(RaceTalkRadio.com; May 2, 2012)

Graphic by Lori Munro of War-Wagon.com

Tuesday night on the THUNDER CREW radio show on RaceTalkRadio.com host Mike Harper started a discussion about Tony Stewart’s bullying of ESPN reporter David Newton after the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway. We were all in agreement that Newton’s question was not the main reason for Tony Stewart’s behavior. I suggested that Stewart’s behavior was due to his desire to go home and by beating up on Newton he encouraged the other media members to leave him alone. Mike Harper suggested someone in the media should ask him a question challenging his performance or ask if he is in a pissy mood. Lori Munro had the best comment of the night when she said media members should call him Anthony since he is acting like a six year old. As a public service to the NASCAR media members that feel intimidated by Tony Stewart I present “Tony Stewart Questions for Dummies.”

Stewart Whisperer

Lori Munro pointed out that by giving in to Tony Stewart’s bullying the NASCAR media members were providing positive reinforcement. She suggested he needs to be trained as one would train a dog. There is no need to smack Stewart on the nose with a newspaper; all you have to do is not to allow Stewart to win. Ask the most asinine and basic questions and show no response when he attacks you is Lori’s advice.

Lesson One: Add Cesar Millan to the National Motorsports Press Association and train Stewart like one would train a dog.

Drop the Smoke

When you were a kid and got your parents mad when did you realize they were REALLY ticked off at you? If I ever heard my name spoken slowly and precisely using my middle name I got ready to duck! Instead of feeding Tony Stewart’s ego by calling him “Smoke,” NASCAR media should refer to Stewart by his complete middle name instead before every question.

Lesson Two: Call the subject by his complete given name…Anthony Aloysius Stewart.

Stewart Handling

Tony Stewart tends to pick on reporters that he knows will buckle to his will and allow him to beat on him while they back down. NASCAR media members know they can’t do anything outlandish back to Stewart since they have their credentials on the line if they do anything wrong. In hockey you never see a star player retaliate because a team doesn’t want to lose their goal scorers. But each team has an enforcer. Each media outlet should have a designated enforcer who can rush the stage when their guy is beaten up by Tony Stewart.

Lesson Three: Hire an enforcer to rush the stage and take control.

Designated Media

NASCAR media members have a busy schedule and they also want to wrap up media center interviews quickly. But there is no reason media outlets can’t let their “A-List” guys ask their questions first and then have the designated question askers take over. Just a few obnoxious people (And maybe even Carbon Super Sport, the official spokes dog of RaceTalkRadio) can keep Tony Stewart in the seat answering insane questions for an hour! (ESPN, I am a available at an affordable rate)

Lesson Four: Send in the clowns to ask Tony Stewart stranger questions until he snaps.

Sample Questions for Stewart

There are twenty-seven more races to go in the NASCAR schedule and between pre-race and post race interviews the NASCAR media can expect another 25 Tony Stewart appearances in formal interview segments. Reporters can use the following questions to establish a more positive rapport with Anthony Aloysius Stewart. Remember it is always crucial to use his complete name with substituted middle name before every question no matter how many you end up asking. (Great monogram too)

Method One: Lori’s Three-Part Recipe

There is only one thing more annoying than asking a multi-part question…intentionally leaving out one of the parts while asking the most insane combination possible.

Sample Question: Anthony Aloysius Stewart…firstly, I was wondering whether when you are sitting at a campfire you choose the three legged stool or a four legged chair. Thirdly, if you were a tree what type of tree do you think you would be?

Method Two: Dennis’ More Detail is More Annoying Theory

In addition to using multiple parts try to find the most obscure things possible to ask a question about.

Sample Question: Anthony Aloysius Stewart I noticed that before the race when you were cleaning your tires off you started by weaving to the left first and then back to the right and did so 14 times. When you were under caution I noticed you were cleaning off your tires by weaving to the right first and then back to the left but there didn’t seem to be certain number of times you weaved. Firstly, does the choice of weaving back and forth make a difference in the cleaning of your tires and do you weave 14 times to honor your favorite driver or is it just a coincidence? Thirdly, what is your favorite type of barn animal?

Method Three: Ask questions that have absolutely no bearing to the race that just occurred.

If Anthony Aloysius Stewart thinks the questions he is being asked are worthless and idiotic the only way to counter his tantrums is to come up with questions that have no bearing on the race or anything else.

Sample Question: Anthony Aloysius Stewart, do you know the best way to get to Toledo, Ohio from here?

Method Four: Bring up past questions that caused past tantrums

NASCAR media members have long memories and can often tell you about obscure interactions from the distant past. Surely they will remember the top ten questions that set Tony Stewart off in the past. Since everyone is into recycling these days why not recycle the best irritating questions.

Sample Question: Anthony Aloysius Stewart, how much did your former dead weight weigh and how did getting rid of that dead weight actually help to improve your performance?

Method Five: Use phony voices to set the tone and give the appearance of having multiple personalities to confuse Tony Stewart even more

Confusion is an excellent tool in setting the mood of any confrontation with Tony Stewart. Use of caricature masks is optional but using phony voices when you ask your question will add a level of confusion to your interaction with Stewart.

Sample Question: Using your best Ronald Reagan voice impersonation, “Well, Anthony Aloysius Stewart…Nancy told me she thinks you are the best driver in the history in NASCAR history, do you believe your performance tonight will solidify your chances for making the NASCAR Hall of Fame?

All it will take is some simple training to get Anthony Aloysius Stewart to behave in a more proper way with NASCAR media in the future. It is vital not to show any emotion or any reaction to a Tony Stewart tirade! NASCAR will not punish those choosing to use the methods mentioned in our “Tony Stewart Questions for Dummies” handbook because they seem generally irritated by his treatment of the media too. An intensive four to six week use of such a guide is guaranteed to improve the environment in the media center for all. Electronic copies of the complete guide are available on demand and I can provide a five step training course for just $99.

Sign up today!

“Tony Stewart Questions for Dummies” is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) or its parent companies. “Tony Stewart Questions for Dummies” is not associated with John Wiley and Sons and was simply used for comedic effect. Actual copies of the guide are not for sale although Dennis Michelsen is available for designated extra question asking duties on a week by week basis. All opinions displayed above are those of Dennis Michelsen and do not reflect the views of RaceTalkRadio.com LLC or its sponsors. (They have more sense than Dennis) Use of the middle name “Aloysius” was meant for humorous effect and is not implied as a criticism of the use of the name for middle or first name duty. The author realizes that Tony Stewart’s real middle name is not “Aloysius” so Tony Stewart fans are advised to not waste your time feeling important by including such comment in your venomous emails.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; April 18, 2012)

If you have been paying attention at home you know that while the RaceTalkRadio Power Ratings show you who is likely to be a contender you can’t just pick the high point guy as your most likely winner each week. Any statistical method of handicapping has to be used properly to reward the handicapper with lots of winners. If you were only looking for consistency then taking the top points’ guy would work every week. But since I like to show off with winners it takes much more than simple math it takes looking past the data to gain the edge. This week we have a rare triple threat set up.

