Category: The Final Word

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”165″][/media-credit]When the dust had cleared at Las Vegas, Sunday had featured two folks in my opinion. One was Tony Stewart, who won this early in the season way back in…well, never. He drove like a demon to take his one, beating his own standard when he claimed Atlanta in 2002, the fourth race of that campaign. Stewart has finished second at the Daytona 500, but no wins have ever come his way this early.

The defending and three-time NASCAR Cup king is now in his 13th full season on the tour, but like an old bear he just doesn’t shake off his hibernation until winter is gone and spring has pretty much passed. He has now won just twice in March, once in April (2006 – Martinsville), and twice in May, back to back at Richmond in 2001 and 2002. Twenty-one of his 45 victories have come in the middle third of the year, with 19 coming down the stretch. Maybe his competitors need to sing some sweet lullabies to Tony, put him back into his slumber until June. An early rising Stewart can’t be good for any of them.

There was another fellow who made some news on Sunday. If NASCAR had their way, their kangaroo court might just fine this boy (secretly, of course) $100,000 for telling it like it is. Kyle Petty had a few choice words to say in regards to the appeal system Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson are presently involved in. To tell you the truth, he made it sound a lot like the courtroom of Judge Roy Bean, the Law West of the Pecos.

If you don’t know about Bean, he was a man who shot another down, dueled another to the death, survived a lynching, and operated some saloons. Obviously a prime candidate to become Justice of the Peace in west Texas in the 1880s. Many a time the fines he handed out equaled the exact amount the accused happened to have had in their pockets. He was not empowered to grant divorces, but did so anyway while concluding wedding ceremonies with “and may God have mercy on your souls”, the traditional comment when handing out a death sentence. In short, Roy Bean made up the law as he went along, with little or no expertise in how to get it right.

That brings us back to Kyle Petty’s comments about those listed in the rule book as NASCAR’s 45 member appeals board. Three of them were picked, and decided that the Johnson-Knaus penalties were hunky dory. Due process? Well, maybe not. “Some of them may have passed away since their names were put in here. That’s how old these people are”, observed Petty. Maybe only a third of them had even been to a track in the past year, he furthered, do not have the expertise, and certainly could not be considered as the peers of those current drivers, team members, or owners. Or, as Petty stated, “These people don’t go to the racetrack, they don’t understand the process. They don’t understand sometimes where this sport is.”

By the way, Kyle also stated that the 25 point penalty handed out was no where near legitimate, in his opinion. Remember, the car in question had passed the templates before and, from what I understand, was not even going through the process when tagged using the ole eyeball method. It simply was at the track, but not yet presented for competition. In short, it had the same standing at that time as a Winnebago parked in the infield or a hot dog stand in the parking lot ; it was just there.

So, after Tuesday’s ruling Hendrick Motorsports takes this to NASCAR’s chief appellate officer to continue its appeal, all the while being very respectful to the powers that be. With his runner up finish at Las Vegas, Johnson sits 36 points out of a Chase place with 23 races to go before the deadline. That is doable, but it would be tougher should his crew chief, along with car chief Ron Malec, get an enforced six week holiday.

What about Kyle Petty? If NASCAR can fine independent contractors for making statements that they deem to be detrimental to stock car racing, what about an announcer? If they did, I don’t imagine Petty would find any support on the appeals board, unless the old fossils couldn’t remember what it was all about by the time they met.

What Petty said at Las Vegas had little to do as to whether the penalties were right or wrong, though we know what he thinks on that. It was about whether the appeal process constitutes a peer review of the issue or instead that they might be perceived as being just a rubber stamp committee of glorified hacks with little expertise who are less interested in doing what is right but rather doing what they are told. It should make for an interesting week as we lead up to Bristol.

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]They looked similar, with the same track and cars that appeared comparable. However, where the Nationwide race at Phoenix on Saturday was brutally boring, the televised action Sunday kept one interested from start to finish. So, what was the difference?

Fans tuned in Saturday primarily to see how Danica Patrick might perform as she competed in the second race of the circuit’s season. Daytona was not kind, and while she managed to finish this one, no small feat, the fact she was three laps down to finish 21st kind of dulled any sense of anticipation. However, even with the 29-year old raven haired beauty a non-factor, you would have hoped the action would be enough to carry the day.

