CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson says NASCAR should have called a caution earlier on the last lap of Sunday’s Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The governing body waited until the leaders were between turns 3 and 4 to throw the caution with A.J. Allmendinger‘s car stalled on the front stretch. That left many drivers, including Johnson, wondering whether to race back to the line.

Johnson said that created an unsafe situation.

“It should have been called a little bit earlier,” Johnson said during a Tuesday conference call. ” … On the last lap, when you take into consideration how fired up everybody is to get back to the start-finish line and wondering where the last scoring loop was or what’s the point you race to, that bit of hesitation in all the drivers’ minds leads to an unsafe situation.”

Johnson, who finished fourth, said he checked up coming off Turn 4 and nobody passed him, but he noticed not everybody slowed as the rules require. Among those, he said, were drivers trying to catch eventual race winner Mark Martin.

“When I saw the replay, granted the first couple of cars was pretty hairy,” Johnson said. “But there were a lot of close calls deep in the pack.”

Martin said he got hit from behind when he checked up. He didn’t disagree with the call to delay calling the caution, echoing NASCAR’s argument that Allmendinger could have gotten restarted.

He also didn’t dispute the potential for danger.

“Somebody came up there and ran into the back of me, and of course I went back to accelerating,” Martin said. “I knew the race was supposed to be over, but I’ve done lots of stupid stuff and I didn’t want to lose this race.

“I was under the impression that when a caution [was] called, the race was over. I don’t think the guys [who] gave up the race behind me quit, so it caused a little bit of chaos.”

Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, further back in the field in 15th, said he never got word that the caution was out.

“All I know is my spotter was saying there was a car down low on the front straightaway stopped, and I never heard them say, ‘Caution,’ ” Gordon told reporters after the race. “So everybody was still going, and I saw the caution out of the corner of my eye. I said, ‘I never heard the caution’ and [my spotter] said, ‘That’s because it didn’t come out until just now,’ and I was surprised by that.”

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Allmendinger was given every opportunity to clear the track so the race could be completed under green, which is the ultimate goal.

Allmendinger’s did not create unsafe racing conditions, Poston argued.

“We waited as long as we could so we could complete the race, but when the 44 didn’t move in time we had to display the yellow between turns 3 and 4,” he said. “We were able to let the guys race it out as much as possible while keeping everyone safe.”

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.

See the race for the cup and help Carolina needy children.
What generous hearts the NASCAR community in Concord, NC has shown for these kids! What a great opportunity for you to enjoy a final chase race in Charlotte for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and you will be treated to a full afternoon concert from the nationally acclaimed group MERCYME and TOBY MAC, premier headliners performing from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The its time start the engines under the evening lights! All for $30.00 and help a very needy child.
The Favorite?: Several drivers pick Jimmie Johnson to win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title.

Get Tickets Now. $30.00

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00424284B14D71?brand=lowes&did=fundracing
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: September 16, 2009

Tony Stewart might have been better off not finishing first in points in the Sprint Cup regular season.

Only one driver — Stewart in 2005 — has won the regular season and championship since NASCAR started its playoff system five years ago. And although Stewart hopes to repeat that feat, the odds are against him.

Kyle Busch, for instance, led after the regular season last year but finished 10th as Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive championship.

Mark Martin, by virtue of four regular-season wins, will start first in the reshuffled seedings 5,040 points. Also in the Chase for the Championship are Stewart and Johnson (5,030 each), Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne (5,020 each), Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers (5,010 each), and Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle (5,000 each).

So who’s the favorite? Here’s who some of the drivers named (other than themselves):

□ Brian Vickers (1 win): “It would be hard to bet against Jimmie right now. Obviously, four in a row has never been done, but he’s won the past three, so I would be hard-pressed to pick someone else. Tony, if I had to pick someone besides Jimmie. He is looking really good right now. They have the same equipment, same car, same engine, same engineering staff, same information, so it’s going to be left to the drivers and the crews. We know both of those teams are going to be very strong.”

