| | | | | | | | |  | | | |  "I don't think the Kyle hatred will end any time soon." - Dennis Michelsen
Sit down, strap in, and get ready to sound off as Doin’ Donuts radio show joins the blogosphere! Let Lori Munro and Dennis Michelson know your opinion on the topics below then tune in Monday night at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com for more “Doin’ Donuts.”
THE DRIVER FANS LOVE TO HATE
Dennis says...
During the post race interview with Kyle Busch at Dover you could hear how angry his win made a huge proportion of the fans. Any time he spoke or his face appeared on the big screen the fans booed loudly! When he got out of the car to do his victory bow, the fans were livid! Unlike many of the hated drivers that later became loved, I don't think the Kyle hatred will end any time soon. Sure more fans will jump on the bandwagon because a certain portion of the fan base flocks to a winner, but the hatred for this guy will continue for a long time because he loves to fuel the fire! Love him or hate him fans but this guy is the most exciting and best driver in NASCAR right now!
Lori says...
I have a prediction to make. All the drivers we came to “love” in the history of the sport started off the same way as Kyle has; being booed mercilessly and seemingly without one cheer. Over time, the boos begin to equalize with the cheers and dang-blast-it, when Kyle took his bow when he won the Best Buy 400 benefiting Student Clubs for Autism Speaks, I could actually hear some cheering. Give it a few years and a few Cup Championships under his belt and perhaps a sprinkling of new fans here and there, and you have stock car racings newest hero ranking right up there with some of the biggest names we all GREW to love.
HOW GOOD IS LOGANO?
Dennis says...
Sometimes when there is so much hype about an athlete there is good reason...sometimes he is THAT good! Sixth place in his debut at Dover in the Nationwide Series might not sound all that great. But when you see how he accomplished that sixth place finish it grabs your attention. Look at the good cars and Cup level drivers that he passed to get back up to sixth place. Joey Logano will have his share of crashes in his rookie year but this kid is the real deal! Can you imagine in a few years when Joe Gibbs Racing has Logano and Rowdy racing on the same team in Cup?
Lori says...
In Logano’s short 18 years, he has won a lot of races and multiple championships. I’m stunned at those who question this kid’s ability and his comments made after his 6th place finish in last weekends Nationwide series race at Dover. The disappointment on his face was obvious and his words drove the point home … Logano expected better of himself. People have called it “youthful arrogance” and that he needs to pay his dues before he starts making grandiose statements like he should have done better in his series debut racing against the “claim-whackers”. Fact is, Logano knows how to win and that is what separates arrogance from reality. He’s sliced bread alright, complete with real butter and the purest jam that grandma ever made.
GO SPEED RACER!
Dennis says...
When I saw this guy practice and race in person for the first time at Rockingham Speedway I knew Scott Speed was going to be much better than the rest of the transplanted open wheelers. Unlike the others that can't handle a loose race car, Scott Speed seems to love it! Winning in just his sixth start in the Craftsman Truck series at Dover was a wonderful surprise! Scott Speed might act and speak different than most NASCAR drivers but he can flat out wheel these cars and trucks around these tracks better than most of them. Next season I hope Red Bull moves him up to the Nationwide Series for the full season. Go Speed Racer!
Lori says...
Scott Speed sure made me look like a genius and he’s even impressed the star-spangled socks off of me! To say the Craftsman Truck Series is tough and gritty is an understatement. What does a guy who came from a series with cars as light and nimble as paper airplanes need to be doing out there banging pick up truck fenders? He proved his point Friday in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover. He is patient enough to get to the end of a race, aggressive enough to get to the front of the pack and smooth enough to do it in style. Best part of the weekend was the French pedicure he had before the race, in team Red Bull colors to boot. He wanted the other rough and tumble truck drivers to know that a guy who had a pedicure finished ahead of them in first. Drivers who have come from other types of auto racing don’t typically just jump into a heavy, fendered stock car and win, whereas Speed has now won in both ARCA and the Truck series just a few short months into the season.
MONSTER MANIA
Dennis says...
Dover International Speedway has almost turned this whole monster theme into its own amusement park! Forty-six feet worth of statue greets race fans and this monstrosity even has a full-sized stockcar in its hand! They should have the MONSTER RIDE next and maybe the MONSTER MASH BURGER at the concession stands too. But Miles the Monster? Couldn't they have come up with a more threatening name? He is one ugly and scary dude and deserves a name that will send shivers down the spines of race fans and drivers alike!
Lori says...
Very true Dennis, very true. They could have made Miles in Kyle Busch’s likeness thereby driving home the “monster” persona even more. People could boo at Miles for no reason, throw full beer cans at him and mock his lineage. “Dang you, Portland Cement britches”…. “Boooooo… go back to where you came from, granite breath!!” Yup, works for me. In all seriousness, I think creating a 4 story statue named after the nickname the track has anyway, is quite quaint. A helluva lot better than “The Beast of the South East” as Charlotte is now being referred to. Seems the monster theme is a winner with track promoters. The could have named Miles “Hillary” if that works for you Dennis.
SILLY SEASON SHUFFLE
Dennis says...
This is the time of the year that the drivers on the bubble of losing their ride hate the most! Flip on the television or radio coverage or check out JAYSKI and you will see more rumors this time of the year than anywhere outside of the Washington Beltway! The only thing that amazes me more is that so many of these drivers that get let go find a ride so easy again. Two or three years later those same owners are shocked that Driver X performed as bad with their team as he did in the previous team and send him packing again...only to be picked up by another team! Jamie McMurray is the latest driver that will join this Silly Season Shuffle every few years but he will never have a ride as good as his current one.
Lori says...
McMurray had his “Dale Jr moment”, and blew it. Meaning… McMurray’s ride at CGwFS Racing was inarguably lacking (and we still see it now with the performances and crew chief realignments at Ganassi), so McMurray really had to prove his worth when he packed his bags and went to the much stronger Roush Fenway. Dale Jr was/is in the same situation; he left DEI hoping for quick success at Hendrick Motorsports. If you want to win, you go to the top teams, right? Junior is doing well, however McMurray has had a couple of very bad seasons. I’m not totally ready to throw McMurray under the bus yet as I still think that with the right people around him, he’s still got something left to prove but it ain’t happening at Roush Fenway. I do have one question however; why does Jeremy Mayfield keep returning like the hitch-hiker in a Hitchcock movie? Has the driver pool completely dried up or does NOBODY want to strap into a Ganassi car unless the only thing they have scheduled on any given Sunday is a Lawn-Boy with their name on it?
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