NASCAR and Stockcar Racing

I don’t recall seeing or hearing about him in quite a few races.  Is he out of
racing or what?  thanks, Diana

Here’s the latest on Mark’s back surgery from today…

Mark Martin’s J-Mar Express – http://www.jmarexpress.com

This report on Mark Martin’s back surgery from Lori Halbeisen at Roush
Racing:

Mark Martin underwent a successful lumbar fusion this morning to hopefully
relieve a majority of the back pain he has dealt with for years. Dr. Chuck
Kollmer performed the procedure in New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Dr. Kollmer is
the same physician who performed surgery on Martin’s knee in July.

"Mark did very well through the surgery," Dr. Kollmer said. "There was no
nerve damage from the procedure and now it is just a matter of the bone
healing. His back pain should be much better, although not entirely gone."

Martin suffered from a condition called spondylolisthesis in which part of
the bone in the back is broken which causes instability and causes the
bone below it to slip. That puts pressure on the nerves in the back and
causes pain. During the 3 1/2-hour procedure, Dr. Kollmer removed the
portion of broken bone and inserted hardware and additional bone which
will fuse together to stabilize his lower back. Martin is expected to
remain in the hospital until Friday.

"He will be laying down today and we hope to start him walking by
tomorrow," Dr. Kollmer said. "Once the pain is under control, we will be
able to send him home. We will take X-rays several times over the next two
months to make sure everything is healing properly. We hope to start a
slow rehabilitation program of his extremities next week. He will wear a
lower back brace to keep that area stable."

The full recovery time for this type of procedure is usually about one
year. Dr. Kollmer said Martin should feel better in about six weeks once
the bone heals. At this time, Martin does not plan on climbing into a race
car until Feb. 10 at Daytona.

My votes:

1) Fall Bristol race
2) Daytona 500

Split vote – but I don’t have a close third!!!

Gee, I thought my 1998 predictions were bad.
Anyway, here’s how my outlook (posted 2/6/99) turned out:

> WINSTON CUP
> ———–
> Top 10 – 1. Jeff Gordon (8 wins; MOV – 80 points)
>          2. Dale Jarrett (4)
>          3. Jeff Burton (3)
>          4. Mark Martin (4)
>          5. Rusty Wallace (3)
>          6. Bobby Labonte (3)
>          7. John Andretti (1)
>          8. Dale Earnhardt (2)
>          9. Terry Labonte
>         10. Mike Skinner (2)

Obvious miss at the top, but I did have five of the actual top six
somewhere in there, and nine of the top 10 somewhere in there.
No embarrassment here, especially when you look further down the list.
The only win totals that I had correct were Jarrett’s and Andretti’s.

> Close – Jimmy Spencer, Jeremy Mayfield

Mayfield yes, Spencer no.

> Best one-car team – if the 13 doesn’t come back, Bill Elliott;
>                     otherwise Steve Park

Park was third among (official) single-car efforts and Elliott was
fourth.   But I really missed on Wawd Buhton.

> Rookie of the year – Elliott Sadler

> First-time winners – Mike Skinner, Chad Little

> Back in victory lane – Jimmy Spencer

Oops.

> Daytona 500 winner – Bobby Labonte

I’ve picked Bobby to win it the last three years and I’ll keep picking
him until he wins it.

> Biggest bust – Tony Stewart
>                I had this slot pegged when the deal was announced.

Now that I look back on it, I was really picking with my heart here
(as I did a few times on down the list).   But I never thought this
little squirt would do anywhere near this well.   Yuck.

> BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL
> ——————–
> Top 5 – 1. Mike McLaughlin
>         2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
>         3. Todd Bodine
>         4. Matt Kenseth
>         5. Phil Parsons

I really didn’t think it would be another Earnhardt-Kenseth battle
the whole season, and I could not have guessed the success of
Progressive Motorsports.   McLaughlin and Parsons?!

> Darkhorse – Glenn Allen

Yeah, so dark no one noticed him.   No one noticed him having a ride
for a chunk of the late season.

> Rookie of the year – Tony Raines

I got one right!

> Among the first-time winners – Glenn Allen, Mike Dillon, Casey Atwood

If two out of three ain’t bad, is one out of three half-bad?

