What Jack Roush bringing back the No. 6 to a long-time fan

If you have been a fan for a long period of time you know the history that Mark Martin had with Jack Roush's team in the No. 6 Fords.  For the majority of Mark Martin's career he raced in Roush's Fords and was able to win 35 Sprint Cup Series events with the organization from 1988-2005.

I was a fan of the Batesville, Arkansas driver from the time he stepped into Roush's No. 6 Strohs Light Fords in 1988.  Mark never raced anyone with hard aggression on the track, I liked how he could win races without the bumper like Earnhardt Sr., and Rusty Wallace.  Mark was the gentleman's racer.  To this day, I think Mark and Jack were robbed of at least two championships from NASCAR on stupid calls in 1990 and 2002.

When Mark left Roush I went for a different driver because I am a long-time Ford Racing fan.  I had a lot of hard feelings when Mark departed.  I knew he and Jack Roush still had a solid relationship with one another because they were a strong pair through the years.  When the announcement was made last May that Trevor Bayne was to bring the No. 6 Advocare Ford Fusion up to the Sprint Cup Series its return, it made things clearer for myself that Carl Edwards was not going to be making his return.  So I had a decision that I'd go with the car that I grew up rooting for as a fan.

In a lot of ways I feel Mark Martin and Trevor Bayne are a lot a like in their driving styles.  Neither have a very aggressive style, which Trevor is criticized for a lot.  Trevor carries himself off the track with a lot of respect just like Martin did in his career.

In November I asked Mark if he was ready for the 6 to make its return
  Mark Martin        ✔ @markmartin Follow

Yes sir. RT @TBayneDiehards: @markmartin are you ready for 2015 and the 6 car to return full-time?

 Roush's legacy began with the No. 6 Ford in 1988 in NASCAR, it will return to the track in just about 61 days.  It has been a long-time coming for Bayne and the car number, as Bayne has been with Roush's organization since the fall of 2010 and Roush has not ran the car number since Ricky Stenhouse had the car on the track at Daytona in 2012 for the Daytona 500.  Bayne attempted to make the field at Charlotte and did not have any points to fall back on when he did not have the speed.  

There a lot of old No. 6 fans like myself looking forward to seeing what Bayne can do in Sprint Cup full-time in 2015.  Just having the 6 car back on the track fills a void!  

Roush could be expanding Xfinity program in 2015

It didn't take long for the news to break last night about Darrell Wallace Jr., wanting out of his deal at Joe Gibbs Racing and as soon as it did the first organization that popped up as the possible organization for the 21 year old driver to go to was Roush Fenway Racing.

The program had only plans to run Elliott Sadler, Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed in the series next season with a part-time program with Sprint Cup Series regular Ricky Stenhouse.  Rumors however have changed those plans and have Wallace heading to what could possibly be a fifth car for Roush in the lower division.  So what car number would that put Wallace in? 

Stenhouse is already set to drive the No. 6 car in a few races next year, however, from what I have been told the organization still has the rights to the No. 17 that Tanner Berryhill has used.  So there are possibilities that Roush could run five cars in the series if they needed to do so.   A formal announcement to add Wallace to the lineup should come soon, as the expectations are that Trevor Bayne's former crew chief Chad Norris will be taking the role as Wallace's crew chief.

No one could have predicted this when the season ended last month at Homestead-Miami Speedway where Wallace won the season finale in the Camping World Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.  In 6 career starts in the Xfinity Series, Wallace has 4 top-tens and 1 pole, with an average start of 7.2 and average finish of 12.7.

He has made 44 starts in the Camping World Truck Series with 5 wins, 14 top-fives, and 26 top-tens with 3 poles, averaging a 9.9 start and 10.8 start.

With Fennig stepping down, Bayne's crew chief likely down to 3 guys

Jimmy Fennig told reporters this weekend that 2014 would be his last season on top of a pit box for Roush Fenway Racing and plans to retire at the end of the season.  So now leaves the question about who will be the crew chief for the 6 car when Trevor Bayne moves up to the Sprint Cup level next season?