It is extremely rare when the top rated driver in each of our three categories is the same. Over the past five seasons it has only happened on seven occasions which represents only 3.9% of the total number of races. During those seven occasions that the same driver tops all three ratings in the same week that driver has won on five occasions. That is an amazing 71% of the time which is an amazing correlation in statistical analysis. This week I am a little less certain of the result since Jimmie Johnson is less than a full point ahead in two of the three categories…but I still won’t bet against five-time this week when he is a triple rating threat.

Good luck with your fantasy racing picks this week and don’t forget to send in your pick for “Whiteboard Fantasy Racing” this week for Kansas.

Send in your pick to win this week’s Cup race to dennis@racetalkradio.com for a chance to win a copy of the National Speedway Directory from SpeedwaysOnline.com.

Whiteboard Fantasy Racing Winner Last Week

Carbon Super Sport had the winning pick last week

Whiteboard Fantasy Racing Top Ten After 7 Weeks

Weather Report

Mostly sunny and pleasant with green flag temp of 62F and high temp of 71F

http://raceweather.net

Fantasy Racing Question of the Week: Phil in Kentucky- Does a driver learn enough from a good Nationwide race to pick him to win in Cup?

Answer- The tapered spacer on the engines of the Nationwide and Truck series makes comparisons between the driving styles of the support divisions and Cup series tougher. But the same tires are used and drivers say that does sometimes help them learn about how a track changes as the rubber builds up and how their car handles as their tires wear out. Sometimes just giving the driver added confidence with a strong performance helps too so this can be factored into your race handicapping.

If you have a question about Fantasy Racing send it to dennis@racetalkradio.com and get it answered next week.

NASCAR by the Numbers- Lubricated by TheOilMedics.com

Using a proprietary race analysis technique we take the fans inside the numbers every week. DMIC’s rating system has been in use since 2002 and has proven to pick the contenders from the pretenders!

Consistency is King (Last Five Races)

Horses for Courses (Track Rating)

Type Casting (Track Type Factor)

Power Rating (240 Minimum to Qualify as Contender)

DMIC’s Fantasy Picks

Each week we will take you beyond the numbers to handicap the field from top to bottom to help your Fantasy Racing team succeed. You are also invited to join Lori Munro and I on “White Board Fantasy Racing” every Monday night on “Doin’ Donuts” at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. Win fun prizes by picking just the race winners in our unique format. Send your picks to info@racetalkradio.com to enter.

Top Pick (Last Week 10^th)

Jimmie Johnson- Not getting fancy this week…taking the best driver at Kansas

(5 to 1 Odds)

Best Long Shot (Odds of 20-1 or More) (Last Week 17^th)

Clint Bowyer- Home track hero has a good chance with MWR running strong

(22 to 1 Odds)

Top Dogs (Group A in Yahoo) (Last Week 5^th)

Carl Edwards- Another good track for Edwards and Roush Racing

(8 to 1 Odds)

Second Class (Group B in Yahoo) (Last Week Winner)

Mark Martin- The KID is as good as he ever was

(18 to 1 Odds)

Middle Packer (Group C in Yahoo) (Last Week 27^th)

Bobby Labonte- Anything better than 20^th is a bonus with this group.

Crazy 8s for Kansas

Each week Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen battle in the most unique racing game around! We pick one driver each from each 8 driver group using the current points’ standings. Our picks can help you round out your fantasy racing lineup!

Last Race at Texas: Lori won the matchup 3-2

Season Record: Lori leads Dennis at 4-3

Kansas Group 1: Lori picks Jimmie Johnson and Dennis picks Greg Biffle

Kansas Group 2: Dennis picks Carl Edwards and Lori picks Brad Keselowski

Kansas Group 3: Lori picks Mark Martin and Dennis picks Jeff Gordon

Kansas Group 4: Dennis picks Kasey Kahne and Lori picks Kurt Busch

Kansas Group 5: Lori Picks Sam Hornish Jr and Dennis picks Landon Cassill

Do you have what it takes to handicap the races? Join Lori and Dennis every week and play in the Whiteboard Fantasy Racing Series! Send your pick for the Cup race to info@racetalkradio.com to enter. Weekly prize given away!

(RaceTalkRadio.com; April 16, 2012)

This Wednesday race fans were looking forward to the big announcement from NASCAR about which five participants from the sports’ past would be added to the nomination list for the Hall of Fame. The event earned its own night on Race Hub on SPEED. Excitement was building all day! As the clock ticked down to 7pm ET we learned who was going to be eligible this year. At 8:01pm ET the criticism (And yawns) began among NASCAR Nation. We were waiting for this? Perhaps the entire way the NASCAR Hall of Fame process was established explains the reaction and also might explain the poor attendance too.

Drivers are the Stars

The drivers are the stars of NASCAR. This isn’t a fan saying this. Those were the words of Bill France Jr when the “50 Greatest Drivers in NASCAR” were released back in 1998. Specifically he said, “These are the men who define the competition of our sport. Their accomplishments are the benchmark that much of our history is identified by. Honoring them in this way, at the beginning of the NASCAR 50th Anniversary celebration, is one way of showing our true appreciation for them and the invaluable contribution they have given over the past 50 years. These are the drivers who made and make NASCAR fans stand on their feet and cheer. These are the drivers who are NASCAR history.”

Only 15 of the 25 people on the current nomination list for the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2013 were drivers. One of the drivers on the nomination list wasn’t considered one of NASCAR’s best 50 drivers 14 years ago. Either NASCAR screwed up on this list back in 1998 or that driver should wait until the 50 best get their turn to be inducted first. A Hall of Fame is for the best of the best in any sport. Individual seasons or ground breaking performances are honored with exhibits at the Hall of Fame not by inducting that one season or one win wonder.

France Family Values

NASCAR controls the Hall of Fame process from naming the nominating committee to handling the voting procedure. In other sports the sports writers take on that task and their word goes. Listening to NASCAR fans after Ann France was added to the nomination list should speak loud and clear to NASCAR that the system they established is wrong. This does not belittle the work by Ann France, she was important to the history of NASCAR but she was not a star. Some had the same reaction when Les Richter was added to the nomination list last year after he passed away.

