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Tag: Matt Kenseth

  • Hot 20 – In search of the Sprint Cup series 2014 driver of the year

    Hot 20 – In search of the Sprint Cup series 2014 driver of the year

    As justly proud I am of my ancestors, there is a downside to not being born a France. I could have a dream, wake in the morning and jot it all down on a napkin, and there is no chance in hell that it could be NASCAR policy by the afternoon. Some might think that a good thing. I think the circuit’s new emphasis on winning is also a good thing.

    Just win baby, and it is a philosophy many of us can agree with. As I do not have to worry about television numbers or game seven moments, abandoning the Chase and adding 22 points to the winner’s total to a maximum of 70 seems just as good a way as any to determine just who was the most successful any given season.

    Unless the champion at the end of the season turns out to be someone most can not accept, the new Chase elimination system will eventually be accepted. I mean, unless wins and wins alone determine who is king, then there has always been room for argument as to whether a champ was worthy or not.

    We think back to 2003 when one race winner Matt Kenseth won the title over eight race winner Ryan Newman. Still, Kenseth won his crown using the same points system that had been in place for more than thirty years. Back in 1973, David Pearson won 11, Richard Petty had six, but the title that year went to single race victor Benny Parsons. No one seems to be arguing about that outcome today.

    As I am not a France, I have no championship to bestow. However, I am interested in what keeping the present points system, but making a win worth between 25 and 28 points more than the runner-up, would have given us over a 36 race, non-Chase, season. The leader might not wind up our champion, but he sure would be my driver of the year.

    Our Hot 20 as we head to Las Vegas are…

    Pos Driver Points

    Wins

    1

    		 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

    112

    1

    2

    		   Kevin Harvick

    101

    1

    3

    		   Jeff Gordon

    80

    0

    4

    		   Jimmie Johnson

    78

    0

    5

    		   Joey Logano

    75

    0

    6

    		   Kyle Busch

    71

    0

    7

    		   Matt Kenseth

    70

    0

    8

    		   Denny Hamlin

    68

    0

    9

    		   Carl Edwards

    65

    0

    10

    		   Casey Mears

    64

    0

    11

    		   Greg Biffle

    64

    0

    12

    		   Jamie McMurray

    64

    0

    13

    		   Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

    63

    0

    14

    		   Ryan Newman

    60

    0

    15

    		   Austin Dillon

    56

    0

    16

    		   Marcos Ambrose

    49

    0

    17

    		   Kasey Kahne

    47

    0

    18

    		   Reed Sorenson

    41

    0

    19

    		   A.J. Allmendinger

    37

    0

    20

    		   Tony Stewart

    37

    0
  • The Final Word – Harvick wins at Phoenix, Junior remains hot, but as for Danica…

    The Final Word – Harvick wins at Phoenix, Junior remains hot, but as for Danica…

    Daytona was great. Phoenix was not bad, once you got used to the differences. One week we had a 2.5-mile superspeedway, the next we got was a single mile circuit. It rained in Florida, yet despite the forecast the only rain came to prematurely end the Nationwide race on Saturday. They ran in big packs in the southeast, not so much in the southwest. Rather than the huge grandstands, the feature of the PIR was Lonely Mountain and its band of hobbits just beyond the track. There was one similarity of note, however.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr did run out front all day, just like at Daytona. He was almost the most dominant car on the day. Almost. The only difference was that Kevin Harvick remained ahead of him. All day. In the end, he had the horses to record his first victory as part of the Stewart-Haas team and an all but certain berth in the Chase, barring injury or alien abduction. Happy’s fender stated that it was Freaky Fast, and that was no lie.

    If this was a wedding party, we had the happy couple at the alter, and the best men just behind them. Team mates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano started on the front row and never seemed to fade beyond the top four. You need ushers, and Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were visible for the first half of the race, disappearing for much of the second half before returning at the end to round out the top half dozen. No one else really mattered from start to finish on Sunday in what was a great day for Hendrick, Penske, and Stewart-Haas.

    The Hendrick weak sister was not all that delicate, with Kasey Kahne 11th.  Not everyone at SHR was as stout. Tony Stewart was 16th, Danica Patrick 36th, and Kurt Busch 39th. Busch ran out the string with an ailing auto until it finally blew up with 20 laps left.

    As for Patrick, she has still yet to show she can race, as the new qualifying rules left her starting closer to the rear. While a Top 20 might be a victory for her, she never got a chance to even get that far. Already a lap down, in 25th, she tangled with Justin Allgaier, which left her rear left quarter-panel buckled in. While the broadcast crew saw the tire rub, her crew did not, so they were probably the only folks surprised when the tire finally blew.

