Arkansas women doubly proud of NASCAR race results

Danica Patrick at the premiere of Baby Mama in New York City at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Mark Martin may be the man but Danica Patrick is the woman!

Not only did we women of Arkansas get to watch our native son, Mark Martin from Batesville, AR win the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas, but we watched Danica Patrick make NASCAR history.

Mark Martin brings it home

It was great to watch Mark Martin back in victory lane, a place he has been 95 times before.

His #32 Dollar General Chevy owned by Turner Motor Sports finished first at Las Vegas, ending a long winless streak. Martin hasn't won since 2009 at Phoenix. He went without a win during his entire 2010 season.

Martin was in the right place at the right time Saturday, as led only one lap during the race--the only one that really counts. Taking every advantage, he was nearly out of gas when he passed Brad Kezelowski, the race leader, who cut a tire, allowing Martin to cruise to victory.

It was a first win for Turner Motor Sports who enjoyed a good finish last week as well when Ryan Newman brought the #30 car home in fourth place.

And for the ladies, the big news of the day

Saturday's race has made history, as Danica Patrick, driver of the #7 GoDaddy Chevy, finished the race in fourth place. It is a career-best finish for her, and makes her the first woman driver in NASCAR ever to achieve such a finish.

Patrick broke a record that has stood since 1949 when Sara Christian came in fifth.

Patrick said she was secretly hoping for a finish in the top 10, but instead it was in the top five. In reality, what she really accomplished was a history-making fourth.

All Ryan Newman weekend at Phoenix

With the first two races of the 2011 season, it was a positive weekend for Ryan Newman.

During Sunday's race at Phoenix, Newman clawed his way into the top 10 in points with his #39 Tornados Chevy. He is listed in 8th place, but so is 7th-place Bobby Labonte and 9th-place Juan Pablo Montoya. 

When Newman started the race, he was in 24th place, reflective of his involvement in two last-laps crashes that put him out of contention for the win. While he finished that race in 22nd place, Newman had a much better potential, evidenced by his leading the most laps. He finished the race, even though he had to practically limp across the finish line. See previous story.

Newman started the Phoenix race in 14th, but ended it in fifth. He also led laps during Sunday's race as he fought twice to get ahead of the pack.

Fifth place at Phoenix was certainly respectable, though not quite what Newman was after. His last performance at the spring race there resulted in a win--Newman's last win. But he can certainly be proud of the run and the finish at Phoenix. Who knows how the outcome would have been had there not been a few hiccups on pit road. There were a few less than stellar pit stops that lost him track position.

Newman showed his grit at Daytona and his resilience at Phoenix.

Newman also ran in the Nationwide race at Phoenix the day before. He motored the #30 Dollar General car owned by Turner Motorsports. He started in sixth place, but finished fourth.

Friday night after the truck series, Newman appeared on Trackside on Speed TV. The conversation covered many aspects of his life of late, from his being a new father, to his win at Daytona in 2008, and general racing questions. 

Of course there was footage of his infamous crash at Talladega, to which Newman simply said, "I don't want to look." Who can forget that horrific accident that caused everyone watching to hold their breaths until they heard his voice on the radio?

The following day, Darrell Waltrip who co-hosted the show said Newman is normally quiet, but commented, "He was on a roll Friday."

Newman also appeared on Race Hub during the week.

Michael Waltrip no stranger to NASCAR penalties

NASCAR levied fines against Michael Waltrip's truck team following a bizarre failure of the spoiler on his truck causing many to question the legitimacy of his winning the race--the first official race for the Camping World Truck Series at Daytona.

Michael Waltrip is not a stranger to being fined at Daytona.

In this most recent event, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, Waltrip's last lap maneuver caused him to win the race. His post-race interview was, frankly, weird. Waltrip isn't a very good actor. He claimed he didn't know about the spoiler until he finished the race, but I am not so sure, given his behavior. Something wasn't quite right.

What resulted was clearly no surprise.

There are some conspiracy theorists that would gladly believe Waltrip's race win was intentionally staged. After all, there was plenty of hype surrounding the ten-year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death. Waltrip won the 2001 Daytona 500, a race win marred by Earnhardt's death. 

Had Waltrip legitimately won the truck race, to honor Earnhardt's memory, it would have made a beautiful story. Instead, the story is clouded by controversy due to failed parts.

Was the win legitimate?

When Waltrip drove the #15 truck to victory, it was after a portion of the spoiler failed during the final laps of the race. Half of it was virtually non-existent. Only half a spoiler results in half the drag, possibly resulting in faster speeds. Was the spoiler the reason Waltrip was able to cruise past the #2 truck driven by Elliott Sadler on that last pass?

As a result, Waltrip's crew chief Doug Howe was fined $25,000 and put on probation until Dec. 31. Billy Ballew, who owns the Vision Aviation Racing Waltrip drove, was penalized 25 owner points. That doesn't sound like a lot, but under the new points system, it is comparable to 100 points last year. Waltrip did not lose driver points because he is not competing full time in the truck series. 

According to a NASCAR press release, the fines were said to violate three sections of the rule book:

• 12-1 - actions detrimental to stock car racing;
  
• 12-4-J - any determination by NASCAR Officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules;
  
• 20B-3.1.2E - rear spoiler did not meet specifications in post-race inspection.

