Author: SM Staff

Round six of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship will be taking a very interesting turn this Sunday when it presents another round of short track racing at the Martinsville Speedway. Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 could turn out to be a clash of the titans. The drivers first and second in the standings have personal stats from this race track that are nothing short of amazing. Adding to the weekend drama are the details of an unexpected, but not necessarily surprising, major driver change.

***********

THE STORY BREAKDOWN

During the course of Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 all Chase observers will be watching the performances of Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Johnson goes into the race with a 41 point advantage over Hamlin. Both drivers have outstanding performances at Martinsville in the past. Between them Johnson and Hamlin have won the last eight races there.

Johnson is a six time winner at Martinsville. He also has six other top five finishes. The last time Johnson finished outside of the top ten at Martinsville was during his rookie season back in 2002.

Hamlin is a three time winner at Martinsville. His hot streak at this race track includes winning the last two races there in a row and three of the last five events. If Hamlin is going to trim down Johnson’s points lead, or possibly reclaim the points lead, then Martinsville is best arena to get the job done although it may require some surprise situation such as Johnson having a bad race.

Kevin “Happy” Harvick is third in the Chase standings and 77 points away from the top. However Harvick may not be that happy about the Sprint Cup Series’ return to Martinsville this Sunday. His worst finish of the year, a 35th, came after the spring race there. Harvick has raced at Martinsville twice a year since the 2001 season without a top five finish. Harvick’s game plan for Sunday’s race is to score a top ten finish to keep Johnson and Hamlin within his sights. Harvick will be hedging his bet on next week’s restrictor plate race at Talladega an area that he excels at. Harvick probably also yearns for the old points system used prior to the creation of the Chase. Under the old school system he would be leading the standings with a 249 points lead over Johnson.

Jeff Gordon’s drive for five championship run is treading water and he needs to launch something spectacular and do it soon. He’s currently fourth in the Chase standings and 156 points out of first. The Martinsville Speedway could turn out to be a good launching pad for Gordon because he virtually owns the individual driver’s stats there. Gordon leads the active drivers list in Martinsville wins with seven. He also leads in top five finishes with 23, top ten finishes with 29, laps led at 2,888 and has won the pole position a series high seven times. The last time Gordon finished outside of the top five at Martinsville was back in 2004 when he finished ninth. He came very close to winning the race last March only to get beat by Hamlin during the final green-white-checker finish.

************

The other big story you will hearing a lot about this weekend concerns Richard Petty Motorsports’, (RPM), Wednesday night decision to release Kasey Kahne as the driver of their #9 Ford. This decision stemmed from last Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway when Kahne suffered a hard crash due to failed brakes. Noting that it was the team’s third brake failure of the season, a normally easy going Kahne went ballistic over the radio making it clear that he’s had enough and he can’t wait to leave the team at the end of the season when his contract runs out. The team made repairs but Kahne declined to get back into the car. He later said he wasn’t feeling well following the crash. Driver J J Yeley finished the race for RPM.

Earlier this year Kahne announced that he was leaving RPM at the end of this season and had signed a contract to drive for Hendrick Motor Sports, (HMS). However, his new ride, currently occupied by driver Mark Martin, wasn’t going to become available until the start of the 2012 season. Team owner Rick Hendrick engineered a deal to have Kahne drive a Red Bull Racing Toyota during the 2011 season.

It now turns out that Kahne will be getting a head start on his 2011 ride. He is listed as the driver of the #83 Red Bull car at Martinsville and is expected to be in the car for the remainder of the current racing season. Meanwhile RPM announced that driver Aric Almirola will take over the wheel of their #9 Ford at Martinsville. In a sheer note or irony, Almirola was the driver of record for the #83 Red Bull ride at Martinsville.

************

THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN

To know real surprise the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE), has Denny Hamlin on top of their ratings list at 3 to 1 odds followed closely by Jimmie Johnson, 4 to 1, and Jeff Gordon at 6 to 1. Two time race winner Tony Stewart has been ranked at 10 to 1.

