Kyle Back in Trucks at Hotatlanta; Will Hornaday Take Him Out?
Current NASCAR
Wonder do they toss grit chips, too?!
Forum Activity for @dave-fulton
Current NASCAR
Kyle Back in Trucks at Hotatlanta; Will Hornaday Take Him Out?
Current NASCAR
And just to display my ignorance:
1) I did not know that the Atlanta Truck race was the Grit Chips 200 :
2) I did not even know there was such a thing as grit chips, a very fine product I'm sure, since it comes out of Roswell, Georgia!
Kyle Back in Trucks at Hotatlanta; Will Hornaday Take Him Out?
Current NASCAR
Much as NASCAR and Atlanta would like to promote Stewart vs. Kenseth, Kyle Busch vs. Ron Hornaday has the potential to be the bigger explosion at Atlanta. Our AP writer opines on KB needing to get back to being himself for his own well being and the well being of NASCAR in her column today:
Column: NASCAR needs Kyle Busch to be himself
By JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. Kyle Busch seems awfully unhappy these days.
That's unfortunate for Busch, and it's bad for NASCAR.
It's been a stressful summer for Busch, who finds himself clinging to one of the wild-card spots for the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Not qualifying for NASCAR's title-deciding series isn't the end of the world Busch missed the cut in 2009 and lived to tell about it but it's a colossal failure for a driver of his caliber.
So, yeah, his fun meter was flat over the weekend at Bristol. He disliked changes to the track, didn't want to discuss an incident at Watkins Glen with Brad Keselowski he has yet to address and wasn't willing to go in depth about his shaky Chase chances.
"We've got three weeks. Chill out," he said when asked about the importance of getting a win at Bristol.
Busch didn't win, though, and now he's down to two weeks to claim a victory that would dramatically boost his shot at making the Chase. First up is Sunday night's race at Atlanta, where he has one win in 14 career starts, but a more telling average finish of 18th.
But, all this Chase pressure may not be the only issue that's left Busch in a seemingly sour mood. His demeanor is a far cry from his "Rowdy" heyday, when Busch was racking up wins in every series and was a threat to win every time he entered a race.
Why? Because he's hardly running anything anymore.
Busch this year has run just 14 Nationwide races in addition to his Sprint Cup starts, and he's got a single win for the season, in Cup at Richmond in May. At this time last year, he had four Cup wins, five Nationwide wins and five Truck Series wins. And he was doing it over an abbreviated schedule by Busch's standards.
He made a big mistake last November at Texas, when he intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday under caution in the Trucks race. NASCAR suspended him for the rest of the weekend, and he practically had to grovel to keep his primary Cup sponsor from forcing Joe Gibbs Racing to give him the boot.
Busch kept his job, but he's been a shell of himself since. Part of his punishment was apparently forcing him to stop running in the Truck Series, which Busch had heavily invested in by starting a team at a time when owners are struggling to see the value.
Out of the driver seat, he's thrown himself into the team owner role and expanded Kyle Busch Motorsports into the Nationwide Series. He shares the seat with older brother Kurt, and when he announced the team, there was talk that the Busch brothers could win every Nationwide race they entered.
Yet here we are, 23 races into the season, and Kurt's win at Richmond in May stands as KBM's only Nationwide victory. The Nationwide team Kyle had hoped would win the owners championship is instead 10th in points, while his Truck team is 11th.
Some might argue that this newfound idle time and KBM's struggles are weighing on Busch far more than his Chase chances. In fact, it may be contributing to the season he's having in Cup.
When Busch was winning everything, he had an air of invincibility and walked through the garage without a care in the world. If he minded being NASCAR's bad boy, he sure didn't show it. With his trademark celebratory bow to the crowd, and his refusal to back down to anyone, Busch had established himself as the centerpiece in almost every NASCAR storyline.
Like him or hate him, Busch had you talking about him and that's good for NASCAR's business.
Now? He seems somewhat defeated. The constant booing from fans, the nasty messages on Twitter, the stifling media scrutiny and the never-ending sponsor glad-handing he's got to do as both a driver and a team owner has pushed Busch to the edge of bitterness. He wasn't cocky or confident in his media availabilities at Bristol; he was fulfilling an obligation with zero enthusiasm.
Everyone is to blame for this. Busch for the bad decisions and missteps he's made, the media for holding him to a double standard he's crucified for not talking when he's angry, but five-time champion Jimmie Johnson got a pass for the exact same thing last week and the fans for not appreciating him for the excitement and entertainment he brings to NASCAR.
We'll all follow the Chase down to the wire whether Busch is part of it or not. But if Busch was allowed to be Busch you know, the one with 105 victories spanning NASCAR's three national series we'd all find it a lot more enjoyable.
Busch announced Monday he'll be back in his truck this weekend at Atlanta. It will be his first start of the season, and the first weekend he's running all three series again. Maybe that's the medicine he needs to get his groove back.
