Author: SM Staff

Speedway Media News and Bits: For the NSCS

*Jimmie Johnson, to Honor Veterans in Scottsdale:

There will be a private concert and program with Johnson and local bands The Gin Blossoms and The Rembrandts.

*Phyzix Synthetics Signs Exclusive Partnership With NASCAR Performance.

NASCAR announced today that it has reached an exclusive agreement with Phyzix Synthetics, a division of Phyzix Automotive, to manufacture and distribute a line of NASCAR-licensed professional automobile maintenance fluids that will be designated as the No. 1 Professional Maintenance Fluid of NASCAR.

*” The Price Is Right” Welcomes NASCAR Drivers Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon, Monday November 15.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Clint Bowyer and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie Austin Dillon speed into The Price Is Right for a special NASCAR-themed episode Monday November 15 (11:00 AM-12:00 Noon ET: 10:00-11:00AM PT) on CBS. Bowyer and Dillon will present two NASCAR-themed showcases, featuring a trip to North Caroline to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a trip to Miami to see the season-ending races in all three National Series at the end of November and a Chevy Impala LS.

*Penalties and Appeals for 11/09/2010:

NASCAR Penalizes Kyle Busch for actions at Texas Motor Speedway: NASCAR has fined Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota $25,000 and placed him on NASCAR probation until December 31 for his actions during last Sunday’s race at TMS.

Busch, Violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing-inappropriate gesture and verbal abuse to NASCAR Officials). Of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel heard and considered the appeal of the No. 46 Whitney Racing NSCS team. The penalties concern: Section 12-1, Section 12-4-J “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the Race Equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR rules”, and Section 20-2.3A “Unapproved added weight location and unapproved added weight. Lower A-frames were filled with weight pellets.”

This stemmed from the opening day inspection for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on October 29, 2010.

The Penalties assessed were:

· Loss of 50 NSCS Championship Car Owner points for owner Dusty Whitney.

· Loss of 50 NSCS Championship Driver points for driver, Michael McDowell.

· $50,000 fine and indefinite suspension from NASCAR for crew chief, Thomas Tucker.

· Indefinite suspension from NASCAR for crew members: Tony Furr and Richard Boga.

The appellants requested and were granted a deferral of the suspensions and fine until such time as this hearing could be convened.

*NASCAR News and Notes for Phoenix: Race 35 of 36

*Kobalt Tools 500 from Phoenix International Raceway, Sunday November 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on ESPN, with pre-race starting at 2:00 p.m. ET; it will be aired on MRN/Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128. PIR is a 1 mile oval, and the race will consist of 312 laps for 500 mile.

*These are your Points Standings and Race for the Chase Driver Ratings coming Into Phoenix.

Rank Season

Last Driver

Driver Pts Wins Poles Week Rating

1. Denny Hamlin 6,325 8 2 2 95.6

2. Jimmie Johnson 6,292 6 2 1 107.3

3. Kevin Harvick 6,266 3 0 3 97.5

4. Carl Edwards 6,008 0 2 6 88.8

5. Matt Kenseth 6,000 0 0 8 85.1

6. Jeff Gordon 5,994 0 1 4 100.2

7. Kyle Busch 5,986 3 2 5 98.2

8. Tony Stewart 5,962 2 2 7 91.3

9. Greg Biffle 5,953 2 0 11 88.1

10. Clint Bowyer 5,928 2 0 12 92.7

11. Kurt Busch 5,890 2 2 9 91.4

12. Jeff Burton 5,852 0 0 10 97.0

*This week’s Spoiler: Mark Martin:

Martin is coming off a second-place finish at Martinsville, and 11th-place finish at Talladega and a third-place finish at Texas. Martin has made 27 starts at Phoenix International Raceway posting one pole, two wins, 12 top five finishes and 18 top 10’s including starting from the pole and winning the 2009 spring event.

*The Pre-Race will be a Salute to the Military:

To help NASCAR fans celebrate Veterans’ Day, PIR will pay tribute to the generations of men and women who have served or are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Kobalt Tolls 500 NSCS pre-race show beginning at 12:30p.m…

The pre-race show will feature more than 60,000 American Flags waving the grandstands donated by the Paralyzed Veterans of America and will also include the following:

*A “Welcome Home” ceremony for 150 guardsmen from the Arizona National Guard.

*Recognition of Arizona selections for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

*A performance by the U.S. Army Band.

*An aerial entrance to the track by skydivers carrying the American Flag.

*Display of 200-foot American Flag by Arizona Project Challenge.

*National Anthem by acclaimed trumpeter Dr. Jesse McGuire.

*F-16 fly-over by Luke Air Force Base

*Luke Air Force Base Honor Guard.

Thank you to all who have served and continue to serve our country.

So much for those boring, cookie cutter tracks.  You know the ones like Charlotte, Chicago, and Texas.  They’re supposed to induce sleeping in the afternoon, but not this week.  For some reason, tempers flared, drivers were pushing and shoving each other outside their cars and one notable finger was given.  So while Greg Biffle threatened to put us to sleep, Jeff, Jeff, Kyle, Chad, and Denny woke us up and made us wonder if there really was a full moon.

In case you were on Mars yesterday or were glued to the Not Football League, something got into Jeff Burton and he wrecked Jeff Gordon under caution.  These two mild mannered drivers met on the track and did something resembling a…pushing match.  The crowd loved it until they say the numerous slow motion replays and saw it wasn’t a fight.

Kyle Busch had some bad luck and left the pits too quickly.  He didn’t much care for the call and gave the NASCAR official the finger on television in front of God and everyone watching (the ESPN guys called it an obscene gesture).  It cost him two laps and filled the air (of those with scanners) with new words to look up.

Then there was Chad Knaus and the entire Hendrick Motorsports Empire.  They proved to the world that team is a non-term at the sport’s leading team.  Apparently all that matters is a fifth straight championship.  In the middle of the race, no less, the greedy bunch decided that the No. 48 pit crew, which had been a little off that day, needed to be demoted to cleaning up the mess from the No. 24’s crash and burn act while the No, 24’s team was promoted to pitting the four-time champ, something that’s not allowed in the other two major NASCAR series.  So much for team morale.

Then, The Biff lost second gear, Matt Kenseth found himself in a car capable of winning, and Denny Hamlin, who was nowhere near the lead for most of the day, ran like a scalded dog to the front, held off Kenseth, and took the points lead.  I thought last week was Halloween.