□ Tony Stewart (3): “Whoever is in it. How do you make a favorite? I guess Jimmie Johnson after three years of winning would be considered the favorite. But with the field the way it is this year, I don’t know how you can just pick one guy. This series thing can change so fast in the course of one race. The whole complexion of the season can be changed after one week.”

□ Ryan Newman (0): ” … I think there is more potential for any team to beat themselves than there is to beat who they think is a better competitor. If you’re sitting here thinking about who you have to beat, then you’re not thinking about your own racecar and what you have to do to be successful. You’d be crazy not to sit there and say that Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson are the team to beat, but if I sit here and think about that, then I would just be doing your job.”

□ Greg Biffle (0): “I really feel like the 99 (Edwards) has pretty good momentum. He’s done well, and he’s proven he can do well everywhere he goes. I think that he’s definitely a guy that can do it. The 14 (Stewart) has shown signs that they’re capable this year. You can’t really count the 48 (Johnson) out, and I hate to bet against any of those guys up there like Denny Hamlin or Jeff Gordon….”

□ Jimmie Johnson (3): “Maybe other people view it that (I have a target on my back), but I live by the thought that that’s last year…. If we take last year’s setup to the tracks, we’ll run 15th. Nobody has had a clear advantage. I’m optimistic and feel we have a very good chance. We led a bunch at Michigan and didn’t get it done. Bristol we were fast and had troubles…. We have the speed.”

□ Mark Martin (4): “All of ‘em. All it takes is a 10-race roll to win that thing.”

□ Denny Hamlin (2): “Us. We’re the ones to beat right now.”

Besides yourself?

“We’re the only ones that can beat ourselves,” he said, grinning.

What generous hearts the NASCAR community in Concord, NC has shown for these kids! What a great opportunity for you to enjoy a final chase race in Charlotte for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and you will be treated to a full afternoon concert from the nationally acclaimed group MERCYME and TOBY MAC, premier headliners performing from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The its time start the engines under the evening lights! All for $30.00 and help a very needy child.

Let me bring you up to speed.  It all started in 2007 with Arena Football, then on to the NHL (Mike Green, stand out defenseman for the Washington Capitals and Elliot Segal, a famous disc jockey at DC 101 rock station, teamed up and started ” SO KIDS CAN”;

a program that helps  infants and children in the Washinton, DC area in need of a prosthetic.  At the conclusion of the Washington Capitals Professional Hockey Team season, with playoffs in full swing DeSales Wagster, now V.P. for Speedway Motorsports, Inc. saw an article on the internet and began following ” SO KIDS CAN”.  Wagster was amazed that a kindergarten in the D.C. area decided  for a class project they would reach out and help kids who were in need of a prosthetic.  When they completed their fund raiser, the teacher was so excited she immediatly called the Washington Capitals head office and left word for Mike Green to please contact her. Green did return the call and notified managment that a kindergarten in the local DC area had raised money for “SO KIDS CAN”. Mr. Leonsis, majority owner of the Washington Capitals, was so delighted that these children were excited to begin giving back to community at such a early age, he requested to be included in the check presentation at the school.

Mike Green and Elliot Segal arrived at the school ,with both head coach Bruce Broduer and majority owner Ted Leonsis. Leonsis congratulated the students and told them how impressed he was with them for giving back to the community at such an early age.  Mr. Leonsis was so touched, that he in turn, honored the children with an ovewhelming addition to their fund raising efforts.

read the full story: http://capitals.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=461917

Wagster then called Pediatric Prosthetics, Inc. at their home office in Houston,Texas. She immediately made contact with Kenneth Bean, Vice President, Operations. Wagster was intent on putting together a program to build revenue for the infants and children in need of prosthetics in the Carolinas.  Wagster had one condition…. the child fitted with a prosthetic from ticket sales by Speedway Motorsports, Inc.  had to be in the Charlotte, Concord, NC area.  Ken Bean was ecstatic that the NASCAR racing fans would be able to help a child in need by buying a ticket for the  NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America on October 17, 2009.

