NNS Racing - All Posts

THE (last) FULL MONTY: It's time to move on

2012-01-14T06:44:47Z

By Lee Mongomery
Editor/NNSracing.com

Well, folks, the time has come to move on.

I'll keep this short and sweet (I hope), as I don't want to overindulge myself. NNSracing.com, the blog/website I started almost two years ago, will close soon. You may have noticed nothing's been posted for a while anyway, but the plug will be pulled soon.

Thanks to Jeff Gluck and the folks at SBNation.com for hosting it for much of its existence. I appreciate all they've done, and especially for Jeff's friendship. He's not going anywhere, and I'll continue to read his terrific outlook on NASCAR. Heck, he's one of the few I still read when I want to catch up with NASCAR.

Now, why am I moving on?

Many reasons. For starters, I'm not a blogger. That's no offense to people who blog about NASCAR or any subject, but that's not me. If I am to write about a certain subject, then I need to be there. And for most of last year, I wasn't at the race track. Sure, people can offer their opinions about most any subject, but if they aren't there, it's at best an uneducated opinion. And I can't do that, won't do that.

I wrote a few columns last year about the Nationwide Series, but after writing them, I wondered, "Is that really how it is?" Without talking with the people in the series, how do I really know? The truth is, I don't.

Now, where have I been? Since last April, I've been employed at Geiger Media doing public relations in drag racing. That means I've been on the road with NHRA ever since, leaving little time for NASCAR. I won't be going back any time soon, either. I honestly don't miss NASCAR, other than the people. But I've made some great friends in drag racing, and there are no regrets.

Frankly, as much as I loved NASCAR, it didn't really love me back. In my crazy career, I've held down eight full-time jobs, six in NASCAR - and I've lost all six, for one reason or another. I should've gotten the message after NASCAR Scene shut down in January 2010, but I pressed on with NNSracing.com and other freelance work.

Last January, I started doing PR with a truck series team, but that last all of three races when they pulled the rug out from under my feet - for no good reason (at least none that I was told). I laughed more than cried over that one, but I was done at that point.

And it was the best thing that ever happened. My current boss, Rob Geiger, moved to hire me, and it's been awesome ever since. People ask me the difference between NASCAR and NHRA, and I tell them there really isn't any. It's cars and people.

Well, maybe there's less ego and politics in NHRA. What NHRA does have is great people like some of the drivers/riders I work with, starting with Erica Enders. She's a great driver, a fine woman, and I can't wait to celebrate with her in victory lane.

But we represent lots of great people and clients, sponsors like ZaZa Energy, GEICO, Lucas Oil, JEGS and others. And drivers/riders like Top Fuel drivers Morgan Lucas and Brandon Bernstein, Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan and Pro Stock Motorcycle riders Hector Arana Sr., Hector Arana Jr., and Karen Stoffer.

Plus, I'll still be doing some stock-car racing with Cody Coughlin. He's young and very talented, so who knows, maybe I'll be back in NASCAR some day with him!

We do a lot of other stuff, too, so our plate is always full. But that's a good thing, especially these days.

So that's it, really. No long goodbye or scathing commentary about the state of affairs in NASCAR. The sport of stock-car racing is struggling, as is the field of journalism. Put the two together, and you have good people who are looking for work. It is kind of sad that the sport won't be covered with the depth of journalism as it once was - especially the Nationwide Series.

But life goes on. I wish all the people in the sport the best, even the people for which I used to work.

I hope I didn't burn any bridges along the way, and it was a fun ride. Some people never get to live their dream, but I got to for more than 10 years, even if it was a rough ride. For that, I'm thankful.

Now, my dream is to live my life every day. Maybe it's not about what you do, but who you are.

I truly love my job now, and I'm thankful for it. There are still millions of qualified people without jobs at all, let alone one they love. Maybe you're one of those people, but don't give up hope. You can still find something you love, even if it's something you may not expect. But be open to it.

Come on out to an NHRA race this year. If you do, find me and say hello. I'll be the one with the smile.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter or email.

PHOTOS: NASCAR Nationwide Series championship portraits

2011-11-22T00:33:28Z

NNSracing.com

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Portraits of NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. taken at Homestead-Miami Speedway last weekend:

Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon

Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon, Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart

Crew chief Mike Kelley (left) and Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

All photos: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing celebrate 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series titles

2011-11-22T00:09:50Z

NNSracing.com

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR's future was front and center Monday night as four champions in two national series were crowned.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 24 and Austin Dillon, 21, officially were proclaimed champions of the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, respectively, on the Americana Ballroom stage at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

Both were honored with their first NASCAR national series titles. Each became champion in the season following a rookie-of-the-year performance. Dillon becomes the youngest champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' 17-year history. Both champions won twice during the 2011 season.

