McKibbon makes repairs just as he'd do his own (NASCAR.com)
October 30, 2009
In 21 years of doing business, Doug McKibbon has pretty much seen it all when it comes to working on cars at Doug's Transmission & Auto Repair in Talladega, Ala.
Asked about to describe some of his more memorable encounters with customers, McKibbon hesitated, oh, maybe half a second before coming up with one. Seems a guy brought a car in that he'd been working on himself. Things weren't going well, so he finally called in the cavalry.
McKibbon couldn't believe what he saw.
"Well … I had a guy bring me a truck one time. He said he'd put heads on it and couldn't get the thing to act right," says McKibbon. "Water kept running out of it, running hot, skipping. Come to find out, after I pulled it [the engine] out, he never even put head gaskets on it. He just took some glue and glued the heads on it."
Just for the record, gluing the heads on an engine isn't exactly standard procedure in the automotive repair industry. There have been numerous other instances where McKibbon has seen evidence of people having been sold, for lack of a better term, lemons.
"I've been through so many [cars], I've seen just about everything there is to see in one," McKibbon says with a laugh. "People would go to car sales, bring 'em back and then complain about noise in them. They'd have felt hats cut up and banana peels shoved in the rear end.
"I've had motors that were running on five cylinders. You can fool with everything … change plugs, check the thing and then finally get around to compression. You'd figure it'd be a valve or ring or something. They had just took the piston and rod out of it, and [instead] took a four-by-four [piece of wood] and whittled it down, made it round and drove it in the hole to keep it from blowing oil."
Uh … yeah. That's not exactly acceptable, either.
Doug's Transmission & Auto Repair specializes, obviously, in transmission work. Still, that's not all McKibbon does.
"I do a little bit of all of it," he says. "I do motors, transmissions … pretty much whatever it takes to make a dollar nowadays. … I really like the older stuff. This new stuff, I think it's kinda complicated and drug out. They're making a bunch of stuff to sell. They don't really fix nothing to work on no more. They just make disposable stuff. … It's hard to say. They come in spurts. You're liable to get five of one thing one week and five of something else the next week."
Customers won't be taking home heads that have been glued to engines, bananas or felt hats. As much as maybe any other business, trust is a huge factor in a repair shop's success … or failure.
"I fix [a customer's car] just like I'd fix my own," continues McKibbon, a longtime Earnhardt fan who's pulling for Mark Martin to win the championship this season. "I don't send no junk out. I fix anything like I'd fix it for my own car, my son's or my wife's. I've been in this business 21 years, and been fooling with stuff about 35 years. I've been doing it since I was a kid.
"I grew up on junkyards and service stations and car lots. That's basically all I've done all my life. You've got to know a little bit about something. It just comes natural to me. I grew up in it. It's all I've ever done."
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Martin tries a different outlook for Talladega (NASCAR.com)
October 30, 2009
Mark Martin was talking to millions of race fans a couple of weeks ago during an interview at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but quite clearly, he was also talking to himself. His message: He will not let his dislike of racing at Talladega Superspeedway come between him and the Sprint Cup championship he so badly wants.
"I refuse to be concerned about Talladega," Martin said that day. "I refuse."
This Sunday, Martin's resolute words and attitude will be put to the test because the drivers in the Chase will do their thing in the Amp Energy 500 at nasty, unpredictable and potentially dangerous Talladega.
Oh, boy, and happy Halloween.
Some drivers find going flat-footed all the way around the 2.66-mile oval exhilarating.
Others simply suck it up when the series takes to the church-roof-steep banking at NASCAR's biggest track.
And some think there is something unnatural—and wrong—about putting a 3,400-pound stock car on superspeedway with 33-degree banking that produces speeds well in excess of 200 mph.
Martin has not been shy about proclaiming himself to be part of Group Three over the years.
In fact, he felt so strongly about not wanting to race at Talladega that he didn't. In 2007, Martin semi-retired from Sprint Cup. He left his longtime home at Roush Racing and took a job with MB2 because the folks there would allow him to compete on a part-time basis.
Martin was able to pick and choose the races he wanted to drive in, and among the first things he did was dump the races at Talladega.
For two entire seasons, Martin did yard work at home when the Cup cars were beating each other's fenders off at Talladega.
He returned to Talladega for the first time since 2006 in the spring. He had to. He had committed to run for a championship for new team owner Rick Hendrick, and that meant driving in 36 races in 2009 and that meant driving at Talladega.
