NASCAR: The Open and Kip Get's Bossy (Like that's something new...)
;)
Well that was eventful.
I watched the all the lead up to the AllStar race, but since it was proven in the Open that basically whomever was in front was going to stay in front (and the food at the sports bar always makes me sick) and the field was too damn small (but given that one wreck took out half the field, maybe that was a good thing). So I headed home after the driver introductions.
First and foremost: credit where credit is due: Elliott did a great job in the open picking off half the field in 20 laps. Props to the man.
Now…I love my guys. They’re both kick-butt wheel men, but they both came out of paved late model experience and Saturday night Robby Gordon proved why the open wheel guys are always going to have the drop on drivers with only stock experience: Open wheelers have more car control and in slippery situations like a newly paved track with hard tires (who’s bright idea was that anyway?), that is going to serve them well. I know Dale Jr. hates it, but it would probably behoove both he and Elliott to give some thought to finding some time to go play in the dirt and develop some more comfort sliding it through the turns.
After DW’s commentary during the rain delay ‘net rumors are yet again flying about the future of RYR and where Elliott is going to end up. I’ve heard the talk about UPS following DJ to the Waltrip/Toyota outfit (and it this stage that’s all it is: talk), but nothing about M&M pulling out. And though there are rumors up on Jayski of Sadler following DJ into the Toyota fold, he and Yates have both publicly denied he’s going anywhere. So that's that.
I don’t usually agree with Jaws, but when he said that RYR’s performance at Darlington was a disgrace he was right. Elliott came on the scene as a short track wiz kid and he’s also proven himself on the mid-sizes at Texas and California. To watch he and DJ struggle the way they did last week was just frustrating. It sure as heck would be nice if they could put a decent car under him at something other than RP tracks. Yeah, Yates has the power, but there’s something back at the shop with the handling (maybe in the chassis construction itself?) that not happinin’, if ya knowwhatImean.
What worries me the most at this stage in the game is Elliott himself. This is not a good look for him and I’m not talking about the firesuit. Granted, I haven’t been able to listen in on the radio traffic this year so I don’t have the insight I did last year but I’m seeing more and more pictures like this and I don’t like it. Elliotts should be happy and he’s getting the same look we saw so often over the end of August and September last year when he admitted to doubting himself. Now he seemed to power through that and he doesn’t have reason to second guess his decisions on the track this time, but as one friend of mine said, “What’s going to make or break Elliott Sadler is Elliott Sadler. He has all the pieces: he has the talent, he has the skill, he has the drive, he has the personality, he has the looks. (He also has the smarts, I might add.) He’s got all pieces. He's got the entire package, it's just not coming together right now and the only one who can put it together is Elliott Sadler. DJ can't do it for him, Yates can't do it for him...Maybe he needs a family intervention? His family is his strength. Can you write Hermie?" Citing Smoke's Busch days and Travis Kvapil, she thinks it's because he's "listening to other people." I don't know what it is exactly. I have an idea or two, but I'm not close enough to the situation to say with any kind of authority. Could be multiple things. From what I can see he had the pieces pretty well put together in 2004 and it paid off, but somewhere a long the line he seems to have sort of...come apart. IMO, fans like me can tell him he got a championship in him (and he does) until we’re blue in the face, Yates can tell him that, DJ can tell him that, but it won’t matter until he finds it in himself and knows it where it counts (taps chest). That’s what will get him through these long dry spells in-between good cars and help make the most with both what he got underneath him and the decisions he has in front of him.
Armchair pit crewing, I know, I know. *chuckle* Win, lose or shave his head and become a Buddhist monk, I’m a fan but at some point we all need a foot judiciously placed in our hindquarters.
Well, next week promises to be interesting-in-a-Chinese-curse-kind-of-way again with the Hendricks guys complaining about some pretty horrendous chatter going into the turns and having to set up the car wicked loose for the hard tires to come in, which they only do for 10 laps or so, and the smaller fuel cell… *oi!*
It’s gonna be a "once more into the breach dear friends" kinda night.
Less esoteric topics tomorrow... ;)
Well that was eventful.
I watched the all the lead up to the AllStar race, but since it was proven in the Open that basically whomever was in front was going to stay in front (and the food at the sports bar always makes me sick) and the field was too damn small (but given that one wreck took out half the field, maybe that was a good thing). So I headed home after the driver introductions.
First and foremost: credit where credit is due: Elliott did a great job in the open picking off half the field in 20 laps. Props to the man.
Now…I love my guys. They’re both kick-butt wheel men, but they both came out of paved late model experience and Saturday night Robby Gordon proved why the open wheel guys are always going to have the drop on drivers with only stock experience: Open wheelers have more car control and in slippery situations like a newly paved track with hard tires (who’s bright idea was that anyway?), that is going to serve them well. I know Dale Jr. hates it, but it would probably behoove both he and Elliott to give some thought to finding some time to go play in the dirt and develop some more comfort sliding it through the turns.