So… here’s your chance to help, fans. The Diamond Tower seats are normally $49.00, for the  NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America.  These tickets t are only $30.00 , so you save $19.00 and give a child a chance to earn the blue ribbons of life. Proceeds from these specific ticket sales will go directly to the 501c Mana From Heaven,earmarked for Pediatric Prosthetics, Inc. Included are not only the Race, but free music as well starting at 2p.m.. Featured Groups are MERCYME and TOBY MAC.

September 3rd, 2009

The Cause; Lowe’s Motor Speedway Inc and Pediatric Prosthetics are working together to help infants and children in the Carolinas  that are in need of prosthetics.  This cause has been championed by Arena Football, NHL a complete community success read more http://capitals.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=461917 or http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/sports/hockey/18washington.html or watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/user/netvisualresults

and now Speedway Motor Sports. A portion of each ticket sold for this event will go to the 501c Manna From Heaven, Lafayette Ind, ear marked for Pediatric  Prosthetics Inc. Home officed out of Houston Texas, Pediatric Prosthetis Inc. are both pleased and humbled… that the Speedway Motor Sports Inc.  their staff and their racing fans would care enough to help these children.

The Event: The Carolinas Nationals. SEPT 17-20 2009 at ZMAX  Concord N.C.   http://www.discount-tickets-usa.com/

www.chiropractichouston.com

Chiropractic is the healthcare discipline in Houston that emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery. The practice of chiropractic for Houston residents focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. In addition, Houston doctors of chiropractic recognize the value and responsibly of working in cooperation with other healthcare practitioners when in the best interest of the Houston patient.

Dr. Devin Parrish is licensed in Houston Texas to practice chiropractic and is also certified in manipulation under anesthesia. He has been practicing in Houston chiropractic for more than a decade and is renown in his field. If you are suffering from any discomfort, please give us a call today. Our mission is to help take your pain away

Houston Chiropractic Services

Spinal Decompression

Spinal Decompression therapy in Houston is a credible and cost effective treatment for people suffering from pain. Our chiropractic clinic in Houston offers a wide range of services for symptoms such as leg pain or herniated/ bulging disc. This can be an ideal alternate for patients considering surgery.

Neck Pain Treatment
Most people experience some type of neck pain. Minor neck pain such as stiff or sore muscles from stress or poor sleeping can cause an individual living in Houston unneeded pain. Major neck pain which typically results from an accident or some other type of injury should be treated as soon as possible.

Back Pain Treatment
Houston patients that experience back pain can get relief by specific chiropractic manipulation called “spinal manipulation”. With adjustments to how your spine works, the nerves involved is reduced, pain is lowered and the body is allowed to heal. Back Pain Treatment at Motion Healthcare can greatly improve not only your back, but also your overall health.

Headache Treatment
Most headaches are treated with over the counter pain medication. Although this might provide temporary relief by dulling the pain, this does not address the root cause. However, here at Motion Health Care, we understand headaches are often caused by stress on the neck and shoulders. With chiropractic treatments, patients can find natural relief without the use of over the counter medications.

Auto Accident Care
Low impact or minor auto accidents can cause damage to your spinal area. These damages can cause serious pain and suffering to Houston patients.  With our services, Dr Parrish can help you navigate the waters either as your treating chiropractor or work closely with your attorney to ensure you receive the best healthcare possible.

Vitamins and Supplements
At our clinic we offer patients high quality vitamins and supplements. AmeriSciences is the leader in pharmaceutical grade supplements. Contact our chiropractic office in Houston to learn mor

]]> http://nvr2009.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/motion-healthcare-for-todays-chiropractic/feed/ 0 nvr2009 dparish pic07 http://nvr2009.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/nhra-carolina-nationalsreserve-your-seat-for-just-19-60/ http://nvr2009.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/nhra-carolina-nationalsreserve-your-seat-for-just-19-60/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:04:36 +0000 nvr2009 http://nvr2009.wordpress.com/?p=156 Continue reading →]]>

NHRA Nationals

It’s been nearly one year since media members were given an intimate tour of a nearly completed zMAX Dragway. On that day, they learned first hand what many fans and competitors would learn later, that Speedway Motorsports Chairman Bruton Smith had been true to his word and delivered the Bellagio of drag strips.