NASCAR officials confiscated the part for inspection and later ruled that it appeared to have failed. They claim none of the pieces were illegal, concluding that it does not appear the part was altered on purpose.

But what are race fans to think since this is like deja vu?

This is not the first time Michael Waltrip has incurred fines at the start of the racing season.

In the opening pages that marked the 2007 season, Michael Waltrip's new racing team failed pre-race inspection prior to the Duel races. At that time, NASCAR found an illegal substance in the engine that would boost the horsepower. They found him to be in violation of three rules:

• 12-4-A - actions detrimental to stock car racing;
• 12-4-Q - car, car parts components and/or equipment not conforming to NASCAR rules;
• 20-15.2C - gasoline must not be blended with alcohols, ethers or other oxygenates.
  

He was fined 100 driver points; his wife Buffy who owned the car, was fined 100 owner points; his crew chief Larry Hyder was suspended indefinately and fined $100,000. Vice President of competition Bobby Kennedy was suspended indefinitely as well, according to past reports.

Ryan Newman's U.S. Army sponsorship questioned

As our country struggles to put its own financial well-being back on track, some legislators question the spending of millions of dollars of public money devoted to the sponsorship of auto racing.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Army, spends $7.4 million to sponsor Ryan Newman. Another $8 million is devoted to recruiting efforts. 

In addition, the U.S. Air Force devotes $1.6 million to A. J. Almendinger's race team. The lion's share of funding, in the amount of $20 million goes to the National Guard team with the sport's most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the helm.

For now, funding cuts to these race teams have been spared, but this may not be the end of it. In its initial go around recently, the House voted 281-148 to stave off these cuts in military spending. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., who proposed the initial amendment to ban Pentagon spending for NASCAR and other venues, has promised this is not the end of it. 

This proposal coupled with unrest about excessive government spending does not bode well for NASCAR's retention of its military sponsors.

Newman's team has other sponsors, and in time, there will likely be more, though businesses are struggling financially as well. Some of NASCAR's long-time sponsors have already begun cutting back.

Even so, having a name and company logo on a race car, particularly a winning race car, in front of millions of fans in the stands and on television is a pretty good use of advertising dollars.

Representatives from the U.S. Army have said as much. They have no qualms about the investment they make in NASCAR, stating that a third of 150,000 leads for new recruits originated from NASCAR. Their word may not be enough however, especially given this climate of slashing programs. Undoubtedly when NASCAR funding goes up against education and medical care cuts, it appears the handwriting is on the wall.

Rep. McCollum claims this discussion is over. 

Stewart-Haas Racing must continue to seek additional sponsorship for the #39 car, just in case the government insists on cutting funding. As a Ryan Newman fan, I don't want to see the #39 team suffer in any way for any reason. Newman has great potential, as evidenced by his Army strong spirit in this year's Daytona 500. He fought back to finish the race, despite heavy damage to his mangled race car. 

Driver dedication and ability is not all it takes to win races. It also takes good equipment. That costs money, so there has to be good financial commitments. I'm just not sure that will include public money for much longer.

Ryan Newman shows grit at Daytona

There is no question that restrictor plate racing isn't a favorite of the #39 team. Ryan Newman has had more than his share of challenges on restrictor plate tracks like Daytona. 

Prior to Sunday's opening 2011 season race, Newman's crew chief Tony Gibson commented to Scene Daily about his expectations. 

"If we can come out of there with a solid top-20 finish, then we know our mile-and-a-half program has been good; our short–track program has been good,” Gibson said. “The rest of our season is great. It’s just the darn restrictor-plate races that we can’t seem to get through.

“We finally finished one [plate] race, and that was the last Talladega race. Up until then, we had not finished a restrictor-plate race in almost two years. You just can’t give up those points, because there are 12 other guys [in Chase contention] that aren’t going to have those problems. When we made the Chase in 2009, we had a problem at Daytona, we wrecked, but we didn’t’ have those problems from there on out.

“For us, it’s all about coming out of Daytona with a decent finish. If we can start our season out good, the rest of the season will be fine.”

While Newman's finish was slightly short of the team's expectations, his was a decent finish, given the circumstances. 

Even some bad luck at the end can't take away from Newman's stellar performance in the first 186 laps of the 200-lap race. Newman's car was fast, both in and out of the draft. He led laps. 

In fact, he led 37 laps, the highest number of anyone in the field. 

Newman finished in 22nd place Sunday, eaking out 24 points. 

What was more important than race stats, Newman showed his grit. After the first wreck he got caught up in, Newman came back to make his way up to the 10th position. Then another wreck causing heavy damage to the #39 car. Gibson announced they were done because the radiator was involved. 

"Just put some water in it and let me get back out there," Newman said as he coaxed his car to the finish.

Newman and Stewart-Haas Racing can be proud of what Newman accomplished in the 53rd running of the Daytona 500. 

Newman's performance in the Budweiser Shootout was also worth noting. There too, he was oh-so-close to taking the checkered flag with leading laps and a 3rd place finish. 

Now, it is on to Phoenix, the track that scored Newman's most recent win.