After DW’s commentary during the rain delay ‘net rumors are yet again flying about the future of RYR and where Elliott is going to end up. I’ve heard the talk about UPS following DJ to the Waltrip/Toyota outfit (and it this stage that’s all it is: talk), but nothing about M&M pulling out. And though there are rumors up on Jayski of Sadler following DJ into the Toyota fold, he and Yates have both publicly denied he’s going anywhere. So that's that.
I don’t usually agree with Jaws, but when he said that RYR’s performance at Darlington was a disgrace he was right. Elliott came on the scene as a short track wiz kid and he’s also proven himself on the mid-sizes at Texas and California. To watch he and DJ struggle the way they did last week was just frustrating. It sure as heck would be nice if they could put a decent car under him at something other than RP tracks. Yeah, Yates has the power, but there’s something back at the shop with the handling (maybe in the chassis construction itself?) that not happinin’, if ya knowwhatImean.
What worries me the most at this stage in the game is Elliott himself. This is not a good look for him and I’m not talking about the firesuit. Granted, I haven’t been able to listen in on the radio traffic this year so I don’t have the insight I did last year but I’m seeing more and more pictures like this and I don’t like it. Elliotts should be happy and he’s getting the same look we saw so often over the end of August and September last year when he admitted to doubting himself. Now he seemed to power through that and he doesn’t have reason to second guess his decisions on the track this time, but as one friend of mine said, “What’s going to make or break Elliott Sadler is Elliott Sadler. He has all the pieces: he has the talent, he has the skill, he has the drive, he has the personality, he has the looks. (He also has the smarts, I might add.) He’s got all pieces. He's got the entire package, it's just not coming together right now and the only one who can put it together is Elliott Sadler. DJ can't do it for him, Yates can't do it for him...Maybe he needs a family intervention? His family is his strength. Can you write Hermie?" Citing Smoke's Busch days and Travis Kvapil, she thinks it's because he's "listening to other people." I don't know what it is exactly. I have an idea or two, but I'm not close enough to the situation to say with any kind of authority. Could be multiple things. From what I can see he had the pieces pretty well put together in 2004 and it paid off, but somewhere a long the line he seems to have sort of...come apart. IMO, fans like me can tell him he got a championship in him (and he does) until we’re blue in the face, Yates can tell him that, DJ can tell him that, but it won’t matter until he finds it in himself and knows it where it counts (taps chest). That’s what will get him through these long dry spells in-between good cars and help make the most with both what he got underneath him and the decisions he has in front of him.
Armchair pit crewing, I know, I know. *chuckle* Win, lose or shave his head and become a Buddhist monk, I’m a fan but at some point we all need a foot judiciously placed in our hindquarters.
Well, next week promises to be interesting-in-a-Chinese-curse-kind-of-way again with the Hendricks guys complaining about some pretty horrendous chatter going into the turns and having to set up the car wicked loose for the hard tires to come in, which they only do for 10 laps or so, and the smaller fuel cell… *oi!*
It’s gonna be a "once more into the breach dear friends" kinda night.
Less esoteric topics tomorrow... ;)
posted by KiplingKat | 9:03 PM
8 Comments:
Reread this (kinda lose ability to remember after a day or two, meant to comment sooner) and was thinking about some of the comments SkiSad has made that back this up. He has said in the past at races they didn't do too well in, that "at least we had the fastest ford out there" and "we just can't keep up" i believe the car in question was the monte carlo at a restrictor plate, but don't quote me on that. and that was last year. this year, it seems to be wearing as everyone else makes improvements (even the momentally challenged dei has improved) (is momentally a word? christ, i'm so tired) anyway, on wednesdays i take a satelite feed at work that immediately precedes the nascar images feed on the same bird. so i just keep it up and let it play while getting ready for the news. as i mentioned on jade's comments, tony looked awful, but elliot was verrry defensive. you've probably seen the quotes (out of order and context, i might add) in a few other places, but seeing him on the sat, he was not the same guy i'm used to. he looks older, thinner, his way of speaking is sharper with less of the foghorn drawl except when he obviously felt he came on a little strong and turned it up again, and he seemed annoyed with the press (not to a tony, reporter-punching level...sadly) but certainly a different guy. maybe he's annoyed toyota didn't take him away from all this, too. maybe he's pissed that his brother is a short schmuck that his family insists get equal time on the website despite his continued status as an also-ran. or maybe it was as he said, the pressure of "putting this team on his (sic) shoulders" is just beating him down. all the cheerleading in the world won't make that crappy little car run faster. he couldn't even get a pole, and he usually has in the past.