So, there was plenty to talk about on NASCAR radio today.  Mixed in with the usual, “I think this is the week that Junior’s gonna do it this week,” and “we’re seeing history and we should be proud to have experienced it,” was a serious discussion about how NASCAR really wasn’t so much a team sport as it was all about winning the championship.  Tell that to the Jimmie Johnson pit crew.

So, what did we learn this week?  Let’s start with the fact that Denny Hamlin is on a roll.  Whether he can keep it up for two more races remains to be seen, but his run Sunday was incredible.  Jimmie Johnson’s team will either be demoralized or show new strength.  Kevin Harvick will continue to move forward with determination.  And whether it was noticed or not, a new star was born.   Trevor Bayne drove the Wood Brother’s Ford to a 17^th place finish.  It’s notable because pretty much no one has mentioned it.  Watch this kid.  He’s going to be in the headlines soon enough.  It’s too bad that these days, we pay more attention to a ten race run than really exemplary performances.  But that’s the way it is.

So we head to Phoenix, a place that is Jimmie’s house, so all bets are off.  It will be interesting to see if Hamlin can continue this tremendous run.  It will also be interesting to see if Harvick can continue to be strong and steady, and if one of the Fords will be the spoiler.  It’s much better than the last four years.  Johnson will have to work for this championship, but I would have liked to hear more about the Wood Brothers and Trevor Bayne.  Silly me.

During the previous NASCAR weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway we watched a driver back up his personal prediction. We learned how races, and possibly championships, are won and lost in the pits. We learned that sometimes freedom of speech is necessarily free. We saw a new version of “have at it boys” and then discovered that sometimes race drivers fight like girls. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Denny Hamlin, the winner of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. The “all we do is win” mind set this team adopted quite some ago was clearly in place when Hamlin collected his series high eighth win of the season and 16th career Sprint Cup win.

Hamlin deserves another HOORAH for clearly backing up his personal prediction regarding the final three Chase races. After crossing under the checkers last Sunday at Texas, Hamlin came on his radio and said “I told you we were going to pick it up with three, (races), to go: it’s on.”

For those of you into professional wrestling you’re probably aware of a famous saying that wrestling icon Rick Flair has used for years: “to be the man you have to beat the man.” That’s exactly what Hamlin did last Sunday in Texas. With Chase rival Jimmie Johnson finishing ninth, Hamlin’s now the new points leader and goes into next weekend’s race at Phoenix leading the standings by 33 points.

HOORAH to the race winner’s crew chief, Mike Ford. Making your official NASCAR 200^th start as a crew chief is certainly a milestone to be proud of. But add winning the race and taking over the championship points lead to that and it truly becomes a very special day.

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But there are many observers that will tell you that a Roush Fenway Ford should have won at Texas. WAZZUP with Greg Biffle’s hard luck with his broken lower gears? After collecting bonus points for leading the most laps, a very strong potential race winner was extremely slow on restarts because of the gear problem. In the waning laps of the race Biffle was making a strong run to the front only to helplessly watch the final caution flag of the race present itself with seven laps left.  Despite this aggravation, Biffle still managed a fifth place finish.

HOORAH to the other Roush Fenway driver who looked like he was going to win at Texas during the final two laps. Early in the day Matt Kenseth was a lap down and it appeared the team was in the midst of another mediocre race that has plagued them all year long. But, in the final moments, Kenseth was back on the lead lap and, with some good pit work and adjustment calls, actually took the lead from Hamlin.  Unfortunately a “Hail Mary” type move to clear Hamlin found Kenseth brushing the backstretch wall. Despite the turn out Kenseth was all smiles after the race. That hard charging second place finish had to feel like a win for this team.

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WAZZUP with the performance of Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew at Texas? Talk about a bad day at work. During their first seven pit stops the performance of this championship crew managed to cost their driver highly significant track position during four of them.

HOORAH for crew chief’s Chad Knaus sudden, and very surprising, decision to swap his team for the available Rainbow Warriors from Jeff Gordon’s team. Following a crash that sidelined Gordon’s car, the Rainbow Warriors were suddenly available and a deal to swap pit crews was quickly arranged.

HOORAH to Gordon’s crew for their stunning performance on pit road. Their first effort got Johnson down pit road in 12.6 seconds which allowed him to pick up positions. The second stop clocked in at 12.3 second while the final stop, a two tire change, was performed in a stunning 5.9 seconds.

A major move like this may seem unorthodox to some but, with a championship on the line, decisions like this are often vital and could loom large when the final points are counted at the end of the season. No one connected to a major sport likes being benched but the #48 deserves a HOORAH for their understanding of the decision. They even “fist bumped” the #24 guys during the changeover.

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That, in turn, leads to a WAZZUP with the sudden availability of the #24 team.  Following a lap 191 caution flag, caused by Martin Truex Jr hitting the wall, the cars of Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton collided in what turned out to be a very hard crash. At first, the video replay appeared to be an act of retaliation by Burton. It turned out that there was contact between the two cars from a previous lap and Gordon was pretty steamed about it. Following the yellow flag Burton pulled alongside Gordon to let him know he was sorry about that contact. That’s when the two cars got together and hit the wall.

Two ambulances came out onto the track to transport the drivers for the mandatory trip to the infield medical center for a check up. But Gordon walked right by his ride and physically attacked Burton on the backstretch while officials made an effort to pull them apart.. WAZZUP with that move? Is that what they call fighting?  Frankly, I’ve seen ladies in a bar room brawl put out a stronger effort?

Related to this is a HOORAH to NASCAR’s “have at it boys” policy initiated last January. It was that policy that allowed ESPN to present a boxing match in the middle of a stock car race if, again, you can call that fighting.

WAZZUP with putting these two angry drivers in the same ambulance for the ride to the medical center?

After the mandatory checkup a still angry Gordon said he’s now lost a lot of respect for Burton. But a HOORAH does go out to Burton for taking full responsibility for the incident and explained that their bumpers hooked up when he pulled alongside Gordon’s car. He also said that Gordon had every right in the world to be angry with him.

**********

WAZZUP with Kyle Busch exercising his self proclaimed right to free speech? That’s what he called presenting the middle finger to a NASCAR official standing in front of his car on pit road. Busch was called back to pit road to serve a penalty after getting caught speeding while exiting the pits. The angry driver shouted a flurry of expletives over the radio and then presented the offensive hand gesture to the NASCAR official.

