A Different View

"Major League Baseball players don't play in Triple A baseball games, so why do NASCAR Cup drivers compete in the Nationwide Series?"

That is one of the questions we see on various forums, blogs, and news journals pertaining to the participation of NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. There are several premises, however, in that question that are wrong.

The first flawed premise is the assumption that NASCAR is structured in the same way as professional baseball. It isn't. The teams in baseball are franchises of Major League Baseball, while the teams in NASCAR are, at all levels, fully and independently owned private businesses. The players and the team owners in baseball are employees of Major League Baseball, while the team owners and drivers in NASCAR are not employees of NASCAR.

Major League Baseball can regulate the manner in which new players are recruited, and how much they get paid. NASCAR can not. Major League Baseball teams can not put their players in pads and helmets and play football against the Pittsburgh Steelers. NASCAR team owners can build or own cars for ARCA, Rolex Grand Am, American Le Mans Series, Indy Racing League, or even USAC, if they wished, and put their "Sprint Cup" driver in any of those cars at any time.

One logical comparison, if one must be made, is that while baseball teams use their affiliated Triple A teams for training and remedial training of their players, and NASCAR team owners often use the Nationwide Series to give their drivers "seat time" on certain tracks. Another comparison is that professional baseball players work their way up through the ranks to play in Major League, in order to learn the rules and the style of play, while NASCAR drivers must also gain experience and learn the rules in order to get a license to race on the superspeedways.

The major flaw in the statement that opened this item is that "Major League baseball players don't play in Triple A games."

If one actually follows Major League Baseball, one would know that players are "sent down" to and "called up" from Triple A teams on a nearly weekly basis. So Major League players often do find themselves playing on a Triple A team.

If the NASCAR Nationwide Series were a Triple A team to the Sprint Cup Series, some of the comparisons may be viable, but it isn't. Minor League sports events are not broadcast live on national television. The closest comparison would be that the NASCAR Camping World East/West Series is the Triple A of NASCAR. The Camping World Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Sprint Cup Series are all different organizations in the major leagues of NASCAR, that feature different types of racing. The Truck Series is the sprint racing division of the major leagues. The Nationwide Series is the challenge racing division, and the Sprint Cup Series is the endurance division. This is more akin to the Midget, Sprint, and Triple Crown divisions of USAC than it is to the different levels of baseball.

The only thing that NASCAR is concerned about who races in which series is whether or not they qualify for the event, or if the driver is licensed to drive in the event. A suspended driver who is suspended due to NASCAR drug policy, for instance, is not licensed to participate in a NASCAR event, though that driver may participate in racing sanctioned by a different sanctioning body, such as ARCA or USAC.

In other words, a driver is a Sprint Cup driver if he qualifies for a Sprint Cup race, a Nationwide driver if he qualifies for a race in that series, or a Camping World Truck Series driver, if he qualifies for a Truck Series race. There is, otherwise, no official designation for a driver to race in a particular series.

The Nationwide Series is a challenge series because it gives drivers a chance to challenge, that is, to see how they measure up against, more experienced drivers. That is how it works in theory, and it often works out that way in practice. Unfortunately, since it is mainly the sponsors who determine who drives what car in the series, it is not perfect, nor is it possible for any up and coming driver to make a name for him- or herself in the series. These days, in reality, a driver almost has to have already made his or her name elsewhere. But that is not because there are Cup Series regulars participating in the Nationwide Series. Cup Series regulars race in the Nationwide Series because of the sponsors.

In nearly every race since the former Busch Series began in 1982, there has been at least one full time Cup driver participating. It wouldn't really be a challenge series if there were not Cup drivers involved. Furthermore, it is not necessary for a driver to win races or championships in the Nationwide series in order to become a Cup series driver.

How many drivers are in the Cup Series because of their performance in the Nationwide or Busch Series? Not very many. Jimmie Johnson, the three consecutive time Sprint Cup Champion, had only one win and sixteen top ten finishes in the Nationwide Series, out of 72 races, before he became a full time Sprint Cup driver. Joey Logano never even raced a full season in the Nationwide Series before he became a full time Sprint Cup driver. In fact, the only drivers I can think of who are or will soon be full time Sprint Cup drivers solely because of their performance in the Nationwide or Busch Series are Martin Truex, Jr, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, Brad Keselowski (not yet full time, but soon will be), Dale Earnhardt, Jr (or is part of it because of his name?), and Matt Kenseth. With the exception of Jeff Gordon, who had three Busch Series wins and 25 top tens out of sixty-one races, there is no other driver currently in the Sprint Cup series who had what would be called a notable record in the Nationwide or Busch Series. I may have missed some, so feel free to correct me in the comment section.

A few weeks ago, Jenna Fryer--the NASCAR beat reporter and gossip columnist for the Associated Press--was on NASCAR Now's "Monday Round Table" and suggested that NASCAR do away with the Nationwide Series. This would create a similar situation to what we had before 1982. There probably would be sixty to eighty teams show up on qualifying day for the Sprint Cup races. Those that consistently fail to qualify would soon drop out of NASCAR competition entirely, due to lack of the funds necessary to have a car that would be able to qualify. For those teams, the Nationwide Series is a good thing, just as the Busch Series was in 1982.

For the record, I don't agree with Jenna Fryer's suggestion, and am only mentioning it for the purpose of discussion.

One might very well ask, "If the Nationwide Series is part of the NASCAR big leagues, then why doesn't it have the prestige of the Sprint Cup Series?"

And that is a good question, but my guess is that it isn't because it doesn't have as many fans as the Sprint Cup Series. If the same number of fans followed the Nationwide Series as do the Cup Series, the level of prestige would be about the same, as would be the level of sponsorship. At any rate, it would be even more difficult to achieve those levels without the participation of popular Sprint Cup drivers.

Think about this: would the victory by Brad Keselowski in Saturdays US Cellular 250 have been as important or exciting if Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards weren't in the race? There is no way to be sure, but probably not. It is generally better for a Nationwide driver to win against Kyle Busch than it is to win against Kurtus Davis.

The Nationwide Series could be better, of course. It could, for instance, race only at tracks that are one mile in length or shorter. This would likely change the perception of the series from "Cup Light" to a series that has it's own unique identity. But the question remains, "would people watch it?"

Nationwide Series puts on good show from Watkins Glen

It's been mentioned at Rev'Jim's RantsnRaves before, but these Nationwide Series races can be a lot of fun to watch. Saturday's Zippo 200 race at Watkins Glen was no exception, but it was exceptional.

Watkins Glen, as configured for NASCAR races, is less technical than the road courses at Sonoma, Mexico City, and Montreal. There are more passing points and the track is considered "racier" than other road courses in North America. At Watkins Glen, the drivers can be more aggressive.

There were a total of nineteen Cup drivers entered in the race--the four "claim jumpers" racing for the championship, and fifteen in the race to, according to Jimmie Johnson, "get more seat time" on a road course. Indeed, Johnson and most of the others, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and Jeff Burton, for instance, are drivers who have not performed well on road courses in the past.

Though the "European Style" qualifying didn't draw as many fans as it seemed to do in Canada, it still proved interesting in the final two sessions, as drivers continued to compete with each other during the four lap sessions to get the fastest time. After several changes in the provisional pole position, Dario Franchitti came out on top.

From the very start of the race, there was plenty of action. We know that there are many NASCAR fans who don't care for road racing, but if they missed this one, they missed a good one. The race actually looked more like a Martinsville race, with lots of pushing, shoving, and even some beating and banging.

The number of full course cautions through the teams off of any reverse engineered pit strategies, and this proved to be a factor in the outcome of the race. Before we get to that, however, there are a few events of note that happened during the race.