> WC drivers to win in BGN – Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton,
>                            Terry Labonte, Kenny Irwin

Missed on two and left out three (Waltrip, Nemechek, Skinner).
These are too hard to pick and I’m going to stop picking these.

> Biggest bust – Team Amick, Lyndon Amick and Hank Parker Jr.
>                They couldn’t consistently get one car qualified;
>                are they ready for two?

Both had their share of DNQs.   The 35 must have really been struggling
if Lyndon was temporarily booted from the driver’s seat by his father.
But Parker did well enough to open some eyes, especially those at
Progressive Motorsports.    Team Amick wasn’t really a bust when you
compare it to the 33 and 72 disasters.

> CRAFTSMAN TRUCK
> —————
> Top 5 – 1. Jay Sauter
>         2. Jack Sprague
>         3. Ron Hornaday
>         4. Ron Barfield
>         5. Stacy Compton

Four of the picks were respectable, but Barfield?!
I don’t remember being drunk when I made these predictions, and I
rarely drink anyway, but something must have been happening there.

> Darkhorse – Andy Houston

Eighth in points isn’t bad.   Good pick unless you considered Biffle
and Setzer darkhorses.

> Rookie of the year – Scott Hansen

It was between Hansen and Stefanik and I went the wrong way.

> Among the first-time winners – Ron Barfield, Greg Biffle, Kevin

Harvick

See my BGN picks.

> Biggest bust – Tim Steele

Well, they only made it to half the races, managed only one top-10,
tore up a number of parts, and didn’t grab any additional sponsorship.
I’d call that a bust.

> OTHER NASCAR SERIES CHAMPIONS
> —————————–
> Slim Jim All Pro – Billy Bigley

Second.

> Goody’s Dash – Robert Huffman

Easy pick.   All the other Dash teams should try to chip in the money
necessary to put him in a Craftsman Truck

> Featherlite Modified – Mike Ewanitsko

Distant second.

> Busch North – Jerry Marquis

Didn’t run all the races (14 of 18) because he concentrated on winning
a track championship (which he did).

> Winston West – Kevin Richards

Fourth.

> Featherlite Southwest – Doug McCoun

Fifth.   Good to see Kurt Busch win it in Chris Trickle’s old ride.

> Raybestos Northwest – Garrett Evans

10th.   I would have been better off picking Shane Biles (8th), husband
of RASNer Renee Angel Biles.

> RE/Max Challenge – Brian Hoppe

Ding!

> Busch All-Star – pick a Kosiski, it doesn’t matter which Kosiski

For only the third time in the 14-year history of the dirt series,
a Kosiski didn’t win the title.   Joe was second and Steve was fourth.

> OTHER CHAMPIONS
> —————
> ARCA – Mark Gibson
> ASA – Mike Garvey
> Hooters ProCup – Chad Chaffin

I was picking with my heart again, and it didn’t work.   Gibson was
fifth, Garvey was fourth, and Chaffin only ran a couple of races.

> Hav-a-Tampa – Billy Moyer
> CART – Bryan Herta
> IRL – Scott Goodyear
> Formula One – Michael Schumacher
> World of Outlaws – Jac Haudenschild

I should stick to NASCAR.   I’m 0 for all of these.

> NHRA – Gary Scelzi, Cruz Pedregon, Kurt Johnson, Angelle Seeling, Brad

Jeter

Three seconds, a third, and a guy who was booted from his seat mid-year
for no reason.    I was picking with my heart again with the Seeling
and Jeter picks; I should have done that one more time with John Force.

No matter how futile it seems, I’ll be back in a couple of months with
predictions for 2000.

                                     —Jim

                                        jcarson…@hotmail.com

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

Does anyone remember the PPV that the Mattiolis tried several years
ago at Pocono?

Well I guarantee that PPV is alive and well. Wait until NASCAR debuts
the NASCAR channel on cable and satellite.

Break out that checkbook.
—
I Don’t Need A Hot Water Heater!
I Need a COLD Water Heater!

6 for seven on the grid, 6/10 in happy hour. These boys got somethin’
goin’ on.  I’m a Ford fan, but I always figured the whole point was to
make your car go faster, and if you could do that, fine. If not, go back
to the shop and start head scratching. Is anybody whimpering about the
Pontiacs? I haven’t heard a word, just askin’.