You can root for him to win, or you can root for him to never make it to Victory Lane again. Either way, he needs to be part of the conversation again.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
Cheaper to Pull for Stewart than Kenseth as Round 2 Moves to Atlanta
Current NASCAR
Marcos is just a "feel good" guy, isn't he, Tim? How can anyone not want to pull for Marcos Ambrose?
Cheaper to Pull for Stewart than Kenseth as Round 2 Moves to Atlanta
Current NASCAR
I guess it won't be Matt Kenseth replacing Ryan Newman at Stewart-Haas.
Cheaper to Pull for Stewart than Kenseth as Round 2 Moves to Atlanta
Current NASCAR
CUP: Next Kenseth-Stewart Round?
Published August 27, 2012
Mike Hembree
Speed
It should come as a surprise to no one that Atlanta Motor Speedway stepped up to be part of the first wave taking advantage of Saturday nights Tony Stewart-Matt Kenseth brouhaha at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Stewart and Kenseth crashed while racing for the lead during the Irwin Tools Night Race, and Stewart aggravated the situation by hurling his helmet in near-perfect form at Kenseths car.
The incident lit up the Internet and helped to re-establish Bristols reputation as a coliseum-type track where anything goes and the timid need not apply.
After an episode of that sort, the next track on the schedule typically benefits at the ticket windows. It happens to be Bristols sister track, Atlanta, whose president, Ed Clark, was at Bristol promoting his race Saturday night.
AMS hosts the AdvoCare 500 Sunday night, the next-to-last race before the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
AMS jumped on the Stewart-Kenseth contretemps quickly. On Monday, the track announced that fans who purchase three Lower Champions Grandstand tickets for Sundays race can buy a fourth ticket for $14 (if theyre Stewart fans) or $17 (if theyre Kenseth backers).
The numbers, of course, match those on the Stewart and Kenseth cars (fortunately for fans, Carl Edwards, whose car number is 99, wasnt involved in the fracas).
This is a fun, tongue-in-cheek way of rewarding fans planning to attend this Sundays AdvoCare 500, Clark said. I expect Sunday nights event to continue the on-track intensity we have seen the past several weeks as drivers fight to make their way into the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The conflicts that will come as a result arent over.
Stewart promised to retaliate against Kenseth every chance I get. Those chances arent likely to appear as often at AMS, a high-speed venue where on-track shenanigans are not advisable.
Kenseth, who has officially qualified for the Chase, and Stewart, who is virtually certain to make the Chase list, have disparate records at Atlanta, still one of the fastest tracks on the circuit (Geoffrey Bodine set the track qualifying record of 197.478 miles per hour in 1997).
Stewart has three victories in 25 races at the Hampton, GA facility. Kenseth is winless in 23 visits.
A win for either could be critical in the Chase standings when the championship run begins Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM
Another Bristol Aircraft Tragedy
General
By: Michael Owens
Bristol Herald Courier
Updated: August 27, 2012 - 4:33 PM
Update at 4:30 p.m. Monday
The body of Bill Starnes was found about 100 yards from the wreckage site. Developing story. More to come in Tuesday's Bristol Herald Courier.
Another Bristol Aircraft Tragedy
General
By: Michael Owens
Bristol Herald Courier
Updated: August 27, 2012 - 11:29 AM
The search for missing helicopter pilot Bill Starnes has been a slow and methodical trek through a lake with currents running along two riverbeds and depths ranging from 20 feet to 80 feet.
At times, visibility under the murky waters of South Holston Lake stretches to about a foot. Much of the time, Virginia State Police diver Robert Hamilton said he can see next to nothing.
Once they found the helicopter cab mid-Saturday, divers began following a debris field mapped out with side-scan radar, helicopter flights over the site, and plenty of interviews with witnesses who spotted helicopter parts floating in the lake just moments after the crash.
We couldnt really do anything [for the recovery operation] until we located the aircraft, he said of the recovery mission.
On Sunday, the search continued through the early evening with boats of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries seen circling around the spot of the crash.
Investigators with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board also were there over the weekend.
They wont have a preliminary report on a cause for about six months, Virginia State Police Sgt. Michael. T. Conroy said.
Dive teams with the Virginia State Police and the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office plan to return to the lake around 7 a.m. today to continue the search, Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Gellar wrote in a press update.
The 1996 Bell407 crashed late Friday into a section of the lake bounded by the Washington County Park in Virginia on one side and a marina and campgrounds inTennessee on the other.
The wreckage is on a river shelf 42 feet deep and will remain there throughout the recovery operation.
Its kind of like a car crash, Hamilton said. You want to get the people out and then you want to come in with the tow trucks.
The helicopter cab will have to be removed from the lake by the company that owns it, state police said. A barge pushed a crane into the area Saturday afternoon and later moved away from the scene.
Hamilton, an officer based in Tazewell, Va., was among the first divers on the scene late Friday night. Then, it was a rescue mission, he said, with the search focused on where witnesses said they first spotted the wreckage, in the water with skids up.
It was around 10:30 p.m. when nearby campers jumped into their boats and crisscrossed the lake looking for survivors, said camper Lisa Hurst, of Carroll County, Va., with some of them holding aloft cell phones so the glare would shine on helicopter parts.
