The MotorSportsNews.Net(work)

Atop the Spotters Stand: All Star Race

2012-05-16T21:37:23Z

Teams get to spend the next few weeks sleeping in their own beds as they race at Charlotte.

Earl Barban, spotter for the #48 Lowes Chevy Impala answers some questions for us this week.

NASCAR has 2 races a year that are non-points races, The Shootout and the All Star Race.

So I asked Earl which was the bigger race?

Earl thinks, “The All Star race is the bigger race because there is more money on the line. With the race being run in Charlotte all the shop people and families are there. With it being a non-points race anything can happen since drivers have nothing to lose and everything to win.”

Since there are no points on the line I asked was there a more relaxed feeling approaching the race.

Earl responds, “The mentality of spotting does not change at all for a non-points race. The mentality that I have is for the safety of my driver and the safety of all the other drivers as well. I think that if I am able to give a little competitive help by clearing him and letting him know that there is another driver approaching without him having to keep looking in his mirror he can concentrate on the task ahead and maybe that is a little competitive advantage.”

Something that I have noticed is how close cars seem to be when switching lanes or making passes. I know personally I make sure there is a bit of room when switching lanes. Knowing spotters are up a little higher and don’t always have the best view I asked Earl what it takes for him to say Clear.

Earl comments,” The distance I give between the cars before I say clear depends on how fast we are passing the car, if it is fast I say clear right away as soon as I see a gap, if the other car is aggressive and could come back on the outside from having a bit more momentum I wait until I am sure.”

Still curious how big that gap is. I think I would have to really trust my spotter on this one. Seems as I have done this column and listened to different spotters that big qualities are trust that they see what is going on around you and tell you what you need. Plus a very calming voice. Some spotter’s feed the driver a lot of information while other’s give you just the facts of what you need. A few of them are good at being teachers of where your marks are and how to get around certain other drivers.

Hendrick Motorsports achieved a major accomplishment last week at Darlington with getting their 200^th win as an organization. They got number 199 last year at Kansas in October. Every race since then has been will this be the one they reach 200?

I asked Earl about the 200^th win and this is what he had to say,” I think that the pressure that was there was put on us. We all wanted to win and be proud of our accomplishment but I think more so we all wanted to win for Mr. Hendrick.”

I would like to thank Earl for taking time to help this week. If you have any questions for our spotters email hmeyer@motorsportsnews.net and I’ll make sure it gets to them for an answer.

Thanks to MotorSportsNews’ photographer Steve Langley for the new spotter photo for this series of articles.

Holden to announce export of the Commodore to U.S. as Chevrolet SS

2012-05-16T16:05:56Z

Holden will announce tomorrow an export program for the Commodore, which will see the Adelaide [Australia] made car become a race and showroom star in the United States. Though sales of the Elizabeth-produced sedan continue to slide in Australia, a Commodore V8 will be exported to America where it will be sold with the Chevrolet SS Performance badge. In that guise, it would also star for the heartland brand in the NASCAR stock car racing series, which runs second only to Formula One in global popularity. Holden has been testing left-hand drive cars on public roads in Victoria in recent weeks and running it head-to-head with one of its strongest potential rivals, the Dodge Charger, as it finalises its end of the important new deal. Motorsport sources in the USA hint that an announcement of the Chevrolet SS program is imminent, including the Holden connection. The coming VF Commodore as the donor car for the program ticks the boxes for American muscle car fans, and NASCAR stock car racing as well, thanks to its V8 engine, large body and rear-wheel drive. Former GM Holden president Mark Reuss, now the head of GM operations in the US and a known fan and supporter of the Commodore, dodged Carsguide’s questions on a link between the SS program and the Commodore. Holden chairman Mike Devereux also refused to comment on the strengthening rumours in the US, which were triggered by the announcement. Full-scale testing of the racer is expected to begin soon, and the bodywork expected to be revealed at the same time.(Jayski)

TV Times – Speed Channel, Where Art Thou?

