Author: SM Staff

Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway marks the third race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Since the track’s addition to the Sprint Cup Series schedule in 2001, there have been seven different winners. A track almost identical to Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas provides exciting racing at high speeds and has a touch for the unknown, with the sometimes unpredictable weather paying a visit and wreaking havoc.

With all the off-track distractions of signing with Hendrick Motorsports to be Mark Martin’s successor in 2012, signing with Red Bull Racing for next season, and the uncertainty of RPM’s future, Kasey Kahne has had a relatively quiet year on the track and has missed the chase.

Sunday’s race at Kansas provides Kasey with an excellent chance to get back into victory lane and spoil the show for the chase participants. Since his rookie season, Kahne has two Top 10’s, four Top 20’s, and has led 50 laps at Kansas with no DNFs.

Kasey excels at the cookie-cutter intermediate tracks that the Sprint Cup Series schedule is laced with, and Sunday could be his best shot at stealing the show and getting a win for his team before parting ways at season’s end.

Kevin Harvick held the top spot of the Sprint Cup points standings for almost all of the regular season and won three races. Although having a very quiet Chase run thus far, Kansas could provide the much needed splash that he and the No. 29 team need to stay in contention for the championship.

Since Kevin’s rookie season in 2001, he has three Top 10’s, six Top 20’s, and 67 laps led at Kansas with an average finish of 15.89. Harvick has won at Chicagoland Speedway, which is identical to Kansas, two times. After surprising all of us through the regular season and winning three times, it’s not a far-fetched thought that Kevin could surprise us again by winning on Sunday and putting himself right back into championship contention.

After staring the 2010 season off slowly, Carl Edwards came on hot during the summer months and catapulted himself into the chase. Although having not won since 2008, Carl Edwards knows how to get the job done on the intermediate tracks.

The same is for Carl at Kansas—who has never won there—but has two Top Fives, four Top 10’s, four Top 20’s, and an average finish of 13.33 through six races. Besides an accident that caused Carl to finish 37th in 2007, Carl has never finished worse than 22nd.

Unlike last season, Tony Stewart started 2010 off slow, but came on strong as he always does in the summer months and clinched a spot in the chase with one victory at Atlanta last month.

It’s been feast of famine for Stewart at Kansas, but when everything goes right, he has found success. Tony has two wins, four Top Fives, six Top 10’s, and seven Top 20 finishes at Kansas, with an average finish of 13.22 through nine races.

Although starting off the chase slowly mostly to driver and crew error, Kansas is the perfect place for Stewart to get back on track and get back in contention for his third Sprint Cup championship.

After leading a career-high 143 laps last week at Dover only to suffer a flat tire and finish tenth, A.J. Allmendinger is looking to Sunday for a chance to finally pull the famous No. 43 car back in victory lane.

Kansas has been a good track for the former open-wheel star, who has one Top 10 and two Top 20 finishes there, with an average finish of 13th through two races and a worst finish of 17th.

After the disappointment of last week, it will give the extra fire A.J. needs to get his first career Sprint Cup win. Although highly underplayed, momentum is a very strong aspect of racing and could carry over to Kansas.

Mark Martin nearly won the championship last year, but 2010 has been a very quiet and disappointing seasonand hasn’t won a race and missed the chase.

Historically, Kansas has been a great track for Mark Martin, and he has one win, two Top Fives, four Top 10’s, and eight Top 20’s, with an average finish of 12.44 and never finishing worse than 25th.

Sunday provides an excellent chance for Mark to turn his season around and get back to victory lane. Non-Chase drivers have pulled the upset at Kansas three times in the track’s nine-race history.

Kansas native Clint Bowyer came on strong during the summer months and coupled with consistent finishes, made the Chase and won at New Hampshire three weeks ago. The good vibes quickly ended when his car was found to be illegal and Clint and the team were docked 150 driver and owner points, moving them from second to 12th in points and already more than one race behind.

