Weekend Preview: Gordon a danger to snap winless streak at Atlanta (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
Here’s a look at the top five drivers in the Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday night’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN). All statistical references are for Cup races at Atlanta unless otherwise indicated. Driver Rating is based on the past 11 races at the track.
1. Kevin Harvick, 81.1 Driver Rating. Two of Harvick’s four top-fives came here in 2009, and he finished ninth in March. Everything points to another top-10 or even his second victory. His first was one of the most famous in NASCAR history—in the No. 29 Goodwrench Chevrolet in 2001 in his third Cup start.
2. Jeff Gordon, 101.8. Gordon finished 18th in March for only his second finish outside the top 10 in the past five years. None of those eight top-10s was a win, though, and that continues to be Gordon’s problem: Great finishes, no wins. He has four wins at Atlanta, the last in 2003.
3. Kyle Busch, 88.7. In 2008, Busch won and finished fifth. Those are his only top-10s in 12 starts. He finished 25th in March. There are five intermediate tracks in the Chase. A strong finish Sunday sends a strong message. A weak finish casts doubt that the No. 18 team is championship material.
4. Carl Edwards, 99.4. Edwards has three wins but finishes of 37th and 39th in his past two starts. Much of the focus will be on Edwards’ feud with Brad Keselowski and what happened in March. But that was five months ago, and in racing time, a lifetime ago. Edwards wasn’t competitive early in the season. He is now. His first win since 2008 is a real possibility.
5. Denny Hamlin, 94.5. In his past three starts on intermediate tracks, Hamlin has a win, an eighth and a second. But Hamlin is winless since that victory at Michigan in June with three finishes of 34th or worse. That kind of wild inconsistency will sink him in the Chase. He has three top-10s in 10 starts at Atlanta.
Five to watch
12. Clint Bowyer, 81.8. Bowyer has an odd record at Atlanta: four sixth-place finishes and five finishes from 20th to 29th. He leads Jamie McMurray by 100 points and Mark Martin by 101. A fifth sixth-place finish should just about sew up a spot in the Chase.
13. Jamie McMurray, 71.6. McMurray’s average finish of 20.9 in 16 starts doesn’t bode well. He has four top-10s and no top-fives. But as wins at Daytona and Indianapolis prove, McMurray has the car to pull off a top-five finish. If he has any chance of catching Bowyer, he needs a top five while Bowyer stumbles to a finish in the 20s. Say McMurray finishes fifth and Bowyer 25th. That’s a 67-point difference (with no laps led by either). If that happens, Richmond becomes very, very interesting.
14. Mark Martin, 85.7. Martin needs that same scenario to play out, but the No. 5 team hasn’t shown nearly the punch of McMurray’s No. 1 team. Martin has two wins and 14 top fives in 49 starts, but he also has 15 DNFs, including three for crashes in his past eight starts. One crash DNF was in March. If that happens again, there will be no miracles for Martin in 2010.
15. Ryan Newman, 71.0. Newman shares the Atlanta pole record with Buddy Baker (seven), but Newman hasn’t done much with the great starting positions. He has one top-five in 17 starts and a 17.9 average finish. If ever Newman needed a second top-five, it’s Sunday. He trails Bowyer by 118 points.
16. Kasey Kahne, 93.3. Kahne is 136 back. He needs everything to fall in place to make the Chase for the second year in a row. History in Atlanta—not in past Races to the Chase—is on his side. He has two wins and six top-fives in 13 starts. He won this race last year and finished fourth in March. He must make it three top-fives in a row for any chance at making Richmond relevant for his No. 9 team.
Who’s Hot/Who’s NotHot• Juan Montoya scored top-10 finishes in the past three races, the longest current streak.• Carl Edwards has scored top-10 finishes in fiveof the pastsix races.• Tony Stewart has finished in the top 10in nineof the past 11 races.• Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with 110 lap-leader bonus points.• Four drivershave ranked in the top 12 after each race in 2010: Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton,Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.Not• Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not scoreda top-10 finish inhis past four Atlanta races.• Joey Logano has finished 22nd orworsein his three Atlantaraces.• Jamie McMurrayhas scoredjustonetop-10 finish inhis past nine Atlanta races.• Ryan Newman has justonetop-10finish in his past 12 Atlanta races.• Kyle Busch has not scored a top-10 finish in his pastthree Atlanta races and just two top-10 finishes in 12 Atlantaraces.
Track Smack: With Chase looming, can Bowyer be caught? (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
Chase BubbleRace for 12th position
Pos. + / - Driver Points Behind 12. — Clint Bowyer 2,920 — 13. +2 Jamie McMurray 2,820 -100 14. -1 Mark Martin 2,819 -101 15. -1 Ryan Newman 2,802 -118 16. — Kasey Kahne 2,784 -136 17. +1 David Reutimann 2,765 -155
• Complete Standings
1. The largest deficit ever overcome by a driver to make the Chase with two races remaining was 90 points, by Kasey Kahne in 2006. Jamie McMurray is 100 back. Can he do it?Jill Erwin: No. And not because it’s Jamie McMurray, per se. But because Clint Bowyer gave himself a heck of a momentum boost with a good run last time out, and his team is ready to go. I don’t see him leaving any opening for McMurray or Mark Martin to sneak into the Chase.David Caraviello: Nothing against McMurray, but I’d be stunned if he did it. One hundred points is a lot, and Clint’s not exactly going to sit in the garage area and let Jamie try to catch him. McMurray needs something catastrophic, like an engine failure, to happen to the No. 33 car. Atlanta’s tough on engines, but ECR makes the best in the series—McMurray ought to know, he has one under the hood as well.
Jill Erwin: David, that’s a key point. They’re not teammates, but they’ve got the same power. And we all know how important engines are at Atlanta.
Jarrod Breeze: This is Clint Bowyer’s spot to lose more so than McMurray’s or anyone else’s to win. Bowyer’s had one blown engine this year, in the first Bristol race. If that is McMurray’s only hope, it’s not much of one. Even though Bowyer had trouble at Watkins Glen, I believe it was, he was able to get back on the track and salvage something.
Jill Erwin: Jarrod, to your point, I’m not sure I’d put any money on Martin being the more likely guy either. There’s something really off with that team, and to be frank, them being this close to the Chase right now is somewhat of a surprise to me. They just haven’t contended all season.
