FIRST 70,000 TO SIGN UP WILL HAVE NAMES FEATURED ON NO. 88 CHEVY

If Dale Earnhardt Jr. goes to Victory Lane in the Oct. 5 AMP Energy 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, he will bring the names of 70,000 members of JR Nation with him.

I’m proud of my sponsor, AMP Energy, for giving my fans an opportunity to ride along with me and my team for the AMP Energy 500 in October. It’s a great promotion, and I can’t wait to see how many people sign up to ride along with us.

To become one of the many people who will catch a “Ride with Dale Jr.” all you need is one can of AMP Energy drink and a computer. Beginning April 22, Earnhardt fans can simply take the code found on the bottom of any AMP Energy can, log onto www.AMPEnergy.com and register.

The first 70,000 will have their names featured on the special No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet “Ride with Dale Jr.” paint scheme.

But the program doesn’t end there. AMP Energy will include each and every person who signs up to “Ride with Dale Jr.” by featuring the additional names on Dale Junior’s pit wall, his car cover and other areas around the track.

“My fan base at Talladega is incredible, so it’s a fitting place for this program,” said Earnhardt, who has won five times at the 2.66-mile superspeedway.

“I’m proud of my sponsor, AMP Energy, for giving my fans an opportunity to ride along with me and my team for the AMP Energy 500 in October. It’s a great promotion, and I can’t wait to see how many people sign up to ride along with us.

For AMP Energy, it’s all about getting Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s avid fan base one step closer to their hero.

“We want every member of Junior Nation to be there with Dale Jr. as he goes for victory in the very first AMP Energy 500 race,” said Ralph Santana, VP of sports, media and interactive marketing, Pepsi-Cola North America.

“To have Dale compete in this special AMP Energy paint scheme, surrounded by his fans, will be the ideal way for us to launch our title sponsorship at Talladega.

About Amp Energy

AMP Energy is a co-primary sponsor of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet and the title sponsor of the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega. Launched in 2001 as a brand extension of the original energy drink, Mountain Dew, AMP Energy is continuing Mountain Dew’s heritage in racing.

With its energizing blend of B-Vitamins and a specially formulated, intense combination of taurine, ginseng and guarana, AMP Energy keeps you focused and on top of your game at all times. AMP Energy is currently available in original, sugar free and Overdrive (cherry) as well as the new line extensions – AMP Energy Elevate, AMP Energy Relaunch and AMP Energy Traction. Look for new limited edition Dale Jr. products this summer.

AMP Energy is a product of Pepsi-Cola North America, the refreshment beverage unit of PepsiCo Inc. in the United States and Canada.

If it slipped by you, I recently enjoyed watching the new 2-disc DVD Full Throttle Adrenaline by A&E Television Networks.

Well, they were kind enough to share with me two additional copies to share with you. So, it’s just all kinds of contest time around here at Onebadwheel.

Here is how the one for this very cool DVD works.

Anyone playing Champs, Chumps and Sleepers this weekend for the New Hampshire International Speedway Lenox Industrial Tools 301 has a shot at winning this DVD.

The person with the highest score for this one race wins. It’s that simple.

If you’re not already playing Champs, Chumps & Sleepers…go sign up!

*If you are new to the game, please read the simple instructions. Your ‘Chumps’ are drivers you think will do BAD. In fact, you really want them to do bad, because you get their driver points DEDUCTED from your score for the week.

UPDATE: We have a winner! The team is “Kelly’s Heroes” who is none other than the fantasy expert Jeff Gutowski. Way to go Jeff. Your DVD is on it’s way.”

Lenox Industrial Tools 301

Back To Racing!

Hopefully this weekend we get back to some real exciting racing. Road courses, fuel mileage and Pocono just aren’t racing to me. Perhaps the oval track in Loudon is just what NASCAR needs to get a little bit of excitement back in the sport.

