Was Dale Jr.'s pairing with Steve Letarte his "last straw" at Hendrick Motorsports?

   During a break this week during testing at New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., raised an interesting issue during a discussion of how his crew chief, Steve Letarte, has influenced his career as a driver.

   Earnhardt had not experienced much success at Hendrick Motorsports before he was paired with Letarte and said the pairing may have been "my last straw" at HMS.

   Here is Earnhardt's complete answer to the question involving Letarte:

   "He's just a common factor and a friend and I trust him a whole lot and believe in what he does and believe in every move he makes and makes me feel comfortable behind the wheel. I don't question the cars, I don't question the preparation, I don't question our initiative or motivation and our determination. I've never felt more confident and being able to depend on my team, especially after we've been able to work together for years and have just gotten better and better. It's been an amazing experience and he's a big part of that," Earnhardt said. 

   "We took off, before we ran our first race. I think that we really had an agreement that we were going to do this together and make it work. We both kind of needed each other in the moment. He was coming off kind of frustrating seasons with Jeff (Gordon) and both of them kind of needed a new start, so me and Steve both definitely maybe deserve each other. I'm glad it's worked out the way it has and I knew that when we got together that it was kind of my last straw. We'd been through so much, I'd been through so much, so I needed to get something going and fast. It couldn't have been a better or a more enjoyable few years than what I've had the last few years with Steve."

Former NASCAR team owner Hoss Ellington dies at age 79

    Former NASCAR team owner Charles Everett “Hoss” Ellington, of Wilmington, N.C., died May 31, 2014, after a long battle with cancer. He was 79.

   In 262 races in what is now the Sprint Cup Series, Ellington's team won eight poles and five races, including the 1977 Talladega 500 with driver Donnie Allison.
 His teams had 52 top-five and 92 top-10 finishes. Sterling Marlin, A.J. Foyt, Buddy Baker, Davey Allison, Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett were among his many drivers.

    A private graveside service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Duke Cancer Institute, 512 S. Mangum St., Suite 400, Durham, NC 27701. 

   To read the full obituary from PortCityDaily.com go here.

Humpy Wheeler: NASCAR looked the other way but drivers (and sponsors) did not

    Former Charlotte Motor Speedway general manager and president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler offers a diagnosis of what is missing from NASCAR these days. You may be surprised to learn that he believes NASCAR itself is working hard to produce the environment necessary to build more excitement but is running into a big roadblock - the drivers, or in particular, their corporate sponsors.

   Let him explain: 

   "What is wrong with NASCAR?

   We have heard it all in the past two months -- the economy, lack of passing for the lead, high ticket prices, confusing car paint changes, the weather and everything else but the pink elephants.

   Folks, what it is … is simple. It is the lack of real rivalries and the absence of a superstar in the realm of Ali, Brady, LeBron, Namath, etc.

   Sure we have Johnson, Gordon, Tony Stewart but you can't be a great superstar without tremendous rivals. Ali had Frazier; Namath the entire NFL; etc.

   What made NASCAR? The fierce battles between Curtis Turner and Jr. Johnson; Tim Flock vs. Buck Baker; Bobby Allison against Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough; Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace; Earnhardt, Sr., battling Geoff Bodine and Bill Elliot, etc. 

   Those were in the days before vast changes were made in the cars and before huge mega dollar sponsors who wanted their flying billboards to be quiet and the drivers as well behaved as Philadelphia nuns.

   Drivers sometimes didn't talk just right; dressed the way they wanted and were as tough as a Mohawk riveter. Kind of reminds us of the rodeo riders today.

   America loved these guys when they came on their stage in 1979 on CBS on a snowstorm Sunday and guess what: got into a fight on live TV! It was the Dukes of Hazzard; Andy Griffith; the Civil War on Wheels and the Friday Night Fights all rolled into one piece of technicolor drama. 
   
   And -- as we all know -- it took off like a Bonneville streamliner. Gutsy, clever and smart promoters saw their chance now and came up with all kinds of ways to get the media to cover it including bringing a lot of talented, fancy and not so fancy guys to come in and put on a show and did they ever from dirt tracks like the Robinwood Speedway in Gastonia, N.C. to the high banks of Charlotte and Daytona.

   In those building days cars hit one another -- rubbin' was the mild word. There were few sponsors to regulate behavior and NASCAR looked the  other way and the people loved it and there were few empty seats.

   Sometimes I remember the fights AFTER the race … the ones you didn't hear about. Those behind the rest room! One driver taking another and almost drowning him in an infield lake after he was knocked into the fence.

   Or the time Tim Richmond called David Pearson "an old man" and found himself flat on the hot concrete.

   These things just don't happen today and rivalries are quickly snuffed out by the huge disinfectant that comes into play when the boys get rowdy.

   So, with all sorts of PR people, button collared suits and enough security that we wonder if Godzilla is about to attack. No wonder drivers hurl themselves into their impenetrable tractor trailers after an incident.

   Probably the most dangerous place in the track after an incident is the track hospital where NASCAR commands all in a wreck to go and get checked out. 

   So, what happened to 'have at it boys?'

   I think NASCAR obeyed its own command but did the rest of NASCAR Town? No, because
that's the street where the sponsors live and their commandments.

   I do believe that the organization NASCAR is trying to get this whole thing back on track with rules changes and attempts at making the cars easier to pass for the lead (although we haven't seen this much). They, especially Brian France, know this whole rivalry element must
happen to get it back on track.