The fans think this is just the France Family Hall of Fame for their important family members and participants that the family loved over the years. There is little truth to this but that doesn’t matter for NASCAR fans that are always looking at conspiracy theories. But when one of NASCAR’s famous pains in the France’s butt Smokey Yunick is left off the nomination list this long it makes you wonder if the fans are right. The drivers are the stars is what Bill France Jr said…shouldn’t more of the stars be elected first?

Fixing the System

Not that anyone from NASCAR is likely to listen to me any time soon but if I complain about a perceived problem I always come armed with a fix for that problem. The first thing that needs to be done is to turn the nomination process and voting procedure over to the National Motorsports Press Association. Yes many members of the NMPA cover racing types other than NASCAR but the NMPA involvement would make sure the fans can’t blame NASCAR for any moves they see. The second change is to who can be voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame by the NMPA. This should be limited to drivers, crew chiefs and mechanics/crew guys only. NASCAR would also add one “Founder” pick of their choice to the induction process.

Maybe if the fans see less direct control by the NASCAR hierarchy they will feel like it is their Hall of Fame. If nothing else these changes would limit the amount of criticism that is thrown at NASCAR every time a new class is announced. Maybe now the fans think this is a way for the France Family to thank those they love and punish those that gave them a hard time. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why attendance has been way below estimates since the day the NASCAR Hall of Fame was opened. Maybe the fans don’t look at the HOF as their own.

My Hall of Fame Picks

1)      Leonard Wood- Revolutionized the pit stop and helped build one of the sports’ legacy teams.

2)      Buck Baker- First back to back champion in the Cup division.

3)      Herb Thomas- Impossible not to have him join his main rival Buck Baker.

4)      Fireball Roberts- Became one of the first “Rock Star” type drivers and won 33 times with a winning percentage of 15% despite running part time schedule.

5)      Fred Lorenzen- Twenty-six wins in his NASCAR career with a winning percentage of 16%.

Founder Pick

Raymond Parks- There might not have been a NASCAR today without Mr. Parks.

Who are your picks for the NASCAR Hall of Fame? What did you think of the racing at Texas Motor Speedway and Rockingham Speedway over the weekend? Join Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen for Doin’ Donuts at 8pm ET on Monday and sound off! Quick Change featuring Jerry Bonkowski and Waid’s World with Steve Waid also are featured every Monday night on RaceTalkRadio.com’s Doin’ Donuts with Lori and Dennis.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; April 2, 2012)

David Reutimann will have a long week being beat up by NASCAR fans from coast to coast. It will not go down in NASCAR history as the smartest move of all time coming to a stop on the track and causing a caution in the closing laps changing the outcome of the race. But the Tweets and Facebook posts right after the incident bordered on the ridiculous. Some people were even suggesting Reuty stopped on purpose to give his teammate Ryan Newman a chance to win. A few minutes after the race we learned that his car had a broken tie-rod. Have you ever attempted to turn your car with a broken tie-rod? He was attempting to get down on pit lane and yes he might have been able to do a better job. But to suggest this move was prompted by “Team Orders” was insane! Reutimann’s team was trying to close out the race and move ahead of Dave Blaney in the finishing order. That one point would have moved the car into 35^th place in owners’ points for the next race. Since the top 35 is locked in it made sense to scrap and claw your way to gain one spot and pick up that extra point. Does the team earn a bonus if Danica Patrick shows up locked into the race? Even if that isn’t the case there is a lot of money on the line to have an automatic start in a NASCAR Cup race. Instead of hating on Reuty, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson fans should be critical of their Crew Chiefs. Both guys said they might be two laps short on gas. Why didn’t they pit to get a splash of gas to guarantee they could make the “Green-White-Checker” finishes? If they had grabbed two tires in addition they would have been in better shape and it wasn’t as if the guys behind them were comfortable on fuel to the end either.

That’s Called Racing

Why is anyone being critical of the move made by Clint Bowyer on that restart at the end of the race? Anyone in their right mind with a will to win would have made the move under the 24 car headed into the corner. Jeff Gordon left that lane wide open and Clint Bowyer tried to win the race instead of settling for a “Good Points Day.” Thank goodness the sport still has win or wreck guys in the series such as Clint Bowyer. If that had been Dale Earnhardt Jr making such a bold move everyone would have gone nuts! That’s called racing what Clint Bowyer did going for the win at Martinsville Speedway.

All Star Excitement

Do you really care what the format is for NASCAR’s All Star event or that it changes every year? Can’t we just enjoy the race for what it is…a non-points race designed to give us a short attention span race to show off the sport to casual race fans. This isn’t supposed to be anything that important it is just a race to enjoy with nothing on the line except money and prestige. Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel said exactly what I was thinking when I heard about this new format, “Four heat races and an A-main, what can be better than that?” The race is designed to be fun and in the middle of the race every year I forget the details of the format. But I enjoy the All Star excitement every year because I don’t take it too serious…it is all about fun!

More Rising Up

Last week we heard that NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Blake Koch was losing his sponsor because of religious aspects to his personal website. This sounded like a downright nasty and idiotic thing for ESPN to do but as usual there is much more to every story. After my report on Friday there was another excellent piece by Jerry Wilson from the Examiner.com over the weekend. It seems that each time you tug on a thread of this story even more unravels. One thing for sure is that most in the press including Fox News went off half-cocked with only part of the story. It sounded awful that an executive at ESPN would use religion as a reason for turning down a sponsor being played on NASCAR broadcasts. Now it seems this story is much more complicated. Yes according to the original voice mail the reason ESPN originally turned down the advertisements by Rise Up and Register was due to concerns over political and religious content. It was more about the “Right to Life” link on the Rise Up and Register website than anything else, which is a politically motivated call to action. ESPN also said they would reconsider if more information was provided and up until today that has not been reported anywhere! The original advertisement that Rise Up and Register wanted to have played got approved upon appeal by Mountain Top Media, a media consultant with experience working with ESPN. According to Mountain Top Media the reason the advertisements never played is because Rise Up and Register has not paid their bill. Now we hear that despite having a contract to sponsor the team that we can expect a blank car at Texas Motor Speedway because Rise Up and Register has yet to pay their bill to the race team also! I believe that Blake Koch and his team were kept in the dark by Rise Up and Register over all of these developments. All they had to go on was the voice mail Blake’s Father received on the Friday before Daytona. The complete transcript is presented below for the first time anywhere so you can read how idiotic ESPN was before Daytona. There is absolutely no evidence that Blake or his people knew about Rise Up and Register not paying their bills. Amazing how a group that claims to be Christian is not living up to their promises. The more I hear about this situation the more I want to Rise Up and get sick!