My Pick To Win

My bold prediction for the week is that Jeff Gordon will get his first series victory of the year this weekend. Jeff has come up just shy the last 3 races at Loudon finishing with a 3rd and two 2nd place finishes. He will break out on a track that he likes to race on and visit victory lane.

Loudon Frontrunners

It’s hard to pick against Kyle Busch every week and it would make the Yahoo league very boring if you could use him in every race of the year but you can only start him 9 times. Which 9 do we start him at? Kyle has a win and 2 other top 5 finishes in 6 starts at Loudon but he isn’t consistent enough here to warrant a start.

Jeff Burton has 4 top 10 finishes in his last 5 starts at Loudon and won here 3 times when he was with Roush racing. He still sits 2nd in the point standings and is quietly putting together a great season. This could be the place where he makes up a little ground on Kyle this week.

Martin Truex Jr. has only run 4 Cup races here but he has finished in the top 5 the last 2. Martin learned quickly on this track and could very well have another good run this weekend.

In his last 11 starts at Loudon, Jimmie Johnson has been very good. He has 2 wins, 7 top 10’s, finished 11th twice and 13th once. Jimmie could win on any given Sunday at Loudon if most of the pieces fall just right for him.

Matt Kenseth has 10 top 10 finishes in his last 11 New Hampshire races. However, Matt has never won a race here. All of that could change this weekend as Matt has been on a roll lately and gotten himself back into the top 12 in the point standings just 2 points ahead of Kevin Harvick.

Tony Stewart has a win, two 2nd’s and a 3rd place finish in his last 6 Loudon races. When the weather heats up, so does Tony and he will break out very soon and take some of the thunder away from Kyle Busch.

Denny Hamlin has been fabulous at Loudon over 4 starts with a win and 3 top 6 finishes. His worst finish was 15th last fall. Denny just loves the flatter tracks and is a factor every time he goes to one. Loudon only has 12 degree banking in the corners so it plays right into his hands.

Kasey Kahne has been on a tear lately but hit a bit of a roadblock last week in Sonoma after winning the pole. Kasey lost his clutch right at the start of the race, which really cost him in the pits, but he never really had a handle on the car either.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is once again a factor on the short flat tracks since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Dale is another driver who has never won a race at Loudon but should be able to put together another decent run this weekend.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Jeff Gordon (starter)
• Jeff Burton

Group B

• Martin Truex Jr (starter)
• Jamie McMurray (starter)
• Ryan Newman
• Kasey Kahne

Group C

• Brian Vickers (starter)
• Travis Kvapil

Stay Away From

• Clint Bowyer

Dark Horse

• Jamie McMurray

“

My momma always said, “Road course ringers are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” OK, so my momma doesn’t really know much of anything about racing, much less road course ringers. But the part about a box of chocolates and not knowing what you’re gonna get is so true. I hate biting into a gorgeous hunk of dark chocolate only to discover some sort of coconut goo residing in the center. It just ruins the moment and puts a terrible taste in my mouth. All of you Champs, Chumps & Sleepers fantasy players that had road course ringers on your fantasy roster know what I’m talking about.

Like that nugget of dark chocolate, Boris Said, Scott Pruett, Marcos Ambrose, and even Ron Fellows in the #01 with his “guaranteed to start” Top 35 status must have looked good to many of us as we filled out our fantasy roster. Perhaps Darren’s Road Course Ringer Ratings” even played a role. After all, three of those ringers had median finishes on road courses of 12th or better!

Yet race day brought a bitter end to what was anticipated to be a sweet points day for many fantasy teams. Sure, there were flashes of hope for a great finish, especially for Marcos Ambrose in the famous Wood Brother’s #21. But when the field took the checkers, the Cup regulars had left the road course ringers out to dry. Even some of the road racers with full time Cup rides had finishes at the back of the pack. As I scan over the results below I have to wonder, “Just how will fantasy team owners set their rosters once the series gets to Watkins Glen?” Personally, I may just skip that variety box of chocolates and instead get some M&Ms or a Snickers bar. At least one won’t melt in my hands, and the other really satisfies you.