    With wins pretty much equaling a Chase challenge, the only folks of note in trouble early are Patrick and Martin Truex Jr, both outside the top thirty in the standings. Truex was 22nd last Sunday after finishing dead last at Daytona, with Patrick still unable to crack the top 35 on race day. Still, it is early and you would think any fully funded driver surely would have to be able to crack the Top 30. Right?

    So, off we go via FOX to Las Vegas this Sunday for a 400 miler on a 1.5-mile layout.  Johnson has four wins there, while Gordon was best once back during his last championship season.  Matt Kenseth has three, including the one last year. Carl Edwards has a pair, with Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch each with one.

    Talking about Busch, does anyone give a damn that he won his all-time series best 64th Nationwide race in Phoenix on Saturday?  NASCAR sees what we see, they are concerned that the big leaguers stomp all over the up and comers, but are not sure exactly what to do about it just yet. The tracks want the stars to bring out the fans, the team owners want them as they bring in sponsorship dollars, but they are for sure killing this series.

    Regan Smith won at Daytona, but series regulars have just three of ten Top Five finishes, and 11 of a possible twenty Top Tens.  What I wonder about is why bother wasting my time gushing over Kyle kicking minor league ass, when the most relevant finishers at Phoenix were Elliott Sadler (6th), Trevor Bayne (7th), and Smith (8th)?  You know, the top three in the Nationwide standings, the boys who are truly relevant.  I think the problem is not that the Cup drivers are allowed to race, but that the media focuses in on those who do not matter at the expense of those who do.

    Winning is good, but at least one needs to strive to be relevant. Win a Cup race, stay in the Top 30, and one becomes relevant. Go winless, and one better be in the Top 16 in points to stay relevant. With a career average finish of 27.0, I think I can already identify one who is not. I believe Richard Petty might even agree with me.

    Here are the sweet 16 as we head to Las Vegas.

     

    Pos. Drivers Wins Points
    1   Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 1 90
    2   Kevin Harvick 1 79
    3   Brad Keselowski 0 84
    4   Jeff Gordon 0 80
    5   Jimmie Johnson 0 78
    6   Joey Logano 0 75
    7   Matt Kenseth 0 70
    8   Denny Hamlin 0 68
    9   Carl Edwards 0 65
    10   Jamie McMurray 0 64
    11   Greg Biffle 0 64
    12   Casey Mears 0 64
    13   Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 0 63
    14   Kyle Busch 0 61
    15   Ryan Newman 0 60
    16   Austin Dillon 0 56

     

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Daytona

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Earnhardt withstood a long rain delay and held off numerous challenges to win his second Daytona 500, beating Denny Hamlin to the line. The win ended a 55-race winless streak and instantly qualified Earnhardt for the Chase For The Cup.

    “That six hour, 22 minute rain delay didn’t bother me at all,” Earnhardt said. “What’s 6:22 when I’m used to waiting 55 races for a win? And what better way to celebrate such a huge win than to join Twitter. By the time you read this, I should have 750,000 followers, and the best thing is, none will require a restraining order.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin topped off a successful Speedweeks with a runner-up finish in the 500, making a bold move at the front befire finishing behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hamlin won the first Gatorade Duel and led 16 laps in Sunday night’s race.

    “How about that piece of black plastic that clung to Dale, Jr.’s grill?” Hamlin said. “Some say it was the ‘Man In Black,’ Dale Earnhardt, Sr., making his presence known. NASCAR made an even more outlandish claim—that it was proof that their ‘Drive For Diversity’ program is actually working. Here’s the most interesting part: ghosts are a lot like NASCAR drivers—-mostly white.”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, in the No. 2 car with the classic Miller Lite paint scheme, challenged for the win at Daytona and finished third behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

    “I hear that Danica Patrick exceeded 1,000,000 Twitter followers,” Keselowski said. “That’s a lot, maybe too many for one web site to handle. I can see this ending in one way only—with a ‘crash.’”

    4. Jeff Gordon: Gordon finished fourth at Daytona as Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. powered to the win. Gordon gave Earnhardt a boost on the final lap, helping Junior hold off Denny Hamlin at the end.

    “Dale deserved to win,” Gordon said. “His No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet was by far the strongest. This could very well be the year Junior wins the Sprint Cup. In other words, it could finally be when ‘A Little E Goes A Long Way.’”