Roush Fenway Racing's No. 60 Ford Mustang won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Owner Championship, as driver Carl Edwards won eight times. The title is the second in the series for Jack Roush, his previous owner championship coming in 2002.

It also marked the first time that the same owner claimed both the NASCAR Nationwide Series driver and owner titles with different teams.

Timmy Hill, an 18-year-old Maryland competitor, won NASCAR Nationwide Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors by a single point, tying the series' closest decision for that award.

Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier, Aric Almirola and Reed Sorenson finished second through fifth in the championship standings and were honored along with Stenhouse in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

After a fan vote on NASCAR.com, in which more than 215,000 combined votes were cast, each series' Most Popular Driver was revealed. Sadler and Dillon were chosen by the fans in the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, respectively. Each was honored for the first time.

Speed's Rick Allen and Krista Voda hosted the event, which will air on Dec. 2 from 7-9 p.m. ET on SPEED, prior to the live telecast of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony from Las Vegas.

TRACI LESLEY: Calculating the rookie award is too confusing

2011-11-21T23:35:40Z

By Traci Lesley
Special to NNSracing.com

Trying to figure out how the NASCAR Sunoco Rookie of the Year award is calculated is like finishing a Sudoku puzzle when you're a few drinks in. Best 16 finishes? Points for top 10s? A secret vote where the panel is unknown and the vote is before the final race?

Plain and simple, the Rookie of the Year should be chosen based on stats. Who performed the best? Not who finished the highest, because in the modern era of NASCAR, some drivers don't race a full season. Make use of the stats you get every week, and instead of wasting all that paper, use them.

This year's heated Nationwide Series rookie battle is proof why the statistics would have made the difference. Ryan Truex, favored to win the title when the season started, was sidelined midway through after losing his ride. He made his way back into a car temporarily, took over the lead but didn't finish the season so he did not take home the title.

What happened when he came back? In just a handful of races, he took over the lead.

Five drivers started the NNS ROTY battle: Jennifer Jo Cobb, Timmy Hill, Blake Koch, Charles Lewandoski and Truex. Just a few months in, Lewandoski and Cobb were out of contention and Truex followed not long after.

Koch and Hill battled ferociously but Truex spoiled their party. In the end, though, Hill took home the honors.

Had Truex raced in Homestead, we'd most likely be talking about a different person today. With that being said, let's take a look at the stats of the final three:

Driver	Points	Races	Wins	Top-Fives	Top-10s	Laps Led	Best Finish	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish	DNF
Timmy Hill	655	33	0	0	0	2	11	29.9	24.4	4
Blake Koch	610	32	0	0	0	0	14	26.6	24.9	4
Ryan Truex	459	17	0	1	5	0	4	12.6	16.4	2

If you look at pure statistics (not points), Truex should have been the winner. Forget the bizarre rules that not even people who have covered this sport for decades can remember. How in the world can you vote for a winner before the final race is even run?

Here's what needs to happen:

First, rookies need to attempt to run all the races. If they can't, they aren't eligible. Why would you want a rookie to represent the sport if they're only running a handful of races? No "Start and Parkers" either. Be all in or don't be in. You think baseball would want a rookie player who was only in a dozen games representing them? No.

Second, no more secret vote. If there is a vote, it should be made public (like the Hall of Fame vote) and it should take place after the final race is over. The legitimacy of the vote is tainted with this "secret vote." It needs to go - NOW!

And finally, there needs to be more than one participant. Now that there isn't a sponsor for the award, it doesn't seem fair to have a "battle" for the Rookie of the Year if there is only one person involved. Kevin Conway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2010, got a lot of heat when his competitor, Terry Cook, had to bow out after six races. In 2011, Andy Lally will be awarded the trophy having raced 30 races while his competitor, Brian Keselowski, didn't even get to start.

There are some great success stories with the series' rookies. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon were their series' respective rookie awards and the following year won championships. But that seems to be the exception more so than the rule as economic times get worse.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing has championship night in Homestead

2011-11-20T05:49:05Z

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Polesitter Brad Keselowski may have won Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but Roush Fenway Racing had a better night, winning two Nationwide Series championships in one race.

Keselowski held off a furious charge from series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the final lap to secure his fifth victory of the season and the 17th of his career.

Third-place finisher Carl Edwards clinched the owners championship for Roush Fenway, leading the most laps and finishing two positions ahead of Denny Hamlin's No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which entered the race with a one-point lead.

