Race for the Chase for the Championship ends

Finally, Ryan Newman fans can breathe again.

The NASCAR Race for the Chase for the Championship and all the associated drama is over. That's OK. Ryan did well, finishing just a few points behind the top 12. Had better luck prevailed, he may have been inside the cut-off rather than just outside.


Perhaps hindsight will give 20/20 vision to Newman's critics. Maybe they will get it now -- why Ryan was so ticked off at Joey Logano. Had it not been for the incident at Michigan where Newman had been running in the top 10, perhaps the entire outcome of his season would have had a different result as well. Ryan could have squeaked past Clint Bowyer in the points. We will never know, thanks to the incident with Logano. It is not far-fetched to believe that it cost Ryan a chase berth.

It no longer matters, however, since as they say; it is, what it is.

While those guys get all dressed in their suits and their wives spend a fortune on gowns for the big awards dinner--all uncomfortable and having to make small talk, Ryan and Krissie will be sitting in the comfort of their home, playing with their new baby, enjoying all that the good life has to offer. I think when that time comes, Ryan will be much happier at home than the other 12 of his com padres in Las Vegas.

With the chase pressure off, the remainder of the season can be used to figure it all out.

For us fans, we just have to tune out the commentators, but then we are used to doing that. Ryan obviously isn't the golden boy when it comes to broadcast coverage. We fans will hardly notice all the fawning they do over the top 12 drivers. But that doesn't mean that the 13th among them can't rally from just behind the line to win races. I can't wait for Ryan to win a post-chase race. It will force those broadcasters to have to talk about him. Perhaps they will even get it--that being oh-so-close, isn't so bad.

Justin.tv saved the day

I have long proclaimed my unbridled affection for the Internet, but never more than this weekend when the Dish Network satellite receiver died. 

Thank goodness for the capability to watch this weekend's NASCAR races on the trusty laptop computer, on Justin.tv. Finding the race broadcast live and free online kept me from being really cranky.

I was even able to maintain two open windows, one with the broadcast and the other with NASCAR's race day scanner. It wasn't much different than how I normally watch a race. Though it wasn't HD quality, it was certainly acceptable.

Justin.tv is an awesome service that provides a plethora of streaming video content to users. Thank you Justin.tv for allowing me to enjoy Saturday and Sunday's races.

Racing at Atlanta promised to be exciting

I was so looking forward to the racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. My favorite driver, Ryan Newman was to run in the Nationwide race on Saturday and the Sprint Cup race on Sunday. 

For Sunday, he had the potential to win the record for number of pole positions there. He came really close to doing that too, had it not been for an early qualifying draw, which is generally a disadvantage. Newman was third to qualify. He was edged out by Denny Hamlin who was the 30th driver to go out onto the track. Maybe next season, Ryan. 

Measurement on the excitement scale was high. With the regular season winding down, the racing promised to be pretty edgy. It was! With Newman eyeing the final chase spot--in contention with Mark Martin, Jaimie McMurray, and Clint Bowyer, I just didn't want to miss any of the racing action.

A hint of trouble

As the weekend approached, and I readied for all the race day coverage, it turned out that Friday night was the last day to access television. This was particularly troubling since the Dish Network system had just been upgraded a couple of weeks ago. It was so exciting to have the new HD programming, complete with new dish and receiver. My excitement was short-lived however.

Friday night there was a little glitch. All of a sudden the screen went blank. There was no satellite signal. I was hoping the thing didn't fall out of orbit or something. My husband employed his favorite technological troubleshooting technique--turning the receiver off and then back on again. That seemed to work fine. Such was not the case Saturday morning when we awoke to a blackened screen that would not return. It remains that way, on this Monday morning. 

We called Dish Network who sent a technician out that morning. 

What great service I thought as he checked out all the things it could be. Trouble is, the problem was in the receiver--a brand new, out-of-the-box receiver. He had to order a new one. Since this was Saturday, that meant--maybe--getting a new receiver shipped here on Sunday. I didn't have high hopes for that actually happening. But the tech guy was great. He gave us his number and told us to call the minute the receiver arrived. 