    5. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson started 39th after going to a backup car and finished fifth after leading 15 laps. Last year’s Daytona 500 winner joined race winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon as Hendrick Motorsports took three of the top five spots.

    “That rain just wouldn’t stop,” Johnson said. “And, trust me, I know long ‘reigns.’

    “I’m on a quest for my seventh Sprint Cup championship. It would be awesome to be mentioned in the same sentence with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Contrary to what Tony Stewart says, six titles give you the right to ‘challenge’ Petty, not two.”

    6. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth started third after winning Thursday’s second Gatorade Duel and finished a long day at Daytona with a sixth-place finish. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finished second and 19th, respectively.

    “Did you see Kyle cross the finish line?” Kenseth said. “He did it in reverse. But that’s really no surprise. Just look at the sponsors on the No. 18 car—it’s got ‘good backing.’”

    7. Austin Dillon: Dillon survived involvement in three accidents at Daytona and put the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevy in the top 10 in the return of the “3” made famous by Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

    “That ‘3’ on the side of my car means a lot,” Dillon said. “At Daytona, it indicated the number of crashes I caused.”

    8. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.: Stenhouse led the way for Roush Fenway Racing with a seventh at Daytona, joining teammate Greg Biffle, who finished eighth, in the top 10. It was Stenhouse’s best finish ever in the 500.

    “That was one of the best Daytona 500’s of all time,” Stenhouse said. “I can’t wait to catch a replay of the race, and neither can Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans. That’s the only way their favorite driver will have multiple wins this season.”

    9. Greg Biffle: Biffle battled Dale Earnhardt, Jr. over the final laps at Daytona before the mad scramble relegated him to a finish of eighth.

    “How about Madison Rising’s performance of the national anthem before Saturday’s Nationwide race?” Biffle said. “They claim to be America’s most patriotic band. I certainly agree. Their music is best listened to with a hand over the heart, and two over the ears.”

    10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 13th at Daytona in the No. 4 Chevrolet, the highest finisher among the Stewart-Haas Racing stable.

    “Tony Stewart challenged Richard Petty to race Danica Patrick,” Harvick said, “and the ‘King’ accepted. But really, what does King Richard stand to gain with a win? The last thing he needs is another feather in his cap.”

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: The Daytona 500

    Surprising and Not Surprising: The Daytona 500

    In spite of the unusual happenings that perpetually occur at Daytona, this year a six hour plus rain delay with tornado warnings, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 56th running of the Great American Race.

    Surprising:  With so much focus pre-race on the return of the No. 3, formerly driven by Dale Earnhardt Sr. and now by rookie Austin Dillon, the son of the Intimidator and NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. instead stole the show with his second Daytona 500 victory.

    This was Junior’s 20th victory in the Cup Series and, with the win, he joined Bill Elliott, Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson as two-time Daytona 500 winners.

    “I’ll never take this for granted,” Junior said. “We’re two time Daytona champions.”

    In addition to the coveted win at Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. had a big weekend overall. The team bearing his name, JR Motorsports, won the Nationwide Drive4COPD 300 race with driver Regan Smith at the wheel.

    Not Surprising:  In spite of several on-track incidents, the driver of the aforementioned No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing, did quite well for himself, starting from the pole and finishing ninth.

    Austin Dillon was also the highest finishing rookie of the race, taking the early lead in a Sunoco Rookie of the year battle.

    “That’s what this year is about — experience, trying to finish races and getting better each week,” Dillon said, “We have a long year ahead of us, I’d like to use some of this momentum going forward. I know it’s going to be a long, tough year, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end of these races and try to learn something.”

    Surprising:  Goodyear had a little scare early in the race when both Kyle Larson and Greg Biffle had tire problems, causing hard hits into the wall for the rookie and veteran racers.

    Larson, in the No. 42 race car formerly driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, actually hit the wall twice in the opening laps, going a lap down and soldiering on to finish 38th.

    In spite of his blown tire early in the race, Biffle had a much better finish than Larson, taking the checkered flag in the eighth spot in his No. 16 3M Ford.

    “It was a good night,” Biffle said. “We had a really strong car but the 88 was real fast. We just couldn’t hold him off.”

    Not Surprising:  With the combo platter of the rain delay, potential for additional weather coming in, and the pent up energy of the first race of the season, it was not surprising that there were a number of pit road incidents that created some major mayhem for several drivers.

    Early in the race, Matt Kenseth had contact on pit road and ended up spinning to pit backwards in his box. Both Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola removed equipment out of their pit boxes and had to serve costly penalties.

