Daytona Weekend
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series kicks off Sunday with the Daytona 500. This season promises to be interesting for a number of reasons, many economic.
There is Tony Stewart’s attempt to make a go as a driver-owner along with teammate Ryan Newman. Newman likely won’t do any worse than he fared with the Penske team, but Stewart is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, one of the “Big Four” teams that have monopolized the Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup for the past two decades.
There is the debut of 18-year-old phenom Joey Logano, taking over the #20 Home Depot Toyota from Stewart. Hopefully he will not be judged a failure if he fails to establish himself as the next Richard Petty in his rookie season, but given the hype surrounding him one can’t be certain.
Then there is the impact of the economy, with two of the auto manufacturers on the brink of bankruptcy and most industries slashing the marketing budgets that ultimately fund racing teams. Many teams have been left without sponsors and experienced drivers without rides. In two years, the Sprint Cup has come full circle - in 2007 there were so many well funded teams that there were not enough spots to go around, and every weekend several would fail to qualify and go home empty-handed; in 2009, there are not enough established, well-funded teams to fill out the field for most races. This seems likely to further the bifurcation of NASCAR into the large four-car teamsn, and everyone else. However, it is just possible that the current environment will allow one or two of the smaller teams to achieve much greater success than has been possible in recent years, and be positioned for a sort of relegation into the top tier, as JGR did during the 1990s.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
So… what’s the whole “tire controversy” involving Stewart and Neumann… er, Newman? All I saw was that Tony Stewart won a race this weekend (but not the Daytona 500), yet he was pissed off (is that a perpetual state for him?) cuz of something that happened to teammate Ryan Newman’s tire(s).
So… what the deuce?
February 16th, 2009 at 1:31 am
Tony thinks Goodyear produces shitty tires; he has thought that for a while and on occasion gets himself into trouble by aggressively criticizing the company and its products in interviews as well as his satellite radio show. At which point NASCAR sits him down and tells him to lay off and he quiets down a bit. He’s not perpetually pissed off, but he is prone to flying off the handle once in a while, which is something I like about him in contrast with the studied blandness projected by guys like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in their cliche-ridden interviews. At least Tony lets you know what he really thinks, which is unusual these days and probably a luxury available only to the few drivers as talented as Stewart, since his on-track performance keeps him desirable to sponsors despite the periodic off-track outburst.
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:19 am
Ah… so he’s a modern-day Michael Dorsey. Let’s just hope he learns the lesson of “Tootsie” before it’s too late and he has to assume an alternate persona (Stewart Anthony, I guess?) in order to find work.