2012-05-16T10:03:00Z

The rumors that abounded recently about the Speed Channel’s change to an all-sports channel came true. Following the F1 race this past Sunday morning, its usual motorhead programming was replaced by a game of the English Premier Soccer League. That eliminated the F1 post race coverage which used to comprise of traditional interviews with drivers who were able to make the podium. Bet that didn’t make USA followers of F1 very pleased.

We surmise that Fox Sports, owners of the Speed Channel, is making a transition from all motorsports to a sports buffet similar to the old Versus Channel renamed the NBC Sports Channel. Comcast bought NBC last year, hence the change. ESPN and ESPN2 have the same all-sports format as well.

The old Speed Vision channel, predecessor to the Speed Channel, made a major effort to encourage gearheads to put pressure on their cable carrier to carry that unique motorsports channel. That continued even after Fox Sports purchased Speed Vision, and the entire operation was moved from Stamford, Conn., to the Carolinas. At this time, we think it’s safe to predict that, when it’s all over, Speed will be renamed the Fox Sports Channel.

You don’t have to be a genius to predict that the gearheads, that supported the Speed Channel, are not going to be very happy. They are not very forgiving and the Speed Channel, or whatever they will be known as in the future, may regret making the change when the ratings take a major dip. In the process of all this Speed, or whatever they will be called, may never recover what they had for racefan loyalty. Take NASCAR as an example, of all this, who made changes that chased away many of their core fans who have not returned.

Jimmie Johnson finally made it back to the winner’s circle of the Darlington 500, and in the process gave his team owner, Rick Hendrick, his 200th NASCAR Sprint Cup win. An agressive JJ managed to hold off Denny Hamlin, with Tony Stewart coming in next, then Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, Jr., rounding out the top five. “I can’t believe I won 200 of these things, and it took this long after we won 199!” exclaimed Hendrick. It appears that JJ’s perfect timing of his pit stops may have been key to the win.

Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch got into a dust-up on pit road, and considering that Busch is already on thin ice with NASCAR, it remains to be seen what may now happen to him. Jeff Gordon had a rough day and finished way back, while a consistent Greg Biffle, who won pole position in qualifying, still leads the Sprint Cup point chase. From what we saw as the cameras panned the Darlington grandstands, it was a good crowd.

A night earlier in the Nationwide race, Denny Hamlin looked like he was to be the winner, but his teammate, Joey Logano, ended up making the trip to Victory Lane. Logano took the lead on the last caution flag, and that’s all it took to pull it off. It was Logano’s second win in the Nationwide Series in two weeks. Hamlin had to settle for the runner-up spot with Brad Kaselowski coming in third, then Sam Hornish and Austin Dillon. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., leads the Nationwide point standings after this event.

Elsewhere, at Indy Sabastian Saavedera and Bryan Clauson were the two top drivers during practice. They both ran in a pack chasing speeds close to 225 mph. That was a big surprise, as we don’t know much about either driver. ”This coming weekend, the Indy 500 grid will be set, and with just close to 33 cars, don’t expect any suspense on Bump Day. If they’re running by themselves, we think that they’ll turn the track at 218,” predicts Speed’s Robin Miller who covers Indy Car action for that cable channel.

Across the pond in Barcelona, Spain, Pastor Moldonado of Venezuela won his first Formula 1 race for the Williams Team who hadn’t won since a long ago 2004! Fernando Alonso came in second, while Kimi Rikonnin comprised the podium. Sabastian Vettle holds the lead in the F1 series.

The following is the latest from ESPN of next weekend’s racing coverage:

NASCAR Nationwide Series at Iowa on ESPN

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races this weekend at Iowa Speedway near Des Moines and the race airs live on ESPN on Sunday, May 20. NASCAR Countdown airs at 1:30 p.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 2:24 p.m.

Announcers:

Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick; analysts Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree.

Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake.

NHRA Topeka Action on ESPN2, ESPN3

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will compete in the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, this weekend and drag racing fans can watch action on both ESPN2 and ESPN3. All NHRA programming on ESPN2 and ESPN3 is also available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app.

