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Hot 20 – Pocono, where Kyle’s winning streak comes to an end…maybe

Back we go to Pocono, where Martin Truex Jr. won in the spring, where all of the Hendrick drivers shared in winning the previous five. A Busch has won there, twice. His name is Kurt.

Kyle Busch has not…yet. He swept Indianapolis last weekend, meaning he ran and won the XFINITY race there on Saturday. It was his second junior circuit win in five tries this season. That now means series regulars have won just three of 18 events, with Chris Buescher taking two while Ryan Reed won at Daytona in February. Truck series wonder-kid Erik Jones has a pair while six Cup drivers have shared the other 13. Of course, most see what the problem is. I guess stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest Gump reminded us.

NASCAR spent tons of time and money figuring out a package to run at Indy. Then they got teams to spend their own time and money to ready their cars with that new package. In the end, they appear to have wasted a bunch of time and money. The racing was not much different than it has ever been, which is not all that good while making them a bit more sensitive to losing control after losing air on the spoiler, spoiling their day. Next month, they will use the same package in Michigan. You can never have too much of a bad thing, I guess.

Word is that Danica Patrick is expected to stay with Stewart-Haas after this season, a new contract and new sponsors. Why? It has everything to do with being a competent attractive female in a sport dominated by men. She might never contend for a title or even a Chase berth, but as long as she continues to enjoy the following she has, she does not have to.

Cameron Hayley is a 19-year-old Canadian sitting sixth in the truck series standings. He is a Calgary boy, making him as likely to be a cowboy as a hockey player. Instead, he turned to racing. Too bad the truck series is not broadcast in Canada this season. However, if you want to watch soccer instead, I got great news for you.

Heading to Pocono, our Hot 20 does not include our hottest driver. Heading out of Pocono probably will be a different story. If you are wondering if it is all about Kyle…it seems it is.

1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4 WINS (675 Points)
Will remain first overall, unless Kyle wins Pocono.

2. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (777 Points)
All the talk is about Kyle, but Harv’s finishes over the past five have been fourth, fourth, eighth, third, and third.

3. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 2 WINS (677 Points)
The last driver not named Kyle Busch to win a Cup race.

4. KURT BUSCH – 2 WINS (612 Points)
Kyle’s first bridesmaid was his own brother.

5. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (708 Points)
Bridesmaid No. 2…and No. 4.

6. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (668 Points)
Could have helped Kyle and Kevin in late restarts…but I guess they were on their own.

7. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN (638 Points)
Kyle’s other bridesmaid, as Penske finished second in each of the past three.

8. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (615 Points)
As a teammate, he personally knows Kyle.

9. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (591 Points)
So does Denny.

10. CARL EDWARDS – 1 WIN (519 Points)
So does Carl.

11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 602 POINTS
Has enough points that Kyle’s expected jump up the ladder affects him the least.

12. JEFF GORDON – 575 POINTS
Forget Kyle. Until further notice, the goal is to finish ahead of Bowyer every week.

13. RYAN NEWMAN – 563 POINTS
After Pocono and Kyle’s expected rise in the standings, things get a little more tense.

14. KASEY KAHNE – 558 POINTS
Same as above.

15. PAUL MENARD – 558 POINTS
Ditto.

16. CLINT BOWYER – 538 POINTS
If Kyle moves up, 16th becomes the new 17th.

17. ARIC ALMIROLA – 508 POINTS
Forget Kyle and forget making the Chase on points. A win is the only way in.

18. GREG BIFFLE – 462 POINTS
Kyle is the least of his worries.

19. AUSTIN DILLON – 453 POINTS
Like Kyle, Austin was a speed racer at Indy. Unlike Kyle, he did his speeding on pit road…twice.

20. KYLE LARSON – 452 POINTS
The other Kyle.

July 29, 2015
The Final Word – Post-race Kyle kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis, the rest could just kiss his…

All we have heard all summer long is how great Kyle is at winning, how wonderful Kyle has been in making a comeback. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle. It is enough to make one channel their inner Jan Brady.

What a wonderful race Kevin Harvick had. He led all those laps, yet the best he gets in the end was third. Joey Logano, he had a wonderful day going for him, but with about 10 to go, Kyle decided the race was his and won his first Brickyard 400.

Okay, three wins in a row. Four of the past five, all in just the past nine events; 33rd of his career. Over those last five events, Busch has managed to pick up an average of 30 points per race on the driver sitting in 30th place in the standings, and today sits just 23 behind Justin Allgaier as he moves closer to being Chase eligible and making those wins count toward the standings. My bold prediction is that he will rocket from 32nd to at least second in the season standings come next Sunday at Pocono.

Busch is having a season just as unbelievable as that of Tony Stewart. I mean, who can believe the crap Smoke has been putting up with this season? He starts fourth at Indianapolis, was up front the first half of the day, yet the heaping helping he was left with was not exactly a steaming pile of hospitality. Strategy gone bad, they said. Stewart pits when some thought he should have maintained track position. Shortly after, he pits again, giving up even more. He finished 28th, a spot behind Danica Patrick, who had a Top 15 day, was eighth when they re-started with eight to go.

Jeff Gordon was in his final Brickyard, but he lost control trying to avoid a spinning Clint Bowyer. Contact with the outside wall left him limping to 42nd. Still, he is in no danger of dropping out of the Top 16 just yet. Bowyer has that final transfer spot, sitting 30 points ahead of Aric Almirola. He appeared to be driving a metallic pinata as Bowyer gained 32 positions on him.

