In January of 2017, Steve made the offer to me to come into the fold of this very radio network you all have grown to love us on. I never pictured myself being in any form of media, whether it was television, radio, internet or print.  From that day on, I would forever be there. One thing I first learned him was something valuable, and its a phrase still used to this very minute: It’s better to be last and GET IT RIGHT, than be first and GET IT WRONG. Some stories that have been broken of late, as in the past few years, have been very wrong. One in point was from when Jim Utter stated with pure fact and assumption that in 2017 Kurt Busch was leaving SHR, and he ended up driving another year for them in 2018 before he moved to Ganassi in 2019. There are several other examples I could use, but it’d take me the rest of 2020 to state them all. We pride ourselves at CRN on only giving facts about “confirmed” stories, instead of filling our time talking about nothing but “unconfirmed” rumors……

    …….”steps onto soapbox,clears throat, begins rant”………..

     This week, I have been ready to blow a proverbial gasket when it comes to a certain wing of the NASCAR media brigade. All over the sport, there has been speculation and questions of late about when the series would roll onto the track again now that this COVID mess is settling down. Different dates, Different times, and different tracks have all been tossed around as a potential starting point for the Cup cars. Martinsville, Texas, Homestead, Charlotte have all been used at some point for potential starting points, all while NOTHING is confirmed. A couple of weeks ago, The Lady in Black, better known as Darlington, entered the fray as a potential starting point to get the season back going. It really gained steam late last week as Darlington for the return track. Granted, NASCAR has an INSANE AMOUNT of logistics and things to align before it can be set in stone as to when and where the season will resume, all while watching the fluidity of the pandemic situation for each respective state on the target list to travel to and race in. For those who DON’T know, Steve and I are also part of the staff at Darlington Raceway as well. We work PA on the race weekends there as well. All this time, we HAVE NOT, and STILL not gotten any kind of clue as to anything in plans for there from our hierarchy at the track. They are being MORE than courteous to us by not telling anything to us until a 100% confirmation is made, which we beyond respect. Granted, the event probably will run with bare stands, but that doesn’t mean that they may or may not still need us to come help with anything they may need us to do to help with the event. 

     This week, a reporter from Autoweek, which I won’t name, has virtually beat his twitter feed to death this week with trying to be the first to share the “potential” schedule for the return of NASCAR. On THREE, yes THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, he has shared THREE DIFFERENT SCHEDULE FORMATS. Lets remember this, NASCAR hasn’t officially confirmed anything or said a peep YET, and this is being typed in the 10 pm CST hour on 4/29. Normally the notorious ones for sharing things like this have beat him to the punch, but they have been as quiet as a mouse so far. This entire time, the staff at Darlington hasn’t confirmed a thing to anyone that has asked, because NASCAR hasn’t confirmed it. I saw a couple days ago where a reporter, that was piggybacking off of this Autoweek story, asked Bristol GM Jerry Caldwell about it, because one of the three schedule shares had Bristol running on May 27th. Jerry Caldwell DESTROYED him and said “When NASCAR confirms our date, not a reporter, you’ll hear from us then.” The next day, Bristol wasn’t anywhere on the radar as a early return venue, supposedly. This guy has done nothing but make a fool of himself by trying to be the first to break the schedule, all while NOT ONE DATE has been set in stone by the sanctioning body. He is now a part of our “untrusted” brigade of reporters, because hes tried to break three different schedules in three days. And none of them are confirmed yet to the nation by NASCAR. To our trusted, loyal listeners and followers….with Steve and myself as part of the Darlington staff, if Darlington is to be an early return venue, you WILL know it from us, because we will more than likely hear something of some sort as to what will happen from our hierarchy there. That’s why WE haven’t speculated or broke anything on our network because NOTHING HAS BEEN CONFIRMED.

   Maybe this reporter in question needs to take some pointers from Steve, and make himself look way better than he has this whole week. 

                                   “BE LAST AND GET IT RIGHT, THAN BE FIRST AND GET IT WRONG.”

