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Tag: Carl Edwards

  • Hot 20 – There are a lot of nice things to do in Phoenix, but winning Sunday would be the nicest

    Hot 20 – There are a lot of nice things to do in Phoenix, but winning Sunday would be the nicest

    I like being nice. Sure, I can bitch with the best of them, but it is nice when one can say nice things about someone. For instance, I think NASCAR did the right thing by calling the race at Texas last week. Let me see, the race was already delayed by five hours and the skies really opened up with 40 to go. Damn right they should have wrapped things up when they did. The fans at the track no doubt had enough. Those watching on television had enough. We all knew it was going to get wet again, and Carl Edwards was leading when it came down. I see no controversy over the call. In fact, it was downright merciful.

    I think it is nice when someone decides that family comes first, even if it is not what fans want to hear. Twenty-eight-year-old Brian Scott is stepping out of his ride with Richard Petty next season to spend more time with his family. He admits the Cup schedule “has taken its toll” and caused him “to re-evaluate what I want in life for myself and for my family.” You cannot blame a man for that. Some things are just more important.

    Like honoring the life of a five-year-old boy. Jake Leatherman’s journey came to an end after a valiant battle against juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia. He had become a huge NASCAR fan, and when his mom asked if anyone in the NASCAR community could attend his services this past week in uniform, they did not let him and his family down. They represented such organizations as Penske, Stewart-Haas, Childress, Hendrick and Petty. Sometimes the youngest among us can inspire us to be our best.

    It is sure nice to see that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has returned to racing. Well, not actually racing. Just driving fast. Faster than the law will allow. No pit road penalty, just a cop and a ticket book. Welcome back, Junior!

    The boys and girl are welcomed back to Phoenix on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson and Edwards are locked into the Final Four. Joey Logano and Kyle Busch are in, but by just a point over Matt Kenseth and two ahead of Denny Hamlin. Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch either have to win or hope it is a bad day at Black Rock sort of situation for those other dudes.

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – SEGMENT WIN (4074 Pts)
    Just another nice Sunday drive chatting with Chad on his radio.

    2. CARL EDWARDS – SEGMENT WIN (4049 Pts)
    Was like Gene Kelly last week. You know, just singing in the rain.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 4074 PTS
    After he and Brittany attended young Jake’s funeral this week, I have a whole new level of respect for this couple.

    4. KYLE BUSCH – 4074 PTS
    Good luck, Kyle. Go out there and break a leg. What? Too soon?

    5. MATT KENSETH – 4073 PTS
    Was having just a so-so season until Dover…then things just sort of perked right up.

    6. DENNY HAMLIN – 4072 PTS
    Two spots open, two points separating the top four contenders.

    7. KEVIN HARVICK – 4056 PTS
    Of course, if Harvick wins yet again at Phoenix, one of those spots would be spoken for.

    8. KURT BUSCH – 4040 PTS
    Eight remaining Chasers, five of ‘em former champions.

    9. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2265 PTS
    Driver most likely to be leading a race won’t win a title this year due to bad luck.

    10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2234 PTS
    Four-time winner this season, he might not be done yet.

    11. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2223 PTS
    We know his dad is happy the way Tuesday turned out. You know, so am I.

    12. KYLE LARSON – 2209 PTS
    Inexperienced enough to continue driving XFINITY…good enough to win Texas event.

    13. AUSTIN DILLON – 2192 PTS
    After Texas, the “Silver Spoon Kid” might be gunning for the outlaw known as Happy.

    14. TONY STEWART – 2166 PTS
    1 IRL title, 3 Cup crowns, 2 Brickyard 400’s, 4 Firecracker 400’s, 8 road course wins.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 2165 PTS
    Wonders how you might be set in regards to ratcheting wrenches and hand tools.

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER – 2143 PTS
    I am sure he agrees with me that sometimes you just have to call a race early.

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 866 PTS
    Spending his summer driving in Australia. Summer there begins in December.

    18. RYAN NEWMAN – 850 PTS
    Was caught on a hot mic saying bad things at Texas. The President-Elect knows how that feels.

    19. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 773 PTS
    17th in Texas snapped a three-race streak of Top Tens.

