Dr. Stewart and Mr. Tony

If its one thing you have to know about Tony Stewart is that he is not one to mess with when hes having a bad day. Just look at him during the altercation with the USAC official last Thursday night. Boy, was he pissed:



But the amazing thing is that even with the debacle on Sunday, Tony was in good spirits. I was expecting, and I'm sure a lot of other people were expecting, for Tony verbally tear someone a new one as soon as the race ended on Sunday, but instead he had this to say:

"Just a tough day," Stewart said in a statment via his PR person. "There are really no other words to describe it."

Maybe, Tony was just choosing his words carefully to avoid the possible firestorm he would receive from the press and NASCAR had he gone off about how crappy the tires were on Sunday.

Who knows. Hopefully, Tony can keep his cool like this more often.

Stewart Mum on Tires [Tampa Tribune]

Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman just love to hate each other

It's a fact that Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman had a strained relationship during their time together at Penske Racing, but even now with Rusty retired and running his own team and also being a "media personality"at ESPN, it doesn't mean that mudslinging between he and Newman has calmed down any. For example, look at the comments that good ol' Rusty made yesterday on Newman's departure from the team that will occur at the end of the year.

"I'll clear this leaving thing up," Wallace said on Friday. "He didn't leave. Roger called Ryan up to his office and said, 'I don't need your services next year.' Ryan didn't come to him and say he's leaving. You all need to write that. That's exactly how it went down. "Obviously, there was some bad blood there when that happened. I love Roger, so I'm going to help clear up the story for him."

Of course, team boss Roger Penske and Newman quickly fired back saying that it didn't go down that way. "I have read Rusty's comments and it is important for everyone to understand that I did not fire Ryan," Penske said. "His contract runs though 2008 and we sat down and agreed that we were not going forward beyond this year."

"I don't know what Rusty is trying to prove, but that's not the case," Newman said. "Roger and I agreed not to continue our association. If anything, it was me more than him. Our goals didn't align." Yeah, like the goal of having Mr. Penske care about his NASCAR team for once.

*Sigh* Why can't we all just get along?

He said, she said: Wallace claims Newman forced out at Penske [ESPN.com]

About this whole Danica-Milka mess

I'm sure you've seen it all over the place now and I'm pretty sure your sick of it too. Why I do feel for Danica about being blocked by the rolling chicane that is Milka Duno. You think maybe would have thought this out before confronting her or maybe just do it like they do it in elementary school and be a nark and tell on her to the teacher aka Brian Barnhart. Just really sad to people do immature stuff like this, hopefully one day we'll be rid of these two and back to some simple racing.

Oh and if was to pick one of them in a fight, I would take Milka winning in three rounds of greuling mud wrestling. Yes i'n perverted, but can you really blame me?

Temper, Temper

Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya had meeting of the fenders towards the end of Sunday's race in New Hampshire. Before the final caution came out the two were racing each other hard and after they both took the caution Busch rubbed into Montoya's car, Montoya didn't appreciate that and turned Busch unfortunately it didn't work out well for Montoya, as he was tagged by Busch's spinning car and spun out also. NASCAR didn't really care for Montoya's actions and penalized him two laps dropping him from 25th to 32nd in the final results.

"He hit me under caution, he hit me under green and I retaliated," Montoya said. "Did I go too far in retaliating? Yeah. I think they are giving me a penalty and it's OK for what I did. The only thing I told them was that they are always saying be very careful not to do anything under caution. The only reason I did that was that I was just defending myself."

Busch claims that he did nothing to upset Montoya.

"I got a run on him earlier and I got on the outside and he kind of kept coming up a little bit," said Busch. "I didn't turn down into him and just barely touched his quarter-panel. Then I got by him in three and four and he run me up the racetrack in the left rear. Then we came to that caution flag and he thought he beat me to the caution flag and I was just trying to get around the 40 (Dario Franchitti) car, who was in front of us there and touched him on the door and he just turned left and spun me down the front straightaway. I don't know what his beef is, but obviously NASCAR should probably fix it."

Well here is the video of the incident. You be the judge:

Sunday also featured another incident between Kasey Kahne and Aric Amirola as the two took turns punting each other.

Montoya penalised for Busch incident [Autosport.com]

Crew member suspended by NASCAR

Amanda Mathis, who up until recently was a crew member for Bill Davis Racing, was suspended by NASCAR until July 30 and placed on probation for the rest of the year. Mathis apparently got into altercation with security officials during the race weekend at Michigan International Speedway, but exact details about the incident are unknown.