Jarrod Breeze: Agreed, Jill … I’m having a hard time convincing myself that Martin will finish better than McMurray. Just going on past track records, I guess.
David Caraviello: Clint hasn’t exactly set the world on fire lately, but he’s been very solid—three top-five finishes in his past six starts, and only one finish outside the top 20 since Sonoma. McMurray’s been all over the place, and seems as liable to finish 20th as sixth. But right now it just looks like too many points to make up, and not enough time to do it.
Jarrod Breeze: Right. It will be awfully difficult to gain 100 points in two races. Too little, too late for Jamie Mac. He needed more early season consistency. The problem with McMurray is he’s had really good finishes or really bad ones. Not much middle ground with the guy this season, and that will leave him on the outside looking in post-Richmond.
Jill Erwin: Mark Martin, for the record, has one top-10 finish in his past 11 races. That’s even worse than I was expecting.
Jarrod Breeze: Pile it on, Jill, pile it on.
Jill Erwin: I’m a math geek. Sue me.
David Caraviello: I think crew chief Alan Gustafson accurately summed up the No. 5 team’s efforts of late in his comment to Joe Menzer after the Bristol race. Here’s the question—which is more likely to happen, somebody catches Bowyer, or we go to Richmond with all 12 spots already locked up for the first time? It could happen. For all this debate about who can catch Clint, let’s not forget that if Bowyer pushes that margin from 100 to 162, all he has to do is start next weekend at Richmond. That’s ballgame over.
Jill Erwin: I’m sad to say it, especially for my friends at RIR who will be left promoting a race with no drama, but I think all 12 will be locked in. I just don’t see any late-season drama on the horizon. I’m also, for the record, sad for me. I’ll be at that race as well.
Jarrod Breeze: I don’t think he’s going to gain 62 points in one race, so he’ll have to have a decent run at Richmond to clinch, but clinch he will.
Jill Erwin: It’s only the difference between first and 12th to make up 68 points. It could very well happen. If Bowyer leads the most laps, of course. But it’s also the difference between 10th and 31st.
Jarrod Breeze: OK, Professor Erwin, go collaborate with Danica McKellar on a math book. The reason I know Danica McKellar, of Wonder Years fame, is an author of math books is because I researched her working up one of Raygan Swan’s Six Pack articles.
David Caraviello: I realize NASCAR wants drama out of this “Race to the Chase” period, but this is one of those years where it just may not be there. Kasey Kahne is what, 136 back, and on his conference call the other day he was being asked about his chances of getting into the top 12. Nothing against Kasey, but that’s like asking me about my odds of walking on the moon. Which are not good.
Jill Erwin: But can you moonwalk?
David Caraviello: Only on very specific occasions involving certain quantities of adult beverages. That’s when I break out the red leather jacket and the one silver glove.
Jill Erwin: I hope you and Mark Aumann don’t hit up any adult beverage serving areas while in Atlanta for the race.
Jarrod Breeze: You wanna be starting something? I don’t think so, on to question 2.
2. Kyle Busch goes for his fifth consecutive national-series victory in Friday night’s Truck Series event at Kentucky Speedway. How big would that be?
Jarrod Breeze: Pretty significant, I think, but don’t know if too many fans would really care, because 1, It’s Kyle Busch and 2, there sadly just doesn’t seem to be much interest in the Truck Series.
Jill Erwin: I’m not sure I can express how big this would be, relatively. Is it winning four Cup titles in a row? No. But it’s a different kind of impressive. To run different vehicles on different tracks with different crew chiefs and different equipment and still dominate like he has? It’s making every race in every series a must-watch for me.
Jarrod Breeze: I don’t think so. In fact, Mark Martin is only one point behind McMurray and if I were a betting man, I’d think Martin would be the best bet. That being said, if anyone can pull off a Jeremy Mayfield-type finish, it would be the winner of arguably the two biggest races this season.David Caraviello: We touched on this last week, but I really struggle to put these Kyle exploits into perspective, simply because he’s doing stuff no one has done before, and in some cases hasn’t even tried. That’s absolutely no knock against him. The dude has Hall of Fame talent [yes, I said it]. But how big an accomplishment would five straight be? Probably in the same neighborhood as sweeping Bristol.Jill Erwin: David, you’re right on every level. It is hard to put it on some kind of measurement scale. But I think, as someone argued last week, the very fact he’s doing something no one else has done makes it impressive all by itself.
Jarrod Breeze: If Kyle Busch ran full time in the Nationwide and Truck series, he would win titles in both series in the same season. Now that would be big. I’m more surprised when Busch doesn’t win Nationwide or Truck races, he’s that dominant.
David Caraviello: Goodness that would be huge. And I don’t understand why people dismiss the Truck Series. It’s awfully fun to watch. In fact, it’s more fun to watch because Kyle is doing this moonlighting thing so often. Every time he’s in a Truck race, I expect him to win. I’m sure he probably does, too. Watching Rowdy battle the Truck regulars, like Todd Bodine the other night, can be great fun.
Jill Erwin: I love the Nationwide Series guys, and the Cup guys are the big-money stars, but yeah. For my money? I’d watch the Truck race over any of them.
Jarrod Breeze: Truck races are good. They are short enough to keep your interest, and are usually action-packed,
David Caraviello: I mean, I wonder if it’s because so many Truck races are on Friday nights, which is traditionally the lowest-rated TV night of the week. I wonder if it’s a question of SPEED’s household penetration. Because the broadcasts are solid, and like Jarrod says the races don’t take all night. And usually they’re pretty good, although Kyle did run away from everybody at the end at Chicagoland last week.
Jarrod Breeze: It also doesn’t hurt that only 36 line up to start a race to begin with. And, up until this year, it usually has a captivating, non-Chase championship battle. But the Onion is making everyone cry this year.
David Caraviello: Tip your bartenders and waitresses, he’s here all week!
Jarrod Breeze: I’m on an [Onion] roll.
David Caraviello: Not to butter you up, but wouldn’t you think that Kyle’s presence would help Truck TV ratings? He’s like the Tiger Woods of that series, the guy everybody knows they have to beat. Or is Kyle so polarizing that as soon as he gets up front, people tune out? No idea.