Mind you, after Pocono, when the four Busch wins trump whatever points he might have, as long as he sits amongst the Top 30, Bowyer will slip back to 17th. In reality, he goes into next weekend down by 20 to Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard, and 25 behind Ryan Newman, for the spot that will matter at the end of the day.

As for Kyle, he has never won at Pocono. Of course, he had never won a Cup event at Indianapolis before, either. Busch is a husband, a new dad and appears to have returned a more mature version of his former self. Maybe even a more talented version, if that can be possible. Some might not like it, but the way things are going, they might have to be content with kissing his…championship ring at the end of the season.

July 27, 2015
Surprising and Not Surprising: New Hampshire 5-Hour Energy 301

With the race running in temperatures hot enough to boil a lobster, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 23rd annual 5-Hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Surprising: Although Kyle Busch ended the race in Victory Lane, with a gutsy pass at the end and a great restart, he may owe a major debt of gratitude to young Alex Bowman, who survived a fire in his car exiting pit road only to wreck on the white flag lap, bringing out the very caution that Busch needed to win the race.

“Today we may not have been the best car, we were early, but towards the end I’m not sure that we were,” Busch said. “We put ourselves in the right spot to be able to capitalize. Sometimes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series you got to be able to do that. Today was one of those opportunities for us.”

Not Surprising: While a top-five finish is a source of pride for many drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was still frustrated with his continuing streak of top-five finishes at Loudon without a win to show for it.

“Seem like I run in the top five or top 10 every damn time we come here,” the driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet said. “I’m always like the third, fourth, fifth best car. I’m never like the 2, the 18, the 4, the 11. That is very frustrating.”

“But at the same time, you know, I got to say something about my ability and the team’s ability. I take a lot of pride in having a good, positive statistic like that. But it sure would be nice to hold the lobster and do all the fun stuff they do in Victory Lane.”

Surprising: Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano may have finished top-five, in second and fourth respectively, but they seemed on the opposite ends of the speed opinion poll.

“We had a really fast car,” Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, said. “I’m proud of my team for the effort. It feels good to have fast cars.”

“We had a really fast car and led a lot of laps. I’m really proud of the team for bringing me two fast cars these past two weekends. It’s a joy to drive cars that fast.”

“We had great execution with the Shell/Pennzoil Ford, just not enough speed,” Logano said of his No. 22 race car. “Todd made some great calls keeping us toward the front. We were good on the restarts and got a few when we could there. When you’ve got four tires you try to make something happen, but we just didn’t have enough speed in our race car to go up there and race with those guys.”

“We’ll find a little bit more speed before we come back.”

Not Surprising: In spite of a bit of a misstep on pit road, Kevin Harvick stood by his team, crediting them for strategy and overall performance for the weekend in his third place finish in the No. 4 ‘Freaky Fast’ Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet.

“I think we had the right strategy, just a little miscue on the last pit stop,” Harvick said. “Those guys have done great all year. They did great today.”

“I just have to thank everybody at our Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet for everything they do. We were off on Friday and we were able to really rebound and have a good Saturday and good racecar today. It’s encouraging.”

Surprising: Paul Menard, who had been having a good race run for the first half of the laps at least, had contact with Kasey Kahne, missed pit road, limped around the track and then spun getting onto pit road.

Menard then capped it all off with no less than four pit road penalties on top of the less than stellar stop. The driver of the No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet took the checkered flag in the 25th position and on the lead lap.

Not Surprising: Although they raced one another hard at one point during the race, the young Dillon boy and the seasoned veteran on his last run, Gordon managed to both pronounce their top-ten days good.

“It was a good day,” Dillon said. “The Dow Chevy was pretty solid. I can’t thank (crew chief) Slugger enough for sticking with me. We were not very good in practice. I learned a lot in the XFINITY car, I think, it laid over today, and it was probably one of our best races in the last two years.”

“Honestly, that’s the kind of effort that this team has been putting in a lot lately,” Gordon said. “We haven’t been coming to the track in the position that we really feel like we could be like we were last year. We’ve got some catch-up to do there; but my gosh, one thing we’re not lacking is determination and just the ability to overcome adversity. I’m really proud of that.”

“It was still a nice top 10.”

Surprising: There was no one hoping more for a caution than Danica Patrick, who had to pit for fuel with just six laps to go. She ran short after taking the wave-around being short on gas in order to get back on the lead lap.

The trip down pit road so late in the race put the driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet a lap down to finish in the 24th position.

“The call to take the wave-around was definitely the right decision to make there,” Patrick said. “We had to go for it and get our lap back so we could try to compete for a better finish.”

“Days like these are tough and require a lot more effort and energy from everyone. It’s disappointing to end up as far back as we did, but I’m proud of my GoDaddy team for not giving up and working so hard today.”

Not Surprising: With fans taking refuge under the stands from the unusually hot weather in New Hampshire, it was no wonder that at least three drivers had to be attended to medically after the race. Michael Annett and Matt DiBenedetto were both helped to the infield care center and treated there for over an hour and a half for their heat-related conditions.

AJ Allmendinger was also attended to in his hauler from a combination of heat and having strep throat all weekend.

“I wasn’t at my best today either,” Dinger said. “I’ve been battling strep throat. It was very hot today and I got frustrated at times because I wasn’t feeling good. Brian (Burns, crew chief) and the guys did a good job. The pit crew was solid again. I will get a little bit better, but hopefully something we can build off of.”

Surprising: After two good race runs, Trevor Bayne had a surprisingly difficult time at New Hampshire, finishing a disappointing 32nd.

“We fought hard all race,” Bayne said after the race. “Our AdvoCare Ford was just tight in the center throughout the day.”

Not Surprising: Although he continued his less than stellar season, with a 20^th place finish at Loudon, Tony Stewart does have a bright spot ahead for the upcoming week.