Bowyer has excelled at his home track of Kansas in the past and has one Top Five, two Top 10’s, three Top 20’s, and has never finished worse than 21st, with an average finish of 11th.

Kansas couldn’t come at a better time for Clint, who looks to get a win in front of his hometown crowd and prove to NASCAR that his chase berth wasn’t a fluke.

Continuing right where he left off last season, four-time consecutive and reigning champion Jimmie Johnson has won six races thus far and is now second in points after a win last week at Dover. Johnson and the 48 team now have their sights set on Kansas and leaving the track on Sunday with the points lead.

Kansas has been a great track for Johnson, and he has one win, two Top Fives, six Top 10’s, seven Top 20’s, and an average finish of 10th, which ranks third among active Sprint Cup drivers.

With Johnson being arguably the best closer in NASCAR, Kansas provides a great chance for he and the 48 team to leave the track on Sunday evening with the points lead and contend for a record-setting five straight cup championships.

Greg Biffle has had a season of ups and downs in 2010, but won the only time this season for Roush-Fenway, which came at Pocono and made the chase after a consistent regular season performance.

Kansas couldn’t come at a better time for Biffle, who has one win, five Top Fives, five Top 10’s, and seven Top 20 finishes, with the second best average finish among Cup drivers of ninth.

Biffle excels at the intermediate cookie-cutter tracks that adorn the Sprint Cup Series schedule and Kansas is a perfect place for him to get a much needed win and get back into title contention.

The 2010 season has been one of missed opportunities for Jeff Gordon, who has arguably been the most consistent driver during the regular season and coming up just shy of wins several times this season after having the strongest car.

Kansas is Gordon’s third-best track statistically and provides Jeff with possibly his best shot to get a much-needed win in the chase. Besides winning the first two races held at Kansas, Jeff has six Top Fives, seven Top 10’s, eight Top 20’s, and an average finish of 8.89, which is the best average finish among all Cup drivers.

With all the near misses and frustration 2010 has brought, Kansas very well could be the place where Gordon finally snaps another long win-less streak and gets that win they have been working so hard for all season.

Sunday’s race at Kansas will be a crucial race of the chase and is the first of five 1.5 mile tracks that are part of The Chase. Those who have a great run on Sunday will have a leg up on those who struggle and may be your 2010 Sprint Cup champion.

NASCAR’s appeals board, made up of Waddel Wilson (former engine builder and crew chief for Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip among others), former driber Lyn St. James, and former USAC Chariman John Capels, denied Richard Childress Racing’s appeal of penalties levied after the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire on September 19th. It was the expected outcome as only 10 of the 132 appeals aired in the last decade have been overturned. Childress has difiantly vowed to fight on.

After the decision was rendered, Childress made a formal request to appeal the boards decision to John Middlebrook, a former General Motors executive and NASCAR’s appellate officer. You have to wonder why. Isn’t it obvious by how these decisions have gone over the years that it’s probably a waste of time? Maybe Childress thinks that a former GM executive will overturn a penalty against a Chevrolet team, one that has carried the company banner for so many years. Maybe he’s just trying to protect his driver. Regardless, it seems like it may throw off the team’s chances for a championship, given the other distraction of the past week–the mini fued between Childress driver Kevin Harvick and current points leader Denny Hamlin.

Bowyer and his RCR team were penalized last Wednesday, three days after his win in the opening race for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. The victory ended an 88-race winless streak and pushed Bowyer from 12th to second in the standings, 35 points behind Hamlin. The penalties put Bowyer in 12th place, 235 points behind. It also left Bowyer without a crew chief for most of the Chase.

The crux of RCR’s argument is the violation occurred when Bowyer ran out of gas at the end of the New Hampshire race, a tow truck had to push him to Victory Lane and the contact caused the damage that contributed to a failed inspection.

Childress brought an accident reconstruction specialist to the hearing, but Dr. Charles Manning of Accident Reconstruction Analysis in Raleigh said the three-member appeals panel was not interested in his presentation. Manning used a similar tow truck pushing another Cup car as the basis for his testimony.

