Over The Wall

The Big One

    This week we head back to a track where it’s always exciting and you never know what to expect.  I personally have had my good and bad experiences at this track and both are ones that I won’t forget.  Last year we were able to win the Daytona 500 and it was the best racing experience I’ve had yet.  It’s was the super bowl of our sport and being the 50^th anniversary was even better.  What some people might not realize is that 6 years earlier at that same track we had a wreck, and I say we( Ryan Newman) that was brutal looking.  He flipped something like 6 or 7 times and the car was torn apart bad.  The housing was thrown out of the car and there was a picture in sports illustrated that had captured the car after the first flip and you could see the bottom just ripping apart.  On the way home it was unbelievable that Ryan didn’t have a scratch on him.  He was sore as could be but for the most part he was ok.  This track always puts a knot in your stomach but at the same time it’s a great one to watch.  Hope everyone tunes in and maybe we can come away with a good finish.

World Series of Poker

It’s no secret that I like to play poker and have been playing for a long time.  Most of the guys on the team have played before and occasionally we’ll play at the track during a rain delay or something.  This past week I was at the WSOP(world series of poker) in Las Vegas and played in event #34.  It was a no limit hold em event.   I got back from Michigan and held all our film meetings Monday and then boarded a plane for the tournament that started on Tues.  It’s the only tournament that started on a Tues. that I could play in because I didn’t want to miss a race and it gave me plenty of time to get back.  I ended up finishing 199^th out of 2100 players and made the money.  It was a cool experience in that I had a lot of guys on pit crews texting me and following it on the computer the whole two days that I played.  It was something that me and my brother did and hopefully we can do every year.  It’s always nice to take a mid week break and still be able to get back to the track in plenty of time.  Well, that’s about all for now.

Helio visits the shop

   One of the the cool things about our shop over here at Penske Racing is the fact that we run multiple teams out of one very large building.  Two of those teams are the IRL 3 and 6 cars driven by Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.  This year so far has been a very good year for both teams and the success just keeps coming.  After winning his third Indy 500, Helio thru a cookout for everyone in the shop including the Cup guys.  For anyone who has never seen an interview or had a chance to meet Helio let me tell you a little about this guy.  I don’t know him very well but from the time I have spent talking to him over the last 3 years you won’t find a nicer more down to earth guy than him.  During his interviews after the race you see him all excited and like a little kid in a candy store and that’s the real Helio.  He stayed and signed autographs for everyone in the shop until there was nothing else to sign.  After he signed for a couple of hours he came by the gym to see some video of his last race and how he was coming into the pits.  It’s always nice to see a driver who doesn’t forget the people that make him good.  I think all the guys in the IRL shop appreciate that and it helps with the moral of the team.  If you ever get a chance at an IRL race to meet him it would be well worth it to go up and say hello.  Theres a good chance he’ll end up just talking to you.  Well, that’s about all for now.

Avis Pit Crew Challenge

   When ever the Charlotte race comes to town we always end up with a pretty hectic schedule for two weeks.  The wife loves it and i get to stay home more than not.  For the last two weeks we have had the pit crew challenge, all star qualifying, all star race, and still have the 600 coming up.  Its great cause were home and we get to stay here but it s a lot of away time as well.   This year we got to do something else pretty cool.  We went down to the Charlotte Douglas Airport and competed in a pit crew challenge with one of our sponsors, Avis.  We had to do a series of challenges that was contoured to the way they work and we ended up finishing second to the team from Charlotte.  Teams from all over were there and we just didn't have enough to win.  It was a good event and the crew had a lot of fun with it.  Well, i guess thats all for now.  I'll be heading to the track on Saturday night for the Nationwide race and then back again on Sunday.  Hopefully we do well.

Fans Vote

  This is always a topic I enjoy writing about.  It's no secret that Jr. and Mark Martin are two of the favorites among fans for the last few years.  Like always there is a fan vote for who can get into the all star race and with those two drivers in the race already it s always interesting to see who else the fans enjoy watching.  Over the past few years it has been a few different drivers and this year I have no idea who it could be.  As a guy in the sport I have my own opinions on who I think it might be, but I'm very interested in who everyone else will be voting for.  Some fans like a driver who is aggressive and some like the guy who never wins but is a fair competitor.  Me personally, I’ll be voting for David Stremme to get in.  I would love to be in this race and hopefully we can race our way in.  I guess in about a week we will see who you guys want in the race.  Give me an update on who you think will win.  That's all for now.