He will get to step out of the car and into the role of track owner for the Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Wednesday.

July 20, 2015
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kentucky

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson finished ninth in the Quaker State 400, recording his 13th top 10 of the year.

“Junior’s wasn’t the only car that was ‘unstoppable,’” Johnson said. “Those Joe Gibbs Racing cars were as well, and it had nothing to do with brakes.

“Hopefully, Junior and Danica Patrick can work out their differences. Junior has already apologized. I suggest Danica accept it and move on. In other words, she needs to put the whole situation in her rear-view mirror. Unfortunately, the only thing she usually sees in her rear-view mirror is the leader.”

2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started 15th and finished a solid eighth at Kentucky. He continues to lead the Sprint Cup points standings, holding a 68-point lead over Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano.

“Thankfully,” Harvick said, “there were no cars going airborne. What happened at Daytona shouldn’t happen at a NASCAR race. The only things that should be in the stands are fights, not debris. Sadly though, keeping tires on the ground is inversely proportionate to keeping fans in the seats.”

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt battled brake issues for much of Saturday’s Quaker State 400 and finished 21st.

“I even got into the back of Danica Patrick,” Earnhardt said. “And she told me to go ‘F’ myself. ‘F’ seems to be here favorite letter. ‘L’ is high on the list, also. ‘W’ is certainly not.

4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished a disappointing 17th at Kentucky and has now gone three races without a top 10 after posting only one finish outside the top 10 to start the season.

“You can call it a slump,” Truex said, “but what’s really news is the ‘bump.’ That’s what Dale Earnhardt Jr. did to Danica Patrick when his brakes failed and he slammed the back of her car. It’s a pity that Junior ruined Danica’s night, because she was destined to finish first, no doubt. Talk about a ‘rear spoiler.’”

5. Joey Logano: Logano led 23 laps and finished second at Kentucky, posting his 10th top-10 of the year.

“I had nothing for Kyle Busch,” Logano said. “He passed me and was gone. Kudos to Kyle, though. He did something my father never could, and that’s leave me alone.”

6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski had the car to challenge Kyle Busch, but a string of slow pit stops ruined his chances for the win. He still finished sixth and is sixth in the points standings, 133 out of first.

“My guys put the ‘stop’ in ‘pit stop,’” Keselowski said. “We pretty much just gave the race to Kyle. And if I give the race to Kyle, you can assuredly assume that he will assent to taking advantage of it.

7. Kurt Busch: Busch posted his fifth consecutive top-10 finish with a 10th at Kentucky, as little brother Kyle won in impressive fashion.

“Kyle beat Joey Logano to the checkered flag,” Busch said, “which just supports the old adage, ‘Bro’s before Jo’s.’ And Kyle took his customary ‘bow’ after the win. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t perform a ‘Kurt-sy’ after I win.”

8. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth finished fifth as Joe Gibbs Racing dominated at Kentucky, with Kyle Busch winning and all four JGR cars placing in the top-five.

“Obviously, we’re all big fans of NASCAR’s new aerodynamic rules package,” Kenseth said. “Especially Chad Knaus, who lives by the mantra ‘More rules means more rules to break.’”

9. Kyle Busch: Busch passed Joey Logano with 19 laps to go and ran away with the victory in the Quaker State 400. Busch has now won two of the last three races and now sits 35th in the points standings.

“I went by Logano,” Busch said, “then went bye.

“Gibbs Racing was strong up and down the line. Carl Edwards’ fourth-place finish was some welcome good news for Subway in the wake of the Jared Fogle scandal. Carl, in fact, was thrilled with his car’s handling. So it’s good for him that Jared’s ‘hard drive’ is in the news and not Carl’s.”

10. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished seventh in his final race at Kentucky Speedway. He is 10th in the Sprint Cup points standings, 155 out of first.

“I’ve never won at Kentucky,” Gordon said, “so I’m disappointed. Kentucky is known for a lot of things, like their horses, their chicken, their jelly and their bourbon. I was honored with 24 bottles of the latter from each of the state’s four master distilleries. I’m sure most NASCAR fans can relate when I say I just got ‘liquored up.’”

July 14, 2015
Surprising and Not Surprising: Kentucky Quaker State 400

After dealing with inclement weather, qualifying cancellation due to rain, weepers on the track and a new aero package, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway.

Surprising: The Chase season has not even officially started, yet one driver has already secured his spot, at least mathematically.

Last year’s champ Kevin Harvick has clinched his place in the Chase to pursue a back to backer after his eighth-place finish at Kentucky.

“I’m really proud of everyone on our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team for the work they did this weekend getting ready for this new package,” Harvick said after scoring his third top-10 in five career Sprint Cup starts at Kentucky and his 16th top-10 this season.

“We were definitely sliding around more often on restarts, but as you got going the cars just kind of got spread out and I thought the gaps were a little bit bigger. Definitely a lot of information to take away from this and looking forward to Indy in a couple of weeks to see what we take away from there.”

And with his multiple wins, all the driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet has to do is start the remainder of the races to ensure that he will compete once again for the Cup.

Not Surprising: Although many drivers are still focusing on getting that elusive win to qualify for the Chase for NASCAR’s championship, at least one driver is points racing to the max, pedaling as hard as he possibly can to earn his chance at the prize.

“That right there is what we have to do,” Kyle Busch said about points racing from Victory Lane, winning his second race of the season after being out due to significant injuries to his leg and foot sustained early in the race year. “Just to score as many points as we possibly can and score those wins, that’s what’s going to get us where we need to be.