   For the absolute longest time, last night and this morning, I have given much thought on how to word my opinion on the situation with Kyle Larson and the iRacing event from Sunday night that was ran with 63 drivers on the historic Monza, Italy oval. After the thoughts, here is the best way I know how to state my opinion……

   Let me put this disclaimer out here FIRST: In NO WAY, SHAPE, FORM, OR FASHION whatsoever do I condone the use of the slur that was used by Kyle Larson. I have several friends from the African American community, as well as other ethnicities. We treat each other with respect. Now to the other aspects….

  In my sole, honest opinion, the gaming site “Twitch” shouldn’t be allowed to broadcast an official sports league event. The official league, whether its IndyCar or NASCAR should designate ONE official streaming platform to stream events along with iRacing.com. For example, NASCAR could use Podium eSports in combination with iRacing to do their events. Twitch has virtually cost Bubba Wallace a sponsor, and cost Kyle Larson his ride, all because the Twitter keyboard warriors CONSTANTLY keep something stirred up from anything and everything they can find, NO MATTER WHAT IT PERTAINS TO: Sports related or non sports related. I am a constant twitter user, and some of the stuff I see on there blows my mind on a daily basis, and things I have heard on Twitch are ten thousand times worse than what Kyle said. Here is my next aspect, and its about to get deeper…..

   Before any judgement is made on my thoughts, re-visit my disclaimer statement and READ IT CLEARLY. We as humans need to use more of a common sense approach to life and look at all sides of a picture before we absolutely derail someones life. This is my reasoning behind my statement. There needs to be a clear definition of malicious intent or non-malicious intent behind anything that’s said. In layman’s terms: meant to cause intentional harm, or meant to be in a joking manner. It is very clear that what was said by Kyle was said in a purely joking manner to his close friend that was spotting for him, on his channel. When the soundbite was released, CORPORATE AMERICA didn’t have a choice to do what they did,because he would have been perceived as racist if they had chose to continue backing him. But they didn’t. He lost Lucas Oil, Credit One, McDonalds, and First Data all within a span of about 2 hours, which immediately put Chip Ganassi in a very tight box. Do I think it was a knee-jerk reaction? Absolutely. I am a HUGE believer in gathering pure facts behind ANY situation before ANY conclusion is made. Also I am a huge believer in repentance and second chances. Yesterday, Kyle made his formal apology on his mistake he made. There’s your repentance part. But as of today with him being out of the 42 car, I am not sure he will get a firm second chance this year. He will eventually…see AJ Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, and others that have been knocked down and gotten back up. If any huge corporation executive would walk through the pits at a local track, dirt or asphalt, they would fall flat of their face at some of the things said that are way worse than what was said on Sunday.   

   In today’s society, there is no excuse for any form of racism, no matter the ethnicity of the person. That’s the only way the world will be a better place, although we know that it will never go away. Slurs of that manner are used a billion times a day, in many avenues of life. Musicians in the hip hop world use it religously. Its used in movies quite a bit.  What came from Kyle was CLEARLY not used in a malicious, harmful manner. If it had been on the closed channel, we wouldn’t be having this firestorm raging right now. But he had the open channel for all drivers on by mistake, and didn’t realize it. We are all human, we make mistakes. But with it being on a video game….a career didn’t deserve to be derailed. 

Corprate America:  Its Ready, Aim, Shoot………Not SHOOT, READY, AIM.

Twas the night before Talladega, and all around the track, Parties were running wide open, from the front to the back.
The Cup cars were all quiet, sitting inside Big Bill’s with care
with hopes that a Dega win would soon be there.

The drivers were nestled in the coach lot, snug in their beds
while visions of getting in the big one ran through their heads.
And Russell with his visor, and Grant with his big brim cap,
were still in their offices, wishing for a pre race nap.

When outside the media center, there arose a loud clatter,
they sprang from their desk chairs to see what was the matter.
Towards the garage area, they flew over in a hurry
then tore down the garage gate, trying not to worry.

The moon on the breast, peeking over thel towers top row
gave very bright luster to the new garage experience below.
When, what to their wondering eyes should soon see
was a ghost of the past, that Black number 3.

With Ol RC helping unload, and getting his helmet off the nail
One more time, Sunday he was gonna pay tribute to Dale.
More rapid than the fans, the drivers and crews they came,
RC whistled and shouted, and called them by their name.

