On Scott Speed Winning the NCTS Race at Dover:

Hey Claire
You know you are going to have to give Speed crap about those nails now. Everybody is cracking up about that. Maybe it gave him a bit of luck. Maybe he can go paint Vickers toe nails so I can finally see him in victory lane again That boy is different from anything we are used to seeing. When I saw him posing on the hood of that car, man I think we are in for a crazy ride with this one.

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CBL: With Ron Hornaday behind him on a restart and Sprague right behind him with about 20 to go. Hornaday had a broken header or something and Sprague passed him but couldn’t touch Scott. Scott Speed??? And at Dover?

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Speed must be hanging with Danica and she convinced him it was cool. Send Smoke around
Scott R
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QUESTIONS IN CBL E-MAIL:

CB: after the 600 race Sunday night we were sitting in front of our RV watching the parade of traffic leaving the LMS. Our site is behind the credential’s building but on the road that runs into Morehead Road which the teams and attendee’s use to enter and leave the track. After most of the traffic had settled down to a trickle two roll backs used by Nascar went by and went west on Morehead Road toward the front of the track. On one was Kasey Kahne’s and the other Tony Stewart’s cars. These were not show cars because they both had the wings removed (only the brackets were attached to the deck lid) plus show cars do not use roll backs anyway. I thought it was strange as those were the only two cars that went by not in their haulers. I have been looking on line since to see if Nascar confiscated them or what and have found nothing. Have you heard of a reason for them to do such a thing?

Wayne and Sandy Westphal

Here’s a CBL answer for Wayne and Sandy:

Ever since NASCAR introduced the new car last year – they always take the race winner (#9) and random car (in this case the #20) – back to the R&D Center for post race inspection. They both checked out fine – standard procedure.

Claire B
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On a fan visit to Charlote, NC:

DEAR CLAIRE B.
I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO TRAVEL THIS WINTER ON JANUARY 5TH (MY 50TH BIRTHDAY) TO NASCAR COUNTRY, I WAS ABLE TO GO TO LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY, WHAT A WONDERFUL TRACK! & TOOK A TOUR THERE, I WENT TO VISIT THE SAM BASS GALLERY BUT THE DAY I WENT IT WAS CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. I VISITED THE RICHARD CHILDRESS MUSEUM, WHICH I LOVED, IT WAS VERY EMOTIONAL FOR ME TO SEE ALL THE #3 CARS, OF COURSE I CRIED, I PURCHASED SEVERAL ITEMS @ THE GIFT SHOP. I VISITED HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS, & WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE FACILITY SPECIALLY THE MUSEUM, WHERE I WAS VERY HAPPY TO SEE THAT ALL THE DRIVERS THAT EVER DROVE FOR RICK WERE ACKNOWLEDGED IN PICTURES, TROPHIES ETC. I WAS VERY DISSAPOINTED WHEN I VISITED DALE EARNHARDT INC. THE BIGGEST SURPRISE TO ME WAS THE BLACK & WHITE PICTURE OF DALE THAT I HAD SEEN IN THEIR WEB SITE WAS MISSING FROM THE LOBBY, ALSO THERE WAS NOT A PICTURE OR TROPHY MENTIONED OF DALE JR., STEVE PARK OR MICHAEL WALTRIP, IT SEEMED LIKE THEY NEVER DROVE FOR DEI & THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE TRACK WERE NOT RECOGNIZED. I LEFT WITH A VERY HEAVY HEART, I WAS ABLE TO SEE FROM A DISTANCE ACROSS FROM DEI, DALE JR.’S HOUSE, BUT SAW NO ACTIVITY OUTSIDE OF THE PROPERTY.
I ATTENDED THE 2001 DAYTONA 500 RACE & AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THE WORLD CAME CRASHING DOWN ON ME WHEN I HEARD ON THE RADIO OF DALE’S DEATH, WHILE DRIVING FROM DAYTONA TOWARDS ORLANDO ON I-4 WEST. IT WAS A HORRIBLE SHOCK & I WAS IN DENIAL. DALE’S DEATH AFFECTED ME FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS,SPECIALLY WITH ALL THE MEMORIALS ON MAGAZNES, NEWSPAPERS, T.V.
I CRIED FOR A LONG TIME WHENEVER I SAW HIS PICTURE, SPECIALLY WHEN I RETURNED TO DAYTONA U.S.A. & SAW THE WONDERFUL STATUE OUTSIDE OF THIS FACILITY, WHAT A PRECISE LIKENESS, I WANTED THE STATUE TO COME TO LIFE, MANY PEOPLE WERE TAKING PICTURES, SOME LEAVING FLOWERS ETC. I HAVE RETURNED MANY TIMES SINCE 2001, & I HAVE BEEN SURPRISED THAT THE AREA SURROUNDING DALE’S STATUE IS VERY UNKEPT, IT HAS OVERGROWN BUSHES, I’M SURPRISED NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO REMEDY THIS, I HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS TO THE STAFF @ THE TRACK, BUT IT HAS FALLEN ON DEAF EARS. AFTER DALE’S DEATH & AFTER A CONSIDERABLE TIME OF GRIEVING, I CHOSE KEVIN HARVICK AS MY DRIVER, I LOVE THE WAY HE CARRIES HIMSELF, HE’S GOT FIRE IN HIS VEINS, HE WILL NEVER REPLACE DALE BUT HE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB DRIVING FOR RICHARD. CLAIRE, I HOPE YOU MENTION TO THERESA,( IF YOU EVER RUN INTO HER), ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE AS A FAN WHEN I VISITED DEI & ABOUT MY DISSAPOINTMENT, ASK HER IF DALE’S BLACK & WHITE PICTURE WILL EVER BE PUT BACK IN THE LOBBY, REMIND HER SHE IS WHERE SHE IS & HAS ALL THAT WEALTH BECAUSE OF DALE. REMIND HER ABOUT DALE’S FANS & HOW THEY VIEW ALL THE HAPPENINGS @ DEI, JR’S LEAVING, & THE WELL DOCUMENTED ANIMOSITY THAT SHE’S HAD TOWARS JUNIOR FOR YEARS, WASN’T SHE THE ONE WITH THE IDEA OF SHIPPING JUNIOR TO MILITARY SCHOOL? CASE CLOSED!