“We led the most laps and we won the race so that’s all you can score. We’ll just continue to push on and drive and try to strive through our deficit and get ourselves in position to be in the top-30.”

With the two wins, Busch just has to continue to inch his way forward in the point standings, as he did after this race, moving two spots to where he currently sits in the 35th position.

Surprising: In spite of men down in the pits, with both Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon having contact with pit crew members during difficult stops, the teams and drivers impacted manned up to score top-10 finishes for Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports respectively.

“Yeah, he was about to be road kill for a second,” Keselowski, who rebounded to finish sixth in his No. 2 Miller Lite Ford after nearly running over his tire carrier, said after the race. “I’m glad he wasn’t.”

“As usual in Kentucky it is never easy,” Gordon said after finishing seventh in his No. 24 AARP Member Advantages Chevrolet. “The team did a really good job. We had to fight through a few handling issues and some restarts and pit road and a bunch of things, but there at the end everything kind of came together.

“We got the car working really well, got a couple of good restarts and a good pit stop. It was a solid evening. It wasn’t a winning evening, but I’m still real proud of the effort.”

Not Surprising: At race end, it almost seemed like Avis should have been sponsoring the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford of Joey Logano, who scored a number two finishing spot.

“We tried,” Logano said. “We cleared the 11 on the restart, which got us clean air and I thought we were in good shape. And then as tires started wearing the 18 was really good on the long run and he figured out the top before me.”

“That’s the advantage you have as the second-place guy is you can go up there and play around more. I was just trying to keep the gap, so I didn’t want to take the penalty of losing three or four laps trying to figure out the top and he would have been closer, but he figured it out before me and got around me.”

“We raced the heck out of each other, I tried hard, but I figured it out too late. Second always hurts.”

Surprising: Trevor Bayne seems to be on a roll after a dismal start to the season, finishing 13th in his No. 7 AdvoCare Ford at Kentucky, after a top-ten finish the week before at Daytona.

“We had a better car than 13th, believe it or not, and we just got beat with some pit strategy there a couple of times,” Bayne said. “A couple got by us with tires and the 41 had four tires, the 48, 24 – we ran that whole last bit on two tires for a long time, so I was glad we could hang on to what we did.”

“It’s just fun to be able to race and make changes on our car and go for it. We ran in the top 10 most of the night. We’re making gains and we’ve got to keep rolling with it.”

“Yeah, it’s going the right way. It wasn’t just a fluke to finish in the top 10 just once. We’re proving that we can be there every week and that’s what we have to do.”

Bayne also is on a roll off the track, announcing to the world via Twitter that he and his wife are expecting a girl, #elliekatebayne.

Not Surprising: Carl Edwards had the most entertaining words to share on his in-car radio, saying that his Minions, who were on his car to promote the new Minion movie debut, were ‘no match’ for those M&Ms, referring to race winner Kyle Busch’s car sponsor.

Edwards finished fourth in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Minion Toyota.

“Just an awesome race – I can’t thank Comcast XFINITY enough for having the Minions on board along with ARRIS, Stanley, Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Subway,” Edwards said. “It was an awesome show. Just an awesome, fun day and I’m glad Kyle (Busch) got the win.”

Surprising: In spite of the dust-up with Danica Patrick due to brake issues and the bumps and colorful words that followed, Dale Earnhardt Jr. put it all in surprising perspective, paying tribute to his No. 88 Nationwide team via Twitter after the race.

“Thanks for all the @nationwide88 guys working hard to try and fix our brake issues. Working on 1000 degree parts takes a lot of courage.”

Earnhardt Jr. finished 21st, while Patrick finished an even more disappointing 34th. Both drivers dropped two spots in the point standings, with Jr. falling to fourth and Danica falling to 22nd.

Not Surprising: Denny Hamlin might just be the poster boy for the new rules package, rebounding to finish third in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota.

“What a fun race,” Hamlin said enthusiastically after the race. “For us to be able to come back from two laps down and really pass a ton of cars, that’s just encouraging to me that we’ve finally got something that we can really work on and pass guys when your balance is better.”

Surprising: For Martin Truex Jr., the glass was half full and then half empty, running in the top five to top-ten for the first half of his race, but then falling off after damage to the car for a 17th place finish.

“We had too many issues to overcome in the second half of the race,” Truex said. “We had problems with handling — the car kept on plowing through the corners, especially after taking a few hits to the right front. I gave it all I had, but when the car is aerodynamically handicapped it’s difficult to make anything happen.”

“The good news is that we ran up front for plenty of laps and the bad news is that we didn’t stay up front. If we ran the entire race where we finished I would be much more disappointed. But for at least half the race we were up front.”

Not Surprising: At a track that is grueling, bumpy and with drivers having limited practice time, it was no surprise that the rookies did not fare well. Brett Moffitt was the highest finishing rookie in the 32nd spot, with Alex Kennedy, Jeb Burton and Matt DiBenedetto finishing 40th, 41st and 42nd respectively.

NASCAR next heads to the northeast for the New Hampshire 301 on Sunday, July 19 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

July 13, 2015
Hot 20 – Kentucky is no Daytona…and for some of us that is not a good thing

The thrills and the moments of dread of Daytona are behind us. Kentucky is next on the agenda, yet something tells me it arrives with not quite the same sense of anticipation. It still is racing, there is still a measure of danger attached to it, but it is not the same thing. Some think that is a good thing.

Things can be made safer, less risky. In 2012, Nik Wallenda walked the high-wire above Niagra Falls. The danger was minimized when Canadian authorities insisted he make the trek wearing a safety harness. In 2013, he walked across the Grand Canyon without the harness. Both involved great skill, both were successful, but which impressed you the most?