This weekend, Martin will be back at the place, and how twisted is it that he will need to show well there—perhaps win—if he is to remain a serious threat to win this year's Chase?
Martin is second in points, 118 behind teammate Jimmie Johnson, who is going for his fourth straight championship. And unless Martin wins Sunday on his least favorite track, and/or Johnson has big trouble, Martin could leave Talladega all but eliminated from contention. Twisted.
Hence his attitude in recent weeks.
"We'll go there, we'll try to not worry about it much and we'll strap in on Sunday," Martin said. "And unless Alan [Gustafson, his crew chief] asks me to take a different approach, we will race as far forward in that pack as we can be every lap of the whole race. That's where I'm at right now. I'm not going to sweat it."
In fact, Martin said this week, he has a good feeling about Sunday. Perhaps the pep talks to himself have helped.
"Somehow or another I just feel lucky about this one," Martin said. "If you can wreck on Lap 5 of the last one there, something tells me I ought to be able to miss it this time. That's about as bad of luck as you can have. So I don't know. I feel like it will be OK. If it's not, it will still be OK."
It's not as if Martin is bad at Talladega. He has two victories there and has finished in the top 10 in more than half of his 43 starts.
Yes, he has six DNFs and has been caught up in big wrecks: In the spring, he was caught up in a wreck minutes into the race.
But who hasn't done that at Talladega? Heck, Johnson has six DNFs at the place.
"To me, it's my opportunity to really get back into the running for it," he said. "So I plan on going there and driving like I know I am not going to wreck."
Meet the new Mark Martin—optimist by necessity.
FIVE TO WATCH
Elliott Sadler, No. 19. Sadler will be shepherding in Richard Petty Motorsports' Ford era. It will be interesting to watch and see how it goes.
Jeff Gordon, No. 24. This is do-it week for Gordon. He has six victories at Talladega and a seventh could put him back in contention for a fifth series championship. His cars have been good of late.
Juan Montoya, No. 42. If there is one driver out there who will not be driving with fear and riding shotgun, it will be Montoya. And he has a heck of a lot to drive for.
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48. All eyes will be on Johnson. His performance could affect everything from long-term plans among his competitors, to November TV viewing habits of fans.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88. If he can keep good fortune on his side—which is asking a lot these days—Earnhardt could win the race. He has five Cup wins at Talladega.
TRACK CHATTER
Matt Kenseth: "Talladega is a lot like going to a 200 mph go-cart track. Everyone's cars handle there and you run wide open all day. At Daytona, the corners are much tighter and the surface is worn out, so handling is really important, but at Talladega it is much more about drafting and getting into the right position. The challenge is not getting in a wreck."
Tony Stewart: "In the next four races, we have to get 193 more points than he [Johnson] does. That's the reality of it. There is nothing that says if we do this, this, this and this that it's going to guarantee that we can even get there. A lot of it is dictated by what those guys do in front of us. It's about math. There is no magic to it."
Doug Yates, co-owner of Roush Yates Engines: "The [new Ford] engine [that debuts this weekend] really looks great in both open and plate format, but for the start of the season we're looking at starting at Daytona racing the FR9, or at least qualifying with the FR9, and for that reason we felt like Talladega was an important date for us, so that drove some of the decisions."
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Bodine looks for three-peat heading into Talladega (NASCAR.com)
October 30, 2009
After winning this race the past two years, Todd Bodine is hoping for a three-peat during Saturday's Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET, SPEED). No driver has had more success at this track than Bodine, who owns two wins, three top-five and three top-10 finishes at the 2.66 mile oval.
The Truck series leaves behind one of the tightest and lowest-banked tracks in Martinsville and heads into one of the smoothest and highest-banked tracks at Talladega. With Ron Hornaday sitting comfortably in first with what appears to be a lock on the championship, drivers vying for top-10 finishes in the points standings will have to rely on experience and a little bit of luck to secure their spots at this year's banquet.
Although Matt Crafton and Mike Skinner appear to be sitting comfortably in second and third place (Skinner has more than 100 points over his closest competitor), Todd Bodine owns the fourth spot over Brian Scott by just 10 points. The next three drivers are all within 53 points of Bodine.
