Category: my thoughts on

By David G. Firestone

I’ve been following Carl Edwards’ retirement story since in broke on Tuesday. I knew I wanted to write about it, but as I was thinking, I realized that I had to say something to someone else. So I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Brian Scott for what I said back in December.

For those who don’t remember, I slammed Brian Scott for walking away from his racing career to focus on “the next phase of his career.” I made my feelings known that I thought it wasn’t a great decision, and that he is making a serious mistake. After what happened with Carl Edwards, I realized how wrong he really was, and I felt bad for saying that. I realized that both Carl and Brian put a lot of thought into these decisions, they took what was the best decision, not just for them but their families. It seemed like a rash decision at the time, but with hindsight , it was the right decision. I wish them both the best.

The next item is the new blog format for The Driver Suit Blog. I thought the old format would work well, but what has been happening is that when I do paint schemes on different days, it changes the fonts. I hated the way it looked, and I tried everything to fix it. Seeing that the best option would be to change the entire layout, I made that decision. There are still some issues, but I’ll work around it.

Also, for the last bit this week, the San Diego Chargers became the LA Chargers. As such, they introduced a logo for the move, which didn’t go over too well. So since everyone else was having fun with their logo, I might as well too. Check it out.

By David G. Firestone

I hate internet outrage! I don’t mind when the outrage is about a serious matter, but when the outrage is about something that doesn’t matter at all, it’s annoying as all hell! I read something earlier this week, and I heard the reaction surrounding it, and it boggles my mind on so many levels.

NBC is considering canceling Days Of Our Lives, which has been on since 1965 for a news show starring Megyn Kelly. For some reason, people are angry about this. Let me explain something to you who are mad: NBC doesn’t have to lose money to make you happy. The soap opera is a thing of the past, just like milkmen, and the evening newspaper. NBC is a for profit company, and if a show isn’t profitable, it goes away. If Days of Our Lives was as popular as people claim, wouldn’t NBC make every attempt to keep it on the air?

The television market is a constantly evolving market. Obviously the ratings matter. I’m amazed at people who think that what is profitable and what the market is showing to be profitable doesn’t matter because it’s not what they want. I’m sorry the world doesn’t work the way you want it to. Entertainment and technology are going to progress the way they are, and if you aren’t happy, then that’s too bad. Also, it’s not impossible that a cable channel could pick the series up. Stay tuned.

By David G. Firestone

2017 is upon us. We all celebrated New Years in our own way. I celebrated my 35^th birthday yesterday. I don’t make resolutions for myself, but I’m going to make some for The Driver Suit Blog.

*Politics is banned forever from The Driver Suit Blog. You come here to get away from the worries, and I will help you as I can.

*I will not make any major changes to the Driver Suit Blog formula. Everything will be the same.

*For current events, I will try to be as neutral as I possibly can.

*As promised, I will have a few Tailgating Time recipes for this year.

*I’m also going to work on a few videos as Friday Features. For some subjects, it’s easier to express certain things with a video than it can through text.

*If you send me an email, I will respond. I wasn’t as good as I could have been last year, you guys and gals rule, and I love looking up stuff for you!

*As always, I’m going to keep trying new projects, some for The Driver Suit Blog, some for my own enjoyment.

*Finally, as always, all are welcome here, no questions asked.

I wish you all the best 2017!

By David G. Firestone

Big news yesterday, as not only was the new name for what was the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was revealed, but NASCAR itself has a new logo. I can’t say I’m all that shocked about either, but I will say it did take NASCAR a lot longer than I thought it would to come up with a new logo.

Let’s discuss NASCAR’s new logo. The old setup was good, but it was designed in 1976, and really needed an update. It’s a much more minimalist logo, with a different font, and the color bar is much shorter. I have to say…I like it. The font looks much better, and while I liked the old color bar setup, this new design looks really good. It works well. I give it an A.

Now the new name…the “Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.” I’m kind of surprised with that. It doesn’t roll of the tongue. It sounds almost like the name was a placeholder for something better. I thought they would have gone with the “NASCAR Monster Energy Series.” Traditionalists refer to it as the Cup series, and there had been discussions about removing the Cup from the name. In this case…it was the wrong move.