For example, around the halfway point, both Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch were penalized for pit violations and sent to the back of the field.It didn't take them long at all to get back to the front, and then Kyle did something that only Tony Stewart or short track frustration have been able to do in the past--that is to get race leader Jeff Burton so angry he went looking for retaliation. Busch attempted to pass Burton on the inside of a turn, but Burton was following his line, and clipped Busch's car, sending both of them spinning. They did not crash, however, and the race stayed green, with Busch taking the lead. Burton was on a mission, though, and was driving with an aggression which we have rarely seen from him. Busch knew what was coming, and try as he did to stay ahead, it proved to be difficult. The spin had thrown out the toe of his car, and it was not handling well enough for even a wheel man like Kyle Busch to hold the lead. Burton's retaliation was done expertly--a tap on the rear bumper to move Busch's car out of the way.

Let this be a lesson to all drivers--if you don't want to get beaten by Jeff Burton, don't make him mad.

Meanwhile, Joey Logano was disappointed in his own performance during the race, while running fourteenth, and he apologized to his crew chief, Dave Rogers, over the radio. Rogers replied with what has to be the "funny" of the race, saying something like, "One thing I never want to hear is somebody bad-mouthing my driver, even when it is my driver doing it."

Logano ended up finishing seventh.

Ryan Newman volunteered to drive the #22 car for Armando Fitz, without pay. Perhaps he was getting seat time in preparation for Sunday's race, or maybe he was getting used to driving second rate equipment, as he is expected to join Stewart Haas racing next year. Either way, he did well for himself, running in the top ten most of the race and finishing in twelfth place.

Jimmie Johnson was running second to Jeff Burton, with less than seven laps to go, but it was clear that he wouldn't have enough fuel to finish the race. The expected late-race caution never materialized, and it had been a while since most of the leaders had refueled. Marcos Ambrose was running third, and all he had to do was wait for Johnson and Burton to run out of fuel. Johnson ran out with four laps to go, and Burton ran out with two to go. Marcos Ambrose finally got his win.

Ambrose did a Kyle Busch style victory burnout, and Busch himself finished second. Brad Keselowski had an impressive sixth place finish, and Matt Kenseth proved that he can run on a road course, after all, by finishing third. Kevin Harvick, who was my pick to win finished fourth, and castaway Dario Franchitti got an impressive fifth place finish. Keselowski's finish placed him back in second place in the standings, 128 points behind Clint Bowyer, who still can't get the hang of road courses. Overall, the Nationwide Series regulars beat the claim jumpers and the experienced road course ringers, and that is something we like to see.

It's always great seeing a driver win for the first time in one of NASCAR's top tier series, and we knew that Marcos' time was coming. Now he really has something to smile about. It was a fun race, but it had to be seen to be believed. There was plenty of action throughout, and we have to say that NASCAR style racing fits in well with Watkins Glen. It is a shame it only happens once a year.

NASCAR's first points race in the rain

It is much better to be sceptical of something, and be pleasently surprised afterwards, than it is to be optimistic and be bitterly disappointed. This is what we have learned over the last two weeks.

NASCAR had to have a lot of guts to experiment so soon after the tragic excuse for a race at the Brickyard last week. As far as this fan is concerned, it paid off.

NASCAR's experiment was the Nationwide Series NAPA 200 race in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since rain was forecast in the area, NASCAR made the decision earlier this week to go with rain tires if they needed to. They did need them eight laps into the race.

There were some stumbles, and a little bit of stammering. But they somehow got it right. The first competition turn in the rain was not the disaster predicted by some--nobody crashed on the first turn--and there was actually some passing. In fact, Marcos Ambrose immediately passed Scott Pruett for the lead.

One of the things the teams learned was that, in the rain, they wanted the car to roll more as it turned, as the weight shift actually helped the car through the turns. So, some teams disconnected the sway bars when they switched tires. When it became evident that the track would stay wet, the other teams followed suit.

There were very few mishaps under green, and more racing than was expected. The drivers who had little experience in rain, gradually learned what they could and could not do, while the ran veterans ran quite competitively. Marcos Ambrose took a huge lead, but there was plenty of hard racing going on for second through tenth places behind him.

There were actually green-flag pit stops. Ron Fellows, driving the #5 car for JR Motorsports, pitted for fuel twelve laps ahead of schedule, hoping to gain positions when the other teams pitted. While the rest of the field pitted, beginning with around thirty-four laps to go, some teams took tires, while others took fuel only, and others had to stay in the pits to fix the windshield wipers or disengage the sway bars, if they hadn't already done so. Marcos Ambrose got caught speeding, on both the entry and exit on the pit lane. The drive through penalty didn't hurt him that much, as, after the pit stops cycled through, he came out in third. But third place was forty-seven seconds behind race leader Ron Fellows at that point.

Then the rain started to come down very hard. There is a point where the race just has to stop because of too much rain. The visibility was very bad, between the rain and the lack of light, so the caution came out. The visibility was so bad that Jaques Villeneuve hit the car in front of him, under caution, hard enough to damage his car beyond the ability to finish the race. This is where we learned that there is not much difference at all between a Villleneuve fan from Quebec and a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fan from North Carolina. The stands more than half-emptied at that point as the disappionted Villeneuve fans decided the race was over for them.

As it turned out, the race was over for everybody. Joey Logano, who had been doing a spectacular job in his first road race and rain race, running as high as fifth, lost traction, still under caution, and hit the wall hard. NASCAR red-flagged the race with 23 laps to go, giving Fellows his fourth Nationwide Series victory. Not bad for a part-time driver.

NASCAR's first ever points race in the rain was not a disappointment. We really didn't think the 3400 lb cars could put on a decent show in wet conditions, but they did. It wasn't the jump-up-and- down-yell-at-the-TV-set good of the the races we saw at Phoenix, Talladega, Lowe's, Richmond, and Martinsville, but it was chuckle-in-appreciation-and-rub-the-hands-together-in-gleeful-satisfaction good. There was more action than anticipated, and less tragedy than expected. And plenty of drama.

NASCAR had to put on a good show after the Brickyard, and, even though it wasn't the best race ever, making history was good this time.

On the verge of history

The NAPA 200 Nationwide Series race at Circuit d' Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, ran eight laps before it started raining. They ran under caution for several lap while the pit crew readied the rain equipment.

For the first time, NASCAR is using rain tires in competition. The teams also added windshield wipers. ESPN touts this as "history in the making."

We can't be sure that it's going to be good history. Even when lighter cars, such as the ones used in Grand Am or Formula 1 racing, run in the rain, the racing isn't much more than it is while running under caution. These cars will be even harder to slow going into the corners, as they are much heavier than what we are used to seeing in the rain. Even with rain tires, we will see a lot of cars sliding off the track.

You can tell this is NASCAR's first time racing in the rain. What was supposed to be a three minute stop took much longer. You can tell that they aren't very enthusiastic about running in the rain, and that is understandable, as very few drivers have any experience in the rain at all. Also, NASCAR will make the call as to when to change back to slicks, if the situation comes up, rather than letting the teams make the decision.

They are running more laps under caution. This also makes sense, as the tires, though new, have been in storage for seven years. The rubber needs to be heated some, so it can loose some of the stiffness of age. But it is still clear that NASCAR is not ready for a race in the rain.

At this point, I am curious as to whether they are just going to drive around under caution until the track is dry.

Scott Pruitt, Brad Coleman, Jaque Villeneuve, Max Papis, Patrick Carpentier, Boris Said, and Ron Fellows, as well as whatever road course ringers we may have missed, all have experience racing in the rain, and most of these drivers are near the front anyway. We may see some action from them, but from the NASCAR regulars, with the exception of Marcus Ambrose, perhaps, we will see a learning experience as they try to hold their positions, find the rain line, and try not to spin out.

Hopefully, we will soon see how this experiment works out. Keep in mind--making history isn't always a good thing.

Nationwide Qualifying was fun

I'm watching the Nationwide Series qualifying as I write this, and enjoying it. Mexico City and Montreal are the only places we have seen what NASCAR calls "European qualifying."

