Will Tony Stewart knock Dale Earnhardt Jr. off top spot in merchandise sales?
Forbes.com reported today that Tony Stewart is knocking Dale Earnhardt Jr. off top spot in merchandise sales…
Shuttin’ Detroit Down
This video has been out for awhile, but I think everyone needs to see it. I am very afraid that this is just the beginning of what is to come.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH NASCAR?
How many times during the last few months have you read or heard that NASCAR is worried about falling tickets sales? How many times have you seen a poll asking what NASCAR can do to get the fans interested again? Some have come to the conclusion that the problem is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He has only won one race in the last three years and there are some who still question that win. This year has been the most disappointing. More often than not he finishes in the lower half of the field. He misses his pit stop or makes some other outrageous mistake. All to the horror of Jr. Nation. As of late they are not rushing to the track or leave early after Jr. fades to the back. And they are not spending all those dollars on Jr. gear.
Something has to be done and done fast. The future of NASCAR is hanging in the balance. Rick Hendrick has called for an all out assault on the problem. He has everyone at Hendrick Motor Sports working to get Jr. back in victory lane, including giving him a new crew chief and his best engineers. Jr.’s problems and the changes to fix it are all NASCAR and the sports media have talked about for weeks.
Now here is my take on the NASCAR problem. I don’t know what Jr.’s problem is and quite frankly I don’t care. To be truthful, I am sick of Jr. It is all Jr. all the time. NASCAR.com should be renamed Jr.com. Even though he has not performed well in three years, all the announcers want to talk about is Jr. Commercials advertising NASCAR and NASCAR merchandise feature Jr. When the cameras are panning around the garage they show Jr. During the National Anthem they make sure to get a shot of Jr. While the cars are going around the track they always get Jr. There has not been one race that at least one commentator has not picked Jr. to win. And I can’t begin to count the number of interviews done and articles written on why Jr. can’t win.
I happen to be lucky. My driver gets his fair share of attention. Mostly for the wrong reasons, but also because he wins a lot. I feel bad for the other drivers. There are 42 others out there on the track every week. Jimmie Johnson won his third championship in a row and didn’t get as much press as Jr. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart get a little notice, but not what they deserve compared to a driver who has never won a championship. Mark Martin is having a great year, so some have actually suggested Hendrick give Jr. his crew chief. What about the young guys who are just getting started? Don’t they deserve a little air time? How can they build a fan base if no one ever hears their name? Heaven forbid another driver dares to criticize Jr. One ventured into those waters last week and two, yes two, commentators had the nerve to find fault with his comments. Why should he say something like that? After all, they only asked him his opinion on the crew chief change for the 88 team? They didn’t mean for him to give an honest answer. However, when Tony Stewart mentioned that it is annoying to spend most of their interviews answering questions about Jr. none could muster up the same backbone. It’s easy to come down on a twenty-four year old kid, but not so when they are dealing with a hot headed, yet well liked, two time champion.
Here’s your fix NASCAR. You want to sell more tickets? Spread the wealth around a little more. Throw the fans of the other drivers a bone. Show all those swearing, liquored up, beer can throwing, one finger saluting thugs, better known as Jr. Nation, the path to the parking lot. Make the race more enjoyable for the fans who love the race. Allow fans to bring their children to the track without worrying about what they will see or hear. Make sure these people can wear their Jeff Gordon hat or M&M’s t-shirt without fearing for their safety. Send the message loud and clear that drivers are allowed to pass, bump, out drive, beat and criticize Dale, Jr. without repercussions. That is unless Jr. grows a pair of cajoles and actually stands up for himself.
NASCAR should be for all the drivers and all the fans. It has not been for a long time. In my opinion that is what is wrong with NASCAR.
Jun 01, 2009 | 0 | NASCARNASCAR Driver Tony Stewart Helps Injured Dog
HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — Reports of dogs being hit by cars are on the rise in Hamilton County and shelter officials said the economic downturn is partly to blame.
Workers at the Hamilton County Humane Society shelter said they have seen a sharp increase in the number of animals being struck by vehicles, 6News’ Jennifer Carmack reported.