The schedule:

Date	Time	Event	Network
Friday, May 18	8 p.m.	Qualifying (live)	ESPN3, WatchESPN
Sat., May 19	5 p.m.	Qualifying	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Sunday, May 20	Noon	Eliminations (live)	ESPN3, WatchESPN
Sunday, May 20	7 p.m.	Eliminations	ESPN2, WatchESPN

Announcers:

Booth: Paul Page (anchor); Mike Dunn (analyst)

Pit reporters: Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff, Jamie Howe.

NASCAR Now Schedule

The one-hour weekend edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will air on Saturday, May 19, at 11 a.m. ET with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Lindsay Czarniak will host, joined from the track by analyst Ricky Craven and reporters Marty Smith and Ryan McGee. NASCAR Now will review the race at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 21.

Date	Time	Show	Host	Network
Tue., May 15	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Mike Massaro	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Wed., May 16	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Mike Massaro	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Thu., May 17	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Mike Massaro	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Fri., May 18	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Michael Yam	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Sat., May 19	11 a.m.	NASCAR Now	Lindsay Czarniak	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Mon., May 21	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Michael Yam	ESPN2, WatchESPN

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star, Carl Edwards, will move from the cockpit of his race car to the broadcast booth as he becomes an analyst for ESPN on two telecasts of NASCAR Nationwide Series races. Edwards made his debut during ESPN2’s live telecast of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Darlington Raceway last week. He also will serve as an analyst for the June 29 event at Kentucky Speedway. “I am humbled by this opportunity to broadcast for ESPN and be part of their team,” said Edwards..

Edwards, who drives for Roush Fenway Racing, stopped competing in NASCAR Nationwide Series races this season after racing fulltime in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series the past seven years. He was the Nationwide Series driving champion in 2007, and earned the 2011 series owner’s championship for Roush Fenway Racing, but decided to concentrate his efforts on the Sprint Cup Series this season.

“Having a past NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and active NASCAR Sprint Cup driver in the booth will certainly bring some unique perspective to our viewers,” said Rich Feinberg, ESPN vice president, motorsports, production. “We have a very strong on-air team for NASCAR and this addition makes it even stronger.”

Check Jayski.com to see what else is happening in the world of motrosports this weekend.

Note: Information for this story came from press releases and personal notes.

Looking in the Rearview Mirror: Darlington

2012-05-15T10:04:10Z

Who earned their “Darlington Stripe” this time?

Stenhouse Jr starts on the pole for the Nationwide race.

Stenhouse Jr jumped to the lead on the start of the race.

Caution lap 3 for Blaney, Miller and Clements wreck in turn 2.

Restart on lap 9 finds Stenhouse Jr back to the lead.

Lap 19 Hamlin finds the lead.

Lap 35 Mike Wallace has a tire issue in turn 4.

Hamlin keeps the lead on the lap 42 restart.

Logano finds the lead on lap 43

Hamlin finds the lead again on lap 44

Lap 46 caution brought out as Bell bounced off the outside wall then the inside wall.

Lap 51 restart finds Kurt Busch in the lead

Lap 53 Hamlin finds his way back to the lead

Lap 91 green flag pit stops start and cycle through to Hamlin in the lead.

Lap 103 finds only 14 cars on the lead lap.

With 21 laps to go Kurt Busch finds his way into the wall with right front tire issues

Sadler is the first off pit road with two tire strategy.

Restart is with 15 laps to go Sadler leading Logano and Hamlin.

Ten laps to go find the caution waving again for Gaughan in the wall

Restart with five to go is Sadler, Logano, Hamlin and Dillon.

Caution as Sadler is spun by Logano.

Green White Checker finish with Logano winning. It’s Logano’s second race win in a row.

Top five in points:

Stenhouse Jr

Sadler -23

Dillon -35

Hornish Jr -59

Whitt -82

Biffle will start on the pole for the Sprint Cup race.

Biffle jumps to the lead on the start.

