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We saw it at both Road America and Infineon.  Bent sheet metal and angry drivers filled the garage area after the races.  You would have thought we had just raced at Martinsville or the old Bristol.  Papis was angry with Villeneuve, Stewart and Vickers were at odds, and no NASCAR clash is complete without a JPM and Brad K. sighting.  And wait, was that Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick shaking hands post race?!

Road course racing at the Nationwide and Cup level always seems to be a very tough proposition.  The level of ability from the front of the field to the back varies wildly, and it always leads to a lot of on track action.  Even for those who have a ton of road racing experience and talent, these races are no walk in the park.

The varied experience levels coupled with race tracks that can be very difficult to pass on means madness could ensue.  Drivers often decide it’s easier to move a competitor than it is to set him up and make a clean pass.  And as we saw today, often the “moved” driver gets angry, and then gets even.

There are also plenty of cases where guys end up wrecked simply because another driver ran out of talent.  Trying to fit race cars into holes where there really isn’t a hole, or charging corners way too hard is usually a recipe for disaster.

All things considered, I thought both the NNS and Cup races from this weekend were wildly entertaining.  There was plenty of action, drama, strategy, and “boys have at it” to satisfy any race fan.  And because of the great racing we continue to see at these tracks, it’s about time NASCAR finally added a road race to the Chase.  Our champion should be well rounded, and there are plenty of top flight tracks in this country that would serve NASCAR well.

Finally, I’ve heard some of you were less than pleased with TNT’s coverage on Sunday.  It’s definitely a shame that the networks continue to struggle with what exactly the right formula is for covering NASCAR events.  Things like RaceBuddy are a big step in the right direction, but they need to keep working.  Let’s hope they work out some of the kinks before we head to Daytona this weekend.

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Burnouts, victory laps, doughnuts.  Boring, seen it, yawn.

But have no fear race fans!  There are a few select drivers that have the cure for the common victory celebration.

Think back to your early days as a race fan.  What’s the first unique celebration you remember?  For me it was Alan Kulwicki’s Polish Victory Lap.  After a win (and his 1992 championship), Kulwicki would turn his car around and drive around the track backwards so he could salute the crowd.  Since then, quite a few drivers have borrowed Kulwicki’s invention and it’s become common place.

Moving ahead to modern times, a couple of drivers have moved to the head of the class with their original celebrations.

Love him or hate him, Kyle Busch can flat drive a race car.  He currently has 93 wins across the Truck, Nationwide, and Cup Series.  And when you win that many times, you have plenty of opportunities to perfect your celebration technique.  For KB, usually after a preliminary burnout, he’ll stand on the door and give the booing crowd a bow.  Or sometimes two.  A perfect way to salute (or patronize) the fans who love to hate him.

One of Busch’s biggest rivals, and a driver who he’s had a recent dustup with, is none other than Carl Edwards.  Being the serious athlete that he is, Edwards is known for a unique victory celebration that not too many drivers would even attempt.  I’m referring of course to the flip.  After winning his first ever Truck Series race in 2003, Edwards did a backflip off the side of his truck on a whim.  And it’s stuck ever since.  But Edwards has added a twist to his celebrating of recent wins.  Now, after the flip, he grabs the checkered flag and heads into the stands to greet the fans.  Pretty cool if you ask me.

The last celebration I want to point out involves Smoke.  Yep, I’m talking about Tony Stewart’s famous fence climbs.  Nothing like jumping out of your car after a win and scaling a 20 foot tall chain link fence.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen Stewart do this though, so lets hope a future big win will inspire him to do it again.

What’s your favorite victory celebration?  If you were a driver and won a race, what crazy thing would you do?

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The opening weekend of the 2011 NASCAR season is in the books.  We saw spectacular finishes, a lot of action, and even some controversy.  So from Friday’s wild Truck Series race, all the way through Sunday’s incredible finale, was Daytona what you’d hoped for?

After Thursday’s Duel races, I can’t lie, I was afraid we might be in for a very boring 500.  The tandem drafting created a completely new style of superspeedway racing, and there really was no telling what kind of finish we’d see.  But if Saturday’s Nationwide Series race was any indication, we were going to be in for a treat on Sunday.

