Rewind: Earlier this Season

Earlier in the 2011 NASCAR season (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) Junior Nation was on top of the world.  However, that elusive win would rear its ugly head again soon, but not before he was locked in to the chase more than half the way through the season at third in overall points.  Nevertheless, as predicted that elusive win was on his shoulders six races later.  The disintegration of their secure chase spot was not of No. 88 team’s doing. The reality in this sport is that uncontrollable things happen very fast:  You get put in the wall at Michigan, and then you finish 41st after running into someone else’s accident at Sonoma.  When these types of things happen you are going to lose some points, and defeat will seam to scream in victory.  The only option available when left in these circumstances is to recover, but we’re not seeing that happen with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Despite the fact that the No. 88 team is running mediocre and having a round of bad luck to boot implies nothing as they head to Pocono in 10th place with a 19 point lead over Denny Hamlin, until you combine those two names:  Pocono & Hamlin.  We don’t really need to go there, do we?  This is likely the most critical year in the career Dale Earnhardt Jr., with an unsigned contract seemingly waiting on the overall results of this race season.  Clearly, Jr. has some recovering to do, but is there any room for a rebound?

Ultimately it’s all up to you Dale as it appears that you have only two options available:  Win and compete in the chase, or lose and fade into oblivion…

When NASCAR was formed in 1948 it was the post World War II era and there was a shortage of new cars. It was a general consensus that the majority of race fans wouldn’t be real fond of new cars being beat up on a race track while they were driving a beater, pre-war era car. As such, it didn’t take too long before the “Modified” stock cars became the official staple of NASCAR racing.

Fast forward to 1949 when then NASCAR president Bill France Sr. contemplated the idea of actually racing the same cars that people drove on the street.  Thinking of that type of race car in modern times almost seems funny, but back then no other racing organization had seized the idea of utilizing street cars, that is, until Bill France thought it just might work. The current success of the NASCAR Cup Series proves his inklings were correct.

Genuine Stock Racing Cars
From the racers’ perspective in the earlier days of NASCAR, being able to put a race car together was not an expensive investment. If a brand-new Chevy sold for around $3,800, and considering the fact that there was little or no modification to be done to it, the actual race car could be raced for a very cheap investment. In some instances, rental cars were actually used by point-chasing drivers who had no guaranteed ride for a given event. Cars were typically either driven to the track or towed behind pick-ups and family sedans.  Other than some minor tweaking and tuning of the engine, nothing needed to be done to these early race cars that were strictly stock. Essentially, in the earlier day there were no roll bars, the window was intact, and aircraft harnesses, or sometimes even ropes, were used as seat belts.  When these cars rolled out on the track they were practically like showroom cars.

One of the many benefits of implementing the strictly stock design was the tremendous diversity of manufacturers with their cars on the track. For example, the first official strictly stock division race had nine makes on the line that included Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, Hudson, Kaiser, Lincoln, Mercury and Oldsmobile However, as one would suspect, using a genuine “stock” automobile for racing had its downfalls.

One of the most significant problems were tire, wheel, and suspension failures brought on by stresses that were atypical of normal road use.  This was especially true with the rough-surfaced dirt tracks that were predominant in the early days of racing.  Nevertheless, the only modification that was allowed to the stock racing cars was a reinforcing steel plate on the right front wheel which helped to prevent the lug nuts from pulling right through the rim on factory wheels. Otherwise, racing stock cars in the early days of the sport was very much a bare bones ordeal.

For a certain number of years, that concept certainly worked and, through the support of fans, competitors and manufacturers, it continued to thrive. But the variety of race tracks in use and the intensity of the competition level necessitated various modifications. While many of these were instituted in the interest of safety, manufacturers found that there were ways to integrate high performance parts into their mainstream production line.

One of the first items produced specifically for stock car racing was a racing tire manufactured and distributed by the Pure Oil Company in 1952. Prior to that time, street tires were all that were available for racing applications.

NED JARRETT

Driver (10-12-32)
Hometown: Newton, North Carolina
Competed: 1953-1966
Starts: 353
Wins: 50
Poles: 35

Ned Jarrett’s charging capabilities combined with consistency led his racing career to two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships. His 50 career victories are tied for 10th all-time with Junior Johnson. He won a total of 28 races during the 1964 and ’65 seasons.
Jarrett won his first series title in 1961 while driving a Chevrolet for W.G. Holloway Jr. He finished with only one victory, but posted an impressive 34 top 10s in 46 starts. In 1965, he won his second title while driving for DuPont heir Bondy Long, and despite a back injury he finished with 13 wins and 42 top fives in 54 starts that season.
Ned Jarrett won the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway by 14 laps, (17.5 miles), still the largest margin of victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup history.

