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. 

NASCAR wrong to fine drivers for free speech

NASCAR finally came clean; identifying the drivers penalized for who they say made disparaging remarks about the sport. No congratulations here, for they had little choice, given the deserved criticism they got for their silence.

I was appalled to learn that Ryan Newman was one of the drivers named as being fined. Clearly, Ryan Newman is one of the smartest guys in the entire sport. He is open, honest, ethical, fair, is an independent thinker, and has an excellent sense of humor. Newman speaks his mind, which is one of his most cherished assets to race fans. It is unthinkable that NASCAR would attempt to muzzle him. Ryan growls a little, but he has way too much class to bite.

The growling is necessary. After all, the man has looked death in the face more than once. He, as much as anyone, has every right to question NASCAR when his life has been on the line. I would hate to think of what might have happened to him, had Kevin Harvick's car not broken the fall of his pirouetting race car at Talladega last year. It was heart-stopping to watch his race car tumble like a dish rag in the spin cycle while pieces and parts of the sheet metal ripped from it. Ryan had every right to complain about how NASCAR helped create that scenario through its restrictor plates and COT car. And he was big enough and smart enough to help them come up with a potential remedy.

More recently when Carl Edwards booted Brad Kezelowski out of the way at St. Louis during a Nationwide Race, the move had potential catastrophic consequences. Newman spoke out about it. He has been racing long enough and is smart enough to know how dire such actions can be. For cripes sake, he had already been the victim of the battle between the two — again at Talladega in last year's Spring race when Edwards' race car crashed into Newman's windshield.

NASCAR might not like drivers they cannot control, but it is morally wrong to try to censor them and even worse to fine them. I question how NASCAR can fine a driver—actually take money out of his pocket—for such an arbitrary and capricious excuse. Fining a team for trying to manipulate a race by using unapproved parts on the race car is one thing that NASCAR might have jurisdiction over, but to fine a driver for speaking his mind is something our country has fought against since its inception.

Who is Ryan Newman's fan base? Look at his sponsors. Does NASCAR think U.S. Army troops who follow racing will be pleased to know that the sanctioning body is dissing their boy Newman? Isn't the U.S. Army the entity that fights for our freedoms, such as freedom of speech which is guaranteed by the Constitution? Perhaps NASCAR ought to consider that as the Star Spangled Banner is sung and the jets fly over the track on race day?