There is an iconic photograph of 11 iron workers sitting on a suspended beam 89 stories up during the construction of Rockefeller Center in 1932. Not one of the workers was wearing a safety device as they were shown reading, eating, and smoking with nothing but the void beneath them. I wonder how iconic that photo would have been with a large safety net stretched out beneath them?

Last Monday morning, we saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. up front, eyes on his mirrors as he jumped from lane to lane to stall the pursuit of his challengers at 200 mph, en roue to claiming the checkered flag. We also saw the No. 3 of Austin Dillon punched high into the catchfence, hitting wheels first, to be torn up and spit back onto the racing surface as its engine bounced away on its own. We saw fans sprayed with debris and we saw the wreckage containing the driver hit late by a sliding Brad Keselowski. We watched, we worried, and we felt relief when we got the sign Dillon was okay.

Some do not care for such scenarios and want it changed in some way to make it even safer for all concerned. Some of those proponents of change are drivers. You would think that any civilized person would embrace such change. Of course, while we are at it and in the interest of safety, we could welcome the NFFL and the NSL, that is the National Flag Football League and the National Shinny League. All it would take us to be more civilized and less risky would be to just remove contact from football and hockey.

In fact, let us remove the engines and let the entries coast down the banking in a newly constituted NASBAR, or the National Association of Soap Box Auto Racing. Little risk, little danger, and obviously very few fans watching. That is the trade off.

Do not get me wrong, I understand there is danger and risk in NASCAR, especially at the super speedways. I know that one day a crewman will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, a fan will be sitting too close to the action when parts fly, or all the driver safety features will prove to not be enough on some fateful day we pray is a long way off. We would be naive to think otherwise.

NASCAR has tried, especially so for more than a decade, to make the sport safer. The fact that this accident involving the No. 3 at Daytona did not result in a fatality is proof of that. For fans, crews, and drivers, they should continue to fight for improvements to safety, but at some point they must either accept some degree of real risk or move on to something they believe to be safer.

We watch, not to see disaster, but to witness those who can do what for us would be the impossible, and leave us in wonder at their skill and success.

Our Hot 20 heading into Kentucky on Saturday night include…

1. Jimmie Johnson – 4 WINS (589 Points)
Even Jimmie thought we had lost Austin last week.

2. Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS (656 Points)
It is official…Keelan can drive. What were you doing as a three year old?

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2 WINS (593 Points)
Outwitted, outplayed, outlasted…but Dillon was the survivor.

4. Kurt Busch – 2 WINS (508 Points)
I agree with Kurt that we can make NASCAR safer…but at one point do we drive fans off?

5. Joey Logano – 1 WINS (581 Points)
Knew within three laps that last weekend would be a bit of a test.

6. Martin Truex Jr. – 1 WIN (569 Points)
The best thing about his race weekend was leaving.

7. Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN (520 Points)
The last hit was the scariest.

8. Matt Kenseth – 1 WIN (501 Points)
The oldest driver to win at Kentucky…and that was two years ago. Time to set a new record.

9. Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN (480 Points)
One little spin, one hell of a mess.

10. Carl Edwards – 1 WIN (408 Points)
Bad weekend at Daytona, bad week for Subway.

11. Jamie McMurray – 528 POINTS
A win would be nice but, as of yet, still unneccesary.

12. Jeff Gordon – 500 POINTS
They have not raced long at Kentucky, but a first win here would prove sweet.

13. Kasey Kahne – 496 POINTS
Sharks recently reported a Kahne sighting.

14. Paul Menard – 480 POINTS
One of four driving XFINITY at Kentucky, along with Brad, Junior, and…Kyle???

15. Ryan Newman – 472 POINTS
Being a race car driver can be dangerous. That is one reason I am not, but why is he?

16. Clint Bowyer – 465 POINTS
Patience is a virtue and Virtuous Clint is finally in the Top Sixteen.

17. Aric Almirola – 441 POINTS
One bad finish and bad things happen in the standings. Case in point…

18. Kyle Larson – 395 POINTS
Some like him as a dark horse candidate for this Sunday. If it proves true, a win and he’s in.

19. Greg Biffle – 392 POINTS
The Biff is interested with how the new rules package pans out…and he could use some good panning.

20. Danica Patrick – 386 POINTS
Dillon destroys his car, still finishes seventh, and is now just seven points back of Ms. Patrick.

July 9, 2015
Hot 20 – Daytona’s banner should wave over the land of the free, not the home of the enslaved

As the action returns to Daytona, Florida this weekend, I must admit something. I love the look of the Confederate battle flag. I love the stories of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet. I loved the Dukes of Hazzard, good ole boys, and good ole girls even better. Junior was the name of Mr. Johnson or Hank’s boy. I think Copperhead Road is one hell of a song, and even Lincoln liked the tune of Dixie. Then there is Nathan Bedford Forrest, Jim Crow, and an additional century of institutionalized racism to consider, all equally associated with the rebel banner.

Many years ago, while visiting Florida, I bought a belt buckle bearing that symbol. I cannot wear it for the same reason it should no longer fly at NASCAR tracks. Variations of it flew from 1861-1865 leading the way for Confederate armies into battle in their fight to defend the southern way of life, of which slavery was a main component. Maybe it could have survived that connection, as it has up to this point. Still, you cannot ignore its association since with segregation and the racist policies and actions of the following hundred years since the Civil War, all of which has made it a contemporary political and social lightening rod.

Some will argue that such a ban also treads on the southern way of life, forgetting that southern blacks especially are not newcomers to the party. Their ancestors have also been part of the fabric of the region since the very beginning. As much as its reminds some of bravery on the field or a romanticized lost cause, it is also an insulting, insensitive reminder of a people held in bondage, a denial of civil rights and white supremacy. I cannot see how the two views can be reconciled today. Can you?

