Tag Archive | drivers

NASCAR Nicknames

What’s In A Name?
Updated September 2018

“Smoke” ~ Tony Stewart 3-Time Sprint Cup Champion

If you’re a new NASCAR fan you might hear some names thrown around on broadcasts of races, or on social media networks, that you can’t figure out. Who is Smoke? What’s The Monster Mile? Why do they call that guy by that name?

This is something that recently happened between some posts I made on FB for the #SmokeWillRise countdown to Daytona 2014.

My brother-in-law went looking for a driver named Smoke and couldn’t find one. So he assumed it was a nickname, but wasn’t sure.

That made me think about the Nicknames we’ve become used to in NASCAR as fans and where they came from.

How did Matt Kenseth get his nickname Matt The Brat? Why is Hollywood Hammond called Hollywood and who called him that? Do you know why Roger Penske is called The Captain?

Now being a Smoke fan, I of course know that Smoke refers to 3-Time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart. And I know where his nickname comes from. Continue reading →

Is It Time To Evolve Our Opinion Of Danica?

Feb10

Danica Patrick & Tony Stewart Are Fast Friends 2013 USA Today

Danica Patrick & Tony Stewart Are Fast Friends
(Photo: Davis Turner, for USA TODAY)

Danica Patrick Enter The 2013 Sprint Cup Series
by Springwolf

If you’ve read any of my Nascar posts, you know I’m pretty critical of Danica. Just check out “Why Nascar Fans Don’t Like Danica” and you’ll find the reasons why.

This year she will be driving the GoDaddy #10 Chevy full time in the Sprint Cup series for Stewart-Haas Racing.

Now as a major Tony Stewart fan, I’ve been conflicted about Danica from the beginning. I want to support him as both a driver and an owner. But it’s been hard where she’s concerned. Even knowing how much Tony likes her and believes in her abilities. (Danica and Tony are Fast Friends by Nate Ryan – USA Today)

Make no mistake, I think bringing her on board at Stewart-Haas Racing is a great business decision. She’s immensely popular. She garners a great deal of attention no matter what she does or where she goes.

As the Marketing reps say…there’s no such thing as bad publicity. You merely need to look at the response to this years Superbowl GoDaddy commercial to see that concept working in reality. As soon at that supermodel/nerd kiss commercial aired, Twitter lit up with comments. With each and every one of them mentioning “Go Daddy” in their disgust. But that gross commercial, pulled in record business for the Dot.com and that’s what it’s all about. Sales!

So yeah it’s a great business decision having her on the team. But business decisions don’t play out on the track with fans hoping for a win from their favorite driver. Continue reading →

Daytona Shootout Entries for 2013

Dec5

2013 Shootout – February 16 on FOX

3-Time Sprint Cup Champion
Tony Stewart

73 days until the Daytona Shootout! But hours after the checkered flag dropped on the 2012 running of the Daytona Shootout, NASCAR announced new eligibility standards for the 2013 race. Back in February 2012 Jeff Gluck posted details about the changes on The New Eligibility Rules.

The biggest change the rules put on the 2013 running is the return to pole winners and previous Shootout winners only. While many applaud this return to the old school, it means the current Cup Champion is not eligible to participate. Many Brad Keselowski fans are upset about that. But this isn’t the first time the Cup Champion hasn’t participated in the shoot out. The last time that happened was 2004 when 2003 Cup Champion Matt Kenseth was excluded from the shootout race.

That’s not the only change people are talking about. It doesn’t seem right not to call the shootout by it’s old familiar title “The Budweiser Shootout”. But Budweiser no longer sponsors the shootout. They do sponsor the Duels which will be held February 21, 2013 on Speed.

The 2013 Shootout Entries.

22 Drivers are eligible to participate in the 2013 Daytona Shootout.
As of February 12th, 2013; 19 Drivers have signed up to race the renamed Sprint Unlimited race. For us however, it will always be the Shootout!
Continue reading →

New Research About The Athletics of Nascar

Apr13

3-Time Champion Tony Stewart

Update:

In 2010 I wrote an article about the validation of Nascar as a sport and it’s Drivers as athletes. New research and more information has been published since then. So I took the opportunity to update my initial article to include the new data.

Check it out: Is Nascar A Sport? Are Nascar Drivers Athletes?

Why Nascar Fans Don’t Like Danica

Mar25

Earned..or..Entitled?
By Springwolf

Nascar is a family, for drivers and teams and for fans. Get to a track at 7am for tailgating and behind the back of every truck, suv or car will have some form of ‘homestead’ ready to party and have a good time with their neighboring tailgaters. People share specially cooked goodies, treats, recipes and cheers or chides for their neighbors favorite driver compared to their own. With such a family and fun loving comradery, why is it that some drivers aren’t welcomed into the fold equally or as openly as others?

Fans have their favorite drivers, favorite teams and favorite owners in each of the Nascar series. They also have those they don’t like and they’d love to see hit the wall and knock themselves out of the race. I could say there are drivers fans love to hate, but no matter how much fans don’t like a driver, they don’t want to see them hurt when they do hit the wall. So you can’t say real fans hate any of the drivers in the series. As long as they don’t hit the wall and then turn down into our favorite driver or one of his team mates.

So with all that family emotion going on in the stands and outside the track, as well as in the infield; why has it been so hard for Danica Patrick to find acceptance in Nascar? Well that’s easy, she hasn’t earned it. And that’s the only real reason. Continue reading →

Is Nascar A Sport? Are Nascar Drivers Athletes?

Apr18

The Questions That Simply Won’t Go Away
By Springwolf – Updated 11/2013

It’s a continual question from those who don’t know racing and don’t take the time to learn:

Every year some ‘sports writer’ or newspaper columnist voices the question and then attempts to answer it by saying Nascar is just a southern activity attended by beer drinking rednecks. They profess to know more than the millions of fans who watch their favorite driver, team and races by claiming that Nascar isn’t a sport and the drivers aren’t athletes. “All they do is make left turns and waste gas” is their typical line.

Sadly their rhetoric is voiced by the millions of people who don’t have a clue what racing is about. Add to that the age of Twitter and Facebook which gives a platform to people to degrade and put down anyone who does see things the way they do.

After a while it does get annoying and fans of Nascar sometimes feel the need or desire to respond to these questions. We all know it falls on deaf ears and rarely makes a difference. But many of us love our sport and want to defend it against those that simply use stereotypical put-downs to degrade something they don’t understand. Continue reading →