Should Sprint and Nationwide be so closely intertwined?

I have been thinking about this for a while. We have been talking about it on Twitter but its really hard to tell you my true thoughts in 140 characters or less. When I was growing up, the BUSCH (sorry i still call it that to this day) series was almost like a JV, a college series of sort. It was a good chance to see some up and coming drivers that would one day race in the Sprint series. There was a sprinkling of "some been there done that" drivers who-while clearly out of the chase-would race a baby carriage if you put him near it.

Fast forward to 2009: 16 of of the 43 drivers were active Sprint Cup chasers in Daytona's Camping World 300. I think this is horrible! In this economy, I feel there may be a need to make some adjustments/provisions to its Nationwide race. I know from a ticket sales point of view this may be a definitive hell to the no..but think of it from a marketing perspective. The bread and butter of any race team is through its sponsorships....especially when they are just starting out. In this economy who would give a sponsor a bigger bang for his buck? Should they put their brand on a Carl Edwards Nationwide Car or a lesser known Justin Allgaier for example?

I just don't think that this is fair to the guys that are trying to make it into the sport. Some would argue that this gives Nationwide drivers a chance to run with the big guys. But, when freaking Kyle Busch and his stupid bow are being spoken about a history making three peat, the warm and fuzzy feeling of "keep your eyes on that guy" is lost. I also feel that with no provisions soon this will take away from the notoriety of a Nationwide Champion. A Nationwide Series Champion should have the pride of being "the one to watch" when they enter the Sprint Series as a true rookie. I predict that in a couple of years, these up and comers will lose the dollars to compete and the entire field will be one Sprint Series paid practice.

Tee Riddle has made an excellent point: What if Brett Favre or Tom Brady announced they were going back to play college football, or Alex Rodriguez said he was going to play high school baseball?? It would be viewed as ridiculous. Except in NASCAR.

Back in the good ole days, Martin Truex Jr with Kevin "Bono" Manion
who won back to back Nationwide championships in 2004 and 2005
Picture from view images

Martin Truex Jr. Daytona 500 pole winner

Needless to say we couldn't have been happier with another outcome! Congrats to Martin, Bono and all the Bass Pro Boys. Nascar Scene Daily did a great article on them, click here to read it. Can't wait until Sunday!

Ryan Newman wins Modified at New Smyrna!

Ryan Newman goes to victory lane in the modified car owned by Kevin "Bono" Manion....

That's a 2fer for Bono and his crew!!! Congratulations boys!!!

Here is a video from NASCAR.com’s Beyond Pit Row where they are featuring Ryan at New Smyrna. We found this on ryannewmaninfo.info.

Modified Race at New Smyrna Speedway...

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Way to Go Bono!!!!

Finally the nation is catching on to what we have known forever! Our very own Kevin Bono Manion is a PROBLEM SOLVER! Like Nascar's version of Einstein... please read below on the very prestigious award he received on Sunday in New Hampshire.

Truex's crew chief wins Problem Solver award

Kevin Manion, crew chief on the Dale Earnhardt Inc. #1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr. in the Sylvania 300 wins the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award.

The award is presented to the crew chief whose team finishes in the top 10 and posts the largest increase in average lap speed (-.734 sec) from the first half to second half of a race. Truex moved up two spots to 15th in the 2008 Sprint Cup point standings after his 7th place finish in Sunday's race at the New Hampshire Motor

Here he is below explaining to Martn Einstein's Law of Relativity....

Congrats Bono!!!

Ryan Newman gets the modified pole!!! Yay Bono and Ryan Newman!

Ryan Newman earned his fifth career pole at New Hampshire - and first in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - in qualifying Thursday. (Photo credit: Howie Hodge/NASCAR)

Qualifying: Newman Takes Mod Pole

By Jason Cunningham, NASCAR
September 11, 2008 - 5:48pm

LOUDON, N.H. – Making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran Ryan Newman earned the Coors Light Pole Award in qualifying for the New Hampshire 100 Thursday.

Newman, who has 43 Coors Light Pole Awards to his credit during his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career, wasted no time in getting one under his belt in a Modified. After turning the fastest lap in practice Thursday afternoon in his first time strapped into the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Newman posted the quickest lap in qualifying at 29.658 seconds (127.453 mph).

Chuck Hossfeld (No. 4 Mystic Missile Dodge), who won the New England 100 at New Hampshire on June 28, will join Newman on the front row for Saturday’s race following his qualifying effort of 29.745 seconds (127.080 mph).

Rounding out the top five qualifiers on Thursday were Jimmy Blewett, Eric Beers and Bobby Grigas III. Series points leader Ted Christopher qualified 12th for Saturday’s 100-lap race.

Green flag for the New Hampshire 100 is set for Saturday at approximately 1 p.m., with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ Camping World RV Rental 200 Driven by Winnebago Industries to follow. For ticket information, please visit New Hampshire’s official Web site.

Rowdy Busch VS Cousin Carl?

This past Sunday, a mere 6 days ago, an article came out about a potential rivalry between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. I remember reading this and laughing to myself being the Carl lover/Kyle hater that I am. Well, I just finished watching the Bristol race and I immediately thought about this article and had to find it online. Lets pull a few paragraphs from this article...... click here to read the whole thing

In fact, NASCAR could promote the hell out of it, a good-natured war of words and an almost WWE-like showdown between Cousin Carl, the Country Bumpkin vs. Rowdy Busch, the Vegas Villain.

Imagine the poster possibilities: Edwards wearing bib overalls with a hayseed stalk sticking out of his mouth staring down Busch, the new Man In Black with the wraparound dark sunglasses and black cowboy hat.

Good vs. evil, All-American boy vs. NASCAR's bad boy. It could be just what the Chase – which has taken its lumps the last couple of years – and NASCAR need.

SO, I hate to even go here but I have to sit here and wonder if NASCAR is capable of pulling off such a great publicity stunt. Carl, who did nothing wrong by any means when he "Bristol Bumped" Kyle to get the lead, ends up getting rammed after the checkered flag by Kyle. Then Dumbo had the nerve to call Carl Mr. Ed like (I admit, I laughed my ass off).

So, with what was written, how ironic were tonights altercations? Especially with Carls post race comment: "They keep talking about rivalries," Edwards said. "We might have one now."

Since Bono is still suspended (it isn't near as fun listening to MTJ without him) I found myself listening to Carl, Kyle and Regan Smith throughout the night. Carl and Kyle were not speaking ill of one another, in fact, they were talking about each others cars and what they had to do to get/keep the lead. Something smells fishy to me. I understand both of these boys have bad tempers but this was a little unexpected.

Personally, I would love to see this "WWE showdown"

Bono on Sirius-Blue Collar Radio Channel 103

Kevin "Bono" Manion- crew chief for the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevorlet, did a guest interview on the NASCAR Fan show on Sirius channel 103. They talked about what exactly the crew chiefs/pit crew guys do in a week. From the minute they get to the track, to pre inspection, checking the car - as Bono says "from soup to nuts" and then right up to race day. The interview was very informative and fun to listen to! Kudos to Bono!!