Rowdy People

Moving to Charlotte

Well after 40 years of living in the metro Atlanta area I am being transferred to Charlotte NC later this year. I know we have many Rowdians living in the NC area and I wanted to ask if I could get some suggestions.
I want to stay in the Charlotte Metro area and build a new home. Does anybody have any suggestions or referrals for a good builder in Charlotte? Good Realtor? How about Subdivisions to build in the that area? Not worried about Schools for the first time since both my kids (young adults) are in college. I would appreciate any help, it's always better to get information from people who live there or have lived in that area. The internet is great, but personal experiences with a builder or Realtor is much better. Thanks for letting me use this Rowdy space for a non racing blog.

Mayfield with a New Sponsor and Racing again?

From Nascar.com:

http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/headlines/cup/07/22/jmayfield.indy.ban.sponsor/index.html

Check it out. Do you think it's another Mayfield ploy to mess with Nascar? If it's true would you want to race with Mayfield on the track? What's your thoughts regarding this new news... Thanks...

IS NASCAR CONSISTENT??

First I must say that I am a Ron Hornaday fan, however, I find NASCAR so inconsistent with their penalties. Look at Carl Long and Look at this. I realize that one is the Truck Series and the other the Cup, but geeze....

What's your thoughts??
____________________________

Rick Ren, the crew chief for NASCAR Camping World Series points leader Ron Hornaday, has been fined and placed on probation for an illegal part found on Hornaday's truck last weekend.

Hornaday was not assessed a points penalty after presenting a truck for initial inspection with an illegal rear-end housing last weekend at Kentucky Speedway.

Ren was fined $5,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31, according to a NASCAR news release. The Kevin Harvick Inc. driver remained the series leader by 96 points over ThorSport Racing’s Matt Crafton.

The violations were discovered during opening-day inspection July 17. The truck was found in violation of the rule that requires mounting points on the axle housing must be evenly spaced and welded to prevent movement. The mounting points were not evenly spaced.

The rear-end housing was confiscated, and a new one was installed prior to practice and the race, which was won by Hornaday.

This was the second time Hornaday’s team had been penalized this season. He lost 25 points and Ren was fined $5,000 and put on probation until June 30 for an illegal shock absorber found during postrace inspection of the season-opening event Feb. 13 at Daytona International Speedway.

From Scene Daily....

Jeremy Speaks

If your interested, this is a just released video from Mayfield today. So check it out and let me know what your thoughts are.

http://www.foxcharlotte.com/dpp/news/NASCAR_driver_Jeremy_Mayfield_
interview_speaks

CATAWBA, NC - Going against the wishes of his attorney, embattled NASCAR Driver Jeremy Mayfield speaks for almost 20 minutes! In a FOX Charlotte Exclusive, Mayfield discusses his drug testing problems, his relationship with NASCAR and his plans going forward - including a film crew!

Have a good weekend.

Are we starting to see the downfall of RCR Racing?

According to Jayski: "Harvick wants out at RCR? Kevin Harvick has told Richard Childress he would like to leave after this season, according to multiple sources. Harvick has one year remaining on his contract with RCR, but the Shell/Pennzoil sponsorship deal on the #29 Chvey ends at the end of this season, and Harvick is trying to move with it to Stewart-Haas. Tony Stewart has said his team is interested in running a third car in Sprint Cup in 2010. Childress is in a tough spot. He could hold Harvick to the contract and try to re-sign Shell/Pennzoil, but in a performance-based business, the Stewart-Haas option, undoubtedly, is more appealing to the gas and oil company. If Shell/Penzoil decides to leave, Childress has to find $15 million to $20 million in sponsorship to replace it -- a very difficult prospect in this economy. Harvick would also bring additional Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series capability to the organization, joining the JR Motorsports operation owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rick Hendrick. Kevin Harvick Inc. competes in both series."

Not to mention that Jeff Burton, lost his personal service agreement with Chevrolet along with several other drivers.

Are we looking at RCR's downfall? My main question is what happened to RCR Racing? From looking so good for the past, to this. I would love your thoughts regarding this. Thanks

RATE THE RACE AT CHICAGOLAND

I was kind of disappointed with this weekends races at Chicago. So I thought I would ask the Rowdy Nation how they thought about it. For me the best part of the weekend was Listening to B & B on Sports News Radio.

So how would you rate the race at Chicago Land? Scale of 1-10
1. Racing?
2. Your favorite driver?
3. TV coverage?
4. Double file Restarts?
5. Buck and Bass on Sports News Radio?
6. Overall rating for the weekend?

For me:
1. 6- good racing
2. 1-Burton had another bad night
3. 5- TV coverage was ok
4. 5-Did not work like I thought it would.
5. 8- They where very good
6. 5- Just not to impressed with the entire weekend.