There’s no defense for this. The Busch car had an in car television camera in it and

the entire nation witnessed the act. Someone needs to remind the “Rowdy One” that the tiny green light means the camera is on. That prompted ESPN broadcaster Marty Reid to apologize to the viewing audience for the offensive display.

HOORAH to NASCAR for refusing to tolerate such a display by penalizing the driver two laps for what they termed “unsportsmanlike conduct.”. There are now reports that additional punishment may be levied later this week. If that happens then they’ll receive another HOORAH for that action as well.

The shame of it all is the fact that Busch had a very strong car capable of winning the race. Had he kept his middle finger to himself he could have rejoined the race at the tail end of the lead lap and become a factor in the finish. It’s now likely that Busch just realized that sometimes freedom of speech isn’t necessarily free and, dependent upon NASCAR’s decision on additional punishment; it could get even more expensive.

We saw this act too many times in the past, Kyle Busch on a tirade. We’ve been told in the past that he’s a very passionate driver who finds race day adversity, such as finishing second, unacceptable. He attracts attention like a moth drawn to a flame. There are even some members of the NASCAR media who regard him as job security because he’s always good for a story line.

But what we witnessed from this driver, during the NASCAR weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, was an act that was taken too far. When Kyle Busch decided to disrespect a NASCAR official with an obscene gesture, during last Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, he seriously crossed a line. He now knows that and he seems to be humbled by the aftermath of the incident.

Busch’s Texas weekend actually began on a super positive note. The Texas Motor Speedway played host to all three of NASCAR’s national touring series and Busch was entered in all three races. That’s something else about him we’ve seen many times before and he’s very good at busy racing schedules.

On Friday night Busch, in his self owned Toyota Truck, won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. It marked his seventh series win of the season and his 23d series career win. The latest win in the truck series also paid some handsome dividends. This was especially true of the owner’s points championship. Kyle Busch Motorsports now holds a 72 point lead in those standings and, with only two races left in the season, that’s going to be difficult for the competition to overcome. It beginning to look like Busch’s truck team, in its rookie season, is going to take this coveted title.

Busch’s Friday night win also paid dividends for Toyota as well. It allowed the automaker to win the series’ manufacturer’s championship for the fifth consecutive year in a row.

On Saturday Busch climbed in his familiar Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to take the green flag for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Busch was going after another set of Nationwide Series numbers in this race. With five previous wins at Texas, he was looking to become only the first driver in NASCAR history to win six consecutive races at the same track. Once again he was a major player in the race and led a race high 107 of the 205 laps.

Unfortunately, he didn’t lead the lap that mattered the most: the final one. That honor went to race winner Carl Edwards. A late in the race final caution flag set up another one of the series’ classic green-white-checker finishes. Edwards and Busch lined up next to each other for the double file restart. Edwards pulled off a beauty of a restart and easily led the final two laps for the win.

After the race an incensed Busch swore that Edwards jumped the restart and hit the gas pedal prior to passing the double red lines painted on the outside retaining wall. These lines are used as markers for the official starting point. NASCAR officials double checked the video and declared that Edwards had done nothing wrong.

The fact of the matter was Busch was completely got off guard by Edwards’ outstanding restart effort and apparently had trouble with the fact that he lost the race and the opportunity to set another new series’ record.

After the race an angry Busch said “he jumped the restart by about three lengths before the double red marks. Does it freakin’ matter? The race is over. The guy’s in victory lane. It doesn’t matter.” Following the conclusion of a race NASCAR policy calls for the top three finishers to report to the track media center for a press conference. Busch only spent a few scant moments in the media center before he stormed out but not before he left a few well chosen four letter words in his wake. There was also a report that said Busch used foul language during a post race radio interview. Fortunately the radio network was able to do some quick editing to protect the sanctity of their airwaves.

We have of course seen these tirades from this driver many times before. But what we didn’t know Saturday night was the ultimate Busch melt down was yet to come. What happened on Sunday left even Busch’s harshest critics speechless?

When the green flag fell on Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Busch was considered a pre race favorite. But his Sunday in Texas unraveled on lap 160 when his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota went spinning through turns one and two. He came in for tires and quickly worked his way down pit road. Busch was worried about crossing the pit road exit line before the pace car did in order to avoid going a lap down. He got to the line first but was caught for speeding down pit road in the process. His action to beat the pace car was deemed flagrant and NASCAR ordered him to return to pit road for a one lap penalty.

The Kyle Busch meltdown was now locked and loaded. He pulled into his pit stall to serve the penalty amid a volley of four letter words. A NASCAR official was standing directly in front of his car with his hand held up to halt the driver until the penalty was complete. That’s when Busch decided to let his anger cross a line that should have been left alone. He displayed his middle finger to the official. We all saw it because the ESPN Network had a camera inside of Busch’s car and the moment was recorded for posterity. NASCAR also saw the offensive gesture and brought Busch back to pit road for an additional two lap penalty. A car capable of winning the race was now three laps down and wound up finishing 32nd.

Busch later said that he wasn’t aware that the in car camera system was on. It really didn’t matter because he held that middle finger against his windshield for several seconds. He wanted to make sure that the pit road official got a good look at his displeasure.

After the race Busch was still in a surly mood and said “you get spun out and wrecked like that and you’re not supposed to lose your cool. I mean HELLO!

NASCAR officials were understandably angry at Busch. After the race Kerry Tharpe, NASCAR Director of Communication and Competition, called the incident both “unacceptable and inappropriate at any level of sports.” He also indicated that the punishment phase may not be over and NASCAR may be taking a hard look at this incident in the days to come.

Tharpe strongly objected to the offensive action taken by Busch against one of their officials and said “we take that very seriously and I think this is one we’re going to take a hard look at. It’s in the rule book, It’s on the pit road rulebook card as well. Anytime you make an obscene or inappropriate gesture toward any one of our officials, you’re subject to a time or lap penalty and we got him with the two laps. But again, the people who officiate our sport are hard working men and women and they deserve to be treated with respect.”

By now a much calmer, and very humble, Kyle Busch admitted that the frustration of the spin out got the best of him and said “I’m sorry that I lost my cool to everybody on this team, to everybody at NASCAR and all my guys that supports me. It’s just so frustrating the way that have such a fast race car, then you get spun out and you don’t expect to lose your cool, I guess. I apologize to all of my guys for letting them down and for getting us so far behind that we could never make it up.”