it's a shame, but maybe this is just the character-building beat-down he needs to pull off a championship someday.
jr also could be winning the chase, but he needs a swift kick in the ass. when you're so fiercely loyal to people who continually badmouth you, dick around, and drag the company down, you're no longer "loyal". you're a sucker, and you need to get over your abandonement issues and cut some dead weight.
says i. (whatever)
one more thing, which i'll try to bury in a less recent blog entry of yours away from where it might do some harm: that lingerie, hornplaying kid is really starting to creep me out. (well, not "starting"...rather, he's creeping me out more and more)
i admit, i loved cyn's COO COO comment, but i'm just not that mean to play into it and risk instigating a public beatdown. not all the joonyer-fanbase (or any group, for that matter) can resist mob behavior when one person sticks out (i believe YOU may know something about that)
i used to work with similarly afflicted kids, and believe me, his parents have done him no favors... but then when he was young they didn't know all that they do now. i feel like telling him that on-line interactions are not a proper replacement for in-person interactions because he still isn't learning to listen, empathise, and react appropriately (which will only come with practice and a guided class of some kind).
he should be in a group discussion after school or weekly or whatever, not in front of a computer. but aside from jade telling him, which he kind of already has and was ignored (which was my clue that senor v. is not ready for this level of public discourse as yet) it seems the only option is to ignore him. i've noticed a marked drop in the fun, back-and-forth between you, me, jyd, d2, dollene, and even cyn and maryw. even if we didn't all agree, it was fun and i felt like i was getting out of the clique for a minute or two when they'd say something shockingly pro-bush or something...but not unintelligent for all that i bitch and moan about stupid bush-apologists. finding out where everyone was from and what good things they were up to (especially d2 in that respect) really made an impression. i feel like it's been hijacked by this sad, sad case. is that selfish, or do you think it's a good idea to encourage other types of communication for the poor kid?
Adam, wow. Yeah I’ve dealt with an Asbergers kid online before. He felt extremely persecuted “Me against the world” kinda of thing. Very bitter person. As bitter as you may feel sometime this guy….whoo doggies. Very hard talking to him, making suggestions like that because he automatically took it waaaay too personal, like you were attacking him, which makes me leary of addressing Adam because he also could take it too far, such as we have seen since Jade’s gentle reprimand. But you are right, he is trashing the comments section. It’s one thing to have a conversation take over, but it’s another to start spamming with gobs of personal info and just…junk, which is a lot of what this kid is putting up: just non-sensical junk. Ignoring him obviously doesn’t work because he’s just getting “worse”, but how to say, hey “can you dial it back a few notches?” as gently as possible.
Maybe suggest he start his own blog to put this stuff up on? I agree that it is best he get offline and interact with people rather than just spewing onto cyberspace but I have no idea how to say it and not make him feel ostracized.
I missed Cyn’s Coo-Coo comment, what did she say?
Jr. I have to agree on, especially with Tony Sr. He seems to feel that he won Dale Jr. two Busch series championships and any problem with the Bud Team are soley the drivers fault. But I haven’t heard Tony Jr. being the Ass he was in 2004, granted I’m kinda out of the loop this year, but maybe it’s better. Has he continued to be an ass still?
Not that anyone could do anything. Dale Jr. has basically said he would rather win a championship with them than without. From this side of the screen, it looks like loyalty rules every single decision Dale Jr. makes, hence the reason Pete Rondeau got shafted. He hadn’t made it into the “inner circle”. In many ways loyalty is admirable, but I have to agree with you on the Eury’s. They take advantage of it.
SkiSad, well not having a TV I don’t get to see these things, but I will take your word for it. He may have been annoyed with all the constant speculation of his leaving Yates. He’s is frustrated with they way they have been running. He also may not like living in Charlotte (Yates made him move down there so instead of just shuttling back and forth to the tracks, he’s closer to the team so no more coming home to the furry herd to decompress every week). He also has a lot on his shoulders, which he may feel much more keenly with DJ leaving. Then there is the embarrassment over the “slipping on stage”, which the Charlotte Observer made the obligatory “Redneck’s Last Words” joke about. This is not a good time for him.
But what he does with this is all important and from what I have seen of him, I think he’s going to come out of this a better man and a better racer. A great driver can put a crap car in the top ten, learn to do that and just imagine how well he’ll do with a good car under him.
