SPEEDWEEKS RACINDEALS

DISQUALIFIED: The time turned in by the #25 car
driven by Jerry Nadeau was disallowed by NASCAR. OK. If he’s illegal, then
that’s correct. But how about some consistency?  If NASCAR had found the
EXACT same problems after a race, instead of after a qualifying effort, Nadeau
would have gotten to keep his win or finish position.  If he had an
advantage with illegal (or unapproved) parts, and it was the right thing to do
to disallow the time, why isn’t it the right thing to do to remove a driver from
the results if he fails a post-race inspection? Inquiring minds want to know.

WHERE’S THE GRASSY KNOLL?: I’d bet that the
conspiracy buffs out there are having a field day now. I see how it’d be real
easy to accuse  NASCAR of disqualifying Nadeau in order to put two Dodge’s
on the front row.  Wouldn’t want to make the new manufacturer look bad its first
time in a race in almost 20 years, now would we?

Nah, I don’t buy it.

WHERE’RE THE CAR SPONSORS?: I’ll bet you think I’m
talking about the Fox situation, where they didn’t show the car sponsors on
their graphics for the Shootout.

Nope.

I’m talking about NASCAR.com (it’s not NASCAR Online
anymore…I guess they’ve moved up in the world).  In their horrendous
white on black web site, when you look at practice speeds (after they finally
get them posted), they’re not showing the sponsors.

So, they have a problem with Fox, but not with
Turner/AOL/Time Warner?

SPEAKING OF MISSING SPONSORS: I’m
not sure what all the fuss is about anyway. So instead of Home Depot getting 20
or so minutes of camera time, they got maybe 15 seconds less because Fox didn’t
put "Home Depot" on the car graphics? 

But I see that Fox has relented, and will
show all the sponsor logos now. Boy, you go to all the trouble to create
graphics with and without sponsors, and when all the fallout settles, you could
have ended up saving a ton of money by just using photos of the cars instead.

Since NASCAR got its way this time, what
will they demand from the networks next? That the broadcast team identify each
car by not only the number, but the make and the sponsor?  It’s coming…

GETTING RUSTY: Rusty Wallace doesn’t want to hear
about dull racing. Last year, it was Dale Jarrett who apparently was the
spokesperson for NASCAR. Now it looks like Rusty’s got the nod.

Hey, Rusty? I know racing isn’t easy. But in case you
didn’t know it, you’re in the entertainment business. When what  you do
isn’t entertaining, then people find other things that are.

ROUSH’S MOUTHPIECE: And just like last year where
Mark Martin was apparently Jack Roush’s mouthpiece, this year he’s given the job
to Jeff Burton. Burton complained that the Fords were at a big disadvantage.

Uh, Jeff? You’d have a lot more credibility if you were
running bad, but turning in the 4th quickest time in practice on Tuesday kind of
puts the whammy on your claims.  With six cars in the top 15 (40%) practice
speeds, it’s
hard to see where the big disadvantage is.