The middle tier of the WSE rankings shows Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch at 12 to 1 odds with Clint Bowyer at 18 to 1. At 20 to 1 is a quartet of drivers led by former race winners Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch along with Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano.

In the lower tier the WSE has Juan Pablo Montoya, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman ranked at 25 to 1, Greg Biffle at 30 to 1 while Martin Truex Jr and Matt Kenseth come in at 35 to 1. Completing this week’s ranking is a trio of drivers, at 40 to 1, featuring Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr and two time Martinsville winner Mark Martin.

Now for the disclaimer. NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers are for information and entertainment purposes. They neither encourage and condone the placing of wagers on their races. Instead you may want to consider spending your money getting a head start on Christmas shopping. Those NASCAR tree ornaments are highly recommended especially if you’re an unmarried man living alone.

***********

THE TRACK BREAKDOWN

The Martinsville Speedway was opened in 1947 by Clay Earles and remains as one of the oldest, continually operated, race tracks in the country.

The facility began as a dirt track. The first sanctioned NASCAR race was held there in September of 1949 and was won by the legendary Red Byron.

The track was paved in 1955. Concrete overlays were placed in the turns in 1976.

The Martinsville Speedway is a .526 mile oval that is shaped like a paper clip. The track is practically as flat as a paper clip. There is only 12 degrees of banking in the turns and zero degrees on the straights. Those straight-aways are only 800 feet long which presents a physical challenge for the drivers. The speedway currently has seating for 61,000 fans.

The speedway’s pit road is also a challenge for the drivers. The pit stalls measure 14 feet wide by 28 feet long. The pit road speed is a very slow 30 MPH.

*************

THE RACE BREAKDOWN

Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 is 500 laps/263 miles around the Martinsville Speedway’s .526 mile oval.

The race has 48 entries vying for the 43 starting berths.

11 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning these teams are not guaranteed a start in the race because they are currently outside of the top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speed to make the race.

Weather should not be an impact on the race. The Sunday forecast for the Martinsville-Virginia area calls for some partly cloudy conditions with daytime highs at 76 degrees.

Racing fans planning on watching the Tums Fast Relief 500 on television need to be aware that you will start with the ESPN2 network, at 12 pm eastern time, for the “NASCAR Countdown” show. Then, at 1 pm et, you will need to switch to the ESPN network for the actual race. The rebroadcast of the race will be on Monday morning, 2 am et, on ESPN2 and again on Wednesday, 12 pm et, on SPEED.

Richard Petty Motorsports announced late Wednesday evening that Kasey Kahne would be released from the team effective immediately. Aric Almirola will take over the No. 9 ride at Martinsville this weekend with a driver to be named replacing Kahne for the remainder of the schedule.
Almirola was originally scheduled to race the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota for Reed Sorenson, who is in Gateway for the Nationwide Series race with Braun Racing. Red Bull Racing officials confirmed Thursday afternoon that Kahne will finish the season with the No. 83 team.

“With our agreement only being for one year, there is a great sense of urgency to get started on 2011,” Jay Frye, Red Bull Racing Team’s vice president and general manager, said. “With Kasey coming earlier than planned, we are excited to have a five-race head start.”

While no reason was given in the two-sentence press release from RPM, it is believed that last weekend’s incident between Kahne and an unnamed team official sparked the decision. The team’s bad chemistry surfaced when Kahne said that a team official told him he was laying down on his team when the Washington-native did not return to race the damaged No. 9 car, complaining of an illness. Kahne said he vomited once after exiting his car after a late-race crash but did run in a 5K charity run the next day.

Kahne became frustrated when his brakes failed for the second consecutive race last weekend at Charlotte and third time this year.