Since the Speedway Motorsports development team put the finishing touches on the one-of-a-kind, state-of-the-art, four-lane drag strip, the stock car capital of the world has been introduced to one big straight-line success after another.

“Bruton Smith gave NHRA fans an arena like this, which is the greatest facility in the history of our sport,” said 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force.

Perhaps the late David Poole, noted motorsports writer for the Charlotte Observer, may have put it best last September during the week of the first NHRA Nationals, “zMAX Dragway is by far the best facility that now exists.”

Unique Feature: Only four-lane, all concrete quarter-mile dragway surface

Length: 3,835 feet (1,345 feet of concrete)

Shutdown Length: 2,515 feet

Width of Dragway: 60 feet

Dragway Acreage: 125 acres

Elevation: 630 feet

Seating Capacity: Approximately 30,000

Luxury Suites: 11 in Dragway Tower and 17 on top of John ForceGrandstands

Lighting: Musco

Sanction: National Hot Rod Association

Every marketer knows that to gauge the performance of a given email marketing campaign, it is important to capture relevant, insightful, and actionable data. This means tracking your campaigns beyond simple delivery statistics, such as the number of emails sent or opened. It also means tracking your campaigns beyond basic click-through statistics. Too many marketers rely on click-through reports to determine the effectiveness of their campaigns; deep down, though, they know that click-through alone represents very little value to the performance of their marketing programs. Only conversion data — the tracking of each sale, download, registration, etc. — from a given campaign truly illustrates the return on a marketing investment. Using conversion data as the foundation, marketers can then build a framework to weigh each potential conversion relative to one another. For example, an email marketing program may be trying to drive home-page visits as well as sales. The better the landing page the better the ROI. If the first mailing generated 500 sales and 10,000 home-page visits, is it preferable to the second mailing, which generated 600 sales and 6,000 home-page visits? The answer depends on how the marketer values each response.

Multiplying the sum of each response type by the weight in the index, the first mailing would have a score of 1,000 (500 x 1.00 + 10,000 x 0.05 = 1,000), and the second mailing would have a score of 900 (600 x 1.00 + 6,000 x 0.05 = 900). Therefore, the first mailing outperformed the second mailing! It is preferable, in this case, to have 500 sales and 10,000 home-page visits rather than 600 sales and 6,000 home-page visits -- an outcome that may have been more difficult to determine without an index.

At the end of the day, it’s about providing value to each one of your customers. Tracking which elements in your email marketing messages are driving your customers to respond and using an index to help quantify those responses can help you optimize your campaigns so that you’ll get more of what you want. And so will your customers.

What are some good rules for viral marketing?

Offer an enticement.

Viral marketing works best when a valuable and tangible incentive is offered, encouraging individuals to forward an email message to their friends. However, marketers should cap the incentive to a specific quantity to avoid spam-like distribution of the message — for example, offering an incentive of 20 percent off referrers’ next purchase if they forward the message to five friends. Open-ended incentives, such as offering a $5 credit for every five friends referred, can end up causing a marketer customer service, financial, and privacy-related problems.

Example:

A women’s athletic clothing multichannel retailer recently offered a creative and socially aware incentive when it launched a viral marketing campaign that rewarded message recipients with a free T-shirt and a $1 donation to the Breast Cancer Foundation when an individual sent the special email message to five friends and three of those friends opted in to the retailer’s catalog or email list. The campaign was tremendously successful, driving a click-through rate three times higher than normal, an email newsletter sign-up rate of over 30 percent, and a catalog subscription rate of nearly 70 percent. Meanwhile, cost per sale decreased by 89 percent.

Don’t consider the referral an opt-in.