• 17th = Terry Labonte
• 29th = Ron Fellows
• 35th = Max Papis
• 36th = Robby Gordon
• 37th = A.J. Allmendinger
• 38th = Scott Pruett
• 41st = Boris Said
• 42nd = Marcos Ambrose
• 43rd = Brian Simo
• DNQ = Dario Franchitti
• DNQ = Brandon Ash

The weekend did not start off promising for the #18 M&Ms team. Right off the truck the team struggled to get Kyle’s Toyota handling well.

“We unloaded here this weekend and we were absolutely horrible,” Busch said in his post-race press conference. “We were so bad we didn’t know what was going on. These guys worked their tails off and never gave up. We worked on it and worked on it – made changes to everything – and finally figured it out. I have to thank AP Brakes, MAC Tools, M&M’s, Snickers, Interstate Batteries, NOS Energy Drink and everybody that’s helped us here. For Toyota to win here at their home race, that’s pretty special, too.”

Special indeed. Kyle actually had to qualify the car twice. It was discovered that an official failed to remove some NASCAR mandated tape that covers the cowl induction area of the hood before the team’s qualifying attempt. NASCAR apparently requires the tape to be placed over the cowl until the cars are set to go out for qualifying. This practice is done in an effort to prevent cheating (or sabotage) via insertion of foreign object into the cowl. With the tape covering the cowl induction area, precious air was blocked from getting into the engine, thus horsepower was reduced. Once discovered, the team was permitted fresh tires, time to cool the engine, and a second attempt at qualifying.

Interesting to me is that before the race there seemed to be a feeling that Kyle would not do well on the road course. I honestly didn’t understand this. True, I myself did have him in my “Chumps” pick for Champs, Chumps & Sleepers. However, my decision was based not on past results, but rather on events leading up to the race. First, a poor qualifying position on a road course. Second, the team struggled with the setup. And third, Kyle’s reported sour mood (as well as his disgusted look on television). I just didn’t think those ingredients would combine to result in a good finish. WRONG! It took him only 33 laps to reach P1 on the scoring tower. From there he led all but 2 of the remaining 80 laps of the race. OK, so I guess the FBI’s BAU will not be needing my services.

In the end, Kyle’s win really shouldn’t surprise us. He has had success on the road courses, including a win this past April in the Nationwide Series road course race in Mexico. Even limiting his road course history to Cup series racing (which is 3 years) he has had good finishes at both Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen. Only in his rookie year did he post unfavorable results.

Infineon Raceway:
2005 = 40th (Rookie year)
2006 = 11th
2007 = 8th
2008 = 1st

Watkin Glen:
2005 = 33rd (Rookie year)
2006 = 9th
2007 = 7th

So congratulations (again) to the entire Joe Gibbs #18 team. Here are some post-race loop data statistics for Kyle’s run to the checkers at Infineon Raceway.

• Starting Position = 30th
• Mid Race Position = 1st
• 11 Laps to Go = 1st
• Lowest Position = 32nd
• Average Position = 6th
• # of Fastest Laps = 26 (best of all drivers)
• Laps in Top 15 = 90
• % of Laps in Top 15 = 80.4%
• Laps Led = 78, or 69.6% (best of all drivers)
• Final Driver Rating = 147.6 (best of all drivers)

The folks at A&E Home Entertainment sent me a copy of the Full Throttle Adrenaline DVD to check out and share with you. Details on how to score one of the two free copies I have to give will be coming soon.

This is a 2-disc set of quality NASCAR footage and commentary. The 2 DVD’s run a total of 113 minutes. It was fun watching it with my wife. Her, being a NASCAR noobie, and me with a few years under the NASCAR belt, it was great to see footage I had seen and also not seen before.