I have thought it over and there's likely two choices Roush has in the box to replace Fennig.  Bayne's current crew chiefs from the No. 6 Nationwide Series team Chad Norris and Donnie Wingo who is crew chief of the No. 21 car for the Wood Brothers crew.  Wingo is a very experienced crew chief in the Sprint Cup Series, while Norris has time in both divisions and has had success with Bayne in the Nationwide Series.

However, Roush might take another direction, possibly adding Scott Graves as the crew chief.  Roush likes to have guys with an engineering background on top of the pit box.  Graves has had success in the Nationwide Series this season working with Chris Buescher and they were able to score a win a few weekends ago at Mid-Ohio.  I don't see a big shakeup with the 17 and 16 crew chiefs as this was Stenhouse and Kelley's first years back together in Sprint Cup.

So now it will be a guessing game until RFR makes the announcement for the 6 team, probably coming late October or early November.

Did Carl Edwards admit he wasn't a team player for RFR?

Here's the most unethical comment I heard Carl Edwards say during the press conference for Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday

" “I have learned a lot about how to be a good teammate. Admittedly, I was not the best teammate at the beginning of my career.

“I felt I had a lot of the every man-for-himself attitude, and wanting to prove myself regardless of any damage to the relationships. I didn't think of it is a real team atmosphere.”

So did he admit that the last 10 years while being at Roush Fenway he hasn't been a good teammate and worked with the rest of the organization?  All in all I think there has been a big cloud over this team since 2011 and it all came about when Edwards got that big multi-million dollar deal to stay with Ford Racing.  You know that when that happened, Greg Biffle took a pay cut to stay on board the organization, Kenseth was hurting for sponsorship on the 17 car and there were a lot of rumors brewing about who Edwards' replacement was going to be if he left.

Now 3 years down the road, maybe some answers to the questions that fans have been having about Roush Fenway's problems are coming out of the closet.  Sure, Roush is a different structured organization than the Gibbs guys are, but if you can't work together as a whole team there's going to be some problems amongst the drivers and the teams crews.  I really think that there was a lot of animosity within the RFR organization because of Carl Edwards.  I've heard different stories of crew members taking pay cuts, and it was because of Bob Osborne first getting a huge (worthless deal) to start it all off to try and sway Edwards into staying, and then the big contract signing.

Now I look at the different approach for 2015.  People aren't seeing a lot of star power within Roush, however Jack Roush has said it numerous times, Ricky Stenhouse is as good of driver as anyone, he has just struggled to work himself into the cup level but when he does there will be success.  Trevor Bayne will be moving up full-time and he has quite a bit of Sprint Cup Series experience from being behind the wheel of a Wood Brothers car the last 3 seasons.  Bayne will be success, people just aren't giving the driver a chance to prove himself.  Greg Biffle will be the lead man, and I think in the past few weeks we've seen a difference in Biffle for a major reason - the organization is taking what he says and putting it into the cars, instead of taking the info from Edwards.

Then the announcement that Mark Martin is back within Roush. He may not be driving for the organization but this is a soothing ointment to some wounds. Martin has raced for a few organizations since he left in 2007.  He is going to be more than a drivers coach, he's going to be a team leader and they've not had that since he's been gone.  I believe that he will be able to help the 3 drivers work as a group and find what they're missing on the track.  Bayne and Stenhouse are a closer age group so they have a lot more in common and they worked well as a pair in the Nationwide Series, now they'll be able to do so on the Sprint Cup level.

Bayne will be racing the iconic number 6.  It was the organizations premier car from 1989-2005, and it is great to finally have the number back on the track.  Maybe, just maybe having Edwards leave will be a helping piece to fix some of the issues within Roush.  They won't have to pay out that big contract fee and they'll be able to have teammates that really can work together.. 