Next we witnessed another sight that we’ve seen many times before. That would be J D Gibbs, President of Joe Gibbs Racing, taking on the role of company spin doctor. Gibbs reminded us that Busch is an extremely passionate driver who gets frustrated easily when things do not go well on race day.

“I think that’s something he’s going to have to continue to work on and I think that he acknowledges that and admits that. But right when it happens, it’s hard for him to control that. I think that’s just an area in general and in life he’s going to have to address. We’ve just got to make sure it happens sooner rather than later”, Gibbs said.

Monday’s announcement from Hendrick Motorsports that said their #24 and #48 teams were swapping pit crews for the final two races of the year really wasn’t that surprising. For Jimmie Johnson, and his Chad Knaus led #48 team, it’s bottom line time. It’s all about taking care of business in order to win the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship.

We all watched in amazement last Sunday as the events of the Texas race unfolded. One of the best pit crews in organized motorsports was faltering. Their pit road performance was chaotic and costing their driver valuable track position. This is not the first time that a tiny chink in the armor of the #48 team has been noticed. But in the past they’ve always managed to rally and overcome the adversity. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen at the Texas race. The pit road situation started off bad and only got worse.

When Jeff Gordon crashed out of the race, following that bizarre caution flag incident with Jeff Burton, a decision was made by Chad Knaus no one expected. He benched his guys and had Gordon’s #24 team, known as the “Rainbow Warriors” take over. The #24 crew has been formidable on pit road much of the racing season. They made quick work of coming to Johnson’s rescue last Sunday. According to the ESPN Network time clocks, their first pit stop for the #48 car was 12.9 seconds. The subsequent stop was timed at 12.3 seconds and their final stop, a two tire change, was performed in a stunning 5.9 seconds.

But, despite that stellar performance, the damage was done. Johnson’s team arrived in Texas with a slim 14 point advantage in the Chase standings. They left the Lone Star State second in the standings 33 points down. It marked the first time since the 2005 Chase when this team was not in the points lead with only two races left.

It was only two weeks ago that the pit crews for Richard Childress Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer made a temporary crew swap in order to help Harvick’s championship contender status. But this swap was carefully planned and orchestrated from the RCR office. On the opposite extreme was the crew sway arranged by Knaus that was extreme last minute and caught everyone, including the crew members and the driver, completely off guard. That’s likely why everyone seems to be having issues with the move.

Afterwards Johnson said he truly felt bad for his guys and noted that many of them has been with him during the team’s previous four championships. But he also pointed out that there were performance issues and compared it Major League Baseball saying “I just watched the World Series, and when a pitcher is not doing his job, they make a change and get someone in who can (get the job done).”

While this crew swap was surprising, and perhaps even a little unorthodox, it was all about the series business of winning the Sprint Cup championship. Knaus even indicated a willingness to take himself out of the equation if that’s what it takes to get the job done and said “if Steve Letarte, (Jeff Gordon’s crew chief), can call a better race, then I’m going to put him on my pit box. It’s about winning this championship. That’s all that matters.”

The bottom line here is indeed winning a fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. In short, all Chad Knaus did last Sunday was take care of business.

On Sunday, Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team had one of their worst days as it saw the team fall apart.

In the first seven stops of the race, the no. 48 team lost stops on four of them. Valuable track position was lost and therefore putting Johnson in bad situations.

So once teammate Jeff Gordon was wrecked out of the race, Chad Knaus and Rick Hendrick called the ultimate decision – they fired their pit crew, using Gordon’s for the rest of the race and now, the rest of the year.

The last two stops pulled by Gordon’s pit crew were both sub 12-second stops, allowing Johnson to keep his track position.

“It was just a long day,” Johnson said after the event. “We just gave away so much track position at the beginning and it was tough to get back to where we needed to.”

“It’s a professional sport, and you see it all the time,” Knaus said after the Texas race, as according to NASCAR.com. “If somebody’s out or somebody’s not getting it done, say in football, you get a different receiver in the game or a different quarterback, or whatever it is.

“Unfortunately, our guys weren’t hitting on all eight cylinders [Sunday], and we had an opportunity with the 24 crashing to bring those guys in. They did a good job. They came in and played relief, and I thought they did a good job [Sunday]. It’s unfortunate. I don’t like doing that stuff, nobody does. But it’s kind of your job.”

“I’m okay with it,” front tire changer Mike Lingerfelt said. “We’re all team players.”

Though did Chad Knaus make the right call in bringing Gordon’s crew in?

Let’s take it to the streets….

“I would have tried it, what was the worst that could happen?” Kim Means Velez said. “The 24 pit crew didn’t do any better or had sub-par stops? Their stops were a second and half faster than the 48 crew. That is a lot on time on the track. NASCAR is a team sport, just like football and if the starting quarterback is struggling, they put in the back up quarterback to see what he can do to help the team.

“RCR swapped the entire 29/33 pit crew during the chase, granted it was during a race but sometimes change is needed.

“If anything, I am hoping that it motivates the 48 boys to dig deep and figure out what it is that is missing this season from the previous seasons and why they are four time champs.”

“The crews should not have been swapped,” Cherie Andrews said. “You win and loose as a team.”

“If you’re trying to win a championship, and 2 of your teams are eligible, and one gets mathematically eliminated, then, as a smart team owner, or principal, you dissect, find your weak links and make a fix,” Matthew Vance added. “(The No.) 48 pit crew has been off all season long. (The No.) 24 pit crew has been stellar. It’s not a need for drama that a lot of others, including high media are making it out to be. It’s simple strategy.”

When it comes to the Sprint Cup Series level, you’ve got to be the best of the best to be able to contend and beat other teams who are striving for that level.

Also, it’s a move that the No. 29 team of Kevin Harvick pulled earlier in the Chase as they are using their teammate Clint Bowyer’s pit crew. Clint Bowyer said that he was all for the change as he was all for having at least one of the Richard Childress Racing teams win the championship.

Though even though there are a lot of positives with the change, some people have questioned – what about the moral of the guys?

‎”If you want to win you will do what it takes, what the 48 did was rude but it was a smart idea.” Luke Deakins quoted Smoke Tronix (owner of www.smoketronix.com).

“Congratulations to Chad Knaus on destroying the team moral,” Danny said. “Watch this team fall apart now and lose every nitch they had for awhile and in a sense, lose the championship. Events like this are what start the process of teams breaking apart and failing.”

