2014 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway Weekend Discussion

[K.Chuck]

All there is to complain about is broadcasting, because the racing has been pretty stellar. I have gripes with all the broadcast companies but in the end I am just glad the sport gets the amount of coverage we have today.

 

[KG_24]

Was going by the ratings for the previous season's races at same tracks.

I was talking about this part of the quote... "With that said, the race also ranks as the lowest rated and least-viewed regular Sprint Cup race of the season"

 

[ShadowKnight508]

NASCAR News and Updates (Credit to Jayski and Sporting News):

Why Does Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earn Less than Brad Keselowski at Pocono Even When Jr. Won?

Anyone who looked at the winnings from the Pocono 400 probably did a double take. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the winner of the race, earned $198,965. Brad Keselowski, who finished second, earned $213,783. NASCAR, in order to encourage teams to run every race, decades ago created a winner's circle program. Teams that win can enter the program for a couple of years. NASCAR gives the team extra money in exchange for the driver going to a track for an appearance to promote an event a few weeks before the race. Every organization is limited to two drivers that are eligible for this bonus money. Earnhardt is not one of Hendrick Motorsports' two winners circle drivers. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are the two Hendrick drivers on the program. The winner's circle program is not the only program that can cause confusion in winnings. Manufacturers often offer bonus money for a top finisher among their ranks. And several sponsors offer contingency awards as long as the team has the decal of that sponsor on the car. Some teams can't run certain decals because of a conflict with team sponsors and therefore are not eligible for the award. For instance, Tony Stewart won the 3M lap leader award even though he ranked well behind Keselowski in laps led at Pocono because Penske chooses not to run the 3M sticker to avoid conflict with its sponsors.

Austin Dillon to Run Special Dow's Great Stuff Scheme at Bristol Later This Year

Dow unveiled a special Great Stuff paint scheme for the #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy of Austin Dillon on Wednesday at the Dow Diamond in Midland, MI home of the Great Lakes Loons. Dow's Great Stuff is an Insulating Foam Sealant that seals air leaks easily, inexpensively and permanently. The #3 Great Stuff Chevy is scheduled to run at Bristol in August.

David Ragan's Wife Gives Birth to Baby Girl

David Ragan, driver of the #34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, announced on his Facebook page: God blessed us today with a healthy little girl. (Perfect timing too) Mom and Julia are doing good!

Jeremy Mayfield Adamant That He Never Used Illegal Drugs, Refuses to Go Through Road to Recovery

Jeremy Mayfield has learned never to say never but it appears that any chance of him returning to NASCAR racing is slim as he remains adamant that he did not use methamphetamine and does not need to go through NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program.

In an hour-long interview Wednesday with Sporting News, Mayfield covered a wide range of topics that stemmed from his 2009 drug test that NASCAR says was positive for methamphetamines.

“I don’t use drugs, for sure,” Mayfield said. “I don’t drink. I might have a couple of beers a year, maybe. … I don’t steal. I haven’t broke into any buildings and stole race parts and stuff.”

The only driver to openly fight his suspension over a violation of the sport’s substance-abuse policy, Mayfield remains suspended from all NASCAR activity. Mayfield challenged the results of the test, however, saying it was a false positive for a mix of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug Adderall (for which he had a prescription) and allergy medication Claritin-D. After more than three years of legal wrangling, he ended up losing the case primarily because of waivers he signed saying he would abide by NASCAR’s program and testing. Those tests, NASCAR and its program administrator Dr. David Black say, showed methamphetamine levels that could not be justified by the use of Adderall and Claritin.

“The easy road would have been, ‘OK, yeah, I will do your road to recovery Dr. Black and I will go to your rehab,’ but I just didn’t believe that that’s right,” Mayfield said. “And I still don’t believe it’s right. … I don’t feel like I did anything wrong. And still don’t today.”

More than two years after his suspension, Mayfield’s property was searched by police, who allegedly found stolen goods and what they determined was methamphetamine residue. The search was based on information from a man with a criminal record who later died, along with his passenger, following a police chase. Mayfield eventually agreed to an Alford plea — where there is acknowledgement of enough evidence to prove guilt while not admitting to the act — to two misdemeanors for possession of stolen goods and one possession of drug paraphernalia.

With the plea, Mayfield was able to end the case, avoid jail time and move on with his life. The 45-year-old driver recently returned to racing modifieds (in a non-NASCAR series), and will race this weekend at Ace Speedway in North Carolina.

Mayfield said he is talking — and doing a video series of his own — to show he is “still standing” and moving on with his life. That life won’t include NASCAR unless he goes through the Road to Recovery program and submits to drug testing under Black and Aegis Sciences Corp., the company Black founded that administers the NASCAR drug-testing program as well as programs for the WWE and many colleges.

“I would pee in a cup for Dr. Black as long as I can pee in a cup for LabCorp or some other credible lab,” Mayfield said. “I would be more than happy to.”

Mayfield knows that isn’t going to happen. In winning the lawsuit against Mayfield, NASCAR retained the ability to use one lab to administer drug tests and determine NASCAR driver eligibility. NASCAR now allows a driver who has failed a drug test to send their own toxicologist to Aegis and watch the testing of the driver’s second specimen from the day of the initial test.

“Was it a mistake (to fight NASCAR)? No,” Mayfield said. “It is something I believe in. I have my beliefs, just like everybody else does. Could we have handled it a different way? Sure. … I hate it that it happened, I hated everything that’s happened along the way. I never wanted all of that to happen. But if I had to do it all over again, I would do the same thing.”