“I lost it,” Kahne said. “I was just mad. I came into the race thinking we had a shot to win, thinking we had a good car in practice, we had a good shot. It went green. We were a little bit tight, but still actually passed cars and really felt good and then boom, my brakes are gone.

“It’s not like you have half-brakes, like you can pump them. Your foot goes to the floor. It bottoms out. It’s a joke.”

Kahne has gone winless so far this season and sits 21st in the Sprint Cup Series driver points standings. Kahne’s struggles come a year after he won two races and made the Chase despite the financial issues of the George Gillett Jr. and RPM’s communications within the race teams.

Kahne announced this summer that he would leave Richard Petty Motorsports and move over to Red Bull Racing for 2011 and then to Hendrick Motorsports for 2012.

And then there were three. That is effectively all there is left in the Chase for the Sprint Cup half way through the playoff. Unless Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Kevin Harvick really just drop out over the final three races, that’s all that is left. After Saturday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, I can’t see anyone else even having a chance.

When the field was announced, I really felt like Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch would challenge for the championship and that Jimmie Johnson would have some real competition. It was not to be. Gordon’s team has not shown championship form the latter half of the season, and made some uncommon mistakes at Charlotte. Biffle has run well, but a big disappointment at Dover and another at Auto Club Speedway, tracks where his Roush-Fenway Ford have shined ruined his chances. Edwards usually finds himself just outside the top ten and that’s his undoing. Kyle Busch has two 21st place finishes on his resume (Kansas and Fontana) and that was the end for him. Brother Kurt just hasn’t been very competitive. In the meantime, Johnson has finished first, second, or third in four of the first five playoff races, leaving everyone else to struggle to catch him.

That leaves three likely contenders, and even though each of the three are just a bad day away from elimination, it appears that Johnson has the inside track to the championship. This week the boys head to Martinsville, Virginia, the only short track in the Chase (a big mistake in my opinion—there should be at least two), and a place that Johnson and Hamlin have great success. That should separate the field even more, but then Talladega looms the next week where anything can happen. I imagine we’ll either be down to two contenders or the points standings will be a real mess. Regardless, I can’t see anyone out of the three at the top winning the trophy this year. And other than the threat of Hamlin at Martinsville and Harvick at Talladega, the rest of the schedule seems to be smooth sailing for Johnson. He can run conservatively the rest of the season and cruise to his fifth straight championship, as the others cannot afford one mistake the rest of the way.

It was somewhat amazing to see the emptiness of the campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. The attendance at the race was announced at a tick over 100,000 when there used to be a full house for every race. A lot of this stems from the inevitability of a fifth straight Johnson championship. The glee at Johnson’s bad luck in the beginning of the race led to the realization of Johnson just making another step closed to the fifth straight championship in the closing laps of the race. People left early and even a popular win by Jamie McMurray failed to lift the spirits of the fans. No fault of Johnson or his crew, who are fantastic, but fatalism has gripped the fan base. Why come to a race if you see the same old story five years running?

Under the old points system, Harvick would have a 249-point lead with Johnson in second. The purpose of the Chase was to have a close battle for the championship, but it has artificially made the field closer. Somewhat like the “lucky dog” and “wave around,” it makes the finishing position not exactly what it should be. NASCAR wanted a closer finish, and they have it, but at what cost? Lower television ratings and fan attendance? Yes, the economy is bad, but there’s more to it than that.

David Ragan, normally behind the wheel of his UPS sponsored Cup ride, switched it up this weekend under the lights at Charlotte Motor Speedway to highlight UPS’ favorite charity, the United Way.  With United Way’s motto ‘Live United’ on the hood, the young driver piloted his No. 6 Ford Fusion to a rare top-ten finish in the Bank of America 500, his second of the 2010 season.

“It was a great run,” Ragan said.  “I think we may have even had a better car than 10^th, but, all in all, it was a pretty good night.”

“It seems like a lot of things we needed to do right went how they were supposed to,” Ragan continued.  “We’ve had some real good cars the last couple of weeks and it’s good for United Way and UPS to finish in the top 10.”