“Unfortunately the easy negative is a possible feeling of betrayal for the 48 crew which could lead to even worse performances the next two weeks.” Deakins said.

“They have to be big boys, and understand the situation,” Vance said. “Look at the bigger picture, and realize they gotta get better. Use it to be a positive experience. Just practice, practice, practice.”

At first, it may look negative on the guys, however in the end, it may help the team. It’ll show them that they can be replaced and they got to get better as there are other guys out there can do it just as good as them and take over the deal.

However, was taking the whole team out a good move considering that most of the issues surrounded the front end of the car?

“Truthfully, the broken links in the chain are Mike Lingerfelt and one other guy – they are the only ones that should be taken off the team at all or sat aside due to them not living up to their potential and performing.” Danny pointed out via the discussion.

It’d be simple to take Lingerfelt and his partner off the team in the middle of the race as they were the main source of the problem. Through the multiple replays of the issues, they always seemed to be on the front end.

However, if you just take them off and put Jeff’s front tire changer and carrier, you run into a possible “rhythm” problem. By changing the entire group for the time being, it gets rid of that possibility.

Then once their back at the shop, Knaus being the team leader he is, will probably explain why he did it and the reasoning behind.

Then you’ll see changes within the team made to be ready for next year. Chancing a change right now during the pivotal Chase could erase the chances for the No. 48 team completely.

“Exactly – rhythm, these guys are all used to their certain jackmen and what not,” Vance commented. “If the ‘team morale’ is destroyed, then sorry pals, give me a break, this is the big time. A mistake here and there is tolerable, consistent inconsistency is unacceptable. They don’t deserve to be there. You gotta play the game.

“That’s why Chad is so good. If you can’t do the job, and do it right, and be one of the best, he’ll find someone who is. I’m sure we have all worked for someone like that before. I know I have. It sucked at times, but it was also a great experience, because it pushed me to be the best at what I did. They’ll grow, and they’ll learn.”

Plus, it made sense to bring over the No. 24 team as the No. 24 and No. 48 teams work together in the same shop.

“As for the actual switch, this is the time we’ll see how much of a Championship and professional team these guys are,” Pam Woodward Johnson said. “They all work together wearing both car numbers on their shirts every day in the shop and have for years claimed to be one team. So if 248 is one team then it shouldn’t cause an issue; it should cause them all to step up and do what is best for the 248 shop and for HMS as a whole.”

Lastly in this debate, Amy Henderson brings up the point of why not a quicker change.

“My only question was why didn’t they do that weeks ago,” Henderson said. “The pit crew has hurt Johnson week after week and likely cost him the championship with their poor performance during the Chase. They didn’t get him this far, he carried them.”

Could it be that Knaus is feeling the pressure from Denny Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford? Ford purposely picked the stall in front of Knaus to therefore play mind games and were those mind games working?

Ford stated on NASCAR Victory Lane that he saw them make the change and was well aware of it. He said that the No. 11 team consistently had good pit stops all day and saw the No. 48 team struggling. Did Knaus feel desperation as he watched his competitor?

Pam Johnson thinks the lack of change has to do with the team loyalty.

“I’d say one reason they haven’t made a change before is just that team loyalty everyone keeps bringing up,” Johnson said. “The front guys have both been with the team several years so would be some loyalty there to them. And the over the wall crew hasn’t totally sucked all year; just been hit and miss. We don’t know if there have been injuries, technical issues or something else going on.

“Plus while Chad is the ultimate decision maker for things pertaining to the crew there is a pit crew coach too and he sees them everyday, drills them and is there every race so he has to take some responsibility. I would think he has some answering to do also as to what the issues are and why they have continued.”

Another point to consider surrounding the entire pit crew swap is that the No. 29/33 swap didn’t generate a lot of publicity, yet everybody is discussing the No. 24/48 swap. What gives?

For one, the No. 29/33 swap happened in the middle of the week and was seen as an obvious to happen, considering Bowyer was last in points, sitting more than 300 points back.

Though, an even bigger point to consider is that this deals with the four-time defending champions. They are suppose to flawless and be the perfect team, poised for their fifth in a row. As soon as a flaw is seen, it’s going to blown out of proportion to therefore generate publicity for NASCAR and make it seem as if he is beatable, considering most generate that the sport’s ratings are down due to him.

Beyond the pit crew though, is the No. 48 team in trouble?

“Chad himself hasn’t been on his game lately either,” Vance said. “When he said in his interview tonight that ‘making adjustments back there in the pack is so hard to do’, I knew right then there is some trouble. Making those adjustments is what Chad does!

“Now, I’m a big time 48 fan. They are still really good obviously, but they are not their usual. Basically Jimmie ate his wheaties, but did the team pack their lunches, I’m pretty sure Denny would love to ask that question.”

It would seem that way as in years past, the No. 48 would dominate the chase and have a good lead by now. However, in exchange this year, they’ve been running about average with the rest of the pack and therefore now find their title chances in jeopardy.

Also, the No. 48 team started slightly behind this year so are they still seeing the effects? Have they totally not caught up yet?

“This race more than any other showed that HMS, the 48 team and the 248 shop is behind this year,” Pam Johnson said. “Jeff wasn’t running that great again; Jr. wasn’t ever even on the radar; Jimmie’s car was never as good as it could have/should have been even with his 9th place finish and the pit crew issues with our team just topped it off.”

Recall they didn’t start the Chase as the leaders as Harvick and Hamlin led the bunch in.

In the end, it’ll be interesting to see how these last two races play out and to see if the change in pit crews benefits the No. 48 team and brings the championship to the 248 shop.

Hendrick Motorsports has announced that the 24 and 48 crews will trade duties for the remainder of the 2010 season. The change is limited to the seven primary over the wall pit crew members. Additonal team members and personell will not be affected.

This change comes on the heels of the trading of pit crews deep into the race at Texas Motorspeedway on Sunday. This change was brought about by 3 stops by the 48 crew that put the 4 time champion, Jimmie Johnson deep in the field. It appeared that the front tire carrier and right front tire changer struggled on each stop costing Johnson as many as 10 positions on the track. The change though not of unheard of rarely occurs in the middle of a race. It was felt that to perserve Johnson’s Championship hopes the teams should be switched since Jeff Gordon had fallen out of the race after a wreck on the backstretch with Jeff Burton. Chad Knaus, Crew Chief for the 48, stated, “Ultimately the decision is mine” when he was asked who made the decision to change crews.