Jarrod Breeze: I also doesn’t help that hardly any practices and only occasionally a qualifying session are broadcast, so there’s not much in the way of seeing these guys on TV. And, Kyle is the guy we love to hate. But I hate Duke basketball, and would never tune in to watch them.
Jill Erwin: Hey! Let’s leave Coach K out of this!
David Caraviello: Does that matter, Jarrod? Will people watch the Truck Series more if practice is televised? I can’t imagine that.
Jarrod Breeze: Maybe, maybe not. All I’m saying is all the Truck series gets is a little Friday night block on TV. Maybe a little more air time is needed.
Jill Erwin: David, I think Kyle is a really rare villain. He relishes the role [something Brad Keselowski hasn’t quite embraced yet], but I don’t think he draws people to root against him. If they’re already watching a Cup race, they’ll do it. But if it’s a Truck race, and they have other things to do, and he’s leading a bunch of laps, they’re not going to stick around to watch him cruise. And I think that’s unfortunate, but somewhat expected.
Jarrod Breeze: I’ll go along with that, Jill. If you want to root against someone, you’re probably not going to watch a race they are most likely to win.
David Caraviello: Of course, even the Cup ratings are struggling to gain traction, and most of those races have been fantastic lately. And I still get e-mails from people trying to tell me how awful it is. It’s like there’s this huge disconnect out there that NASCAR is struggling to bridge.
3. On to Atlanta for Sunday night’s Labor Day weekend race. Is this a chance for March winner Kurt Busch to show he’s still a championship threat?
Jarrod Breeze: I don’t think Kurt Busch is a championship threat. I can’t see a Dodge driver hoisting that big trophy at Homestead.
Jill Erwin: Jarrod beat me to it, but I think this is a faulty premise, because I’m not sure Elder Busch is a championship threat.
David Caraviello: Lot of sub-plots at Atlanta this week. There’s Kurt, trying to show that he deserves a place at the Johnson-Hamlin-Harvick table. There’s Kahne, trying to win one more for Ford and RPM. There’s Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, back to the scene of the crime. And there’s the overarching question of whether fans will turn out in droves for this one even after Atlanta has lost a race.
Jill Erwin: Side note: I’m so over the Edwards-Keselowski thing. Until they tangle again, can everyone [especially TV types] stop breathlessly debating this thing? It’s over and done with … until it’s not.
Jarrod Breeze: Kurt has had only two DNFs all season, but they have come in the past four races. He has top-10s in the other two. He’s been solid all year, but I just don’t think he has the horses to compete with the Chevys and Toyotas over a 10-race stretch.
David Caraviello: It has indeed been a long time since Charlotte, which was the site of Kurt’s last victory—on a 1.5-mile tri-oval, I might add. Yes, he’s been all over the place lately, but we’re getting to the point in the schedule where we’re beginning to revisit a lot of intermediate tracks, where Kurt had so many good runs early in the year. Is he a championship threat? Maybe not. But he has some very good tracks coming up, and if he can regain some of that form, he may be a dark horse.
Jill Erwin: Kurt hasn’t gone more than three races this season without a finish of 18th or worse. There are some top-10s in there, but they’re sandwiched between numbers like 32nd and 40th.
Jarrod Breeze: I think Kurt will finish higher than any Ford driver, but that’s probably not saying much. Even though the Blue Oval has made strides, the Blue Deuce right now is a better car.
Jill Erwin: Jarrod, I’ll take that bet. I say Greg Biffle finishes higher than Busch.
David Caraviello: I’m not saying he’s in the Johnson/Hamlin/Harvick league. Those guys have clearly been the lead triumvirate all season. But look at what’s coming up—Atlanta, Kansas, Fontana, Charlotte, Texas. The No. 2 team rocked and rolled on tri-ovals in the spring. They do it again in the fall, they absolutely could shoehorn their way into this.
Jill Erwin: Wait a second, Jarrod. You think Kurt will beat out Edwards in the final standings?
David Caraviello: As it stands now, Kurt will have a 20-point edge in bonus points once the Chase begins.
Jarrod Breeze: Sure, why not. He’s had a better overall season than any Ford driver. And he can certainly hold his own with any driver on the track. But the power behind Chevy and Toyota will be too great for a lone Dodge to overcome. But boy, wouldn’t that a story make?
Jill Erwin: OK, I’ll take that bet from both of you! Wait, did I just become Joe Menzer?
David Caraviello: Jill, I will give you this—Carl has been downright monstrous lately. His 12th-place finish at Bristol snapped a string of six straight finishes in the top 10. And we all know he’s done several back flips at Atlanta. So for all our discussions about Busch, maybe this week is when Edwards wedges his way into the championship party? Given how screwy this year has been, I wouldn’t rule anything out.
Jarrod Breeze: Not to get too far off track, but I’m not sold on Kevin Harvick. we’ve seen so many times a dominant regular season turn to squat once the Chase comes, and Harvick has never been in this position before. Let’s face it, struggling or not, someone has to beat Jimmie Johnson to win this thing. And until I see it happen, Kurt, Harvick or anyone else are not “threats.”
Jill Erwin: You’re both right! I’d love to see Harvick keep doing what he’s doing, but the Chase is somehow such a different monster. Caraviello, Edwards could definitely be in contention, but I just feel like if he comes through and wins the title in a season in which Ford struggled so mightily, it will say more about the Chase than it does about him or the cars.
David Caraviello: Jarrod, that’s just crazy talk. Harvick has been the one guy who hasn’t had a wobble this season. Dude has been a rock. His Michigan victory convinced me he was for real.
Jarrod Breeze: Kyle Busch won eight races before the Chase in 2008, it all went to pot really quickly. Not saying it will happen, but Harvick has a lot more to prove than even a Kurt Busch does. Tony Stewart wasn’t much of a factor in the Chase last year, if I am recalling correctly. The Chase just hasn’t been good to the first-26 leaders recently.
David Caraviello: Harvick’s a different animal, though. He doesn’t seem to have those wild swings in terms of temperament and result. But if he wins the Chase, he’ll be only the second “regular season” leader to do it. So nothing is guaranteed, I will give you that. Far from it.
Jarrod Breeze: For me, the jury is still out on Harvick. Even Hamlin, too. Whoever wins it will have to beat Johnson. Period.
David Caraviello: Jarrod, has anyone impressed you? Are you putting your money on Harry Gant?