The Hot 20 returning to Daytona Sunday night include…

1. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 4 WINS (546 Points)
One darn caution too many spoiled his road tour.

2. KEVIN HARVICK – 2 WINS (616 Points)
Jack car up, take tire off, put tire on…before dropping the damn jack.

3. KURT BUSCH – 2 WINS (469 Points)
He wins one week, his brother wins the next week. See, sharing with siblings can be fun.

4. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (563 Points)
This week, Martin remembers his family, his friends, his country and, no doubt, David Ragan.

5. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (559 Points)
Seemed to do alright the last time he was at Daytona.

6. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 1 WIN (545 Points)
Sonoma was fun, but Daytona is a family tradition.

7. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 1 WIN (505 Points)
If you call him Joey, that is how he’ll sign the autograph.

8. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (479 Points)
Going from one of his worst venues to one of his favorites.

9. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (438 Points)
Has yet to win at Daytona, but he has come close enough to bear watching.

10. CARL EDWARDS – 1 WIN (405 Points)
Had he done to Ragan what Ragan had done to Martin, all would have been well.

11. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 497 POINTS
Won on only four tracks; once at Indy, twice each at Charlotte, Talladega, and Sunday’s venue.

12. KASEY KAHNE – 483 POINTS
Last two summer races at Daytona resulted in fireworks of the unappreciated kind.

13. JEFF GORDON – 462 POINTS
Memo to crew: Take out spring rubber, walk with spring rubber, gently place it over the wall.

14. PAUL MENARD – 452 POINTS
Being consistently 14th or 15th is okay, but being consistently ninth or 10th would be even better.

15. RYAN NEWMAN – 435 POINTS
If this becomes a horse race to be won by just a neck…

16. ARIC ALMIROLA – 431 POINTS
When he shaves, he sees Clint standing behind him in the mirror.

17. CLINT BOWYER – 430 POINTS
Sixteenth in actual accumulated points…but Carl has the win and he does not.

18. KYLE LARSON – 390 POINTS
To my knowledge, has never posted a yoga video.

19. DANICA PATRICK – 377 POINTS
Okay, her yoga video is hard to ignore, just like her appearances on this list week after week.

20. GREG BIFFLE – 368 POINTS
The Biff needs a win, but few think he has a car that can. That must bug him.

July 1, 2015
Sonoma Raceway Sprint Cup Preview – Just the Facts

With only 11 races remaining in the regular season, the action heats up as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Sonoma Raceway this weekend for some road course action in California.

Did you Know?

• The NSCS competes at Sonoma Raceway once each season. The first Cup race was held there in 1989.
• Ricky Rudd won the first race on June 11, 1989 at a speed of 76.088 mph.
• Rusty Wallace won the inaugural pole with a 90.041 mph lap.
• Danica Patrick is the only female NSCS driver that has competed at Sonoma Raceway.
• Dale Earnhardt won his only NASCAR road course race at Sonoma in 1995.
• The last 10 races have produced 10 different winners:

2005 – Tony Stewart
2006 – Jeff Gordon
2007 – Juan Pablo Montoya
2008 – Kyle Busch
2009 – Kasey Kahne
2010 – Jimmie Johnson
2011 – Kurt Busch
2012 – Clint Bowyer
2013 – Martin Truex Jr.
2014 – Carl Edwards

Winners and Losers:

• Kurt Busch has the best driver rating at Sonoma (106.5) followed by Jeff Gordon (103.4) and Tony Stewart (98.8).
• Gordon’s resume, however, may be the most impressive as he leads the series with nine road course wins, five at Sonoma and four at Watkins Glen. Although his last triumph was in 2006, this could be one of his best opportunities to bring home his first checkered flag of the season.
He is the only driver with consecutive wins at this track, with three victories between the years 1998-2000. Gordon is also the lone competitor to win from the pole more than once (1998, 1999 and 2004) and he leads the series with 14 top-five finishes at Sonoma.
• Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are at the other end of the spectrum. They have the dubious distinction of leading all active drivers with the most NSCS starts at Sonoma (15) with no wins to show for their efforts. A trip to Victory Lane would be huge for either driver but if their driver ratings at the track are any indication, Earnhardt (72.1) and Kenseth (75.4) are long shots at best.

Milestones:

• Brad Keselowski is set to make his 300th NSCS consecutive start on June 28 at Sonoma Raceway.
• If Kevin Harvick places in the top-two this Sunday, he will accomplish something that only one other driver in NSCS history has done by capturing 11 top-two finishes in the first 16 races of the season. Bobby Allison did so in 1972.
• Carl Edwards is tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 24 series career wins. A win at Sonoma would tie him with Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin who are 29th on the all-time wins list with 25.

Ten different drivers have secured their spot in the Chase with a victory this year. Will a new driver emerge victorious at Sonoma Raceway this weekend? Tune into the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on FOX Sports 1 Sunday, June 28 at 3 p.m. to find out.

June 25, 2015
Hot 20 – If you are seeking some racing excitement, Sonoma will be worth tuning in

Make the racing better. That seems to be what NASCAR is locked into and bless ‘em for trying. Outside of running all the races at Daytona, Talladega and Bristol, it is a challenge. The good old days had winners taking the flag by laps, not seconds, so no solution can be found there.

A new rules package is being looked at, one that might allow a car to catch an opponent, get up beside him, or her, and actually make a pass. That should not be a problem this Sunday at Sonoma. Unlike their Formula One counterparts, these boys, and girl, will use a fender to gain an advantage and cause things to happen. If you want nice clean racing where speed is king, watch the ponies. If you want excitement, you might want to catch the action on the asphalt from California.