Danica making her big start at Darlington in cup is put a lap down on lap 27.

By lap 40 there are 6 cars off the track.

Green flag pit stops start on lap 47 with Kezelowski and Kyle Busch taking the lead after stops cycle through.

Biffle regains the lead on lap73.

Lap 80 finds only 24 cars on the lead lap

Green flag pit stops start on lap 96 and when they cycle through Johnson is the leader.

By lap 120 only 16 cars can be found on the lead lap.

By lap 132 only 14 cars can be found on the lead lap.

Johnson has a 6.411 second lead on lap 142

Green flag pit stops start on lap 145 and cycle through with Johnson still in the lead.

Lap 176 we finally see the yellow flag wave. This is the longest green flag run at Darlington. Caution was for debris

Kyle Busch takes the lead on the restart at lap 179

Lap 194 found Gordon with a tire issue bringing out a caution from tire debris

Hamlin stayed out and Kahne was the first off pit road.

Restart on lap 200 with Kahne taking the lead.

Lap 206 found Gordon with another tire issue.

Lap 221 found Gordon going to the garage with a third tire issue

Lap 231 for debris in turn 3, only 15 cars on the lead lap at the restart, with Hamlin taking the lead

With 88 laps to go Green flag stops start, Earnhardt Jr stays out to lead a lap for those all important points, when cycle done Truex Jr is the leader.

Caution flag waves with 70 to go as Labonte spins

Truex Jr retains the lead on the restart

Caution flag waves lap 308 as Smith spins on his way to pit road

Johnson stayed out and takes the lead on the restart.

Kyle Busch to the lead with 55 laps to go

Allmendinger and McMurray get into each other bringing the caution out 52 to go

Restart with 48 laps to go and 21 cars are on the lead lap with Kyle Busch taking lead

Johnson back to lead with 43 to go

Yellow flag waves again with 37 laps to go as Sorenson spun

Restart has Johnson leading with Stewart jumping to second, Can Stewart finally get a win at this track? Does Johnson have enough gas to get HMS their 200^th win?

Yellow flag waves again with 7 laps to go for Kurt Busch and Newman spinning. Interesting things happen between these two in the pits.

Green White Checker finishes with Johnson getting the win followed by Hamlin and Stewart.

Johnson’s win was Hendrick Motorsports 200^th win. It was Johnson’s 56^th Sprint Cup win and his 3^rd at Darlington.

Danica finished 31^st but running at the end.

The Newman Busch incident continued some after the race with some going to the NASCAR hauler. Not sure if there will be any penalties from this or not.

This week is the All Star race, fireworks expected for sure.

Track Trash – Big D’s Stripe

2012-05-13T12:58:47Z

I missed it. It was like missing seeing (from afar) an atomic bomb exploding.

A huge plume…..das Kurt. They equated the same on Saturday night in Darlington.

And I missed it.

Heaps,

He’s Baaack: We thought Jerry Maybefield would walk into the sunset and (hopefully) be forgotten. But no, his life seems to have more chapters to be written. (a) His wife filed bankruptcy; obviously well thought out and very timely so as to keep the clock ticking. (b) He now owes the postal worker $1M in damages due to his dogs savagely biting her. As far as I’m concerned, since she is a federal employee, Jerry coulda gotten far worse (like being sent up the river). But even though she went through (and is still going through) hell as a result of the mauling, she’ll probably never see a nickel. Bummer. How can he look at himself in the mirror?

Smoke, etc.: His sarcastic rant after Talladega still lives on. Most of the drivers are now openly applauding Smoke for his comments, and think something has to be done to decrease the possibility of bad wrecks. Not necessarily due to this, NA$CAR recently changed a rule relating to the height of the side skirts above ground level in the hope to allow less down force and greater passing ability. This kind of tweaking isn’t over by a long shot.

Danica: She just signed with Coke, which makes this her first major sponsor. But if you thought she was under the microscope before, then wait and see how much more pressure the Coke sponsorship will garner. It’s like a new golf pro signing with Titleist….and never making the cut. In order to get the monkey off her back, she’s gonna have to at least run in the tip 5 a lot of the time (and learn how to bump draft).