Now Jimmie! Now Clint!
Now Aric and Brad!
Cmon Alex, Cmon Daniel!
Cmon Denny, Cmon Chad!
To the yellow line in turn 2!
To the apex of the tri-oval wall!
Come one, come many!
Come on over yall!

As the flags outside turn 4 stand out in the wind and fly
people seeing that black 3, were trying not to cry.
To the front of the grid, all the cameras and people flew,
to see RC strap in, with ol Johnny Morris too.

And then in a twinkling, he sat up on the driver door,
anxious as heck, to lay the throttle on the floor.
As all turned their head, with joy and emotion abound
every person awaited to hear the 800 horses sound.

He was dressed in a jacket, with his classic black boots,
with the open faced helmet, ready to fly down the backchute.
The NBC cameras, standing at the car’s back
were exciting the fans, to see the car hit the track.

Everyones eyes, how they twinkled, with smiles a’merry..
were ready to see it roll, with no one wary.
The colors of the past, that sat beyond the front row
awaited with patience, ready to start the show.
The pre race prayer started, with all heads a’bow
thinking of lap 1, wondering who would scream wow.
Now came the anthem, with hands over hearts
100,000 people were anxious to see this start.

RC was laughing and cutting up, being his jolly self
while strapping into the 3, needing no help.
With a wink of his eye, and a turn of his head
He let Johnny Morris know he had nothing to dread.

They spoke not a word, waiting for the command
gazing up at all of the loyal fans,sitting in the stands
And laying his finger on the switch, ready to give a flip
the officials gave a nod, ready to see the 3 rip.

He sprang into first gear, the fans gave a whistle
they were about to take one last ride in that ol black missile.
Then Grant loudly said, before the start of the 188 lap fight.

“This is Talladega, man, what a sight!”

The weekend for the 1000bulbs.com 500 at Talladega was outstanding as usual. The new fan amenities, plus our new amenities for the scoring tower was a huge hit in more ways than one. When the event was delayed until Monday after the completion of stage one, we thought, well to end our 2019 season of travel to tracks, we are going out on a high note with a bonus day of racing. 

Little did we know  what lay ahead of us…..

A casual conversation arose between us and our MRN contact, Stacy, about what track we would get next, seeing as she helped us get into Richmond at a seconds notice it seemed. The conversation was really in a joking manner, per say. She mentioned “I gotta get yall into Homestead next, because theyre looking”. Well, the initial thought, after Steve and I made eye contact was “Theres another feather in the cap for 2020” because she executed getting us into Richmond with ease. In the words of Lee Corso…

“NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!!”

The notification was given to Steve on Wednesday afternoon, and finalized Thursdday that another feather would be put into the cap for CRN….. IN 5 WEEKS! Neither of us knew what to think, other than “Could this year even be real?!” Yep, we are bound for Homestead-Miami Speedway for Ford Championship weekend, and yep, CRN will handle the PA Duties for the final championship races for all 3 top series for what seems to be the last time. It may have for Steve, I dont know for sure yet, but it for sure hasnt sank in fully yet for me. Its unbelievable to think that I will have been a part of 4 PA teams this year, and Homestead will be my 9th, yes 9th different venue this year. Like I have stated on a previous blog post, being in the right place at the right time can work wonders for future endeavors. The one word for me that can describe this 2019 season for me, as a fan and now as a part of media/track staffs…

SURREAL. 

One of the most wonderful weeks of the year has came back to visit us at home….

Yep, you guessed it: Race Week at Talladega. Twice a year, my attitude turns to liken the one of a 4 year old on Christmas morning. Theres just somthing about the place that does it. The love for motorsports, the comradery, the atmosphere..I could go on for days with phrases and adjectives to describe the place and its affect on me. This weekend will culminate my 30th consecutive year going to both full weekends each year. But this time will be different. This is the 50th anniversary of these hallowed grounds, and shes bigger and better than shes ever been. Guys and gals, if you dont have a ticket to this weekends events, and dont have a pass to gain access to the new Talladega Garage Experience, you are doing yourselves a total disservice. Steve and I have had the joy in watching it all take place. From the first scoop of dirt moved, to the last electronic device wired up, its been a treat watching this ol’ gal get a facelift. ISC and Talladega Superspeedway outdone themselves on this project. The main centerpiece, Big Bill’s Garage and Social Club is out of this world. Most of you have seen photos on social media of how it all looks, but friends, photos do it no justice. You need to see it with your own eyes, because Talladega is bigger and better than ever. Personally, its hard to still imagine that ive been attending events there for over half the years its been in existance. But its been a personal joy to see this place evolve from what it was in 1989, to what we are all about to embark on this weekend with the new garage area. It all kicks off on Friday morning..and ill be wide awake before the sun comes up. 