Ron Hornaday continues his run… NASCAR.com – Oct 30, 10:34 am EDT Ron Hornaday continues his run… NASCAR.com – Oct 29, 1:07 pm EDT YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index = 1; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_lazy_images = [http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/turner/f0/fullj.6597887ca8b4b00944586d23d5250cb5/numbers.truck.talladeg200910290.jpg?x=180&y=200&xc=129&yc=1&wc=184&hc=204&q=70&sig=s4A7Sux2xkup9yioD7.mNQ--]; YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(window,load,YAHOO.Sports.articleLazyLoadCarousel.init); 1 of 2 NASCAR Gallery function prev_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index > 0) { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index – 1); } else { goto_photo(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index); }}function next_photo() { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index 0) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_prev, prev_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_prev, prev); } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_last_index) { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.addClass(article_carousel_next, next_disabled); YAHOO.util.Dom.removeClass(article_carousel_next, next); }*/}function goto_photo(p) { if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { for(i = 0; i < YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos.length; i++) { if (i == p) { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, ); } else { YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle(YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos[i], display, none); } } if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page) { YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page.innerHTML =(p + 1); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = p; } } update_buttons();}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init = function () { YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_prev, click, prev_photo); YAHOO.util.Event.addListener(article_carousel_next, click, next_photo); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_index = 0; YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_current_page = YAHOO.util.Dom.get(carousel_page); YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos = YAHOO.util.Dom.getElementsByClassName(item, div, leadphoto); if (YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_photos) { goto_photo(0); }}YAHOO.Sports.article_carousel_init();
0Points leader Ron Hornaday has never led a lap at Talladega, nor has we won a race here but he does have one top-five and three top-10 finishes.1This weekend's race marks the first time a father and daughter will compete against each other in a NASCAR national series event. Mike Wallace competes against his daughter, Chrissy, who made her first start at Talladega in the ARCA Series last year.1Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress, will make his first career start at Talladega. He will also be the first Richard Childress Racing driver to start at Talladega in the Truck Series.0.074Seconds—the amount of time Todd Bodine took the checkered flag in front of Ron Hornaday in last year's race at Talladega. Neither of Bodine's two races in Alabama has been won by more than 0.07 seconds. 2.66Length, in miles, of this weekend's oval layout at Talladega and the longest of any track in the series. Last week's race in Martinsville marked the shortest of any track at .526 miles.3Todd Bodine is defending his title this weekend and working toward a three-peat. No other driver in the field has visited Talladega's Victory Lane.61Career laps led at Talladega by Todd Bodine and the most of any driver in this weekend's field. Johnny Benson is second with 32 for his career.160Amount of points Toyota has as the leader in manufacturer's standings. A finish ahead of Chevrolet earns them the title this week.$248.09Amount of money Todd Bodine has earned racing in the Truck Series at Talladega with each completed mile throughout his career. He leads the field in earnings with $186,100.3,375Points held by series leader Ron Hornaday headed into this weekend. That is 224 more points than Matt Crafton, who is holding down second place and 326 more points than Mike Skinner in third place.
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Bodine brings streak, experience to Talladega (NASCAR.com)
October 30, 2009
When Todd Bodine won the season opener at Daytona, there were doubts his team would still be operating for Saturday's Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Bodine's Toyota was unsponsored at Daytona, and prospects for finding funding in the recession looked bleak. But Germain managed to keep going with a string of different sponsors, and Bodine arrives at the monstrous 2.66-mile track with the opportunity to extend his extraordinary winning streak in superspeedway races to five.
Bodine will be driving the truck in the Germain stable designated TRD-058, the same Toyota he has had in winning the past two races at both Talladega and Daytona. It's also the same truck rebuilt after he went flipping through the grass at Daytona in 2005.
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Bodine's four straight wins at superspeedways have more to do with his skill in the draft and the preparation by the Germain crew than the truck. He made a last-lap pass last year at Talladega to edge Ron Hornaday Jr. by .074 seconds.
"Experience is everything at Talladega, especially in the draft," Bodine said. "Knowing what you want to do and how you can accomplish it. The draft is a tricky thing, and you can just as easily make a mistake as make the right move. Being smart is more important than luck, and so is understanding how to use the draft to your advantage instead of your disadvantage.
"Talladega is a lot about using patience in the draft and understanding you're not going to pull out and pass, you have to use other trucks to make your passes."
Bodine will be making his fourth truck start at Talladega, where he also has nine starts in the Nationwide Series and eight in Sprint Cup. Mike Wallace is the only driver in the race with more NASCAR experience at Talladega. He'll be making his 34th start and fourth in the truck series.
Bodine also has a victory at Texas this season and is fourth in the points, but he isn't happy with the team's consistency. He has eight top fives, including second at Martinsville last week, but only one more top 10 in 21 races and he has been 16th or worse in 10.