The Truck Series races at superspeedways are always full of drama and action, and the Friday night premiere did not disappoint.  We saw our first close finish of the weekend with Michael Waltrip just sneaking by Elliott Sadler for the win, and we also had our first controversy.  It was discovered after the race that the spoiler on Waltrip’s truck had laid down, due to a part malfunction.  NASCAR is taking the pieces back to the R&D center, and if any penalties are levied, expect them to be announced Tuesday.

Saturday’s NNS race kept the streak of close finishes going, with T0ny Stewart beating Clint Bowyer back to the line by only a few thousandths of a second.  And while Cup drivers dominated the show, it’s nice to see that the current top five in NNS points is Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler, Ricky Stenhouse, and Trevor Bayne.

As for the Daytona 500, it was a shame that we had so many wrecked race cars, but the finish was unbelievable.  It was fantastic watching the #21, with a retro paint scheme, go to victory lane with young Trevor Bayne at the wheel.  The Wood Brothers have so much history in the sport, and it was fun to watch that team celebrate a Daytona 500 win and add another chapter to their story.

Who’s ready for Phoenix?!

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Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Nationwide Series, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The venerable Daytona International Speedway may as well be classified a completely new venue for the Nationwide Series this season.

The victory lane celebration, however, remains much the same.

Tony Stewart pushed by Clint Bowyer in the final feet of Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 to win his sixth checkered flag of the season-opener in his last seven tries. The winning margin of .007 seconds was the third closest in series history.

"We just got a great run," Stewart said. "We had a good push from Landon Cassill there at the line."

Cassill, a young driver without a full-time ride this season, finished third to take the Nationwide Series' points lead.

The path to success again for Stewart had plenty of reasons to derail this time around.

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

More often than you'd guess, Tony Stewart calls up the YouTube video of his wild, death-defying crash in the closing laps of the 2001 Daytona 500. But not for reasons you might think.

In the short video clip, he watches his orange No. 20 get hit from behind on the massive Daytona International Speedway backstretch, turning it directly toward 200-mph oncoming traffic. As the rear of Stewart's Chevrolet catches air and starts to launch vertically, cars take evasive action.

That's where Stewart pauses the video. He even has a still photograph of this very moment (right).

Just as Stewart's car lifts off the ground -- seconds before he endures violent barrel rolls and smashes into a half-dozen cars -- the black No. 3 Chevrolet escapes through the smoke and frenzy unscathed. Its driver, Dale Earnhardt, heads to the front of the field to contend for the win. As usual.

"That's the part that bothers me the most,'' Stewart explained in an exclusive interview with AOL FanHouse, speaking in depth about that fateful Feb. 18, 2001 afternoon when NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt was killed on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

"It's like, if I could have just nicked him on the way by, would it have changed things just enough to keep his accident later from happening? There's no way anyone would ever wreck and think about hitting someone else believing it would do any good. I was along for the ride.

---

 

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Filed under: Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, NASCAR Testing, Sprint Cup, Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- Painted high on the walls of the sprawling setup room at the Stewart-Haas Racing team shop here are inspirational quotes from Winston Churchill, Thomas Paine, Lyndon B. Johnson and Vince Lombardi, among others, as well as Satchel Paige, the legendary African-American baseball player who made his name as a pitcher rather than a great politician or statesman.

Yet it is Paige's quote -- "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you" -- that seems to best typify the dead-of-winter mood in the race shops scattered around the greater Charlotte area.

Nearly all the teams and drivers are once again filled with hope and enthusiasm, but everyone has to be wondering nonetheless how their season will play out. Will they be competitive right out of the box? Have other teams gained some kind of a little advantage?

"It's just who made the bigger gains" during the off-season and preparing for 2011, said Tony Stewart as the annual Charlotte Motor Speedway media tour, with some 200 media members in attendance, made a stop at his Kannapolis shop Monday afternoon for a visit with him and teammate Ryan Newman.