"What an effort, champion," spotter Mike Calinoff radioed to Stenhouse after Keselowski blocked a last-ditch attempt at a pass.

Keselowski, the 2010 Nationwide champion and current Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifier, wasn't allowed to defend his title under a NASCAR rule-new this year-that prevents a driver from competing for a championship in more than one series.

"You couldn't ask for a better way to end the season," Keselowski said. "Not being able to win the championship, it's good to be able to finish on a high note, winning the pole and the race at Homestead. It's a great exclamation point to the season for the whole team."

Long before Keselowski crossed the finish line, however, Stenhouse, 24, clinched the Nationwide Series championship. When the number of cars retired from the race reached six on Lap 28 of 200, Stenhouse was guaranteed the 37th-place finish he needed to lock up the title.

As it turned out, he ran much better than that.

"That was all I had," Stenhouse said of the final lap. "I was really hoping for one more lap there, but Brad did a good job. I got a little loose there coming off (Turn) 4, or I thought we could have got him. But the (No. 6) Mustang did its job at Ford championship weekend.

"This is a dream come true."

The title in hand, Stenhouse stepped up his effort as the race unfolded. After the sixth caution, for Steve Wallace's spin in Turn 1, Stenhouse passed fourth-place finisher Clint Bowyer for the lead on Lap 155 and began to pull away. But teammate Trevor Bayne scraped the wall and cut his right rear tire to put the field under yellow again on Lap 174.

Pit stops under caution shuffled the field, and a problem with lug nuts on the right rear tire dropped Edwards back to sixth. Moments after a restart on Lap 180, however, Edwards rocketed into second place and went on to secure the owners' championship for the No. 60 Ford.

Keselowski grabbed the lead on that same restart and stayed out front until Reed Sorenson's spin in Turn 2 slowed the field for the eighth time.

Edwards passed Keselowski for the top spot on a Lap 187 restart, but the race didn't stay green for long. Separate incidents on Lap 188 involving Danica Patrick and Kenny Wallace brought out the ninth caution, and Edwards led the field back to green on Lap 194, before Keselowski made the winning pass shortly after the restart.

After his 2010 failings, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appreciates 2011 success more

2011-11-19T01:57:06Z

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said he'd be more aggressive in this weekend's Ford 300 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, having taken a fairly comfortable 41-point lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series points standings.

But if you read that as a young driver being unnecessarily risky, you haven't been paying attention. Maybe there was a time when the aggressive Stenhouse would take too many chances, but that was before he nearly lost his ride last year.

"Ricky Stenhouse, a year ago, was just a possibility," Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush said. "He was not a reality for sure. Ricky has matured over the winter. His Dad, Ricky Sr., has certainly counseled him, and Ricky Jr., has taken his advice."

And now, the 24-year-old Stenhouse Jr. is on the verge of a Nationwide Series championship, as he needs only to finish 37th or better at Homestead to eliminate Elliott Sadler.

Stenhouse has talked openly about nearly losing his job a year ago after a difficult beginning of the 2010 season. But Roush stuck with him, though Stenhouse said the turnaround actually began at Daytona last July-the first race with the new Nationwide Series car.

"I don't think a light switch went off between last year and this year," Stenhouse said. "I think it started about Daytona, July, of last year. Everything started clicking. I think our racecars got better, our engines got better. I feel like our team was strong. I feel like I probably let them down a lot of times. I think I learned more patience and to stay focused through the races better and better at every race.

"That carried over to this year. Up and down in this sport is how it has always been, and it doesn't matter if it is growing up racing Sprint Cars at the dirt track or up here in this league. The up and down is part of it, but I think that it really makes me appreciate this year a lot more. I think if we were to be in this situation last year, I wouldn't have appreciated it as much as I do now."

Stenhouse has won twice this year, both times at Iowa Speedway, and has 15 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes. None of those totals leads the series, as Sprint Cup drivers Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch have eight wins apiece, while Edwards-Stenhouse's Roush Fenway teammate-has 22 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes.

But Edwards and Busch and other Cup drivers aren't eligible for the Nationwide title this year after NASCAR demanded that drivers pick one series in which to earn points.

That doesn't diminish the championship in the least, Stenhouse said.

"I don't think so," Stenhouse said. "We are sitting third in owners points and we are up there with the other guys. We are running with those other guys every week. At Iowa we beat Brad (Keselowski) and Carl so I don't think it takes anything away from it. We are working really hard to win this deal. It is not easy. I don't think it takes away from it at all."