Well, watching the WC race on NBC, I couldn’t stand it anymore…

I e-mailed this message just a few mometns ago and we’re only 150
miles into the race…

[Quote]
Why are you ruining NASCAR?

I can’t believe this!  I tuned into NBC to watch the Winston Cup Race
from Homestead Florida.  I really wish you would cover the race..  The
idea of showing your ‘anchorman’ while the race is going on is so
arrogant!

More "touchy feely" features – just what fans of the sport DON’T want.
Why don’t you have a pre-show and show those features THEN?  WHY do
you interrupt the race for this?

Just as you have ruined Olympic coverage, you’re doing it to NASCAR
now.

Have you not watched the cable coverage to learn how it’s supposed to
be done?

I feel like I am missing so much in watching your coverage..  It’s
like I’m watching something that’s produced like a highlight show..
If you covered baseball like this, we’d only see the 1st, 5th and 9th
innings!

Whereas last week I was enthusiastic about the TV package
announcement, I now feel like it was truly a dark day for long-time
NASCAR fans.  If this is any sign of what’s to come…
[End Quote]
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If this is the "future" of NASCAR on TV – looks like I’ll be listening on
the radio.

1.  Tuned at exactly 12:30 Eastern.  Saw a brief look at the Labonte/Jarrett
championship
outlook, what Jarrett needs to do, etc.  Then off to NY – we need to get the
basketball scores from
YESTERDAY.  Head back to the track.  Oh my, they are already on the track !.
Missed the
"Start your engines" and everything – no driver interviews, nothing.

2. A virtual lack of "rundowns" on the field.  They need to take a look at
ESPN.  Show the field
(3 at a time, 5 at a time, whatever) in the corner of the screen.  Not
everyone’s favorite driver is on the
screen at all (any of the) time(s).

3. Like #2, show some more on track speed information, show some interval
information, etc.  This is like
seeing a camera fixed on a couple of cars, and having no idea anyone else is
on the track.

4. Show the race.  Small "insight" bits ( less than 30 seconds) are fine
when they apply to the action on the track.  The dissertation on Jarrett was
just way too much
while the race was ongoing.

5. Have the anchor talk before the race,  after the race, but not while the
race is ongoing !!!!!
We want to see cars !!!!  Check ESPN Classic for a race in the past 2 years.
Watch it over and over
again.  Then watch it some more.

I thought no one could approach coverage as bad as TNN ( in most cases).
NBC has surpassed this,
by far.  I’m almost to the point of wanting TNN coverage.

IMHO, ESPN did the best job, before during and after the race.  Not perfect,
but I think the best.
They helped build NASCAR and are now are shut out.  I can’t wait for the
first time a football game needs
to start, and the race was slowed by yellow or a red flag.  Will we see the
end ?

Dennis

Congratulations to Robert Yates. This is a man who started in this
business cleaning old parts and sweeping out the shop. Apparently he
paid some attention to what was happening around him in the early years.
As an engine builder indigenous to central Alabama, the Davey
Allison/Yates hookup was a no brainer for me. After Davey died I guess
everyone in Alabama kept a place in their hearts for the 28. For a while
there it seemed pretty bleak. The 28 woes are now legend, and the 88 and
Dale Jarret didn’t exactly look like light at the end of the tunnel 2
years ago. I guess Robert saw something mere mortals like myself
couldn’t see. I’m happy for the Yates family, and if it needed to be,
Davey’s spirit is vindicated. On a less philosophical note, Mark Martin
will win Atlanta. I can eat this one just as easy as the last.

ON the NBC coverage, we heard about Labonte being enraged about being
dinged by Stewart at the end of the race – when Tony wouldn’t give up
the inside line on turns 3 & 4 after his pit stop and slid up into the
18…

I noticed how much Tony was apologizing when on camera.

Excite News actually had a quote from the in-car radio..

Apparently, Bobby Labonte said to Jimmy Makar:

"That little (expletive) better run off to Ray Evernham before I get
my hands on him."

I wonder how long this will play out or if Bobby’s just got to cool
down?  I know that Joe Gibbs in the NBC booth said he was VERY nervous
with all that going on..

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