Yarborough, DW highlight '12 HOF class

Cup Drivers Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip, modified driver Richie Evans, owner Glen Wood and crew chief Dale Inman will make up the NASCAR Hall of Fame's classic '12.
Yarborough was the first driver to win three straight Cup titles and finished his career with 83 victories.
Waltrip won 84 races and three titles.
Inman was Richard Petty's long-time crew chief and had 193 victories and eight titles, both records for a crew chief.
Evans won nine NASCAR modified titles in 13 years and eight consecutively from 1978-85.
Wood, part of the Wood Brothers Racing team, which has 98 victories.

Guess what? Probation's over!

   NASCAR had to issue a warning to drivers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch early in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway when the two couldn’t seem to get out of each other’s way battling for position.

   The two were on probation through this weekend for a post-race incident on pit road last month at Darlington, S.C.

   “It seemed like he was trying to make it awfully difficult on me,” Busch said of Harvick. “There’s a couple times where I just had to back off and wait, got back to him and tried to pass him again.

   “Maybe that shows his character and who he is, how he feels he needs to race on the race track. It’s not my fight. He’s trying to turn it into one.”

   "He knows he's got one coming," Harvick said when he was asked about the run-in. "I just wanted him to think about it."

   Did Harvick think Busch had?

   "Of course he did. It's all a free game now. Probation's over," he said.

Three straight poles for Penske Racing

     LONG POND, Pa. - Is the key to qualifying well spinning out in practice?

    Kurt Busch seems to be setting a trend. For the second consecutive week, Busch spun in practice on Friday and ended up winning the pole during Saturday qualifying.

    Busch’s lap at 171.578 mph was good enough to hold off Paul Menard for his second pole this season and first at Pocono Raceway in Sunday's 5-Hour Energy 500.

    “To go out there today, if it was raining, we’d be starting last in a backup car. Instead, we’re starting on the pole,” Busch said.

    “It’s a matter of knowing where the edge is and not stepping over it. It bit me. But today I went right back out there to get after it.”

    Sunday’s race will also mark the third straight week a Penske Racing driver has started the Cup race from the pole. Busch started from the pole last week and his teammate Brad Keselowski won the pole at Charlotte.
   Jeff Gordon qualified third, Denny Hamlin third and Regan Smith fifth.

Stewart pleased with Eldora race

   Clint Bowyer won Tony Stewart's annual dirt track charity race at Eldora Speedway this week - an event which once again raised funds for four children's hospitals across the country.

   Stewart was asked Friday at Pocono Raceway to give an update on how the race went and the response from the drivers involved this season.

   Q: TALK ABOUT THE PRELUDE, HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?

   Stewart: I thought it was good. I wish I would have ran a little better but its good seeing another first-time winner there and everybody had a good time. That’s what it’s all about.

   Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW SUCCESSFUL IT WAS AS A FUNDRAISER FOR YOUR CAUSES? “

   Stewart: The hard thing is with the HBO/Pay-Per-View side it takes months to get those numbers in. That’s the hard part because we never know right away. I checked with everybody I knew and they all ordered it. There were people that ordered it and went and watched it somewhere else too. I think everybody was trying to do everything they could to do their part.

   Q: YOU FINALLY SAW A BREAK WITH THE WEATHER FOR YOU I KNOW THAT’S A FIRST ALMOST WITH THE YEARS PAST, THE GUYS SAID THEY HAD A GREAT TIME, WHAT WAS YOUR SENSE OF HOW GOOD OF A TIME ALL THE CUP GUYS HAD?

   Stewart: “I was still getting text messages this morning from drivers. They’re the ones that make it so big. It’s hard to get that many guys together and get their schedules all coordinated like that. They’ve always done a great job for us there. That’s the best part and highlight to me, giving a lot of money away to kids and making sure that these guys are having a good time. When I know they’ve had fun then it’s all worthwhile.

Richard Childress Statement No. 2

    Richard Childress gave a public statement on Friday morning at Pocono Raceway regarding his fine and probation for striking driver Kyle Busch in the garage area last weekend following the Truck race at Kansas Speedway.

   According to the press release announcing the media availability, Childress was also supposed to take questions and answers but elected not to at the last minute.

   Here is his complete statement:

   Childress: “Here is the deal. I am going to make one statement on this deal. I appreciate everyone’s patience during the last week when I couldn’t talk to everyone. The main thing is I take all the responsibility for my actions last week. I am very passionate about this sport. I am passionate about my race teams, our fans and I let my emotions get…come in front of my passion. But that is behind us.

   “I guess the next thing is the fine that was levied against me, I’m going to pay it personal. I agree that NASCAR should have done something with me. I don’t agree that they didn’t handle the situation that happened on the cool-down lap.

  

   “With that said, we had a lot of fans to send in donations last week toward our fine, I am going to pay it personally. All that money that has been sent in, that is still coming in, we’re going to take and donate to the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. At least in every bad situation, something good will come out of it.

    “Hopefully Kyle (Busch) and myself will both end up learning something from this. Thank you all very much. Talk to you later. That’s it.”

Jimmy Spencer backs Kyle Busch?!?

    Add this to the "What I didn't expect to hear from a driver category." In a recent interview with Speed Channel's public relations staff, former NASCAR driver-turned-analyst Jimmy Spencer was asked where he came down on the Richard Childress vs. Kyle Busch debate.

   Spencer's answer to that as well as several other questions related to the incident following last Saturday's Truck Series race at Kansas will likely surprise you. At one point, Spencer claims Childress' assault on Busch "gave the sport the biggest black eye it has had in years."