It's Friday so lets beat the dead horse...

Ok now, it's Friday, we all had a long hard week and spent way to much time talking about Jeremy Mayfield and Kyle Busch. So lets beat this dead horse one last time.

Those of you who feel the need to take a smack at the horse, swing away.

I hope that makes you feel better. :)

Have a good weekend and I bet we will be beating the dead horse again next week.

The Mayfield story gets even more bizzare:

NASCAR said that Jeremy Mayfield resisted their drug test on Monday. To see the whole unbelievable story check it out here:

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/NASCAR_Jeremy_Mayfield_resisted_drug_test_Monday.html

My question is does he have some of the worlds most unbelievably bad luck or is he one of the most stupidest people around. If I was him I would have programmed the dang drug testing places in my TomTom and would have done whatever I had to do to get there on time to prove myself. I just don't get this story. This article will just make you shake your head.

The Drivers are starting to talk about the Mayfield situation

Sprint Cup drivers question ruling in Jeremy Mayfield case
By SceneDaily Staff Thursday, July 02, 2009
Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton spoke to the media Thursday at Daytona International Speedway in reference to Wednesday's court ruling concerning Jeremy Mayfield.
Jeff Robinson

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR drivers wondered aloud how Jeremy Mayfield won an injunction to return to the sport following his positive drug test result, but most stopped short of saying they feared for their safety Thursday during interviews from Daytona International Speedway.

Drivers also revealed that NASCAR has since enhanced its testing procedure since Mayfield’s suspension was announced in early May.

On Wednesday, Mayfield convinced a federal court to give him an injunction that would allow him to drive and own a NASCAR team again, though he was unable to secure a ride for Daytona.

Ryan Newman said it was “not cool” that the judge’s ruling permitted Mayfield to return to the track and suggested that perhaps the judge didn’t understand the gravity of the positive test in relation to racing.

“The situation we have when somebody tests positive is something to be seriously considered,” Newman said. “There’s a lot of responsibility that goes along with that.”

He added: “People make mistakes, I just hope the judge didn’t make one.”

Similarly, Kasey Kahne said he didn’t “have a clue how Jeremy got out of this, but he did.”

“If he’s on the track, I’ve got to race with him,” Kahne said.

Jeff Burton noted that while the judge awarded Mayfield an injunction, that didn’t mean NASCAR had lost its case or was wrong.

“What the judge said was … the result can be questioned, but the judge didn’t say the result is wrong,” Burton said, “and while it’s being questioned, what do we do about it?”

Burton said he would agree with the judge’s ruling if there was an instant test to determine if a driver was clean or not. But given that it takes several days to process test results, Burton said it could be a safety concern.

“I deserve to 100 percent know that he is 100 percent clean,” he said. “He should be tested soon enough, early enough, often enough to where he can never be on the race track while using drugs.”

Burton said he sympathized with the judge for having to make a tough ruling.

“He potentially puts my safety in jeopardy by that decision; the other decision puts Jeremy’s career in jeopardy,” he said. “So what do you do? There’s almost not a right answer.”

Meanwhile, Kahne revealed that when he underwent a routine drug test at Sonoma, the process had grown more intensive. He said earlier in the season, drivers had to provide a sample and sign their name without doing much more.

Now, he said, drivers must initial that they approved many steps in the testing process – along with the person taking the sample – and fill out a form with 20 questions, which has made the test grow from five to 10 minutes to about 40.

“There’s more into the process, so there’s no way around it,” Kahne said.

Juan Pablo Montoya confirmed Kahne’s account that the testing has grown more complex since the start of the season.

While Newman said it would be a concern if he started the race next to Mayfield’s car (“I’d wonder about the first lap,” he said), both Kahne and Kyle Busch noted that racing with Mayfield was not an issue to them.

Said Kahne: “I never raced with Jeremy, even at the start of the year. He’s at one end, I’m at the other.”

“Normally we’re ahead of him anyway,” Busch said.

Burton said his research into drug testing shows there are “very few cases where you can go back and say the test was inaccurate.” The problem is, NASCAR’s policy may have had a loophole that needs to be closed.

“The judge didn’t rule the testing was wrong – that’s what’s different about this thing,” Burton said. “We have to look at the policy and figure out how it cannot be questioned again.”

They bring up some good points. Apparently they are changing up the drug testing to. Interesting...

Some helpful Information to those who are new to NASCAR

NASCAR 101

I have noticed over the past couple of months that we have had a large amount of new members to Rowdy.com. It also appears that a lot of these folks are new to NASCAR. I have found the best place around to answer any of those questions you might have regarding NASCAR: rules, point system, tires, you name it. Check it out and I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. Welcome to Rowdy and NASCAR.

http://www.nascar.com/kyn/