Our Hot 20 heading to Sonoma include…

1. Jimmie Johnson – 4 WINS (506 Points)
What makes Jimmie so appealing? All those NASCAR penalties they keep fighting.

2. Kevin Harvick – 2 WINS (576 Points)
15 races, 1200 laps led. I think Harv likes being champion.

3. Kurt Busch – 2 WINS (426 Points)
Once upon a time missing three races killed a season. Times have changed.

4. Martin Truex Jr. – 1 WIN (561 Points)
Got the win, all he needs now is a new contract. A sponsor not named Visser would sure help.

5. Joey Logano – 1 WIN (520 Points)
Joey Sharkgano?

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 1 WIN (508 Points)
First me, now Junior. Yes, all the good ones are now taken.

7. Brad Keselowski – 1 WIN (480 Points)
Does Penske lose both of its drivers in Sharknado 3?

8. Matt Kenseth – 1 WIN (456 Points)
Ross gives Pops a Top Ten on a Father’s Day outing in Chicago.

9. Denny Hamlin – 1 WIN (412 Points)
Denny is part of the council. Does that mean he knows Gandalf and Gimli?

10. Carl Edwards- 1 WIN (401 Points)
Last year he gave everybody the gears as he went left and right to victory at Sonoma.

11. Jamie McMurray – 454 POINTS
With the Truex victory, Mac is now the best without a win…something he has not done since 2010.

12. Kasey Kahne – 447 POINTS
Outside of Bristol and Talladega, worst finish is 17th, best is fourth. At least he is consistent.

13. Jeff Gordon – 434 POINTS
Top Ten at Sonoma…darn near a guaranteed result.

14. Paul Menard – 421 POINTS
The Chase is the goal, and as it appears Crew Chief Justin Alexander is a problem solver…

15. Aric Almirola – 401 POINTS
Feels Bowyer’s breath behind him as they take on a track where success has remained elusive.

16. Ryan Newman – 400 POINTS
His odds on Sunday are as bad as Junior, Kenseth, and Hamlin…but they already have their wins.

17. Clint Bowyer – 388 POINTS
If there is a track the gent can make up some ground, it is this one.

18. Kyle Larson – 361 POINTS
He may appear to be 13, but he turns 23 in a month.

19. Danica Patrick – 357 POINTS
Just when I start thinking of her as just a driver…I catch her Instagram photos.

20. Greg Biffle – 351 POINTS
Instagram or not, I view the Biff as just a driver. Trust me.

June 24, 2015
Finley Factor: Putting A Muzzle On The Dog

The lottery is really just a volunteer tax. Every week thousands upon thousands of people attempt to win it, in spite of the one in million(s) odds. Every week, these same thousands upon thousands of people don’t win the big money and decide to try again next week.

NASCAR’s version of the lottery? The free lap rule.

It’s a fairly easy rule to explain – like the lottery – to explain to those playing. If a caution comes out and a driver is the first a lap or more down (and they did not cause said caution), they become the “lucky dog” and gain a free lap.

Like the lottery, most “lucky dogs” win it by pure luck with no actual indicator of skill. They are simply lapped right before the caution comes out and if it had been even another lap, the leader would have lapped yet another driver. And if there are multiple cautions in a single period, congratulations, everybody gets their lap back!

The reality is that no driver has won a race after winning the free pass in five years now. Kevin Harvick was the last to do so, at Daytona in 2010, and only eight times in the 12-year history of the rule has a driver won after being the “lucky dog”.

If anything, the only factor the free pass rule has on most races is that lapped cars now have extra incentive to “race” each other. This is a code word for “ignore other cars and just get in the way of lead lap cars.”

Other than that, it has no real effect on racing and only serves to make racing sound better in PR statements – “We’ve had X amount of cars finish on the lead lap this year, we’re at the most competitive point in racing history”- and overall is just a waste of time.

Like the lottery.

Sonoma Raceway Preview:

Favorite

Jeff Gordon has to be the favorite this week. Even though he has not won at Sonoma in the past five years, he has an incredible 3.8 average finish over that same period, making Sonoma his best track on the Cup schedule.

Sleeper

Jimmie Johnson only has a single win at a road course but it came here, and like Gordon, he is riding a streak of five top-10s in the last five years here.

One to Watch

I’m interested to see how Kevin Harvick does this week. This is a good track for him, but he only finished 20th here last year. Now that this team has some experience together, they should definitely improve on that.

I’m getting tired of writing about Danica Patrick, especially because I feel she is performing decently this year, but here we go again.

I would like to provide a rebuttal to an article posted on motorsport.com, in particular, one written by news manager Steven Cole Smith about Danica Patrick possibly being a future Hall of Famer.

Overall I feel Mr. Smith didn’t exactly provide a good argument, as there are plenty of holes in his article that should be pointed out. The Orlando Sentential has already looked at one of them, I’m going to do the rest of the hard work.

“And while she may not yet have compiled sheer statistics that would send her to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the fact that she has been the first female driver to prove that a woman – particularly a woman that isn’t built like a roller derby jammer – can survive season after season in what has always been, and still is, a man’s sport.”

Granted she has finished no higher than 27th in practically Hendrick equipment the last two seasons, but hey, it isn’t like her boss is doing a lot better this year.

“All that said, yes, Patrick doesn’t have a win, but look at her stats this season: As we approach the halfway mark, she is 19th in points, ahead of Greg Biffle (20th), Sam Hornish Jr. (25th), her car owner, Tony Stewart (26th), and her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (28th).