I think Yates, RCR, DEI, and to a much worser extent Petty, all got caught in the same boat: they didn’t keep up with the fine tune engineering. Roush, Hendricks and Gibbs all embraced it which is why in a season dominated by multi-car teams, Gibbs walked out with a Championship. RYR, RCR and DEI kept at it “Old school.” Childress jumped on the bandwagon a year or so back and is coming out of it, Petty just brought in Loomis, so hopefully they will be picking up the pace, Yates will hopefully expend their development beyond RP racing soon, and DEI….”We’re old skool, we don’t like to change.” *roll eyes*
But don’t sell Hermie too short. He isn’t that hot on the cup circuit, but back in the day he tore it up on the Busch circuit and has a Late Model championship to his name.
Elliott Tony-Stewart-annoyed would be a scary thing to behold. He could actually lay someone out.
Ha! Elliot could do some damage, whereas Tony suffers delightfully from Small Dog Syndrome and just bounces and fumes and threatens and then always finds a way to make it seem he's being merciful when he "allows" the fight to end.
I was not up on Hermie facts, I just think he always looks pissed off. Even smiling.
DEI has issues well beyond conflicting loyalties. No doubt their "no degree, just horsesense" mentality is endearing to the "hey, lookit me" crowd (ha! again) who probably peaked in high school metal shop, but how long before the fickle masses decide winners are where it's at? they may not like jimmy or jeffy, but they'll warm up to carl and next year's model quick enough. especially if dei continues to hemorrhage credibility like they did last year. (not that some of us were worried, it's just more surreal storylines for the soap opera that is nascar) it's just bad for business, as i believe jr must have noticed, not being an idiot.
cyn made a brief, yet evilly hilarious comment directly after one of a's more personal spouts with the idiosyncratic CAPITOLIZATION of NAMES and POINTS, kip. and you know, kip, classical music is like so and so..
(could *I* have this disease and not know it?)
anyway, so after that she's like "someone's COO COO for cocoa puffs" and the timing (if there is a such thing in Commentia) was perfect. He seemed to miss it, luckily. I forget what else she said, but it was a subtle dig.
I'll throw down with your suggestion, now watch me go too damn far and end up with a pissed off wisconsinite who's a savant in jujitsu, or perhaps voodoo (thus negating the need to travel)
man, what a great/lame horror movie that would make! Asskicking Savants on a Bus! woohoo!
sick all morning at work, now chock full of an unhealthy energy burst. Not A Good Sign...
http://perversiontracker.com/archives/000438.html
suicideapp and linguist? i'm in love.
check it out. it's the ghost of genius past.
really bored? call this number (coworker misdialed another coworker...we have NO IDEA who this is) 609.602.6283. we know it's a local cell, but it's too bizarre. don't leave a message until i have time to spread the word. i want to create a pop-culture "moment". for one week, tops, this person will have the fame they obviously crave.
Victoria,
My Coo Coo for "Coco Puffs" came at a time I didn't know Adam was mentally challenged. IF I had known....I would have never, EVER said anything. Of that magnatude...anyway.
I am an LPN, I have a quest for medical knowledge beyond comprehension. It's unlike me to knowingly comment on someone with Autism negatively...Because of my Lack of understanding Adam or knowing he in fact is autistic.
My problem was his comments were so far out of left field and OFF Jade's subject that i thought he was just an under aged teen playing pranks on the computer. At times he seemed to be making a point to Red Jade out....about things Jade has never brought up on his blog....
I would read his ( Adams ) comments and think....this kid is on Crack....I swear....
Now I know....I've been reading about his autism all day...over the internet. It amazes me that his parents shelter him from everyday life....when you can tell he aspires...to be included and to be heard....
So there's the story......I take full credit for my coo coo for coco puffs line....It was funny...Glad he missed it all together....However others over there bit my ass off about it....I guess those who commented are absolutely perfect people made by Christ himself....and feel it's thier place to judge and feel inclined to comment about me being an ass....
LOL...
So I am an ass.....
but as long as I have 1 ass instead of 2...I'll say what I want....LOL.
"Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.” ~ D.H. Lawrence
*Love that quote*
Cynthia
Thanks Victoria & Kip....yall rock!
"It amazes me that his parents shelter him from everyday life....when you can tell he aspires...to be included and to be heard...."
You know, that kind of made me think, maybe I shouldn't have said anything...maybe we should have tried to engage him more. I don't know.
Damn it.
NOooooooooooooo.......
The fact that he should start a blog for autistic people is a Great idea....It is encouragement...Something his parents obviously don't help him to do or have.
and as far as a snide comment left over at Fingerprint that suggested if he does start a blog and noone will subscribe or come is BS....
I can help with that....Just by submitting his blog into search engines....
The idea here is that we are "trying to understand now". Trying to enable him...If others can't see that.....then perhaps they are the assholes.....and not us......
JMO.........
He seems to be staying on task now...with other posts...
I haven't been over there....since I commented about an hour ago to someone who was bashing me....
I didn't want to have to get my flying Monkeys....LOL
Love ya!
Cynthia
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