Email Friday, April 11, 2008

From Greg in Oregon:

Claire-

You Rock!

Greg in Oregon
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

CBL to Greg: Well some other drivers say that some folks act suspicious even when they are just being normal and not under the influence. Kevin Harvick said that Fike drove a couple of races for him and there was no reason to believe by how he acted that he was under the influence. He did not notice it in his encounter’s with him. Dale Jrr said that if the second worse thing (after someone actually driving under the influence) is wide speculation in the media that casts doubt on the sport then wipe all that out and test the drivers randomly if need be. Thanks for the email. See Dale Junior’s Comments below:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr Quote Transcript : (Phoenix International Raceway) Thursday, April 11:

ON NASCAR HAVING REGULAR RANDOM TESTING. “If the public were to ask that question, NASCAR’s reaction would be to start testing people. They’ve always sort of had that style of management if you will. Once a complaint gets loud enough, they sort of take reaction to it. I wouldn’t have problem with random drug testing if it’s important to the integrity of the sport. That’s what’s important to me and maybe it would be able to help maintain that. We’ve always sort of had it differently than other stick and ball sports because we drive cars. It’s just overall handled differently. People would assume that steroids and things like that wouldn’t be an advantage here and I don’t see how they would but I suspect the only reason a guy would do that in this profession is just physical appearance of his own perception of himself. I don’t think it would be an advantage inside the car. Recreational drugs have always been a fact of life and people always say you’d be surprised but I don’t think it’s a problem here. I don’t think it’s an issue here but maybe you’d be surprised, I don’t know. If NASCAR wants to go in that direction, I guess the second to worst-case scenario is for speculation to run rampant in the media.

“The worst obviously is for that to be happening. If that’s the second worst for us to be speculation and be running rampant in the media, let’s just squash it, fix it, make a statement with testing and what not.”

From Gary in Texas:

Claire

Gary Stevens
Austin, Texas

Gary: Thanks for the email.

CBL to Gary: Thanks for the email – I’ll definitely do a story on this but for the quick take – yes…there is a specific spot for the transponders and it’s adjacent to the fuel cell. There is a specific measurement from the nose of the car to where the transponder must be located and all of them in all of the cars are located in same location. NASCAR gives them out to the teams each race weekend. The guys in the garage tell me that by the time you have damaged your transponder you are usually toast as far as getting the car back out anyway because of where it is located. If the transponder is damaged somehow and does not work- then there are five scorers who time by hand and the average of what they clock would be used. Hope this helps and I’ll get an interview with a longer story so you can listen on air. Thanks – good question.

Mail Box (4/8/08)

The Gordon Fans began emailing me as soon as the race was over. Below is a Gordon fan up on the wheel about Sunday’s race:

Jeff Gordon 101 here – Did you get a chance to talk to him today? Was he as upset as I am right now? So here’s the skinny – we are now 14th in points with an average finish of 19.71 after today’s waste of time. I know that it is still early in the season, but there’s a part of me that is kind of scared about not making the chase?! Today was also another prime example of what I have been trying to figure out for a long time…the 48 and the 24 share a garage and I would assume share information between the two as to what works and what doesn’t work…but yet today the 48 was once again way so much better than the 24 was. How in the hell could Stevie be that far off on the set-up?! Yes I understand that some drivers like their cars a little loose and some drivers like their cars a little tight, but give me a break – I don’t think their was a driver out there today that could have done any better with Gordon’s car than he himself did. How in the hell can you be that far off on the set-up…I just don’t get it!!! There are only two tracks out there that Gordon hasn’t produced a victory and Texas is one of them – I just don’t get how they are unable to master Texas nor Miami. Am I whining? You bet I am whining – I just cannot accept a Sunday when not only do you come in last place, but you are not even in the ballpark as a contender for a top ten, a top five, and a prayer couldn’t even get you a win?! I suppose on the bright side this was only his second 43rd place finish in his entire career, and we are still somewhat early in the season. Let me send the 24 car around 20 more times for our 101st victory and maybe one extra time for today’s race since Stevie obviously didn’t have a clue as to how to send the 24 car around.

Mail Box (4/7/08)

I received this response to reading Ann’s email on air on “Dialed In” on Monday 4/7/08

THANK YOU ANNE FROM INDIANA!!! Finally there’s someone out there who shares my thoughts about Jeff Gordon. I didn’t get a chance to listen to your whole show today so I really don’t know what kind of feedback Anne’s e-mail got from your listeners, but it was so nice to hear her e-mail and very nice to know that there are others out there who share my thoughts about the number 24 car. She hit so many nails on the head with her e-mail. Is she just ranting and raving? Is she just so passionate about the number 24 car that she might be a little biased and her rage of passion has clouded her judgment? Are her claims true or are they false? Who actually knows the answers to these questions…and who even really cares…it’s just nice to hear from others that they share the same passion for Jeff Gordon as I do!!! I went to bed mad Sunday night and woke up mad Monday morning. Yes, I am a realist and do indeed understand that Gordon cannot win every single Sunday…and I understand that some Sunday’s will be bad and other Sunday’s will be great…but to have a car like Gordon had at Texas was simply unacceptable. Whether your driver is a superstar or not – you still want your driver to be somewhat competitive…and this past Sunday at Texas Gordon was no where close to being competitive…yes I am whining, but I feel like I have every right to whine after the Texas race…to immediately start dropping like a rock the very second the green flag was displayed is something that us Gordon fans are not used to and we have a hard time accepting a finish of 43rd. To come in under a caution to make changes only to fall even further back was another thing that puzzled me about Sunday’s race at Texas. I am proud that Gordon’s demeanor is calm, cool, and collected – it says a lot about the professional that he truly is – but had it been me I would’ve had a team meeting come Monday morning in which there would be a lot of questions asked as to “why” and someone damn well better have some good answers if there job was important to them. As to Anne’s e-mail…thanks again to Anne for not holding back and throwing everything that she did out on the table. Please send the 24 car around 20 more times to get us to 101 wins.

Mail Box: 4/8/08

From C. Gold: Regarding Kasey Kahne in the Samsung 500 at Texas:

Claire: I’m not sure when you will be able to read this. Kasey Kahne just hasn’t had that spark, like he did in the 06 season. I’ve written numeriously to you. Mostly I’m taking cheap shots at the Hendricks team or Tony Stewart. None of that today. I sit here listening to your Monday April 07th show. All I ask is what will it take for Kasey Kahne to make it into victory lane this year? You seem to be know the weekly in’s & out’s. so I need to pass a 4 leaf clover to the #9 team?

( CBL Note: Kasey began feeling a “bad vibration” in the car after a pit stop on lap 283 – he came into pit road for a fix but the vibration persisted – diagnosis “broken splitter brace” – He finished in 25th three laps down)