KEEP UP DOING YOUR WONDERFUL RADIO SHOW THAT FANS LIKE ME, LOVE TO LISTEN TO.
LOVE…
GLADYS MENDEZ/////KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA

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On Conspiracy Theory Thursday (Thursday’s on “Dialed In):

Claire B: Instead of Smoke snitching on Haas to drive the price down, wouldn’t it make more sense that someone at JGR who doesn’t want Tony to leave did it to point out to Smoke how bad the Haas cars are?

I still think Hendricks had something to do with the adjustable wing feature but that’s not as interesting as who snitched to Nascar.

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Why hasn’t the 20 won a cup race this year?

MAybe Chevy/GM told him not to win in a Toyota, hmm? I net 20 is driving a Chevy in 09!

Marcus from Chicago.
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On Ratings increase:

Hey CBL,

As a Ward Burton and Bobby Lebonte fan my take on the ratings going up is three fold. Some of it could very well be Kyle Busch, he is exciting to watch (unless he is acting like a brat) I think too, it could be the Jr. Nation so hungry for Jr.’s first win in forever. Added to that, as far as sports go right now the pickings are pretty slim. My husband is not a NASCAR fan but there are time when a golf game or tennis match isn’t on he will tune into a race. As soon as College football and the NFL are back on he will no longer be tuning in. I have my own TV near my computer so I can keep an eye on track pass, and I have to wear the head phones, or he will drown me out with his football…He also likes College basketball and like NASCAR fans counts the days down until his sport of choice is back in full swing. He thinks the NASCAR season is way too long, since he has to put up with his NASCAR fanatic wife…I am amazed he knows so much about NASCAR and even has opinions on the different subjects pertaining to the sport. He does have to listen to your show if he is home during those hours, every once in a while he will tell me to email you this or that depending what his thoughts are on the subject at hand. Man, this turned into a book. Love your show.

Joyce B.
Arkansas
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On HAAS CNC NASCAR Penalties

I applaud HCNC for pushing the limits.
Based on the hit HMS and DEI got last year this seems inline. However what does not seem fair is that the Cat in the Hat has been monkey’in with the car and what did they get hit with? Yes a wet noddle.

And NASCar please admit that this car is NOT doing what you promised

Bob in MD
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Dear Claire;

I listened to Bootie Barker last night after the penalties came down, you could hear the pain in his voice. And although he said he didn’t think this was a death penalty but in reality it is. For a modest sized team barely in the top 35 for the 66 and just outside of it for the 70 it is a crippling blow. And the real key to how severe the penalty is, it is the loss of both the crew chief and the car chief’s for 6 races. For a team on a limited budget with far fewer employees to draw from both teams are in serious trouble. Both teams need the continuity of having their crew’s together every week at the track, and although they will be at the shop they won’t be there to over see the race. That is really what could make this a lost season for both teams by the time we get to August. The one bright spot is that they have Hendrick equipment and the Scott Riggs is a very good qualifier and Jason Leffler shows lots of promise. Still if they miss races they risk losing sponsors and that could hurt the team going forward. And I have to ask if you are to believe the Haas teams, and for sake of argument I will, and these issues in the back deck lid were inadvertent and that the cars have continually passed inspections race after race why such a sever penalty. Why didn’t the Roush 99 team get this penalty when they were discovered with the oil tank lid askew, and that team also said that this was inadvertent; so if one believes Roush racing and they only get a 100 point penalty and only the crew chief is suspended then why give this penalty to the Haas team’s. If as NASCAR has said they are going to escalate penalties why did the 99 team receive the same penalty that the Hendrick teams did last season at Sonoma. If you are going to apply that policy then the 99 should have gotten a harsher penalty, and frankly Roush Racing can weather those penalties much better than Haas CNC. Now if you are Tony Stewart and still serious about ownership of this team you can look at it in 2 ways, these teams have been weakened to the point that Tony has no competition from team mates and will be the biggest dog on the block, and don’t underestimate that playing into his decision to leave JGR. But the other way to look at it is the team will lose value and it will be a much better deal for Tony to buy into and he would have more money to put into the team to make it better. If Tony does go to Haas he won’t have any trouble getting sponsor’s for his car and his mere presents will help his team mates get sponsors. This is speculation on my part but from what I keep reading on line it seems more likely that Tony leaves JGR sooner not later and it appears that he is only interested in a team that he can own, and that points directly to Haas.

Thank You,
Sue from Shorewood, IL