Posted on 06/13/2007 3:28:09 PM PDT by glock rocks
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This thread is dedicated to the memory of 68-69 Tonkin Gulf Yatch Club...
Rest in peace Brian.
Thank you for your service, and your friendship.
BROOKLYN, Mich. --Greg Biffle on Friday said he would not resume negotiations on a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing until the performance of his No. 16 Ford team improves significantly.
Im not 100-percent happy with the performance of the team, Biffle said. Im not going to run 20th in points. If Im not happy, why should I negotiate?
I hear the Jr Nation was cheering for all the HMS drivers today at practice and qualifying!! :D
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Gustafson plans to stay at Hendrick Motorsports
SCENEDAILY - 1:23PM ET FRIDAY JUNE 15, 2007 -
BROOKLYN, Mich. - Kyle Busch’s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports says he doesn’t plan on going anywhere - even if it means accepting a new role in the company.
Busch may be leaving Hendrick at the end of this season, but crew chief Alan Gustafson said he wants to stay loyal to team owner Rick Hendrick, no matter what that may entail.
“I expect to be a crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, but I will make the statement that I will be at Hendrick Motorsports next year regardless,” Gustafson said Friday at Michigan International Speedway. “I’d rather sweep floors for Rick Hendrick than be a crew chief for someone else.”
But will he be the crew chief for the incoming Dale Earnhardt Jr.? It’s widely speculated that Earnhardt Jr. would want to continue his current pairing with cousin Tony Eury Jr.
Gustafson said he didn’t want to look that far ahead and said, “I’m not in limbo.” Still, he added, “Who wouldn’t want to work with Dale Jr.?”
The decision for Busch to part ways with Hendrick was one that stung Gustafson, who considers himself good friends with his driver.
“When you have a relationship like you do with a driver, it’s very personal,” he said. “When things go wrong, there is some disappointment. To sit there and say there wasn’t, I’d be lying to you.
“Now that it’s not working out, I feel disappointed and a little responsible in some regard because if everything would have went well, we wouldn’t have this problem. With that being said, I don’t think that I didn’t give 100 percent.
“It is sad, but that’s business, and we’ll just have to move on.”
Gustafson said that the incident at Texas - when Busch left the track while his car was being repaired - was “definitely a brick in the wall” but not the main reason Busch will not continue with the team.
“Nothing was intentional there, and I hate that that went down the way it did,” he said. “I hate that it severed any feelings or put anybody in an awkward position. It’s regrettable because that wasn’t intent of any action.
“We all know it wasn’t good. We knew when it happened it wasn’t good.”
Gustafson knows he would be a highly sought-after crew chief if he were to consider leaving the company but said his personal ties to Hendrick will keep him at HMS.
“Rick, quite frankly, is the classiest guy in this garage,” he said. “He’s been great to me from day one when I started there eight years ago.
“This sport’s going to come and go, things are going to happen, but to have a personal relationship with a grand man like that is very important to me. And I’m going to be loyal to him; he’s been loyal to me.”
It's been an amazing week.
Kyle changes his story more than most people change their clothes!
Busch plays blame game on departure from Hendrick
June 15, 2007
By Bruce Martin PA SportsTicker Contributing Editor
BROOKLYN, Michigan (Ticker) Kyle Busch tried to play the blame game on his mutually agreed departure from Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch, who will leave the team at the end of this season to make way for the recently signed Dale Earnhardt Jr., claims his agent never informed him of what was going on in his negotiations for a contract extension with Hendrick.
As a result, Busch has replaced his agent, Alan Miller, with Motorsports Management International as he becomes a free agent, open for any and all offers.
“My previous representation did inform me he was getting calls, said Busch of contact from other race teams. “That was opened up to Hendrick Motorsports, and that is when they got upset.
“Do I feel like I got pushed out? No. For the way the negotiations were going, they weren’t going well, so I feel I can do better someplace else. That’s the way we felt it.
Read more here..............
That’s a really nice picture!
JJ missed the pole by 1/1000 of a sec.
but I kept 10 points!
Weasel Meat. It’s What’s for Dinner.
Thank you.
Here’s a really nice transcript of the press conference with old pics of Rick and Dale and Ricky, Jr and Robert Gee.
Waaaaaay back in the day. :)
http://www.checkerstowreckers.com/news%2007/jun/jun14_jr_transcript.html
I was gonna grab the last one and post it with the caption:
“If you announce it, they will come”...what a frenzy!
But I couldn't even copy text!
You can copy the pic by using print screen on your keyboard and then open paint and paste it in there. I just haven’t figured out how to cut it down to get rid of the top bar stuff. just make sure the part you want is all in your screen.
Here’s a great interview with Jr on CBS. Talking about rick’s INTEGRITY and a little friendly competition with Jeff.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hXAMv8K4sxI
Tony Stewart and his Dad.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2007-06-14-Tony-Stewart-and-dad_N.htm
LAIDBACK RACING.COM
HE WHO HAS THE MOST FUN AT THE
CHECKERED FLAG WINS!
When the story broke that he was going to Hendrick Motorsports, I start cruising the Junior and Hendrick message boards out there to see how the fans were reacting. I was pleasantly surprised.
On the Hendrick message boards, the fan’s were pretty welcoming to Jr and his fans. They pretty much were happy with the whole deal. A few went to the Jr. boards to say hi and welcome them which many of the Earnhardt fans appreciated.
On the Jr. boards, the majority of his fans are Ok with this move. Some said it wasn’t the place they would pick for him but they would be a Junior fan no matter what. (Of course they would rather he join RCR. But you know what? That wasn’t the best place for Jr. to go and get out of the shadow of Ironhead.) Some said if you can’t beat join them. Some said it was what made the most sense; if you want to win championships go to where championships are won. (Hey haven’t I heard that somewhere else...oh yeah I said it).
Anyway, the majority of his fans are OK with this move and that is great. They are his REAL fans. They repeatedly wrote that just seeing how happy and relaxed he was at that press conference sealed the deal for them. Hearing how he and Rick share a history, made them soften on the decision. Knowing that Rick Hendrick understands Jr. and can relate to him on IMPORTANT matters like losing some one related to you, made them soften on the decision. Rick Hendrick understanding the importance of getting Jr. to the next level, made them soften on the decision. Hearing Jr. say that Rick kept his grandfather on the payroll years after he ceased be a “competent worker” and that meant a lot to him, made them soften on the decision. And I am happy for Junior that he has these fans. He deserves them.
http://www.laidbackracing.com/Articles2007/JH21.html
Sheesh, that’s a lot of work!
Use MS photo editor and crop everthing else out.
Should be in yer MS Office group.
I will check it out.
Pinging anyone interested in keeping the #8 in the family
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?DaleJr8&1
done!
Who was that baffoon just on trackside? Says he’s going to NY... “we’re going to see Ground Zero, it’s gonna be cool.”
Proves what I’ve been saying for the last couple of years. To far too many Americans, the attack of 9/11/01 was nothing more than a TV show.
What a moroon!
done!
Richard Childress will be on QVC in the next hour.
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