That shows competence. And for a slot in the Hall of Fame, I contend that’s plenty for a pioneer. I’m not remotely saying that her situation mirrors the struggle that Hall of Famer Wendell Scott faced as the first black driver to make a living in NASCAR, but there are similarities.

But Scott’s first real season with NASCAR in 1961 when he competed in 23 of 52 races that year, winning $3,240, came a stunning 52 years before a woman ran a full season, when Patrick did in 2013.”

Competence should never be the skill level of a driver in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The reality is that Wendell Scott was a good driver; he didn’t have the hard stats (i.e. wins) to prove it, but you have to remember his situation. He was running cars out of his backyard and had his children as his primary crew working on them.

Just the fact that he was able to make it to the racetrack was remarkable, never mind his three top-10 points finishes and an average finish of 15th throughout his career.

Granted, those results were a little inflated due to smaller fields and fewer drivers running full time versus today, but Scott still had 147 top-10 finishes in 495 starts, roughly a top-10 every 3.3 races.

Scott was a very consistent driver, similar in many ways to other “strokers” in Cup at the time, including James Hylton and Richard Childress. Nobody had the money the big teams had; they only raced out of pure love for the sport.

Meanwhile, Patrick, save for a fuel mileage win in IndyCar at Motegi, hasn’t won a professional race in 10 years of trying. And for at least the past 10 years, from Motorola to GoDaddy to whatever will be on the No. 10 next season, she has always had big money sponsors.

In seven years in IndyCar, she had an average finish of 10.6 in usually a 20 or so car field, only seven podiums, and a pathetic 124 laps led.

The fact is that she has been a journeyman driver, and as I’ve said, I think her peak is ultimately going to be at the Paul Menard level, she is an incredibly average driver that will contend for a spot in the Chase but probably won’t get it.

“Add to that the attention Patrick brought, and is still bringing, to stock car racing. She arguably brought along her IndyCar fans, as well as female fans who identified more with her than, say, Jimmy Spencer.”

How long did these IndyCar fans stay? Apparently not very long since ratings were down in 2014 after being slightly up in 2013, her rookie year. And even then, with the introduction of the Gen 6 and a few other things, the rating increase in 2013 may not have been only because of Patrick.

Not to mention – what IndyCar fans? NASCAR has been heads and shoulders above IndyCar when it comes to the pure number of fans for many years. IndyCar has been stuck on Versus/NBCSN for years and the only reason NASCAR is going on that network to begin with is to build said network up to someday compete with ESPN. And, of course, I’d cite attendance numbers, but NASCAR doesn’t publically give them out anymore. mainly because of how embarrassing the numbers are, nd are actively tearing down grandstands to reduce seating capacity.

None of this is Patrick’s fault of course, but she definitely brought in either no fans, a miniscule amount of fans long term, or the people she brings in are being outpaced by the people not caring about racing anymore, which is pretty frightening if true.

As far as female fans…. There has always been roughly a 30-40 percent female audience for NASCAR since the 90’s. I’m not going to argue that there are women who became a fan of Patrick when she made the switch, but that doesn’t make a huge difference when the overall number of fans is going down.

“And speaking of IndyCar, no migrant to NASCAR has been able to duplicate the success of Tony Stewart, including Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Indy 500 winner Hornish, who is still struggling to establish himself. Patrick has.”

Hold up, hold up. Granted Montoya didn’t “duplicate the success of Tony Stewart,” but he still won races and made the Chase in 2009. Somehow he isn’t as successful as Patrick, who did “duplicate the success of Tony Stewart.” By this point in his Cup career (97 starts), Stewart had 10 wins and 33 top-fives, with a highest points finish of fourth and was in the middle of a season where he’d be the runner up for the championship. Patrick has no wins, no top fives, has a highest points finish of 27th and is on track to finish the current season in the high teens in points. Granted this is a very unfair comparison but I’m not the one making it, I’m just adding numbers to said comparison.

“Is there anyone who can say Danica Patrick hasn’t been very, very good for racing in general, NASCAR in particular?”

Ford has been very, very good for racing in general but I don’t think we’ll be seeing anybody from the Ford family inducted into the Hall of Fame anytime soon.

“Based on what she has done up to now, Danica Patrick is Hall of Fame material. But she’s young (33) and still has time to wow us, possibly by doing the Memorial Day double – the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.”

To begin with, doing the double is nice but I don’t see Robby Gordon getting the nod to go into the Hall of Fame, and both Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart will go in for their overall body of work.

If I were judging today’s drivers based off of Hall of Fame merit, only 8 full time drivers come to mind as being Hall of Famers as of right now. These drivers are:

Jeff Gordon

Jimmie Johnson

Tony Stewart

Matt Kenseth

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kevin Harvick

Kurt Busch

Kyle Busch (Remember it’s a NASCAR Hall of Fame, not just Cup merits matter).

Bobby Labonte (Not full time but should be mentioned as he will be going in with his brother whenever he decides to hang up the fire suit for good).

After that there are a few borderline candidates, such as Brad Keselowski or Carl Edwards. But the reality is that it’s unfair to judge all but these select few, because their careers are in progress.

Who really knows what could happen from here on out. Patrick could go win five races and win the championship this year. But you can’t judge careers now, and even if you want to, Danica doesn’t come close in my opinion.

But don’t just take my word for it. Read both mine and Smith’s articles and come to your own conclusion on the matter. My own conclusion is that Danica should not be put into the Hall of Fame simply for having something no woman before her has ever had in NASCAR… money.

All stats cited in the Finley Factor are as per Racing Reference unless otherwise noted.

June 23, 2015