Gordon’s crew has consistently pulled 12-second stops this year and is leading the fastest pit crew competition sponsored by AT&T.

Chad Knaus and Steve Latarte will address the media Tuesday morning.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Is about to close out his 11th year of Sprint Cup competition. He’s consistently one of the most talked about figures in the sport. Speculation about his career, why he runs where he runs, his personal life and his professional decisions are all fair game it seems.

Before we go any further, there’s one thing that I think I should make clear up front: I like Dale Earnhardt Jr. I’ve never met the guy, but he seems likeable enough. He’s about my age and from my part of the world. It’s easy for me to identify with him, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

He’s in an enviable position. He’s one of the most recognizable NASCAR drivers in America, and I’m talking about beyond the sport. People who have never watched a lap of a race can recognize him on sight.

He’s rich.

He probably gets all the free Pepsi products he wants. Amps aren’t cheap. I had to finance the one I’m drinking now while I write this. That’s a pretty good perk right there.

He mingles with celebrities, including Jay-Z, and that guy is married to Beyonce! How’s that for six degrees of separation?

He has his own race team, and employs one of the most talked about Nationwide drivers in recent memory in Danica Patrick.

He’s won 18 more Sprint Cup races than most of us will ever dream of winning, including the Daytona 500.

He’s racing royalty.

Earnhardt Jr. is a treasure in NASCAR. He’s a third generation competitor and that’s become rarer in a sport that has become more diverse in terms of the areas from which the drivers hail.

His father was perhaps the most iconic figure ever to sit behind the wheel of a stock car. He was, and still is, my favorite driver. I still don’t watch a race to this day and not think about him at least once. For me, Big E. is the yardstick by which all other drivers are measured.

For a lot of people, that day the Intimidator passed away was the day they became fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

For now, Dale Jr. is the center of the NASCAR universe. He has been for a while, and I don’t see a way that it will change anytime soon. Year after year he’s the sport’s most popular driver: legions of fans don their hats and t-shirts every weekend to pull for Junior.

That’s just not going to stop, and in fact I suspect his fan base is actually growing, though I’ve never counted the green t-shirts or hats at any of NASCAR’s tracks.

That’s a completely unscientific estimation on my part, but it’s mine and I’m entitled to an observation.

Of all the eyes on Dale Jr., there seems to be three sets of people watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. that most readily make their presence known.

The first set is comprised of his detractors. They just don’t like him. They will point to his statistics; use the mighty accomplishments of his father or another successful driver of the moment as a comparison, and claim with disdain that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would never be in the Sprint Cup Series if not for his last name.

I don’t think that’s true, and if you’re among that group, you’re entitled to your opinion, but there’s a lot of less accomplished drivers who have managed to have long careers in NASCAR. Try to figure out how Ken Schrader kept showing up all those years if I’m wrong.

The second group is Junior Nation. They are his most rabid fans and lately his most staunch defenders. If you’ve ever read an article about him online that allows readers to post comments, ‘Nation is not hard to find.

I can pick them out, you can too, or maybe you’re a part of it. They range from those who feel a paternal draw to him out of watching him experience what he went though in 2001 (which is entirely understandable), to those who feel he has some unbridled talent that is just waiting to be unleashed.

Both are entirely understandable sentiments. The loss he suffered in 2001 was so public and so painful for so many fans that a lot of people felt the need to pull for him as if it were their own child.

Those who feel he has an uncorked talent harbor the belief that you couldn’t have that last name and not carry some of that ability in your DNA. At times, he’s shown flashes of that brilliance.

Then there is the third group: the pragmatists, like me. I don’t dislike him because of some bitterness that he didn’t earn his spot, nor do I own a Dale Jr. T-shirt. Again I like the guy personally, and he’s a great race car driver.

Consider this: After the race at Texas, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits 19th in points.

If you subscribe to the belief that the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series are the best stock car drivers in the world, after Texas using the points one can credibly come to the conclusion that as of November 8, 2010, only 18 men on the face of the earth are better drivers than him.

That’s pretty heady company. There are more than 6.8 billion people on Earth. He’s better than all but 18 of them when it comes to driving a stock car.

The interesting thing though is that even with the credentials he holds, it has seemingly become fashionable to create an alternate history for Junior.

There’s nothing wrong with fans wanting to highlight the performance of their driver. It makes for great debate.

The problem emerges when the alternate narrative of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career gets so ingrained in the NASCAR consciousness that it replaces the reality. The alternate history is dangerous because it has a strange way of distorting our expectation of him.

It’s sort of become a fishing story for racing; a sermon for the converted. A narrative for the ‘Nation: The Ballad of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It goes something like this:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his Sprint Cup Debut in 1999 after much fanfare and success in the Nationwide Series. He made five starts that year, and ran for rookie of the year in 2000.

He did it in style. He won twice that season and competed with his father, who finished second in the final points standings. Some would say later that Dale Sr.’s career was revitalized by competing against his own son.

The following year, Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away in a last lap crash at the Daytona 500. Dale Jr. was forced to mourn publicly, and in the process took on millions of fans not only for his talent, but for his charisma.

He dazzled the fans at Daytona that July, conquering the track that took his father and beginning a meteoric rise to dominance.

By 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s career became something out of a Dickens novel.

After years spent languishing under the oppressive management of his stepmother Teresa at DEI, Dale Earnhardt Jr. felt it was time to have some control over the racing empire his father built.

He wanted a piece of the company, or he threatened he’d walk.

He walked straight to Hendrick Motorsports.

His 2007 news conference announcing the move was live on television, and came as welcome news to Junior Nation. They felt certain that the move would put him in the equipment that would propel him to a Sprint Cup Championship.

However, many Amp drinks later, we discovered that Hendrick wasn’t the place for Jr. to rejuvenate his career.

After a promising start in the Budweiser Shootout in 2008, the slow decline began, and it became increasingly apparent that Dale Jr. was once again the victim of management.

Rick Hendrick unscrupulously began to shuffle resources, personnel and equipment to ensure the continued success of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon at the expense of Driver 88.

The machinations at HMS have ensured that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not be able to exhibit his superior talent as long as he remains under the employ of Rick Hendrick.

He remains there a prisoner of his contract to this day, waiting for the release from HMS that will allow him to once again dominate the way he did just a few short years ago.