NASCAR suspends former BDR truck series crew member [Scenedaily.com]

American Dream Motorsports not so dreamy

Indycar team American Dream Motorsports formerly known as Playa Del Motorsports has hit some hard times as of late. The team failed to make the Indy 500 with Phil Geibler after Giebler suffered this heavy crash sending him to the hospital with bruised lungs. The team also had an Indy Lights car. Well they did have one until owner Eric Zimmerman was arrested. Former team member Paul Gray gives us the scary details of the meltdown of American Dream Motorsports:


"Many of you know me as "USAC's Oldest Rookie" and '07 competitor in the USAC Regional Midget Series.

My other passion is the "500" and each May I once again participate as a team member to a "500" entry. In the past I have worked for Roth Racing ( Marty Roth ) ; this year with American Dream Motorsports ( Phil Giebler ).

The effort assembled for Phil ended on the 3rd day of Qualifying with a tremendous crash during practice.

The team also entered Al Unser III in the Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights event that was delayed by rain to Saturday , May 24.
"Al 3" started 19th and finished 11th in a good effort by both team and driver.

Fast forward to Thursday past ... the team is headed to the Milwaukee Mile ... Al 3 has been dumped ; replaced with Tony Turco ... the race is the Milwaukee 100 for the Firestone Indy Lights.

I have been asked to remain with the team for this event and beyond.
Iam happy to be involved and through these experiences most people in the garage know me and I have made friends with some of the big names in the IRL. What's not to like !!

American Dream Motorsports ( until recently Playa Del Racing , as majority ownership was sold ) is owned by Eric Zimmerman of Arizona and former Las Vegas restaurantuer.

Eric was driving the team transporter on Thursday evening. I was his sole passenger as planned. Eric is experienced in driving big rigs ... this trailer is 52 feet long.

About 8:00pm , Eric is hungry ; says he hasn't eaten all day.
We have been on the road since 3:45pm ... are approaching interstate exits for Kenosha , Wisconsin , ( about 40 miles from the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis ).

Eric spots a Texas Road House restaurant and takes the exit.
We immediately see no possibility to park our race rig in their lot. We look for alternatives.

I spot another truck of similar size to our own on a street to the rear of the restaurant. There is room for another ; Eric agrees.

While making a right turn ( to the available parking area ) , I feel a jolting from the trailer and hear a noise. Eric has climbed the curb ( with the 3 right side tires of the trailer ) and has hit a fire hydrant !

I get out to take a look ; two wheels damaged , trim rings & center caps smashed ... mostly cosmetic damage to our trailer.

Stay tuned for what comes next ... !!

Our "accident" was observed by a Kenosha fire marshall who had finished his dinner at the Texas Road House and was walking to his vehicle. We had hit "his" fire hydrant while he was watching ! What's the odds ?? !!!

While Eric and I saw no obvious damage to the hydrant , the fire marshall proved there was. He walked over to the hydrant , wrapped his arms around it and turned it in the ground ! Amazing !

We questioned why no water loss ? .... " You have broken it off above the water shut-off level " , the fire marshall explained.

The fire marshall would then call the police who would arrive some 30 minutes later. They explained the delay in saying " nothing ever happens around here ... we are always patrolling other areas ".

The fire marshall would again perform his "demonstration" to prove the hydrant broken ( for the police officer ).

The officer asked Eric for his drivers license and insurance information which he promptly produced. The officer then asked my identity and questioned my position as a passenger. He would then ask for my license also.

The officer returned to his cruiser ... was of course "running our licenses" , which took about another half hour. Soon another cruiser would arrive with two additional police officers.

The first officer who had collected our info would now exit his cruiser.
Walking to me , he said " sir , I'll be talking to him ( pointing to Eric )".
The second and third officers who had just arrived would stand to the side of and to the rear of Eric.

The officer ( holding our licenses ) said to Eric , "we have a warrant for your arrest". The cuffs were on in record time ... never seen it happen this fast on tv shows !

They would then search Eric's pockets and said the warrant was from Clark County , Nevada. They said there was no bail .... a bond of $ 22,000.00 could be paid for his release.

One of the officers asked me if I could pay the bond ? ... if I had 22K with me ? ... ( guess I look affluent ! ) ; I answered , " damn , I didn't quite bring that much with me !". The officer smiled.

Eric provided me phone numbers for various people to call which I hastily wrote down. Eric was taken in to the Kenosha jail ... I was left standing on the street with the transporter. It is now near 9:40pm.

I enter the Texas Road House , take a table , get a drink , make phone calls ; everyone contacted is shocked - and I'm in total disbelief that this is happening !

The police had earlier advised that I may not want to leave the area as they would return Eric to the arresting location if the bond was paid in the next 2 to 3 hours. Left the restaurant at 10:20 returning to the cab of the truck ; made more phone calls . The number of incoming calls per hour was setting new records !