Mattyboy: All this hype about him getting a new number may just be that……hype. They’re trying to spotlight the new (part time) sponsor, and slipped something in about a new ‘number’. Well, Mattyboy isn’t buying it, so why should we?

All Star Race: I’m still gonna miss next weekend’s race, and no one has offered to sub for me. I’m gonna DVR it, so may just send out a (very) late issue if it is worthy of comment. If anyone wants to offer to do it, speak up. You don’t have to follow any format, you get to vent on any issue/driver/team, and you don’t have to sign your name (ah, the glory of the internet).

Mikie: Mikie on the mike. For some reason, his hairdo is looking weird. He had his bangs coming waaay down, and with the natural twang he has, he almost looked like a buffoon. Then later in the program he again over-acted in some laborious ramblings, and I actually wrote down “SHUT UP” in my notes. He’s one of those like/hate kind of guys.

Da Race: The first 45% of the race was outright boring. 172 laps of green flag racing where everyone was playing ‘nicey’ is almost too much to swallow. If nothing else, NA$CAR oughta enact a new rule whereby under (way too long) green flag runs, there oughta be a ‘competition yellow’ thrown after 100 miles (or so many laps, depending on the track). When it goes that long (45% of the race) and there are only 17 cars on the lead lap, even the most rabid fan gets a tad bored.

Radio: I listen to the radio on most restarts and during TV commercials, cuz it unfolds in a whole new manner. Because of the layout at Darlington, the radio led the TV commentary by two laps. So listening to the radio will alert you in advance of any wrecks, or who actually is leading the restart.

Second Half: Let’s say we all agree that the first half of the race was boring. Well, the second half lived up to the advance billing, cuz it turned out to be another rock ‘em/sock ‘em race. The second half had 7 yellows waving at the appropriate times, and had most of us on the edge of our seats.

Gordo: The year of 2012 will go down as Gordo’s ‘Hall of Shame’. Admittedly, most of his problems were not of his making (including 3 blown LR tires in 28 laps), but in total he probably needs a new paint job, a new hairdo, a new mustache…..something that will get him out of the jinxed mode he’s in right now. If it were me, I’d start by releasing one of his sponsors. I can’t believe he’s uber left like AARP is, so this is a jinx if I’ve ever seen one. Come on, Gordo. Get a backbone. You wouldn’t endorse the manufacturer of pink slime, would you??? Just my humble opinion…..

Das Kurt: I admit it. I turned the TV off too early. And I was about to offer kudos to das Kurt for his driving skills….and then I decided to read some race news. I’m a little dumbfounded about Kurt’s catastrophic meltdown after his accident with 7 laps remaining (that also collected Newman). I missed it when he blew his top (again, as he has in the past). He apparently missed a few of his anger management sessions, cuz he did a number of dastardly things (read about them) that probably will be unfolding next Wednesday (the typical day for NA$CAR to drop the shoe). So much talent….continuing to go down the tubes.

Danica ll: Just a wild thought. If Danica is in the Coke 600 in Charlotte, how many laps down will she be at the end? Based upon her Darlington results, I’d guess it’ll be past 5. I’d love to follow the Vegas odds on that one……

Kudos: To JJ for finally giving the Rickster his 200th W. To Denny and Smoke for some late race thrills. To Marcos for digging himself out of a huge hole.

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Lowes store,

Racing Maniac #3

Atop the Spotters Stand: Darlington Special

2012-05-10T17:01:40Z

I don’t know about you but I know that I loved doing this column last year and missed doing it.

I ran into Earl Barban while at Kansas and we decided to start back up again. Schedules got tight last week so we missed last week. Before I heard back from Earl I had kind of twisted another spotter to help out, little did I know I had hit the jack pot for this week’s subject.

