Category: Featured Stories

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Chase For The Championship moves on to round number eight this Sunday at the Texas Motor Speedway. The winner of the AAA Texas 500 will get to observe the time honored tradition of firing those twin six shooters in victory lane. Considering the list of Chase hopefuls, and potential spoilers, on the entry list for this race, the Texas pistol packer could be just about anyone.

Without question, the focus of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 will be on NASCAR’s Chase For The Championship. The arithmetic of the matter indicates that the top five drivers in the standings still have a chance at taking the Sprint Cup trophy home. The reality of the matter, though, states that the championship may turn out to become a points shootout between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.

The potential drama of a title run between these two drivers is already in place and the get into each other’s heads trash talking has already begun. This is going to be fun racing fans.

THE LAS VEGAS BREAKDOWN

To get an idea regarding which driver is going to fire those pistols in the Texas Motor Speedway’s victory lane, we once again turn to the professional number crunchers from the Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE), who has once again has presented us with something to think about.

Topping this week’s WSE ranking, at 7 to 1 odds, is the trio of Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Edwards is on top of the current Chase standings by eight points. He survived potential points disasters at Talladega and Martinsville and will be the first to tell you he was lucky. The mile and a half format at Texas is more suitable for this driver and he has very good numbers there including a series high three wins, four top five finishes, five top tens and a very healthy average finish ratio, (AFR), of 10.0. Also bear in mind that the Roush Fenway Fords has some very strong numbers at Texas.

Also at 7 to 1 is Roush Fenway Racing Ford driver Matt Kenseth. Unfortunately this driver had a disaster of a day in Martinsville and has fallen to fifth in the standing, 36 points away from first, and his championship hopes are treading water. However, he could pick up some ground at Texas where he has outstanding numbers that includes two wins, nine top fives and a very healthy 9.0 AFR.

At sixth in the Chase standings, 43 points away, it appears that Jimmie Johnson’s efforts to win a sixth, consecutive, championship is now gone. But that doesn’t mean this driver is going to lay down and quit during the final three races of the season. He’s a previous winner at Texas with seven top fives and a 9.9 AFR. Those numbers says consider placing a wager on him.

The WSE has drivers Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon rated at 9 to 1 odds for Texas. Stewart was a late bloomer this season and didn’t find victory lane until the ten race Chase series started. But “Smoke” caught fire and, in seven Chase events, he’s won three of them and that’s what placed in second in the standings and eight points away. He’s a previous winner at Texas with four top fives and a 13.2 AFR.

Following a disaster of a day in Martinsville last weekend, Kyle Busch now finds himself seventh in the standings and 56 points away. His Texas numbers really aren’t that strong. He’s still looking for his first win there and has a 16.2 AFR. But this is Kyle Busch we’re talking about. If all of the needed elements falls into place at Texas, he’s more than capable of winning this race. That’s likely why the WSE has rated him so highly this week.

Meanwhile Jeff Gordon, now tenth in the standings and 76 points away, has seen his drive for five championship program disappear. But here’s another driver that will not lay down and is expected to run strong at Texas where he’s a previous winner. All three of these drivers in the 9 to 1 group are very good wager considerations.

At 10 to 1 odds is Kevin Harvick who, at third in the standings and 21 points away, is still very active in the championship profile. He’s still looking for his first win at Texas but he does have three top fives and a healthy 12.9 AFR.

Denny Hamlin is ranked by the WSE at 12 to 1 to win at Texas. Hamlin’s overall season has been somewhat of a disappointment, but his Texas numbers says consider him to be an excellent longshot wager. He’s a two time winner there with five top fives and a very good 9.3 AFR.

Turning to the WSE’s middle tier this week we have Clint Bowyer and previous Texas winner Greg Biffle at 15 to 1 odds.

Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne, a previous race winner, along with Kurt Busch, another race winner, are ranked at 20 to 1. If you’re into longshot wagers, any one of this trio could be worthy of your consideration.

At 25 to 1 odds is the pride of the Junior Nation. Dale Earnhardt Jr is a previous winner at Texas and has a healthy 14.5 AFR.

Looking at the WSE’s lower tier, previous race winner Ryan Newman leads this pack at 30 to 1 followed by David Ragan at 35 to 1. At 40 to 1 is the duo of previous race winner Mark Martin along with Juan Pablo Montoya. Finishing this week’s list, at 50 to 1, is the quartet of Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, Jeff Burton and David Reutimann.

If you do not see the name of your favorite driver on the WSE’s Texas listing, that means they are automatically ranked in the “all others” category at 15 to 1 odds.

Here’s the disclaimer: NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers should be viewed for informational and entertainment purposes. They neither encourage nor condone the placing of wager on their events.

Personally, I can’t imagine betting on a NASCAR race. The tenuous, final lap, capabilities alone says that there really is no such thing as a safe bet in this sport. But if you’re going to do it anyway, at least you have the numbers from the professionals at the WSE so you can make an informed decision.

THE RACE BREAKDOWN

The AAA Texas 500 is 334 laps/501 miles around the Texas Motor Speedway’s 1.5 mile quad oval.

The race has 48 posted entries vying for the 43 starting positions. 13 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning they are not guaranteed a starting berth in the race because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race.

Construction on the Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995 followed by the official opening in 1997.

The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was held there in April of 1997 and was won by Jeff Burton. Since that time the speedway has hosted 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup events which has sent 16 winners to victory lane. Carl Edwards has a series high three wins at Texas followed by Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton with two wins each. Edwards and Hamlin are the only drivers to sweep both Texas events in the same year. Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner while Matt Kenseth won the spring race at Texas last April.  Roush Fenway Racing leads the team wins there with eight followed by Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing with three each. Matt Kenseth has a series high eight top five finishes at Texas while Mark Martin leads the top ten category with 12.

Track position is always important at the Texas Motor Speedway and that places an emphasis on qualifying day. The track qualifying record, 196.235 MPH, was set by Brian Vickers in November of 2006. Only one race at Texas has been one from the pole position, Kasey Kahne in April of 2006, but 15 races have been won from starting positions within the top ten.

The mammoth Texas Motor Speedway is 58 feet wide with 24 degrees of banking in the turns but only five degrees of banking on the straights and the dog leg. The front stretch measures 2,250 feet long while the back stretch measures 1,330 feet. The pit road speed is 45 MPH. The pit window, according to Goodyear engineers, is 48 to 52 laps based on individual fuel mileage.The speedway can presently accommodate 191,122 fans.

The weather forecast for the greater Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area calls for sunny skies on Friday and Saturday with daytime highs ranging between 65 to 71 degrees. However, there is a slight, 20 percent, chance of thunder storms on Sunday race day. The Texas Motor Speedway has a fleet of six jet dryers that can completely dry the track in approximately two hours.

The AAA Texas 500 will be broadcast live by ESPN with the “Countdown” show beginning at 2 pm eastern time followed by the green flag at 3 pm et. The race re airs will be Monday, at 3 am et, on ESPN2 and on Wednesday, 12 pm et, on SPEED.

There was the pressure that comes with 43 cars taking the green flag on a half mile track. There was the pressure of roughly half of the 2011 Chase contenders trying to fortify their championship hopes. There was the pressure on some drivers looking for a great run in order to shore up sponsorship programs for next year. There was also pressure on some drivers looking for a good run because they’re looking for rides next year. How could there not be mayhem at Martinsville?

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]HOORAH to Tony Stewart for pulling off a very surprising outside pass on Jimmie Johnson, following a final restart with only three laps left in the Tums Fast Relief 500. It marked Stewart’s 42nd career win and third win of the season with all of them coming during the Chase schedule. Remember several weeks ago when Stewart said his team didn’t deserve to be in the Chase? I don’t think he believes that anymore. He’s now second in the Chase standings and only eight points behind Carl Edwards.

HOORAH to the race winner for giving the custom winner’s trophy, a magnificent grandfather clock, to his crew chief Darian Grubb. It marked the first time in his career that Stewart has ever given away a winner’s trophy.

HOORAH for the post Martinsville trash talking regarding the Chase. With a big grin on his face, Stewart commented on the final three races remaining in the Chase and said “he, (Carl Edwards), better be worried, he’s not going to have an easy three weeks. He better not even take a nap over the next three weeks.” Stay tuned race fans,this is going to be fun.

WAZZUP with Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers? His performance at Martinsville may have set an all time WAZZUP record. There were 18 caution flags during this race and Vickers managed to get directly involved with five of them. At least his sponsor logo received plenty of television exposure during this driver’s very long day.

WAZZUP with Vickers launching the final caution flag of the race with eight laps remaining? That last yellow flag wiped out Jimmie Johnson’s huge lead and a sure fire race win. It was the catalyst that set up the final restart and Stewart stealing the trip to victory lane.

WAZZUP with Vickers parking the rear of Jamie McMurray’s car into the wall following a lap 88 hit? When the field came around again, under caution, McMurray attempted to crash Vickers but couldn’t quite pull it off. It’s what the broadcasters from Major League Baseball would call “swing and a miss.”

WAZZUP with McMurray coming over his radio to announce that the car has no power. That was because the impact of the crash caused the two batteries to come flying out of their compartment, located in front of the left rear tire, and land on the track.

WAZZUP with Vickers deciding to take on Matt Kenseth during this race? During some short track road rage, on lap 459, Kenseth decided he had endured enough rear end pounding from that Red Bull car and the championship contender retaliated. I’ve often wondered what it takes to totally piss off Matt Kenseth.

WAZZUP with more trouble for Chase contender Matt Kenseth following a lap 465 crash with Kyle Busch? That incident led to a 31st place finish and a drop of three positions in the Chase standings. He’s now fifth and 36 points away from first.

WAZZUP with Kyle Busch’s hard luck run that led to a 27th place finish and a drop to seventh in the Chase standings? After leading a race high 126 laps, it appeared that Busch might break that so called jinx and win his first Chase race in 47 starts. Busch came to pit road for repairs and, in an effort avoid going a lap down, roared out of his pit box only to discover that there were missing lug nuts on the left front tire. The result was the tire rolled down the backstretch all by itself while Busch limped back to pit road.

The HOORAH for making chicken salad out of chicken do do goes to Carl Edwards. After losing a ton of track position due to a wayward lug nut, Edwards found himself dealing with an ill handling car that had him losing a lap to the leaders on two different occasions. He was fortunate to receive the lucky dog free pass two times and that allowed him to recover to a ninth place finish. It also allowed to keep his points lead over Tony Stewart. Edwards will be the first to tell you that he got lucky at Martinsville.

But WAZZUP with the Edwards team’s magic set up pumpkin? Apparently there was a pumpkin that was supposed to bring some good mojo to the race car. Written on it, with a Sharpie pen, was the magic set up pumpkin’s sage advice which read: “keep it free.” I’ve got a feeling that, after the Martinsville race, that pumpkin was transported to someone’s kitchen to be turned into a pie.

Another chicken salad HOORAH goes to Jeff Gordon who was caught up in a lap nine melee launched by this team mate Dale Earnhardt Jr. Despite the early race setback, Gordon charged his way to the front to a third place finish after leading 113 laps of the race.

HOORAH to Dale Earnhardt Jr for growing some fangs, the day before Halloween, and putting on an aggressive driving display that led to a seventh place finish much to the delight of his fan club, the Junior Nation. Earnhardt appeared to be having fun at Martinsville and it was good to see that style of driving from him again.

During the race Earnhardt said “I think if we raced at more short tracks, I might be considered a dirty driver.” “Please, build some more short tracks,” he said after the race adding “we need some more short tracks. At all of this mile and a half (tracks), I know you can get more seats at them or whatever but they just don’t really turn everybody on.”

HOORAH for some post race comments that came from ESPN’s “NASCAR Now” round table last Monday. Program host Alan Bestwick observed that the Martinsville race was good for the economy adding “there were so many wrecked cars that a lot of people are going to get paid to fix them” He also said the estimates for all of those damaged cars came to approximately $1,680,000.

Show analysts Ken Schrader quipped “I’ve been in demolition derbys that didn’t have that many deliberate hits.”

HOORAH to the Martinsville Speedway for painting their six inch curbs, at the bottom of the turns, bright pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

HOORAH to ESPN’s television ratings for the Tums Fast Relief 500 broadcast. According to the Nielsen ratings,the race broadcast recorded a 3.6 household average rating, up from last year’s 2.8, which equates to 4,923,000 viewers.

HOORAH to the Martinsville Speedway race for reminding us why we loved short track racing to begin with.

In some final thoughts, a GOD BLESS goes out to the racing Wallace family who sadly lost their father, Russ Wallace October 30th at the age of 77. Mr Wallace was a well known dirt track driver, and a winner of 200 feature races, in cars that he prepared himself with the help of his sons. Mr Wallace proudly watched his racing sons: Rusty, Mike and Kenny follow in his footsteps while launching their own successful NASCAR careers. He also watched his grandchildren take up the family business as well. Our deepest condolences goes out to the Wallace family.

Next we have a THANK GOD for the circumstances that allowed NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, his wife Linda and two pilots, to escape serious injury following a plane crash at an airport in Key West Florida, October 31st. According to reports the G150 Gulfstream private plane, registered to Hendrick Motorsports and Jimmie Johnson Racing II, had a brake failure that caused it slide off of the runway. Rick Hendrick sustained a reported broken rib and clavicle while Linda Hendrick was treated for minor cuts and bruises. The two pilots were uninjured. Again THANK GOD, this accident could have been a lot worse.