In a nutshell, this is The Ballad of Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s a parallel history offered while his fans await the championship form they remember.

But it’s not entirely the truth. The skeleton is right, but it includes a few embellishments and omissions along the way which change the Ballad from the true story.

At the core of the narrative is the notion that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would win all the time if it wasn’t for his circumstances.

His 18 career Cup wins, his 2004 Daytona 500 crown, and his back to back Nationwide titles in 1998 and 1999 are often cited as evidence of his bottled up talent.

Maybe that portion of his career is a lot further away than everyone thinks.

Back when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was cutting his teeth in the Nationwide Series, it was a much different series than it is now. It wasn’t heavily populated with Sprint Cup drivers like it is today.

Among the final top ten rankings in the Nationwide series in 1998 were only two drivers who are currently driving in the Sprint Cup Series today (Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth) and a laundry list of people who are residing in the “where are they now files.”

He was seriously challenged by Kenseth in a Roush car, but also was chased by icons like Elton Sawyer, Tim Fedewa and Buckshot Jones.

Take a look at the Nationwide points standings after Texas. There are currently six full—time Cup drivers in the top ten, including of course the series champion Brad Keselowski in a Penske Dodge.

Imagine if back in 1998 there were drivers with similar Cup experience as there are now.

If you take those six drivers currently in the top 10 in Nationwide points (Keselowski, Edwards, Ky. Busch, Menard, Harvick and Logano) and figure where they are in the Sprint Cup standings and then apply those rankings to 1998, Earnhardt Jr. would have been fighting the following Cup guys for that 1998 Nationwide title: Brett Bodine (25th in Cup points), Rusty Wallace (fourth), Jeremy Mayfield (seventh), Ricky Rudd (23rd), Dale Jarrett (third) and Chad Little (16th).

Among that list are two guys who won Sprint Cup titles in their careers and a couple of less than stellar performers, but they all had something that Jr. didn’t have at that time: experience.

It’s a much different series now than it was then. There are more drivers with more experience in better stuff.

That’s not to discount those titles. Dale Earnhardt Jr. handily beat the guys he was racing against. He wore ‘em out week in and week out. It’s simply to point out that Nationwide titles in the 1990s aren’t what they are today.

But what are Nationwide titles? Do they mean anything anyway?

Jr. won back to back Nationwide titles in 1998 and ’99. Randy LaJoie also won back to back titles in the 1990s (1996-97). He professed he never wanted to go Cup racing, but he never even was seriously approached by the top echelon teams of the time to drive one of their cars.

Larry Pearson won back to back titles in the 1980s (1986-87). He was a second generation driver, and in the 80s his father David Pearson was still fresh in a lot of people’s minds. His Cup career never went anywhere either.

On the other hand, not winning a Nationwide title doesn’t exactly mean you’ll fail at the Cup series either.

Jeff Gordon has four Sprint Cup titles and 82 victories. The closest he ever got to claiming a Nationwide title was in 1992. He finished fourth to Joe Nemechek, 222 points back.

At least Gordon won five Nationwide races. His teammate and current flavor of the last four years Jimmie Johnson never got that far. In 91 Nationwide starts, Johnson managed one win in 2001.

His futility at the Nationwide level sure didn’t come with him to Sprint Cup.

53 wins and four titles later, people are biting their nails trying to figure out if he’ll win a fifth straight. NASCAR fans are either salivating over the idea of seeing Johnson make more history or watching him implode with two races to go.

For some, he’s so good it’s boring.

Jr.’s best run in the Sprint Cup Series was 2003-2004. He won two races in ’03 en route to a third place finish in the final standings. He backed it up with a fifth place run in 2004, and that’s the season that people remember.

He started it with a bang at the Daytona 500. After dominating all day, he won the race that eluded his father for 20 years in just his fifth attempt.

The Daytona 500 is a huge part of any driver’s career, and it certainly was a near obsession for his father. But does it really mean anything in terms of greatness?

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was great long before he won his only Daytona 500 in 1998. He had won 70 races and already was a seven—time champion. He had greatness covered before he won the 500. While it was a wildly popular win, history probably wouldn’t have judged him any differently if he hadn’t won it.

On the other hand, both Derrike Cope (1990) and Ward Burton (2002) won the 500. It didn’t make either of them great. Together they won seven Sprint Cup races.

That’s one fewer than Denny Hamlin has won this year.

Dale Jr.’s 2004 Daytona 500 win kicked off a season in which he won six times and posted 16 top five finishes. It’s one of two seasons in which he was won more than twice. 2001 was the other with three wins.

Interestingly, both of those seasons were campaigned at DEI, where he ultimately left because he didn’t feel he could win and compete for titles. They also happened after the death of his father and under the widely perceived ham—handed management of Teresa Earnhardt.

Off to Hendrick Motorsports for 2008.

His beginnings were promising. First time out, he grabbed his first win for Hendrick Motorsports in the 2008 Budweiser Shootout. He went on to chalk up another win at Michigan in June.

He hasn’t been to victory lane since.

Before everyone begins to cultivate the reasons he doesn’t win at Hendrick, it’s useful to note that Rick Hendrick dealt with Jr.’s sister and hired his uncle and cousin to help make a seamless transition to Hendrick.

They’ve thrown engineers and crew chiefs at Jr.’s woes, including current Stewart—Haas ace Darian Grubb. Grubb had guided Jimmie Johnson to a Daytona 500 in 2006, then moved over to oversee the No. 88 and the No. 5 cars for 2008.

He then moved on to the opportunity of a lifetime in September of ‘08. He had the chance to crew chief for two—time Sprint Cup champ Tony Stewart and his new operation. Some have suggested he was taken away in 2008.

He wasn’t. He pursued a great opportunity.

The idea that he was taken away is about the same as saying Ray Evernham was taken away from Jeff Gordon. He wasn’t. He left to pursue a great opportunity in team ownership.

Over the years Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had a solid career. He’s amassed 18 wins at the Cup level.

Of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup this year, that puts him right about in the middle in terms of win totals.

Six guys have more than 18 wins: Johnson, Gordon, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton. Of those six, three got to their totals in fewer starts than Dale Jr. (Kyle and Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson).

On the other hand, of the six that haven’t gotten to 18 wins, only Matt Kenseth has had a career as long as Dale Earnhardt Jr. They’re tied at 18 apiece and are one career start apart.