Jarrod Breeze: Well, might as well lose the rest of it. If I’m betting on Martin to finish ahead of McMurray and Busch to wind up ahead of Edwards and/or Biffle, I will owe my house to Jill Erwin.
Chase Bubble Race for 12th position Pos.+ / -DriverPointsBehind 12.—Clint Bowyer2,920—13.+2Jamie McMurray2,820-10014.-1Mark Martin2,819-10115.-1Ryan Newman2,802-11816.—Kasey Kahne2,784-13617.+1David Reutimann2,765-155
Road Warrior’s Ramblings: Johnson’s struggles for real, or just subterfuge? (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
Now that Kyle Busch has gotten over his latest competition hurdle, and given the favorable schedule between Kentucky and Atlanta this weekend, you really gotta wonder if Busch can become the first driver to sweep all three NASCAR national touring series races in a weekend at different venues.
Busch has won two consecutive in the Truck Series and he’s a former Truck winner at Kentucky, where that series races Friday night. While he’s yet to win in a Nationwide car at Atlanta, he’s won five times there between Truck and Cup. He’s averaged only a 20th-place finish in his past three Cup starts at AMS, but just sayin’—the guy can strike at any time and he has already tied the Nationwide record for wins in a season, with 10.
Atlanta’s Nationwide race is a one-day Saturday show while the Cup event has practice and qualifying Saturday and the 500-mile race on Sunday evening.
• If you were wondering why, or if, Todd Bodine would or wouldn’t dump Busch—be it at Chicagoland, Kentucky or any time in the future—you just don’t know Bodine.
On SPEED’s Wind Tunnel last Sunday Bodine gave some great big-picture insight into why he raced Busch cleanly at Chicagoland. He admitted that “of course Kyle took advantage of me because he knows I have to cut him a break because of [possibly losing the] points” by crashing himself trying to wreck Busch or by getting paid back if he knocked Busch out of the way.
Don’t look for that picture to change focus anywhere in the stretch, where Busch plans several races with his own trucks and with Bodine a huge favorite to gain his second Truck championship. He’s currently 236 points ahead of Aric Almirola with eight races remaining.
• Intriguing stat dug up by NASCAR numbers guru Mike Forde this week: With nine finishes outside the top 20 this season, Jimmie Johnson has more of those “mediocre” finishes already than in any other year in his Cup career. When you look at the overview of this season, that’s probably not a surprise since most of the “lucky escapes” Johnson’s managed to have previously seem to be tearing up his cars this season.
But we’ll have to wait a couple weeks, until after Johnson likely goes into the seventh annual Chase atop the points, to see if his current string of only one top-10 finish since he last won a race is truly significant or just a unique way to clandestinely prepare to win his fifth consecutive championship.
• By currently leading the Cup Series in top-five (11) and top-10 (16) finishes through 24 races, Kevin Harvick totally deserves the championship favorite’s role as the “regular season” reaches its final two events. But what might ultimately be an even more significant stat is this: Harvick is one of only three drivers in the Chase without a DNF this season, and the only one in the standings’ current top six who has finished every race.
But the most significant stat? Harvick has only two finishes this season of 20th or worse, which is simply ridiculous when compared to his competition. Matt Kenseth has only three finishes of 20th or worse, but usually runs in the teens, while Kyle Busch has twice as many as Harvick—four—plus nowhere near as many high finishes.
• Hate to tell all those Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin and Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne fans, but the numbers really do favor Clint Bowyer holding on to his 12th position in the Chase.
Bowyer is 100 points up on 13th-place McMurray and 136 ahead of 16th-place Kahne. Here’s why Newman stands the best chance of the four of out-running Bowyer this weekend: He’s done it in three of the five Atlanta races in the Chase era.
However, per average finishes in that same stretch, it’s too little too late as no one stands to gain an appreciable amount of points on Bowyer. He has bagged finishes of 17th or better in seven of his past eight races.
Bowyer’s average finish in the five races using the current car at Atlanta is 17th. That’s better than Martin (23rd) and McMurray (26th) in the same stretch and only a little worse than Kahne (14.5) and Newman (15.5). The four guys trying to outrun Bowyer each have to make up at least 50 points to have any kind of reasonable chance next week at Richmond—and the law of averages doesn’t seem to be in their favor.
Then again, this is why they run the races.
• The consequences of Carl Edwards’ Nationwide car’s suspension failure at Montreal actually weren’t much bigger than him losing a golden opportunity to score a spiffy repeat win in a truly unique event.
Granted, Edwards finishing 20th instead of leading the most laps AND winning contributed to the 365-point deficit he now faces. But the fact is, Edwards went to Canada facing a virtually insurmountable 313-point gap. Mathematics is one thing, but NASCAR racing is something else.
And Keselowski’s providing more and more positive proof on a weekly basis that he’s truly something special in Nationwide. Of all the road course specialists at the top of last Sunday’s rundown, it was Keselowski who had the fastest last lap—by a second over race winner Boris Said.
When you consider Keselowski should have only had to concentrate on his Nationwide duties this season, what he’s achieved is even more impressive.
• How did Papis lose the Nationwide race in Montreal with what appeared to be—if the last half-lap was any indication—the best car in the field? Let’s concentrate instead on just what an incredible job Said did of outdriving what seemed to be a superior piece of equipment to score a win that all three top finishers—including third-place Jacques Villeneuve—dearly coveted.
When Villeneuve threw his brake-challenged Braun Toyota in front of Papis midway through the final lap, killing both their momentum and creating a gap for Said, it looked like “game over.” Papis’ car was so good it still doesn’t make much sense how he could be outrun after he handled the last corner better than Marcos Ambrose did last year when he was outrun by Edwards from Turn 14 to the flag.
Bravo to Said for cutting a perfect corner exit and to Roush Yates horsepower for making the difference once both men had full power down.
• The outcome aside, from Papis’ perspective, the neatest thing about Montreal was proving just how good another “struggling” driver was proven to be when he got behind the wheel of some top-shelf Kevin Harvick Inc. equipment.
Papis is already locked into a full 2011 Truck Series season with Germain Racing—and there’s no questioning how good their stuff is in that series. But I think there’s no question Papis will keep lobbying for the odd Nationwide outing for KHI. Why shouldn’t he and why wouldn’t they comply?