In this writer’s opinion, it would better serve Childress and his three drivers to concentrate on the final eight races this season rather than continue to create a distraction that might cost them the title anyway. One thing is certain, the whole garage will be interested in the outcome, since this is the first such appeal Middlebrook has heard and the the decision will effect the standings dramatically.

No timetable was given for Middlebrook’s decision, but Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice-president of competition, speculated that a decsion could come down early next week. In the meantime, the Chase teams will race at Kansas and not know where they stand in the championship standings until after the appeal.

Following a five hour meeting with the National Stock Car Appeals Board at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center on Wednesday, Richard Childress told the Associated Press that his appeal has been denied. Childress will now appeal the board’s decision to NASCAR’s chief appellate officer.

[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll | SM.com” align=”alignright” width=”400″][/media-credit]Childress was appealing NASCAR’s penalty of the No. 33 team from penalties at Loudon, the race in which the team was victorious. Team owner Childress was fined $150,000 and the team’s crew chief Shane Wilson was suspended for six races. Most importantly, though, NASCAR issued a 150-point penalty to Clint Bowyer and Childress. The points fine dropped Bowyer from second to 12th, after his victory skyrocketed him up the points standings.

The penalty was for the car’s left-rear being 130-thousandths of an inch too high, or 60-thousandths of an inch over NASCAR’s 70-thousandths of an inch tolerance.

“We know without a shadow of a doubt that that car left (our shop for the race) within the tolerances, well within the tolerances,” Childress said last week.

Richard Childress Racing claims that a wrecker that pushed Bowyer’s car to victory lane caused the damage, a claim that the appeals board did not deny.

The team was warned four days before the Loudon event that there car from Richmond was very close to tolerances. In their warning, NASCAR also informed the team that there car would be taken to NASCAR’s R&D Center following the race at New Hampshire.

With the penalty and Bowyer’s 25th place finish last weekend at Dover, he now sits 285-points behind Denny Hamlin with eight races to go in the chase.

It’s the 133rd appeal since 1999, according to NASCAR. This would mark the 89th time that a penalty was upheld. Only 42 penalties have been reduced or overturned in that time period.

It was one of the silliest things NASCAR has ever done, a mysterious thing called “Victory Lane Gate,” and it all started at Kansas Speedway.

Victory Lane Gate was established in the 2001 season and when Jeff Gordon won the 2001 Protection One 400. What was Victory Lane Gate? It was a device made with PVC pipes that prevented drivers from climbing on the top of their racecars. Two NASCAR officials would hold up a gate like device when the driver climbed out of the car.

You see back in 2000 and 2001 NASCAR was having a lot of issues with drivers winning a race and being so excited that they would climb on top of their racecars and celebrate their victory. When the drivers did that, it would not give NASCAR an accurate reading on the minimum height on a racecar.

It got so bad that when Jeremy Mayfield won his first career race in the 2000 season at California when his crew chief Peter Sospenzo was fined for having his car too low. Both Mayfield and Sospenzo claimed it was because Mayfield had jumped on the roof of his car after the victory.

To prevent that NASCAR created the gate to not have the drivers climb on the car. It was silly. Victory Lane Gate, as it’s called by many who remember, made the victory lane celebrations lackluster.

Nothing was worse than when Ricky Craven won a very emotional race at Martinsville Speedway when Craven held off a hard charging Dale Jarrett. Craven got his first win in his Cup career after a long battle back from being released from injuries. One would think the victory lane celebration would have been one for the ages. Yet Craven’s celebration was as little as a fist pump. He would get emotional but the celebration was nothing.

The gate made drivers feel like they were trapped and they couldn’t celebrate their wins.

The gate got much criticism after that win and the idea was scrapped before the next weekend at Talladega, never to be heard from again.

Now NASCAR just simply tells drivers to stay off their roofs, and that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Yet in 2001, NASCAR thought it would be and created a device that will live in infamy forever.