Oh and the part about Gibbs.  Four cars isn't always a great thing, there's usually someone that gets left out of the  picture and I don't see nothing changing about Edwards way of doing thing because when he goes to JGR, Kyle Busch is the top man for Toyota and he's going to want that attention. There's going to be a rivalry within the organization, to me its too many BIG Roosters in little hen house.

Martin coming back is a refreshing moment to Roush

It was almost a week ago, fans screaming bloody murder over Jack Roush and Fastenal's announcement, four days later there might been a soothing announcement in the Roush Fenway camp, long-time driver Mark Martin would be coming home to work as a driver development coach and possibly more.

I grew up watching Mark Martin as a driver.  Say what you will, Mark Martin is the driver that helped make Roush what it is today, it wasn't Edwards, Kenseth or Biffle.  The line of history that Mark Martin put into place at the company is far greater and when he left at the end of the 2006 season it was the start of Roush's troubles in my mind.  They lost the company leader, the guy that could put all the right pieces into place. 

Martin is someone that might be in Jack Roush's eyes the one that could step in and do part of his job since he has been wanting to step away in some form.  Mark Martin will bring back a lot to the table, even though, he is not an engineering, he brings the pieces he gained from organizations like Hendrick, Michael Waltrip, and Stewart-Haas Racing.  The company needed someone to come in from the outside and tell them where they are going wrong in places.

Mark Martin and Jack Roush shared one of the longest running deals in NASCAR, from 1988-2006; they were a winning combination on the track.  Martin earned 35 of his 40 Sprint Cup Series victory behind the famed No. 6 that will be returning to the track next season with Trevor Bayne behind the wheel.  I had a gut feeling back in May, when Martin did the video as part of Bayne coming to Cup, he in some form was returning to the company. 

“I’m excited to return to Roush Fenway Racing, as it feels like I’m going home to where I belong,” Martin said in a news release. “I was fortunate to help build this team from the beginning and it’s very humbling to be a part of Jack’s team again. When Jack first hired me in 1988, we didn’t talk about salary or benefits or perks, we talked about testing, tires and putting the right personnel into place to win on the track.

“That commitment is what stood out to me then and it’s still what stands out to me today.”

I have said since he left the organization, it's been lacking a true "leader" form.  Martin was the go-to guy for everyone when he was there, he gave advice, helped the teams with car data.  He knows his way around the organization and can help fix some of its issues.  Martin can help develop drivers like Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse, Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed for the companies future.  

Scott's Pit Box - 7/30/2014

Let's look at the changes going on at Roush Fenway after their announcement from a level-headed sense of mind.  On Sunday, Fastenal announced that they would be moving from the No. 99 Ford Fusion over to the No. 17 of Ricky Stenhouse; logically that left the door open for the big announcement that everyone knew was going to be coming sooner or later.  Carl Edwards will not be returning to the organization after the end of the year.

Fans from both sides can rage war on each other but let's look at something people.  A NASCAR team is a business, and when you make changes they have to be announced.  You can think in your mind that Jack Roush did this to publicly ruin Edwards season but he likely had an agreement with Fastenal to make this announcement and with the Fastenal deal came logically room to tell people that Edwards would not be back, I've known for almost two months through various sources that Edwards was going to be going to a new home and it was likely going to be at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Car owners have to fill the empty holes and the 17 car has been running without full-sponsorship for over 3-years since DeWALT parted ways with the organization.  Fastenal will probably cover a majority of the schedule for the 17 car, and here is the one thing that fans fail to look at is, it's cheaper for this company to sponsor Stenhouse than it was to sponsor Edwards.  You ask, how is it cheaper to sponsor one car from the other?  In all logic, Stenhouse is younger, he's going to be cheaper to sign to the deal and it is comparable to when Roush and Jeff Burton parted ways and Edwards came on board.

I have read many comments about fans feel it was a bad move to let Edwards go, however, in all concepts it just might not be.  Roush is hurting in areas where they will need to go outside of the company and hire new engineers to help figure out their problems.  With Biffle, he's going to be the senior leader and then there is Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne.  I feel Bayne and Stenhouse have a great work ethic with one another and will be able to help one another trend to being top-notch drivers. 