I got to thinking what questions do I ask about Darlington? Definitely not about a Texas Roadie…

I know it’s a track that hosted its first NASCAR race in 1950. It’s the track that hosted first 500 mile race in NASCAR history. Closest finish in NASCAR history took place there on March 16, 2003 when Craven recorded his 2^nd career victory edging Kurt Busch by only .002. After last season Darlington holds a little special something for me so I went with that angel and this is what I came up with.

Monday morning on twitter the spotter whose arm I had twisted posted something that caught my eye and I asked him to give more detail. That spotter is Rocky Ryan, these are his special memories of “The Track to Tough to Tame”.

Early this week, I mentioned on Twitter (@Rocky_Ryan) that I was looking forward to getting to Darlington.

It’s a race track that holds a very special place for me for two reasons. My grandfather, Russ Catlin, once led the Public Relations staff at Darlington, and in 2001, Ward Burton wheeled the Caterpillar Dodge to victory in the Southern 500. It was the first of three victories for Ward with me on the roof spotting.

I was asked to share some experiences about my grandfather, and what made coming to Darlington so special, because of him.

Well, I have to admit, that I didn’t know my grandfather as well as a lot of people do. He passed away when I was in my early teens, and I wasn’t really “into” NASCAR at the time. I have been told by my mother and grandmother (who has also passed) that my grandfather gave Humpy Wheeler his first job in NASCAR. He also hired Jim Hunter. Jim and I had several conversations about my grandfather since I joined NASCAR. Jim was always a great source of information and great stories that he and my grandfather shared.

He was an independent writer, but also held positions at Darlington Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, covering the Indianapolis 500 for many, many years. When he passed away, my grandfather presented me with the Press Pins from over 40 different Indy 500’s.

In 1985, my grandfather was honored by naming the highest award in Journalism after him, and for 27 years, the Motorsports Journalism Awards of Excellence in honor of Russ Catlin, and has been awarded to the “best of the best” in the Media field.

I didn’t read a lot of my grandfather’s work until long after he passed away, and I began spotting. I found his writing to be very insightful and truthful. He didn’t “pull punches.” He wrote what he truly believed in, and wasn’t afraid to say what he felt. He wasn’t mean, and never made anyone feel like they weren’t as smart as he was. He was honest, and passionate. You could tell by his writing that all he wanted to do was to make the sport he loved, a better sport.

My family used to travel to Darlington twice a year to watch the races (yes, remember when Darlington used to host TWO races a year?). My grandparents lived in a mobile home, on the grounds of the track, just off of turn one (now it’s turn three).

I remember being very excited to go every year, even though the end result of my excitement was ALWAYS the same. Now, when we used to go there, I wasn’t even in my teens yet, so I’m sure I was more excited to be going anywhere than I knew that I was attending a NASCAR race.

Anyway, I remember several things about those trips. I remember trying to “walk the track” with my two older brothers. They could always walk one to two laps, but I could never make it more than a straightaway (I was a large child).

I also remember all the people around my grandparent’s mobile home on race weekends. I had NO idea at the time who they were. But later in life, I learned that it was an incredible list of drivers that used to come over for the big Saturday night cookouts on race weekend. Richard and Lee Petty, the Allison’s, Fred Lorenzen and Joe Weatherly, the Bakers, etc. You name them and they were there. I remember that my grandparents always cooked steaks and burgers, and everyone sat around and talked racing until way past my bedtime (which was fine with me, none of it made any sense to me anyway).

Now, race day arrives! I’m so excited to see so many people. I can’t wait for the race to start. We would go and take our seats in the old turn four grandstands. The covered one with the large TIN roof. Then it would happen, just like it happened the year before, and the year before that, and so on, you get the picture.

The race would start, and the engine noise from the cars echoing off the TIN roof of the turn four grandstands absolutely scared me to death! It was SO loud, that I would spend the next 500 miles covering my ears and screaming at the top of my lungs, crying the entire day! But it never changed my outlook, I HAD to go back the next race, and punish myself all over again! I remember my grandfather would just smile, and put me on his lap after the race was over.

So now, after 16 seasons spotting, I guess you can say that I followed in my grandfather’s footsteps, in a roundabout way.