The Chase moved from New Hampshire south to Delmarva for the 40^th running of the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.  Without a doubt, the week leading up to the race was the most surprising, with Clint Bowyer and Richard Childress Racing receiving substantial point fines and probation for an illegal chassis mount.  On top of that there was trash talking about Bowyer and the RCR team in the media center by Denny Hamlin, who then got his comeuppance on the track from RCR teammate Kevin Harvick during race practice.  Here is what was surprising and not surprising when the cars finally took to the track, attempting to conquer the Monster Mile.

Surprising:  While tenth place may not be a surprising finish for Richard Petty Motorsports driver A.J. Allmendinger, the fact that the man behind the wheel of the infamous No. 43 started on the outside pole and led over 140 laps of the race was most surprising.  Allmendinger described it best.  “It was fun to lead,” Allmendinger said.  “No wonder Jimmie (Johnson) is smiling so much.” Although outside the Chase, the ‘Dinger’ has really come into his own, previewing what his 2011 season might look like now that his future is settled and he is under contract with RPM for next year.

Not Surprising:  Jimmie Johnson, otherwise known as the man with the proverbial lucky horse shoe, most certainly found some good luck at Dover, achieving all of his goals for the race weekend, from sitting on the pole to finishing it in style in Victory Lane.  Jimmie Johnson also celebrated the win for the first time with his wife Chandra and daughter Genevieve, just eleven weeks old.  Johnson described the win as a “huge weight off my shoulders”.  He also pronounced himself and the No. 48 team as “in this thing now,” second in the Chase standings, just 35 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Surprising:  Speaking of the points leader, Denny Hamlin survived not only the controversy caused by his remarks in the media center to the garage and on track confrontations with Kevin Harvick, he actually had a good finish at the Monster Mile, a track where he has not fared well in the past.  Hamlin scored a top ten, taking the checkered flag in the ninth position.  In spite of his finish, Hamlin pronounced his day “mediocre.”  He did say, however, that the feud with Richard Childress Racing was “over and done.”

Not Surprising:  Controversy can be just plain distracting, a fact that came home to roost for the RCR driver at the center of the penalty storm.   Clint Bowyer, driver of the RCR No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet, clipped the wall on lap 181, causing his right rear tire to go down.  To add insult to injury, Bowyer received a pit road speeding penalty and he never really recovered, coming in 25^th and remaining in the Chase points cellar. 

Surprising:   Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart both had reasons to get into victory lane, for themselves as well as for two small business owners who were competing for cash and prizes from the Office Depot.  In fact, if either of the drivers won, the small business owner with whom they were paired would have won $1 million.  Unfortunately, both drivers had fairly miserable days.  Stewart had a pit road speeding penalty on lap 115, putting him two laps down.  Biffle also went two laps down after pitting prior to teammate Kenseth’s blown tire, which caused one of the few cautions of the race.  The two drivers, Biff and Smoke, had tough race finishes, 19^th and 21^st respectively, as well as languishing at the back of the pack in the Chase standings.

Not Surprising:  After running out of gas with just two laps to go at Loudon, Jeff Burton’s goal coming into the Monster Mile was to just “keep going after that disappointment.”  And keep going he did, at first struggling with handling but then having the car come to him toward the end of the race.  With that good run and the runner up finish, Burton jumped two spots in the Chase, up to the seventh spot.

Surprising:   What a difference a year makes, especially for Joey Logano at the Monster Mile.  One year ago, the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota was barrel rolling end over end in one of the scariest crashes ever at the Dover track.  This year, Logano had an amazing run, finishing up in the third spot.  Logano now is desperately seeking consistency as he finishes out his season and looks forward to 2011.

Not Surprising:   Jeff Gordon continued his struggles and was NASCAR’s ‘biggest loser’ in the Chase standings.  Gordon dropped four spot in the standings, from fourth to eight, due to his fight with the rubber on the race track.  Gordon battled throughout the race and was running in the top ten until his pit crew dropped a lug nut on the final stop, relegating the four-time champion to 11th when the checkered flag flew. 