   Q: What’s your take on the Richard Childress/Kyle Busch ordeal?

   Spencer: Richard Childress stepped over the line. The biggest problem I have with his actions is that he’s representing major corporations with thousands of employees and he let his temper lead him to assault someone. That’s a big black eye on the sport. The fans and others in the sport may think it’s funny but these major companies cannot be happy having a car owner represent them who assaults another person. I’d be willing to bet there are some additional actions behind-the-scenes to punish Childress for what he did.

   Q: Did the penalty fit the crime, so to speak?

   Spencer: I don’t think NASCAR did enough. The $150,000 fine was fine but a three-week suspension would have been more appropriate. He took responsibility for what he did but never apologized for it because he’s really not sorry.

   I admire Kyle for not fighting back and I admire him for staying in the car at Darlington when Kevin Harvick came up to his car. He’s the most exciting driver in our sport right now. Yes, he ruffles feathers but so did Dale Earnhardt. But Earnhardt didn’t attack people. I admire Kyle for respecting Childress enough, although he got punched, to not strike him back. It takes a strong person not to hit back. I consider Kyle a strong person for not returning the punch.

   Childress’ actions gave the sport the biggest black eye it has had in years. NASCAR did the right thing by fining him but should have come down on him harder. I’ve been involved in a situation like that and know from experience that it affects the younger generation a lot, especially the kids watching the sport, to know Childress struck a driver.

   Q: How would you have viewed the situation if it had been Joey Coulter who had punched Busch?

   Spencer: I could have handled Joey Coulter attacking Busch better than Childress doing it. I do not condone fighting at all and don’t think a person should ever touch another human being. I did it to Kurt Busch and I was wrong. In today’s society, you do not touch or physically confront people. You can argue with them, call them names, yell at them but you do not touch them. There are other ways to handle these situations.”

   Q:This took place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series garage. Richard Childress owns the truck of Joey Coulter and Kyle Busch owns the truck he was driving. Should an owner-to-owner confrontation be permitted or do you simply take issue with the owner-to-driver scenario?

   Spencer: No, a physical owner-to-owner confrontation is not okay. If Childress had simply verbally argued with Busch, I would have been okay with that. NASCAR’s policy is to police the garage area and the sport. The late Bill France, Jr. said you should not touch another driver. That’s where NASCAR comes in. People can say it’s owner-to-owner and try to make it seem okay, but it should have been a discussion or screaming match only.

   Q:Was Kyle Busch out of line in bumping Joey Coulter’s truck on the cool-down lap?

   Spencer: What I saw Kyle do was not out of line. If Kyle hadn’t lifted, he would have wrecked Joey Coulter. They were putting on a hell of a race for fifth place and Joey finally slid up in front of Kyle and Kyle lifted and let him go. What Joey did was wrong because he could have wrecked both trucks if Kyle hadn’t lifted. Give Kyle credit for lifting but Kyle bumped him to get his attention and teach him a lesson. Sure, he did a little damage to the quarter panel of Joey’s truck, but he also did the same to his own truck. I think NASCAR took that into consideration, as well. That’s how you teach younger drivers and that’s just part of racing.

   I don’t care who the owner is. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Childress had the worst driver in the garage area for beating the hell out of competitors’ cars in Dale Earnhardt. I loved Earnhardt and he was an awesome driver but he was the worst about putting tire marks on you and dinging your fenders. Come on, Childress. I wonder if Childress would have grabbed hold of Ryan Newman or Rusty Wallace or Jimmy Spencer.

   Q: It’s surprising to hear this viewpoint from the man who famously punched Kurt Busch, Kyle’s older brother:

   Spencer: I went over the line with Kurt Busch. I made a better person out of Kurt by punching him but I also know I shouldn’t have touched him. I’ve been in many brawls and nobody benefits from it. Kurt learned his lesson but so did I and if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have hit him.

   And there you have it, straight from "Mr. Excitement" himself.

What gets you suspended in NASCAR?

   So, team owner Richard Childress assaults driver Kyle Busch in the garage area, repeatedly striking him with his fist, and doesn't get suspended. He received a $150,000 fine and placed on probation through the end of the year.

   What exactly does get you suspended in NASCAR? Here's a list of some recent suspensions and another list of things for which NASCAR participants did not receive a suspension.

   NASCAR suspends people for:
   -Violation of its substance abuse policy (numerous examples).
   -Using an engine which is too big (Carl Long)
   -Rigging a fuel tank to appear full when it wasn't during qualifying (Crew chief Todd Berrier)
   -Using a racial slur (crew chief Bryan Berry)
   -Using an unapproved additive in fuel (Crew chief David Hyder)
   -Having a car chassis that does not meet specifications (Crew chief Shane Wilson)
   -Having air improperly ducted into the car for qualifying at Daytona (Crew chiefs Kenny Francis and Robbie Reiser)

   NASCAR will not suspend you for:
   -Physically assaulting a driver (Team owner Richard Childress)
   -Convictions for driving while intoxicated (drivers AJ Allmendinger, Scott Wimmer)
   -Reckless driving; speeding (128 mph in 45 mph zone) (driver Kyle Busch)
   -Repairing a wrecked car to return to the track to intentionally wreck another competitor (driver Carl Edwards)
   -Physically assaulting another competitor in the presence of NASCAR officials (Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman)
   -Physically assaulting a member of the media (driver Tony Stewart)

  
   Make sense?