TRANSCRIPT: “Hi Mark (Mark is Blake’s father), this is Rosa Gatti, I am senior Vice President of Corporate Outreach, (inaudible?) forwarded your voicemail to me, so I wanted me to get back to you.

Um, this ….. spot…and website, and other parts of websites, have been reviewed and researched, and, by commercial operations, corporate outreach, myself, and also government affairs’, executive vice present.

The spot was declined for political and religious overtones which we avoid by all of our standards and it is Friday, obviously, and you are in Daytona.

We will continue to look at it and review, but we were unable, we have gotten various pieces of information along the way, be it from agency , account executives, so on, and whether this associated with Rise Up dot US or Rise Up for America or Rise Up America, all these angles have been reviewed, and we did not have sufficient information and particularly the website, we looked at, if this is…I think you said it was your son, we looked at the website…you know…as well…at Blake’s website and do see the religious aspects of this.

So those are the reasons. I ..ugh…am just relaying this to you, we ,I have been in the company for 30 years and we definitely avoid any political or religious types of engagement messaging and we really just try to stay neutral.

OK, We do run political advertising …um…. for campaigns that we do….um… but this type of situation doesn’t pass mustard right now. So that’s the story. But we will be happy to continue to look at this for the rest of the season if there is something that we are not getting,  but we did not get very clear information from different angles and as much as we tried over the last week, I would say week, week and a half .

My office number is ……”

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Don’t miss another award winning edition of Doin’ Donuts with Lori and Dennis. Not only are all of your favorite Donuts’ features back for 2012, but now we even feature the fastest growing game show in NASCAR too! That’s right NASCAR fans…Quick Change with Lori, Dennis and Jerry Bonkowski is featured every Monday night at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. Lori and Dennis also welcome NASCAR media legend Steve Waid and his Waid’s World segment to the big show too.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; March 30, 2012)

Story update at 1245pm ET, March 30, 2012

“Rise Up and Register” has confirmed to RaceTalkRadio that they are NOT pulling their sponsorship from Blake Koch. Their sponsorship is only for 20 races and California Speedway was NOT one of those races. “Rise Up and Register” will be back on Blake’s car at Texas Motor Speedway.

This morning RaceTalkRadio’s Lori Munro posted a story on Facebook about NASCAR Nationwide Driver Blake Koch and an issue with his sponsor “Rise Up and Get Registered.” The story reported on Fox News this morning was titled, “ESPN Shelves NASCAR Driver Blake Koch’s Voter Registration Ad for Religious Overtones … on His Personal Website?” The report described how an advertising purchase by Blake Koch’s sponsor “Rise Up and Get Registered” had been turned down by ESPN.

In the report a voice mail to Blake’s Father was played that said, “It was declined for political and religious overtones, which we avoid by all of our standards. We looked at the website you know as well as Blake’s website and do see the religious aspects of this. So those are the reasons.” ESPN confirms to RaceTalkRadio that Rosa Gatti a Senior VP with ESPN left that voice mail message. ESPN also provided RaceTalkRadio a copy of their standards and practices which you can see below.

ADVOCACY / ISSUE ORIENTED ADVERTISING Standard

ESPN does not accept advertising that consists of, in whole or in part, political or religious advocacy, or issue-oriented advertising.

All advertisements submitted by or on behalf of advocacy organizations that also engage in consumer-oriented activities, such as the sale of goods and services (e.g., the firearms museum of the National Rifle Association) must be submitted for approval in a timely fashion to ensure that the advertisements are not “advocacy-oriented.”

ESPN local radio stations (but not the ESPN Radio Network) may accept advocacy or issue-oriented advertising, provided that such ads are screened by the stations for libel or other legal issues, obtain and review substantiation for all factual claims, and receive and retain a fully completed sponsor disclosure form for the station’s public inspection file.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

ESPN’s Public Service Announcement Policy

Since the early 1980’s, ESPN has limited the distribution of PSA’s on its media platforms to those announcements that have been carefully reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis.

All charitable requests, promotions, initiatives, etc (including PSA’s, graphics and drop-ins) must be discussed with and approved by ESPN Corporate Outreach in advance of any agreement. Charitable initiatives will be coordinated on a case-by-case, limited basis.

These policies and practices are in place for the following reasons:

• § To avoid continual solicitation of fans;
• § To work strategically in the best interests of ESPN’s charities of interest (e.g. The V Foundation for Cancer Research, which provides grants for many types of cancer);
• § To apply fair treatment to all leagues, conferences, teams and other sports organizations; and
• § To ensure that charities are cleared for state-by-state and national solicitation, and that government filings are intact.

Commentators are permitted to note editorially certain actions or activities taking place on site if obvious and an explanation needed for viewers. This is subject to approval by the producer. They may refer only genetically to the charity (e.g. breast cancer, prostate cancer) no to the specific non-profit organization.

ESPN Corporate Outreach is open to joint charitable promotions in the interest of both parties on a limited basis and with significant lead time.

Standard

• § No solicitation of funds, absent special public interest considerations
• § Permissible to say “support/call for more information or to learn more” or “log on to _____ for more information or to learn more”
• § No solicitation of volunteer efforts (e.g., “give your time”) or petitions for adoption
• § No advocacy spots (e.g., political or issue-oriented); however, spots that advocate non-issue oriented messages (e.g., get a colon cancer check-up soon) are permissible on a case by case basis; all NRA spots require approval
• § No spots from religious institutions, whether proselytizing or not.
• § No 1-900 numbers.
• § URLs acceptable if other content restrictions adhered to (No 800 numbers).
• § “Appreciation” spots acceptable on a case-by-case basis (e.g., we appreciate the Alabama National Guard’s efforts)
• § Not permissible in billboard or sponsorship elements.

Non-Profit PSAs

PSAs submitted for free airing by or on behalf of non-profit organizations (e.g., the Red Cross), governmental agencies or via the Ad Council must be reviewed and approved by ESPN Communications/Corporate Outreach.

Institutional Messages

All spots submitted by or on behalf of rights holders (e.g., the NFL, MLB, LPGA) must be reviewed and approved by ESPN Programming. For purposes of these standards and guidelines, an “Institutional message” must be a non-commercial spot comprised of a charitable or informational message only. Spots submitted by or on behalf of a rights holder that advertise or promote any form of commercial venture or product associated with a particular league or rights holder are permissible only if authorized by an agreement between ESPN and such league or rights holder.