Also, why isn’t NASCAR the first word in the series title? Every series in NASCAR is the NASCAR X Series. In this case, Monster Energy is the first word in the title. Granted there is the Verizon IndyCar Series, but I’ve always thought it should be sanctioning body then sponsor. It sounds better, and works better.

Is the logo in the video the new series logo? Is the series logo going to be a black rectangle with the logo seen in the video? Is NASCAR moving away from the oval designs of the Xfinity Series, and Camping World Truck Series? If so, that would mark a return to the old Winston Cup logo patch design. This could work if the logo isn’t too big. But if the black rectangle is the new logo, it would have to be a little bigger for detail. This could work, or it could be disaster. I’ll reserve my judgment.

I also have to give NASCAR and Monster Energy credit for ruining what could have been a great press conference. NASCAR and Monster Energy held a massive press conference to reveal that a deal had been signed, but didn’t give any details on the series name or logo. Then, they basically used Facebook and Twitter to release a video declaring the new series name. It should have been reversed. They should have released a press release stating that a deal had been signed, and had the huge press conference to reveal the new series name and new NASCAR logo. I did not think they would mess this up as badly as they did.

We just can’t skip over this press conference thing. This should be the biggest moment of the off-season, and instead, it amounted to a little more than a press conference. The series could have had a great name and logo, but instead it has a terrible name, and a mediocre logo. NASCAR had so much opportunity to make this announcement great, but they screwed it up in every way possible. The new NASCAR logo is the only good thing about this. The ball was really dropped today. I can only hope that going forward, mistakes will be fixed.

By David G. Firestone

As predicted, it was announced today that Monster Energy will be the new series sponsor for what was the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This had been predicted, and I watched the press conference. I took a couple things away from that conference.

*NASCAR is getting “significantly less” money for the sponsorship from Monster than they did from Sprint. This doesn’t come as a shock to me due to the fact that within the last 10 years, TV ratings, and race attendance are down. Obviously this had an effect on the overall deal, and Monster had the best deal for the amount of ideas for the price.

*Monster has made it clear that they will be more aggressive with marketing. This is not a minor issue, for the reason above. Monster wants to “bring more younger viewers into the sport, while not alienating the current fan base.” I’m paraphrasing, but that is a good approach. Spring didn’t seem to be as interested in marketing as they should have been, and the sport suffered as a result.

*Looking at their current sponsorships and their current attitude, Monster is a motorsports oriented sponsor. Between Formula 1, Kurt Busch, World Rally Cross, and now NASCAR, it’s clear that Monster was the best choice.

*I have to wonder how this will affect current sponsorships. One guarantee a series sponsor has is that it automatically becomes the only company that can sponsor cars in their industry. Monster could be in any number of industries. Monster Energy could be classified as being in the energy drink, soda, or beverage industry. If it is in the energy drink category, that would be the best thing, because that would mean that other soda and beer companies wouldn’t have any issues. If it is in the soda category, that could affect Hendrick Motorsports, who has deals with Pepsi, and BK Racing, who has deals with Dr. Pepper/7Up. If it is in the beverage industry, that could make it very difficult for teams to find new sponsors.

*While current sponsors will probably get grandfathered in by the current deal, there is no guarantee that the sponsorships will remain in place. Something could happen that would violate an agreement, and then certain sponsors will get banned. This isn’t an unreasonable thing to worry about. Under Nextel/Sprint, Verizon and AT&T were both banned from sponsoring cars in the premier series.

*and finally, I didn’t realize that Monster Energy was an independent company, that has some stock owned by Coca Cola. I had thought that Coca Cola had purchased Monster a few ears ago.

It should also be noted that the series name and logo are still being worked on, so as soon as those get revealed, I will discuss them at length.

UPDATE: Since Monster Energy is in the Energy Drink category, only current energy drink manufacturers will be impacted. The only major sponsor this affects is 5-Hour Energy, and there is some debate over whether they are an energy drink or energy shot, which could affect their sponsorship of future cars.