Ragan’s crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, attributed the tenth place finish to a good car but also to his driver’s burgeoning confidence.

“I think the most important thing is giving David some confidence,” Blickensderfer said.  “I’m not a miracle worker and I’m not doing anything that’s different than anybody else would do.  I’m just a different guy and it might have lit a spark under David.”

Perhaps David had a bit more pep in his step knowing that one of the nation’s best known charitable brands, the United Way, was also featured prominently on his race car.  UPS, Ragan’s primary sponsor, agreed to step aside for the United Way in honor of UPS being the first corporate donor to surpass one billion dollars in contributions to the charity.

“UPS is a major NASCAR sponsor and approached us about repainting the No. 6 with United Way’s logo and colors,” Joseph V. Haggerty, Chief Operating Officer of United Way Worldwide, said.  “We were of course delighted to have the opportunity to work with UPS, Roush Fenway Racing and driver David Ragan to bring this all together.”

“In addition to the financial resources, UPS employees volunteered more than 1.2 million hours of service last year,” Haggerty continued.  “United Way was thrilled with the opportunity to bring visibility and to thank UPS for all they do for the community every day.”

United Way and UPS celebrated all weekend long at the track, continuing to call attention to their core mission of giving, advocating and volunteering.  Ragan’s top ten finish fire suit and helmet are currently being auctioned off to raise additional dollars for the United Way, capping off the weekend’s race celebrations.

“In addition to co-branded die cast cars, T-shirts,  and lots of publicity, UPS sponsored a race-day volunteer activity, bringing in 50 UPS employees from all of the country to build literacy kits with United Way Worldwide and children from A Child’s Place,” Haggerty said.  “It’s all part of United Way’s focus on improving education, income and health.”

For Ragan, this top ten finish rivaled his best finish at Charlotte in seven attempts.  His previous top ten finish occurred in the fall race there in 2008.

With the great run still fresh in their minds, Ragan and his relatively new crew chief agreed on one thing.  Their relationship is gelling and they are getting better and better each and every week.

“Yeah, we’re getting better and that’s the main thing,” Blickensderfer said.  “You have to be able to get better every single week and to prove that when you run 15^th, that wasn’t good enough and you can run 10^th.”

Perhaps Ragan summed it up best.  “Hopefully this is some good momentum we can carry with us into next week,” the young driver said.

Ragan will return to his UPS branded No. 6 next week when the Cup Series motors into Martinsville.  The Tums Fast Relief 500 will run on Sunday, October 24^th at 1:00 PM EDT on ESPN.

Over the previous weekend we watched another exciting episode of the comeback of the year. We saw another example of why a championship team may actually have a golden horseshoe inside of their anatomy. We also learned how to adjust a tachometer while driving a race car at a high rate of speed. With those thoughts in mind let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Jamie McMurray for winning Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The effort marked the popular driver’s third win of the season and his sixth career Sprint Cup win. McMurray also became the first non Chase driver to win a Cup race since the championship series began.

When you consider the state of McMurray’s career this time one year ago his racing career is absolutely the big comeback story of the year. Last year the driver was not sure what direction his Sprint Cup career would take. He was the odd man out at Roush Fenway Racing when NASCAR’s team ownership cap, limiting owners to four teams, became effective this year. He was signed by former owner Chip Ganassi to drive the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet for one year. There were reports that the team’s sponsor, Bass Pro Shops, was a little dubious about the arrangement.

We all know what happened next. McMurray won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis two of the most prestigious events on the Sprint Cup schedule. Needless to say his team owners are very busy preparing a contract extension and the sponsors are reported to be very happy.

************

This week’s making chicken salad out of chicken do-do HOORAH goes to Jimmie Johnson and his #48 Lowes team. Johnson found himself involved in a solo car spin during the early laps of the Bank Of America 500. Amazingly, good luck followed the spin out. Despite the presence of on coming race traffic, no one hit the Johnson Chevrolet.