"One race doesn't make a season," Bodine said. "Winning Talladega would be a great victory for the Copart Tundra team, but it wouldn't make up for the ups and downs we've had this year."
This weekend also marks a first for the series. Mike and Chrissy Wallace will become the first father-daughter team in NASCAR history to race against each other. It's the first truck start for both this season.
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Petty in a Catch-43 (Yahoo! Sports)
October 30, 2009
Richard Petty doesn’t completely shun alcohol, evidenced after Kasey Kahne’s win at Sonoma when The King didn’t pass on the celebratory wine being poured in victory lane. The imbibing surprised many onlookers, most of whom wrongfully believed Petty was a teetotaler.
Richard Petty celebrated Kasey Kahne's victory in Sonoma with a glass of wine.Getty
Far from it, he said. In fact, when out in wine country, The King said he’d found himself on a tour or two of the vineyards.
“That’s the reason I like to come to Napa Valley,” he explained after Kahne’s road-course win in June. “I got in a cave the other night, they had wine down one side in big barrels and then they had wine down the other side. As we walked in, I think we drunk something out of every barrel. It was straight going in, it wasn’t too straight coming out.”
Enjoying some good vino is one thing. Publicly supporting alcohol is a whole different story, and over the course of his career Petty kept the family business away from relationships with beer, wine and liquor companies. It came at the request of his mother, who asked him to never allow any form of alcohol to be represented on his race cars.
He honored that promise and there were no alcohol-related sponsorships, and no participation in NASCAR’s second-tier series when it was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch. His cars didn’t race in the exhibition Budweiser Shootout that kicks off each season, nor would they have anything to do with the Bud Pole Award.
And when his Petty Enterprises merged in January with Gillett-Evernham Racing, Petty said the Budweiser sponsorship on Kahne’s car would stay right there – and not touch any of the teams Petty was bringing into the deal.
All of this is why Petty now faces a huge moral dilemma: AJ Allmendinger was arrested in North Carolina early Thursday morning and charged with drunken driving.
More From Jenna Fryer Fryers Five: Hamlin plays second fiddle Oct 26, 2009 From tragedy to triumph, Hendrick marches on Oct 23, 2009
Allmendinger, driver of Richard Petty Motorsports’ No. 44, has admitted he had drinks at dinner and made an irresponsible decision in driving home.
Petty expressed his displeasure in a statement released Thursday afternoon.
“I am deeply disappointed this has happened,” Petty said in the statement. “AJ has accepted full responsibility for his actions and will work to make this right. On behalf of everyone at Richard Petty Motorsports we sincerely apologize to our fans and partners.”
The King didn’t pull Allmendinger from his ride this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where RPM officials were probably going to announce that Allmendinger will drive Petty’s famed No. 43 next season. On the hood is supposed to be sponsorship from Best Buy, which plans to move from a shared role on teammate Elliott Sadler’s car to a primary role with Allmendinger.
It’s a big deal for Allmendinger, who has scratched and clawed his way through a rocky three years in NASCAR since fleeing the now-defunct Champ Car Series. Dumped by Red Bull at the end of last season, he charmed his way into Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and so enamored management that the team tried to fire Sadler to give Allmendinger his ride.
When Sadler, who had an ironclad contract, threatened to sue, the team agreed to reach into its own pockets to give Allmendinger a chance. He survived the January merger with Petty Enterprises, raced his way into the Daytona 500 and finished third – enough to convince the newly branded organization to keep his team going.
Although the results were mixed, Allmendinger agreed to waive large portions of his salary to keep his team afloat. RPM, still captivated by his self-deprecating humor and underdog appeal, decided in April to sign Allmendinger through the 2010 season.
AJ Allmendinger was expected to be announced as the driver of the No. 43 in 2010.Getty
It was a decision made extremely early in the planning process, especially since RPM still didn’t have sponsorship for Allmendinger this season and had nothing locked in for next year, either.
But it signified he’s a central figure in their long-term plans, a role he’s continued to fill even though he’s just 25th in the standings with only four top-10s.
It’s Allmendinger who is scheduled to drive the final three races of this season in a Ford as RPM prepares to leave Dodge at the end of the year, and it’s Allmendinger who is getting Best Buy, even though Sadler has been a recognizable and popular pitchman for the company.
Should that change now?
It all depends on who is asking.
Allmendinger’s arrest could happen to anyone we know. He had some drinks, said he felt fine when the evening ended, and got behind the wheel. How many drinks did he have? One? Two? Ten? Enough, at least, to blow an .08 and classify as legally drunk in North Carolina. It comes with an automatic loss of license for 30 days and a December court date.