Surprising:  While the track is a ‘monster’ in many ways, it was surprising just how weather sensitive the track was throughout the race day.  With clouds and a few sprinkles prior to the start of the race, to full sunshine at the half-way point and then further cloud cover towards the end of the race, many drivers had handling problems all day long.  Probably most affected by the weather was Kyle Busch, who was in the front of the pack contending for the win, but fell to sixth when the weather changed.

Not Surprising:  After Brad Keselowski called Kyle Busch out during driver introductions before the Bristol race, it was not surprising that all of the Cup drivers behaved themselves, appropriately introducing themselves as well as service men and women with whom they were paired.  Kyle Busch did, however, have the last laugh, telling the crowd that he was “glad you all woke up” when the chorus of boos greeted him during his introductory session.

The third Chase race will be held on Sunday, October 3^rd at Kansas Speedway.  The Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods will kick off at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN.

Over the previous weekend we saw the #48 team return to Chase form. We watched the Richard Childress Racing soap opera develop another bizarre plot twist. We watched the continuous transformation of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series becoming the “Busch” Series again and we watched the future of a famous family race team develop in the truck series. With all those thoughts in mind let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Jimmie Johnson, and the entire #48 Hendrick Motorsports team, for clearly returning to expected Chase form after winning the AAA 400 at the Dover International Raceway. It was Johnson’s sixth win of the season, series high sixth win at Dover and his 53d career win in 319 starts. Johnson led the race five times for a total of 191 laps. The win also another one of Johnson’s max points effort and it elevates him to second in the Chase standings only 35 points behind Denny Hamlin.

HOORAH to Genevieve Marie Johnson, the beautiful infant daughter of Jimmie and Shandra Johnson. This little cutie made her first ever public appearance in victory lane with mom and dad last Sunday.

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Okay, let’s get to it: the story every NASCAR fan on the planet is talking about.

WAZZUP with all of those interviews with Sprint Cup drivers, outside of Richard Childress Racing-RCR, who were asked for opinions regarding the penalty handed down to Clint Bowyer’s team last week? Did we really need that? The only opinion that matters here should come from NASCAR and RCR officials. To their credit, most of these drivers were diplomatic and chose their words very carefully. HOORAH to Kyle Busch who, during a television interview, made it perfectly clear that “it’s not my problem.”

But WAZZUP with Denny Hamlin for taking the bait by making comments on the Bowyer situation that were way past the line? Hamlin’s inference that the RCR Chevrolets have been in violation of NASCAR’s tolerance levels for a lot longer than anyone realizes simply wasn’t necessary. Nothing but trouble could possibly come from the comments Hamlin made last Friday during that press conference.

That’s exactly what happened the following day. HOORAH to driver Kevin Harvick for wanting to stand up for his RCR team mates. But, WAZZUP with the method he chose prior to the start of the Saturday morning practice session? Ramming the Hamlin car on pit road, followed by multiple hits on the track, really wasn’t the way to handle the situation. Instead of using the practice time to prep the race trim of their cars, these teams spent much of the allotted time making repairs in the garage area.

The fact that these two teams were parked next to each other in the garage made this situation even more interesting. The inevitable confrontation, complete with four letter words and chest thumping, was captured for posterity on live television. HOORAH to Kevin Harvick was keeping his helmet on during that confrontation. Those hard helmets can seriously do some damage to a hand if you hit one.

HOORAH to team owner Richard Childress for taking both a sensible and comedic approach when asked about the garage confrontation. Childress smiled and said “we’re a very tight knit bunch.”

HOORAH to Clint Bowyer who also took the sensible and comedic approach to his team mate’s defense of their race team. During a Sunday morning television interview, Bowyer smiled and said “I didn’t see what you’re talking about, I was in my car.”