One boater spotted a duffel bag and a camouflage jacket floating in the water, she said.
The helicopter, partially owned by FoodCitys parent company, K-VA-T Foods, had ferried people to and from Bristol Motor Speedway.
It had just dropped off six people when it crashed into the lake, which fronts a house owned by Steve Smith, FoodCitys president and chief executive officer.
Bill Starnes, Food Citys chief pilot, was the only person on board at the time, state police report.
Boaters also picked up witnesses from Smiths house so they could look for Starnes, too.
Hazel Presley, manager of Lakefront Family Campground, stood on the shore and watched the impromptu search effort.
You could hear them screaming Bill! Bill! she said.
Another Bristol Aircraft Tragedy
General
Pilot in helicopter crash identified, presumed dead; search continues
Sporting News
Recovery efforts were suspended Sunday at a Virginia lake with the search for a helicopter pilot who had been missing since his aircraft crashed late Friday.
Yellow bouys mark the site of a helicopter wreck in South Holston Lake. The craft's pilot is missing and presumed dead as recovery efforts continue. (AP Photo)
According to TriCities.com, the search for Bill Starnes was suspended around 7 p.m. Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Gellar said the search will resume Monday at 7 a.m.
Although the chopper was found submerged, Starnes' body still hasn't been located. He was running a 1996 Bell 407 to and from Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night.
Police and searchers were working with the presumption that Starnes was dead.
Starnes had just left six people at the home of Steve Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Food City market chain, and was alone in the helicopter when it crashed about 10:30 p.m. ET.
The helicopter broke apart and came to rest in South Holston Lake, which is south of Abingdon, Va., and southeast of Bristol, Tenn., in Cherokee National Forest. Bristol Motor Speedway is south of the city and west of the lake.
Food City was sponsor for weekend NASCAR racing at Bristol Motor Speedway.
On Saturday, race fans at Bristol were asked to offer their support.
"As you may have heard, our partners at Food City need our prayers," Bristol Motor Speedway general manager Jerry Caldwell told the crowd before Saturdays race. "They are like family to us. When they hurt, we hurt. So please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you."
In 2011, AINOnline.com identified Starnes as the chief pilot for K-VA-T Food Stores/Food City Aviation. According to a story on the site, Starnes is a former military pilot with more than 26,000 hours of flying time. He would have been in his 40th year as a pilot, and also flew fixed-wing aircraft for the company.
Divers were in the water Saturday, and boats used side-scanning sonar in an attempt to locate the pilot's body.
"Theyll keep searching until they find him," Virginia State Police Sgt. Michael Conroy said told TriCities.com.
People at the Smith residence and camping near the lake heard the helicopter crash and saw it in the water. The aircraft broke up and sank, and plans were being made to remove the wreck from the lake. Pieces that floated to the surface were recovered.
The helicopter was in 20 to 40 feet of water, and activity churned up the bottom to make the water murky.
Virginia State Police members were on the scene, with their divers joined by local sheriff's department divers. Conservation agents also took part in the recovery effort.
updated by @dave-fulton: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM
My first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway
Stock Car Racing History
My preference, too, Tim was the lower banked original asphalt Bristol track, though I saw plenty of good action on the high banked asphalt version, also.
Our first trip out in March 1967 I had to get from school at University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Friday night and back to Richmond. In Richmond, 3 of us left early on Saturday morning in Art Rouse's dad's Dodge 440 cubic inch Coronet (I guess) and drove to Roanoke, Va. We spent the night there at the home of my UVa. roommate. That night was the first time I ever saw a topless dance club - Papa Joe's - or ate at the famed after hours Roanoke hangout Texas Tavern, known locally as the "Ptomaine Tavern."
We left Roanoke for Bristol before dawn on Sunday morning. There was no Interstate 81 to travel. We had to drive the same hilly and curvy two-lane U.S. Highway 11 that Curtis Turner, Paul Radford and other western Virginia drivers had hauled liquor over. I had never before driven in an area where you could receive no radio station not carrying "preaching." It was also the first time I had ever heard an "Obituaries on the Air" radio broadcast, sponsored by a local funeral home.
We didn't even have race tickets. Bought those after we got to the track.
Richard Petty was taken out almost immediately in a crash lapping cars in turns 3-4. Being die-hard "Anything But Ford" fans, the highlight of our first Bristol race was when the white #28 Holman-Moody Ford of "Fearless" Freddie began showing little wisps of smoke. The smoke became thicker each lap until Lorenzen finally pulled in. You could hear the cheers of the crowd over the cars. Stewart vs. Kenseth doesn't even come close to Petty vs. Lorenzen. David Pearson won in a Cotton Owens Dodge that day. One of our highlights was getting in the infield and taking a picture of Wendell Scott's #34 pickup truck in its rusty brown base paint.
We often used to buy our Rockingham tickets at the gate, too, back in those days. A different time and place. The drive to Bristol is without a doubt the most beautiful drive in all of stock car racing. I had some great times there.