When changes like this happen, it gets dirty and gritty.  So the change that will occur will be very hard for some people to put two and two together to make four.  Edwards like his former teammate Matt Kenseth made a decision himself to leave the organization, Jack Roush made him an offer and he wanted to try a different route.  This is just like any other sport, athletes come and go, their teams make changes.  It's kind of comparable to when Peyton Manning and the Colts parted ways after 14 seasons except it wasn't Manning's decision to leave, it was Jim Irsay's. 

You have to look at the position Edwards put Roush in, it's not just about the driver in this instance.  For example this long waiting period every 3 years puts a big damper on the team members.  Wondering if their driver will be returning or going to another team.  People don't realize the crew members take a beating worrying about their jobs and if they'll have one.  Fans can blabber on and on how hard it must be for Edwards, well I was once in a position that these guys were in.  It's not easy, especially when you know the guy that is driving the car you work on gets almost 12 million or more a season from his last deal.

In all respect that deal was when this organization started to take a major hit. They had to cut out a lot of employees to keep Edwards in 2011, plus they gave a big chunk of change to keep Bob Osborne as the crew chief for 3 seasons and he didn't last half a season after the deal was done.  I know Jack Roush has a way of doing things and fans think he was a jerk to make the announcement when he did but this is part of the business.  The car owner usually announces before the driver what's going to happen. 

Then there's something else, I seen a lot of shock in Edwards and maybe it was because he felt his sponsors would be going with him possibly?  I have heard there's a big possibility that Kellogg's will remain with Roush and Aflac maybe getting out of the sport altogether.  Subway is likely the only sponsor that will remain with Edwards and to clear something up about a car number, Jack Roush will keep the rights to the 99.  This car number has been part of his fleet since 1996 with Jeff Burton.  Edwards fans need to realize that it was Burton that made this car number hit the historical point of winning more than 10 races.

The number has a history with this organization and in two-three years I see them adding to it with Chris Buescher most likely.  Roush let his most famous car number rest for 4 years until he announced he will be adding it back with Bayne next season.  This organization may have taken a fall but it will take the step back up the ladder in the future.

Why the possibility of Edwards leaving could be a good thing for RFR

Let's take a step back to 2011.  Carl Edwards signs this huge and glamorous deal with Roush Fenway and Ford Racing, his teammates on the Sprint Cup Series have to take massive pay cuts as do crew members.

If you know anything about this sport, you know that NASCAR is driven by the almighty dollar.  Since Edwards signed that deal the organization has took a hit and lost a lot of his main core on the engineering side and other major players in crew members.  So if Edwards does leave, there is some positivity that comes with all of this.

Trevor Bayne will be coming up from the NASCAR Nationwide Series and has full-backing from Advocare for the entire season.  Bayne isn't going to cost no where near the amount that Edwards does when it comes to a salary and if Greg Biffle does sign back with the team, as is expected, that leaves a veteran leader within the team.  I have this assumption that Jack Roush might have just gotten tired of waiting on Edwards to make a deal and decided it was time to put Trevor Bayne in the Sprint Cup Series for 2015.

The money that the team gains from Edwards leaving could leave the door open to sign new engineers from outside of the organization.  Roger Penske had to go outside of the country and hire European engineers to fix some of their issues, that might be a road that RFR has to take.  With two younger drivers like Bayne and Stenhouse in the cars, it really might ease the budget a bit.

Bayne showed a lot when he went up against Kyle Busch at Dover in June.  Last weekend at New Hampshire he went from the back of the pack to finish 9th after Dylan Kwasniewski made contact with him in the early laps of the race.  Dale Jarrett made a comment that it showed a lot about Trevor Bayne to be patient and come back from it. 

However, Roush has someone in the waiting and I don't see it being very long before he is in a Sprint Cup car.  Chris Buescher has shown a lot of promise since he was signed on a development deal with the organization.  Buescher has been very competitive in most of the races he's been in, and if the team can find sponsorship I see him being a solid contender for the Nationwide title next year.  I also wouldn't be surprised if he is running a part-time schedule for the Wood Brothers next year. 