Two things I can tell you about Russ Catlin, without doubt. ONE: He wasn’t into a lot of recognition. He believed that the only recognition that a man should receive was the ability to do the job he did today, again tomorrow, and TWO: The love for his three grandsons was the strongest emotion he ever experienced. I was told that my grandfather was a very serious person, very driven. Yet I do remember that anytime I or one of my brothers would walk into the room, that serious face would light up with a grin from ear to ear, and he would stop whatever he was doing, to spend time with us.

Fast forward to 2001. Ward wrecked in qualifying, and we had to start 37^th. We came from the back TWICE, avoided several wrecks and won the Southern 500, after leading only 17 laps.

I vividly remember the excitement of winning the race, and almost immediately though of my grandfather that day.

So, as we were headed to celebrate in Victory Lane, the skies opened up and it just poured rain.

Think my grandfather had anything to do with that?

As most of you know I have ties to Furniture Row Racing, their 1^st ever win came last year at the Southern 500, so I asked Clayton Hughes who spotted Regan Smith to that win how the last few laps were from the stand.

Clayton tells,” There was a caution with like 8 to go, Regan stayed out. Keselowski lined up second with 2 fresh tires, the others that stopped took 4 tires.

When race was restarted we had another caution making it a Green White Checker finish. With that occurring it leveled the playing field as tires had already heated up. I knew if Regan could clear Carl into turn 1, we had the race.

Regan and I talked under caution and I told him I’d be quiet on the restart. Meaning so Regan could hear Carl Edwards motor,Keselowski gave Regan a great push which enable me to clear Regan sooner surprising Edwards and causing him to slow briefly. On the white flag lap both Regan and Carl kissed the wall on Turn 2 but Regan was determined to win and got back in control faster Edwards and jumped out to a 2 car lengths lead for the win.” This writer had tears of joy and screamed as that car crossed the start finish line.

I posed the question to Earl Barban what was his favorite memory from Darlington?

Earl says,” The thing that comes to mind about a memory is not racing because there are so many races and some of them close or a great pit stop what comes to mind is the time it rained there so hard that it flooded the infield where some of the motor homes were getting flooded and chairs and grills were floating and the tunnel was impassable even with a boat.”

Is it harder to spot at night?

Earl states, “Spotting at night is more difficult as there is a lot of glare and it makes the cars more difficult to see but only when you are in a close pack and even more on the larger speedways.”

Earl’s key to winning Saturday night at Darlington:

Going to victory lane is going to take a great set up and great pit stops

The deal breaker is having a driver that is in great shape and will grind out every lap I think that Darlington and especially when it is Hot is the most grueling track

I want to thank Clayton for taking the time to give what he was doing the last laps of last year’s race.

A very big thank you to Rocky Ryan for sharing his family story, fingers crossed he’ll help out again. Thank you also to Earl, so glad you asked about this column in Kansas.

If you have any questions for our spotter(s) please email hmeyer@motorsportsnews.net and I’ll make sure to get it to them for an answer. You can follow Rocky on twitter; he’s pretty entertaining with other members of the #20 crew @Rocky_Ryan. You can also follow Earl @BigEarl48

Earl Barban is the Spotter for 5 times Champion Jimmie Johnson.

Rocky Ryan

Spotter: #20 Home Depot/Dollar General Toyota (Cup) & #20/#18 Game Stop/Dollar General/Sport Clips Toyota (NW) for Joey Logano

#08 National Watermelon Growers Association Toyota (NCWTS) for Ross Chastain

16th season spotting. 2002 Daytona 500 Champion (Ward Burton):

2007 NW (Busch) Series Owners Championship (Jeff Burton & Scott Wimmer):

2008 NCWTS Championship (Johnny Benson)

2008 ARCA Championship (Justin Allgaier).

NSCS victories with Jeff Burton, Ward Burton & David Ragan

Thanks to MotorSportsNews’ photographer Steve Langley for the new spotter photo for this series of articles.