Because THIS IS TALLADEGA……. 

  This year’s racing season has been a total complete joy for me to be a part of. Not just for NASCAR and its top 3 series, but for ARCA and IndyCar as well. Never in my life did I think I would get to partake in racing at 8 different facilities, but I have. Thinking about it, it all has stemmed from one simple invite from Steve in 2017 to be apart of this radio show we currently are doing. Of those 8 facilities, these are the events that have been partaken in: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta, Pensacola ARCA 200 at Five Flags, Honda Indy Grand Prix at Barber, General Tire 200 at Talladega, MoneyLion 300 at Talladega, Geico 500 at Talladega, Music City 200 at Nashville, Circle K Firecracker 250 at Daytona, Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona, Sport Clips VFW 200 at Darlington, Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington, GoBowling.com 250 at Richmond, and the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond. Theres still the Sugarlands Shine 250 and 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega left AT LEAST for me, and it all stemmed from being at the right place at the right time in 2017 that day in Birmingham on Red Mountain. 

  Being able to see all of this, and be a part of this has enabled me to forge relationships with individuals well known in the media industry and racing industry. People the likes of Grady Sapp, Matt Coulter, Russell Branham, Sarah Hollingsworth, Dennis Worden, Dan Lockemy, Stacy Fine, and others. Little ol me coming from South Talladega County never pictured this 10 years ago. But you know what, im loving every darned second. If I had never taken that opportunity given to me in 2017, I wouldnt be as fortunate as I am today. Having the career I have as my daily job enables me to live out my childhood dreams. The level of gratitude I have for Steve for bringing me into the fold of it all, and the relationship/friendship that has developed from it, is unimaginable. Its allowed me to live a dream. I still learn things every time Steve and myself hit the airwaves, whether its at the Flagship station of 92.7, at Talladega Superspeedway, at Darlington Raceway, or at Richmond Raceway. Learning from a 30 year veteran on a weekly basis is paying off  week by week. Im enjoying radio more and more every time we go on air, and I am thankful that i have a chance on a weekly basis to do it

But The moral of the story/meaning behind this post is this….

If you put yourself into a situation, no matter what it is, and you are at the RIGHT PLACE, at the RIGHT TIME, around the RIGHT PEOPLE..dreams will become true EVERY SINGLE TIME. 

NEVER SIT AND WAIT ON A DREAM, CHASE IT. You never know who will be there to take you under their wing to help you live out dreams. I am living proof that this can happen.

  Our second annual pilgrimage to Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 didn’t disappoint from no matter which angle it was looked upon by us. Throwback weekend at one of NASCAR’s most historic tracks has grown to become a favorite of not just by us, but the nation. Getting to see the nostalgic paint schemes of yester-year is an absolute treat, no matter the era they are from. Even though I didn’t get to see the first 3 years of throwbacks in person, being able to see them live these past 2 years has been outstanding. The schemes this year were the best in my opinion. Two schemes imparticular had special meaning behind them, and they rightfully were 1-2 in the best in show vote: Bubba Wallace’s trubute to the late Adam Petty, and Landon Cassill’s tribute to Sterling Marlin and his Coors Light Silver Bullet scheme. Many knew the reasoning behind Bubba’s scheme, but many don’t on Landon’s. The 00 car had formed a partnership with The Fox Foundation, which is a charity to donate to Parkinson’s Disease research. With Michael J. Fox suffering from the disease, and Sterling Marlin suffering from it as well, Coors Light donated money for every lap completed by the 00 car to Michael’s Foundation. Ended up being almost $15,000. 