HOORAH to Hamlin’s crew chief Mike Ford who was clearly upset with his driver for placing the team in an uncomfortable public relations situation. Ford referred to the entire incident as “nonsense” and said the situation with RCR was none of their business. He reportedly admonished Hamlin for “putting the team in a hole” with his comments and reminded him they needed to stay focused on the Chase. Following the conclusion of Sunday’s race, Ford reportedly came over the radio to remind Hamlin to be careful what he said after he got out of the car.

Having said that, WAZZUP with Mike Ford echoing those very same sentiments to an ESPN television reporter? Ford’s comments to his driver were aired on live television faster than you can say WAZZUP.

WAZZUP with literally anyone who truly believed there would be on track retaliation between Harvick and Hamlin during Sunday’s race? Perhaps driver Tony Stewart was correct when he recently observed that sometimes the NASCAR media has a tendency to create soap operas that just aren’t there. Yes, I’ll accept my fair share of the responsibility in this matter.

The NASCAR Appeals Board will be conducting a hearing on Wednesday to consider the appeal by RCR and a review of the harsh penalties handed down by NASCAR. Hopefully by then this particular soap opera will reach a diminished state.

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HOORAH to the Dinger. A J Allmendinger ran the race of his still short Sprint Cup career in his Richard Petty Motorsports Ford at Dover. After starting the AAA 400 on the front row, Allmendinger led 143 laps of the race. He had only led a total of 43 laps during all of his prior Sprint Cup starts. The team endured some bad luck during the race when a piece of sheet metal cut his right rear tire and forced an unscheduled pit stop. But the strength of his car allowed him to race his way back to a tenth place finish.

During the race Allmendinger came over his radio and said “this is kind of fun, we should try it more often.” After leading all of those laps he later said “it’s no wonder Jimmie Johnson smiles so much.”

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WAZZUP with some of the Sprint Cup teams who were snake bit on pit road during the Dover race?

Let’s start with Tony Stewart who was caught speeding on pit road. Unfortunately he couldn’t seem to recover from the pass through penalty and finished the race in 21st two laps down. A pre Chase championship contender now finds himself tenth in the standings and 162 points out of first.

Matt Kenseth missed the commitment line while trying to enter Dover’s treacherous pit road and locked up his brakes. He continued around the track only to blow a left front tire that shattered the sheet metal on his fender. He finished 18th one lap down. Kenseth is now 11th in the Chase standings 165 points out. His Chase effort is also now treading water.

Clint Bowyer also had a tough Sunday at Dover on top of a very tough week. He was penalized for speeding on pit road two times and wound up 25th three laps down. He’s now 12th in the Chase 235 points out.

The HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do-do belongs to Kurt Busch. After completing a penalty, also for speeding down pit road, Busch got up on the wheel of his Penske Racing Dodge and was able to drive his way back to a fourth place finish. He later said “I felt like a kid playing with matches and I got burned.” He left Dover fourth in the Chase standings and only 59 points from the top.

The Oh No He Didn’t WAZZUP award goes to Regan Smith, driver of the #78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet. After being caught for speeding on pit road, Smith came back to serve his drive through penalty and, you guessed it, was nailed for speeding on pit road again. He wound up with a frustrating 26th place finish three laps down.

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HOORAH to Kyle Busch for winning Saturday’s Dover 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Busch led 192 of the 200 laps for his 11th win of the season in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He also rewrote another page of the series’ history. He broke the all time series’ win record for a single season held for many years by series’ icon Sam Ard. Joey Logano, Busch’s Gibbs Racing team mate, finished second and marked the 11th time Gibbs Racing has finished one-two in a Nationwide Series event.

For many years NASCAR’s second tier racing series was known as the Busch Series because of long time sponsorship from Busch Beer. In recent years the name was changed to the Nationwide Series when the well known insurance company became the title sponsor. With the numbers and records Kyle Busch has established in such a short amount of time, one has to think the name should be changed to Busch’s Nationwide Series.