There’s certainly no excuse for drinking and driving under any circumstances, but it happens all the time when people have a few drinks and feel capable of driving home. But we’re not professional race car drivers or employees of a NASCAR icon with a long-standing aversion to any association with alcohol.
Now it’s up to The King to decide if Allmendinger is still worthy of the keys to the No. 43, that this transgression is no big deal. It comes with the risk of Petty being a wee bit hypocritical if he ultimately lets this slide, but it’s a decision he must make.
Yes, Petty is mostly a figurehead with this new race team, which has spent much of this season allowing co-owner George Gillett Jr. and his sons to slap Band-Aids on all of its problems. But this decision – the future of the No. 43 – is one Petty has to handle himself.
Jenna Fryer covers NASCAR for The Associated Press and is a regular contributor to Yahoo! Sports. Send Jenna a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
NASCAR modifies rules for Truck Series in 2010
October 30, 2009
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP)—NASCAR will allow double-file restarts in its Truck Series in 2010, part of a series of modifications coming to the circuit next year.
Teams will be able to add fuel and change tires on the same pit stop, and teams will be able to have a maximum of six crew members in the pits during the race, up from five this year.
NASCAR will also allow teams to use spec engines at tracks shorter than 1.25-miles in length.
Double-file restarts are already being used in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, moves that have provided more compelling racing.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the modifications will help teams keep costs in check going forward.
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NASCAR modifies rules for Truck Series in 2010 (PA SportsTicker)
October 30, 2009
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.(AP) —NASCAR will allow double-file restarts in its Truck Series in 2010, part of a series of modifications coming to the circuit next year.
Teams will be able to add fuel and change tires on the same pit stop, and teams will be able to have a maximum of six crew members in the pits during the race, up from five this year.
NASCAR will also allow teams to use spec engines at tracks shorter than 1.25-miles in length.
Double-file restarts are already being used in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, moves that have provided more compelling racing.
NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the modifications will help teams keep costs in check going forward.
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Montoya not bothered by Griese’s remark (PA SportsTicker)
October 30, 2009
By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer
TALLADEGA, Ala.(AP)—Juan Pablo Montoya was never upset by the “taco” remark that got ESPN announcer Bob Griese suspended.
The network this week suspended Griese from broadcasting a college football game on Saturday for the remark he made last week about Montoya. During a spot for NASCAR, the top five drivers in the standings were shown and Griese was asked where Montoya was in the promotion.
Griese replied Montoya was “out having a taco.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not my responsibility, it is not our sport, it is completely out of my hands,” Montoya said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “I never paid attention to the comment, and as I said, I didn’t really care. If they wanted to suspend him for what he did, it’s their problem, not NASCAR or myself.
“I was good with (the remark.)”
Montoya has poked fun at the comment several times over the past week, including Friday, when he said he almost brought trays of tacos for reporters during his weekly news conference.
Earlier in the week, Montoya posted on Twitter that he was going to have tacos for lunch.
“The wife, I told her I wanted Italian, and she said ‘No, I want Mexican,”’ he said. “So I said, ‘Lets go have some Mexican.’ The tacos were so good, too.”
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Memphis Motorsports Park to cease operations
October 30, 2009
DOVER, Del. (AP)—Dover Motorsports Inc. is ceasing operations at Memphis Motorsports Park after a deal to sell the track to another investor fell through.
The 0.75-mile track has hosted a NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series event for the last decade. The Truck Series event will move to Nashville Superspeedway next April and the Nationwide Series event will move to Gateway International Raceway next October.
Dover had agreed to sell the track to Gulf Coast Entertainment, but the company was unable to secure financing to complete the purchase.
Dover Motorsports president Denis McGlynn called the decision to cease operations at the track difficult. Refunds to ticket holders for the 2010 events will be mailed out soon.
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Kovalainen fastest in Abu Dhabi practice (PA SportsTicker)
October 30, 2009
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates(AP)—McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen has set the fastest time in Friday’s practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Kovalainen, who is expected to leave McLaren after Sunday’s race, set a time of 1 minute, 41.307 seconds around the new Yas Marina circuit, edging teammate Lewis Hamilton by two-tenths of a second.
Brawn GP world champion Jenson Button was third fastest, ahead of Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who is second in the championship standings.
Toyota driver Kamui Kobayashi, preparing for only his second career race, was fifth best, in front of Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello.
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