When a customer refers a friend, the referral should not be considered an opt-in. A name and email address volunteered by a person’s friend does not constitute an opt-in by the individual, so the data should be deleted immediately after the referral email is sent. Verbiage should be included in the referral email asking if the individual would like to receive future mailings, allowing her to opt in if she wishes.

Personalize the referral email. Response rates increase dramatically when users can see that a message is coming from a friend, so it is best to personalize the email message to show that it’s coming from a recognizable source. The subject line is the key component in a viral marketing email, because it can immediately identify the email as friendly. A good subject line may read: “ADV: John Doe Thought You’d Like 20% Off at XYZ.com,” thereby identifying that it is an advertisement, there’s a special offer, and the message was sent from a friend.

Track and analyze the results.

As with any marketing campaign, tracking the results and optimizing performance over time is absolutely necessary. Thankfully, sophisticated email marketers can track insightful and actionable data that can be used to evaluate performance. Important metrics to analyze are pass-along, click-through, and conversion rates. Marketers should separate the click-through and conversion rates by original customers from referrals and evaluate their respective performances. These metrics will alert a marketer to which offers and customers drive the highest ROI

Continually promote friendly referrals.

Marketers who want to have their messages frequently forwarded should place a viral marketing offer in every relevant outgoing email message. Viral marketing makes for a great one-time campaign, but it can also be a very effective tool for continuing to broaden the reach of your marketing messages over time.

Tieing it all together.

Todays savvy marketers know that viral email tied to SEO, SEM, Banners and Blogs will turbo results and spread the message three times as fast as just viral email. Because of the inherent structure of Facebook,Twitter, Del… and the way its different applications and components work, these are  phenomenal social sites for Internet Viral Marketing. 

Viral marketing refers to using available social networks to market a product, brand, or person by way of “viral processes”, similar to the way a flu virus would pass from one person to another, multiplying exponentially with each “exposure” — leading to an “epidemic”. 

Because of the popularity of Facebook and the way “news” spreads on the site, your note to someone about your new e-book can be seen in short time by hundreds of people The addition of video and interactive media to include embedded items encouraging repeat visits, always ensure ROI at increased levals. If the projected hook is visualy stimulating, with a clear value  the refferal is more apt to join the process. The real test is again at the end of the day, forget all the fancy talk. Show me the money!

There seems to be some confusion out there for retailers who believe that just because they have video content on their Website or because they upload their videos to YouTube, they are engaged in video search engine optimization (VSEO). Since there is so much buzz and hype over video lately, there are a lot of companies claiming they have or do VSEO—unfortunately that is really not the case.

You may be told that a particular company is going to create streaming video content of your inventory or special offers and that they are going to upload it to YouTube or another video search engine. Please understand, all that means is that they are creating streaming video content and they are uploading it to a video search engine. That, in itself, is not video search engine optimization.

I am sure you are aware that there are some good and some not so good Website companies out there, but even the ones that might do a good job designing your Website, might not do a good (or even adequate) job on your search engine optimization. Many Web designers sell basic (sometimes non-working) SEO to retailers because it is an easy product/service they can bundle into the deal.
Here is the difference, Net Visual Results brings synergy to all the components that are needed to have VSEO.
1 Base line Landing pages with call to action process
2 SEO with SEM initiatives embedded.
3 SEM Hosted on a 50+ Search Engine Network
4 SEO and SEM in concert with traditional media
5 Blog reports with SEO and SEM, embedded initiatives
6 Interface of Social Networks i.e. Facebook,Twitter….
7 Video interface with SEM and SEO and Social baselines from all activities on the following
Including but no limited to just YouTube,
• MySpace Video
• Google Video
• Yahoo Video
• AOL Video
• MSN Video
• Carspace (Edmunds.com video)
• Truveo/Vimeo
Remember that you need to be careful of what you are buying, and what people are telling you. If you have any questions about VSEO please feel free to contact me @ www.netvisualreults.com
http://www.vimeo.com/4456326