Pit Competition Update

  With only two weeks left until the PCC there are still teams fighting to get in.  The Miller Lite team is already locked in from a win last year and is currently first in the points.  As far as the 12 car goes, we are one of four bubble teams trying to make it in two spots.  With Brad winning Talladega it took one of the at large bids away and now we are down to two.  It should be interesting to see who gets in and who doesn’t.  I will say this, the 2 car has been practicing hard and I think they have a strong team and a good chance to do well in the competition.  Most of the guys on the 12 car are the same ones that won it two years ago.  I would love to see what we can do this year.  As far as the 77 team goes, they had a chance to make it going into Talladega and got caught up in the second big one and now they are mathematically alive but it will be tough for them to make.  Other teams that are on the bubble are the 1 car, 07, 47, and us.  I guess we ll just have to wait and see.  That’s all for now.

Close Competition

    The competition has started out a bit closer this year than in years past.  I could be wrong so don’t hold me to it, but from the looks of this year in comparison to last it seems there are a lot more drivers from different teams in the top 12 than in the past.  This year so far there are 8 different teams that are represented in the top 12.  I can remember a few years back there were 4 Roush cars, 3 Hendricks, 3 Childress and then a few others filling in.  As it stands now, there are Hendricks, Penske, Gibbs, Roush, Petty, Stewart Hass, Childress, and Michael Waltrip cars all in the top 12.  I think the COT’s are doing their job of making the competition more on the drivers and crew and in turn its making the competition better.  Don’t know how it looks from the fans point of view but each week from the pits you never know who’s going to win.  I like that.  That’s it for now.

The off weekend

    

                This week is always one I look forward to having.  Any time you get a chance to spend with the family is well worth it.  I guess this week I’m going to stay around the house and get some work done.  Keeping the wife happy is half of keeping me happy when I’m on the road.  Anyway, this week was another solid day for us at Penske.  We had three cars that had good finishes and gave us some momentum heading into the off week.  Not only are the Cup teams starting to get on a roll but the Nationwide team is now 5^th in points and heads to Nashville with high hopes of a good finish.  As far as our race went on Sunday, it was a pretty good day.  We had some good stops in the pits and the 2 and 77 had an even better days in the pits.  After watching the race on Tivo, I noticed how many teams are having trouble in the pits and how much pit road could effect the chase and even the championship.  It’s still early but with the new rule change, it has become a competition of who can stay more consistent than the next guy.  It’s always been important to do well on pit road but there have been a few races this year that have been determined by what teams do on the last pit stop.  With the points getting tight, it’s only going to put more pressure on crews.  Hope everyone enjoys the Nationwide race and that all for now.

Surprising Day

  Sunday was an up and down day for all of the Penske cars.  We started out with good cars but just didn’t qualify as well as we would have liked.  After the first round of pit stops our cars were heading up towards the front and managing to stay on the lead lap, which at

Bristol

can be tough.  About mid way thru the second run the caution came out and I looked up to see the 12 and 2 cars both having some damage in the caution.  Ordinarily that could have ended or really hurt our day for a good run, but in our case I think it lit a fire under the drivers.  Kurt and David did an awesome job staying ahead of the leaders and on the lead lap which would eventually put us in a position to finish well.  The 2 car had solid stops all day and ended up moving into 2^nd in the points and the 12 was running 13^th when they got tied up in another caution and ended up 19^th.  Either way we moved up in the points to 2^nd, 22^nd, and stayed at 32^nd.  I think our cars keep getting better and it should be fun at

Martinsville

this week.  That’s all for now.

Big win for Penske Racing

         This past weekend was a big weekend for all the guys at Penske.  It’s good to get back to victory lane and reap the rewards for some hard work in the off season.  Over the past few months, there have been a lot of changes going on at the shop and it looks like it finally starting to pay off.  I thought the two car guys did a good job getting the car set up right and the pit crew was awesome all day.  The 12 car was decently strong most of the day but we got caught pitting early and ended up losing two laps.  We could never get those laps back and ended up not finishing near as well as our car was running.  All in all, I feel real good about the direction of our teams and the way we were running.  The next race is Bristol and Kurt has run very well there in the past.  Things are looking up for a good year so far.  That s all for now.