European qualifying is where the cars are sent out in groups of five to run the track for a set amount of time, in this case, nine minutes. That gives the drivers about six or seven laps in which to post their best time, and their best time will be their qualifying time. We like conventional qualifying, with single car runs, but European qualifying is very interesting.

It was no surprise when Carl Edwards took the provisional pole. He is good on road courses, and the Ford engine has a fourteen horsepower advantage over the Toyotas, and a seven horsepower advantage over the Chevies.

The first surprise was when Mike Wallace fell short of Edward's time by .01 seconds, then won the provisional pole on the next lap by making his Camry go around the circuit .02 seconds faster than Edward's Ford Fusion. I guess horsepower isn't everything.

The really big surprise was when Joey Logano, in his very first stock car road race, took the #20 JGR Toyota to the provisional P1. Crew Chief Dave Rogers has something good going on with that car, horsepower advantage or not.

Well, we knew these times wouldn't stand. The specialists were still to come, and Home Town Hero, Jaques Villeneuve got the crowd up and dancing, when he momentarily had the fastest lap. However, Scott Pruett was the one who eventually took the pole position when he beat Villeneuve's time two laps later.

That qualifying session was very enjoyable. I think it would make sense, for NASCAR and the track promoters, to feature European style qualifying at all the road courses, at least in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. It's almost like having another form of racing as a companion event. Qualifying in this manner is most of the excitement of a Formula 1 Gran Prix, and it could bring fans to the track for qualifying in NASCAR. The stands at Montreal this morning were nearly full for the qualifying sessions, after all.

Nothing boring about this weekend at Indy

Until 2006, this was always an exciting weekend for me because it meant it was time for the NASCAR Busch (Nationwide) Series race at PPIR. That excitement stays with me to this day, as a matter of habit, for there is no more race at PPIR*.

There is, however, still reason to get excited, because it is now Indianapolis weekend. With the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, and the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck Series races at O'Reilly Raceway Park, there is plenty of exciting racing in store.

O'RP is a 0.687 mile oval that is home to some of the most exciting short track racing we have seen in the Nationwide and Truck series. It seems to breed a lot of cautions, because the drivers feel like they have to go for broke here, maybe because it's near Indianapolis, or because it is just that kind of track. That kind of track is the classic Saturday night circle burner, where it's every man, or woman, for him or herself. With a tight championsip points competition between the CTS drivers, we can expect Friday night's race to feature plenty of action and drama.

Last year's Busch (Nationwide) Series race was an absolute wreckfest, to the point of frustration for both the fans and the drivers. If we want to see a demolition derby, as that "race" was, we would go to a demolition derby. But many of the drivers in the race last year had little experience at O'RP. Most of those drivers are back this year, and, hopefully, they remember from last year what not to do. If you want parity, there will be parity here, because on a short track like this, horsepower doesn't matter.

Every driver has had a period in their career racing at tracks similar to O'RP, but there are some who are masters at such racing. Joey Logano comes to mind, as do Denny Hamilton, Jason Keller, and Clint Bowyer. Kyle Busch will also be on hand, which will likely mean plenty of action and drama for Saturday's Nationwide Series race as well. July isn't over yet, and there should be plenty of fireworks on the track.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is arguably the most well-known American racing venue in the world. The 2.5 mile rectangular speedway provides a special challenge for the Sprint Cup cars. Only for teams tested at IMS earlier this year, other than that the new car has not seen the track.

Even in the older car, the track was a challenge for stock cars. Nearly twice as heavy as the open wheel cars, and not nearly as responsive in handling, NASCAR's machines do not seem fit for the for separate ninety degree turns on the track. To this day, drivers and crew chiefs alike wonder how it is even possible for the heavy cars to make the turns. And that is the challenge of the track. If a driver and car negotiate the corners as near perfectly as possible, they can hit the long straightaways at speed. A missed set up, a bad pit stop, or taking the wrong line through a turn can spell the end of the day for a team, or, at least, a very long day.

That is why there is so much preparation for this one race. Most of the teams build a special car for the Brickyard. This has never been a race known for a lot of passing and position changes--old car or new car, it is very difficult for the stock cars to pass one another. This is a race about pit stops and adjustments, as well as perfection of the driver in hitting his marks. That by no means indicates a boring race. The competition is stepped up for the Brickyard, because of the sheer prestige of winning at IMS. The broadcast crew at Speed TV brought up an interesting statistic indicating what it takes in talent to win a race at IMS--every winner, with the exception of Kevin Harvick in 2003 and Ricky Rudd in 1997, has been a NASCAR Cup series champion. That says a lot.

Tony Stewart is by no means a "lame duck." In spite of what we have written here previously--for which we apologize, because that was a purely emotional reaction--the #20 team has had a winning attitude all season long. The races at Daytona, Las Vegas, Bristol, Lowe's, Loudon, and Talledega were all wins for Tony Stewart had it not been for misfortune. We also apologize for forgetting about Jimmie Johnson's 2006 Brickyard win, but if Smoke can pull off a victory it will be three out of the last four, not three in a row as previously written here. This blogger has never claimed to be perfect, but mistakes make us seem human. We only regret that we are so darn human.

The competition at an especially high level here this year, because some of the drivers who have performed the best at IMS have yet to win a race in 2008. Jeff Gordon's team has been improving all year, and he is every bit as poised to win at the Brickyard as are Stewart and Ryan Newman. Newman, who did win the first points race of the season at the Daytona, is an Indiana native who has yet to win at the famed speedway.

However, and please don't shoot the messenger, since this is the first race at IMS for the Sprint Cup car, don't rule out a win by Kyle Busch. He seems to be the one driver who can consistantly take the car to its first win at any venue. It would not be surprising if he were to win Sunday. We hope the fans can remember that it is very wrong to throw beer at the Hallowed Grounds of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

*As I was getting ready to post this, I received news that PPIR will be reopening, and will be running a National Automobile Sports Association (NASA) event on Labor Day weekend. ISC decided to relax the requirement that the buyer not use the facility to host automobile racing, and reworded that stipulation to mean no NASCAR events. However that doesn't mean we won't see ARCA/Remax back here in the future. Why ISC is so certain that they will be able to build a track near Denver, and why I think they are wrong is subject for a whole new post, but for right now, I am doing a happy dance at the news that PPIR will have racing again.

Nationwide Series says "goodbye" to competition, "hello" to mediocrity

In an unprecedented rule change, effective immediately, NASCAR has decided to encourage mediocrity and give a horsepower advantage to Roush-Fenway Racing in the Nationwide Series.

According to discussion on ESPN 2's NASCAR Now, of the engines siezed by NASCAR after the Nationwide race at Chicagoland, July 12, David Reutimann's Toyota showed the highest horsepower production in dynomometer testing, 2 horsepower over the JGR #18. The Roush Fords that were tested followed with a close third and fourth. According to ESPN reporter Marty Smith, the #20 JGR Toyota, which was the reason for the siezure and dynomometer testing of the engines, had the fifth highest hosrepower production in dynamometer testing.

Since the engine used by Toyota is a new engine, while the other manufacturers have been running older engine models in the series, NASCAR evened things down for the non-Toyota teams by implementing a rule change requiring tapered spacers on the Toyota engines. This will take away about sixteen horsepower from the Toyotas, giving the Ford engines roughly a fourteen horsepower advantage over the rest of the field.

NASCAR has said that the new rule would apply to all new engine models regardless of the manufacturer. Toyota is the only manufacturer that has introduced a new engine to the series at this point in time.

This is just the opposite of what we expected. Racing has always been about advancing engine technology, among other things. Having to come up with a new engine that fell within the specs for Nationwide Series racing required much engineering and research, and the engine that Toyota came up with this year required a willingness to spend money for the development of their engine. Nobody accused Toyota of cheating, just that they had a better engine program than the other teams. In fact, with the exception of Roush, the other drivers and teams were pressuring their manufacturers to do more with the engines they had.