    20. RYAN BLANEY – 764 PTS
    Considering who is not on this list, this has been a pretty decent season for the 22-year old.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Texas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: With his place in the Chase finale set, Johnson cruised to an 11th place finish at Texas.

    “All I heard during race week was ‘Don’t mess with Texas,’” Johnson said. “Well, I was happy not to.”

    2. Carl Edwards: Edwards beat martin Truex, Jr. out of the pits on the race’s final stop and was declared the winner when rain end the AAA Texas 500. Edwards joins Jimmie Johnson as qualifiers for the Chase finale at Homestead.

    “I decided to forgo my celebratory backflip,” Edwards said, “with the hopes I’ll be able to do it at Homestead. That’s a ‘flip-flop’ worthy of election season.”

    3. Joey Logano: Logano led 178 of 293 laps at Texas and finished second.

    “We had to sit out a rain delay before the race,” Logano said. “A six-hour rain delay, to be exact. When there’s rain in the sky, and NASCAR fans have nothing to do but wait, you can be certain it was ‘pouring.’”

    4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished ninth at Texas as Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards took the rain-shortened win.

    “Phoenix will be pressure-filled,” Hamlin said. “And pressure-packed. Nerves will be a factor. But I can tell you, every part of my body possesses the competitive spirit. Even my heart will be racing.”

    5. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth took seventh in the AAA Texas 500, and now sits one point behind Joey Logano among drivers who haven’t clinched a spot in the Chase For The Cup final round.

    “Congratulations to Carl Edwards,” Kenseth said. “One of the spoils of victory at Texas is a black cowboy hat. Take it from me, just because he’s wearing a black hat doesn’t make Carl a bad guy. Carl was a bad guy before he put on the hat.”

    6. Kyle Busch: Busch posted his 16th top-five finish with a fifth at Texas. Busch is tied with Joey Logano, one up on Matt Kenseth, and two ahead of Denny Hamlin.

    “Two spots for Homestead have been filled,” Busch said, “and two remain. Two plus two equals four. Let’s just hope that ‘4’ isn’t Kevin Harvick. Somehow, mysteriously, Harvick always seems to find a way to win at Phoenix. No one can ever catch him. In other words, he doesn’t ‘get caught.’”

    7. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Texas and will likely need a win at Phoenix to advance.

    “I’m extremely worried that I won’t advance to have a chance to win the Sprint Cup championship,” Harvick said. “You could say I’m a ‘wreck.’ Some drivers, noting my history of avoiding elimination, would say I’m a ‘wreck waiting to happen.’”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 20th, one lap down, in the AAA Texas 500, and now needs a win at Phoenix to be eligible for the championship at the Chase finale at Homestead.

    “My back is against the wall,” Busch said. “But it’s a familiar situation. Usually, that happens when a rival driver I’ve pissed off jacks me up.”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 14th in the rain-delayed and rain-shortened AAA Texas 500.

    “There’s been a lot of talk about concussions,” Keselowski said. “Actually, I think I’d like to have a concussion because there are a lot of recent memories I’d like to forget.”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished third at Texas, posting his eighth top five of the year.

    “Dale Earnhardt Jr. was pulled over for speeding while on his way to Texas Motor Speedway,” Truex said. “Let’s hope that this instance of Junior getting ‘clocked’ doesn’t cause a concussion.”

  • The Final Word – Two in the money, two more for the show at Phoenix

    The Final Word – Two in the money, two more for the show at Phoenix

    It was the Chase race in Texas, and the big winner…was the weather. From an afternoon event on a rubbered up track, we went to an evening contest under the lights. A rain washed surface greeted the boys and girl after a more than five-hour delay.

    We knew that Carl Edwards was going to have to win either this race or the next one at Phoenix to advance to the final four. We knew that Kurt Busch needed good things to happen to him, and a little bad for some others. We knew that Kevin Harvick needed his radio antenna on his car in order to communicate with his crew. It is unfortunate that when the tarps came off the cars following the rain that his boys forgot to replace his. Here he thought he had seen it all with crew miscues this season. He was wrong. Thank goodness for competition cautions and a good fixer to make things alright again.

    Watching non-Chasers at this time of year is like following Cup drivers on the junior circuit. If they win, fine, but if they do not they are usually not very newsworthy. Joey Logano was, leading much of the top third of this race, at about which time Edwards emerged to be up there in the vicinity. Winning was not the only thing for both, but it was pretty darn close. At the two-third mark, Edwards was leading Logano, but both trailed Martin Truex Jr.

    An Austin Dillon spin brought out a caution, and on the restart, Edwards was running point. It is important to lead the race, as Edwards did for the next 36 laps. Then it rained, and 40 laps short of the scheduled distance Carl Edwards was declared the race winner. It gave him his third checkered flag of the season and the 28th of his career. Logano was the runner-up, Kyle Busch claimed fifth, Harvick sixth, just ahead of Matt Kenseth, as Denny Hamlin came home ninth.

    Edwards and last week’s winner Jimmie Johnson have two spots in the final round, two more to the Final Four will be decided in Phoenix next Sunday. Logano and Rowdy have those positions thus far, while Kenseth is just a point away and Hamlin two out. Harvick still is 18 points in the distance, and likely needs a win. Kurt Busch is 34 away and definitely will need a victory next Sunday.

    As for the rest of the field, well, as I said before, they just do not matter at this time of the season. Okay, Truex and Chase Elliott managed Top Fives, just in case you were interested. As for Phoenix, eight times Harvick has won there. Logano never has. Let the games continue.

  • Carl Edwards Wins Rain-Shortened AAA Texas 500

    Carl Edwards Wins Rain-Shortened AAA Texas 500

    Carl Edwards took his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to Victory Lane in a rain-shortened AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, after the race’s start was delayed by an almost six-hour rain delay at the beginning of the race. With this win, Edwards becomes the second Chase driver to be added to the Championship Final Four at Homestead, following Jimmie Johnson’s Martinsville win a week ago.

    “This is huge. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” an ecstatic Edwards said after the race. “This is cool. This team has really worked hard all year and man, it’s just really cool. That’s all we said we needed was a shot and now we’re going to go to Homestead and we’re going to do what we have to do. This was a great test. We came here and knew what we had to do, we performed the way we needed to and I really believe we can do that at Homestead.”

    Joey Logano, who had the dominant car of the night, was credited with second-place. Logano, who is also in a must-win situation heading into Homestead, had the fastest car of the night after starting second. Logano led 178 laps on the night and appeared to be the car to beat. But after losing the lead to the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. due to pit strategy on Truex’s part, he never regained the lead.

    Logano was disappointed but is looking ahead to next week’s race at Phoenix.

    “The team did a very good job on executing when we needed to,” he said. Just, you know, didn’t have enough laps. It seemed like the momentum swung the other way about three or four laps to go before the caution came out when I started catching the 19 pretty rapidly. Unfortunately, it just started raining. That was the end of the race, so…

    “You know, it is what it is. We’re going to be close. There’s a lot of cars that are going to be close going into Phoenix. It’s going to be entertaining. It’s going to be probably the closest Phoenix race we’ve ever seen as far as points. It’s going to be a fun one, for sure.”

    Truex was credited with third and appeared to be Logano’s biggest challenger of the night, as he led 66 laps. Fourth-place went to Chase Elliott, who despite suffering from flu-like symptoms, managed to run an impressive race and was the top-finishing rookie. Fifth-place went to Kyle Busch, who had a strong run to the front after fading back due to hitting a piece of debris, which punched a hole in the front of his M&M’s Camry.

    Rounding out the top-10 was Kevin Harvick in sixth, Matt Kenseth in seventh, Kasey Kahne in eighth, Denny Hamlin in ninth, and Ryan Newman in 10th. Chase standings heading into Phoenix have the 48 of Johnson and the 19 of Edwards first and second, respectively, with Logano in third and Kyle Busch in fourth. Kenseth, Hamlin, Harvick, and Kurt Busch are in fifth through eighth place.

    Edwards took the lead on lap 258 following a strong pit stop during a caution on lap 257. He never relinquished the lead, and ultimately led 36 laps. This is his third win of 2016, and his 18th top-10 finish of 2016. This is also his fourth win at Texas, winning there in 2005 and also sweeping both 2008 races.

    The Sprint Cup Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway next Sunday, where they will round out the Final Four for Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will air at 3:30 p..m. ET, Sunday, November 13 on NBC.

  • Hot 20 – Texas is next, where men are men and women are damned happy about it

    Hot 20 – Texas is next, where men are men and women are damned happy about it

    It would appear I got up on the wrong side of the bed again. Maybe I simply am becoming an old cantankerous SOB. Maybe I’m already there. If I were a muppet, I probably would have a seat in the balcony, if you know what I mean. Is it my fault things just seem to tick me off?

    Oh, what if Jimmie Johnson wins a seventh championship? Some wonder if fans can stand to see him win again, and I wonder what kind of snowflake, safe space, pronoun changing, easily offended, easily bored band of twits have we become? If he wins, great. We are watching a living legend. If he does not, great again, as the dreams of someone else would have been fulfilled. I worry more about what kind of action is presented, if what I see and hear can keep me entertained long enough to wish to continue to watch. If they can manage that, I could not care less if Johnson wins seven or 10 bloody titles.

    I learned something last week. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a future in the broadcast booth. It is not that he is super smooth or has those deep pipes, but rather it is the quality of what comes out of his mouth. I found myself listening to him. That is the trick, and not all have that mastered. From what I hear, few do.

    NASCAR is in the advanced stage of talks to replace Sprint, who replaced Nextel, who replaced Winston as the Cup Series title sponsor. Please, Lord, let it be a corporate entity that does not embarrass us by their inclusion. I mean, we already have a majority of races with no lasting identity other than this year’s corporate clown 500 monikers. I am just saying that, please, let it not be the Anusol Cup in 2017.

    Problem. Solution. Last week, the problem was that they ran off 30 laps under caution to figure out what the running order was. A solution would be to not allow more than 3 percent of the scheduled laps to be run off under any one caution before the red flag comes out. In Martinsville, that would have been 15. At Talladega, that would have been five. You are welcome.

    Now on to Texas, where only one of our Hot 20 is safe, four others are close, and three have to make things happen if they want to be in contention later in the month.

    1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – SEGMENT WIN (4044 Pts)
    Was kind enough to leave three free passes at the door. Now we watch to see who claims them.

    2. DENNY HAMLIN – 4039 PTS
    Carl Edwards was about the only teammate not bitching about him come Monday.

    3. MATT KENSETH – 4039 PTS
    Thinks he could have done better if Hamlin had got the hell out of his way.

    4. KYLE BUSCH – 4037 PTS
    Thinks he could have done better if Kenseth had got the hell out of his way.

    5. JOEY LOGANO – 4033 PTS
    All Logano has to do is stay ahead of those Gibbs’ boys and he should be fine.

    6. KEVIN HARVICK – 4021 PTS
    A Yellow Rose is nice, but Harvick would prefer his first checkered flag of Texas on Sunday.

    7. KURT BUSCH – 4019 PTS
    At least his teammate did not stick his head into his car to say “howdy” last week.

    8. CARL EDWARDS – 4005 PTS
    Damn tires. Damn walls. Damn Martinsville.

    9. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2226 PTS
    At some time on Sunday, his will be the car in front.

    10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2207 PTS
    Using a season-long format would be second by 19 points to Harvick in the championship fight.

    11. AUSTIN DILLON – 2187 PTS
    Cup driver on Sundays, a truck driver this Friday.

    12. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2185 PTS
    No sports analyst has ever suggested a bounty on Chase Elliott. I can’t say the same for Ezekiel.

    13. KYLE LARSON – 2183 PTS
    NASCAR’s Kyle rule in XFINITY and the Trucks does not affect this Kyle just yet.

    14. TONY STEWART – 2156 PTS
    Just one win away from 50, as the clock continues to click down.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 2143 PTS
    GearWrench might not be Goodwrench, but it sounds close enough to me.

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER – 2123 PTS
    Could he be switching with Biffle for next season?

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 883 PTS
    Unless the news is good next season, Kahne could wind up leaving the same time as his sponsor.

    18. RYAN NEWMAN – 819 PTS
    Believes a new man should be in the White House come January. I wonder who he means?

    19. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 749 PTS
    Third straight Top Ten came last week, with designs to extend that to four on Sunday.

    20. RYAN BLANEY – 735 PTS
    With a Top 20 last week, and with Stenhouse last, look who rejoins out little band of brothers.

  • NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    NASCAR Top 10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson recovered from left front damage to the No. 48 and stormed back to win the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville. Johnson qualified for the Chase For The Cup finale at Homestead on November 20.

    “That’s my ninth Martinsville win,” Johnson said. “Now, I’ve got nine grandfather clock trophies. That makes me the father of grandfather clocks.

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 48 laps and finished third at Martinsville.

    “I race hard at Martinsville,” Hamlin said. “And I think some drivers don’t like that about me. Jimmie Johnson was upset at how hard I raced him, and my Joe Gibbs teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch were also pissed at me. I can understand Johnson’s frustration, but not my whiny teammates. Trust me, for my teammates and I, there was a race lost, but there is no love lost.”

    3. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth led 176 laps at Martinsville and finished fourth, posting his eighth top five of the year.

    “I famously wrecked Joey Logano last fall at Martinsville,” Kenseth said. “That gave the fans something to cheer for. I don’t know if they were necessarily my fans because I don’t think I have any fans.”

    4. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fifth in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, recording his 15th top 10 of the year.

    “I’m still the defending Sprint Cup champion,” Busch said, “and I will remain that until someone pries it from my cold, dead hands. And here’s a Halloween reminder: M&M’s won’t melt in your mouth, and they definitely won’t melt in your cold, dead hands.”

    5. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 20th in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville.

    “I just wasn’t myself at Martinsville,” Harvick said. “You could say I was ‘Un-Happy.’”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth at Martinsville, posting his 13th top five of the season.

    “NASCAR needed 29 caution laps to sort out the field order after Carl Edwards hit the wall on lap 358,” Logano said. “I don’t know who NASCAR has in charge of this, but they must be out of the ‘loop.’”

    7. Kurt Busch: Busch finished 22nd, three laps down, at Martinsville, and likely will need a win at Texas or Phoenix to advance to the final Chase round.

    “Now that Halloween is over,” Busch said, “I think it’s safe to remove my costume because I’ve been masquerading as a Cup contender since the start of the Chase.”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski took the runner-up spot at Martinsville in a bittersweet finish for the 2014 Sprint Cup champion.

    “After failing to qualify for the next round,” Keselowski said, “I’ve kind of been a little dejected and walking around in a daze. In other words, I’ve been ‘out of it.’

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Martinsville and finished seventh.

    “I’m out of the running for the Sprint Cup championship,” Truex said, “so I’ve been rendered a mere spectator. But I’m still right in the middle of the action. That makes now a perfect time to introduce Furniture Row’s ‘Best Seat In The House’ promotion, in which nothing is on sale because I want you to feel my disappointment.”

    10. Carl Edwards: Edwards blew a tire late at Martinsville and finished 36th, putting a serious damper on his championship hopes.

    “Obviously,” Edwards said, “tire wear was an issue. I think that right-front tire was worn completely. And I hate bald tires just as much as Sport Clips hates bald heads.”

  • Hamlin says his teammates were smart to run in the back at Talladega

    Hamlin says his teammates were smart to run in the back at Talladega

    MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Denny Hamlin responded to those who took issue with his teammate running in the back at Talladega the week by saying he “thought it was smart.”

    Speaking to the media prior to the first practice session at Martinsville Speedway yesterday, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was asked what he thought of his teammates running in the back of the field during last week’s Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

    “I thought it was smart,” Hamlin said. “From my standpoint I knew we had an uphill battle because we weren’t going to have any teammates all day, I knew that we weren’t going to have any teammates all day because we all knew what they were going to do before the race started. Just everyone else saw it when it actually happened. There’s no way, they would be the dumbest group in history if they had run in the middle of the pack and got wrecked at some point when they didn’t have to be. It’s about winning championships, it’s not about winning Talladega by any means.”

    Teammates Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth, who all entered Talladega well ahead of the danger of elimination, went the conservative route and ran at the tail end of the field the whole race to avoid getting collected in any major wrecks (The Big One) and advance on. Hamlin on the other hand, entering with a blown engine run at Charlotte and a mediocre run at Kansas, had to have a good run to advance into the Round of 8.

    The split strategy worked out for the best for the Huntersville, North Carolina based organization as all four drivers moved on into the Round of 8.

    Despite it working out and other drivers having done it to their advantage in the past, a number of fans took to Twitter and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to express outrage, saying JGR “manipulated” the outcome of the race by not abiding by the 100 percent rule.

    Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice-president and chief racing development officer, said in his weekly appearance on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the strategy used by JGR didn’t violate the 100 percent rule.

    “I would say that they do not fall into that,” O’Donnell said. “The spirit of that (100 percent) rule is really to prevent somebody from intentionally allowing another teammate to do something that would not be really within the spirit of the rules of the race.

    “In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it. … In this case, that wouldn’t be something that we look at that violated that rule.”

    Hamlin also emphasized that the Gibbs organization had every right to do what they did by how they performed in the first two races in the Round of 12.

    “All those guys earned the right to do that by having a good first two races and I think next year with the races being switched around, you’ll see less of that because people won’t know where they stand,” he added. “I think it kind of fixes itself next year most likely, but there’s more chances of a big wreck there than any other race track so you have to play the odds there. There’s no way that those guys should have been up there helping me and then risk putting themselves in danger of making the Chase and instead of Gibbs having three cars in the Chase, they could have had two or maybe one if there had been helping me and we got in a wreck. Luckily it all worked out where we have all four and they played the strategy they had to play to get in and I did the strategy I had to do to get in. Nobody from any other team would have done anything different, that’s for sure and if they tell you different, that’s a lie.”

  • Hot 20 – NASCAR’s Cup Drivers Runneth over to Swamp the XFINITY and Camping World Series

    Hot 20 – NASCAR’s Cup Drivers Runneth over to Swamp the XFINITY and Camping World Series

    Bless NASCAR’s pea-pickin’ hearts. You have to admit that they keep on trying. With both the junior and truck circuits pretty much irrelevant these days due to the inclusion and the total domination of Cup drivers, NASCAR once again is trying to do the right thing.

    Cup drivers are already banned from the season finales in both minor leagues. Now those with five years Cup experience, not registered to drive for points, can not race in any of those other versions of the Chase, their regular season finales, or the XFINITY “Dash 4 Cash” events. Still, that leaves Cup drivers eligible to race in 10 of the remaining 21 junior races, along with seven of the remaining 15 truck races.

    That means that instead of racing 16 junior contests and winning nine, defending Cup champion Kyle Busch gets to start only 10 times next year. Then he could turn the seat over to, say, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin to fill in for the other 11 rides available. Cup drivers could still dominate for much of the season, though next year they would have to share those opportunities. It is a step forward, but we will have to see if it will be enough to return the spotlight on those who should be showcased in those divisions.

    In 29 events, regular XFINITY drivers claimed 11 of them. Erik Jones took four, Elliott Sadler three, Daniel Suarez a couple, with the others going to Justin Marks and Sam Hornish Jr. Eighteen went to Cup drivers, with half of that total taken by Busch, including their Chase race at Kansas. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson have also won and, with less than five years Cup experience, the restrictions would not apply to either of them. Still, it beats doing nothing but will it be enough to stop the major leaguers from moonlighting to kick some minor league butt most weeks?

    This Sunday, the contenders and pretenders of the Cup circuit head to Martinsville, Virginia. A win earns a free pass to race for the title in Homestead next month. A wreck, and then Texas and Phoenix get a lot more stressful. Eight contenders, but only four will be in the running when it counts.

    Among our Hot 20, Kevin Harvick has been best over the course of the season. That means nothing come Sunday.

    1. KEVIN HARVICK – 4000 PTS
    Would have a 37 point lead if season-long points were still the determining factor…over Keselowski.

    2. DENNY HAMLIN – 4000 PTS
    If you see him in a photo with good friend Michael Jordan, Denny is the short one.

    3. JOEY LOGANO – 4000 PTS
    Last year, he was the guy to beat coming out of Talladega…and so they did.

    4. KYLE BUSCH – 4000 PTS
    Four Cup wins, nine XFINITY triumphs, and a pair of truck flags…he will beat up on anybody.

    5. KURT BUSCH – 4000 PTS
    Harvick was just trying to help me with my contact lenses in pit road. What a pal!

    6. CARL EDWARDS – 4000 PTS
    Some days you race, and some days you ride. Guess what kind of day he had at Talladega.

    7. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4000 PTS
    Eight-time Martinsville winner will duel one more time with 9-time…Jeff Gordon.

    8. MATT KENSETH – 4000 PTS
    Spent a lovely Sunday with Kyle and Carl, but he probably will need to race at Martinsville.

    9. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 2191
    Driving a magic dragon last week. Its name was Puff.

    10. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2168 PTS
    Next year, Kansas replaces Talladega as the elimination race. Good for him, but boring for us.

    11. AUSTIN DILLON – 2163 PTS
    His last win was back in August in Bristol’s Xfinity race.

    12. CHASE ELLIOTT – 2156 PTS
    His last win was back in February in Daytona’s Xfinity race.

    13. KYLE LARSON – 2155 PTS
    Sure, he won back in June in Pocono’s Xfinity race, but don’t forget that Cup win at Michigan.

    14. TONY STEWART – 2141 PTS
    Down to his final four.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 2110 PTS
    23rd in the spring, but second last fall. Time to turn that frown upside down?

    16. CHRIS BUESCHER – 2109 PTS
    A single win leaves Blaney, Bayne, Patrick, Menard, Biffle, Almirola, and Bowyer far behind him.

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 803 PTS
    Hendrick drivers have won the past four Martinsville Chase races. Why not another?

    18. RYAN NEWMAN – 794 PTS
    #noneckguysmatter

    19. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 717 PTS
    Back among the cool kids after a good run at Talladega.

    20. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 717 PTS
    Second at Martinsville this spring gives hope for this fall run.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Talladega

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished 23rd in the Hellman’s 500 and will head to Martinsville as the favorite to win the first race of the next round of the Chase.

    “Martinsville is one of my favorite tracks,” Johnson said. “I’ve got eight wins there, which means I’ve got eight grandfather clock trophies. Winning there to start the third round of the Chase would certainly be a ‘timely’ victory.”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished seventh in the Hellman’s 500 at Talladega and is one of seven drivers moving on to the next round of the Chase.

    “You may have seen me take a swing inside Kurt Busch’s car after the race,” Harvick said. “That’s three years in a row in which I’ve been involved in some sort of controversy midway through the Chase. I guess it’s just that time of the month.”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third in the Hellman’s 500 at Talladega and just edged out Austin Dillon for the eighth and final spot in the third round of the Chase.

    “I beat Kurt Busch for third by a matter of feet,” Hamlin said. “To put it into words that I know Busch can understand, I ‘beat’ him by the length of Kevin Harvick’s arm.”

    4. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth came home 28th at Talladega and will join his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in Round 3 of the Chase.

    “I’ve got to hand it to Joey Logano,” Kenseth said. “He really came through with the pressure on. I guess everything in his car was working to perfection, especially the ‘clutch.’”

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 30th at Talladega and safely advanced to the next round of the Chase.

    “Our goal was simply to avoid disaster,” Busch said. “Going forward, ‘avoiding disaster’ may entail steering clear of any Stewart-Haas Racing driver. Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Kurt Busch all have anger issues. Their teammate Danica Patrick stays mentally grounded by doing yoga. That might help her teammates. But can you see Stewart, Harvick, and Busch doing yoga? That would be a stretch.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano survived a couple of late restarts to win the Hellman’s 500 at Talladega and clinch his spot in the Round of 8 in the Chase.

    “With the race being the Hellman’s 500,” Logano said, “there was no champagne in victory circle, just mayonnaise. So, to celebrate, ‘Sliced Bread’ was covered by mayonnaise.”

    7. Kurt Busch: Busch finished fourth in the Hellman’s 500, then had a controversial run-in with Stewart-Haas teammate Kevin Harvick, who took a swing at Busch while he sat in his No. 41 car after the race.

    “Much like a female government assassin,” Busch said, “Harvick ‘hits’ like a girl.”

    8. Carl Edwards: Edwards finished 29th at Talladega and qualified for the next round of the Chase on the virtue of points.

    “While we were racing at Talladega,” Edwards said, “the United States Grand Prix was taking place in Austin, Texas. There’s was a joke making the rounds in the Talladega infield. It goes like this: What do you call a thousand snooty Formula 1 fans? A ‘grand pricks.’”

    9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski blew an engine on lap 144 at Talladega and failed to advance to the next round of the Chase. He finished 38th, 48 laps off the pace.

    “The grill of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford was covered in trash,” Keselowski said. “I’m not sure if it was a hot dog wrapper, a paper towel, a napkin, or a tissue. But with this being Talladega, I can only tell you for sure that it was ‘white trash.’”

    10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Talladega but blew his engine on lap 41, ruining his chance of advancing in the Chase For The Cup. He finished dead last in 40th.

    “We had a storybook season,” Truex said. “We just need to work on the ‘ending.’”

  • Edwards on Aspects of Plate Racing

    Edwards on Aspects of Plate Racing

    TALLADEGA, Ala. — Among the topics Carl Edwards addressed with the media were if he thinks plate racing is “insane,” the unpredictability of plate racing and Talladega not being an elimination race come next season.

    Speaking to the media yesterday at Talladega Superspeedway, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was asked, given the unpredictable and volatile nature of restrictor plate racing, if he as a driver ever stopped to think “I am insane to do this.”

    “It’s a crazy style of racing and there are times at the end of these races where you think, ‘This is just – this is truly insanity,’” Edwards said. “All the cars are torn up, everybody is limping around, but I think NASCAR – aside from completely changing the race track and the style of racing – I believe NASCAR does the best job they can do keeping things as safe as they can. We’ve got the best technology that we can have to keep the walls soft and the cars safe and monitoring everyone and keeping us from bumping too much and all that, but it is – it’s a crazy style of racing. That’s all there is to it.”

    He also expanded on the unpredictability, stating “if you look back a couple – I think it was a couple years ago – Dave (Rogers, crew chief) mentioned it and he doesn’t like to talk about it, but I guess he and Kyle (Busch) came here basically leading the points or really close to leading the points and got knocked out running 42nd and were out of the Chase, so that’s a pretty big swing in fortune. I think all of us are aware that can happen here and it’s not just that it can happen – I mean that can happen anywhere, it can happen at Charlotte, we saw a lot happen there – but it can happen and it’s not your fault so to speak. Outside circumstances – you’re just so close and you’re in a pack and I think that’s what makes this race interesting to watch is that truly anything can happen. I mean, I’ve been staring at the checkered flag thinking I was going to win and then been upside down in the fence. I mean, it’s – and that was just the two of us messing around. If you get the whole pack in there, it can get crazy.”

    Edwards is not the only driver to note the “insanity” of racing at Talladega. Brad Keselowski, in his post-race media availability following his victory in the GEICO 500, talked about how racing is a “balance of daredevils and chess players” and that Talladega “has always been the more daredevil style of track.”

    Restrictor plate racing, exclusive to Talladega and Daytona International Speedway, has always been a polarizing topic in NASCAR since its introduction nearly 30 years ago. Drivers tend to dislike or outright hate plate racing because of its unpredictability and violent nature. Fans, on the other hand, overwhelmingly love it.

    The nature of plate racing has made Talladega’s position late in the schedule a hot button topic over whether it should have any impact on the championship that late in the going, especially in the elimination format era of the Chase.

    While some drivers are in favor of NASCAR swapping Talladega’s place as the final race of the Round of 12 with Kansas Speedway next season, Edwards doesn’t think it’ll make that much of a difference.

    “I think Talladega being in this round, I think it makes all of the races crazier just because you know this one’s slightly less predictable, so it puts a pressure on regardless of where it’s at,” he said. “I guess if it were the first race, there’s a chance you could come out and everything will go smoothly and then your next two races might be more normal, but heck I don’t know. I feel like truly Talladega gets a lot of attention, but as this – as being a real ‘wild card’ – but as people get better at this Chase and understand how important each lap is and each position is, the intensity has just been ramping up the last couple of years and it seems like it’s there for sure this year.”