SB Nation User Blog: MattHaggard

Them's the breaks: Logano wins at Kentucky

MattHaggard — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:31:34 -0000

For the seventh consecutive race, Kyle Busch dominated and led the most laps of a Nationwide Series event. But for the fifth of those seven, it was another driver who hoisted the trophy as Joey Logano won the Meijer 300 Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Busch was flat out dominating, leading six times for 162 laps before an ill-advised adjutment forced the Gibbs no. 18 to tighten-up in the final laps. Logano was bad-fast all afternoon, including on pit road where NASCAR penalized him for speeding on lap 74.

The penalty made little difference to Logano as the Nationwide sophomore restarted 15th and charged back to the front in time to retake the lead from Busch with ten laps remaining.

The victory caps off an incredible afternoon for Logano. The win was his second of the season (third career) and second at Kentucky. The 18-year old also scored the victory from the pole in similar fashion to his first career victory last June at the 1.5 asphalt oval.

"It's really cool," Logano said. "This place is one of my favorite race tracks. It's one of those places that just suits you. To win two-for-two here, that's really cool for me and the whole team. I guess that's the first time anyone's ever done that here, so it's pretty neat. We've got two poles, two wins -- perfect record here, so that's pretty cool."

The rest of the top five included Busch, Brad Kaselowski, Brendam Gaughan and Justin Allgaier. Jason Leffler, Michael Annett, Burney Lammar, Ricky Stenhouse and Kelly Bires rounded out the top ten.

With his runner up finish, Busch extends his Nationwide points lead to137 points over Carl Edwards. Edward finished three laps down in 20th place after numerous pit infractions.

Onwards to Milwaukee.

Time to play the Game

MattHaggard — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:29:05 -0000

It was a dark day when EA Sports and NASCAR failed to reach an agreement that would allow Electronic Arts to continue producing officially licensed NASCAR video games. Granted, EA was not a leader in the racing simulation market, but any NASCAR video game is better than none. And EA's inability to secure the the rights left NASCAR without a presence in the mass media market that is video gaming.

That was until this afternoon when Sony dropped one of its biggest bombshells at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. It was announced via the hot off the press trailer that NASCAR Sprint Cup has joined World Rally Championship as two of the newest series to be featured within Gran Turismo 5.

The E3 trailer opened with Jeff Gordon walking out of Daytona's tunnel and also featured the cars of Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Michael Waltrip.

Gran Turismo is without a doubt the longest running and most revolutionary franchise in the racing sim market. With over 50 million units sold, GT is the undisputed racing champion. Today's announcement only solidifies this claim.

So how about it? Are there any gamers here at Ranting and Raving and does this title interest you?

GT5 will most likely hit the shelves during the holiday season of 2009.

Gran Turismo 5 - Official E3 Trailer (via GTPlanet)

Nationwide in Bliss: Mike wins at Charlotte

MattHaggard — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:15:05 -0000

via blog.al.com

The best weekend in motorsports began with an unlikely finish as Mike Bliss captured his second Nationwide Series career victory late-Saturday night at the rain-shortened Carquest Auto-Parts 300.

Kyle Busch dominated and led the most laps before getting caught with his pants down during green-flag pit stops on lap 151. Busch was amongst the drivers who already came in when the caution came out for an accident involving Scott Lagasse Jr. When the dust had settled Bliss was the only car who had not pitted and as a result was the only car on the lead lap. Brendan Gaughan recovered his lap by virtue of the lucky dog and went on to finish second. Rain moved back into the area on lap 171 and forced NASCAR to call the race and award Bliss his first NNS win since 2004.

It was a heartbreaking finish for Busch who finished third after having one of the most dominating cars in recent memory. Busch qualified second but had to start at the rear of the field because of an engine change. It took only 20 green flag laps for the younger Busch to race his way into the top-10 and 30 laps for him to take the lead. In all, Busch led 98 laps and extended his points lead over Carl Edwards, who finished tenth.

The best thing I took from the event was a Nationwide-regular pulling out the victory over the Buschwackers. Also, owner James Finch continues his whirlwind month, winning at Charlotte two weeks after winning the Aaron 499 with Brad Kaselowski.

In all, the Nationwide race was a great way to start off the absolute best racing weekend of the year. Now onwards to Indy and Charlotte.

The NASCAR Network?

MattHaggard — Wed, 20 May 2009 15:09:50 -0000

It was reported by the Sports Business Journal that NASCAR is in preparations to launch their own 24-7 TV network. This is great news by SBJ and one that has gotten me out of my summer induced writer's block.

SPEED TV has been a great partner for NASCAR since 2001. FOX has been the main reason for NASCAR's supernatural growth over the past decade and FOX, via its SPEED Network, brought credibility to NASCAR in ways RPM 2Night could not. But Speed and NASCAR's relationship is pushing eight years and it has grown stale in almost every way.

First and foremost, NASCAR TV is great for the economy. Sports media has taken a bashing in the internet age and a NASCAR operated network will open numerous jobs within the industry.

Secondly, NASCAR TV means more media coverage and exposure. Sure, some feel that NASCAR media already over-exposes the sport and dwindling ratings prove it. But a NASCAR owned network would draw in plenty of viewers, no doubt.