“We’re observing more hit by cars this year than we had last year,” said David Landau.
Shelter workers said one of the reasons is that many families simply can’t afford to care for their pets anymore so they’re letting them go. And that means more dogs and other animals are out wandering, looking for food.
That was likely the case for Helen, a 5-year-old beagle brought in last weekend with two broken hips after being struck by a car.
“She’s in relatively good condition, despite her injuries,” Landau said. “She’s not under nourished, so we suspect she was someone’s family pet.”
A few days after Helen was hit, Henley, a 3-year-old shih tzu, was brought in with a broken back, likely from a similar accident.
As the shelter looked for ways to cover the cost of his surgery, the case caught the eye of a fellow shih tzu owner, race car driver Tony Stewart.
“Tony Stewart loves animals. He has dedicated a portion of his foundation to supporting organizations, which provide care for abused, endangered or homeless animals, as well as supporting programs that provide animal welfare through specific programming,” said Joni Thompson, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Tony Stewart Foundation.
Doctors said Henley, with the help of a device to support his hind legs, will have many happy years ahead of him.
As for Helen, she had surgery this week and is on her way to recovery as well. The shelter still needs to find her a home and a way to pay her $2,000 medical bill.
In the meantime, Lori Price and her family will foster the pup and help nurse her back to health.
“If everything works out, then maybe we can have her,” Price said.
More information about the animals and ways to donate can be found on the shelter’s Web site.
From: TheIndyChannel.com
Mar 22, 2009 | 0 | Charity, NASCAR, PetsGetting Back To Business
For the last few months I have been slacking on updating this blog. Then all at once I started getting a lot of hits and more people starting signing up so I guess it is time to buckle down and go to work.
As I said before, I never intended for this to be a NASCAR blog, but the three most active hits are the Philco portable TV, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart. There is only so much I can say about that little TV, other than I really, really wish someone would buy it. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are a totally different story. I can always find something to write about involving NASCAR.
Most of the hits for Kyle are “The Most Hated Driver in Nascar”. I am sure all those people come in to read how horrible he is and what a dirty driver he can be. If that is the case there have been some very disappointed readers. You won’t find any “I Hate Kyle Busch” here. What you will find is about his passion for racing, his drive to win, that “I’m good and I know it” attitude and his generous compassionate heart. I don’t follow Kyle because he is a pretty boy or because he is popular. I follow Kyle because he is a true racecar driver.
Then there is Tony Stewart. Tony has the same attitude as Kyle. He wants to win. He says what he thinks. Even when he knows it will ruffle some feathers. But I like Tony and write about him because of his love for animals and his generosity.
Just for the record I will have to say these are not my only favorites. You can add Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick Joey Logano and David Ragan to the list. As one elderly patient who recently visited our office said, “You like all those bad boys don’t you?” Well, yes I do.
And then there is the other list. Carl Edwards is arrogant and a fake. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is the most overrated driver in NASCAR. However, I do believe most of his problems stem from all the pressure put on him by Jr. Nation. Then there is Juan Pablo Montoya. All I can say about that is he is Juan Pablo Montoya. Scott Speed is just weird.
All the others drivers are OK with me. Some I like better than others, but I don’t dislike any of them. It was fun to see Jimmie Johnson get the three peat. And who could have been upset about Matt Kenseth winning the first two races after not doing so good last year. If one of the drivers on the first list can’t win and one on the last list doesn’t win, I am happy with any of the others coming in first. Jr. ranks somewhere down the middle. I don’t want him to win because of his fans, but I had rather see him win than the other three on “that” list. I just enjoy a good race.
I have my opinions on that also. I want races to go down to the wire. I like to watch an all out dog fight with plenty of bumping and rubbing. Bouncing off the wall a few times is fun. Even better when a couple of them get all mad about it and start fighting. All that is what makes it NASCAR.
Who wants to sit there for several hours watching a bunch of polite wusses riding around in circles? Why should a driver pull over and let another one pass because he has a good run on him? I say turn and block him. After all, it is a race, not a Sunday afternoon drive.