   The Friday and Saturday schedule went off without a bobble. We had easy, quick days just doing our jobs in the booth. But Mother Nature wasn’t going to let us off that easy on the day of the big show. FOUR hours later after scheduled start time, it was game on. Then at 2 am EST, with ourselves and 98% of Darlington’s staff half asleep it seemed, we had a completed race when we thought we’d be racing on Monday Evening. I am sure I speak for Steve as well when I say that was hands down the most exhausting day ever at a racetrack for us, since I’ve been around, but we absolutely would NOT trade it for one single thing. Kerry Tharp, Dennis Worden, and everyone at Darlington Raceway have made Steve as well as myself feel more than at home. We now look at it as our Eastern NASCAR home each September. 

   The Lady In Black didn’t let us down. She kept her word and delivered what we and 50.000 other people wanted to see and be a part of: a PHENOMENAL RACE WEEKEND. When you’re living your dreams out in real life, and get to be a part of something you dearly adore, you have no reason to voice a complaint, no matter how exhausting it can be. 

I CAN TELL YOU THAT I KNOW I SURE WONT…… 

         On Last weeks show when the news was discussed about Matt DiBenedetto not returning to the 95 LFR Toyota in 2020, I kept kinda reserved about it..mainly due to time. I could have went on, and On, AND ON about it. This entire “scheme”, because that is what it is, has been fishy for a long time to me. You have a driver, that has had a career SO FAR in lackluster equipment, getting a pretty darn good shot with a team, LFR,  newly aligned with Toyota and JGR, whom would provide tech support.. The folks at Toyota and TRD put good equipment on the track, no matter who is behind the wheel. It would take a complete fool to say that they dont. Some pretty good shoes have planted the throttle pedal of a Toyota: Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth…names like that. Matt DiBenedetto seen the vision that he could add his name to a pretty elite list of drivers that have piloted Camry’s in the Cup series. So he took it….

      Fast forward to current day….

     Now let me say this up front very clearly: Christopher Bell is an OUTSTANDING race car driver. I have zero, ZERO issues with him. But when Bell announced not that long ago he had re-upped with Toyota, TRD, and JGR, the writing was on the wall. Gibbs has 4 pretty solid drivers, in all 4 cars. So all eyes go to LFR, the rookie Toyota team. Matt DiBenedetto has clearly done nothing but do his job. My question is this: Why boot a driver out that has ELEVATED your team to a level its NEVER SEEN? He has taken this team to levels that KASEY KAHNE, a DARNED GOOD DRIVER, couldnt even do!! Shoot, hes got more top 5’s and top 10’s this year so far than the previous 3 drivers of LFR had COMBINED. 

 Wait, I know the answer…… PRESSURE FROM JGR AND TOYOTA. 

I have watched Bob Levine’s twitter feed alot since the news broke. I had alot of respect for Bob Levine up until then. He interacted and engaged people in a great way. But with this situation, hes cracked BADLY. Hes in full C.Y.A mode, and Im sure yall know what C.Y.A. means…… 

Its BLATANTLY OBVIOUS that Toyota and JGR put clear pressure on him, Because in some races of recent, LFR has been better, CLEARLY BETTER than the JGR fleet of 4. I suppose JGR and Toyota didnt want another scenario of the AA affiliate team continuing to beat the Major League team. (SEE FURNITURE ROW DOMINATION OF 2017). Outside of the racetrack, Joe Gibbs and Dave Alpern of JGR are good men. But at the track and behind the desk, they are not avery good conductors of Business. Neither is David Wilson and Jack Irving of TRD. Lets look at the turnover ratio that Toyota alone has had…

 Joey Logano…..Matt Kenseth …..Carl Edwards…..Daniel Suarez…….and now Matt DiBenedetto. 

