 | | Will Ferrell has opened NASCAR to a whole new set of eyes. |
By Marty Smith, NASCAR.COM
August 22, 2006
11:55 AM EDT (15:55 GMT)
Duly noted during a foggy bachelor party weekend in Myrtle Beach, S.C., recently: It seems the Ricky Bobby thing truly is drawing attention to NASCAR. And not all bad, despite the movie's heightened stereotypical theme. My wife's cousin, the Jersey-born, Manhattan proud, boisterous Italian type that knows as much about NASCAR as stereotype permits, screamed "DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT, RICKY BOBBY!" for three consecutive days, complete with overblown southern drawl. He finds this line utterly hysterical. He says it again and again. Suddenly, NASCAR is cool. He is intrigued. On Saturday while watching the Busch Series event, he inquires about the industry's working dynamics, questions far from elementary and extremely difficult to explain to a novice who relates every rules scenario to the NFL: How can Dale Jr. run this race? Isn't he Nextel? Isn't that like Albert Pujols playing in a minor league game? Well, yeah, sort of, but... How are young guys supposed to get noticed? Well, it's complicated... How can he represent this sponsor today, and another one tomorrow? Doesn't Bud get ticked that their guy is promoting something else? Not exactly, it's... The overall explanation is rather simple: It's a marketing circus enveloped in the world's most competitive racing series. My advice to him? Go rent Days of Thunder. Robert Duvall will tell you all you need to know: Rubbin' son, is racin'. Mouth agape, he damn near dropped his beer. James Haggerty II, Coventry R.I: Hi Marty, I have been a long time NASCAR fanatic. My team is the M&Ms 38, and to be honest I will say it was not right for Sadler to disappoint his fans, including myself, by switching teams in the middle of season. I think NASCAR itself should not ever allow such an occasion to happen until end of season. And to top things off I am going to New Hampshire for my first NASCAR race experience, now it is ruined because NASCAR allowed Sadler to switch. It was a dream of mine to see my driver in the 38 car up close. I guess my question is why did NASCAR allow it? Quite honestly, James, barring extenuating circumstances NASCAR has no say in the matter. Depending on a respective driver's experience level, the sanctioning body can allow or disallow a driver's participation in its sanctioned events, but it cannot determine who drives what for whom. NASCAR is free enterprise. Franchising does not exist. It's contract employment. Drivers sign contractual agreements with owners, not with NASCAR. Therefore, Sadler didn't need NASCAR's permission to leave Yates and join Evernham. He needed Yates' blessing to leave by way of a contractual release, and Evernham's blessing by way of a new driving contract. That's it. Granted, owners have separate contracts with drivers and sponsors and manufacturers, and each of those is typically integrated in the others' deals in some capacity. But when it comes to who drives what for whom, NASCAR is completely hands-off. Lynne: "You had to be there to believe it. Junior Nation had turned against their man." Got this WAY wrong -- that was the Gordon lovers booing. Junior Nation would NEVER, NEVER boo their man. Cannot believe that you would think that, let alone put it in print. I didn't write that, Lynne. But since you brought it up, I'll give my two cents on Edwards' Junior Whopper: He had every right to be livid, but the chosen retaliatory stampede was ridiculous. It'd have been far more acceptable had he gotten out of his car after the race and tagged Earnhardt in the jaw with a left hook. He's fortunate Earnhardt's hand wasn't injured. Had it been, all hell would've broken loose. Again, be ticked off, raise 40 kinds of hell, smack a man in the mouth. Challenge his manhood. But don't take his hand off in a temper tantrum. Don't forget, Kevin Harvick sat out a race in 2002 for blatant prefabricated retaliation. On a lighter note, in conversing with various industry experts I've come to realize the only true resolution to this matter is a good ol' fashioned battle royal. And, considering the numerous soap operas currently playing throughout the garage, I have taken it upon myself to choose teams: • Team 1: Ray Evernham/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Tony Stewart
• Team 2: Jeremy Mayfield/Carl Edwards/Clint Bowyer Site: JR Motorsports NASCAR Busch Series shop; Mooresville, N.C.