I prattled on during the Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven Darlington finish. I filled in the context for Kevin Harvick’s win over Jeff Gordon at Atlanta. Classic Allison brothers and Cale Yarborough fighting. Richard Petty wrecking across the finish line. Plus, tons of other footage that I had never seen (or not seen enough).

This DVD lives up to it’s name of Full Throttle Adrenaline because it really did have us on the edge of our seats with the wealth of great NASCAR footage.

The DVD is hosted by Steve Byrnes and flows along at a good pace.

Along with the intense NASCAR on-track footage is an interesting trip to the NASCAR R&D Center and Exclusive PC Wallpaper.

I wholeheartedly say that this DVD would make a great gift for yourself or the NASCAR fan in your life.

First thing. I need you to help me out here and get in the spirit of this post. See the OneBadWheel logo up at the top left of your screen? Good, now look right below the word “Bad” and click on the little orange box with the #20 in it. Great, now you’ve pimped your OneBadWheel to Smoke’s colors! You may now proceed.

OK boys and girls, it’s time for another contest that is tied into our free fantasy game Champs, Chumps & Sleepers. So far this year we’ve had two mid-segment giveaways. One was a six pack of diecast cars for the fantasy team with the highest score for the Darlington race. The second giveaway was a pair of diecast cars featuring the two #88 paint schemes of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Chevrolets. When Jr. won his first race of 2008 we took all eligible teams and the one with the highest score for that same race was declared the winner. That was easy! So far though that prize has not been claimed! Boomersbumpdraftin,” you better speak up and claim your cars!

Looking ahead on the schedule I decided the next track that would be good to focus a giveaway around would be the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now when I think Brickyard, I think of Tony Stewart. After all, he has some pretty impressive stats there (scroll to the bottom of this post for “Smoke-stats” at the Brickyard). So, the next contest is going to be centered around Tony Stewart and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Now that race isn’t until July 27, 2008. So there’s plenty of time to enter your team and be eligible to win. Here’s how it works:

• If you’re not already playing Champs, Chumps & Sleepers, then sign up. It is after all…..FREE & easy!
• Once you’ve signed up and have your team, you’ll need to visit your team’s page and click on “My Groups.” From there, click on the “Join a Private Group” link and enter the group name and password below. Your team MUST be in the private group before the race day deadline to be eligible to win! So join it now to be sure you’re in!
  Group Name:Brickyard Contest”
  Password: Smoke
• Be sure to fill out your fantasy roster for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard by that race’s deadline. Once the deadline to adjust your roster for that race has passed, the group’s password will be changed and no more teams will be allowed to join during the race.
• IF Tony Stewart finishes the race in the Top 5, then the eligible team with the highest score for the Brickyard race will win a Tony Stewart prize pack. If Tony fails to finish the race in the top five, then the prize pack will not be awarded and may be offered up in another contest at a later date. So you’ll just have to come back, keep playing and try again.

Now, just for the record, my team (“Foothills Racing”) is in the group, but that’s because I created the group. I am not eligible to win and neither is my wife. Everyone else who joins the group is eligible. This includes the volunteer contributing writers to OneBadWheel, as well as the owner himself of OneBadWheel. Also, the prize pack must ship to a US address (sorry Abu).

So what are you waiting for? Go join the group now and feel free to post some Trash Talk in the private group as well! Good luck, and let’s have some fun! By the way, here are some of those impressive “Smoke-stats” I mentioned earlier.

• In the 2007 race he led 65 laps on his way to victory. 100% of his laps were ran in the top fifteen. His average running position was 2nd. He had a series best 45 “fastest laps” and attained a 146.0 out of a 150.0 possible driver rating.
• He has 2 wins at the Brickyard, making him one of only 3 drivers with multiple wins here. Jeff Gordon has 4 wins at Indianapolis and Dale Jarrett has 2 wins.
• In 9 career starts he has 4 top fives, 6 top tens, and has never finished worse than 17th.
• In those 9 starts, Tony has completed 100% of the laps (1,441), and has led 215 of them.
• He has an average start of 16.2 and an average finish of 7.6
• Total Brickyard winnings: $2,409,012

“The dreaded and universally used NASCAR rule violation aka “Section 12.4A – Actions Detrimental to Stock Car Racing”.