Just as I had thought, there was no delivery, but I did call him anyway. He said he would check on delivery and let me know. Since this is the Labor Day weekend, I'm not too hopeful about hearing from him today either. Thank goodness I don't mind hanging around the house during the last official weekend of summer.
 
No, I really don't. This is Arkansas. We are going to have lots of nice temperate days for outdoor activity. We would probably stay home anyway, since this is a tourist area. This is the last hurrah for all those northerners who aren't as fortunate as us. Besides, I was able to get my race fix, so just as long as we get the thing fixed before the next race, life is good.

Ryan Newman vs. Joey Logano

I was starting to freak out as I read in numerous places that Ryan Newman should let Joey Logano have it at Bristol. The posts referred to the Michigan race when Logano first, got loose and hit Newman's car causing him to spin out, and then second, Logano was overly critical of Newman for racing too hard.

I'm a little more comfortable now as I see that both Newman and Logano are racing in the Nationwide series at Bristol. That would be the place for a little payback. Normally, I wouldn't condone such a thing, but if I was Newman, I'd want to provide Joey a little racing lesson. 

For some reason though, I don't see this happening either. I think Newman is bigger than that. He just won the Whelen Mod race. I doubt he is thinking about payback. Then again, if the opportunity presents itself, I say, what the heck!

It is called racing, Joey

While it was obviously hot inside the race car, at Sunday's Michigan race, it may have been a little hotter once Ryan Newman got out of the car. Newman went looking for Joey Logano, who finished 10th, at Newman's expense. Newman finished 23rd, despite having a good race car that ran laps as quick as the leaders for most of the race.

When it was all over though, there was an altercation between the two. Instead of telling Newman he was sorry about causing him to spin, Logano got an attitude. ESPN reporters caught up with Logano as he proceeded to bash Newman for not giving him some slack. What wasn't shown on camera was visible this video from Fox Sports.

Clearly, Logano crossed the line as he told Newman, "Give someone an inch, man."

To that, Newman responded, "No." It escalated from there.

Hello Joey, don't you get what you are doing at the race track? It is called racing. It is not a Sunday afternoon drive.

Newman had every right to be ticked off. Logano clearly got into him and spun him, nearly ruining his day.

Newman had so much more to lose than Logano, which Joey failed to take into account, apparently. Newman, is 14th in points and was contending for a Chase (for the championship) berth; the top 12 in points. It looked early on like he had a good shot to achieve it too, had it not been for Logano ruining his day. Logano had nothing to lose, as he is in 21st place, with no chance to race his way into the chase. Newman had so much more to lose.

I'm sure that if Logano had simply admitted that his car got loose and he didn't mean to hit Newman's race car, all would have been forgotten. But that isn't what Logano did.

Not only was Logano at fault for the incident on the track, according to the NASCAR video, but he had the audacity to call Newman out for his driving style. Logano got into Newman's face complaining that he isn't the only one to mention how Newman makes it hard to pass.

Well, Duh Joey! Newman gets paid to race. He gets points for passing people. He would have gotten three more points for passing you, which he did until you hit him. What don't you get?

Shhhh! More on secret fines

I have just spent the morning engaged in a tedious discussion about Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin and NASCAR's secret fines against them for speaking their minds.

My view was pro-driver and free speech. The woman who authored the opinion piece took the pro-NASCAR view. The story was entitled NASCAR will never win with fans; proof in driver fines backlash. She defended NASCAR's actions with the same voracity that one would expect from NASCAR brass.

Her article was well written, but she accused fans of wearing rose-colored glasses even as she looked through her own pair. Admittedly many of the comments agreed with her defending NASCAR's actions. The ones that were not quite so generous were met with a near immediate response by the writer defending her position and theirs.

The writer was accused of kissing-up to NASCAR. I can't disagree. Up to 64 comments later, I've spoken my peace.

I hope NASCAR hires her to do public relations work for them.