And if I were Elliott Sadler, I think I’d seriously consider opting into as many Nationwide and Truck rides as I could get with KHI, and make that my primary gig. If Sadler’s serious about racing to win, well, his limited record in KHI stuff this season proves he’s already there—so why mess with success?
• I might be shortchanging Jason Bowles here, and if that’s the case I apologize right up front—but from the highlight snippet I saw of the last lap of the Canadian Tire race from Montreal, that was the best case of turnabout being fair play as I think I’ve ever seen.
The highlight package showed Bowles wail into the hairpin on the last lap and harpoon leader Andrew Ranger right out of his way with a well-placed fender-smash. What Bowles needed, though, was to have fired a missile into Ranger’s Dodge on his way down the inside line. Ranger gathered himself up, outran Bowles on the final straightaway and put himself in position to plant Bowles in the wall on the outside of Turn 14 as Ranger went on to take the checkers in front of his appreciative home-country fans.
If you’re a fan of stock-car payback, it doesn’t get much more graphic than that.
• The most intriguing aspect of Robby Gordon Motorsports’ deal with ExtenZe Racing and Kevin Conway is how many appearances Gordon will make in his own cars, where they’ll be and in what number.
Right now, the No. 7 Toyota Conway will drive at Atlanta—while Gordon competes in a TORC off-road event in Crandon, Wis.—is 35th in the owners’ standings. It’s 125 points clear of the 36th-place No. 26 and 144 clear of the No. 38, which is fielded by the Front Row Motorsports team for which Conway previously drove.
Winning the rookie of the year title—in which Conway’s been the only full-season contender—is still a big goal for the program. But it’s a given that being a guaranteed starter is critical as well. In the past 10 races Conway has started, he’s made the field based on his team’s standing in the owners’ points nine of 10 races—and he would have failed to qualify for six of the 10 based on his speed alone.
Once he gets in the races, Conway has managed to avoid big trouble. But in those 10 races, he’s scored only two finishes better than 31st. In those 10 races, head-to-head against his main competitors in the race to stay in the top 35, Conway’s accrued a net deficit of 65 points to the No. 26 car. His net deficit to the No. 38 is just three points, with both cars failing to qualify twice.
At that rate it’ll take either one a good part of the season to knock Gordon’s No. 7 out of the top 35, by which point the rookie title will be all but clinched.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
Chase Bubble Race for 12th position Pos.+ / -DriverPointsBehind 12.—Clint Bowyer2,920—13.+2Jamie McMurray2,820-10014.-1Mark Martin2,819-10115.-1Ryan Newman2,802-11816.—Kasey Kahne2,784-13617.+1David Reutimann2,765-155
Numbers: Drivers poised to battle on the bubble at Atlanta (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
1 — Carl Edwards’ weekend victories at Atlanta in March, 2005 were his first wins in both the Cup and Nationwide series. He is the only driver to win his first Cup and Nationwide race on the same weekend. It is the only weekend sweep at Atlanta. He is also the only driver to sweep a weekend at two different tracks in one weekend, winning the Nationwide race at Memphis on Saturday then winning the Cup race at Atlanta on Sunday in the fall of 2008. He has 8 top-10s and 6 top-fives in 12 races, but has finished 37th and 39th the past two.
1 — Only one of the 26 quad-oval races has been win by the pole winner, Kasey Kahne (March, 2006).
2—Times the leader at halfway has won at Atlanta—once in the past 14 races.
3—Past consecutive races that Dodge has won at Atlanta (Kurt Busch—2, Kasey Kahne—1).
3—Green-white-checkered finishes at Atlanta.
6 — Atlanta wins by Bobby Labonte, the most of all active drivers.
6—Consecutive Atlanta poles for Ryan Newman at Atlanta, from 2003—2005. He is tied with Buddy Baker at seven for the most poles at Atlanta. He qualified seventh in March.
6—Best finish for Jamie McMurray at Atlanta (Oct., 2005) in 16 races at the track.
7—Atlanta race winners out of the past 11 started in the first two rows, four from the first row.
9—Top-10 starts for Juan Montoya in 9 the past 11 races.
10—Past consecutive races that Matt Kenseth has finished in the top 13. Tony Stewart has been running at the end of the past 18 races at Atlanta. The March race was the first in the past 19 that Hendrick Motorsports has not had at least one car finish in the top 10.
10—Engine DNFs in the past eight Atlanta races. There were no engine DNFs in March. The average per race is three engine DNFs in the 26 races on the 1.54-mile track.
12—Active drivers who have won at Atlanta, 42 in all 102 races.
16—Races out of the past 20 at Atlanta have been won from a top 10 start, 10 from the top five.
23—Finish for Clint Bowyer at Atlanta in March after starting 18th.
59—Laps led by Mark Martin in 2010. Martin led 704 last year after 24 races.
103—The Emory Healthcare 500 is the 103rd Cup race at Atlanta, one of seven tracks that have reached the century mark (Charlotte, Daytona, Darlington, Martinsville, Richmond and Bristol).
192.761—Dale Earnhardt Jr’s qualifying speed in miles per hour at Atlanta in March—the fastest qualifying speed in 2010.
790—Laps led by Tony Stewart at Atlanta—the most of anyone in the field.
Top 12 Snapshots: Momentum approaching the Chase
1. Kevin Harvick is still the best with six top-fives in the past nine races. Harvick has eight top-14 finishes and only two results worse than 19th all season. 2. After a streak of five top-five finishes, Jeff Gordon has not had a top-five the past five races. 3. Kyle Busch’s Bristol win is not a trend. He has just one top-five finish in the past 10 races. 4. Carl Edwards is the dark horse. He isn’t winning but scoring points with consistent strong finishes. Edwards has a top-12 in the past seven races with four top-fives. 5. Denny Hamlin has been inconsistent the past 10 races: One win, four top-10s but three finishes in the 30s. 6. Tony Stewart is on his annual summer run. First race in June was his first top -five finish in nine races (3rd, Pocono). In the 11 races this summer, Pocono-Bristol, he has scored nine top-10s, including five top-fives. He is 2nd in points the past 11 races. 7. Jeff Burton is doing well but not at championship level. He has only four top -fives in ’10. 8. Matt Kenseth is consistent but not strong. His fifth-place finish at Michigan was his first top-five in 11 races. Kenseth is 13th in points scored the past 10 races 9. Jimmie Johnson is a big question right now. He has only one top-10 finish in the past seven races. He’s tied for most wins but Bristol was his eighth finish of 25th or worse this season and his fourth in the past seven races. He has been strong at qualifying and leading laps but not at closing the deal. 10. Kurt Busch has mixed reviews. He had a second-place finish at Watkins Glen but four results of 26th or worse in the past nine races; Busch had only two 26th or worse finishes in the first 15 races of ’10.. 11. Greg Biffle has been strong at the right time. He Has four top-eight finishes in the past five races, including a win. Biffle can be a contender if he can maintain top-eight finishes. 12. Clint Bowyer is in the top 12 but not at Chase pace and just trying to stay in. Bowyer was impressive at Bristol; repeat of 2007?