Jack Roush knows he has the talent to fill in the blank in the drivers seat.  He just has to fill in the other pieces of the paragraph that include engineering and mechanical situations.  What people are not looking at either is, Penske went through a stage last year after winning the Sprint Cup title in 2012, to struggling.  They fixed it within a years time.  I don't see Jack Roush falling further behind, he will find the right people to come on board and fix the issues, even if its without Edwards.

Keyscaper Product of the Month - iPad 2/3 Bluetooth Keyboard Case

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Have you been looking to add that bling to your iPad?  Keyscaper has a wireless Bluetooth keyboard case just for the NASCAR fan! 

This case turns your iPad into a mini-laptop to help you with your facebook, twitter, and blogging.  It is an officially licensed NASCAR product to support your favorite driver.

It's Bluetooth connectivity allows you to connect your iPad to the keyboard without using a port or wire, it has a long life battery to provide up to 160 hours of use per charging.  Pop-up stand allows you to support your tablet with ease for long-term viewing. 

The keyboard case is 99.99 at Keyscaper.com but use discount code RallyVio for 15% off at checkout.

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Officially Licensed by NASCAR and Roush Fenway Racing

Designed and printed in Portland, OR

40mm drivers transmit a 20hz-20,000khz response range

Auxillary port is a standard 35mm that you can link to

This can be used as a speaker for phone calls

- See more at: http://www.keyscaper.com/NASCAR-Trevor-Advocare-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B00KBNDUH6?field_availability=-1&field_browse=8853351011&id=NASCAR+Trevor+Advocare+Bluetooth+Speaker&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchNodeID=8853351011&searchPage=2&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12#sthash.U93iNVGk.dpuf

Officially Licensed by NASCAR and Roush Fenway Racing

Designed and printed in Portland, OR

40mm drivers transmit a 20hz-20,000khz response range

Auxillary port is a standard 35mm that you can link to

This can be used as a speaker for phone calls

- See more at: http://www.keyscaper.com/NASCAR-Trevor-Advocare-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B00KBNDUH6?field_availability=-1&field_browse=8853351011&id=NASCAR+Trevor+Advocare+Bluetooth+Speaker&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchNodeID=8853351011&searchPage=2&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12#sthash.U93iNVGk.dpuf

Officially Licensed by NASCAR and Roush Fenway Racing

Designed and printed in Portland, OR

40mm drivers transmit a 20hz-20,000khz response range

Auxillary port is a standard 35mm that you can link to

This can be used as a speaker for phone calls

- See more at: http://www.keyscaper.com/NASCAR-Trevor-Advocare-Bluetooth-Speaker/dp/B00KBNDUH6?field_availability=-1&field_browse=8853351011&id=NASCAR+Trevor+Advocare+Bluetooth+Speaker&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_text_1-bin&searchNodeID=8853351011&searchPage=2&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12#sthash.U93iNVGk.dpuf

Bump Stop Setup

A bumpstop are pieces of rubber or plastic attached to front shocks to limit shock travel.  They are applied to the front only, because this is where the race cars chassis will have the most travel through the turns.

it seems to simple doesn't it?  A little piece of polyurethane that's shaped like Homer Simpson's favorite food "A Doughnut."  But I assure you, all that was simple ends as soon as the bump stop is put onto the shocks.  Teams want to limit the shock travel with this because the springs and shocks work together under a cup car and the team that could figure out the right match would win.

The bump stop fits into a small cup that slides on the shock, and there are a number of different sizes, and levels of hardness to choose from.  The advantage is the ability to run softer springs in the front of the car without the worries of bottoming out the chassis or rubbing the exhaust.  The height of the bump stop is very important to how the car handles through the corner.  If you don't have the correct heights on the bumpstops, the shock can actually hit the stop and then bounces back and tries to rest on the other bump stop.