Sunday, same track, and we had Kevin Harvick leading the way when Kyle Busch was not. As they thundered to a conclusion, Harvick was chasing down Denny Hamlin with a couple of laps to go when the gas gauge hit empty. Hamlin won, Happy coasted to second, as Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, and Brad Keselowski hit the line ahead of the aforementioned Mr. Busch. If nothing else, Johnson is now out of minus figures in the standings, and even a 14th place result for Dale Earnhardt Jr was not bad considering he was outside the Top Twenty most of the day.

Both races featured cars finding the short cut through the old dog-leg, flying down to the apron and popping back up before the corner. It looked exciting Sunday, not so much Saturday. Why? Well, it could be something as simple as the difference between watching a Major League baseball game and one from the minors. One has the A-team, the other does not. Saturday’s camera shots failed to match the broadcast on Sunday. One was visually exciting, the other was not. One featured announcers that were entertaining, informative, and knowledgeable while the other did not. I like Allan Bestwick, and he shined on that old Inside Winston Cup show, but as a race announcer he comes across like an over eager kid, while Mike Joy has the voice and a real chemistry with his two cohorts. Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree are not bad, but they pale against the likes of Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds. Chris Myers and the Waltrip brothers are worth listening to, while Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty bring nothing to the table. Nothing.

Same track, similar racing, totally different results for the television viewer. Sunday kept me watching, Saturday saw the PVR get a work out. Even if I weren’t a fan, Sunday’s action gave me a good reason to watch the action coming up in Las Vegas. Saturday gives me reason to fire up the Sirius radio or tape the race and watch in high speed instead of high def.

Now, it would be no big deal, except later this season the FOX crew gets replaced doing the Cup side by the not ready for prime time folks at ESPN/ABC. After watching Saturday, I thought the action last Sunday would be terribly dull. I was pleasantly surprised that it was not. At least I know going into this weekend that while the NASCAR action on Sunday might take up a good four hours of my time, Saturday…maybe one. Enjoy the week.

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”243″][/media-credit]Okay, just what in sam hill was that? In the end, it was Matt Kenseth being chased by Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr coming home, with all appearing to have a shot at the win. In the end, it was Kenseth taking his second Daytona 500, and Junior beating out Biffle to be the runner up. That, my friends, proved to be one of this event’s most boring moments. Really.

Where do you start when reflecting upon the Bizarro 500? The rain that finally managed to wash out a Sunday 500? A Daytona 500 starting under the lights on Monday? Maybe you liked the 1.1 laps put in by Jimmie Johnson before Elliott Sadler tagged his inside back fender. By the time they were done beating the stuffings out of ole Jimmie his Chevy was done for a 42nd place finish and two big points in the standings. It also turned the days of Kurt Busch (39th) , Danica Patrick (38th), and Trevor Bayne (35th) into total crap. That was just the beginning.

Maybe you liked the optics of Ryan Newman’s adventure. Tire goes down, he goes sliding, then comes to the pits for help. Well, there are all kinds of help, but Newman probably wasn’t planning on leaving the pits at the same time his tire was leaving his car, causing A.J. Allmendinger to rear end him. After that, a 21st place finish probably wasn’t all that bad, but others were not so fortunate.

Sometimes you wreck, get things put back together, then pad on a few more laps even after your own race is basically done. Then there are times you just plain blow up. Jeff Gordon was riding around when all of a sudden he waved for folks to go by. Why? Well, the explosion under the hood gave us the answer. Gordon was done on the spot, logging a 40th place result. I mean, the best recovery probably was that of Clint Bowyer, who actually ran out of gas and still managed 11th.

Sometimes no fuel is better than a full tank, like a full tank of jet fuel to run a track dryer. Juan Pablo Montoya left the pits under caution, tried to catch up to the field all the while complaining about his car, which immediately broke in to a high speed sideways slide into the rear of the truck to liven things up just a bit. The FOX folks came out of a commercial break to show Montoya (36th) crawling out of a car that it looked like somebody had stomped it into the ground as a Texas style barbecue shot flames high into the air along the outside fence. The good news is that while some may have taken a bit of a lickin’ on this night they all kept on tickin’.