Cause-Related Marketing/Paid For PSAs

Spots submitted by or on behalf of traditional marketers (e.g., American Express on behalf of the Statue of Liberty restoration effort or McDonalds on behalf of the Ronald McDonald House charity) as well as packagers must be reviewed and approved by ESPN Legal and Advertising Sales (in consultation with Programming in the case of packager submitted spots). This includes trade association or institutional advertisements (e.g., Office of National Drug Control Policy), as well as advertisements purchased by public service organizations or governmental or quasi-governmental organizations. ESPN requires not only that the name of the sponsor be clearly disclosed, but that the words “paid for” or “Sponsored by” be used.

The issue of concern with ESPN that violated their standards and practices concerning “Advocacy Advertising” was a link on the “Rise Up and Register” website that linked back to an anti-abortion website. No where on the “Rise Up and Register” advertising spot was any mention of an issue based reason for getting registered to vote. “Rise Up and Register” was providing information on how to register to individuals without asking about their political beliefs or party affiliation. ESPN declined at answer whether my question of whether they would have allowed “Rise Up and Register” if their website did not contain the link to the anti-abortion website.

Full Political Disclosure- Dennis Michelsen is registered as an Independent and while he wishes there were fewer abortions he believes that until men can get pregnant the issue of pro choice is best left up to women.

NASCAR already approved Blake Koch’s sponsor but ESPN, Fox or the other television partners of NASCAR are on their own to decide which advertisements they allow and which they turn down. No where on Blake’s personal website can a visitor determine Blake’s personal beliefs on abortion or any political issue. The only religious content is a link to his “Outreach” section that includes information about Blake’s testimonials given at churches.

There is no doubt the ESPN Executive that left the message for Blake Koch screwed up big time! The mention of religious overtones on Blake’s personal website has opened a monstrous can of worms. ESPN was their own worst enemy by issuing just a generic statement to Fox News despite knowing of the voice mail that was going to be used on the broadcast. Earlier today all I could get from an ESPN spokesperson was the stock answer they gave to Fox News earlier in the day that read, “The spot did not meet our guidelines in regard to advocacy messaging.  Blake Koch’s personal religious beliefs played no role in our evaluation.” I am still waiting for an explanation of why Blake’s personal website was mentioned at all in the voice mail.

This story has not turned out to be as ominous as it sounded at first and ESPN’s reluctance to answer questions made people think the worse. In our society it seems if you are a boozer or drug addict fresh out of rehab you are looked upon better than a clean cut 26-year old NASCAR racer who professes his faith in Jesus Christ openly. “Rise Up and Register” should know better and should have known ESPN’s advertising criteria long before they submitted their advertisement. Including the link to “Be My Vote” was either a conscious choice knowing the possible ramifications concerning ESPN policy or it was a dumb mistake. Questions to “Rise Up and Register” are also waiting to be answered and ESPN has said their statement will stand and they will not answer my additional questions concerning Ms. Gatti’s mention of Blake’s personal website.

The sad result of all of this turmoil is that Blake Koch’s sponsor “Rise Up and Register” has pulled their support of the team. Was this all in the grand scheme for the owner of the website to get more publicity for their campaign? Did they know they would get turned down by ESPN and could get mileage out of it by claiming they were turned down for nefarious reasons? If they respond to my questions I will let you know. While I can understand a sponsor needs media activation to get the most out of their sponsorship there is no reason they couldn’t continue their support of Blake on the track. Hopefully Blake Koch and his Rick Ware Racing Team will find funding to replace this sponsor but in the middle of the season that can be very tough.

Story update at 1245pm ET, March 30, 2012

“Rise Up and Register” has confirmed to RaceTalkRadio that they are NOT pulling their sponsorship from Blake Koch. Their sponsorship is only for 20 races and California Speedway was NOT one of those races. “Rise Up and Register” will be back on Blake’s car at Texas Motor Speedway.

Our society has become incredibly jaded if an organization that is following the rules for a voter registration drive is looked at differently just because they link to an “Anti Abortion” website. While I disagree with their positions on many issues, I see no harm in allowing them to register as many NASCAR fans to vote as possible as long as their commercial message remains non-political. I also support groups like “Rock the Vote” to do the same thing while promoting an agenda from the opposite side of the political spectrum…as long as they both provide information to everyone. ESPN and ABC are owned by the Disney Corporation and it is their right to turn down advertising that they deem controversial for whatever reasons they establish. While ESPN has a right to set their own rules, their parent company ABC’s reporting of politics over the last decade has shown a definite lean to the left just as Fox News leans to the right. (Recent ABC coverage of the controversy over the new voter ID laws is evidence of this bias in my opinion) The ESPN Executive that brought Blake Koch’s personal website and its religious content into play should be ashamed of herself! A driver’s personal beliefs in God should not turn off a potential sponsor or a television network’s approval of his or her sponsor.

The views above are those of Dennis Michelsen and do not necessarily represent the views of RaceTalkRadio.com LLC or RTR’s sponsors.

Blake Koch will appear on Monday night’s edition of the Doin’ Donuts radio show at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. If you have a question for Blake send it to info@racetalkradio.com.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; March 25, 2012)

When the surprising news that NASCAR’s Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook removed the point’s penalty and suspensions from the No. 48 team for the C-Post issue at Daytona I thought it was great that the system worked. But when I started reading articles and tweets from the brilliant minds of the NASCAR media I had to laugh. You know these same “Nabobs of Negativism” would have written that Middlebrook rubber stamped NASCAR’s ruling if he had ruled in a different manner. We heard some NASCAR reporters tell us how this ruling made no sense because you either had to do away with the penalty altogether or uphold it altogether. These same people told us earlier in the week that in past rulings Middlebrook had reduced the penalty on four other occasions. Keeping the fine but doing away with the suspensions and points’ penalty simply said, “You screwed up but the other penalty didn’t fit the crime.” Sure it would be better for everyone involved if John Middlebrook addressed the press or issued a written statement that explained why he ruled the way he ruled. Why did these same members of the NASCAR press fail to let the fans know that 19 other cars failed technical inspection at Daytona for one reason or the other? That didn’t come out until the press conference with Rick Hendrick after the ruling. Maybe Crew Chief Chad Knaus has ticked off the ever dwindling NASCAR press corp over the years and that is why so many negative articles were written after the appeal. Whatever the reason, NASCAR ends up wrong even when the system works and they get it right.