What is it really?

Jeff: Actions detrimental to stock car racing is just way too broad to be a rule. I understand that it is hard to make up rules when technology changes so fast and you are trying to keep the sport competitive but every time somebody gets caught doing anything it’s always actions detrimental to stack car racing.

The average fan can’t even get a copy of the NASCAR rulebook. The only people allowed to have a rule book are the NASCAR teams. This is the only sport that I know of where they don’t want anyone on the outside to know the rules.

Next, everyone who is penalized under this rule is given a different penalty and it isn’t explained very well to the fans. An infraction that looks similar to the fan that has occurred to two different teams is penalized differently and there isn’t much of an explanation given.

I agree that we have to keep the sport competitive but, I would also like to have a better explanation given to me. The fans are the ones who pay their hard earned money to keep the seats full and the sponsors coming. Don’t we deserve to know what is really happening in the garage?

James: Have you ever been pulled over by “one of those” cops? You know, the ones who seem to have something to prove. I can see them now with the brass wire framed sunglasses and mirrored lenses. Perhaps they’re sporting that 70’s porn star style mustache, a shirt seemingly unbuttoned 2-3 buttons too far, and a black leather jacket on despite the 96 degree temps of an June afternoon.

He snaps, License and registration!” and all you can think is, Oh my God, I just got pulled over for speeding on Old Folks Row by the Village People’s cop!.” You try the best you can to keep from laughing out loud, but you fail. That’s when “Officer Willis” just starts tacking on any and every citation and rule infraction that he can think of to your speeding ticket to show you just how bad you’ve really been.

In NASCAR we have the something very similar, “section 12.4A.” A driver or team may in fact do something wrong, but penalizing them for that alone isn’t enough. No, they’ll tack on the trusty section 12.4A for good measure. I mean honestly, half of the so called “detrimental actions” are in fact the ones that keep the fans excited and interested in the sport! Kyle Busch, buddy on a scale of 1-10 you are 12.4A! Good job!

Mike: Ah yes, section 12.4A. It’s like a parent’s blanket answer for breaking a rule. What kid didn’t hate it when their parents would use “Just because” as a reason why they were wrong?

The rule is frustrating because it’s so vague. I’ve seen it used for both inspection violations and conduct issues. Which is it? Sometimes I think the NASCAR body is guilty of violating their own rule. Tell me Pocono races aren’t detrimental to Stock Car Racing.

James: Mike, you’re spot on about Pocono races! You took the words right out of my mouth. As a matter of fact I just quickly put together a short list off the top of my head. These are actions that should be categorized as “Actions Detrimental to Stock Car Racing.” Here they are in no particular order:

1. Restarting a rain delayed race after midnight.
2. A Champions Provisional.
3. Giving two race dates each to Pocono and California.
4. Claiming there is a NASCAR rule book (written in ink).
5. Race analysts dressed up in costumes doing pre-race shows and silly skits.
6. Race fans spectators throwing beer cans.
7. Timely debris cautions for silly stuff like a foam can koozie down on the apron.
8. Having Alan Bestwick work in the pits instead of the broadcast booth.
9. Clogging up the television screen with so many scrolling tickers, sponsor logos, and animated graphics that the viewer is left with the equivalent of a 20″ viewing area of the actual race action.
10. “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity

“Back in March I posted a little contest here in the blog section: When Earnhardt Jr Wins His First Race Then You Win Too!” The rules were simple. First, if you weren’t already registered, sign up to play the OneBadWheel free fantasy game Champs, Chumps & Sleepers. Second, either join the private contest group in the game, and/or simply post a response in the blog’s comments section of that article and list your team name. When Dale Jr. won his first race, then the race team with the highest points that race would win a pair of Dale Earnhardt Jr. diecast cars.