Now 3am , I'm still in the truck , cell phone battery now expired ( with no charger available ) ... no more calls , no more contact and I've now had about all I can stand !

Engine running , in the first of 6 gears , brake off , clutch out , I'm outta' here ! I am now driving this rig for the first time ever in an unbelievable down-pour , thunder , lightning ... I'm thinking "this has got to be the most f@#%d-up night of my life !".

As I'm driving the 40 miles to the Milwaukee Mile , I spot a cop car behind me ... he continues to follow closely for some time. I'm not feeling good about this.

Eventually , the cop car pulls along side ; it is our team engineer who has come out looking for me ! He had purchased a used police car at auction ... thinks he's now the Blues Brothers !

I complete the drive to the Speedway , still raining , park it and get a ride to our hotel by 4:20am. Am back to the track at 6:30am ... no sleep.

Turco arrives late Friday afternoon and does not commit to running the race in Eric's absence. In case he should change his mind , we prepare the car for Saturday's first practice session to be held at 8:15am the next morning.

The garage closes at 9:pm ... we work until 11.
Saturday morning , Turco announces he's out ! ( In Eric's absence , it now becomes his responsibility to cover additional expenses to make the race for his "bought ride". Tony folds ... cut's his losses , so to speak ).

The crew has worked hard the night before and are now mad !
Words are exchanged between a crew member and hired driver. Crew walks off refusing to re-load trailer of equipment and race car. Turco disappears. Working alone , I properly re-load the trailer contents to protect the team's assets.

Turco drives the rig home , I drive another team vehicle home and the others accompany the Blues Brother in the CrownVic police interceptor ride. No race , no pay , everybody pissed , and still no Eric.

At the time of the posting , Eric Zimmerman remains in jail for the 4th day thereafter. No bail , no bond produced by anyone. Strange.

My services and those of our other team members are available for hire.
All good guys who just like to get paid for a hard day's work."


Wow, just amazing. Well I sure hope the best for Eric and Paul. I still wonder though what Eric was arrested for, though.

No Respect

The last few weeks in NASCAR have seen quite a few confrontations between drivers. After a Nationwide race in Richmond Kyle Busch confronted Steven Wallace after Busch felt that Wallace raced him to hard on the final lap. Wallace responded to Busch words by yanking his helmet and calling Busch, "a girl".

This weekend was chalked full of conflicts towards the end of Saturday night's Nationwide race, Brad Keselowski ran into the back of Denny Hamlin's car, Hamlin retaliated by veering his car into Keselowski's and damaging Keselowski's left front quarter-panel. Keselowski's owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr retaliated by running his car into the back of Hamlin's car. The whole thing ended with the crews of the teams having a shoving match on pit lane after the race. The mystery though is what started the whole thing in the first place.

�I don�t know,� said Keselowski, when asked in the media center why he drove into Hamlin under the yellow. �He�s here. Ask him.�

�Ask him first,� Hamlin retorted. �I retaliated. I didn�t retaliate based on what happened earlier in the race.� Hamlin then went off about the is a lack of repsect there is for Cup drivers from the Nationwide drivers. �You throw a rock, I�m going to throw a concrete block back,� he said. �You�re going to have to deal with it.�

Keselowski disagrees with Hamlin's views. �I race one day a week,� he said. �I don�t race twice a week. I�ve got one day a week to prove myself. I have 200 laps, not 400. I have to take every opportunity I have to prove myself.�

Last night even more conflicts spawned with Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya getting into a shoving match with their cars down the backstrecth and towards the end of the race Kyle Busch gave the "you're number one!" signal to Jeff Gordon after Gordon held Busch up while Busch was trying to lap him. The two former teammates had a heated discussion after the race and Gordon gave his views on the matter.

�He�s got an issue because he gave me the finger, and you know what?� Gordon said. �That�s not necessary for a guy he just didn�t like racing him the way I did. Kyle and I never had any issues, but I raced him hard tonight just like I did everybody. And when track position is as important as it is here, you�ve got to race every single car for every single position. And I wasn�t going to give anybody an inch, and I was racing for position."

This lack of respect will only continue as long as NASCAR allows it and with NASCAR's new theme this year of bringing old-school racing I don't expect this problem to end anytime soon. I do hope someone comes along soon and knocks some of these assholes in there place. This sport needs real men driving stock cars, not 5-year olds bumping tricycles and getting into a slap fight about it.

Crews face off after Hamlin-Keselowski contact under caution (Scenedaily.com)

Former teammates Gordon, Busch displeased with one another (Scenedaily.com)