By David G. Firestone

Before I finish for the year, I wanted to take some time and discuss a few things in the NASCAR world that are changing. Some are good, others are not. But all of them are going to impact the 2017 NASCAR season.

First is the big news that there are new rules for Cup drivers in the Xfinity and Truck Series. The two most important new rules are:

*Drivers with more than five years of full-time premier series experience will be ineligible to compete in the final eight races in each series, as well as the Dash 4 Cash races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The final eight races are comprised of the regular season finale and the entirety of the Chase in each series.

*Starting next season, premier series drivers with more than five years of full-time experience will be eligible to compete in a maximum of 10 races in the XFINITY Series and seven races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

I don’t think that the rules go far enough. I am a fan of the idea that the minor leagues of racing should only be used for driver development and/or driver injury rehabilitation. That is how every other sport in the history of ever has used their minor leagues. In my mind, full-time Cup drivers shouldn’t be allowed to compete in the Xfinity or Truck series, unless they have missed some races due to injury and want to judge if they are capable of running a full Cup race, or they lose their ride, and aren’t competing in the Cup series anymore.

Please don’t try to tell me that the Xfinity and Truck races benefit from “star power” of the Cup drivers. That argument makes zero sense whatsoever, because no other sports league does that with their stars. Did the NHL send Wayne Gretzky to the minors to boost their star power? Did the NBA send LeBron James to the D-league? Did the MLB send Mickey Mantle to the minors to boost star power? The answer is no. Mantle and Gretzky did spend time in the minors, but that was early in their careers, where their talents were obvious but they needed some more polish before debuting in the major leagues.

I also got some news last week that proves something I have been saying for some time. Greg Biffle was released from Roush Racing due to a lack of sponsorship. Biffle finished 23^rd in the standings, and was the third best of the Roush drivers, with Trevor Bayne finishing 22^nd, and Ricky Stenhouse finishing 21^st. Roush Fenway Racing has gone from super team to super joke in the last decade. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.

Why Jack Roush refuses to use the free agency system for his team is perplexing. Roush exclusively uses his developmental program for his Cup teams, despite all evidence that in recent years, it hasn’t worked well. Even teams like Richard Chldress Racing, and Joe Gibbs Racing, who were also using their developmental programs for their Cup talent figured out quickly that the free agent market is a great way to boost their teams. Roush seems to be fixated on that, despite that in the last 10 years, it has gotten them nowhere.

Yes, it did work with Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle, but those guys were very talented drivers who would have thrived no matter where they ran. While Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne are talented drivers, they aren’t on the level of Edwards, Kenseth, or Biffle. That’s not taking anything away from them. You need to be a talented driver to race your way into the Cup Series. Hell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a two-time Xfinity Champion, but when was the last time a driver was Xfinity Series Champion, then went on to win a Cup Championship? Bobby Labonte did it in 2000, but that’s the only example. Roush has more faith in his developmental program and his equipment than he should. The only driver to win in a Roush-Fenway car was Chris Buescher, and he just signed with a Chevy team for 2017.

Now we move on to Brian Scott. This is the sort of thing that just annoys me with professional athletes sometimes. Prior to the race at Phoenix, Scott announced that he would be retiring from driving at age 28. I’d like to quote the Richard Petty Motorsports press release if I may:

“MOORESVILLE, N.C. (November 10, 2016) – Richard Petty Motorsports and Brian Scott today announced Scott, driver of the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, will retire from full-time competition in NASCAR at the end of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Scott has made the personal decision to focus on his young and growing family and also the next phase of his career.”

Let me see I understand this correctly, you are giving up a job that pays very well, where you have no real worries providing for your family, to focus on your family. I looked this up, and I discovered that Brian Scott’s career earnings in the top three series are over $10 million, and that’s just on-track, that doesn’t factor into endorsements. You are also one of the few drivers who has built-in sponsorships. You don’t have as much trouble as some drivers in finding companies to sponsor your team.

Also, you retired to “focus on the next phase of your career.” Someone please explain to me what in the Hell that means? What is this “next phase?” You have worked your whole life to become a race car driver, but now you have retired. I hope you have a decent education, and can find a decent place to work, because very few places pay as well as your previous job, and I’m willing to bet your savings won’t carry through for 18 years.