BOBBY ALLISON

Driver (12-3-37)
Hometown: Hueytown, Alabama
Competed: 1961-88
Starts: 718
Wins: 84
Poles: 58

Bobby Allison was the 1983 champion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and ended his career with 84 victories.  He was tied for third on the all-time victory list with Darrell Waltrip.
A charter member of the “Alabama Gang,” Allison has become one of NASCAR’s most beloved former competitors, in large part because of his remarkable resilience after a career-ending accident at Pocono Raceway in 1988 – just months after he won the Daytona 500.
Bobby Allison continues to be cherished by the millions of fans who remember his long list of accomplishments, which include:

• 1978, ’82 ’88 Daytona 500 victories;

• His 1983 championship season;

• Two NASCAR Modified Division championships, in 1964 and 1965

• Two NASCAR Modified Special Division titles in 1962-63.

His fantastic 1972 season, when he won 10 races, had 12 second-place efforts and 11 poles, in the process finishing second to Richard Petty in the series championship standings.
Fittingly, Allison was named one of NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers” in 1998.

BUD MOORE

Owner (5-25-25)
Hometown: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Competed: 1961-2000
Starts: 959
Wins: 63

A decorated World War II infantryman, Bud Moore became a successful NASCAR Sprint Cup owner almost immediately upon fielding a team in 1961. Moore won back-to-back championships in 1962-63
with Joe Weatherly. Earlier, in 1957, Moore – who referred to himself as “a country mechanic” – was crew chief for champion Buck Baker.
During 37 seasons in NASCAR’s premier division, Moore’s cars won 63 times and finished 298 and 463 times respectively among the top five and top 10. His cars also won 43 poles in the team’s 959 starts. Moore-owned cars have visited Victory Lane in most of the sport’s biggest events including the Daytona 500 and Southern 500.
Moore’s cars, both fast and dependable, attracted the sport’s top drivers. They included Weatherly, Dale Earnhardt, Fireball Roberts, David Pearson, Billy Wade, Darel Dieringer, Bobby Isaac, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Ricky Rudd and Geoffrey Bodine.
As a top performer among Ford’s motorsports stable, Moore frequently was tapped to spearhead the company’s other racing endeavors. Among his successes was the 1970 Sports Car Club of America championship with Parnelli Jones.

LEE PETTY

Driver (3-14-14 – 4-5-2000)
Hometown: Randleman, North Carolina
Competed: 1949-64
Starts: 427
Wins: 54
Poles: 18
It took a while – three whole days – for officials to declare Lee Petty the winner of the first Daytona 500.
So in many ways, we have Petty to thank for the yearly spectacle that is “The Great American Race.” That’s because he created the very first spectacle.
On the final lap, Petty and Johnny Beauchamp barreled toward the finish line, in what would become one of the closest finishes in the prestigious race’s history. So close, in fact, that race officials put a hold on the results for three days. A photo snapped at the finish line confirmed Petty’s win, his first in another championship winning season.
But that first Daytona 500 is only one of many Petty accomplishments. His career was a long list of “firsts” and “mosts.” Along with winning the first Daytona 500, Petty also was the first driver to capture three championships in what now is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
And up until the time his own son, Richard, caught and passed him, Lee won more races than any other driver – 54. That number still ranks ninth all-time.
But maybe his greatest legacy is his own name – and lineage. Petty, who started Petty Enterprises, is the father of “The King” Richard Petty and the grandfather of Kyle Petty.

DAVID PEARSON

Driver (12-22-34)
Hometown: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Competed: 1960-86
Starts: 574
Wins: 105
Poles: 113

David Pearson, a.k.a. The Silver Fox, was the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career.
With little exaggeration, when Pearson showed up at a race track, he won.
His 105 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories ranks second all-time, and he amassed that figure in only 574 races – a winning percentage of 18.29.
In a career that spanned 27 years, Pearson never once ran every single race in a given season. When he came close to running the full schedule, he won a championship – or came darn close.
In 1966, Pearson ran 42 of 49 races to win his first championship. In his 1968 championship winning campaign, he ran 48 of 49 races. And in 1969, he ran 51 of 54 en route to his third and final title.
His consistent greatness might best be defined by his 1974 performance, a season he did not win the championship. He finished third that year behind Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough – but raced only 19 of 30 races.
Ranking second in wins and poles, Pearson’s numbers are eclipsed only by Petty. Pearson won the Daytona 500 once (1976), but had six victories overall at Daytona International Speedway.