   But then maybe the answer is some rail-tough 20 year old from the backwoods of America whose only dream is going fast and whipping people with his determination and driving talent that ranks up there with Johnson, Foyt, Andretti, Yarborough, the Allisons and the Pettys who isn't handsome, dresses wrong, talks badly and doesn't particularly like any driver who has ever tried to beat him. He will flat put you in the fence if you cross him. He is as tough as the truck he drives and sometimes as mean as those rattlesnakes he has killed by the barn. He could pass the Secret Service rifle sniper test and sometimes disappears for days with his rod and reel. 

   He loves dirt so much his friends thought he had a vitamin deficiency. He has a girl friend but few have ever seen her and if anything gets in the way of his racing it is eliminated. He is frustrated by all the  rich kids racing who he knows won't last but keep him where he is. He dreams of the day he can get underneath their quarter panel.

   If you know this guy we need him bad!"

Ben Rhodes captures NASCAR K&N victory at Bowman Gray Stadium

Race: NKNPSE Bowman Gray 5/31/14

Pos	No.	Name	Laps	Diff
1	41	Ben Rhodes *	152
2	6	Daniel Suarez	152	0.614
3	22	Austin Hill *	152	1.277
4	33	Brandon Jones	152	1.581
5	4	Ronnie Bassett Jr. *	152	3.718
6	20	Gray Gaulding	152	3.885
7	2	Ryan Gifford	152	4.089
8	96	Kenzie Ruston	152	6.03
9	42	Jay Beasley *	152	13.978
10	15	Nick Drake *	152	17.808
11	31	Kaz Grala *	151	1 Lap
12	34	Scott Heckert	150	2 Laps
13	21	Mackena Bell	149	3 Laps
14	97	Jesse Little	147	5 Laps
15	24	Brennan Newberry	146	6 Laps
16	18	Sam Hunt	146	6 Laps
17	14	Trey Hutchens *	145	7 Laps
18	98	Cameron Hayley	122	30 Laps
19	46	John Holleman IV	76	76 Laps
20	4	Sergio Pena	68	84 Laps

Tony Stewart returns to sprint car at Carolina Speedway

   Three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart made his first laps in a sprint car on Monday at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, just over nine months since a vicious accident in Iowa that sidelined him for much of the 2013 NASCAR season with two broken bones in his right leg.

   Late Monday, Stewart posted several pictures to his Twitter account of the sprint car he used in the test session.

   In his Tweets, Stewart said it was "a huge day for me." By all accounts, the test session went well. He added in another Tweet, "It felt great. Like an old pair of shoes." 

   Stewart returned to action in NASCAR in February in time for the Sprint Unlimited non-points race and the Daytona 500, both at Daytona International Speedway.

Take a look at what drivers got paid in Sunday's Indy 500

   In NASCAR, prize money for every driver is released after every race. The IndyCar Series has a different system, but it did release the payout Monday for each of the 33 positions in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Take a look:

Verizon IndyCar Series

98th Running of the Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS - Results Sunday of the 98th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any) and money earned:

1. (19) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $2,491,194

2. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $785,194

3. (6) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $585,194

4. (7) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $449,194

5. (10) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $441,944

6. (12) Kurt Busch, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $423,889

7. (17) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $384,194

8. (3) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $442,194

9. (31) Sage Karam, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $270,305

10. (9) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $366,194

11. (18) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $247,305

12. (5) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $374,444

13. (24) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $368,694

14. (27) Jacques Villeneuve, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $354,194

15. (32) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $349,194

16. (28) James Davison, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $341,194

17. (21) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $339,694

18. (30) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 200, Running, $344,444

19. (23) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $342,444

20. (13) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running, $346,194

21. (15) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running, $340,194

22. (14) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running, $339,194

23. (29) Martin Plowman, Dallara-Honda, 196, Running, $225,805

24. (22) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 193, Running, $226,805

25. (25) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Chevy, 190, Contact, 226,805

26. (16) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 177, Running, $343,194

27. (1) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 175, Contact, $463,694

28. (2) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 175, Contact, $376,194

29. (11) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 167, Contact, $390,694

30. (8) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 156, Contact, $344,194

31. (26) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 149, Contact, $341,194

32. (33) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevy, 87, Mechanical, $225,305

33. (20) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 44, Electrical, $341,194 

Why would Jeff Gordon need to prove his toughness to anyone?

    Jeff Gordon has won four Sprint Cup Series championships and 89 races yet after Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gordon said one of the reasons he felt he needed to complete all 600 miles even with an ailing back was to earn some more respect from his team in regards to his toughness.

   The question seems a little absurd given Gordon's accomplishments, even if he doesn't win quite as much as he did 10 years ago.

   Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus - who once worked on Gordon's team - offered a good explanation as to what Gordon was referring.

   "I was listening to that question before. I completely understand because as a crew guy sometimes you think that the drivers, they have it pretty easy. They fly around in big, fancy jets, they show up at 3 p.m., race, go home, show up again on Friday, do it Saturday, Sunday," he said.

   "I think what Jeff was trying to say is he understands what his team does, what they go through to build the race cars, how this pit crew is there at 7 every morning to practice pit stops, start working out, what they go through setting up the pits when it's 120 degrees outside and waiting five hours to start. He gets that.

   "I think that's what he was trying to say. He was trying to prove to his guys that he was going to do his just work every day."