on Friday afternoon, including a guy with one of my all-time favorite racing names: Herb "Tootle" Estes, who used to drive cars owned by James "Jabo" Bradberry.
The Magic Bus Caption Contest
Ryan McGee
The Magic Bus pulled into the Lowe's Motor Speedway over the weekend.
On Monday, I posted this photo of a very sweet, uberpimped school bus-turned-rolling-grandstand and asked my Tweeps to send in their best caption ideas. Here's some of my favorites:
@KSRaceFan2448 And you said nobody would notice we painted up the bus ...
@becbeat555 If you think riding around in this bus will get you [lucky] you might be a redneck
@ronfrankl Yeah, this is my work ride. You should see what I ride around in on the weekends.
And this week's winner comes from the PR director for JR Motorsports, Mike Davis:
@MikeDavis88 THESE COLORS DON'T RUN! No really, they don't run. Clete, gimme a jump?
For Your Viewing Pleasure
In the spirit of our Magic Bus Contest I give you this video. Keep an eye out for the rig that looks suspiciously like our dude from Lowe's, the guy who has an on-board camera and the "Godspeed Benny [Parsons]" painted across one of the roofs. God bless America.
Truck Stop
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is back in business this weekend after nearly a month off, dropping the green on Saturday as the lead-in to Sunday's Cup race at the Martinsville Speedway. As I was going through a stack of pre-Martinsville press releases, I found a stat that I was certain had to be a typo.
"Ron Hornaday has never won at the Martinsville Speedway ..."
What? How can that be? The all-time series leader in championships (3) and wins (45) has won on 29 (!) different tracks in the NCWTS, but is 0-for-14 on one of the original 18 tracks from the series' inaugural 1995 schedule.
"They've run 20-something races there [21, actually], and I've run two-thirds of them," said the 51-year-old, as he salivated over the track's traditional trophy. "I've finished close enough to the front that I had to watch someone else get their grandfather clock. I was leading one year ago and ran out of gas, pretty much lost the championship that day. I was second back in March and I finished second to Kevin Harvick, and he's my boss."
So, what will he do with the clock if he finally wins it on Saturday? "Probably get some bungee cords and strap it to the back of my truck and drive all over town with it."
Season's Tweetings
From Kevin Harvick, posted Tuesday afternoon while on the way home from an elk hunting trip in New Mexico with Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte. We preface this with a very serious disclaimer: Don't try this at home unless that home includes a Daytona 500 trophy on the mantel.
@KevinHarvick http://twitpic.com/malps - Can't get home fast enough!
Ryan McGee
