The Spin Out Zone – Jumping on Joe Nemechek’s Bandwagon Will Get You Bumped

Hold on – here is the bump and the SPIN OUT!

Following up on last week’s SPIN OUT of VALVOLINE and their sponsorship of
VH1’s TV show "Music Behind Bars", I am happy to report that VALVOLINE
made a statement last Friday via their web site about the issue.

Timothy Caudill, a customer service manager at VALVOLINE said in a statement,
"We have received several comments regarding our commercials running with
the VH1 programming, "Music Behind Bars." VH1 ignored our process and
aired our commercial on "Music Behind Bars" without our knowledge or
permission!"

VALVOLINE received the following communication from VH1: "VH1
inadvertently placed Valvoline commercials into a program called Music Behind
Bars without agency approval."

This is not the first time VH1 has done this, just ask the other companies
who did not know that they were sponsoring a program where inmates who murdered
two teenage girls were allowed national exposure by having their rock band on
TV. Executives at VH1 have proven that they only care about money and not fellow
Americans.

To all that emailed their concerns to VALVOLINE, WAY TO GO! YOUR VOICE WAS
HEARD!

Now, let’s concentrate on SMIRNOFF ICE. They sponsor Fox Sports Net’s
"NASCAR This Morning" and they are another company that sponsored
VH1’s "Music Behind Bars." If you have no earthly idea of what I’m
talking about, then I invite you to read my column from last week.

NASCAR FAN’S do make a difference! Corporations sponsor our favorite NASCAR
teams strictly to get OUR business and by doing so, they profit. So, GO GET ‘EM!

THE SPIN OUT

People CRACK me up! Maybe it’s just me. Maybe, I expect too much out of a
driver competing in NASCAR’s top racing series. With millions of dollars being
thrown in the Winston Cup Series arena, can someone explain to me why we don’t
expect more from Winston Cup drivers and teams?

This week, we have seen many articles written about Joe Nemechek and how he
is refocused on staying in the #25 seat. Seems like many sports writers have
jumped on his bandwagon after Sunday’s second place finish. I’ve seen statements
like "he’s making strong case for staying" or "he’s refocused on
his future" and Joe himself even said, "The team is coming
together."

I like Joe. He’s one of the "nice guys" in Winston Cup and he has a
great following. I think Joe is under supported by his team owner because it
seems like more resources go to the #24 & #48 teams. I do not want to come
across COLD about the issue because unlike many drivers racing in NASCAR, he
does have a few Winston Cup wins under his belt. Based on what this team has
done over the past 11 races, I do not see how ONE-second place finish can result
in a team coming together as Joe stated. Joe and this team just came off a 41st
place finish at Martinsville and a 40th place finish at Lowe’s before making
their way to Atlanta. Actually looking all the way back to Michigan, Jerry
Nadeau last year, had a better average finish with this #25 team than Joe has
had racing at the same tracks this year.

My point, Jerry’s performance last year through May of 2002 caused Hendrick
Motorsports to give him his walking papers. If you look at the BOTTOM LINE
NUMBERS, Jerry performed better than Joe in the same car, at the same tracks.
Just to prove my point, here are the numbers looking back 11 races to Michigan:

Atlanta: JOE-this year finished 2nd and JERRY-last year finished 4th
Martinsville: JOE-this year finished 41st and JERRY-last year finished
24th
Lowe’s: JOE-this year finished 40th and JERRY-last year finished 40th
DEGA: JOE-this year finished 39th and JERRY-last year finished 35th
Kansas: JOE-this year finished 4th and JERRY-last year finished 12th
Dover: JOE-this year finished 23rd and JERRY-last year finished 2nd
New Hampshire: JOE-this year finished 32nd and JERRY-last year finished
6th
Richmond: JOE-this year finished 25th and JERRY-last year finished 14th
Darlington: JOE-this year finished 21st and JERRY-last year finished 9th
Bristol: JOE-this year finished 27th and JERRY-last year finished 20th
Michigan: JOE-this year finished 35th and JERRY-last year finished 34th

Looking at the numbers based on finishing positions, I see JERRY finished +89
positions in front of JOE year over year when looking at the above tracks. But
yet, Jerry was axed and this week people are saying that they are seeing this
team turning around with Joe. Yes, there is an argument that Joe has not had
enough time to BOND with this team. However if you look within the same Hendrick
organization, it doesn’t seem to be an issue for the #48 team.

If Rick Hendrick wants to keep him in the ride because he sees
"potential" for next year, then by all means go for it. I think and
YES this is my thoughts, UAW DELPHI deserves more than what they are getting for
their money. I am not necessarily saying change drivers, but anyone looking at
the past 11 races can see that something needs to change, and it may be
resources or personnel. But, for anyone to try and convince us FANS that Joe
deserves this ride based on his latest finish shouldn’t even go there.

Does Joe Nemechek have potential? You better believe it! He is a winner and
he has proven it. Should he be given a ride because of Atlanta? No because if
you look at the list of tracks above, places where Joe ran well, so did Jerry
and this #25 team should have won Atlanta last year.

Luckily for Joe, this weekend’s race is at the ROCK and Joe won this race
last year. So Joe, if you finish in the top 10 over these last few races, I’ll
agree with those who want to keep you in the #25. But, your average finish over
the last 11 races is 26th and if that average does not increase over the next
few races, you and your bandwagon shouldn’t expect Hendrick or UAW DELPHI to
keep you in THEIR car.

I wish you good luck Joe!

This week’s SPIN OUT goes to JOE NEMECHEK and those JUMPING ON HIS BANDWAGON.
Since most hard working American’s work a minimum of 264 days per year, how COOL
would it be to retain our jobs because we performed above average ONE or TWO
days a month?