In other words, Ford, Chevy, and Dodge were not willing to spend the money and resources Toyota spent on engine development. NASCAR could have evened things up, rather than down by allowing the other manufacturers a few more tools in souping up the engines they had, but, instead put a damper on all new engine development.

The new rule isn't likely to make much of a difference at the short tracks, such as Richmond, or O'Reilly Motorsports Park, but at tracks with long straightaways and at the intermediate tracks, Roush-Fenway will have a noticeable advantage. Carl Edwards undoubtably has the most talent of any full-time driver in the Nationwide Series, and, coupled with the horsepower advantage NASCAR has handed his team, he has been given his second championship in a row in the series. The season may as well be over now.

This is unfortunate for the Nationwide Series, especially for Brad Keselowski, who drives the #88 Chevy for JR-Hendrick Motorsports. Keselowski is within a stone's throw from taking the championship lead, and, if he had been able to win the championship, could have been the first non-Cup series regular to win the championship since Martin Truex, Jr did it in 2005. The series was shaping up to having its own brand of competition and its own identity, but now that trend has hit a concrete wall.

This is not a conspriacy theory, because NASCAR has taken the action above board and in full view of the public. To be fair, the conspiracy theory that NASCAR was allowing Toyota a more powerful engine than the other manufacturers was bad PR for the organization, so they rectified it by openly giving the advantage to the team that complained the most. As the old saying goes, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Congratulations to the 2008 Nationwide Series Champion, Carl Edwards.

Horsepower in the Windy City

The pre-race programming for the Nationwide Series races has the recurring theme of Nationwide teams complaining about the alleged Toyota horsepower advantage. Previous dynamometer tests on the engines have shown that the Gibbs Nationwide engines produce about twenty-two more horsepower than does the team's engine with the lowest horsepower. Rusty Wallace whose team runs Chevy engines, wants NASCAR to restrict the Gibbs team so they can't build powerful engines, while the rest of the Chevy and Ford teams want their manufacturers to step up their engine development programs in the series. The Dodge teams, notably Evernham and Ganassi, have remained strangely quite about the issue, perhaps not wanting to publicize the fact that they have as much horsepower as Toyota, something alluded to by one of the Dodge drivers early in the season (I attributed the blurted out information to Ryan Newman, but it may have been Elliot Sadler who said that).

Chevy plans to introduce the RO-7 engine that they use in the Cup Series to the Nationwide Series in 2009, while Ford and Dodge currently have no new engine program to compete with the Toyota.

NASCAR has said they will look into the difference in horsepower and see if they have to take any action to even things up (Rusty wants to even things down, but "up" is what the rest of the teams are looking for). That could include larger openings in the spacer plates NASCAR uses in the Nationwide and Truck Series for the Chevy and Ford engines.

Anyway, after the race at Chicagoland Friday night, NASCAR confiscated engines from nine different teams to ship to their R&D lab in Charlotte for dynamometer testing. They will see if there is a need to do anything to help the teams with the lower horsepower engines become more competitive with the teams that get more output from their engines.

As far as the race itself went, it was a clean race with only three cautions for the entire 300 miles. There wasn't much racing to talk about, and Kyle Busch won in the JGR #18 car, making it his fifth win in the Nationwide Series this season. The margin of victory was by a little more than three seconds over second place Denny Hamlin, who was driving the #32 Toyota for Todd Braun Racing. During the last part of the race, Hamlin had the fastest car on the track but all he could do in twenty laps was to turn a nine second deficit into a three second deficit. Brad Keselowski, who was ill, did not wimp out and brought his car to a third place finish, the highest finish among the Nationwide regulars.

The #20 team experienced its first missed set-up of the season, fighting a tight condition all evening long. Tony Stewart was able to "trick the car" into making the turns by driving harder than usual into the corners, and ended up with a ninth place finish.

The race should serve to remind us that Chicagoland is a boring track, even with the conventional cars. Still, there is no telling what could happen with the Sprint Cup cars Saturday night until it happens.

Dave Rogers, Jr Celebrates Home Town Victory

Landon Cassill is every bit as much of the future of NASCAR as is Joey Logano. In fact, the release of Casey Mears may be a sign that he is being fast tracked into a Cup ride. Unconfirmed rumors that Mark Martin may be going to Hendrick to drive the #5 Cup car part time in 2009 make an even stronger suggestion that Cassill may see some Cup time next year.

Cassill won his first pole Saturday morning in only his fifteenth start in the Nationwide Series, for the Camping World RV Sales 200 at New Hampshire. He had to go to the back to start, after a pre-qualifying engine change, but his car was obviously fast at Loudon, as he gained twenty positions in the first forty laps of the race. Then, on lap 48, Cassill's charge toward the front came to an abrubt end as he got bumped by Bobby Hamilton, Jr. and crashed, causing serious damage to the front end of the car and a fire.

Bobby Hamilton, Jr is not his father. His father, the late Bobby Hamilton was as old school as you could get. He grew up an orphan, and worked his way into racing by working and sleeping at a racing garage in Tennessee. He was a humanitarian, and as he achieved success in racing, and evententually in NASCAR, he made it a point to give back to those who gave to him. He also made sure that his son would have a path to NASCAR without having to go through what he did himself.

This is not to say Hamilton, Jr is not a competive or capable racer. He has won races in the Busch/Nationwide series, and even with an underfunded team, he has been on the verge of winning again several times. Although the ESPN Booth Bunnies seemed to suggest that the wreck was intentional retaliation on Hamilton's part, he apologized almost immediately and said that he felt bad about taking out a fast race car.

In spite of what the booth bunnies thought, it is hard to imagine any driver focused on racing suddenly thinking "I have to get that guy back," several weeks after the offending incident. Yes, we do see retaliation shortly after an incident in the same race, but, unless you're Kurt Busch or Jimmy Spencer, a long memory and holding a grudge serves little purpose when racing for points, as Hamilton Jr certainly knows.

Putting that aside, it was a good race, overall, especially for NHMS, which has a history of producing snooze fests. There were several quality lead changes, that were produced by hard racing, and plenty of great racing in the pack. Tony Stewart's crew chief Dave Rogers, Jr, called an audible during the last pit stop, taking two tires after seeing other teams take two or none. His pit crew responded instantly, and we didn't see the type of mess up we saw with another crew a few weeks ago in Matt Kenseth's pit. That put Stewart in third, coming out of the pits, and he quickly and easily put the #20 car in the lead.

The victory wasn't about Tony Stewart, it was about New Hampshire native Dave Rogers. As crew chief for the #20 Nationwide Series team, he has now won eight races in the series with four different drivers. It felt good to see Dave on the winner's podium with his dad beaming proudly behind him.

Mike Bliss was the top Nationwide Series finisher among the regulars. Brad Keselowski, overcoming an ill handling car finished tenth, in spite of a final lap run in with Greg Biffle.

Speaking of Tony Stewart, check out this article from Scene Daily, as Smoke continues continues to pull the legs of reporters who insist on going with a story that has very little substance to it. Here is a short excerpt to pique your interest:

“I’ve still got two ARCA teams I’m talking to, a truck team and now the 5 car’s available,” Stewart said. “I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

I just love Smoke's sense of humor. What are these journalists going to do while waiting for Stewart's decision all the way through 2009?

A Look at Loudon

Cross-posted at NASCAR Bloggers FT Digest
If Dover can be thought of as Bristol on steroids, then New Hampshire Motor Speedway would be Martinsville on steroids. The frontstretch and the backstretch are identical, and just over 1500 feet long, which leaves little room for the corners on the one mile track. This gives the track a "paper clip" look, much like Martinsville, only bigger.

