| | | | | | | | |  | | | |  The new paint scheme for the No. 8 U. S. Army Chevrolet was unveiled Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Co-drivers Mark Martin and Aric Almirola will share the ride at Dale Earnhardt Inc. for the 2008 season.
Gone, of course, is the ubiquitous Bud red paint scheme in the wake of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pending departure. Next year he moves to Hendrick Motorsports, where he'll drive the No. 88 AMP/National Guard car. The two old-school style paint schemes were unveiled in mid-September in Dallas.
The timing of the new No. 8 unveiling -- and the presence of all-around-nice-guys Martin and Almirola -- certainly seemed to soften the blow of the transition, or at least helped make it slip by relatively unnoticed by Dale Jr. fans.
At 48, Martin is one of the older active drivers on the circuit. He's respected in the garage and in the stands. Almirola has his own backstory of earning his keep, especially during the Busch series Milwaukee race, when he won the pole, started the race, but was forced to hand over the wheel to teammate Denny Hamlin.
Buh-bye Joe Gibbs Racing, hello DEI.
New paint scheme, new COT, new year, new drivers. Same No. 8? Nah. Junior fans have already moved on.
| | | Permalink | Comments (0) | | | | | | Boris Said has been around the schoolyard long enough to tell it like it is. After his team was shut out of Sunday's road course race at the Glen, he spoke his mind.
The rain was still falling and Said was still reeling: Rain had washed out qualifying yet again at Watkins Glen. The third time in the last four years.
That meant Sunday's lineup would be determined by owner points. It meant that Boris Said and other road course ringers like him were sent home.
Instead of proving himself for the privilege, Jeff Gordon will start at the pole thanks to owner points. That’s third time this season thanks to Momma Nature.
What's wrong with this picture?
You don't have to be able to count as high as the number of dollar bills in Rick Hendrick's bank account to do the math.
Smaller teams like Boris Said and his crew members live for the likes of Watkins Glen and other road courses. But if you don't run a full schedule, and you don't run four teams, and you don't rack up the owner points...well, it doesn't take a mathematician to figure it out.
Of course it's nothing new for the fans and the media to complain that money buys success in NASCAR. Sure it takes greenbacks to build better engines, hire the best technicians and run test after test until your fingers go numb from signing checks.
But when good old-fashioned luck is stacked in favor of the pit road full of Daddy Warbucks of NASCAR again and again, well, it’s just flat-out unfair. The sport of NASCAR -- and life-- is only interesting and inspiring when the little guy gets a fair shot at glory.
Moments after officials called off qualifying on Friday afternoon, Boris Said was ready to rewrite the rulebook. Of course Friday was a washout, he conceded. But Saturday was expected to be clear and sunny all the way. A perfect day to reschedule qualifying.
Said argued that Saturday’s schedule was wide open and flexible until the Busch race late Saturday afternoon. Cup qualifying could get sandwiched in between practices for both series. Plenty of time for NASCAR to make things right.
Those who question the current system don’t deny that Jeff Gordon is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR. And he’s also one of the main reasons why Hendrick Motorsports leads in owner points.
But in cases like this one, the system shortchanges talented drivers like Boris Said, not to mention the fans. Said is arguably one of the Top 5 road course racers in the sport. He deserves to be on the track Sunday. At the very least, he should get the chance to prove he should be on the track Sunday.
Boris’ point was that NASCAR should be mindful of the smaller, paycheck-to-paycheck teams. Whether qualifying is settled by shuffling around the schedule or flipping a coin (if it’s good enough for the NFL, why not NASCAR?), something needs to change.
They say you can't put a price on talent. But the way things stand now, it seems NASCAR has managed to do it. | | | Permalink | Comments (0) | | | | | | | |