Inductee information courtesy of NASCAR HALL Of FAME

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It all happened as the field prepared to align itself under a caution flag on lap 191 and Gordon and Burton were heading into turn two to catch up with the rest of the field.  It was at that point that Burton’s No. 31 hooked the No. 24 of Jeff Gordon from behind.

As drivers qualified Friday for the next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, and moved closer to deciding the season champion,it appears as though long winless streaks were the contributing factor to what has been dubbed by many as”The Texas Turmoil”.

In the course of 36 points races, frustrations are bound to boil over, stemming from issues like deliberate paint trading, mediocre pit stops, or a late race collapse from leading the field to ending up smashed up with a pile of heap in the garage area, but Jeff Gorden stated that the fight itself “was a reflection of stupidity” because Burton’s No. 31 Chevrolet collided with Gordon’s No. 24 Chevy moments after the caution flag came out at the Texas Motor Speedway. “I don’t care what kind of season we’re having or not having, if you get wrecked under caution you’re going to be really, really mad.”

Gordon and Burton are among the 12 in this year’s 10-race Chase for the Cup championship playoff, but both are so far behind in the standings that neither one of them has a realistic chance of winning the 2010 title.

After the wreck in Texas Burton stated that he didn’t intentionally hit Gordon’s car. However, he did add that, “When it all happened, I thoroughly expected to be in a physical altercation. I could tell by the gait in [Gordon's] walk and by the look in his eye that he wasn’t coming down there to talk. It’s all funny now.”

Video showed Roush and another passenger, identified by the Experimental Aircraft Association as Brenda Strickland of Plymouth, Michigan, walking away from the crash.  Roush, an aviation buff, was attending the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this week.

“There are injuries. Possible surgery,” Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said in a text message to The Associated Press. “But he walked out of the plane.”  Smith confirmed that the plane belonged to Roush, and he was flying it. Smith said Roush’s injuries include facial lacerations.

It is the second close call for Roush, who crashed a plane into a pond in Alabama in 2002, nearly drowning before being rescued by an ex-Marine who lived nearby. Despite serious injuries in the 2002 incident, Roush continued flying.

Incidents of this nature are not new for the EAA Air Venture.  Each year Air Venture brings in about 10,000 planes from around the world, increasing the risk of a crash by five times.  Since 2000, there have been 59 crashes associated with the event — with at least one resulting in a death each year.

Busch seizes the moment

Kyle Busch took advantage of a costly mistake by the four-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and pulled away for the win this past Sunday in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Johnson was flagged for speeding while exiting the pits during a round of green-flag stops on Lap 363 and forced to return to pit road to serve a pass-through penalty.  This rare, but unwitty mistake by Johnson cost him a race that he clearly could have won.  Johnson was attempting to beat Busch off pit road at the time. He said he knew his penalty came shortly after he left his pit stall because by the time he reached the stall occupied by Busch, he already had conceded that Busch was going to beat his No. 48 Chevrolet back out onto the track. Johnson had been leading the race, with Busch second, when they came to the pits.

“It definitely cost us a top-two finish,” said Johnson, who led a total of eight times for a race-high 225 laps. “I’m frustrated. I think we’ve got to be a little bit more aware of our acceleration of the car off pit road, and how we can get busted there. But outside of that, I can’t say we did anything else wrong all day. We led a bunch of laps, had great pit stops. I mean, across the board it was a great day. I just hate, that at the end, one small mistake knocked us back to a 16th-place finish.”

Johnson owns his mistake

As a direct result of the incident, Johnson dropped two spots in the point standings and was leap-frogged by Busch, who jumped two places to second.  Yet Johnson did not seem too disturbed by the development.  He politely answered all questions for several minutes afterward and blamed no one but himself for the costly mistake. And he also made it very clear that his frame of mind is right for the the next points race at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2 weeks (May 30th).
Only time will tell whether this is a lesson learned, or whether Johnson gets a bit jumpy when he’s under pressure?  His record dicatates that this was probably just a somple mistake…

The date was November 22, 2009.

The place was the Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

His 5th place finish crowned him the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Champion, and it was almost predictable when Jimmy Johnson cinched his record-breaking 4th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Ford 400.  Watching from afar with brave anticipation, the event was breathtaking and chilling for any NASCAR Racing fan — even if Jimmy Johnson was not your favorite driver.  In doing so, Jimmy Johnson has joined Richard Petty (7 wins), Dale Earnhardt (7 wins) and teammate Jeff Gordon (4 wins) as the only NASCAR Racing drivers to win more than three titles.