You would have to think that even with 30 less hours to get set for the race at Phoenix this Sunday, that event should be a much tamer affair from what we had just witnessed. That is, unless you consider events of Phoenix races past. There was that Lap 66 mess last year involving Andy Lally, Bobby Labonte, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Clint Bowyer, David Gilliland, David Ragan, David Reutimann, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Paul Menard, Robby Gordon, and Travis Kvapil. A few laps before that, Carl Edwards found himself heading to the garage in an incident that involved Kyle Busch and eventual race winner Jeff Gordon. Then there was the fall race that saw Vickers ambush Kenseth, never mind the carnage from the two Nationwide races. Oh, this does not bode well for tameness at all.

Back in the day, when I had hair and a higher voice, I loved watching figure eight racing. Sometimes it would feature solo cars, or two cars chained together, or maybe they even trailed a camper trailer. When they met at the intersection it would cause a joyous explosion of sheet metal and wreckage. While it has been years since I’ve seen these races, I understand the world championships still take place in Riverhead, New York, with other events featured across the United States.

Phoenix International Raceway is not amongst them, but you might be hard pressed to notice the difference as NASCAR action resumes this Sunday in the Subway 500. Enjoy the week.

[media-credit id=22 align=”alignright” width=”253″][/media-credit]NASCAR does it right, my friends. Begin the season with an exhibition game, featuring all-stars, rookies, even old timers would do. You don’t start your day with the main meal, but breakfast sure hits the spot. The same applies to fans who after the off-season just want a taste of what is to come, a little something to whet the appetite.

Granted, NASCAR’s off-season is shorter than most, but it was sure nice to hear those engines roar, to see the cars thundering around the oval in a big pack, to see the bumps and even the spills. ARCA opened things right, with Larry McReynolds’ boy Brandon leading the way coming home before the tank went dry. That left Bobby Gerhart going by for his 8th career win on that track. Then came the Budweiser Shootout, as we again saw close pack racing that replaced the two car tango, giving us a more classical sling shot victory by Kyle Busch over Tony Stewart. Cars could hook up only for so long before they over-heated, and if the drivers bumped wrong or in the wrong place bad things happened. If I wasn’t ready for the season to start before, after watching the action last weekend I sure am biting at the bit to see what will take place this Sunday at Daytona.

Maybe it is time for the NFL to learn a little something from the car jockeys for a change. Football’s all-star game is a dud, few give a damn, and even making it part of the Super Bowl festivities failed to jack up much interest. How about starting the season with all-stars, or incoming rookies, even with modified rules? Those lads who play football in soccer attire Down Under give their fans a season opening month long exhibition tournament. Teams in Australia open play with two shortened games against two opponents on the same day to commence the NAB Cup competition that features all 18 teams. The expansion Sydney Giants unsurprisingly lost both their openers, but were within a single kick of winning either of them to open a few eyes.

Hockey could do more, but their format of having the captains select their own teams like kids having a pick-up game at the local rink has been a great innovation. Not much wrong with baseball’s mid-season classic, as the fan support would indicate, but wouldn’t it be great if they featured a few old-timers getting together for a nine-inning game somewhere to kick off the season? Luke Appling has been gone more than 20 years now, but I still remember back to 1982 when the then 75-year old former White Sox star of the 1930’s and 40’s hit a 250 foot shot off Warren Spahn at old RFK Stadium. What a way that would be to open a season.

NASCAR does not really need a featured old-timers race and it already has a very popular all-star event. However, since 1979 the sport has opened the new season with a race with modified rules featuring primarily pole sitters from the past year or those who had previous success in the contest. It not only puts some cars back on the track in competition, but it also gives fans a preview of what might be expected in the upcoming Daytona 500. If what we saw last Sunday equates into what we can see this Sunday, the Great American Race will be something to behold.

By the way, just in case you don’t realize that we are indeed living in one of NASCAR’s golden eras, keep in mind that of the eight Cup champions who have claimed the title over the past 18 seasons, only Dale Jarrett will not be running in this weekend’s Daytona 500.

It was sure something to witness. The two contenders running just over a second apart, first and second, with the winner of the race the winner of the season. Would an engine blow, a tire go down, a split second lack of focus bounce one off the wall? It all made for one heck of a finale, as Tony Stewart won his third Cup championship against a very game Carl Edwards.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]Only two drivers have won the title over the past seven seasons. There was Tony Stewart, then there was J–i–m–m–y   J–o–h–n–s–o–n for five, then Stewart again. The new points system gave us the closest finish ever, dead even in points as Stewart won based on wins, 5-to-1. To do it, he had to overcome a couple of repairs that sent him to the back early on Sunday, along with an air gun that did him no favors twice, and drive like a demon to make hay during the restarts. What a wonderful end to the season, but this isn’t really the end and not everything is wonderful.

