Random Thoughts for a Slow Day

I woke up with writer’s block this morning, so I thought I would have others largely write my blog for me today.

• George Gillett might invest in Evernham Motorsports. Gillett already owns the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and English soccer giant Liverpool among other investments. If two of the top teams in Nextel Cup feel the need to seek out additional capital, how are the lower tier teams ever going to make it?



• Larry McReynolds explains why Jimmie Johnson’s team did not break any rules on their final pit stop:

  A tire can be in the next pit box. Draw an imaginary line down the center of the pit boxes. Your equipment, including tires, cannot be on the track side of the line, and the No. 48 car's was not on that side of the line.
  
  It's not a NASCAR official's job, but it's not uncommon. Think about it from a safety standpoint. A tire rolling out on pit road can get hit by a car and hit a crew member.
  At most races, I can look at all of pit road in one glance. You would be shocked at how many NASCAR officials catch tires rolling away from every race team. Officials won't catch tires stop after stop. If it continued to happen, the official would go to the crew chief and say, "Look, I'm not catching your tires anymore." But once or twice during a race, I see officials catch tires for all race teams up and down pit road.
  

  I can live with that. I noticed the tire roll past his pit box, but not into the road. Sure some might look at the official stopping the tire as some kind of advantage for the 48 team. In the bigger picture the officials are there to make sure everything is safe. That’s why they penalize for speeding, loose lugnuts and straying equipment. Look at it this way. If the official lets the tire go it ensures Johnson’s team is penalized, but it also allows a 70 pound tire the chance to hit another car or crew member.

• One of the best mainstream media blogs is Virginia-Pilot beat writer Dustin Long. A beat writer that understands how to use a blog is great. He gives additional notes, quotes and insight that can’t fit in his regular articles. He also updates frequently from places like the CoT test at Bristol, well before other outlets had any information. He is one of those writers that are always overflowing with information.From Dustin Long’s blog:
  

  Also, James Finch is listed as the car owner for the No. 4 Morgan-McClure car of Ward Burton. The team bought the points from Finch, whose 09 car of Mike Wallace scored 160 points with his fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500. This became effecitve this week as the team tries to climb into the top 35 in car owner points by Bristol so they can have a guaranteed starting spot. The team is 38th in car owner points after Sunday's race.

  It’s an interesting note that puts Ward right back in the thick of things. If he can make the next two races, and avoid Robby Gordon’s carnage, Burton could see himself inside the top 35. It’s still a steep challenge, but 38^th is much better than 48^th in owner’s points. It’s an interesting note that I have not seen covered anywhere else. Without the extra points, Burton and the #4 car’s outlook is pretty bleak.

• Thank you to reader John for showing me the way on my Cousin Carl bug. “His dad is Ken Schrader's cousin. So Kenny started referring to him as Cousin Carl and it just stuck.” So it does make sense after all. It still bugs me, but at least it there’s a story behind it.