Needless to say, this doesn't allow much for side by side racing and quality passes. That has been a problem for many race fans watching the race on television, but to the fans in New England, NHMS is the place to go. Every NASCAR race there has been sold out. The fans also turn out for droves in the Whelan Modified Series and Busch North Series, to watch all the racing they can. This is not only the home track for Concord, NH, but for Boston, Portland Maine, Providence Rhode Island, and the two or three race fans in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Vermont. In addition, many race fans from Canada make their way "south of the border," twice a year to watch the races at Concord (aka Loudon, to prevent confusion with Concord, North Carolina, aka Lowe's). In short, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is the home of NASCAR to many in New England and Southeastern Canada.

Those fans received some good news from owner Bruton Smith, this morning. While there have been rumors that Smith, who bought the track last year, would ask NASCAR to ammend the schedule to move a race from NHIS to Las Vegas or Kentucky, on NASCAR Live Smith said, "If I were a fan, I would not be worried. We are not considering that."

I love it when the rumor mongers who call themselves "journalists" end up with egg on their faces. As a blogger, not a journalist, I depend on journalists to present the facts, on which I, in turn write my opinion. If the facts aren't straight, we, meaning myself and other bloggers, wind up writing our opinions on what turns out to be nothing. Hence, you can see my skepticism toward many so-called "main stream" journalists.

Much of a driver's success at Loudon depends on qualifying position, pit strategy, and the driver's ability to rise to the challenge of the "Magic Mile." Unlike most of the races on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit, winning at NHMS does not so much mean being able to outrace the other drivers, but to be near perfection at getting the right line through the turns and to have the right amount of throttle control exiting the turns. Since the race is fairly short, there is very little time to fix a bad setup during the race, so the crew chief must have the car at its best before the green flag waves. While this may mean a "boring" race for many fans, it is exciting for most of the drivers. This is a track where skill, more than luck, determines the winner, and the outcome of the race is mostly in the hands of the driver.

Mercifully, for us fans, the race is relatively short--301 miles, or 300 laps around the 1.058 mile speedway. However, we may be surprised Sunday as the Lennox Industrial Tools 301 takes place. The track saw new pavement and progressive banking added last year, and is showing signs of having a second groove, according to some drivers. While Las Vegas, Texas, Atlanta, and Dover were disappointments compared to the anticipation of the races, we have been pleasantly surprised by some great racing at Lowe's, Talladega, Phoenix, and Martinsville this year. We are sincerely hoping that Sunday's race may turn out to be a pleasent surprise as well.

In other news, Greg Biffle has signed a three year contract with Roush Fenway, so the rumor mongers were wrong again about Biffle being the driver for RCR's fourth team or Tony Stewart's replacement at Gibbs.

The Nationwide Series powerhouse, Braun Racing, is mourning the passing of "Mama B," Linda Braun, owner Todd Braun's mother. She was a fixture at every race, so much so, she was considered a team member. She will be missed by all who knew her. The # 32 and # 38 cars of Braun Racing will be racing without sponsorship decals and painted black in memory of Mrs. Braun.

The New Young Guns are making their mark

Has anyone noticed how exciting the Nationwide Series races have become now that the series regulars are becoming more competitive? With the new "Young Guns," such as Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kelly Bires, and Brad Coleman, and the veterans becoming more competitive, a championship or even a race win is no longer a given for the "claim jumpers"--the four Cup drivers who are racing full time in the Nationwide Series. This is what we mean when we write about "evening up" rather than "evening down."

Drivers like Jason Keller, Jason Leffler, Mike Bliss, and David Stremme are the ones who will ultimately give the series its own identity, but the Cup bound young guns have given notice that if you are going to be competitive in the Nationwide Series, you better be prepared to race hard and be able to take some dents, dings, and bruises.

It would be nice if the Cup teams were limited as to how many cars they can run in one weekend in all three of the top series, but we don't advocate that NASCAR should tell any teams at any level what drivers they can use. Just imagine if NASCAR did do that. It would start with "you can't put Dale Earnhardt, Jr in the #5 Nationwide Series car at Daytona, because he is a Cup driver, and Michelle Theriault needs a ride." That would open a door for them to tell HMS, "Jeff Gordon already has eighty wins and four championships, so you can't race him in Cup any more. Instead, you have to put Landon Cassill in the #24 Sprint Cup car."

Get my point now?

That is a moot point, now that the Nationwide Series teams and drivers are stepping up. Drivers like Keselowski and Logano have said things like, "it doesn't matter who is in that car, it is just another car I have to pass."

I just love that attitude.

Returning to the subject of this post, which is supposed to be about the Camping World RV Rental 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, it seemed like the best race so far this year for the Nationwide Series. The racing started early, as it should at a one mile track in a 250 mile race. Pit strategy shouldn't really matter here--ideally such a race is about "go-go-go."

And Brad Keselowski went, leading the race from the pole for nearly 170 laps. Logano, was right behind him for many of those laps. With around eighty laps to go, Logano makes a move to race Keselowski for the lead. They race side by side for several laps, then, unfortunately, Logano gets loose while trying to pass Keselowski low. Keselowski's car happens to be in a position to keep Logano's car from hitting the wall, but unfortunately that causes damage to his car, and spins him out.

This was really unfortunate, because it messed up what looked like a great race between two of the Nationwide Series' top young guns, but when they are racing hard like that, something bad has to happen. Unfortunate, also, because now Dale Jr fans have another reason to hate another JGR driver. We have been pulling for Keselowski, because he has a chance to be the first series regular to win a championship in three years, so we didn't care much for this chain of events, either.

Another reason it is unfortunate is that it gives the Series' points leader, Clint Bowyer, the race lead. Another claim jumper, Carl Edwards soon catches him, and hits him hard with around thirty laps to go to pass him. Meanwhile, Keselowski has made it back to the top five, but the real threat remains to be Joey Logano, who has passed Bowyer and is running in second.

Caution with less than twenty laps to go. Logano asks his crew chief, Dave Rogers, "You know that 'give and take' thing? Is it more about taking now?"

"Yes," Rogers replies, "Take, take, take!"

But, in spite of hitting his marks perfectly, and in spite of the alleged "extra horsepower" of the Toyota engines, Logano can't catch Edwards, but does stay ahead of Bowyer, who is running third.

Joey Logano finishes the race in second place, and ends up being the only Nationwide Series driver to end up in the top five. Keselowski finishes in eighth, unable to hold his position against claim jumpers David Ragan and David Reutimann, who finish fourth and fifth respectively. It is enough to keep Keselowski in second place in the championship points, but now he is 188 points out of first, and only two points ahead of David Ragan in third.

Carl Edwards impresses us by using his victory celebration to pay tribute to Milwaukee native Alan Kulwicki, who originated the "Polish Victory Lap." Edwards takes the checkered flag and circles the track clockwise, to salute the fans, and Kulwicki. He also refuses to perform his customary back flip, because he doesn't feel it would be appropriate after the news of the death of Scott Kalitta. We have to respect him for that, it was a very honorable thing for him to show that consideration.

While we once thought Logano might be too boring to be a candidate for favorite driver when Stewart retires after next year, that thought has been changed. Logano has little respect for the veteran drivers, does not apologize, and does not even mention his slide that damaged Keselowski's car and possibly prevented Keselowski's second win of the season. A driver who does nothing more than thank his crew and mention his sponsors would be boring even if he won thirty-six races in one year, but Logano does not come across as boring at all. He, like Keselowski and many of the other Nationwide Series regulars, is in racing to do one thing, and that is to win.

With the announcement last week that Casey Mears will not be returning to race the HMS #5 car in Cup next year, we expect Hendrick to be putting Keselowski or Cassell in that car next year--most likely Keselowski. This will once again take a great driver from the Nationwide Series, which has been sorely in need of great drivers. Since Brad Keselowski has yet to race in the Cup series, we don't know for sure if this is a good move. He has shown that he can beat Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series, however, and that, somehow, justifies the claim jumpers.

The Future makes History

In what was only his third Nationwide Series race, the future of NASCAR made NASCAR history. Only twenty-two days ago, Joey Logano was too young to race in the top tier of NASCAR, and now he has become the youngest driver to win a race in one of NASCAR's premier series.

Logano, who has shown exceptional talent in racing since the age of six, passed the race dominating Kyle Busch with around forty laps to go and took off with the lead. He never looked back. With thirty-six laps to go, Kyle Busch lost the handle of his car and spun out, and Logano no longer had to look back even if he wanted to.

The feat surprised no one. It was certain that Logano, given his natural talent, would win a race. That it was in the Joe Gibbs #20 Nationwide Series car was no surprise either, for it has been the winningest team in the series, under the leadership of Dave Rogers. Four different drivers have won six races in that team.

Still, it was a moment to be marked, as Logano is expected to be the next big thing in NASCAR racing. Only time will tell if he lives up to those expectations, and, right now, it is looking as if he will.

Speaking of expectations, we can probably expect talk of Kyle Busch spinning out intentionally. Thirty-six laps was within the fuel window, for the teams to make it to the end of the race. The timing couldn't have been better. Since Busch is not running the full Nationwide Schedule, and therefore, not in the running for the championship, it could have been on his agenda to let Logano win.

But Rev' Jim's RantsnRaves remains skeptical of conspiracy theories, and even though we may have originated this particular theory, we feel that the chain of events was only a coincidence. We can only speculate as to whether Logano could have won if Kyle Busch had stayed in the race.

In the meantime, Brad Keselowski, finishing fourth in the race, has moved up to second in points in the series, 170 points out of the lead. A championship win by a series regular driving for a non-Cup team, if JR Motosports can truly be considered as such, would be just what the series needs to regain its legitimacy. For the rest of the season, we will be rooting for Keselowski to beat the "claim jumpers" from the Cup series in every race. Lets hope he can keep up the good work.

Other notable Nationwide regulars finishing in the top ten at Kentucky Motor Speedway were Scott Wimmer (2nd), Mike Wallace (3rd),Bryan Clauson (5th}, Marcos Ambrose (6th), Mike Bliss (8th), and Jason Keller (10th).

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat

We heard those words from Jim McKay every weekend to open the popular ABC sports program Wide World of Sports. McKay passed away Saturday, and we honor him as one of television's sports broadcasting pioneers. Unlike the specialists of today's sports broadcasting, McKay anchored the broadcasts of all the sports, including the Indianapolis 500 and excerpts of NASCAR races. He also anchored the broadcasts of twelve Olympics Games.

McKay was a huge part of our lives while those of my generation were growing up and getting interested in sports. His voice will live in our memories for a long time. Jim McKay was 86 years old.

Brad Keselowski and JR Motorsports experienced the thrill of victory in the Nationwide Series race from Nashville, Saturday. We knew this was coming at some point, as he has shown improvement and an increasing will to win over the last few races. He is one of the more aggressive of the Nationwide Series drivers, and has shown that he doesn't care who is in the car in front of him, he will race hard to beat that car.

This was one of the more exciting of the Nationwide Series races this year, featuring short track style racing on a 1.3 mile intermediate track. There was plenty of beatin' and bangin' throughout the field with the acompaniment of hot tempers. Pole sitter Joey Logano led most of the laps in the early part of the race, only to be taken out as the result of a balk in the field during a restart on lap 88. ("Post-it" note: Biffle is still an idiot).

After taking four tires when many of the other cars only took two or none, Logano's number 20 car had to restart further back in the pack, putting him behind Clint Bowyer. Bowyer had to check up to avoid running into the sliding number 9 car, and it seemed that Biffle tried to take advantage of the situation to try to gain a position or two. Unfortunately, Logano had to move down to avoid Bowyer while Biffle was moving up, and Biffle's car hit Logano's and caused him to spin, causing extensive damage to the front of the #20. Biffle refused to accept fault for the accident, claiming that he was "in the middle." while, in fact, it looked like he was the one who tried to make it four-wide on a track where three-wide is difficult, at best.

"I'll even buy the replay for him and send it to him," Biffle quipped. Maybe he should look at the replay himself, first.

For a while, it looked like it would be a fuel mileage race, with the teams trying to conserve fuel, but an incident involving the lapped car of Brad Coleman brought out a late caution with 12 laps to go. With 10 laps to go, Keselowski restarted in third position behind Clint Bowyer and David Ruetimann. Having declared before the race that he would do anything to win the Gibson guitar that serves as the trophy for a Nashville win, Keselowski quickly dispatched Reutimann and soon caught Bowyer. He made a clean pass of Bowyer with four laps to go, and then checked out on the field. The rest is history. It was Brad Keselowski's first victory in NASCAR's upper tier, the second victory of the year for JR Motorsports and for a Nationwide regular driver, and the third this season for a Nationwide only team, Braun Racing being the only other winner in that category with Kyle Busch's win at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Series points leader and Cup regular Clint Bowyer felt the agony of defeat in the race. After declaring before the race that the only thing he was afraid of was finishing second, he was saved from that fear by David Stremme, another Nationwide Series regular driver. On the last lap, Stremme uncerimoniously moved Bowyer out of second place to finish second himself. The Nationwide drivers had decided that it would be their night, and they proved it. Bowyer then made a Denny Hamlin-like statement about Stremme, saying, "That is why he is in the Nationwide Series."

So, if the Hamlin and Bowyer insist that the series is for second-rate drivers, what are they doing there?

This brings me to a short rant. The series was conceived in 1982, as the Busch Series, and was to serve as an outlet for the talent that, for one reason or another, couldn't run full time in the Cup series, as well as providing a shorter, cheaper, and more accessable version of top tier NASCAR racing to the fans. Although Cup regulars, such as Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt sometimes raced in the series to fill the field, they were not full time in the series, and were not supported by their respective Cup teams. After ten years as a top tier series with its own identity, the original intent somehow got lost. Cup teams began using the series as a bun-warmer for talent they had discovered in other racing series, such as USAC, IRL:, ASA, and ARCA. It lost its status as a top tier series and became just another developmental series.

The series was never intended to be the little league, and it shouldn't be. It is supposed to be a top tier series along with the Truck Series and the Cup Series. With that being said, I would like to propose a solution that would help get the series back to its original intent. The solution is simple.

Except in cases such as drug abuse, trying to form a union, eligibility for a certain type of track, or rules violations resulting in suspensions, NASCAR has never dictated to the owners what drivers they can hire for their cars. That is the way it should be, because NASCAR sanctions the tracks, not the teams. However, what they can do is limit the number of teams an owner can field in a weekend. NASCAR, in other words, could limit all the owners in the top tier to four teams only among the three top tier series. That is, if Roush-Fenway, for example, wanted to run in all three series in one weekend, they would be limited to two teams in Cup, one in Nationwide, and one in the Truck series, rather than the nine teams they are running this weekend. Teams could run up to four teams in one series on a given weekend, but they would not be allowed to run teams in any of the other series. The Cup teams would, as a result, be discouraged from competing for the owner's points championship in the Nationwide Series. This would even out the field in the technological aspects, and allow the Nationwide teams to compete only amongst themselves for the owner's championship, which would, in turn, attract more sponsors and even better talent from the real developmental racing divisions and organizations. Problem solved.

What makes a race exciting or boring?

The answer to that question is different for different fans. For instance, to many NASCAR fans, watching a Formula 1 car run by itself for an hour and twenty minutes is boring, but F1 fans liken it to watching jet fighters performing precision maneuvers, and think that cars going in circles turning left is boring. Some "Old School" NASCAR fans enjoy seeing the lead cars lap the field several times, while those that have adapted to the changes in NASCAR, or those who are relatively new to the sport, prefer to see more side by side racing and lead changes.
There are those of us who enjoy the thrill of stock cars racing on a road course, such as Infineon (Sears Point) or Watkins Glen, while others will not even watch a race on a road course.

Many fans get bored if there is not a good crash during the race, and you can see the excitement when there is a crash and their favorite driver is involved. Even those of us who are not fans of crashes get involved in that excitement, so that could be one definite answer to the question of what makes a race exciting.
It should be noted here that those of us who have a favorite driver who happens to be the type who is always where the action is are likely to see our driver involved in a crash, whether it is that driver's fault or not.

NASCAR has attempted to present races that have plenty of side by side action by introducing the restrictor-plate to races at Daytona and Talladega. The restrictor-plates pack the field closer together, and increase the opportunities for crashes. At venues where the restrictor-plate is not used, track officials will sometimes call for a caution for "phantom debris" to bring the field closer together. However, that practice has been criticised heavily by both fans and drivers, and doesn't occur as often as it once did.

Because of the characteristics of the new Sprint Cup car, once known as the CoT, a car in the lead will often be hard to catch, as it is able to run faster in "clean" air than it does in traffic, where the turbulence of the air has a direct effect on the aerodynamic performance of the car. But that is not to say there isn't excitement in the field trying to catch the leader. Most of the great racing happens back in the field, as drivers vie for position in the top ten or fifteen places. It is more exciting for some of us to watch our drivers make their way up through the field than it is watching the lead driver running by himself. Unfortunately, television doesn't always show us the best racing on the track. That is why it is often preferable to mute the television and listen to the play by play of the race on MRN or PRN, whichever racing network happens to be broadcasting the particular race.

The upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the biggest day in racing of the year. On Sunday, we will see three of the biggest annual events in racing history, the F1 Gran Prix of Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, and the World 600, aka the Coca-Cola 600. If there isn't enough excitement for the fan in at least one of those races, there will be a live broadcast Friday evening of a World of Outlaws Sprint car event from Charlotte, on Speed at 7:00 PM EDT. There will also be the always exciting prospect of a Truck Series race from the short track at Mansfield, Ohio on Saturday, at noon-thirty, also on Speed. And, if you are the type who may prefer restrictor-plate races, there is the Nationwide Series race from Lowe's Motor Speedway Saturday night, at 7 PM on ESPN 2.

This weekend there is something for everyone, no matter what kind of racing one enjoys. I will be enjoying all of it, boring or not. Here's wishing a happy race weekend to all!

Moving on

There will come a time when Tony Stewart retires. Whether it is after the 2009 season or the 2013 season, we don't know, but that time will come.
When that time comes, there will be a need for me to select a new favorite driver. Since I have always been loyal to my favorites, I will stick with that driver until he or she retires.
Dale Earnhardt was my favorite, because he made racing exciting for me. He was controversial as well, and yet he had a heart of gold when it came to helping out younger drivers coming into NASCAR, and when it came to charities. When Dale left us so suddenly and prematurely, the only logical choice was another driver who had many of those same attributes, and that was Tony Stewart. Well, he made racing exciting enough for me to start watching again, but the charity part of it, and helping younger drivers didn't come to my attention until later.
So who is next on my list?
I don't know how long Greg Biffle will stay in racing. He is even older than Smoke, and he may retire sometime around the same time Smoke retires, give or take a year. I like to watch him race, barely on the edge of control, and doing whatever he can to get to the front. But how long will he stay? I want to pick a driver who has a little more longevity ensured. For the same reason, even though Matt Kenseth reminds me very much of one of my first favorite drivers, David Pearson, he won't be around long enough to be a viable replacement for Smoke as my favorite driver.
If Tony doesn't retire for three more years, there may be some more interesting drivers who catch my attention between now and then. Joey Logano, for instance, shows a lot of natural talent, and could become an exciting driver. Or, he may just be one of those who hits his marks perfectly, avoids trouble, and takes advantage of somebody else's mistake. I have a lot of respect for drivers who can do that and win, but that is not the kind of talent that gets me excited about a NASCAR driver.
Besides, we will have to wait and see how he does when he enters the NASCAR arena, and how he reacts to the competition. He may very well be the kind of driver I want to call my favorite by 2013.
If Smoke were to retire after the end of next season, my choice is very simple. Kyle Busch. He will grow up, and stop making the mistakes his aggressive style influences him to make. He is among the best talent out there, and I am confident that he can turn that aggression into victories without wrecking others. In fact, he has already done that, this year at Atlanta and Talladega.
But if Tony Stewart were to stay in full time racing for a few more years, that opens possibilities to drivers like Kelly Bires.
Bires has quietly shown that he can compete with the Cup guys, and has shown some fairly consistent finishes in the Nationwide Series. He now stands twelfth in points in that series, but, among Nationwide regulars, he ranks seventh. With the exception of DNF's at Talladega and Mexico City, he has finished only one race outside the top twenty, when he finished thirtieth at Fontana. His highest placed finish was fifth, at Nashville. Bires has caught my attention because he has shown some of the competitive aggressiveness I like in a driver. After a total of thirty Nationwide series races, and eight Truck series races, I think this guy has shown some potential.
There is also Brad Keselowski, whom we all know has cast-iron 'nads. That right there gives a driver a good score for being my next favorite. But his performance has been near the top as well, and I think Dale Jr picked a good'un there. He now ranks seventh in the Nationwide Series points, second among Nationwide regulars, and is only 183 points out of the lead. He is only forty-two points behind Mike Bliss, the leader in points among Nationwide regulars. He has shown us that he can mix it up with the Cup guys, and, in fact, Cup teams are already courting him. And why not? I think he is poised to win one soon, even against the "claim jumpers."
I would like to stick with Smoke as long as possible, but I am ready to jump on the Shrub bandwagon if Tony does retire next year. If he doesn't, then I have time to look at all my options until 2013.

Moment of the week

The biggest star of the show in Victory Lane after the Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series Race was not race winner Tony Stewart, but this little girl, from Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Racing One.com

Once Upon A Time In Mexico City

When it comes down to the final twenty or so laps of a NASCAR race, it doesn't seem to matter if it is a road course race, or an oval. Nor does it seem to matter if it is a Sprint Cup Series race, or a Nationwide Series race. When it comes down to the closing laps of a race, the excitement, passion, emotion, and suspense levels all seem to max out. The situation may be stressful for the drivers, but that is what they live for, and it certainly makes for entertainment for the fans, as that is why we watch.
After a race that was beginning to seem too long, with five cautions and two red flag stoppages, the race began to get interesting after Marcos Ambrose hooked the rear of Boris Said's car in turn one, shortly after a restart. Said's car was wrecked beyond reasonable repair, and he was a very angry man as he exited the cockpit. For a moment, we thought we might get to see a helmet throw, but it was only a feint.
Boris Said, who is arguably the most popular and most talented of all of NASCAR's part time drivers, went to the infield care center. After he was released, his temper still hadn't cooled, and he stormed over to Ambrose's pit box and "apologized" in advance to Ambrose's crew chief for the car he was going to wreck as soon as he got the opportunity. While doing so, he used a few words that have sent Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to the NASCAR hauler. So we got enough drama to finally stop ESPN's repetitious and over-done recap of last year's altercation between Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Pruett at Mexico City.
The on track drama began with 22 laps to go. The back to back cautions and restarts ended any speculation about fuel mileage, so it was all up to the racing.
With the exception of Colin Braun, whose car suffered a cut tire late in the race, the cream rose to the top in the final laps. Marcos Ambrose continued his charge to the front, for the second time in the race after having had to start in the back. Patrick Carpentier was also running toward the front, and there was never any doubt that he was a potential winner. Carl Edwards was also charging, and Kyle Busch, posting the fastest lap times, found himself on race leader Pruett's tail.
Busch showed that he does know something about road racing, as he tried to pass Pruett several times, only to be blocked aggressively by the race leader. "Rowdy" Busch wisely backed off, proving that he has somewhat matured since his run in with Mexico City's favorite son, Michael Jourdain, two years ago.
However he did get on the radio to his crew, expressing his, to put it nicely, frustration with Pruett's blocking. "He (Pruett) is going to lose," Busch declared, "I'm going to spin him."
But, the young hot shot managed to maintain some patience, and that threat never came to fruition, as, with nine laps to go, the handling of Pruett's car had deteriorated so much that he had no choice but to let Busch pass him.
With three laps to go, Marcos Ambrose, a man on a mission to prove himself and his underdog team, moved into second place, and seemed to be a threat to Busch, but Kyle kept the lead and took the checkers.
The best part of the victory was Kyle's "smoke trick," where he raises so much tire smoke with his burnout it seems solid, then moves to the top of the car to appear out of the smoke cloud. Awesome! And the cheers of the crowd in appreciation of this display confirmed that he had been forgiven for taking out their favorite two years prior.
To be honest, I took a nap during the first red flag period, and didn't wake up until the second, but it didn't matter because I didn't miss anything. Road course racing in NASCAR does have an advantage over the same in any open wheel series, because the heavier cars seem to be better able to compete for the lead, so the race isn't over after the first lap. But, still, especially with the spacer plates NASCAR uses on the Nationwide cars, theoretically to save the teams money on engines, the race could have done more to keep the spectator watching from the beginning of the race.
But though we may have slept through part of it, we caught the most important part of the race--the finish--and that was well worth it.

Why watch? I'll tell you why!

To many NASCAR fans, the upcoming Corona Mexico 200 from Mexico City is a non-event, making this weekend an "off weekend" for the average racing fan.
But what should the racing fan do this Sunday, without a NASCAR Sprint Cup Race on the agenda? I would say, open your mind, widen your horizons, and watch the race, you just might like it.
Sure, it is not the oval track racing that you enjoy, but keep in mind that NASCAR road course racing is like no other in North America. Unlike the 2200 lb sports cars of the Rolex Grand Am and the ALMS, or the 1200 lb cars of the IRL and Formula 1, the NASCAR machines are heavy 3400 lb beasts that are not specifically engineered to run on road courses. The usually means the same amount of beating and banging you see at Martinsville or Richmond, with the cars running close as close to each other as they would at a restrictor plate race such as Talladega or Daytona. They often run each other off the course, and there is nothing like the sight of six or seven cars simultaniously spinning in the grass, often described as "synchronized spinning. So, yes, there is something to watch.
Are you worried about not seeing the drivers you are used to seeing? For those of you who hate the idea of Cup drivers invading the realm of the Nationwide drivers, only Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Carl Edwards, Patrick Carpentier,Sam Hornish, Jr, and David Reutimann will represent that group. For those who want to see Cup drivers in a Nationwide Series road course race, those seven drivers are on the entry list.
Drivers we are used to seeing in the NASCAR road course races, such as Scott Pruitt, and Adrian Fernandez, and Boris Said will be there as well. Max Papis will be making his Nationwide Series debut, as the designated road course hitter for David Stremme. And of course, the Mexican National racing heros, Michael Jourdain, Antonio Perez, and Jose Ruiz Ramirez are on the entry list. Other than that, the majority of the field is made up of Nationwide Series regulars.
In fact, the highly popular, ever smiling, and eternally optimistic Marcos Ambrose has a very good chance of winning the race. He came close to winning at Montreal last year, and would have had it not been for Robby Gordon having a not-so-lucid moment. Robby Gordon is in Europe, participating in the make-up race for the cancelled Dakar Rally, so Ambrose will have no problem there. His experience in the Australian V8 Supercar Series, which uses cars similar to the Ameridan Stock cars, could come in handy in Mexico City. He is considered a favorite to win.
There are many reasons to not watch the race--if you really want to do that to yourself--including not one, but two indycar races taking place over the weekend. But, as a NASCAR fan, wouldn't you have just a hint of a nagging feeling if you missed the Mexico City race?

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

I'm talking about a race that was exciting from start to finish--the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, Friday night. To use the vernacular of the old action/thriller movie trailer, it was "Full of Thrills," and featured "More Action Than Ever Before!"
Indeed, this is what we are talking about when we urge people to forget about the Nationwide Series as being the "Junior League," or the "Feeder Series" for the Sprint Cup. People who feel that way do not know what they are missing.
Friday night, we saw the kind of racing that will help establish the Nationwide Series as a premier racing series on its own.
Nobody took the lead without a fight, even, from the start as Brad Keselowski held off Kyle Busch for several laps. The majority of the race was between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, however, and they battled lap after lap.
Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, and Kevin Harvick also threatened to take the lead at various time during the race, but the main battle continued between the two drivers many journalists consider the two best in NASCAR, and they raced each other hard and clean.
As exciting as the race was there were some disappointments (aside from the dyslexia my fingers developed while writing this) There should have been more people in the stands. Phoenix comes out in droves for their NASCAR weekends, but I suppose the baseball game vs "my" Colorado Rockies pretty much competed for attention.
The Nationwide Series offers all the excitement of NASCAR style racing, but shorter races, so those who complain about the Cup races being too long should have been there.
Also, it would have been fun to see what would have happened if the caution hadn't come out with three laps left. Busch and Edwards were racing hard to the finish, and though, Carl may have been able to pass Kyle, we will never know. Thus we finished with a green/white/checker finish which left us without a resolution to the question "Who is better in a head-to-head race, Carl or Kyle?"
Still it was satisfying. It was the kind of racing we should always hope to see.

The race story

Race results.

"It's about...."

I was at PPIR in 2003, when Scott Wimmer celebrated his most recent win, previous to his victory today at Nashville. He had come close to winning the championship the previous season, and had run well in races in the 2003 season up to that point, but had yet to close the deal. By the time he crossed the finish line, leading the rest of the field by more than half a lap, he had nearly 40,000 fans in the stands cheering him on. The consensus among the fans applauding and shouting for him was "it's about time he won!"
We can say the same thing about him after his win at Nashville, as he has gone five years without a victory. And we can feel as good about him winning as we did then. As an "underdog" among the Nationwide and Cup drivers in the Nationwide series, Wimmer doesn't have a full time ride anywhere in NASCAR's upper tier. He was not running for championship points except, for the owners points that would go to Richard Childress. He was only going for the win.
The race itself could have been better--the only excitement to be had was Kyle Busch's spin--due to his own driver error--which pretty much took the dominating car out of the running for the top spots. The other part of the excitement for the entire race was, would the car make it to the finish line with the fuel it had.
I know this has been mentioned on this blog, before, but the NASCAR Nationwide series needs to find an identity. The spacer plates that have been implemented in the series do not produce good racing, and the jury is still out on whether they make for safer racing or less expensive racing, as is their intent. This is not the way to uplift the series.
The Nationwide Series regulars can not get the recognition they deserve as long as the series is being run as the "Cup Lite." This doesn't mean that the Cup drivers shouldn't be allowed to drive in the series--if they can qualify, there should be nothing to keep them from racing. What it does mean is that something needs to be done in support of the regular series drivers and teams to help them become more competitive. It is an insult to these drivers and teams to think of the Nationwide series as the junior league, or the little league, as these drivers and teams do have the talent to compete with the Cup level drivers.
Perhaps the series would do better if more of its races were at venues where the Cup series doesn't race, or when at the same venue, on a completely diffeent weekend. Make the track promoters earn their pay by figuring out ways to get as many people to show up for a Nationwide stand-alone event as they do for a Cup event. Promote the drivers, such as Brad Keselowski, David Stremme, Mike Wallace, or Jason Leffler, as the talented wheel men they really are. Promote the cars as having the ability to show a different kind of racing than the Cup races present. Bring special events, such as concerts, or companion open wheel, or motorcycle races to the track on the same weekend, or even same day as the race.
And perhaps NASCAR and Nationwide could do something more to promote the series as well. Get rid of the restricter plates and make it racing the way it is supposed to be. Increase the value of the purse, even if it takes some of the budget away from series promotion. Race at Rockingham, and replace Cup races at venues where there are two Cup races when there should only be one. The main thing is to make the series stand on its own, with its own identity.
And the best way to do that would be to make it about racing.