For example, Stewart wins with Darian Grubb as his crew chief, that same Darian Grubb who apparently is unemployed today. “Thanks for the title but”, as the Donald would say, “you’re fired.” What the hell? Grubb guides his boss to five Chase wins, makes a real gutsy call late that helped set up the final run to the championship, sees Stewart carrying his boy on the podium like a favorite uncle, and his butt is out the door? That decision was made five races ago, at Charlotte, but what now? Whatever happens, Grubb won’t be unemployed for long, but Stewart could find himself going from Smoke to Grinch in a hurry.

Kevin Harvick Incorporated looked like the next outfit that would grow to become a major player in NASCAR. They won a pair of truck titles, claimed 43 races, and even ten Nationwide series checkered flags. Then, they merged it all with the Richard Childress operation for 2012. We are told it makes economic sense, that it would free up time for Harvick to devote to Cup, but we are left to wonder that if Harvick and KHI can’t make it, who can? I’m sure it will also free up capital to allow Kevin and DeLana to invest in other areas where folks can make honey if they got the money to invest when prices are low.

Goodbye David Reutimann. Adios Brian Vickers. See you later, David Ragan. Sponsorship or the lack of a team send the latter duo shopping for jobs, while it appears Aaron’s did not consider Reutimann their lucky dog any longer and requested a change. Mark Martin and Michael Waltrip will take over the #00, while Red Bull’s possible demise frees Vickers as UPS moves the big brown elsewhere to park Ragan.

Jeremy Mayfield, what in hell happened? Most of us don’t know these men, just know of them and have, at best, a perception of who they might be. Of course, Mayfield could be totally innocent of all the things NASCAR and the law say he has done, but we are getting to the point where, if he is, we are in the midst of one heck of a conspiracy.

Some might not consider this good news, but I do. Might RCR’s #3 make a return to Cup action? Austin Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress, claimed the truck title this year, and Junior is okay with the 21 year old taking the number Dillon has carried this season, that his grandpa had carried, and what Earnhardt’s daddy made famous driving for RCR back to the Cup level. It might not happen next year, but it could be running in the Nationwide series this year. You know, I would be just fine with it, too.

The new baseball season is still five months away. Our boys, and Danica Patrick, have just three months to get ready for Daytona as Tony tries to make it four championships, Jimmie six, Jeff five, and Carl seeks his first. Enjoy the winter.

As the boys moved on from Martinsville en route to Texas, the Chase has come down to essentially a two man race. Carl Edwards went to Virginia hoping to avoid disaster, which would have been to maintain his average of 16th place finishes there, but moved up in the end to claim 9th. Tony Stewart was in junk all day, told his crew that nothing they did seemed to change that fact, yet moved around Jimmie Johnson in the late stages to claim his third win of the Chase. It was called the Turns Fast Relief 500, and for a pair of guys it sure did.

[media-credit name=”Barry Albert” align=”alignright” width=”241″][/media-credit]Eight points separate Edwards from his nearest challenger, and if you don’t think wins matter this season, think again. Stewart is eight back, but if those three Chase wins had turned out to be just runner-up results the difference would have been 20. Wins matter, and after what took place last Sunday so does Stewart.

As they move into the Lone Star state, some have a chance if Edwards, at least, finds himself about as lucky as the hare who sacrificed the rabbit’s foot. Kevin Harvick was 4th last weekend and now sits third in the standings, 21 points out. Brad Keselowski was 17th, and he finds himself 27 points back. The rest don’t matter unless Texas turns into the Alamo for the leaders. So, what are the chances?

Edwards has won at Fort Worth three times in 13 starts, but has an average finish of more than 16th. More than half the time he is outside the Top Fifteen, three times 33rd or worse. Stewart has ran there on nineteen occasions, won there five years ago, and has an average outcome of 13th. Six times he has finished fifteenth or worse, three times outside the Top Thirty. Advantage Stewart, unless Edwards wins. I guess that means you will have to watch the action to see how this turns out.

Harvick has never won there, but 60% of his seventeen encounters have ended with him inside the Top Twenty. Keselowski has not done much of anything in his four visits, so that does not bode well for him. Should both Edwards and Stewart falter, Harvick has a shot of getting back into it. If Edwards claims his fourth victory at the track, then Phoenix and Homestead could be somewhat anti-climatic.

While you will be watching the action from Texas, my family and I are taking a short break to visit New York City, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg. We know we should expect to see tall buildings, the Liberty Bell, and the site of Pickett’s Charge on our tour. I don’t know what to expect at Fort Worth, other than maybe the unexpected. The picture should be much clearer when I return as the boys head to Homestead in a couple of weeks. Enjoy your week.

The south has a reputation of being somewhat conservative, and after the weekend’s action in Talladega, Alabama, one Carl Edwards might fit in just nicely. After riding around at the back of the pack most of the day, Cousin Carl settled for just outside the Top Ten, and that suited him just fine.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”256″][/media-credit]You see, as long as you improve the gap between you and the next guy, especially with just four races left in the season and a championship in the balance, 11th place can work for you. Kevin Harvick started the day just five points back, but when he and Kyle Busch both got a good piece of A.J. Allmendinger’s spin they ended up outside the Top Thirty. Another Chaser, Kurt Busch, nailed the spinning Bobby Labonte to end his day with a bang. Ryan Newman was sailing along until his boss sent him sailing into the infield to tear up the front end. All finished back in Nemechek country, which is fine as long as winning is not a consideration.

Only three Chasers finished ahead of Edwards. Brad Keselowski was fourth, and is now third in the standings 18 points back. Matt Kenseth did not do well, as his 18th place finish leaves him 14 in arrears. Tony Stewart had a Top Ten, and is 19 away, as did Denny Hamlin but the damage to his hopes coming into Talladega had him already in next year country. He joins Newman and Jeff Gordon more than 80 out.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was pushing Jimmie Johnson, but in the end they discovered they had nothing for the big boys on the day, both more than twenty spots behind at the line. While Harvick is “just” 26 out of the hunt, the rest are done. If you are Kurt Busch and you see that you are next, 40 back, you are not working on that acceptance speech, at least barring some pretty bad things happening to at least one guy, maybe three or more.

Clint Bowyer is off to be part of Michael Waltrip’s group next year. However, he did manage to slip by team mate Jeff Burton at the line to give Richard Childress his 100th victory as a team owner in this, the 100th year since race car driver Louis Chevrolet started pushing his autos out the door. NASCAR tried to mess with the cars to make two-by-two driving a tougher thing to do on the superspeedway. They failed.

Junior and Jimmie were a team, but the once dominant Earnhardt only led two laps at Talladega, Johnson one as the five-time defending champ now sits 50 points out. The fat lady is now on the stage and the opening bars of her song are being played. Johnson needs more than just Edwards to falter, and it is doubtful to expect that much bad can be expected to come to that many people on the tracks at Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix, and Homestead.

We stay in the south another weekend, as they move on to Virginia. Harvick won there in the spring, Kenseth was 6th, and Edwards was 18th. That would work. Keselowski hopes to improve, as he saw Edwards finish just ahead of him at Martinsville in April. Edwards has never won on this track, was third once three years ago and had a pair of eights in 2010. It could be a track someone might make up some ground, but my conservative estimate is that time is running out for someone to show me they can make a move on the man from Missouri.

This Chase is becoming more and more like one of those reality series. A week goes by and somebody’s nice chef coat gets skewered and their photo bursts into the flames. They get their torch put out, they dance their last waltz, or sing their final tune. Whatever the race’s outcome, somebody seems to get eliminated, though unlike those shows we still get to see them back on the track the next week.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]This week at Charlotte, a few more were at least sent along to Exile Island, as Matt Kenseth came through for his third win of the campaign, and 21st of his career. He had the car to beat and nobody, including a game Kyle Busch, could do it. The victory leaves Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR champion, one of three who need to have bad things happen to them to allow the rest a chance.

Kenseth is seven points behind Carl Edwards, who finished third Saturday night, with sixth place finisher Kevin Harvick just five points back. With just five events left on the season calender, if any one of this trio can keep out of trouble the title could be their own. Not that anyone is wishing them bad fortune, but if it does…

Last week, we pretty much put to bed the chances for Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, and Denny Hamlin, all at least 60 points out into the weeds. Kyle Busch is 18 back, and he is in fourth. Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, and Kurt Busch now sit between 24 and 27 away. As for Jimmie Johnson, the late wreck that buried him in 34th and left him thirty-five big ones out of the hunt, could have taken him out of the mix for six. Unless, of course, bad things happen to three certain amigos.

I imagine one would need to be within 30 points at Homestead to even have a shot. You know there are a dozen or so cars out there that have no business even starting and can be expected to be back in the garage before most of the rest. The way this season has gone, it is a good bet that the contenders are going to average a minimum of 30 points per race, the champion at least 35. By my way of calculating, that would mean Edwards needs only to average 30 points from here on to maintain a shot at the crown, Johnson 37, and Junior 42. Yes, definitely bad things need to happen to our top three if the rest want to have any hope.

This Sunday they take on the great equalizer, the Talladega Superspeedway. It is a track where Johnson has won twice, including this spring. Harvick also has a win there, but neither Kenseth or Edwards have had the good fortune. In fact, over the past three seasons Carl’s average finish has been 20th on the 2.66 mile circuit, Matt even worse at 27th. Hey, maybe bad things do happen to good people…at least at Talladega.

It has been more than a decade since we lost Dale Earnhardt, but we were again sadly reminded how dangerous this sport can be this past weekend at Las Vegas. Dan Wheldon’s death in what was to have been the IRL’s season finale has taken from us a most talented and likeable young champion. We think of him and those he leaves behind this week.

Early in the year, a guy can get by with good. Good puts you in position for great things, with 20, or 30, or 40 races to go in the season. What Jimmie Johnson had last Sunday was a great car, a great performance, and the man who would be a six-time champion won his 55th career victory to move to within four points of the top of the hill with just six races to go.

[media-credit id=2 align=”alignright” width=”229″][/media-credit]Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick had good cars, hung around in the top 20, but stepped it up to great to both finish in the top ten to keep Johnson from moving on past them. Edwards was fifth, one better than Harvick, to take the Chase lead by a single point. So that now leaves us with three drivers who have been great, a handful of others who have been good, while four more can pretty much dream of what is to come…in 2012.

Denny Hamlin was good enough to be 16th as Kansas. Not bad if it were February at Daytona, but when things have been bad thus far in the Chase it just means more dirt has been tossed over his championship hopes for this season. His is now 79 down and he is not coming back.

Ryan Newman needed to be great, and at 18th he wasn’t even good on a day where he actually had been worse for the most part. He is now done. Jeff Gordon started blowing up with thirty to go before it gave up the ghost with less than ten remaining to finish 34th. Number five will have to wait another season. Dale Earnhardt Jr cracked the Top 15, but he needed a Top Five. Now he is more than 40 in arrears, and that pretty much leaves him in the dust.

Five sit within 11 to 20 points back, still with a chance for greatness if those who have been great go bad, and do it soon. Brad Keselowski finished third in Kansas, just behind Kasey Kahne, and sits fourth in the hunt. Not great, but damn close. Matt Kenseth is a dozen away, and being fourth at Kansas keeps him relevant. The Busch boys and Tony Stewart all had Top Fifteens, not great, but some very good, even great, performances earlier leaves them between 16 and 20 off the pace. Good enough for the moment, but Charlotte and Talladega better be great.

ESPN…well not great but good for the most part. Rusty and Brad, God love them, are kind of like letting a deadbeat relative be part of your entourage. If the broadcast team were the Corleone family, Rusty and Brad would be a pair of Fredos. When someone makes the mistake of turning on their mics during a race, Nicole Briscoe brings up some pertinent fact and these boys concept of providing additional color is to simply provide a long-winded version of “you betcha.” If your grandma can replace an announcer, I’m guessing there isn’t much point of having him…or them…there.

There, this Saturday night, is Charlotte, North Carolina. If Kevin Harvick can repeat his performance there from last May, that would be great. If Kurt Busch can do what he did there the previous spring, that would be great. If Jimmie Johnson can do there was he has done five times in his career, that would be great for him, but the rest better be either great or really, really good. If not, then Denny, Ryan, Jeff, and Junior are going to have some company out on exile island. Enjoy the week.