Got a drought? Book ya some NASCAR. But for now, enjoy some Notes & Quotes.
Marcos Ambrose tried his best to make my prediction come true Sunday with a second-place finish. Tires and pit strategy, though, seemed to keep him from really battling Tony Stewart for the win.
Regardless, Ambrose may be ultra-talented on the road courses but look for his No. 47 to a be strong contender to make the Chase in 2010. Dude really is that good -- in everything he drives.
Surprisingly enough, Sunday's rainout at Watkins Glen was just the second time since 1986 that the Sprint Cup Series had a race affected by precipitation at that track. Kyle Petty won the 1992 event in shortened fashion when the race was called after 51 of the 90 laps.
OK, Brickyard fans, Jeff Gordon "guarantees" you a good race when NASCAR returns to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the AllState 400 on July 26.
The four-time race winner Gordon promises the tire issues that ruined last year's Sprint Cup Series race -- and a lot of fan goodwill - will not be a problem this summer.
"I'm 100 percent confident, it's a dead issue," Gordon said Tuesday during a break in Goodyear's final tire test at Indy before the race. "The race might come down to a lot of different factors ... but it's not going to come down to a 10-lap shootout to see whose tires will last. I can promise all the fans out there, if they want to come to the Brickyard, they'll see a great race and be confident the tires are not going to be an issue.
"Trust me. And I hope that's going to go be enough for the fans."
The 2.5-mile track's surface has confounded Goodyear Tire Company engineers and the result has frustrated the Speedway, fans and NASCAR drivers after an embarrassing debacle in last year's Sprint Cup race at Indy, when drivers had to pit about every 12-15 laps for new tires and the ensuing competition caution periods ruined the show.
Subsequent tire tests at Indianapolis to avert a repeat of the situation had shown little improvement. Until now.
NASCAR's primary goal each week is putting on a spectacular show for the fans, but Goodyear's practice of utilizing the same tire for its top three series is hurting the show.
The tire problems that surfaced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race last weekend at Dover may have been avoided if Goodyear had in place a specific tire for the Truck Series instead of a general design that services Trucks, NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series cars.
Jump in as FanHouse's Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller go Wheel2Wheel about Darlington, Kyle Busch's audacious goals and the oh-so-lovable Goodyear.
Does NASCAR need more tracks with unusual character like Darlington and what do you think about re-naming the spring event the "Southern 500"?
Geoffrey Miller: Frankly, I'm a little confused. It's not Labor Day weekend, tropical storms aren't brewing off the South Carolina coast and the heat index in Darlington this weekend won't be anywhere near triple digits. Why then, in the name of Richard Petty, is it time for the Southern 500?
That was pretty much the consensus of drivers following Wednesday's Goodyear tire test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- the sixth test since a tire debacle at the track during last year's NASCAR race resulted in no green flag runs more than 16 laps.
"The tires still are not ideal,'' said Ryan Newman, who represented the Chevrolet contingent in the four-car test. "I know Goodyear is still working on that. It is just a tough situation, man."
NASCAR's tire supplier Goodyear better hope Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart loses his voice this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, otherwise they might be for yet another public relations nightmare.
A year removed from a post-race tirade that saw Stewart tell the world he would dispose of any Goodyear product he owned because the tires created virtually no grip for the heavy stock cars, the problem appears to be creeping up again.
To make matters worse, even the driver of the best car on Friday at the 1.5-mile track talked about the lack of control he felt while making laps at NASCAR's fastest track.
With NASCAR's awards banquet on Friday, Dec. 5 (stop by for the live blog!), here's a look at 10 from '08 -- ten of the NASCAR season's best moments.
Tony Stewart may have lost the 2008 Daytona 500 on the last lap, got wrecked by Kevin Harvick in the waning laps at Bristol and lost his barber's number nearly all spring but none of that -- not even that pesky Kurt Busch character -- could rile up the two-time champion like NASCAR's tire supplier.
The setting was Atlanta Motor Speedway in March during the Sprint Cup's first visit to the 1.5-mile track and what we got was a lackluster performance by nearly every race team thanks to the lack of grip drivers suffered through because of Goodyear's hard tire compound.
Passing was hardly an option, the final lead change happened because of a blown engine and racing anywhere near another car was a perilous move for even the most talented drivers. And when it was all said and done, Tony Stewart let his voice be heard.
The first problem struck on lap 53 on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile circuit when Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann spun sideways after the right-rear tire exploded on the No. 44 Toyota. Directly behind him, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon swerved to miss the spinning Reutimann and caught the nose of Jon Wood, sending the front-end of the No. 24 in to the wall.
The impact for Gordon sent him behind the wall for cosmetic, suspension, and radiator repairs. He would return after about 30 laps, but the car that had looked quite competitive early in the event later lost an engine while trying to make up points.
One of the big arguments made by several fans this week after last Sunday's now nearly officially named "Tire Fiasco de Brickyard" was that NASCAR needs to seriously look at having two or three official tire suppliers for the sport.
It seems simple enough, right? Put in the all-American thought that competition leads to improvement, and Voila!, you never have a single tire problem in NASCAR because teams will be able to select the best tire for their race car on any given weekend.
Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a classic example of what you see is not what you get.
NASCAR has been down this road before.
In the early 1990's, Hoosier Tire came into the sport as competition to Goodyear. Hoosier -- naturally an Indiana-based company -- was mildly successful in their five-year foray, winning the Daytona 500 and the pole for the 1994 Brickyard 400, in addition to a handful or so of races with Geoffrey Bodine in 1994.
Got a drought? Book ya some NASCAR. But for now, enjoy some Notes & Quotes.
OK, Brickyard fans, 
NASCAR's primary goal each week is putting on a spectacular show for the fans, but 
Jump in as FanHouse's 
Less than impressed.
NASCAR's tire supplier Goodyear better hope 
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One of the big arguments made by several fans this week after last Sunday's now nearly officially named "Tire Fiasco de Brickyard" was that NASCAR needs to seriously look at having two or three official tire suppliers for the sport. 