Do I have some fears? Sure. I don't want to be fed the company line on a weekly basis. Remember SPEED's Pit Bull program? It was a hard hitting and brutally honest program featuring Steve Byrnes, David Poole and Kyle Petty. Those three have never been afraid to speak their mind and often spoke it against NASCAR policies and decision making. The controversial Pit Bull was canceled at the Sanctioning Body's request after one lone season in 2007.

One year later, Pit Bull was replaced by Trading Paint, a watered down Pit Bull also starring the hard-hitting Lee Spencer. But the show continued taking jabs at NASCAR's constant rule changes and just like Pit Bull, it was canceled after one season.

So, if NASCAR TV becomes just another medium for the Sanctioning Body's PR then I'm not interested. But this is a great opportunity for NASCAR to reach a brand new height of credibility. Get on it.

"Salutations" or why Nationwide is dead.

MattHaggard — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:05:38 -0000

Hi everyone. Fearless Leader has brought me in to the fold to fill in a couple of cracks here on Ranting and Raving. Most notably, the Nationwide and Truck Series. So in the next couple of months, I hope to bring insight and promote discussion about those two circuits. That is not to say that I won’t write a Cup post every now and then but you can find those opinions in the race discussion if you wish.

Now, towards the Nationwide Series -- the heart of my new duties and the focus of this post. Why should you care about NASCAR’s number-two series? In short: I have no idea. I hope to find out. NASCAR has some serious problems surrounding its AAA-organization, problems that have turned me off to the series over the years.

The former Busch Series is facing one serious identity crisis and the Sanctioning Body has enabled it. The Grand National Series was once the proving ground of the organization. The best of the young talent had to prove themselves against their peers before getting the chance to go Cup Racing. Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are all prime examples of what the ‘proving grounds’ was meant for.

Competition increased in the Cup Series and track time became invaluable in the mid-90’s, Cup teams decided to use the Busch Series as an extra Happy Hour for their drivers and the Buschwackers, Cup drivers dominating Busch, were born. The concept proved successful and the resulting Cup infusion turned the Nationwide Series into a Cup-lite. For that reason, the Nationwide Series has become stale.

So what can be done? Very little. NASCAR has made its bed and has to lie in it. The Sanctioning Body relies of the draw of Cup drivers for its ticket sales and brand identity. Meanwhile, ARCA has taken over as the true proving ground of stock car racing. However, ARCA is mired in obscurity without the NASCAR label and because of that fans are missing out on the true rising talent of our sport.

The Nationwide Series’ fall is not lost on many of you and their ratings reflect it. In the coming months, I hope to find the appeal of this faceless series along with all of you. So buckle up and get ready for the ride. In the meanwhile, what do you feel can be done to give Nationwide an identity. What can be fixed in the series? Stay tuned later this week as my next post will analyze my changes to NASCAR’s number-two series.

I really look forward to your participation and feedback. Thanks to Bob and all of you for reading and welcoming me to the RaR family. You can reach me at jmatthewweaver@aol.com and on the boards.

Kirk Out.

Poll

Do you regularly watch the Nationwide Series?

Yes

21 votes

No

17 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

Kevin Grubb found dead in hotel

MattHaggard — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:02:35 -0000

http://www.fanhouse.com/news/motorsports/kevin-grubb-dies/469936?icid=main|main|dl4|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanhouse.com%2Fnews%2Fmotorsports%2Fkevin-grubb-dies%2F469936

The link says it all. The former Nationwide regular who was suspended indefinitely for the rufusal to take a drug test was found dead in his hotel room on Wednesday night.

I hope guys like him and Shane Hmiel get help in the future. Drugs and violence are a quick and massive waste of talent..

RIP.

Official Bristol Race Discussion

MattHaggard — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:56:10 -0000

The official discussion board for the March 22, 2009 Sprint Cup Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. A forum to discuss the race and all related topics including the Ask.com Questions.

Topics include:

Busch Brothers going back to back to back?
Jeff Gordon's winless streak comes to one of his better tracks.
Mark Martin, Ryan Newman and others find themselves on the bubble for the Top 35.

Time: 2 ET/1CT

Network: FOX

Defending Race Winner: Jeff Burton

Laps/Miles: 500/266.5

Official Atlanta Raceday Discussion Board

MattHaggard — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 19:45:08 -0000

The official discussion board for the March 8, 2009 Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. A forum to discuss the race and all related topics.

Time: 2 ET/1CT

Network: FOX

Defending Race Winner: Kyle Busch

Laps/Miles: 325/500

I hope this type of thing can be picked up by our fearless leader. New material on this board is scarce.

o o o o o o o o o

How did you become a Nationals fan?

MattHaggard — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 07:30:35 -0000

**(ed. note - This has gotten such a nice response, I'm gonna pop it back on the front page from time to time...Thanks, MattHaggard.)

So I'm a Cubs fan.But I swear I'm not here to troll. ^^

Anyway, I have a question for all of you. I always wondered where a new franchise builds its fanbase from.

Did most of you just transfer over from being fans of the Expos to being fans of the Nats? Are some of you misplaced and disgruntled former Orioles fans?

How about baseball newcomers? Did having a alternative baseball team in the DC area make some of you former non-baseball fans into Nationals fans?

This has always made me curious and I really would like to know. Thanks for reading and replying and it's nice to meet ya'll.

Come by and chat at BleedCubbieBlue from time to time.