I totally get that many NASCAR fans simply doesn’t like this driver. To be honest, I really don’t see myself joining his fan club anytime soon. But I have to be completely honest here when I say that Kyle Busch is simply one of the best things that has joined NASCAR in quite a few years. The numbers he’s compiled certainly supports that theory.

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HOORAH to young Austin Dillon for winning Saturday’s Smith’s 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The rookie sensation started the race from the pole and led 93 of the 146 laps on the way to his second win of the year.  During the dominant performance Dillon finished a whopping six seconds over runner up Johnny Sauter.

This Las Vegas win was some good medicine for his team owner and grand father Richard Childress who had a very tough week due to aforementioned problems with one of his Sprint Cup teams. In addition to making grandpa proud, Austin Dillion has clearly proved that he is the future of the family business.

HOORAH to Todd Bodine whose fourth place finish padded his series points lead. It also moves him closer to his second series championship.

Bodine gets another HOORAH for a great line from a post race interview. Bodine said “this is Las Vegas and my wife, Janet, bet on Austin Dillon so now we get to go collect her winnings.”

Dover International Speedway, also known as The Monster Mile has been known as one of the toughest and most physically demanding tracks on the Sprint Cup Circuit. The track lived up to it’s moniker Sunday afternoon during the AAA 400, striking some of the sport’s most popular drivers and possibly ending the title hopes of others.

After Sunday’s race there were some drivers who left the track scratching their head and wondering what might have been.

AJ Allmendinger surprised everyone on Friday when he qualified second, and backed up the excellent effort by leading 143 laps on Sunday during the race. AJ appeared to have the strongest car until a flat tire forced him to pit while leading and losing two laps in the process. Allmendinger was unable to lead or find the top-five again after the disappointment, but did rally back to finish 10th.

Leading up to Dover, Clint Bowyer dominated the headlines earlier in the week after winning the first race of the chase at New Hampshire and catapulting to second in the points standings. The positive vibes quickly came to an end a few days later when the winning car was confiscated by NASCAR and found to be illegal at their R&D Center in Charlotte. Bowyer was docked 150 points, his crew chief Shane Wilson suspended for six races and fined $150,000 and car chief Chad Haney also suspended for six races. The penalty erased Bowyer’s jump to second in points and dropped him back to 12th- over 160 points behind the points leader.

The negative vibes continued at Dover as Clint struggled in practice on Friday and qualified 24th; and in the infield media center where he and Richard Childress racing were the center of a media frenzy and a war of words with fellow competitors.

Sunday proved no better for Bowyer, who finished the worst among chase drivers after hitting the wall midway through the race and sustaining damage to the right side of his car. Clint went on to finish 25th and finds himself 235 points behind holding down the 12th spot in the points standings- with his title hopes seemingly down the drain.

Matt Kenseth, who had the best average finish among all Sprint Cup drivers coming in to Dover and was a favorite to win the race, struggled as well. Kenseth suffered a flat tire during the race and sustained significant left-front damage. Matt rallied back from adversity, but only managed to finish 18th and is now 11th in points standings- over one race behind points leader Denny Hamlin.

After running out of fuel while leading with two laps ago last week and finishing 24th, Tony Stewart struggled the entire weekend at Dover. Stewart was only 24th fastest in the opening practice session and qualified 28th on Friday afternoon. During the race, Tony was caught speeding on pit road and found himself two laps down early in the race. Stewart eventually made up one those laps, but wound up finishing 21st. After a tough outing, Stewart is 10th in the standings and 162 points behind.

Although Sunday’s race at Dover lacked the multiple car accidents and extended caution periods that it’s known for, Miles the Monster took a significant bite out of some chase driver’s title hopes. Four of the twelve chase drivers now found themselves over 100 behind points leader Denny Hamlin, and look to get their title runs back on track at Kansas for next Sunday’s Price Chopper 400.

For the latest NASCAR talk and information, you can follow Kyle on Twitter: @TheKyleBrandt