A little over three months later and we now have two winners. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, and Boomersbumpdraftin” had the highest score of all eligible players with 311 points. Here is the roster that “Boomersbumpdraftin” won the contest with:

• CHAMPS: David Ragan, Matt Kenseth
• CHUMPS: Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick
• SLEEPERS: Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray

Currently “Boomersbumpdraftin” is in 253rd position for Segment #2, and 87th in the overall season standings. There’s still plenty of time in this segment and in the season to make a charge to the front. I myself fell out of the top 100 in segment #1 only to make up ground and finish in the top 20. So “Boomersbumpdraftin”, keep up with those great picks, and congratulations.

Here are how the other eligible teams finished. Note, there were some who didn’t play at all, and yet a few others who didn’t post a team name (hard to score you if we don’t know who you are! Tsk, Tsk!). Those players below with tied scores were listed in order according to their rank in the overall season standings.

1. 311 = Boomersbumpdrafters
2. 293 = Xavier Thomas Racing
3. 276 = Getcha Some
4. 276 = Jeff Burton Fan
5. 258 = Gimp Racing
6. 258 = Prestissimo Racing
7. 251 = Gr8 88
8. 219 = Breanna Racing
9. -100 = The PNB Victory Hat Dance
10. -100 = RacerX
11. -100 = The Last Lap #3
12. 0 = “Mike Thomas” (No team name found)
13. 0 = “Andreas” (No team name found)
14. 0 = “Diecast cars” (No team name found)

“Boomersbumpdrafters”, I will fire off an e-mail to you so I can get your shipping address to send these diecast cars to you.”

Toyota Save Mart 350

I Can Hardly Stand It!

Just as I suspected last week, the race was won by fuel mileage. Not to take anything away from Dale Jr. or his team who made the right call but that is not racing in my book. And now this week we head to a road-course. I have one word for you. Boring!

My Pick To Win

My pick to win this week is Jeff Gordon. Jeff has struggled on the “cookie cutter” tracks this year but he is always good at Sonoma. Jeff has won 5 of the last 10 races at Sonoma and has a 2nd and 3rd place finish during that stretch also.

Sonoma Frontrunners

Tony Stewart is another guy who knows how to win on the road-course. However, Tony is better at Watkins Glen than he is at Sonoma. Tony has won twice at Sonoma during his 9-race career there and usually has at least a top 15 finish.

Kevin Harvick runs well at these tracks. Kevin finished 2nd to Juan Pablo Montoya last year but has never won here in 7 tries. Still this is a good track for him to get back in the groove.

Juan Pablo Montoya won this race last year for his first ever Cup win. Juan has struggled the last few weeks but this is just what the doctor ordered for him to break out of his mini slump.

Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman both do fairly well at Sonoma. Kurt has 3 top 5 finishes in 7 starts here while Ryan has 4 top 10’s in 6 starts including a runner-up finish a few years ago.

Boris Said is probably the best ringer that will try to make it this weekend. The entry list isn’t out yet but I would almost bet that road-course ringers would replace some drivers this weekend. Especially for those who are sitting on the bubble of the top 35 in owners points.

Watch Your Yahoo! C Group Picks

Keep a watch on the entry list, which should come out on Tuesday. Pick your C driver from this group in the Yahoo league but make sure that at least one of your drivers is in the top 35 in owner’s points so you have someone who is sure to make the raced on your list.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Jeff Gordon (starter)
• Tony Stewart

Group B

• Juan Pablo Montoya (starter)
• Robby Gordon (starter)
• Ryan Newman
• Jamie McMurray

Group C

• Boris Said (starter)
• Sam Hornish Jr

“