Just like all the other adjustments on the race cars chassis, there isn't a specific number for setting bumpstop height in order to gain a couple of tenths.  Teams can control the height of the bumpstops by using shims.that are produced in increments of .01-inch. 

The Big Question About a Car Number

It's a question that's been roaming around social media for the past couple of months, if Carl Edwards does leave Roush Fenway Racing to Joe Gibbs Racing can he take his car number with him?

Answer:  No, unless Jack Roush gets a soft side and lets him.

The car owner has his money on the lease of a car number and its very unlikely that Jack Roush will be soft enough to let Edwards take the 99 with him if he leaves to a Toyota team.  Remember the harsh comments he had to say when Kenseth left for Gibbs a couple of years ago?  The fact is, Jack Roush leases the number from NASCAR and keep the yearly lease on the number as long as wants it, remember Richard Childress kept the 3 locked up where no one else could get it until his grandson Austin Dillon was ready to move up.

I've been watching NASCAR for many seasons now, I can't remember a driver leaving one team for another (unless the team shutdown) and taking his car number with him.  Remember Dale Earnhardt Jr's situation before he went to Hendrick?  I can remember fans having their arms all tattooed up with an 8 on them, luckily, Yates Racing and Dale Jarrett let him take the 88 number.

Just like Childress, Roush Fenway has kept the lease on its number 6 since 2011.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., last piloted the number in 4 events in 2012.  Next year Trevor Bayne will make the jump to the Sprint Cup Series using the famed number that Mark Martin ran for so many years.  So here is where I come to my point about Edwards taking the number with him if he does leave Roush.  Carl Edwards isn't Mark Martin, and Roush didn't even let his most winningest driver take the number he drove for so many years with him when he left.  He didn't let Kenseth either. 

NASCAR has control over the numbers and allocates the numbers used on each race car to participating teams.  The first team who requests use of an available number is usually given the number and then there is the line of full-time vs part-time, the full-time team is usually given the rights to a number before a part-time operation.

Generally, if a team has used a car number, the number will be re-issued to the same team.  If a team relinquishes a car number, it will revert back to NASCAR.  

Danica Patrick wanted to run a No. 7 car in Sprint Cup, however, at the time Robby Gordon had the lease on the number and wouldn't give the number up.  Therefore, Patrick went to racing the 10.  Drivers don't always get what they want and I have a good feeling, Edwards might be settlinig for a different number than 99 next year if he parts ways with RFR.

Feedinig the future isn't having Sprint Cup Drivers dominate lower divisions

It's becoming so predictable every time that Kyle Busch gets behind the wheel of a Camping World Truck Series vehicle, he's going to dominate and win.  Before the last 5 years, the CWTS, was the series that many fans considered the most competitive and hardcore division of NASCAR.

However, when you put someone in superior equipment and he's got far more experience than the rest of the field he's going to steal the show away from the lower teams in the series.  The fact is, NASCAR letting drivers like Busch and Brad Keselowski run the two lower divisions on a regular basis is going to bring the series to its knees.  Being a social media regular, I see enough comments from fans about Busch's domination in the two lower divisions of the sport.  If you aren't a fan of Busch, you are probably speaking up about it.

A few weeks ago at Dover, Trevor Bayne was right on Kyle Busch for the race win.  Bayne hasn't won since Iowa last season and would have been in victory lane had it not been for the cup regular spoiling the show.  Sprint Cup drivers racing amongst the regulars in Natonwide and Truck Series races aren't anything new but fans are finally speaking up about it more and more and they're not happy.

Last night I seen many comments from friends about the race being predictable and "why watch when you know who's going to win, unless someone wrecks Kyle Busch."

There is a need for cup drivers to run these two divisions, but in my opinion there needs to be a set limit on the amount of events that these drivers should be able to race if you have over 3 years experience of full-time Sprint Cup race.  There should be 5-6 cup drivers per weekend and they shouldn't be racing more than 10 races a season.  Let the drivers spread out the schedule like Mark Martin did back in the day; Martin only ran 10-13 races a season and most were set in the Southeastern part of the country due to his sponsor Winn Dixie being in those areas.  Had Martin ran as many events as Busch did, he'd probably have double the wins but he only ran that small schedule each season.