Fast facts
What: Ford 300
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway; Homestead, Fla.
When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: ESPN2, 4 p.m. Eastern
Radio: MRN-Sirius/XM Satellite Ch. 90
Track layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race distance: 200 laps/300 miles
Qualifying: Saturday, 1:05 p.m. Eastern
2010 winner: Kyle Busch
2010 polesitter: Joey Logano
Points standings: 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 1,179; 2. Elliott Sadler, 1,138; 3. Justin Allgaier, 1,074; 4. Aric Almirola, 1,059; 5. Reed Sorenson, 1,043; 6. Jason Leffler, 996; 7. Kenny Wallace, 952; 8. Michael Annett, 918; 9. Brian Scott, 912; 10. Steve Wallace, 911.

TV ratings for Phoenix Nationwide Series race up from 2010

2011-11-17T22:41:15Z

NNSracing.com

ESPN reports that ESPN2's live broadcast of the Wypall 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway earned a household coverage rating of 1.3.

That's 8.3 percent higher than the 1.2 rating the race earned in 2010. It also marks the first race since New Hampshire in July that had a ratings increase over 2010.

The Phoenix race averaged 1,757,000 viewers, ESPN said.

See the full ratings chart after the jump:

2011 Nationwide Series Television Ratings

Race	2011	2010	% Change	Network
Daytona 1	2.4	3.2	-25	ESPN2
Phoenix 1	1.5	1.0	+50	ESPN2
Las Vegas	2.2	1.8	+22.2	ABC
Bristol 1	1.5	1.6	-6.3	ESPN/ABC
California	1.6	N/A	N/A	ESPN
Texas 1	1.1	N/A	N/A	ESPN2
Talladega	2.1	1.3	+61.5	ESPN2
Nashville 1	1.5	1.1	+36.4	ESPN
Richmond 1	1.1	1.1	N/A	Speed
Darlington	1.0	1.1	-9.1	ESPN2
Dover 1	1.5	1.3	+15.4	ESPN2
Iowa 1	1.6	N/A	N/A	ABC
Charlotte 1	1.6	1.3	+23.1	ABC
Chicago 1	1.4	N/A	N/A	ESPN
Michigan	1.5	1.2	N/A	ABC/ESPN
Road America	1.2	1.1	9.1	ESPN/ESPN2
Daytona 2	1.6	1.9	-15.8	ESPN
Kentucky	1.2	1.4	-14.3	ESPN
New Hampshire	1.6	1.2	+33.3	ESPN
Nashville 2	1.2	1.3	-7.7	ESPN/ESPN2
Indianapolis	1.5	1.7	-11.8	ESPN
Iowa 2	1.2	1.4	-14.3	ESPN2
Watkins Glen	1.5	1.5	0	ESPN
Montreal	1.5	1.7	-11.8	ESPN/ESPN2
Bristol 2	1.1	1.6	-31.2	ESPN
Atlanta	1.4	1.4	0	ESPN2
Richmond 2	1.2	1.2	0	ESPN2
Chicago 2	1.1	N/A	N/A	ESPN2
Dover 2	1.1	1.2	-8.3	ESPN2
Kansas	1.1	1.2	-8.3	ESPN2
Charlotte 2	1.1	1.3	-15.4	ESPN2
Texas 2	1.1	1.1	0	ESPN2
Phoenix 2	1.3	1.2	+8.3	ESPN2

Ryan Truex, who won't race at Homestead, leads Nationwide rookie battle

2011-11-17T02:14:59Z

NNSracing.com

Ryan Truex leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, but he won't be able to defend his lead in the final race of the season, the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Truex took the lead after finishing eighth at Phoenix last weekend and carries a three-point edge over Timmy Hill and Blake Koch into this weekend's race.

But Truex isn't on the Homestead entry list and has to hope the complicated formula for determining the series' top rookie will tilt in his favor after Homestead.

The best 16 finishes counting toward the season title. It starts with points being awarded to each rookie relative to the others, but it also includes bonus points for a top-10 finish and for where a rookie finishes in the final season standings.

Plus, a panel judges each rookie based on conduct on and off the track.

Truex has raced in only 17 of the 33 Nationwide races to date, compared with 32 for Hill and 31 for Koch. But Truex has one top-five and five top-10 finishes in his limited action, while neither Hill nor Koch have a top-10 between them.

"I don't know if this is enough to take the lead or win it or what," Truex said after the Phoenix race. "I gave it my best and we'll see what happens. ...

"I had fun and hopefully we can get Rookie of the Year."