The always stoic Chad Knaus led #48 team remained calm and used pit road to massage their car’s handling and help their driver charge through the field. Johnson wound up with a third place finish and even managed to add some padding to his Chase points lead over championship rivals Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

Several months ago Harvick made a wry observation about this team’s good luck and speculated that they may have golden horseshoes up their backsides. It’s becoming more and more apparent that Harvick may be right.

***********

Speaking of Jimmie Johnson, and we will be doing that a lot during the weeks to come, we have three HOORAHS for this week’s NASCAR notable quotable.

The first one goes to SPEED Channel’s Jimmy Spencer who said “if the #48 teams wins a fifth consecutive championship I’m going to need therapy or least a few cases of beer. Maybe Kurt Busch. (driver of the Miller Lite Dodge), can help me out with that.”

Another HOORAH goes out to Dave DeSpain, the host of the SPEED Channel’s “Wind Tunnel” who recently invited his viewers to come up with a suitable nickname for Jimmie Johnson. So far my favorite is “J-LOWE” although Jennifer Lopez might have an objection to that.

Then there’s the matter of the girl friend. Upon learning that Jimmie Johnson padded his points lead following the Charlotte race, “Sweetie” growled “why don’t they just install him in the damn Hall Of Fame right now and be done with it?”

It’s not that the girl friend is anti Jimmie Johnson. The remark was made out of sheer frustration. “Sweetie” is a card carrying, T shirt wearing, member of the Junior Nation and she was frustrated with spending the better part of three hours watching Dale Earnhardt Junior’s latest mediocre finish.

***********

WAZZUP with Johnson’s team mate, Jeff Gordon, who could have used some of that golden horseshoe luck during the Charlotte race? Gordon’s Chevrolet suffered a mysterious loss of power that was later attributed to the voltage regulator not charging the car’s battery system. That resulted in a lengthy pit stop for a battery change. Adding insult to injury was a second pit road situation involving a speeding penalty. The result was an unfortunate 23d place finish.

*********

HOORAH to Brad Keselowski for winning Friday night’s Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. It marked his fifth win of 2010, 11th win in 135 series starts and his second win in the Nationwide Series Car Of Tomorrow. More importantly, Keselowski increased his points lead to a whopping 450 points over second place Carl Edwards. It’s absolutely guaranteed that he will be presenting team owner Roger Penske his first ever national NASCAR title.

HOORAH to the fourth, and final appearance, of the Nationwide Series’ Car Of Tomorrow of 2010. Once again these racy new cars turned up another highly competitive performance during the Charlotte race while increasing the element of driver safety. This exciting new car will be on the track full time next season.

WAZZUP with Carl Edwards having to make in car adjustments the old school way? During the Charlotte Nationwide Series event some paper debris lodged itself on the grill of Edwards’ Ford. This in turn created a rise in the engine’s water temperature. But Edwards had a problem reporting the water temperature to his crew chief. That was because the tachometer, attached to the steering column, was blocking the view of the water temperature gauge. While piloting his Ford at speeds of 190 MPH plus, Edwards used his left hand to loosen the tach and then hit it several times until the gauge was moved over to the right. It’s good to know that old school methods still work.

*************

Finally this week we have two GOD BLESS items. The first notes the sad passing of Jeff Byrd who succumbed to a lengthy illness last Sunday at the age of 60. Byrd took over the reigns as President and General Manager of the Bristol Motor Speedway and Drag way in 1996. His vision and dedicated hard work was the catalyst that led to Bristol becoming one of the premiere racing facilities in the country. Our condolences go out to Mr. Byrd’s family, friends and fans.

The second GOD BLESS goes to Chris Economacki, the founder of the famed “National Speed Sport News” who recently celebrated his 90th birthday. Economacki is a true NASCAR icon who played a major role in ushering the sport into its television age.