After this season, NASCAR seriously needs to look at limits because they're not feeding their future with these guys, they're starving the newcomers from winning and getting more experience.  Last weekend's race at Road America was a sight because a regular finally won a Nationwide event.

NASCAR Political Factions by Mia Kuettel

This is a fan editorial by Mia Kuettel
We can all distinguish individual Americans as having common, yet many divided interests and opinions. We can refer to each other as Lefties, Right-Wingers, or Unaffiliated Independents. So it is comparable in the world of NASCAR, fans are united as well as divided within the realms of stock car and truck racing. However, after years of these notable differences, there hasn’t actually been a common label to describe the three fundamental categories defining which side of the field each fan finds his or her self rooting from. Now racing fans can actually classify themselves with the appropriate label that describes their general viewpoint just like the Democrats, Republicans, and Independents can. Keep in mind, just as it is with registered voters who define themselves as Republicans or Democrats, they may not all agree with absolutely 100% of every issue at hand, but they know who they are and what they stand for. The same holds true for each NASCAR fan.
Moderates (MODs)
Driver Loyal. Does not matter what team he drives for or what make the car is. MODs (“My Outstanding Driver”) will readily follow his or her driver wherever he may go. Driver can do no wrong. When things aren’t going right, the MOD is quick to blame the team., the crew chief, the owner, and even the make of the car. If their driver decides to go from Chevy to Toyota, the MOD would sell everything they have, if necessary, to purchase all new driver apparel to outwardly and proudly show their support for that driver. Silly Season for the MOD is a “dream-team building event” placing his/her Outstanding driver with the best of the best. When the MOD notices other teams running better, they wish to swap with the winning players to give their driver what he needs to win. The perfect season would be to make the Chase an unprecedented experience by clinching the championship with 2 races left. Never mind that their driver may have taken the checker by wrecking numerous other leaders through the season “Rubbin’s Racing!”
Liberals (LIBs)
Enjoys NASCAR – the sport – for what it is “entertainment” LIBs (Living in Bliss) will have favorite drivers, team owners and brands. It is not unusual for LIBs to have several favorite NASCAR drivers. They may pick a driver because of his hairstyle, or the way he interviews. Many times they chose their drivers based on the color scheme of the car, the sponsor, or the television commercials they’ve done. Typically, LIBs are more capable of taking Silly Season in stride, yet there are some that will give you their “arm-chair crew chief” opinions of the impending events and how their teams need to be restructured, etc. The Perfect Season for the LIB would be for them to see all of their favorite drivers and sponsors simply make the chase despite all the adversities that their drivers endured during the season. For example, bad luck, penalties, point deductions, fines, even if they had all swapped teams, owners, cars, wives, etc. The more drama, the better, After all, it’s about the Entertainment, right?
Conservatives (GOBs)
Brand Loyal. “Good ‘Ol Boys/Babes” start with the brand make of the car first. Their Daddy’s and Granddads drove the GOB’s brand of car, and so does their favorite driver. This tradition will be passed on for generations to come no matter what. So don’t think for a minute that any non-American brand named car will ever find a place in the GOB’s heart. If their driver leaves their lifelong brand to race a different brand, the GOB will have no other option but to give up their driver and pick another. Many times for a remaining teammate or some will pull for their next favorite driver who still drivers their lifelong brand. In extreme cases, they may give up being a NASCAR fan all together after their beloved driver proved to be disloyal to their cars’ brand. But deep down, they’ll reminisce the glory days, and remember each detail of every NASCAR race they’ve ever seen. Silly Season for the GOB usually starts when NASCAR “shows favor” by approving changes to their rival brands but not theirs. A Perfect Season for the GOB would be that no other brand but his would make the Chase and finish in the top-5 and of course, his driver would win the Cup!