Curse of the Peg Leg or Blame the Stooges

It never rains in California except when the NASCAR circus is in town! They tell me California Speedway (Still waiting for my sponsorship check before I call it anything different) is built over the old Kaiser Steel Mill but I doubt this information. The average city in the USA receives 100 days of precipitation per year. Fontana, California receives precipitation on just 30 days per year. But we have seen rain almost every race weekend at California Speedway for years. Maybe this place is really built over an old Indian Burial Ground and this is some sort of a curse. Even moving the race back in the calendar away from the rainy season in Southern California didn’t work. Upon further review I do notice a weak correlation between rain events at California Speedway since the Southern 500 moved to this track. Remember when Peg Leg Charley Figg threatened to curse NASCAR if the Southern 500 was moved? Nobody believed him when he made the threat but the weak correlation is the proof in the pudding. Or maybe it’s all because the Three Stooges were invited to the NASCAR race again!

Give Them a Discount Not a Zucchini

California Speedway management has tried some weird promotions over the years including the famous “Sneak a Zucchini on to Your Neighbor’s Porch” ticket deal. This year anyone buying a ticket on a Tuesday in January got a kazoo. Despite all of these amazing deals there have been huge numbers of empty seats to the races at California Speedway over the past several years. Attention California Speedway management…tell everyone that attended the race on Sunday that they will get $20 off their ticket for next year. Fans deserve a discount for next year instead of a kazoo or a zucchini.

Don’t miss another award winning edition of Doin’ Donuts with Lori and Dennis. Not only are all of your favorite Donuts’ features back for 2012, but now we even feature the fastest growing game show in NASCAR too! That’s right NASCAR fans…Quick Change with Lori, Dennis and Jerry Bonkowski is featured every Monday night at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. Lori and Dennis also welcome NASCAR media legend Steve Waid and his Waid’s World segment to the big show too.

By Mike Harper (SOZ)

(Disclaimer: Recommended for adult readers)

Some consider NASCAR to be the most patriotic and family friendly sport in the nation. With a focus on Military and prayer at the beginning of each race event it’s hard to find another professional sport in America who honors our heroes and respects families more than those who participate in NASCAR.

While the majority of the discussion this week will be dominated by the non-suspension of Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus or the possible destruction of the racing surface at Bristol Motor Speedway, one story is not being covered by the main stream NASCAR media. It’s a story that contradicts NASCAR’s family friendly strategy and diminishes the good work done within their diversity program and the charity work done by the drivers involved in this controversy.

I believe NASCAR the organization and families in the stands at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend had no clue of what was thrown at them because in a crowd of over 100,000 screaming race fans, it’s hard to understand the content of the moment. But sadly as I reported on my radio show this week – we’ve been disrespected by four NASCAR drivers.

This isn’t a joke or a petty gripe about someone wrecking someone else. This is about the war on decency and families that’s playing out in our society now crossing over into the world of NASCAR.

NASCAR drivers Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing, along with Landon Cassill and Travis Kvapil of BK Racing, decided to associate themselves to driver intro-music at Bristol that contains extreme profanity, racial slurs and lyrics demeaning to women.

Bristol Motor Speedway allows drivers the opportunity to choose their pre-race intro music and for the most part it’s been an extremely entertaining promotion. Song choices vary from across the musical spectrum including Country, Christian, Rock and Rap. What caught my attention this week was the arrogance of those drivers who didn’t consider those fans who are the most innocent – those kids who attended the event.

Many will shake this off as not a big deal. Some media members who want access to drivers and teams will brush this under the rug and not want to stand with me on principle. Some won’t care because they have no problem with it or they’ll argue that the entire song wasn’t used during the introduction – only 10-15 seconds of the song was played over the speaker system at Bristol. But friends these drivers made the decision to use the songs. Kids who look up to these drivers will be influenced. So let me share a few lyrics from each song with you and afterwards, I would hope we can agree it was wrong to use these songs and decency should prevail.

Kyle Busch was introduced by a song called “Power” by Kanye West, lyrics include:

F*** SNL and the whole cast, Tell ‘em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole a**
More specifically, they can kiss my a**hole
I’m an a**hole’ You n****s’ got jugs
You short-minded n—s’ thoughts is Napoleon
My furs is Mongolian, my ice brought the goalies in
Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic
He know, he so, f****n’ gifted

Denny Hamlin chose the song “Teach Me How To Dougie” by Cali Swag District:

Teach me how to dougie
Teach me, teach me how to dougie
All my b****es love me
All my, all my b****es love me
All my b*****es love me
You ain’t f****n wid my dougie!
My name is yung!
For da dudes who don’t know me
I know I’m from da west but I can teach you how to dougie!
Step up in da club and all these b*****es bug me
All da n****s dancin’, none of them know me

Landon Cassill picked “Hustlin’” by Rick Ross:

Who the f*** you think you f****n’ with, I’m the f****n’ boss
Seven forty-five, white on white that’s f—-n’ Ross
I cut ‘em wide, I cut ‘em long, I cut ‘em fat (What)
I keep ‘em comin’ back (What), we keep ‘em comin’ back
I’m in the distribution, I’m like Atlantic
I got them motherf******s flyin’ ‘cross the Atlantic
I know Pablo, Noriega, the real Noriega
He owe me a hundred favors
I ain’t petty n***a, we buy the whole thang
See most of my n****s really still deal cocaine

And last and probably most disappointing is Travis Kvapil who has children of his own, chose a song called “N—-s In Paris” by Kanye West and Jay-Z:

Ball so hard muhf*****s wanna fine me
That s*** crazy
She said Ye can we get married at the mall?
I said look you need to crawl ‘fore you ball
Come and meet me in the bathroom stall
And show me why you deserve to have it all
Ball so hard, that s**** crazy, ain’t it Jay?
What she order, fish filet
Your whip so cold, this old thing
Act like you’ll ever be around muhf*****s like this again
Bougie girl, grab her hand
F*** that b***** she don’t wanna dance
Excuse my French but I’m in France (I’m just sayin’)

Combining all of the songs the “F” word was used 23 times and the “S” word was used 8 times. The “B” word was used over 20 times and unfortunately, the “N” word was used more than 15 times. This comes on the heals of NASCAR barring the famous General Lee car at Phoenix International Raceway earlier this year stating it wasn’t “in the best interest of the sport” because of the car’s association with the Confederate flag.

