Big Stories of 2009

Since it's the summer, and I'm already bored, I decided to write a blogpost... It's been forever!
Anyways, I'll go through the big stories of 2009 so far.

1) Tony Stewart get his first win as an owner. I think this is really big and it really says something about the team and what Tony has brought to the table. Haas CNC racing was a nobody in racing. Tony goes over there and right off the bat he's running well as well as Ryan Newman. Stewart Haas Racing finally got their first win at the All Star race with Tony. That was pretty cool. This past weekend was pretty funny with the whole "Billy Bad Butt" deal. Haha!

2) Jeremy Mayfield tests positive for drug test. This was a big shocker, and as most people do, when i first heard that I thought "Wow! Jeremy Mayfield doing cocaine, etc. Unbelievable!" It is still unclear what the WHOLE story is. As you know, there are two sides to every story. It is really turning into an ugly "he said, she said" type deal. Jeremy says the positive test was a result of mixing prescription medicine with an over the counter medicine (Claritin). Nascar says there is no way that that would result in a positive. Jeremy says NASCAR still has not told him what he tested positive for, while Nascar declares they have told him face to face. Who do you believe?
Some people are saying Nascar needs to go ahead and release the substance that Jeremy tested positive for to the public. They say it is just making Nascar look bad by with holding this information. As a result of this whole ordeal, Mayfield has hired a lawyer and they are considering taking legal action if necessary.
This also raises to question of whether or not Nascar should have a list of banned substances. Some drivers say yes (Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman) and some say no (Kasey Kahne). As Kasey put it in an interview the other day "I'm healthy. I eat normal food and drink water and a little bit of Budweiser and that's about it so I'm fine the way it is." haha!

3) Joey Logano. I don't wanna jump the gun or jinx Joey, but he is really starting to improve...BIGTIME! At the start of the season he was struggling, but now as we are going to some of these tracks for the second time, he is really starting to show what he has learned...and it's obviously a lot! He's starting to live up to all the hype!

4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Where do I start? It has just been bad race after bad race for Jr. From pit road mistakes to just not running well, he has truly experienced everything. Some say it is Tony Eury Jr, his crew chief. I don't know who the blame lies on becasue i don't follow Dale Jr that closely, but something is up and if I were Rick Hendrick, there would be MAJOR changes to that team.
During the 600 I heard the announcers, who were discussing this topic, say that Jr's team is running something different or doing something different than the other three Hendrick teams. Well, whatever they're doing, I'd stop it! It's obviously not working. There comes a point when you have to face facts. The other three teams (the #5 of Mark Martin, the #24 of Jeff Gordon, and the #48 of Jimmie Johnson) have all won at least one race a piece. Mark's already won two and his first season isn't even over. Dale's only won one so far in the 2 seasons he has been with Hendrick. It's hard to deny Hendrick's success with the three teams, not to mention the satellite teams (Stewart-Haas). The only answer is Dale Earnhardt Jr. has GOT to step up.

Photos:

Tony Stewart- Rusty Jarrett/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Jeremy Mayfield- Jerry Markland/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Joey Logano- John Harrelson/ Getty Images

Joe Gibbs' Drivers

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is a very talented 23 year old driver who started racing at the age of 13. You've probably heard of Kyle Busch by now and winning is not new to him. From the time Kyle was introduced to cars his parents instilled in him 2 very valuable lessons: School work always came first and Kyle was responsible for working on, repairing, and paying for his own cars. He quickly learned that he had to be careful on the track or otherwise he might wreck and not race the next weekend. From 1999 to 2001, Kyle Busch racked up more than 65 (!) wins in legends cars and won two championships. He moved on to Late Models and won 10 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2002 he graduated high school a year early with honors. At 16, he ran his first NASCAR race in the Craftsman truck series for Roush Racing. He ran well but had to stop racing after six starts, because NASCAR put a rule into place that said you have to be 18 years of age to race in any of the top three NASCAR series. As soon as he was 18, he immediately started racing in NASCAR again, but this time up one level, in the Nationwide Series. He won 5 races which is the most any rookie has won. In 2005 he moved up to the Sprint Cup Series driving for Rick Hendrick. He set two records for youngest pole winner and youngest race winner. In 2007, he won the first ever Car Of Tomorrow race at Bristol. For 2008, Kyle signed with Joe Gibbs Racing. He replaced J.J. Yeley in the #18 car. Kyle has won 7 times this year in NASCAR Sprint cup Series, 6 times in Nationwide Series, and twice in the Craftsman Truck Series. He currently leads the Sprint Cup Series in points with a 176 point lead. Because Kyle is so well known he has many nicknames such as, Rowdy Busch, Wild Thang, and Shrub. People often compare him to the late Dale Earnhardt.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano is another driver that Joe Gibbs has successfully chosen to possibly be the face of their organization. He is only 18 years old but people say he acts way older. Joey got his start in quarter midgets at only 6 years old! He won championships is almost every thing he raced. At 13 He and his family moved to Georgia where he raced in the GA Late Models. He raced many places in Georgia including Albany and won several races. In 2005, Joey signed a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. He then started racing the Hooters Pro Cup Series at just 15. In just his second start in that series, he won! In 2007, he raced in the Nascar Busch East Series, where he won seven races and rookie of the year. In 2008 he moved to the Nationwide series racing the #20. He had to wait until after his birthday, May 24, so he would be 18. He moved into a highly successful car that has now won with 4 different drivers. Joey got great hype coming in. In his first start, he finished sixth. In a post race interview he said, “Well, sixth ain’t nothing in my book.” That shows how competitive he is. He won his first Nationwide race at Kentucky Speedway in just his 3^rd start! He runs a limited schedule in Nationwide. He continues to be successful in the Nationwide Series, running a limited schedule. Team owner, Joe Gibbs has even said that he might race a few races in Sprint Cup later on this year. Since Tony Stewart announced he was leaving JGR, there has been much speculation that Joey could move up to Sprint Cup replacing Tony in the #20. Joey has been called “The Real Deal” by Mark Martin and his famous nickname is “Sliced Bread” because he is the next best thing since sliced bread. Joey has an incredible career ahead of him, and I hope he does get the #20 ride next year!

tag: Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Toyota, Nascar Nationwide Series, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano