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Carl Edwards Tops the Field in Thunder Valley

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Carl Edwards led over half the race on his way to scoring the victory at Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 276 of the 500 laps on his way to winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s his 26th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series and fourth at Bristol.

“There were so many different things happening out there,” Edwards said. “Different guys were fast at different times. I have to work on my drag racing stuff, Kurt (Busch) has those restarts figured out. He was tough. Just awesome. This is a real testament to my team. The guys have been working really hard. We’ve got Comcast Business folks here and they helped put this whole thing together with ARRIS and Toyota, TRD, Stanley – all the folks that made this 19 team happen. Just great and so awesome. Thanks to Sprint and Cessna and all the folks that make this happen. Now we’re in the Chase and we can go have some fun. Just so cool, awesome to be here.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcame an issue with a loss of power after making an unscheduled stop on the first lap and finished runner-up in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“We had a lot of luck on those last several restarts,” Earnhardt said. “You start on the outside and just gain some spots just being on the right lane. We didn’t have a good enough car to run in the top-five today, but Greg (Ives, crew chief) and those guys did a great job getting our laps back. We had a dead battery at the start of the race; something bad like that, same thing I think happened to the No. 22. That cost us two laps early in the race and we worked real hard. Greg did a great job helping us get our laps back. The car was about a 15th or 10th-place car. We were just lucky on those restarts as to where we lined up. And that really helped us.”

Kurt Busch led 41 laps to round out the podium in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

“We just battled through it,” Busch said. “Junior had trouble at the start and I was 40th when we started the race. One car at a time. One set of tires at a time. And then we were in great position around lap 350. We got the lead from Edwards for a little bit. And we just kept working on it. And there’s nothing more that I could have gotten out of the car. I’m really happy with the way that everybody worked together. I shouldn’t be happy about finishing third, but I’ll take it. It’s just a great effort. And the way that this team has come together is perfect. We just need to find that last little bit.”

Chase Elliott finished fourth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.

“The guys brought a fast car here this weekend,” Elliott said. “Started off a little slow. I didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to on Friday, but we hit on a couple of things, I thought, right there towards the end of final practice yesterday that we really liked. Fortunately that carried over to today and I was able to move forward. I hated to have a loose wheel, but stuff happens. The guys did a good job having a good pit stop under green. We only ended up losing two laps and that gave us a shot to get back. One down, and then trying to get back to the lead lap. It was a long day but I’m definitely proud of the effort. We’re chipping away, just not close enough.”

Trevor Bayne overcame a commitment line violation to round out the top-five with his second career top-five finish in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“It was a lot of battling back,” Bayne said. “We went through a lot of adversity to get there, but we just didn’t give up. We had a really good race car. That’s what paid off. You can’t come back if you make mistakes and get back to a top-five finish. I kept getting on the bottom on restarts every time, but it came back me at the end. We were able to start on the top those last three and that’s really what got us in the top-five.”

Matt DiBenedetto earned his first career top-10 finish with a sixth-place finish in his No. 83 BK Racing Toyota.

“I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sell some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting,” DiBenedetto said. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

Kevin Harvick led 13 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

“Yeah, it was definitely the biggest challenge for us…We had the speed but it seemed like every restart we were just struggling to make ground on the restart and by the time you get to two or three spots back, you battle back to where you were and then the caution would come out again,” Harvick said. “But there’s nothing you can do about that. We raced hard all day and we’ll go to the next one.”

Clint Bowyer earned his first top-10 finish of the season with an eighth-place finish in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished ninth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano led four laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“We fought hard and we got all the way back, and then the car just shut off there at the end for some reason,” Logano said. “We’ve got to figure that out a little bit, but I just hate it because I feel like we’ve got a car that’s capable of winning this thing and every time we come here in the spring it’s the same story. We had a fast car and we just blow it somehow.”

Aric Almirola, who finished 34th after a late-race wreck, was called to the NASCAR hauler for “not following proper race protocol” when he refused to get out of his car.

The race lasted three hours, 15 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 81.637 mph. There were 16 lead changes among seven different drivers and 15 cautions for 102 laps.

Kevin Harvick leaves Bristol as the points leader.

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April 17, 2016
Edwards Grabs the Pole for Sunday’s Race at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn.– Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday at Thunder Valley.

The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a time of 14.991 and a speed of 127.997 mph. This is his 18th career pole in 417 starts in the Sprint Cup Series.

He described taking the pole position as, “Just awesome, what Comcast Business does is they find solutions for complex problems and this place is really complicated and my guys did a really good job making the car drive well on all different segments. When you’re driving in the corner and these things take off and slide and Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and everybody did a really great job. It’s really cool to get this pole.”

Defending race winner Matt Kenseth will start second in his No. 20 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.059 and a speed of 127.419 mph.

“We were just a little off,” Kenseth said. “These guys did a great job with our Dollar General Camry today. Obviously, all of the JGR cars were fast again so thanks to everyone who’s building these things and TRD (Toyota Racing Development) with the engines. In the first round we were pretty good we thought and then the second round we tried something and we were too tight and then the third round we were a little too loose really. We were just that much off, but overall it was a great day and we’ll still get a good pit stop and a good place to start and hopefully we’ll get it driving good tomorrow and we can race them on Sunday.”

Joey Logano will start third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford after posting a time of 15.086 and a speed of 127.191 mph.

“It’s always exciting qualifying here at Bristol,” Logano said. “I’m not sure I’m holding my breath, but I’m breathing really hard when I’m done, so I’m thinking I probably do hold my breath. Things happen so quick around this race track and we’ve got a really good AutoTrader Fusion. We were close. We won the first session. We were second in the second session and in the third session we were third, so we just kept losing a little bit. Overall, I’m proud of the effort and it’s obviously a decent starting spot for a 500-lap race.”

Denny Hamlin will start fourth in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.132 and a speed of 126.804 mph.

“The car has good speed and that’s one good thing about it,” Hamlin said. “The FedEx Freight car has really had good speed all day. Those last two rounds definitely didn’t go the way we had hoped – the track changed a little bit there and we didn’t quite keep up with it. Overall, pretty happy with the effort. That will get us a good pit stall hopefully and we can have a smooth 500 laps around here Sunday.”

Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five starters in his No. 18 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 15.162 and a speed of 126.553 mph.

“We’re alright, the second round was really good and not sure what happened in the third round,” Busch said. “Just missed the speed we were looking for and got real loose on entry. Didn’t make up a whole lot of time from the loose on entry on the exit.”

Jimmie Johnson will start sixth in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

“I’m excited about how comfortable the car has been, the speed that we have had in it,” Johnson said. “Practice sessions can be quite frustrating for us here and qualifying sessions. To be off to a good, calm, smooth, fast start is really good for us.”

Kevin Harvick will start seventh in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

“I’m really happy with where we qualified as bad as it drove on entry,” Harvick said. “We just had a loose into the corner that we hadn’t really expected. They made some good adjustments and we were able to salvage a decent position and get a good spot. Hopefully, we will make it better than it was in race trim in practice tomorrow.”

Martin Truex Jr. will start eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. AJ Allmendinger will start ninth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet.

“Overall, just getting better in all of qualifying,” Allmendinger said. “We have made the second round every race so far, which heck, we weren’t even close to that last year. I think we have made the third round at least close to half. It’s a big deal. We are just getting more speed in the cars, trying to learn how to get through these three rounds of qualifying. The guys that do it every weekend they know what tire pressure, what to do to keep up with the race track as the tires go off. There are definitely a couple of cars that are way quick, but to be top 10 at Bristol in qualifying is a huge deal. Everybody gets lapped pretty quickly here, so hopefully we can stay up front and keep working on the car. We have some room to improve for sure. It’s getting good.”

Trevor Bayne rounded out the top-10 qualifiers in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

“That’s a pleasant surprise for our race team,” Bayne said. “Coming to a short track we know that’s not our strongest suit, especially in qualifying when you’re asking the most out of the race car. Normally, we can make the long run speed, but to have short run speed and get a good qualifying spot here at Bristol is a big deal. Track position is always huge. Starting 10th, we’re on the outside lane. As the race progresses you definitely want to be on the outside on restarts. I’m just really proud of this team. Last year, I would have been throwing a party right now if we were top 10 in qualifying here. The fact that I’m not jumping around and acting crazy is that we’re getting immune to running well and that’s a good thing. We keep pushing that needle every week. Last week was one of our strongest runs that we’ve had all season, and I thought we had a top-5 car, so to come to Bristol and keep building on that and have consistency to be able to do it every week and not be so hit or miss, it’s come a long way for this AdvoCare team and I can’t be more proud of my guys.”

Kasey Kahne will start 11th in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski rounded out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 2 Penske Ford.

During round 1, Ty Dillon got loose exiting turn 2, slid down the track and slammed into the rear of Landon Cassill’s car.

When asked if he could’ve avoided being hit, Cassill said he “wasn’t looking in my mirror. If I would have seen a car sideways at the right time, I probably would have tried to speed up. I don’t know how much that could have helped me, but it’s bad timing on my part, I guess.”

Neither will go to a backup car.

“It’s quite a bit of damage to the right-rear,” Cassill said. “It’s gonna be a lot of work for the guys to fix it, but it’s pretty much just cosmetic, so we’ll get it fixed, I think.”

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April 15, 2016
Hot 20 at Bristol, where everyone will wind up hot at one time or another

I get it. Some folks watch NASCAR for the wrecks. They probably do not watch often, maybe taking in the action from Daytona or Talladega, where one bad move causes a whole lot of bad tidings. I love those tracks, too, but I love watching people doing exciting things that I simply cannot. Even if I got sponsored by Depends, it probably would be a good idea if I just let the opportunity pass me by. Now, if I there is any race I watch due to the prospect of mayhem, that would be Bristol.

You have all these nice shiny race cars, all 40 of them, placed on an oval just over a half-mile in distance, and let them have at it for 500 laps. Sometimes, you just have to use the fender horn to make your way, and most times that will leave a mark. It also is likely to tick off the driver just moved out of the way, and then the fun really begins.

Hot 20? Hell, more like a hot forty by the time Sunday’s action is completed.

1. KYLE BUSCH – 2 WINS – 259 PTS
One driver who could have stopped Kyle’s winning streak is currently 78-years old.

2. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 253 PTS
A true magician. Now you see Austin, now you don’t.

3. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN – 252 PTS
Raced at Texas and saw a pair of holes-in-one at Augusta…and that is just what he did last weekend.

4. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN – 201 PTS
Points? Who needs stinkin’ points after Daytona’s victory?

5. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN – 201 PTS
Some folks he’ll always remember never had money or fame. They were simply great people.

6. CARL EDWARDS – 241 PTS
Screw lugnuts. He is switching to velcro.

7. JOEY LOGANO – 234 PTS
Just imagine how he would be doing with just a bit of consistency.

8. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 211 PTS
After driver introductions joins some guy named Peyton in the back of a truck circling the track.

9. KURT BUSCH – 208 PTS
Ex-girlfriend was not a trained assassin. She says so. Taking no chances, Kurt should just agree.

10. AUSTIN DILLON – 198 PTS
Texas is the Lone Star State, but Austin was anything but alone when things went sideways.

11. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 187 PTS
Best little race car in Texas…on fresh rubber.

12. MATT KENSETH – 171 PTS
For all his hard luck, still treading water and comes to Sunday’s race as the defending champion.

13. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 171 PTS
Not exactly thrilling the crowds, but if one can quietly hold down a Chase place, that works.

14. CHASE ELLIOTT – 168 PTS
The kid is hungry, as even fifth is not good enough.

15. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 166 PTS
You can not go wrong with BUSH Beans. Actually, I think I have.

16. KASEY KAHNE – 161 PTS
Sponsor is a big supporter of garage bands. These days I prefer a nice quiet book. I’m getting old.

17. RICKY STENHOUSE, JR. – 153 PTS
After six attempts, has the best average finish (11.2) among active Bristol drivers. Hey, look it up.

18. KYLE LARSON – 152 PTS
Failing inspection last week costs Kyle and Brad practice time at Bristol. Bad boys, bad boys…

19. RYAN NEWMAN – 150 PTS
Since 2002, has just a pair of Top Fives at Bristol, but the last time was just one year ago.

20. RYAN BLANEY – 144 PTS
Last weekend he kept picking up bad vibrations. That gave him bad excitations.

April 13, 2016
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch won his second consecutive race, passing Martin Truex Jr. on a restart with 33 laps to go and cruising to the win in the Duck Commander 500.

“That’s two wins in two weeks,” Busch said, “in two different states, both pretty convincingly. What I’ve done to the rest of the field is known as ‘Interstate Battery.’

“It’s funny, given the misguided political opinions of the likes of Brian France and Phil Robertson, that NASCAR has become a haven for people endorsing candidates. Much like American presidential elections, NASCAR crowns a winner in November. That will be me. I’m here today to announce my 2016 slogan for repeating as Sprint Cup champion: ‘Make America One-Eight Again.’”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished fourth at Texas, posting his fourth top five of the season.

“We got off to a shaky start,” Johnson said. “On our first pit stop, I banged the back of Kyle Busch’s car. That left the No. 48 Chevrolet with some damage to the nose. That, of course, made the car difficult to drive. Trust me. I’m a triathlete—I know an ‘out-of-shape’ car when I see one.”

3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 10th at Texas, earning his sixth top 10 of the season. He is third in the Sprint Cup points standings, seven behind Kyle Busch.

“We had a top-10 car,” Harvick said, “and nothing else. It was clear early on that we weren’t going to win. In other words, we ‘didn’t have a prayer,’ which would also happen to be a good position for NASCAR to take in regards to pre-race ceremonies.”

4. Carl Edwards: Edwards, along with Martin Truex Jr., had one of the fields best cars at Texas, but failed to secure the win due to a loose wheel with 113 laps to go.

“Speaking of a ‘screw loose,’” Edwards said, “did you hear Phil Robertson’s pre-race prayer? It was more quotable than the Bible itself.

“Now, I’m frankly sick and tired of congratulating Kyle Busch on his victories. If he wants a pat on the back, he’ll have to get it from someone else, because when I joined JGR, I promised Matt Kenseth I wouldn’t raise a hand to anyone.”

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished second in the Duck Commander 500 at Texas as Kyle Busch took the win.

“Once Kyle got into clean air,” Earnhardt said, “there was no stopping him. I think Phil Robertson said it best when he quipped, ‘Jesus man, that car is fast.’

“Texas Motor Speedway had on display the taxidermied ‘Lil’ Dale’ goat. That goat rose to fame when it was born in 2002 with a marking on its side that looked like the No. 3. Despite the fact that ‘Lil’ Dale’ is a male, he’s been milked for all he’s worth.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch took ninth in the Duck Commander 500 as younger brother Kyle gained his second consecutive win.

“Kyle is on a roll,” Busch said. “He won four races across three NASCAR series in eight days. You can say he’s done just about everything, except accuse his wife of being an assassin.”

“In his pre-race prayer, Phil Robertson asked the Lord to put a ‘Jesus man’ in the White House. I’m not sure Robertson is qualified to speak intelligently about religion or politics, or to speak intelligently period. But you know the old saying: ‘Robertson 3:16 says I’m just talking out my ass.’”

7. Joey Logano: Logano finished third in the Duck Commander 500, recording his third top-five finish of the year.

“Dale Earnhardt Jr. created a stir on Twitter,” Logano said, “when he tweeted about eating a banana and mayonnaise sandwich. I received a lot of unwanted responses because Junior happened to add ‘#SlicedBread’ to his tweet.”

8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started sixth and finished 12th as Joe Gibbs Racing placed all four cars in the top 12, led by Kyle Busch’s win. Hamlin is eighth in the points standings, 58 out of first.

“JGR is building a dynasty,” Hamlin said, “and unlike some other ‘dynasties,’ this one isn’t full of quacks. And speaking of ‘duck calls,’ did you hear the national anthem performed by Will Robertson? He hit all the notes. And by ‘all’ the notes, I mean one. But Will has one thing going for him—he’s adopted.”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 19th at Texas and is now eighth in the points standings, 58 out of first.

“Once again,” Keselowski said, “politics made its way into NASCAR when Phil Robertson prayed for a ‘Jesus man’ in the White House. This happened just weeks after Brian France endorsed Donald Trump for President. What’s next? Robertson and France start a NASCAR team and call it ‘Presidential Racing?’”

10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led a race-high 147 laps but couldn’t hold off Kyle Busch on a late restart, and eventually finished fifth.

“I clearly had the best car,” Truex said, “but what I lacked was a little luck, or maybe a little bible, and a little gun. But I don’t need anyone to tell me that we let a win slip away. I also don’t need anyone to tell me who to vote for, or anyone to pray for me.”

April 12, 2016
The Final Word – The best little race car in Texas was not the one that won

Watching NASCAR is very much akin to viewing a bunch of toddlers race each other. Little Johnny might take off early, get within a few feet of the finish line, then that damn butterfly takes all his attention and he swerves right and off the course. Saturday night in Texas was a lot like that.

If you tuned in early, you saw rain for two hours. Not the beginning they had hoped for, but for others the rain on their parade would come later. In the beginning, it was pole sitter Carl Edwards dueling Martin Truex Jr. for the lead. If it was not one, it was the other. That is how it went for 200 laps, then came the butterfly. Actually, then came a loose lug nut on the right front after a pit miscue, and Edwards went from leading 124 laps to fighting just to get close enough to finish seventh.

That left Truex. He led 141 laps. He was leading with just over 30 laps to go. Truex did not wander anywhere, but he should have. When most came to the pits for tires under caution, the team threw caution to the wind, and Truex under the bus. Sometimes Little Johnny needs to come in for a change, but the call from Cole Pearn to dive into the pits came too late for the driver to do so, and they were left with a soiled diaper.

Some wore their big boy pants, again. If you tuned in when things turned green, you would have thought Kyle Busch had one hell of a day. He immediately charged past Truex, who finished sixth, and that was it. Rowdy was literally off to the races to claim his second straight Cup victory, the 36th of his career. While Busch was near the front for the latter half of the event, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a few cameos but only in the late stages did he emerge to claim the runner-up spot. Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Matt Kenseth was a factor early, but you just knew something had to go wrong. It always does this season. Look, a butterfly. Eleventh proved to be a good result after a flying lug nut in the pits got caught behind a new tire and prevented the crew from tightening the replacement. Greg Biffle is having a sad season, and after hitting the wall he got even sadder. The Biff was boffed, to finish 39th, just one behind Clint Bowyer. Driving for Harry Scott this season as he awaits Tony Stewart’s retirement is not proving to be much fun.

In fact, you probably did not notice Bowyer much out on the playground, at least not until late. With 40 laps left, Austin Dillon tried to fit into a spot ahead of Johnson, but there was not enough room and soon enough not enough air on the rear spoiler. Dillon lost control, hit the wall, and came back across the track to clip the inside fence. Meanwhile, the checkers behind him became wreckers, with Bowyer and Brian Vickers ending their day as a host of other cars received a dent or five in the mishap. Hard to watch for butterflies when someone just kicked open a hornets nest.

The Danica Patrick Line was set this week at 21st in Texas, just ahead of Ty Dillon and one up on A.J. Allmendinger. The trio were all a lap off the pace and nowhere near the front the entire day. As much as I wish for her better things, this fourth season appears a be a lot like the previous three. Patrick sits, as per usual, 24th in the rankings. If we are asking too much of her, at what time should we?

Any butterflies at Bristol this Sunday probably will come in the form of a similar looking vehicle doing things to make a driver’s auto look less similar. Six drivers come in with at least a pair of victories there, but no one could use another more than four-time winner Matt Kenseth. He comes in as the Food City 500’s defending champion. Just as long as those Busch toddlers are not so spoiled as to add to the 10 they have already split between them.

I just do not think you can rely on their sharing natures at Bristol over the past five years to continue. The younger one has been exceptionally greedy as of late.

April 11, 2016
Loose Wheel Robs Edwards of Chance at Victory

A missing lug nut cost Carl Edwards a chance at victory in the Lone Star State.

After starting on the pole, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led a good chunk of the front-half of the Duck Commander 500. After leading 124 laps and coming off a fast stop, he was in position for a duel to the finish with Martin Truex Jr.

But prior to the restart, he felt a vibration and opted to ignore it. After the race restarted on lap 222, he started to slow down and made an unscheduled stop because of a loose wheel.

“I felt a problem right away,” Edwards said. “My mistake was I should have pulled to pit immediately. I was still in denial, (thinking) ‘Maybe I’m imagining something…maybe something got stuck on the tire.’ Then I realized, ‘This was not good.”‘

He rejoined the race in 19th one lap down.

Thanks to the misfortunes of others, he was able to salvage his race and bring his car home to a seventh-place finish. But that was little, if any, consolation to him as teammate Kyle Busch stole the race from Truex in the closing laps and scored the victory. He jokingly said he was “about done being happy for Kyle.”

“Nah. It’s awesome for JGR,” he said. “Our car is fast. That’s what it’s about. We run like that long enough and we’ll be fine. It was fun.

“It’s just racing. Look, I’m as disappointed as anybody but there’s nothing we can do about what happened. If we race like that regularly, we’re going to be great.”

For the most part, Texas Motor Speedway has been kind to Edwards over the years. In 23 career starts at the 1.5-mile circuit, he’s finished in the top-10 in over half his starts and in the top-five in just over a quarter of his starts. His 124 laps led were the first laps he’s led at Texas since 2013.

Despite the respectable numbers he’s put up, he’s yet to win at Texas in eight years.

“It’s been a good track for me,” Edwards added. “We’re doing great. We had the fastest qualifier, led the second-most laps. We were going for it tonight. It just didn’t work out.”

Edwards leaves Texas sitting fourth in the points 18 back of teammate Busch.

The next stop on the schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway, a track which he’s had some great runs at in the last two years.

April 10, 2016
Three-Time Texas Winner Carl Edwards Grabs Pole

April 8, 2016
Hot 20 – If you’re going to play in Texas, you got to have a Biffle in the band

The voting begins, and there is nary a Trump, Cruz, Clinton, or Sanders to be found. Of course, I am referring to NASCAR’s all-star event coming up in May. While Danica Patrick and that neat gimmick of her’s attracts lots of interest, my pick based on performance would be A.J. Allmendinger. It is not easy for teams to gain relevance. Stewart-Haas picked up a star and that worked for them. Furniture Row had Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. to allow them to turn the corner. A.J. is doing it for JTG Daughterty. That is great to see.

With the pipes on Chase Elliott, I am wondering if the guy can sing. We have had Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, and Josh Turner, to name a few, but if Chase can sing, we got another potential star on our hands. If not, broadcasting is in his future, but we might have to wait a long, long time. That is a hell of a lot of Boogity-Boogity-Boogities we might have yet to endure in the meantime.

A three-part series on NASCAR is coming to CMT next month. It looks good. Now, will it show up north of the line? Sometimes I fear that somebody built a wall on the wrong damn border.

This Saturday night, the boys and girl head west. The way I hear it, if you are going to play in Texas, you got to have a Biffle in the band. That may be true, and it may be a fact this weekend, but sadly such edicts do not include our Hot 20. Greg sits 16 points shy. Maybe the following week.

1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 216 PTS
Three straight at Texas, five of the past seven. Jimmie does not share easily, except for tweets.

2. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN – 220 PTS
Still stands tall, despite less than stellar finish last week.

3. KYLE BUSCH – 1 WIN – 215 PTS
After winning a Cup and truck grandfather clock last week, he should never be late ever again.

4. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN – 178 PTS
Took some time off in Birmingham to see some humpy backed camels and some chimpanzees.

5. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN – 172 PTS
Collected a win at Daytona and a wall at Martinsville. Still, he had a better day than Almirola.

6. CARL EDWARDS – 206 PTS
When one struggles and still places in the Top Ten, you know you are having a good season.

7. JOEY LOGANO – 196 PTS
11th is not bad, but it sucks when you had hopes of finishing first.

8. AUSTIN DILLON – 176 PTS
A small issue with teammate Menard, but I understand he has connections with the ownership.

9. KURT BUSCH – 176 PTS
Must have the odd Jan Brady moment hearing how wonderful Kyle was…Kyle, Kyle, Kyle.

10. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 172 PTS
Junior loves banana and mayo sandwiches. I prefer tuna and sandwich spread. Discuss.

11. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 150 PTS
Other than for that loose wheel and speeding penalty, Martinsville was great. Just great.

12. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 147 PTS
What Kurt and Truex did for Furniture Row, A.J. is doing for Daugherty.

13. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 143 PTS
For Jamie, the STP 500 stood for Stupid Tire Problem.

14. MATT KENSETH – 140 PTS
Does not always take the high road, but when he does, he loses a lot of spots late in a race.

15. RYAN BLANEY – 132 PTS
Not David Pearson just yet, but at one time even Pearson was not that David Pearson.

16. CHASE ELLIOTT – 131 PTS
Jeff who?

17. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 128 PTS
Sunday he was undone when he got spun.

18. KASEY KAHNE – 128 PTS
I think he needs to get All-State back as a sponsor. He was in good hands back then.

19. RYAN NEWMAN – 126 PTS
According to the Internet, Newman is a driver, an actress, and manager of the minor league Birmingham Barons. Busy guy.

20. KYLE LARSON – 125 PTS
Along with Dillon, Blaney, and Elliott, the kids are making their presence known, with more great talent on the horizon.

21. PAUL MENARD – 125 PTS
Should Dillon and Menard have issues, I am sure Paul would retain the support of his sponsor.

April 6, 2016
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch led 352 of 500 laps on his way to a commanding win in the STP 500, his first ever Sprint Cup win at Martinsville.

“Finally,” Busch said, “I get the Martinsville grandfather clock. After 21 tries, I can look at this trophy and confidently say, ‘It’s about time.’

“Leading 352 of 500 laps is just pure dominance. I’m shocked that the car was a good as it was. And my crew chief Dave Rogers was as well. After the race, he said to me, ‘Do you know how fast you were going?’”

2. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished ninth in the STP 500, posting his fourth top 10 of the year. He is second in the Sprint Cup points standings, four behind Kevin Harvick.

“I advocate stronger concussion protocols in our sport,” Johnson said. “Chad Knaus disagrees. He’s against anything that calls for more thorough inspections.”

3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 17th at Martinsville, his first result outside the top 10 this season.

“If you would have told me before the race,” Harvick said, “that I’d finish one spot behind Danica Patrick, I would have said, “I guess I didn’t finish second.”

4. Carl Edwards: Edwards took sixth in the STP 500 as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won. Edwards is 14th in the Sprint Cup points standings, 14 out of first.

“Congratulations to Kyle,” Edwards said. “In his victory burnout, he smoked the tires. And speaking of ‘smoking’ the tires, NASCAR driver Derek White was arrested by Canadian police in a tobacco smuggling ring. Authorities seized 52,800 kilograms of tobacco. I guess where tobacco in concerned, the US-Canada border is unfiltered.”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski recorded his second top-five finish of the year with a fifth at Martinsville.

“It was a typical day at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “There was beating and banging, grumbling, and a few caution flags. These are all examples of your stomach warning you after eating a Martinsville hot dog.”

6. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 13th at Martinsville as younger brother Kyle won. Busch is seventh in the points standings, 44 out of first.

“I’m proud of Kyle for winning his first Martinsville grandfather clock,” Busch said. “As you know, clocks have little hands and big hands, and Brian France earlier made his political endorsement based on that criteria.”

7. Joey Logano: Logano started on the pole but went a lap down early at Martinsville, as tire grip issues sent him backward. However, he recovered to post a solid 11th, and now occupies the fifth spot in the points standings.

“We hit a rough patch to start the race,” Logano said, “but we worked things out. That’s a testament to the preparation and attention to detail of this team. There’s a lot to be said for crossing your T’s and dotting your ‘squinty and douchey’ ‘I’s.’

8. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin crashed early and finished a disappointing 39th in the STP 500 at Martinsville.

“The wreck was the result of a wheel hop,” Hamlin said. “Frankly, I’m embarrassed that it happened. I’m also angry. You could say I’m ‘hopping mad.’ Ironically, if you’ve ever seen me play basketball, you know I’ve never been accused of having ‘mad hops.’”

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: After falling a lap down early at Martinsville, Earnhardt battled his way back to score a respectable 14th-place finish. He is ninth in the points standings, 48 out of first.

“As you probably heard,” Earnhardt said, “I decided to donate my brain to concussion research. My dad made a lot of enemies on the track, so you can add ‘science’ to the list of entities that wanted an Earnhardt’s head on a platter.”

10. Austin Dillon: Dillon posted his second top-five finish of the year with a fourth at Martinsville. He is seventh in the Sprint Cup points standings, 44 out of first.

“Joey Logano finished 11th,” Dillon said, “and Matt Kenseth finished 15th. So, much like the last race here, there were four drivers ‘separating’ the two.”

April 5, 2016
Hot 20 of the 40 making their way to the truly traditional race at Martinsville

A full field. I may be a traditionalist in many ways, but a 40 car field seems about right to me now. It costs money to put a car on the track, to fit the templates, to run fast enough over a lap or two to qualify. That is even so when that auto is destined to simply start and park.

Three fewer starting spots means an entry that has no intention to try will soon enough whither and die. It becomes too much of a gamble, leaving it to teams like the Wood Brothers, Premium, and the Motorsports Group to fill up any void, to grow, to matter. The No. 55 Premium owned car of Reed Sorenson makes its season debut. The 39 others have all attempted every race, with the No. 30 of Josh Wise and the No. 98 of Cole Whitt only missing the start at Daytona.

If I were a strict traditionalist, I would love races decided by laps instead of inches, but I do not. A traditionalist would want a return to old stock cars, open masked helmets, a monkey in the cockpit or even concrete walls. I do not. What I want is to have Joe, Fireball, Tiny, Bobby, J.D., Clifford, John, Adam, Kenny, and Dale back.

A traditionalist would subscribe to the notion that a driver can drive where ever he damn well pleases. Still, I think Kyle Busch and other Cup drivers have made the XFINITY series irrelevant, which is a damn shame. It irks me how much it steals from the public spotlight that should belong to up and comers like Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, and Darrell Wallace Jr. If NASCAR instituted a “powder puff” division for women, hell, Kyle would probably want to run there, too.

However, a traditionalist loves excellence. A traditionalist wants to see a king on top of the mountain and a field of challengers looking to knock him off the peak. There were some seasons it appeared that Richard Petty was competing against XFINITY drivers. Some might argue that, back in the day, he might have been. Some argue how bad it was for Jimmie Johnson to win five straight titles. I argue that it made it that much sweeter when someone came along good enough to take that title away.

Martinsville reminds me of that. The three hottest of our Hot 20 have, between them, claimed 14 victories at Martinsville. Kevin Harvick has one of them. Denny Hamlin has five. Johnson? He would be the guy with eight to his credit over the course of his career. As a traditionalist, I like that. It gives the rest of them something to go after, something that would be really meaningful if they can accomplish it. Still, Johnson needs another seven just to tie Petty’s career total on the circuit that has been hosting such events since 1948. A traditionalist would love to see him do it.

1 – JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS – 184 PTS
Most successful driver of the 21st century, the best active driver competing at Martinsville.

2 – KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN – 195 PTS
A former champion, the leader in points, and still feels he has something to prove on Sunday.

3 – DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN – 170 PTS
I bet his grandfather clock was too large for the shelf, so it stood the past year on the floor.

4 – BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN – 142 PTS
If the future President Keselowski has to wear a sponsor covered fire-suit, shouldn’t politicians?

5 – CARL EDWARDS – 171 PTS
Averaging a seventh place finish every week is not bad.

6T – KYLE BUSCH – 170 PTS
Ditto. Now with no XFINITY race to worry about this weekend, the trucks, the trucks are calling.

6T – JOEY LOGANO – 170 PTS
Ditto that ditto. Now, as long as Kenseth doesn’t get mad at him this weekend…

8 – KURT BUSCH – 148 PTS
Will not be in the Indianapolis 500 this year. So, I guess that also means Monaco is out.

9 – DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 145 PTS
Will donate his brain for concussion research…but they should expect a very long wait.

10 – AUSTIN DILLON – 139 PTS
How a guy looks in a cowboy hat may depend on his ability, and he is looking better all the time.

11 – MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 127 PTS
Just the latest member of the “Joey is a Jerk” club.

12 – JAMIE MCMURRAY – 125 PTS
No truth to the report that he has insured his dimples for a million dollars.

13 – ARIC ALMIROLA – 120 PTS
You would think the ole No. 43 would be a favorite to win the STP 500.

14 – RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 119 PTS
Not everyone gets to escape from all his racing peers on a holiday, or wants to.

15 – MATT KENSETH – 113 PTS
If having a horrid season still has one sitting in a Chase place, just how horrid can it be?

16T – RYAN BLANEY – 110 PTS
When your son surpasses you, that is when a father knows just how great a job he has done.

16T – CHASE ELLIOTT – 110 PTS
If he used his given name, we would have yet another “Junior” on our hands.

18 – KASEY KAHNE – 109 PTS
I am guessing Ricky and Danica did not invite him over for Easter.

19 – A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 108 PTS
Might consider a return to IndyCar…once they put a roof on the auto and not before.

20T – TREVOR BAYNE – 95 PTS
Almost easy to dismiss the once promising rising star driving for Roush…but he is only 25.

20T – RYAN NEWMAN – 95 PTS
Wants more barrier protection for his pit crew…and on some tracks that shortfall is evident.

March 30, 2016