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Current Top 12 at AtlantaNine drivers have wonRankDriverStartsPolesWinsTop5Top10Avg. St.Avg. Fin.1.Kevin Harvick19014617.7919.842.Jeff Gordon3624142312.512.443.Kyle Busch12012213.7518.334.Carl Edwards12036810.9215.255.Denny Hamlin10001315.315.96.Tony Stewart230281316.1712.047.Ward Burton21003718.38158.Matt Kenseth210081222.7613.149.Jimmie Johnson18039118.2210.7810.Kurt Busch19033716.0518.6811.Greg Biffle15103912.871512.Clint Bowyer9000416.2216.44
Looking good for the Chase—the Top 12: How to clinch a spot
First and second spot: Locked in
Chase BubbleRace for 12th positionPos.+ / -DriverPointsBehind12.—Clint Bowyer2,920—13.+2Jamie McMurray2,820-10014.-1Mark Martin2,819-10115.-1Ryan Newman2,802-11816.—Kasey Kahne2,784-13617.+1David Reutimann2,765-155
Third: Kyle Busch—start last two races before the Chase.
Fourth: Carl Edwards—average 38th place points last two races before the Chase or 21st or better at Atlanta.
Fifth: Denny Hamlin: average 37th place points last two races before the Chase or 21st or better at Atlanta.
Sixth: Tony Stewart—average 37th place points last two races before the Chase or 19th or better at Atlanta.
Seventh: Jeff Burton — average 36th place points last two races before the Chase or 17th or better at Atlanta.
Eighth: Matt Kenseth—average 35th place points last two races before the Chase or 15th or better at Atlanta.
Ninth: Jimmie Johnson—average 32nd place points last two races before the Chase or 10th or better at Atlanta.
Tenth: Kurt Busch—average 31st place points last two races before the Chase or ninth or better at Atlanta.
Eleventh: Greg Biffle—average 28th place points last two races before the Chase or fourth or better at Atlanta
Twelfth: Clint Bowyer—average seventh place points last two races before the Chase; Atlanta depends on finish of 12th-17th.
By the Numbers: If history holds, looks for Bodine in Victory Lane (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
Camping World Truck SeriesTop-five at Kentucky Pos. Driver Starts Wins T-5 T-10 1 Todd Bodine 5 0 1 2 2 Aric Almirola 2 0 1 1 3 Johnny Sauter 1 0 0 0 4 Timothy Peters 4 0 1 1 5 Ron Hornaday 5 2 2 4 • Complete Standings
2 — The past two Truck races—Bristol and Chicago—have ended with green-white-checkered finishes.
2 — Points leader Todd Bodine has posted a DNF is his past two Kentucky starts. Bodine has yet to win at the 1.5-mile track.
4 — Ron Hornaday has four consecutive top-10s at Kentucky, the longest active streak.
4 — Kyle Busch has won his past four NASCAR starts. The record for consecutive wins is six by Harry Gant in 1991.
5 — The driver to lead the most laps has gone on to win just five of the 10 Truck races at Kentucky.
5 — Five of the 10 Kentucky races have been won by the eventual series champion that season: Greg Biffle (2000), Mike Bliss (2002), Bobby Hamilton (2004), Johnny Benson (2008) and Ron Hornaday (2009).
6.4 — Average starting position of the race winners at Kentucky. Ron Hornaday (2009) is the only driver to win a race from the pole. In all, eight of the 10 races run at Kentucky have been won from a top-five starting position.
8 — Johnny Sauter has finished fifth or better in eight of the past 13 Truck Series races. That streak includes a victory at Kansas and second-place finishes at Texas and Iowa.
8 — The driver leading with 10 to go has won eight of the 10 Truck races at Kentucky.
8 — Matt Crafton has finished in the top 10 in the past eight Truck Series races this season, the longest current streak. Four of those finishes are top-fives at Iowa, Gateway, ORP and Pocono.
11 — Todd Bodine is the all-time series leader with 11 victories on 1.5-mile tracks. Four of the final eight races, including this week at Kentucky, are on 1.5-mile tracks.
18.197 — Margin of victory, in seconds, Mike Bliss won the 2002 Truck race at Kentucky, the largest margin of victory in series history. Interestingly, the past six Truck events at Kentucky have had MOV’s of less than one second.
30 — Nine of the 10 Truck races at Kentucky have been won by a driver over the age of 30. Carl Edwards, in 2003, is the exception. The past six races have been won by drivers over the age of 45.
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By the Numbers: On hot streak, Busch hopes to break through at AMS (NASCAR.com)
September 2, 2010
Race No. 26—Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (6:30 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN2). Green flag set for 7:16 p.m. ET.
0.012—The margin of victory at Montreal, when Boris Said edged Max Papis. It was the fifth-closest margin since the advent of electronic timing and scoring, and the closest ever on a road course.
1—Final-lap pass in 18 Nationwide races at Atlanta, coming in Oct. 2002 when Jamie McMurray passed Joe Nemechek. McMurray led only that final lap in his first Nationwide victory.
2—Races this season in which the driver leading the most laps finished outside the top 10. It happened last weekend at Montreal, when Carl Edwards finished 20th.
3—Races won from the pole at Atlanta. The most recent was Carl Edwards in March 2005. Two of those three races won from the pole were inaugural series victories for the drivers: Edwards, and Jeff Gordon in March 1992.
4—Races out of the 18 held at Atlanta which have been won by non-Cup Series regulars.
4—Races of the past six this season in which the leader at the halfway point went on to win.
5—Consecutive races at Atlanta won from a top-10 starting position. In fact, nine of the past 10 races were won by a car starting in the top 10. The worst starting position of a winner at Atlanta? Matt Kenseth began the race 28th in Oct. 2004.
7—Top-five finishes for Matt Kenseth at Atlanta, the most in series history. Kenseth also leads in top-10s, with eight.
10—Races out of the past 11 in which the final green-flag stretch has been fewer than 25 laps. The longest to end a race this season was 42 laps at Iowa in July.
30—Lap marker before which the first caution has come out in the past 10 races at AMS.
75—Nationwide starts for Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing if he takes to the track this weekend in Atlanta. He has won 28 of his previous 74 starts for JGR (38 percent).
250—Point advantage Kyle Busch would have over current series leader Brad Keselowski if Busch competed in every race this season, based on average points earned per race.
341—Laps led (of 588) by Kyle Busch at Atlanta in the past three years (58 percent). His best finish in six starts there, however, is second: Oct. 2004 and Sept. 2009. Busch led 153 laps in 2008, the most led by a driver who did not win. He blew a tire while leading and slammed into the wall with just more than 20 laps remaining.
365—Brad Keselowski’s points lead over Carl Edwards, the largest lead of the season.
Emory Healthcare 500 (Yahoo! Sports)
September 2, 2010
Newman on outside of Chase spot
September 1, 2010
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Ryan Newman says he has a “legit shot” at making the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.
Newman is on the outside of a spot in the Chase. He’s 118 points from 12th place with two races left before the field is set. Newman knows it won’t be easy to make up ground, but he believes he can get there and compete for his first championship.
He says he won’t change the way he approaches a race or how he races just to secure a spot among the final 12.
Newman also says he hasn’t spoken to Joey Logano since the two drivers tangled on the track at Michigan International Speedway. Newman says Logano never apologized for causing an accident that sparked a heated confrontation after the race.
Keselowski on verge of 1st title in NASCAR
September 1, 2010
MONTREAL (AP)—Brad Keselowski knows he doesn’t have that yellow rookie stripe on the back of his No. 12 Dodge anymore.
Just don’t blame him if he occasionally checks to make sure before he jumps behind the wheel for Roger Penske to race against the likes of Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and the other elite drivers on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup circuit.
While Gordon can wreck a bunch of cars with aggressive driving on the road course at Sonoma, the threatened retaliation never comes against the four-time Cup champion. Johnson can trigger a big crash at Talladega with a mistake, and all the defending four-time champ has to do is apologize and it’s all but forgotten.
Not so with Keselowski, a third-generation racer in his first full season at NASCAR’s top level, and he thinks he knows why.
“I haven’t got it all figured out, but there’s a little bit of a boys-only club going on there, and over time we all make our way into it if you just keep knocking on the door,” Keselowski said. “When you’re knocking on the door, it’s not a lot of fun and sometimes you get kicked back out of the house. I’m trying to make my way in it, and you’re not going to get in there by being a pushover.”
His father, the 1989 ARCA champion, sees his son’s treatment as a form of hazing.
“It seems like you’re a kid going to high school and you’ve got to take your initiations … to make them happy,” Bob Keselowski said.
Keselowski has repeatedly made it clear he’s no pushover. His first knock on that imaginary door came at Talladega Superspeedway last year when he pushed Edwards toward the finish line and didn’t lift when Edwards tried to block his pass for the win. Edwards went airborne, upside down, sheet metal spewing in his wake as his car sailed into the safety fence in a scary crash, while Keselowski grabbed his first Cup victory in only his fifth start in NASCAR’s top series.
A feud was born.
After Keselowski collided again with Edwards early in the March race at Atlanta, Edwards retaliated by intentionally wrecking Keselowski, sending him airborne.
Now, they’re on probation for the remainder of the season because of a frightening accident on the last lap of a Nationwide race at Gateway International Raceway in mid-July. Edwards intentionally drove into the back of Keselowski on the last lap seconds after Keselowski had made contact in a pass for the lead. Edwards won the race, leaving Keselowski’s Dodge in tatters in a chain-reaction crash that included nine other cars.
“I talked to Brad the other day. I said, ‘Why does everybody think they owe you a payback?’ “ said Bob Keselowski, who had to fight back his emotions at Gateway during a postrace television interview. “I look back at the racing and I don’t know why they feel Brad has something coming.”
Keselowski also angered Busch in the Nationwide race at Bristol two weeks ago while the two were racing for the lead. Busch intentionally spun him and went on to win the race. Keselowski finished 14th.
Busch celebrated that win by mockingly rubbing his eyes like a crying baby and was greeted with a chorus of boos. Keselowski promised revenge over the public address system and had some choice words for Busch the next day during driver introductions for the Cup race.
“There’s always been give and take in the sport. I don’t mind give and take, but you have to know when give and take makes sense,”’ Keselowski said. “In that same race when Kyle and I had a run-in, I let him go twice when he moved me up the racetrack. It was because of that that I didn’t let him go the third time.
“It’s like, ‘Well, Brad never gives.’ I gave and I was tired of giving. There was no more give left in me. The bank was dry.”
Probation seems to be having a positive effect on Edwards and Keselowski. They joked about each other in separate media sessions at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before Sunday’s Nationwide race and had no run-ins on the track.
“On the racetrack, I think we’re better,” Edwards said. “All of our issues have just been on the racetrack. I think I see a little bit more respect there, but time will tell.”
With the Nationwide season winding down, Keselowski, barring a total collapse, is closing in on his first NASCAR title. Edwards, the 2007 series champion, is 365 points behind him in second place with 10 races remaining.
“As a person, I think it gives credibility to my career,” Keselowski said. “It will certainly give me some more confidence. The confidence bank goes up and down. There’s deposits and withdrawals.”
“He’ll be excited, and he should be because he accomplished something really nice,” NASCAR driver and TV commentator Kenny Wallace said. “To me, it’s not Brad trying to win the championship, it’s Brad against Carl. I think these guys take advantage of each other. Every once in a while they say, ‘You’re not going to do that to me. I’m going to get you back.’ And then, all of a sudden, it becomes part of the show.
“I will tell you this. What Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch are doing for this sport right now, they should be paid for it. It’s awesome.”