Ok, so now you have seen my aggressive side. More to come later.
Mar 17, 2009 | 1 | General, NASCARJr, Brian, Kyle and the Whole Darn Mess
It was Daytona. We were all waiting for “the big one”. Somebody had to start it. We would have been disappointed if it hadn’t happened. But Jr. came out and started blaming everyone else. If there are 10 pink signs and only one can’t tell them apart, you tend to think the one has the problem.
Jr was upset because his tire was “only” an inch on the line. Well, look at all the inches he was away from the wall. In other sports, like football, basketball, baseball, all you have to do is stick one toe out of bounds and you get busted. A rule is a rule. You can’t change them just because somebody popular got caught.
Brian Vickers can’t be blamed for protecting his position. What was he supposed to do, move over and let everybody behind him go by? He wouldn’t be much of a racer if he did. Most likely he wouldn’t have a job for very long.
Bringing Kyle into it is just a attempt to take the heat off Jr. Kyle was 2 rows over minding his own business. The wreck was brought to him. It doesn’t matter what Kyle or any other driver has done in the past. Their actions do not make it OK for another driver to do the same.
And what about all the other drivers caught up in the wreck? Was it somehow their fault too? What about Jeff Burton? He had a problem with Jr earlier in the day. Jeff Burton is NEVER involved in these kind of things. He never complains about anything. But he got into it with Jr on Sunday.
Jr is fair game for criticism just like any other driver. If Jr Nation can spend month after month hammering other drivers when they make a mistake they can darn well listen to it when Jr screws up.
One last thought. Everyone is talking about Jr being under so much pressure and that may be what caused the wreck. Well, who is putting all that pressure on the guy? Jr. Nation. He is human. He is not perfect. He is going to screw up. He will make mistakes. He will cause wrecks. He will lose races. He may never get a championship. That does not make him a bad driver. Everyone acts like he is untouchable. He is not. Don’t you think he would like to be like all the other drivers? Do you think he enjoys all this bickering and fighting over him? Do you thinks he looks forward to going back to the gargage to face all the other drivers when his fans just threw beer cans at them? Can any of you imagine what this man goes through trying to live up to your expectations?
Give the man a break. He screwed up. Admit it and let it go.
Yes, I know not all Jr fans act this way. Just like not all of Kyle’s fans hate Jr. Like me for instance.
Feb 16, 2009 | 0 | NASCARThe NASCAR Foundation Partners for Paws Spectacular - A Live and Silent Auction Event
Join us for a night of auction fun, food and excitment on Wednesday Feb. 11, 2009, for The NASCAR Foundation Partners for Paws Spectacular - A Live and Silent Auction hosted by NASCAR Drivers Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman. The event will take place at the beautiful Daytona Club outside the front stretch of Daytona International Speedway. Tickets are $20 per adult if purchased online before Jan. 28, which includes dinner, and children under 14 are free. Tickets are $25 after Jan. 28 or at the door.
NASCAR fans and memorabilia collectors won’t want to miss this event that features NASCAR VIP Experiences and over 100 autographed items from all your favorite drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr and many more!
Proceeds raised from the evening will benefit the Greg Biffle Foundation, Ryan Newman Foundation and Halifax Humane Society of Daytona Beach, three organizations that support improving animal welfare.
Join us for a night of auction fun, food and excitment on Wednesday Feb. 11, 2009, for The NASCAR Foundation Partners for Paws Spectacular - A Live and Silent Auction hosted by NASCAR Drivers Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman. The event will take place at the beautiful Daytona Club outside the front stretch of Daytona International Speedway. Tickets are $20 per adult if purchased online before Jan. 28, which includes dinner, and children under 14 are free. Tickets are $25 after Jan. 28 or at the door.
NASCAR fans and memorabilia collectors won’t want to miss this event that features NASCAR VIP Experiences and over 100 autographed items from all your favorite drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr and many more!