Chip Ganassi, co-owner of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, echoed the thought earlier Monday during a luncheon with the team. Although both of his drivers, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, won races in 2010, "there are lots of places we can improve," he said. "You're looking at that all the time. It's a constant process of looking at yourself and looking at the team."

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two-time NASCAR champ Tony Stewart said Thursday during a break in preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway that he was "embarrassed" and "ashamed" about an altercation with a race track owner in Sydney, Australia, during the last night of a recent month-long vacation there.

Calm, smiling at reporters and speaking in subdued tones, Stewart sported a near full beard, but showed no signs of a "black eye" that was widely reported by Australian media last weekend. According to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, Stewart received a black eye in a brief physical altercation between himself and Sydney Speedway co-owner Brett Morris.

Stewart did not reveal the details of the incident, but confirmed he went to a local police station to give a statement and was released with no restrictions on his plans to travel back to the United States the following day. The issue between him and Morris was the condition of the track.

"I've always been one to speak up for what is right, especially when it comes to the safety aspect,''said Stewart, one of 40 drivers participating in a three-day test on Daytona's new $20 million pavement. "It's not uncommon to see drivers and track operators have disputes, but this one went a little farther.''

"I'm definitely not proud of what happened. .... I've lost a lot of sleep over it. I'm embarrassed. I made it all the way through a trip and the last night get in an altercation. I'm ashamed.''

 

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Filed under: Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Sprint Cup, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR

Not everyone doubted Tony Stewart when he announced his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 to form his own Sprint Cup team, Stewart-Haas Racing.

But he will certainly note, as will anyone else around at that point, that so many people from so many corners of NASCAR thought the two-time champion was committing career suicide.

Instead, 2009 proved to be about as far from the gloomy predictions as possible when both Stewart and teammate Ryan Newman qualified for NASCAR's championship battle. Their campaigns in the 2009 Chase to the Sprint Cup were to little avail, but seemed to paint a soon-to-be-dominant future for the race team.

Comparatively, 2010 was a step back for the SHR team -- back to about the level most thought Stewart would be competing at by now.

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, NASCAR

Two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart is reportedly en route to the United States a day after reports that he scuffled with a track owner during his final weekend racing in Australia.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Stewart threw his helmet at track co-owner Brett Morris during an alleged dispute over track conditions at Sydney Speedway. The newspaper said Stewart received a black eye in return from Morris, who the paper described as "not slight in size.''

Stewart's public relations manager Mike Arning said Saturday he was still trying to sort through the news but had spoken with Stewart, who was reportedly detained briefly by the local Rosehill police department for questioning about the incident. Although he was released and cleared for his already-scheduled departure Saturday, the paper says a local official confirmed there is ongoing investigation..

Stewart has been in Australia for the past four weeks -- the second consecutive year he and several other prominent American sprint car drivers have spent the off-season racing sprint cars.

The owner-driver is scheduled to drive his No. 14 Mobil 1-Office Depot Chevrolet in a three-day test session at Daytona International Speedway beginning Thursday.

 

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Filed under: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, NASCAR Police Blotter, Stewart-Haas Racing, NASCAR

NASCAR driver and team owner Tony Stewart has been detained for questioning in Australia, according to a report.

Speedcafe reports Stewart was allegedly involved in a physical altercation with Sydney Speedway co-owner Brett Morris.

The report says Stewart was upset about track conditions after hot laps, and he started exchanging words with Morris. While Stewart was held for questioning, there is no confirmation on whether he will face any charges.

Saturday evening, Stewart public relations representative Mike Arning told FanHouse in an email, "We're attempting to gather whatever information we can get our hands on in an effort to separate fact from fiction.

"However, we can say that Tony Stewart is not being held anywhere and is resting in his hotel in Australia. While we have spoken with him, he's still half-a-world a way, so figuring out what did or didn't happen is going to take some time."

After racing in Australia during the month of January, Stewart was scheduled to return to the U.S. on Saturday. No word on how his detainment will affect his plans.

Stewart is about to enter his 13th season of NASCAR competition.

 

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