I do not blame NASCAR for what happened at Bristol. I point my disbelief and anger at the track management and the four drivers. I’ve reached out to Bristol Motor Speedway and Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) for comment and my emails have gone unanswered. And actually I’m not surprised. For JGR this is extremely embarrassing because team owner Coach Joe Gibbs is a Christian leader within the NASCAR industry and with two of his three drivers attaching themselves to these songs, I too would have no comment.

So what do we do now? We must demand an apology from Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch, Hamlin, Cassill and Kvapil. As men who promote foundations with their names attached they should be held to a higher standard because they have a certain level of public trust. Would Kyle Busch print off the entire lyrics of “Power” and hand it out during a fundraiser for the Kyle Busch Foundation? I think not. So why is it okay for him to promote the song at Bristol?

Listen, I have stood with these drivers when race fans have complained about driver profanity over their radios on race day. When race fans tune into their race scanners and listen to the drivers, they do it by choice and if you don’t want to hear it turn it off. But in this case these drivers didn’t give us a choice. It was selfish and extremely unprofessional. It was also unnecessary. They could’ve easily chosen a song without profanity, racial slurs and demeaning words.

It’s time for us to take a stand for NASCAR families. I’ll happily give these four drivers and Bristol Motor Speedway air time during my show for an apology. But at the end of the day a simple statement of apology sent out in the form of a press release will do.

I’ll be waiting – we have all season.

Mike Harper is the host of the Thunder Crew on RaceTalkRadio.com. He is also a proud member of the National Motorsports Press Association and has been a contributor for SPEED.com, SPEEDWORLD Magazine and other media publications.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; March 5, 2012)

In our world today on any issue there seems to be a polarization of all right or all wrong. Fans and media either want to hang Chad Knaus or hang NASCAR. NASCAR has the right to legislate the sport anyway they please and I had no issue with the officials scolding the No. 48 team at Daytona and telling them to replace the c-posts on their car. The “Looks can Kill” penalty handed out to Chad Knaus and his team after Daytona has me puzzled though. Losing twenty-five points in this one point per position era of NASCAR is a severe penalty. It is not this one penalty that has me concerned. But NASCAR should understand they are opening themselves up to conspiracy theories with their “Didn’t Like What We Saw” penalty on the No. 48 team during Speedweeks.

Where was the Harm?

Every race track across the country techs their race cars before the weekend starts to make sure there is a level playing field. The whole purpose of this procedure is to make sure the weekend starts without someone having an unfair advantage. Once the car has been through inspection if the team finds a sneaky way to cheat up the car they should have the rule book thrown at them! If a Crew Chief blatantly snaps on a trick part after inspection and gets caught their Crew Chief should be suspended for a long time! But the No. 48 team had to spot weld their car in the garage area. They didn’t have the luxury of sending that car out to the wind tunnel to check their work when they had to replace the c-post sections. This put them at a disadvantage versus the rest of the competition for trying to get away with something clever. Those special pieces never saw the track so where was the harm to the other racers for their action?

Saving Money Argument Flawed

NASCAR argues that their steep penalty for teams caught presenting a flawed race car for inspection keeps the cost of racing down because teams won’t get as creative trying to find extra speed. But before qualifying for the Daytona 500 another team was sent back to the garage to change how they had their weight distributed. This was an attempt to gain an advantage too so why wasn’t this team penalized 25 points? Another team had their car measure too low after qualifying. They had to forfeit their starting position for the qualifying race but they didn’t get any additional penalty. The No. 48 team didn’t do anything wildly strange to their c-post area they simply built those pieces a little different. Newsflash to NASCAR fans…each and every NASCAR stockcar is prepared a little different in those areas. The only way to determine if those differences are within the tolerance is to measure with the templates. Why? Because that is the only method a team has to determine if they have built their cars properly. If NASCAR wants every single c-post to be the same then they should distribute those pieces to every team just like they do for shocks and restrictor plates at Daytona. Teams put in a smaller box will have to spend even more money to find the advantages and you know they are spending that money to find the edge.

Taken to the Absurd

NASCAR is often accused of manufacturing results by those fans that see “Black Helicopters” everywhere. Imagine the uproar if NASCAR penalized the 12^th place team in points for a part that didn’t “Look Right” and that move gave one of the sports most popular drivers a spot in the playoffs. How would NASCAR look if they did that? What would prevent NASCAR from doing that if they can give the No. 48 team a 25 point penalty for the way their car looked at Daytona? Innovation used to matter in this sport and the smarter Crew Chiefs gave their team an edge. Taken to the absurd today’s Crew Chief better kiss up to NASCAR all they can so their cars always “Look Right” when they are presented for technical inspection. Maybe teams need to hire their own lobbying groups to make sure NASCAR treats them well and take the penalty book out to punish their competition instead. Taken to the absurd maybe the most valuable player in today’s NASCAR will be the team lawyer that deals with appealing NASCAR penalties.

Beware the Unintended Consequences

The No. 48 team will weather this penalty storm that has hit them; history has shown us that time and time again. NASCAR says the past penalty situations for Chad Knaus didn’t enter their thought process when they handed out the penalty after Speedweeks. But NASCAR has not thought this process through on several fronts and could discover unintended consequences as a result. Should a team show up at the R&D Center to pre-certify every panel on every car to make sure they are within NASCAR’s new “Visual Inspection” process? Can you imagine how quickly that would overwhelm the system?

NASCAR was within their rights to say, “Hey Chad you better change those panels,” just as they were correct to tell the No. 16 team to change the way their weight was distributed. But NASCAR appears to be taking their frustration out on Chad Knaus for the weird comments the world overheard before the race at Talladega last year. Even worse if a NASCAR penalty for “Not Looking Right” cost another team points and one of the most popular drivers in the sport made the playoffs as a result there would be the unintended consequence of the conspiracy theorists having more ammunition. Oh say can you c-post that would be a huge problem for NASCAR.

Check out Doin’ Donuts for the best racing recap on the radio every Monday night at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen welcome some of the most interesting guests from the world of racing. Steve Waid’s Waid World has it’s exclusive home on Monday night on RTR. Quick Change covers the latest NASCAR topics in a lively debate format with Jerry Bonkowski. Sit down, strap in and sound off every Monday night on Doin’ Donuts!

(RaceTalkRadio.com; March 2, 2012)

It is a bit tougher to predict Phoenix this year versus the past. The Fall race at Pa-ho-nix was the first under this new configuration. Until we get four or five races under this configuration the past results are not necessarily indicative of what will happen in the future. But the strength of the RaceTalkRadio Power Ratings is that by combining track types and consistency in addition to the current track we get a better idea of a driver’s strength even if the current configuration is different.