Junior has 397 starts, Kenseth has 398.

The point of all of this is maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. is just doing what Dale Earnhardt Jr. does and is running where Dale Earnhardt Jr. runs.

His average finish right now is 18.4. That’s about in the middle of all of his seasons. Six seasons he’s posted better average finishes, four have been worse. His career average finish is just about 17th. He’s a little more than one position off for 2010.

Just about everyone in the sport wants Dale Jr. to win more. I do. I’m pretty sure NASCAR does too. They know the excitement he generates when he does win.

What gets missed sometimes is the distinct possibility that he’s had his best years in terms of results. He’s 36 years old, and the fields are getting younger.

That’s not to say he’s washed up, because I certainly don’t think that. There are wins ahead, and maybe even a shot at a title.

In the interim, he still brings excitement to the sport, puts fans in the seats and eyes on the television. No matter what he does from here on, his place in the sport is secure.

But there’s no reason to panic because Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t running good. He’s running about where he usually runs. He just doesn’t have the occasional trips to victory lane.

His father went through a slump in the 1990s, and then came back. Jr. could do the same thing.

For the time being though, look at Dale Jr. and recognize he’s one of the last links to the multi—generational feel that NASCAR once had.

No matter what Jr. does with his career from here, that name of his symbolizes a different time in NASCAR. It’s worth remembering, and we owe Jr. a lot just for that.

That part of the Ballad of Dale Earnhardt is true whether he returns to victory lane or not.

There was a shoot out on and off the track at the OK Corral, otherwise known as Texas Motor Speedway. Here are the surprising and not surprising moments from the AAA Texas 500:

Surprising:  Two well-known veterans of the sport took each other out on the track, off the track and perhaps even in the ambulance ride back to the care center.  From Jeff Gordon’s perspective, Jeff Burton just wrecked him, driving him hard into the wall.  “I never thought that would happen,” Gordon said.  “I’ve lost a lot of respect for Jeff Burton.”  Burton, on the other hand, took the blame, saying “I wrecked him under caution.  I don’t have a bit of problem with what he did.”  No matter the rhetoric afterwards, Jeff Gordon got out of his decimated car, took a long walk to find Jeff Burton, and started swinging.  After both drivers were restrained by the NASCAR officials, they were loaded together into the ambulance, where Gordon emerged still fuming.  Burton was able to return to the race, albeit in a badly damaged car, to finish 36^th, while Gordon officially retired from the race, ultimately finishing in the 37^th spot.

Not Surprising:  Kyle Busch, known for antics of his own, got into big trouble with none other than NASCAR itself.  On lap 159, Busch wrecked and headed to the pits for repairs.  NASCAR determined that Busch was too fast out trying to beat the pace car and ordered him back to his pit stall to be held for a lap.  While sitting on pit road, Busch decided to take his frustrations out on the NASCAR official, giving him the middle finger salute.  NASCAR ordered Busch to be held two more laps for his indiscretion, which left him several laps down, finishing in the 32^nd position.

Surprising:  With Joe Gibb’s good guy image, it was surprising to see the Coach in a black hat.  But there he was in Victory Lane after his driver Denny Hamlin drove like a demon, beating out Matt Kenseth for the checkered flag.  Hamlin not only performed the Texas sweep, he also claimed the points lead, now 33 points ahead of former point’s leader Jimmie Johnson.  “My goal was to win the race, nothing else,” Hamlin said simply, notching one more win on his Chase belt and moving ever closer to his championship dream.

Not Surprising:  Both Chase contenders Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick had decent finishes, with each one overcoming challenges of their own.  Johnson had all kinds of problems on pit road, from losing a tire to poor pit stops by his crew, while Harvick slapped the wall in the waning stages of the race.  Johnson finished ninth and lost the points lead, falling to an unfamiliar second place in the Chase.  Harvick finished sixth and is now 59 points back in the standings, but still within striking distance of the championship.

Surprising:   Speaking of Johnson’s pit road struggles, crew chief Chad Knaus took some swift action to resolve the issues.   Knaus summarily relieved his own struggling pit crew and swapped them out with Gordon’s No. 24 pit crew, who almost immediately began pulling off improved pit stops.  Johnson’s former pit crew members were left to wallow in their indiscretions as they handled the task of disassembling the No. 24 pit box.

Not Surprising:  During an interview after the race, Chad Knaus, looking a bit more rattled than usual, nevertheless took full responsibility for making that most difficult call to swap out the pit crews.  “It was sad we had to do that,” Knaus said.  “But it was in the best interest of Hendrick Motor Sports.”  Knaus reaffirmed that the “4-8 and 2-4 teams are one,” making his decision a bit easier, at least in his eyes. 

Surprising:   There were some surprising drivers finishing in the top five at Texas.  Probably most surprising and surprised, however, was Joey Logano.  Sliced Bread admitted that he was not fond of the track, but still went out to lead laps, ultimately finishing in the fourth position.  “I never thought we’d be in front here,” Logano said.  “This is fun!” 

Not Surprising:   While Greg Biffle may not have had as much fun as Logano, especially after having transmission problems late in the race, he still managed a top-five finish.  Biffle inarguably had the most dominant car of the race, starting from the outside pole and leading the majority of the laps.  “It was really tough,” Biffle said.  “We had bad drive train vibration problems and today it bit us.”  With his solid run, however, Biffle jumped two spots to ninth in the Chase standings.

Surprising:  Probably most surprising was the driver who finished in the runner up spot, Matt Kenseth.  At one point, Kenseth was a lap down, however, he rallied back to give Hamlin a run for his money on the final laps.  “That was disappointing I didn’t finish it off there,” Kenseth said.  This was the fourth time that Kenseth finished second, but his bridesmaid run hoisted him from eighth to fifth in the point standings.

Not Surprising:  David Ragan, under the tutelage of crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, had a great run deep in the heart of Texas.  The young driver, who has not had the best of seasons, started in the fifth position and finished in the eighth spot.  He most likely would have finished even higher had not he too had problems in the pits, in his case a loose lug nut issue.  “That goes to show you how good of a car we had today,” Ragan said.  “It was a good job by Drew and our UPS team, but we just need to get better on pit road.”

With the “No Limits” experience at Texas Motor Speedway in the rear view mirror, the Cup Series will head for the next-to-the last race of the season at Phoenix.   The Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway will run on Sunday, November 14^th at 3:00 PM on ESPN.