While Keselowski has blossomed in NASCAR’s second-tier series, he’s struggled in Cup. His average start this year is 23.2 and his average finish 22.5. He started ninth and finished a season-best 12th at Darlington, matching his finish at Martinsville, and has four DNFs, crashing at Atlanta, Talladega, Sonoma and Daytona in July.
“I still have work to do to solidify my position in the sport on the Cup side, that’s for damn sure,” he said. “You’ve got to be up front, leading races and contending. So far, that’s where we’re at in the Nationwide program. We’re not there right now in the Cup program.
“I need speed. Until we have raw speed on the Cup side, nothing else matters. We don’t have it right now.”
What he does have is the attention of race fans across the country, and that’s a good thing for the sport.
“I’ve got to believe NASCAR has got to be extremely happy with Brad because it seems like the media attention Brad has brought, it’s really cashing in,” Bob Keselowski said. “From time to time I wonder, is it downhill from here? Are we still going up? Will this still be this exciting two or three years from now?
“I kind of wonder and worry about it because I really like where we’re at right now. It’s pretty exciting.”
Inside Line: Montreal race should be appreciated for what it is (NASCAR.com)
September 1, 2010
The estimated crowd was more than 70,000, the largest ever to see a Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The weather in Montreal was nothing short of magnifique. The finish—with Max Papis and eventual winner Boris Said trading the lead during the final two laps, and local hero Jacques Villeneuve right behind—ranks right up there with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Daytona 500 charge at Jamie McMurray among the most thrilling in any NASCAR national-series event this season.
Yes, it took a while to get there, with seven cautions and a 13-minute red flag slowing the proceedings on a long road course where a single lap under yellow can feel like a commute to Ottawa and back. But the enduring images of last week’s Montreal event will be the same as they’ve been in the previous three years of the race—another tremendous crowd, another tremendous finish, and another tremendous day for NASCAR in Canada. This is no novelty, not anymore. From the participation of so many Canadian drivers to the passion of so many Canadian race fans, there’s just something about this race that works.
Which makes you wonder why there seems such a rush to mess with it. Now that it’s quite evident the Montreal Nationwide event is a hit, there are no shortage of fans or media members ready to find a place on the Cup Series schedule for Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. And one day, that may very well happen. No question, Canada has proven itself as a NASCAR nation, both in the overwhelmingly positive response to the Montreal race and how fans from north of the border routinely travel to Cup events in the United States. As mentioned in this very space last week, Canada continues to bolster the argument that somewhere, at some time, it deserves a place in the sport’s premier series.
But is that place Montreal? Let’s face it, the fact that Sunday’s event was a Nationwide race and not a Cup stop didn’t seem to deter a record crowd from turning out. Yes, the big show would bring out Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt, and all the other stars who rarely if ever moonlight on the Nationwide tour. But it would almost certainly come with a trade-off, in the form of fewer Canadian drivers in the field. As with every Cup road course event, the regulars are so good now there’s no need to turn their vehicles over to specialists. That means local heroes like Villeneuve or Andrew Ranger would be in lower-flight cars, if they could score rides for the event at all.
Don’t underestimate how important the presence of Canadian drivers is to the race in Montreal, where every year the field is dotted with competitors who give the event a provincial flair. Villeneuve, a native of a town near Montreal whose late father is the track’s namesake, energizes the event by his very presence, and surely thrilled Canadian fans Sunday by being a threat to win. Had that been a Cup race, would Villeneuve have been in a car good enough to crack the top 10? Ranger’s third-place run last year impressed even winner Carl Edwards. Would he have been in a car capable of such a thing had the race been a Cup event?
Likely, no. You also likely wouldn’t have seen three Canadians finish in the top 11, as they did this year, or three in the top seven as happened in 2009. No question, Canadian race fans want to see Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart tangle. But from the beginning, the presence of so many Canadian drivers—good Canadian drivers in equipment capable of contending—has helped bring an energy and an enthusiasm to the Montreal event that not even a Cup race may be able to match. As it is, Montreal seems the perfect combination of people and place. That it’s a Nationwide event, technically a step below NASCAR’s premier series, hardly seems to matter.
Now, that’s not to say NASCAR doesn’t need to look long and hard at Canada as a future site for potential schedule realignment, but those are murky waters. International Speedway Corp. owns the company that promotes races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which is in a municipal park and owned by the city of Montreal. ISC currently has an agreement with the city to promote motorsports events at the track through 2012, and with Montreal’s approval could technically include Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as part of a Cup schedule shakeup at some point. But right now, there are no indications that such a move is even being considered. ISC and NASCAR seem perfectly happy with Montreal as host to a standalone Nationwide event, and given the success of the race it’s easy to see why.
So Canada’s hopes for a potential Cup race will have to wait, perhaps until that proposed 1-mile oval designed partly by Gordon rises out of the ground near Fort Erie, Ont., a town across the border from Buffalo. But that facility comes with no guarantees—even if it gets built, the track’s ownership consortium will exist outside of the ISC/Speedway Motorsports Inc. power structure, and could very well face the same frustrations former Kentucky Speedway owner Jerry Carroll suffered in trying to bring a Cup event to the Bluegrass State. That didn’t happen until he sold to SMI chairman Bruton Smith, who shifted a long-awaited date from one of his other tracks.
So anyone holding their breath in anticipation of a Canadian Cup date may turn blue in the face long before it becomes reality. Does Canada deserve it? Unquestionably, given the level of support shown by Canadian fans in Montreal, Michigan, Watkins Glen, and elsewhere. A return of NASCAR’s premier series to Canada would surely be a proud moment, especially for those who understand the motorsports heritage that exists in Ontario and Quebec. But the one big oval capable of hosting such a thing currently exists only on an architect’s desk. Montreal is a Nationwide race—and a Nationwide race only—now and for the foreseeable future.
And that’s not a bad thing. Montreal is a race that has the NASCAR spotlight unto itself, an event with a cosmopolitan backdrop that attracts an eclectic mixture of Canadian drivers, road-course specialists, and moonlighting Cup regulars. With singing and flag-waving and strong crowds, it’s as jubilant as a NASCAR event gets, regardless of the series, and it deserves to be enjoyed for what it is rather than what it is not. So it’s not a Cup event. In those final laps Sunday, when Said and Papis and Villeneuve took your breath away, did anyone really seem to mind?
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