And he would tell others to do the same.

“If you test positive and you were doing drugs and you didn’t have a prescription for it, and you didn’t have no reason to do it, you better go to rehab, you better go to the Road to Recovery,” Mayfield said.

“But if you didn’t and you had a prescription for Adderall and you go there and they say, ‘Nope, you’re done anyway,’ you better fight it. Why couldn’t you? Why shouldn’t you? … You’ve got to stand up for what you believe in. If you didn’t, you’re not American anymore.”

***BONUS VIDEO: Full Jeremy Mayfield Interview with SN
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv1dZjEqhig]Jeremy Mayfield Interview with Bob Pockrass - YouTube[/ame]

 

[labontefanboy]

Is anyone else tired of hearing Jeremy Mayfield's name?

 

[4WideRacing]

Is anyone else tired of hearing Jeremy Mayfield's name?

I am, mostly because I don't know what to believe about it. :-/

 

[AMLNet49]

Well, TNT sucks at broadcasting. Even the ticker is bad. I swear at least 6 or 7 of the numbers on the ticker were wrong. The #51, #26, #83, #77, #40, #23, and the #22 were all bad. They used the old Bill Davis #22, the R3 #23, the Latitude 43 #26, what looked like the Ganassi #40, the Finch #51, the Penske #77, and the Red Bull #83.

If you look back in the Pocono discussion, we identified I believe 13 incorrect numbers in all.

 

[Hendrick4life]

How about that #3 that thing is very nice looking. Also I knew about the winners circle thingy. They used to do it back in the day to keep the big names coming to the track (as it stated in the snippet lol). One has to wonder though, is Mayfield truly innocent?

 

[David24]

They are obnoxious to the extreme. And their "accuracy" is lacking alot. Fox on the whole took a dive when they brought "Digger", they have been going downhill since then.

I completely agree. There are so many mistakes between Joy and Waltrip it's hard to keep track of during a race, it's almost distracting. Larry Mcreynolds is the only guy who knows what the hell is going on and how to say it.

All there is to complain about is broadcasting, because the racing has been pretty stellar. I have gripes with all the broadcast companies but in the end I am just glad the sport gets the amount of coverage we have today.

Again I agree. I could always go for 100% more Nascar coverage but we should be thankful we get to see most on track activities compared to 20 or even 15 years ago.

 

[dalejrgamer]

All of the networks fuck up on a regular basis that it doesn't surprise me that the general opinion of NASCAR telecasts are kinda higher than pretty much the WNBA (which doesn't say much).

It's not about "who is better," but rather "pick your poison."

 

[nascarlugnut24]

They are obnoxious to the extreme. And their "accuracy" is lacking alot. Fox on the whole took a dive when they brought "Digger", they have been going downhill since then.
TNT definitly has better music.
Fox should do a revamp of their on air talent. It'll be interesting to see how NBC does. Not holding my breath.
Orginal ESPN with Bob Jenkins was best.

Well, if I remember the announcement correctly, Rick Allen is going to be in the booth as well as Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. I heard NBCSN's NASCAR America is pretty good.

 

[AMLNet49]

NASCAR America is excellent. Burton, Stoddard, and even Wally are all well spoken and the show is very professional. Leigh Diffey is the backup host and he is much better than I thought he would be.

 

[The_Dolfan]

I don't get why people are bagging on Mike Joy... I think he is a good announcer. The only problem on fox are those damn Waltrips. Just watch the Sprint Unlimited...there was no DW. Mikey was kind of obnoxious but no where as close as Darrell. But anyway, TNT is junk. Wally is alright I guess but he is not half as good as Larry Mac. Adam Alexander pisses me off especially when he says "______ is on point at _____!" And Kyle Petty has a weird fetish for the word "incredible. "

 

[FloridaFan88]

NBC Sports is gonna be the top broadcaster next year. Can't wait!

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk

 

[Craftworth]

TNT definitly has better music.

+1
Who know, what is original music playing before race?(not ac/dc)

 

[Tim2488]

Farmers Insurance & Hendrick Motorsports have agreed to extend their sponsorship through 2017.

 

[nascarlugnut24]

Kyle Larson is going to be a father....HOW OLD IS HE????

 

[nascarlugnut24]

NASCAR America is excellent. Burton, Stoddard, and even Wally are all well spoken and the show is very professional. Leigh Diffey is the backup host and he is much better than I thought he would be.

What about Ken Schrader? I heard that he was a commentator on NASCAR America.

 

[ShadowKnight508]

Kyle Larson is going to be a father....HOW OLD IS HE????

Credit to Jayski:

#42-Kyle Larson, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway and discussed many topics, including:

Q) ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR PROGRESS THUS FAR THIS SEASON? YOU ARE TOP 10 IN POINTS, THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING WELL FOR YOU:
Larson: "Yeah, it's all going really good so far. Top 10 in points; we have been a top 10 car every week pretty much. It really is fun I'm having a blast this year. A lot of stuff going on, me and Katelyn (Sweet, girlfriend) just found out we are having a baby so it's a really exciting time. How good the racing has been going, a new house, all that and now that so it's been a lot of fun."

Q) WHEN IS THE BABY DUE? Larson: "It was December 29th the first time she went then it was Christmas now it is kind of back to December 29th. Christmas sounds cool so I will go with Christmas."

 

[timnsr72]

Kyle Larson is going to be a father....HOW OLD IS HE????

Larson is 21, congrats to him on becoming a father.

 

[bigrolltide1877]

Looks like superman is going to be hard to beat this weekend.


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