Toyota CLEARLY HAS money to field another car at ANY of the top 2 levels of NASCAR. You cant tell me they dont. They could ALONE fund another car under the LFR banner and allow DiBenedetto to stay. The money they sink into the TRD engine program tells you that they could. Lets not for get they helped get 2 cars for Furniture Row, so theres NO EXCUSE they cant help LFR with 2 cars. Maybe the business model that Toyota has is the reason they only have 5 CARS under the banner. You would think that they would want to build their fleet in CUP. After the Bristol race, when DiBenedetto had the race clearly won, and Hamlin ran him down and made the pass for the win, I firmly believe Matt D. will threaten Chase Elliott for MPD, after the crowd reaction to him showing raw emotion after his great performance.  And the words Denny Hamlin used post race, in regards to the apologies to him…make me wonder if team orders were given. You could tell that he didnt like somthing, at all. Hes solidly in the playoffs, along with the other 4 JGR cars..so why not get up there, play a little defense while racing him hard and clean, and get a 5th Toyota in the playoffs? 

But I give Hamlin full credit on this, he handled the situation with class. And the other words he said about he WILL land in a better car, and owners are idiots if they dont hire him after that performance he had…TELL me that he knows somthing. 

 I say it this simple: 

1) JGR, you owe Matt DiBenedetto one. 

2) Toyota….shame on you. Start doing business like it needs to be done in racing: TALENT>MONEY. Because we all CLEARLY KNOW some people have ZERO BUSINESS in a Cup car that are currently there. 

3) I hope Matt DiBenedetto steals a playoff race somewhere and turns around to give TRD the finger in the air, because hes earned the right to do so. As well as I hope the voices that are well respected in the sport that are behind him are heard, and he gets in a faster car than hes in now, because hes proven clearly he has talent, and doesnt need money.

   The Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway on Thursday night was a puzzling race to me. I have been involved in dirt racing heavily for about 15 years, and last nights race had me scratching my head. When the new format for this year, which was the elimination of single vehicle qualifying to set the heat race lineups and the basis of using practice speeds to set the heat lineups was used, was released. It kinda opened my eyes. The previous six events at Eldora were pretty successful with this format previously used, so I wondered why it was changed. The cream of fastest trucks still arose to the top, so the format change really didnt affect that aspect. Then over the television broadcast of the heats, it was made noted that Goodyear brought a different tire compound. Me as a dirt racer automatically thought it was gonna make a dirt race a strategy race. Boy was I wrong……

  They stated the tire was a softer tire. Which would mean for a higher rate of falloff when the track started to take rubber after the moisture began to be pulled out of it. The dirt racers of Mike Marlar, Justin Shipley, Mason Massey, whom I have competed against personally, along with Mark Smith, Kyle Strickler, and Jeffery Abbey automatically went to the top the list as favorites for me, due to the aspect of knowing how to adapt to changes of dirt tracks. I was right in the aspect of the dirt racers adapting, but I was wrong AGAIN on strategy and tires. 

 Eldora did somthing last night I am not accustomed to seeing it do: be a one lane racetrack that’s hard to pass on. I’ve watched modified races, late model races, and sprint car races on the storied high banks. Not one single one to my recent memory that I have watched has been that “lulling”. 80% of the trucks went to the top lane and rode the cushion for most of the race, in the first two stages. Not one truck made a legit pass in the bottom lane in all 3 stages. The last stage was a little bit better, but it was still “lulling” to me. Chase Briscoe had it in the bag, leading the first 90 laps of the race, but Stewart Friesen played the lets gamble card, stayed out and won, NOT MAKING ONE SINGLE PIT STOP THE WHOLE RACE. Yes, I said that right, not one pit stop made.   

 But here is my biggest gripe with the race. 

  NASCAR needs to desperately adapt a true dirt racing grassroots format for this race. It would lead to a MUCH more popular feedback chain from fans and racers. The race ran only a total of 82 green flag laps of the advertised 150 lap distance, THAT’S 68 CAUTION LAPS!!!!   There were several issues with lineups after cautions. Here’s how this is solved: GO to a true dirt race format. Don’t count caution laps. Give the best shot for full green flag laps. Its obsurd that nearly half the race was ran under caution, due to alignment issues. Plus, another way to fix alignment issues is go back to the last completed green flag lap to set a lineup under caution. That will eliminate ALOT of the headache. 

With a movement of grassroots racing hitting NASCAR hard, lets adopt a true dirt racing format for the TRUE grassroots track that’s on the schedule.