Sanctioning Body: Dirty Mo Boxing Co.
Referee: Michael Helton
Stipulations: Fifty percent proceeds to Victory Junction Gang Camp; other 50 to be divided among the drivers' personal charity-of-choice.
Undercard: Jeff Gordon vs. Matt Kenseth, cage match. Gary Bunnell: Marty, When the COT begins to run a full schedule in Nextel Cup, it seems to me as there might be more people that can afford to race in the series. So, my question is this: What are the options drivers and teams have when they run out of two-digit numbers? I am guessing they can use three-digit numbers, but can they use letters? Let's say Jamie McMurray and Ricki Bobby both qualify for the Bristol race, could Ricki use 26x instead? It would actually help a lot if they could combine those teams. Sales would sky rocket, because you don't know what you are missing until you've tried Crown Royal and Wonder Bread. Seems to me the only thing I'd be missing there is a considerable buzz kill, Gary. Anyway, because teams must enter every event separately and individually, NASCAR assigns car official numbers on a weekly basis to eliminate duplicates. So if two cars with the same requested number entered the same race, the desired number would go to the more-established team, the one that's competed the most. For example, if two owners -- one part-time, one full-time -- entered the No. 26, preference would default to the full-time owner and another number would be assigned to the part-time team, at least for that event. If two full-time teams wanted the 26, again, it would go the established organization. And NASCAR is nowhere near being out of car numbers, by the way. For that to happen, 110 cars would have to enter a single event. Scott Ernst: Marty, are the officials at each race the same at each track? Are they NASCAR employees and their only job is to be an official on race weekends? Some NASCAR officials, namely the supervisor positions, are full-time NASCAR employees, Scott. But a number are part-time and fly in on weekends. Officials not only travel to all 38 Nextel Cup Series events (36 points races, the Budweiser Shootout and All-Star Challenge), but also officiate Busch Series races on tandem weekends. Some also hold valuable positions at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., during the week. Many of the supervisor positions make shop visits during the offseason in preparation for the following year. Theirs is an exhausting schedule. They work their tails off. And like all officials in the sporting universe, they do it 'cause they love it, not for the money, and are only recognized when they screw up. And that, folks, doesn't happen often. Hal Rainey: Marty, could you please clear up some questions for me? Bill Davis is going be with Toyota next season. Is Waltrip still going to be with Bill Davis, since Waltrip is going to be racing Toyota? Sorry, but I get confused with all the changes that are going to be made. No, Michael Waltrip will not be competing in Bill Davis' Camrys in 2007, rather his own. Waltrip will drive a self-owned NAPA Toyota, while Jeremy Mayfield and Dave Blaney will pilot the two Bill Davis Toyota entries. Dale Jarrett and a yet-to-be-announced-driver-thought-to-be-Scott-Wimmer will drive the other two Toyotas in Michael Waltrip Racing's three-car stable. Marissa Laurent: OK, the original question is -- what is it, the driver or the car? Does the Chase go with owners' points or drivers' points? If one of the top 10 drivers were to fall down the stairs and break their leg, and not be able to drive, would the replacement get into the Chase, or would that open up a space for 11-15? If Jeremy Mayfield had been in the top 10 (I know, he wouldn't have been fired), but hypothetically? Mostly I am just curious, and can't find directly what it goes by. Partially, I have a little fantasy league, and we are really rather simple, we draft two drivers at the beginning of the year, and total the points. Well this whole Mayfield/Sadler thing has wreaked havoc on my league. Some one picked Sadler and someone else picked Mayfield, and now it is like the Hatfield's and McCoy's when it comes to who do you follow the driver or the car? If it is the driver, how do you rectify your driver getting fired, and if it is the car, how do you rectify getting stuck with a rookie in a 14 race test session. I came up with they both get Sadler's points, and now no one is happy! Both Chase qualification and fantasy NASCAR are all about driver points, Marissa, meaning whomever had Mayfield is just plain unlucky. And if a full-time driver were to miss a race, he'd forfeit those championship points, as well, thereby opening up a top-10 position for a lower-ranked driver. That's all I have today. Y'all be good. And drive it like you stole it. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer. | 