Last year we saw a great duel between three cars. Kasey Kahne got the win with Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart finishing second and third. Just to show that the new Phoenix is a lot like the old Phoenix; Jeff Burton was strong on the new track surface too. This week we should see quite a battle between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards again and this time I give the edge of Edwards.

Good luck with your fantasy racing picks this week.

Send in your pick to win the Daytona 500 to dennis@racetalkradio.com for a chance to win a copy of the National Speedway Directory from SpeedwaysOnline.com.

Weather Report

Sunny, 74°F,

Southeast winds, 8-14 mph

http://raceweather.net

NASCAR by the Numbers

Using a proprietary race analysis technique we take the fans inside the numbers every week. DMIC’s rating system has been in use since 2002 and has proven to pick the contenders from the pretenders!

Consistency is King (Last Five Races)

Horses for Courses (Track Rating)

Type Casting (Track Type Factor)

Power Rating (240 Minimum to Qualify as Contender)

DMIC’s Fantasy Picks

Each week we will take you beyond the numbers to handicap the field from top to bottom to help your Fantasy Racing team succeed. You are also invited to join Lori Munro and I on “White Board Fantasy Racing” every Thursday night on “Doin’ Donuts” at 8pm ET on RaceTalkRadio.com. Win fun prizes by picking just the race winners in our unique format. Send your picks to info@racetalkradio.com to enter.

Top Pick (Last Week 14^th)

Carl Edwards- Top ten in all three categories

Best Long Shot (Odds of 20-1 or More) (Last Week 11^th)

Martin Truex Jr (30-1 Odds) Team has been very consistent last five races

Top Dogs (Group A in Yahoo) (Last Week 8^th)

Tony Stewart- Excellent track for Smoke

Second Class (Group B in Yahoo) (Last Week 6^th)

Greg Biffle- Solid record on flat tracks

Middle Packer (Group C in Yahoo) (Last Week 20^th)

David Reutimann- Will learn a lot about this team this week

Do you have what it takes to handicap the races? Join Lori and Dennis every week and play in the Whiteboard Fantasy Racing Series! Send your pick for the Cup race to info@racetalkradio.com to enter.

(RaceTalkRadio.com; February 27, 2012)

It is not the hatred of Danica Patrick that has confused me but the vicious nature of so many of the comments. This is a lady that just wants to race stock cars. She is doing whatever it takes to learn this new style of racing. Many of her fellow drivers have nothing but good things to say about her. You might think those racers are all speaking from the NASCAR playbook, and they might be doing so, but someone would have spoken up by now if they thought she didn’t belong. Suddenly it dawned on me why so many people, including so many women, are ripping on Danica Patrick. It goes far beyond NASCAR it is all about the bitterness of so many people towards those people that are deemed to have had it all handed to them. There is only one way to deal with this idiocy. Instead of NASCAR I propose that we nominate Danica Patrick for President.

First Rule of Female Racers

Several years ago after quite a bit of research I came up with what I call the First Rule of Female Racers that states, “A female driver’s ability on the track is inversely proportional to the amount of makeup she wears as she straps into the car.” This rule has been a great predictor when I have seen certain female racers in person for the first time. Even among women fans it has become very obvious that women racers are supposed to be novelty acts. It seems as if everyone supports the women that can’t get out of their own way on the track but if a woman has talent she is either ignored like Johanna Long or ridiculed like Danica Patrick. Maybe that hypothesis can be called the Second Rule of Female Racers. Perhaps Danica Patrick is the first woman driver that has been able to irritate people as much as any outspoken male driver.

Back in the Day

That first time I saw Shirley Muldowney not only compete with the men in drag racing but beat them I was amazed. It wasn’t her ability it was the way she handled herself. This was the 1970s and women’s liberation was in the news every day. Women were not being treated fairly and Muldowney put up with a lot of crap. But there she was never complaining and often kicking butt against the best male drag racers in the business. There was no question about equality. Then along came Janet Guthrie to race in NASCAR and Indy Cars. Again she put up with a lot of crap yet she just did the best she could do with what she had to work with and eventually gained everyone’s respect. People didn’t seem to get all worked up about Janet Guthrie they rooted for her to do well in a male dominated sport.

Danica’s Worst Critics

It has astonished me that so many other women racers have been critical of Danica Patrick. After she won the pole for this year’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona the excuses started to fly. One woman racer was very outspoken on her Facebook page about Danica Patrick. Patrick’s pole was no big deal because it was on a restrictor plate track went the rant. This same woman was dumped on the first lap when she won the pole position at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the only other time a woman has won the pole in NASCAR history. You would think this lady would understand the crap that Danica Patrick has put up with just because she wants to race. Ironically some young women racers that Patrick could open doors for with her performance in NASCAR have also been outspoken about her racing ability.

Fear the Racing Gods

It is rather ironic that the driver accused of dumping that other female racer at Atlanta when she won the pole now has a daughter struggling to make her way in NASCAR. Perhaps those outspoken critics of Danica Patrick should take note that Racing Karma has weird ways of rearing its ugly head. Yes the praise for Danica Patrick currently exceeds what she has done on the track in NASCAR but how is that her fault? There should be no arguing that out qualifying other drivers who have much more experience and talent in stock cars at this point in their careers in equal equipment is a big deal, no matter what track was involved. But a weird form of jealousy seems to prevent that from occurring.

Please don’t dismiss the Danica Patrick hatred as “Silver Racing Wheel Syndrome.” Many drivers that come from money or have family connections to get ahead are not subjected to the same type of crap until they have totally bombed out. Yes some talented drivers never get a shot while some average or below average drivers get a break because of their family heritage or bank accounts. But why hate the drivers who got a break when you would have taken advantage of that same break yourself?

Racing isn’t the only place where people’s jealousy of the success of others has been prevalent. It seems to be the norm now that if someone did better than we did in life they cheated or were handed the opportunity. Hard work never gets the credit any more someone always has the fix in to determine winners and losers. Even in our Presidential campaigns we hear about the chosen 1% against the down trodden 99%. Maybe what our country needs is a President that understands what it means to be picked on for wanting to pursue their dreams. Perhaps what this country needs is Danica Patrick for President.

Note from the Author: This article was inspired by my radio show co-host and best friend Lori Munro from conversations we have had on the Doin’ Donuts radio show on RaceTalkRadio.com.

Tune into Doin’ Donuts every Monday night on RaceTalkRadio.com at 8pm ET to hear more of what Lori and Dennis have to say about racing.