At age 33 the profile of Jimmy Johnson speaks loud for the making of NASCAR history. He has finished in the Top 5 a remarkable 64 times in the last four years.  Never did he expect to become a champion; all he ever really wanted to do was to have a chance to race against the very best.

Going back to the 2002 Winston Cup results, Jimmy Johnson started all 36 races, completing 10521 of 10695 racing laps, and leading 838 of those laps.  The latest of this recent four year trek speaks a little differently, however.

• In 2006 he had 36 starts, completed 10577 of 10660 laps, with 854 laps led. Overall he had 24 Top 10 finishes, 13 Top 5 finishes, and 5 wins.

• In 2007 he had 36 starts, completed 10318 of 10582 laps, with 1289 laps led. Overall he had 24 Top 10 finishes, 20 Top 5 finishes, and 10 wins.

• In 2008 he had 36 starts, completed 10643 of 10726 laps, with 1959 laps led. Overall he had 22 Top 10 finishes, 15 Top 5 finishes, and 7 wins.

• In 2009 he had 36 starts, completed 10298 of 10492 laps, with 2238 laps led. Overall he had 24 Top 10 finishes, 16 Top 5 finishes, and 7 wins.

Overall, Jimmy Johnson has a 9 year NASCAR Racing career total of 291 starts, completing 83810 laps, with 9681 laps led.  He has 180 Top 10 finishes, 117 Top 5 finishes, and 47 wins.

When it comes to the making of NASCAR Racing history, could anything have been more predictable than the current reign of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion?

For every online shop I have seen and visited it seems as though there is always some problem or another…  Whether it involves an inability to easily navigate around the site to find the sports stuff I am looking for, or simply not having affordable, quality, brand name products to choose from.  These problems and many more are what inspired me to create this site, and I hope that I have fulfilled my primary objective of making this site user friendly?

For me there can be nothing more frustrating than visiting a website for the purpose of purchasing golf stuff and ultimately ending up at some page without the ability to return to where I started, or to go back to a previous page or resource.  I am certain that many of you have shared this same experience as well, and that is why I have implemented certain strategies into this site to eliminate this common frustration.

When you reach this site I ask that you please recognize how convenient it is to navigate your way around to find what you are looking for.  In addition to the easy page navigation bar towards the top of this site, in the upper right-hand sidebar you can also see both pages and sub-pages.  Both of these features follow you wherever you navigate to on this site.  Moreover, please recognize that whenever you click on any link in this site it will open up in a new tab or window so you can easily navigate between multiple tabs or windows and never have to worry about becoming lost or reaching a dead end with no ability to get back to where you started.

As a resolution for 2010 I wish to announce our new online shop.  Currently it merely provides golf stuff; which includes various golf club product lines and the such, but for now it is a start.  I thoroughly scoured various sources to provide what I believe to be the best, and most affordable golf stuff that money can buy.  I invested many hours searching online golf sites; analyzing and scrutinizing various products lines with the goal of offering the best golf stuff there is to find.  Granted, currently our site has very limited products and content, but I can assure you that over the course of the next few weeks and months our products lines and resources will be replete with great ideas and savings for you, our valued visitors and customers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM AFFORDABLE SPORTS STUFF

But regardless of his bad choices, Tiger Woods’ main sponsor Nike reports they are looking forward to the player’s return to golf after he announced he was taking an indefinite break to repair his troubled marriage.  Essentially Nike is  supporting him by silently stating that they respect the decision of Tiger Woods, and so should everyone else!

With all of the media attention on Tiger Woods I would imagine that most people have grown tired of hearing the litany of allegations, mishaps, and the such…   So to deviate from the mainstream media reporting, its time to take it to the level that it belongs.  Enough is enough already!

Let us respect the decision of Tiger Woods to take an indefinite break from golf so he can work on getting his family affairs back in order.  Enough is enough already!

Let the media put this purported news topic on the back burner and focus on more interesting topics that have substance and interest.  Matters of marital infidelity happen every single day in society and just because it involves Tiger Woods should have no more relevance than if it were my neighbor or yours.  Everyone makes bad choices and obviously he made some too.  But does that warrant the endless litany of intrusive news reports plaguing the media?  Tiger and his family deserve the privacy that they are asking for during these difficult times.  Enough is enough already!

We at Sports Stuff respect the decision of Tiger Woods and support him on his journey to repair the wrongs he has committed.

We at Sports Stuff accept Tigers plea for forgiveness and humbly hope for the reparation of his family, as well as his return to the sport of professional golf.

The world of professional golf will not be the same without Tiger Woods, so let him and his family have the necessary space and time they need so hopefully we can see him playing professional golf again soon!