Proceeds raised from the evening will benefit the Greg Biffle Foundation, Ryan Newman Foundation and Halifax Humane Society of Daytona Beach, three organizations that support improving animal welfare.
Join us for a night of auction fun, food and excitment on Wednesday Feb. 11, 2009, for The NASCAR Foundation Partners for Paws Spectacular - A Live and Silent Auction hosted by NASCAR Drivers Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman. The event will take place at the beautiful Daytona Club outside the front stretch of Daytona International Speedway. Tickets are $20 per adult if purchased online before Jan. 28, which includes dinner, and children under 14 are free. Tickets are $25 after Jan. 28 or at the door.
NASCAR fans and memorabilia collectors won’t want to miss this event that features NASCAR VIP Experiences and over 100 autographed items from all your favorite drivers including Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr and many more!
Proceeds raised from the evening will benefit the Greg Biffle Foundation, Ryan Newman Foundation and Halifax Humane Society of Daytona Beach, three organizations that support improving animal welfare.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS
A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”
“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam’,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”
“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”
PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let’s try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
This is going around by e-mail as written by “LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN; 30th Naval Construction Regiment; OIC, Logistics Cell One; Al Taqqadum, Iraq”. But Snopes found it archived on a Veterans’ poetry site dated December 2000, and attributed to Michael Marks. A note adds:
A Soldier’s Christmas was the first in this series of patriotic writings, drafted on Pearl Harbor Day 2000 when in the wake of the 2000 Presidential Election our nation saw the right of US Armed Forces personnel openly questioned and debated. I felt it unconscionable that at the onset of the Christmas season, those serving to defend our nation would hear anything but our love and support. It is our challenge to stand for their rights at home while they stand for our lives and safety overseas. This poem went out and quickly spread around the world in emails, letters, magazines. I received letters from Marines in Bosnia, soldiers in Okinawa, from a submariner who xeroxed a copy for everyone on his sub. Moms wrote, dads, brothers and sisters. I have saved and cherish every letter and set out to continue writing throughout the year.
Dec 16, 2008 | 0 | Patriotic
Stewart’s Foundation Awards $20,000 To Indiana Racehorse Charity
Friday, November 21, 2008
The charitable organization of two-time Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner Tony Stewart has awarded a $20,000 grant to Indianapolis-based Friends of Ferdinand, Inc. (FFI), a not-for-profit volunteer organization that works with owners and trainers at the state’s two horse tracks to identify and obtain thoroughbreds that are nearing the end of their racing careers.
Funds provided by the Tony Stewart Foundation will help FFI evaluate and retrain the horses, and find new, forever homes with devoted, caring owners.
More than 200 horses have been transitioned from the track into new careers as show horses, dressage competitors, pleasure and trail riders, equine therapeutic program partners, pasture mates and beloved companions.
Several thoroughbreds, the first horses to be christened “Tony’s Ex-Racers,” were brought into the FFI program Nov. 17 during the annual end-of-season paddock sale at Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Anderson, Ind. Representatives of both Friends of Ferdinand and the Tony Stewart Foundation were on hand to take a look at available horses and select those destined to become “Tony’s Ex-Racers.”
“We are thrilled beyond words that the Tony Stewart Foundation has selected our program to receive its support,” said Friends of Ferdinand President Sara Busbice. “A grant this size is significant and enables us not only to continue but to expand the work we do with our Indiana thoroughbreds. Especially now, with the economy in such turmoil, support of this magnitude is simply incredible.”
A total of 10 horses will be brought into the program as “Tony’s Ex-Racers” - those obtained from the Hoosier Park paddock sale, and two or three others already in line to come off the track and into FFI’s care.
The organization is named in memory of the magnificent Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby Champion, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and 1987 Horse of the Year who earned more than $4 million during his career. In 1989 he was retired from racing and exported to Japan to stand at stud. Impossibly, a few years later, Ferdinand was slaughtered for human consumption.
Founded in 2003 by two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart, the principal purposes of the Tony Stewart Foundation are to raise and donate funds to help care for chronically ill children, drivers injured in motorsports activities and to support other charitable organizations in the protection of various animal species.