Something else that went under the radar in recent weeks is that it was announced that Phoenix International Raceway is making some improvements to the track. Now normally, I would be all for it, because that usualy means that there are new fan amenities and some new stuff for the driver. Then I saw what was being done, and I went into shock. Here is the generalized list, according to NBC Sports:

-The start/finish line is shown to be in what is now Turn 2.

-All the frontstretch grandstands would be eliminated and replaced by an elevated RV parking lot and have additional parking behind it.

-The Allison grandstand in Turn 2 will be extended to go through the entire turn.

-Pit road will be moved closer to the infield and have a tighter radius. That will allow additional space between the track and pit road.

-There would be five new garages for competitors.

-The media center would be moved from its present location across from the current start/finish line to just beyond Turn 2.

-The infield care center would move from behind the current media center to between what is now Turns 3 and 4.

-Victory Lane would be moved behind pit road to spot between what is now Turns 1 and 2.

When I saw that the front-stretch grandstands would be eliminated, and that the start/finish line would be moved to turn two, I honestly thought it was a joke of some kind, but the plans that have been submitted clearly show this is the real setup. What in the world is going on here? Was the racing in Phoenix so bad, that the track had to be drastically changed? I didn’t think it was bad. It boggles the mind that someone not only came up with this, but submitted the plans for approval. I can only hope the racing is as good as they want it to be.

As of this writing, NASCAR hasn’t announced a series sponsor for the Cup series. I’m going to start my winter break after Saturday, but if the announcement comes through, I will discuss the new sponsor and new logos. See you in January.

By David G. Firestone

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I’d like to talk about some things I am thankful for:

I am thankful for my family, my house, and my pets.

I am thankful I have a job with decent security and good benefits.

I am thankful I live in the United States of America.

I am thankful for the fact that I can blog about the subjects that I love.

I am thankful for my readers.

…and lastly, I am thankful that 2016 will soon come to a close, and I can hope that 2017 will be better.

Happy Thanksgiving.

By David G. Firestone

So I’ve been following Tony Pedregon’s 20 Best Funny Cars of All Time, and while I agree with most of his choices, I’d like to know why one particular car wasn’t on the list. Could someone please explain to me why Kenny Bernstein’s 1986 Batmobile Buick didn’t make the list? I get that there could only be 20 picks, but why the most important body design of the last 30 years isn’t on the list?

The fans vote was on point, but Tony’s vote seemed, at least to me, to miss a few things. Also, if you, as a former driver, are going to make a list, COULD YOU EXCLUDE YOURSELF FROM IT? I stopped caring about Tony’s picks when he picked one of his own cars, and it was the worst paint scheme he ever ran, that Kiss disaster from 2003. The fact that both the Batmobile and Jack Beckman were excluded, and your car was included proves how bad his list was.

I’ve also read the report that Monster Energy might be the next series sponsor for The Sprint Cup. This is just a rumor, and I’m not going to confirm or deny anything besides that. What I am going to say is that I’m disappointed that NASCAR doesn’t have a definitive contract for a new series sponsor yet. I’ve seen lists of the potential competitors in the running, but I’m still waiting for real information.

Also, I’m not going to start work on the 2017 Tracker until the beginning of 2017. I’ve gotten burned with early paint scheme releases before, so I’m not touching it until 2017. I can also now confirm that all videos and Throwback Thursday items are ready to go too. I’ve got a good schedule ready, I’m going to try a few things, and we’re going to have fun.

Also, I made a change to my office, and was able to add a little more room. I don’t have that much room to begin with, so this was badly needed, and I’m glad it got done. It seems odd that the racing season is almost over, but with the NHRA having finished their season, the NASCAR season ending next week, and F1 ending after that, it’s a sad part of the year for me.

By David G. Firestone

I’m working on a few side projects this week, so I won’t be updating the tracker or grades until next week. I’ve been wanting to do these for a while, and I’m making them happen. Bear with me, things will be back to normal next week.