    And then there was one of the more controversial calls, with Kasey Kahne called for speeding, all of which he did in an effort not to get hit by Michael Annett who had lost control of his vehicle coming to his pit.

    Surprising:  After dominating most everything during Speedweeks, from the Sprint Unlimited to the second Duel race, it was a bit surprising that Denny Hamlin did not claim the big prize. He did, however, come home in the runner up position in his No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, which was his best finish ever in the Daytona 500.

    “I thought — the Duels and the Unlimited — I felt like our car didn’t have quite the speed,” Hamlin said. “It was a solid run for us and really it was a fun race.”

    Not Surprising:  Given the manufacturer change to Chevrolet and a new alliance with Richard Childress Racing, it was not surprising that Casey Mears and his GEICO No. 13 team had a great run in the Great American Race.

    In fact, team GEICO finished in the top-10, getting their driver and crew chief Bootie Barker off to a great start for the season.

    Surprising:  The Labonte brothers, Bobby and Terry, not only made the race but had surprisingly good finishes, 15th and 20th respectively.

    Brother Bobby extended his consecutive start street for the Great American Race to 22 while elder brother Terry most likely ran his last Daytona 500 competition.

    Not Surprising:   Because it was after all Daytona, there were several big crashes, collecting many good drivers, to no one’s surprise. One of those hard hits, however, impacted the only female in the field Danica Patrick.

    “I think more than anything I am just upset because the GoDaddy car felt really good and it was the best car that I had all Speedweeks,” Patrick said. “I felt like everything was going pretty well, so it’s just upsetting.”

    “It’s a bummer, but you know that is the excitement of speedway racing that anything can happen, and it was unfortunate that I was on the short end of the accident.”

    Surprising:  With a more than six hour rain delay, some of NASCAR’s finest were up to some surprising activities to pass the time away. In fact, several of the racer dads were busy with their children, from Jeff Gordon making Lego creations to Keelan Harvick suiting up in his dad Kevin’s fire suit.

    Probably most novel, however, was David Ragan, still clad in his own fire suit, who went out to pick up pizza for his team during the break.

    Not Surprising:  While Junior reigned triumphant in Victory Lane, just like in the Olympics, there was some agony of defeat in this year’s running for the Great American Race.

    Most agonizing were those drivers impacted by engine or fuel pick up woes, including Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex, Jr. and Tony Stewart.

    “If it was going to blow up, I wish it would have blown up four hours ago,” Clint Bowyer said. “I could have been home watching.  Just disappointing — the guys work so hard for this race.  Everybody is out there having fun and we broke our toy.”

    “It’s definitely a tough break for our team,” Martin Truex Jr. said. “I went to bed thinking this was my best chance to win the Daytona 500.”

    The Cup Series moves on next to Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona for The Profit on CNBC 500 on March 2nd.

     

  • NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    NASCAR 2014 Season Predictions

    *Kyle Busch leads 54 laps and passes Ryan Newman on the final lap to win the Daytona 500, his first Sprint Cup win at the season opener. In a post-race interview with Erin Andrews, Busch announces that he and his wife Samantha are pregnant with their first child. Busch beams to Andrews that “I’m sure I’ll be a good father, because I know what it’s like to be a baby.”

    Busch finishes second in the Sprint Cup point standings, winning five races, and caps his year with a win at Homestead and his first Sprint Cup championship.

    *Tony Stewart vows to win his third Sprint Cup championship in 2014, and fans and other drivers notice his new attitude. Former teammate Ryan Newman quips in an interview at Daytona that Stewart seems to be “walking with a purpose, as well as a limp.”

    Stewart wins at Watkins Glen and qualifies for the Chase, but finishes a disappointing seventh in the final standings.

    *Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s No. 88 car gets a new sponsor just in time for the Daytona 500 when an online funeral planning service signs on for 12 races. The service, known as “Final-E” sees a boom in business after their logo appears on Earnhardt’s Chevy.

    Earnhardt finishes second in the Daytona 500, and wins at Daytona in July on his way to a fourth place finish in the Sprint Cup points standings.

    *Kevin Harvick coins the name “Two Men And A Babe, And Kurt Busch” to describe the Stewart-Haas Racing stable of Stewart, Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Danica Patrick after a heated drivers’ meeting following wreck at Fontana initiated by aggressive driving from Busch.

    Harvick, aided by new buddy Stewart, exacts his revenge the following week at Martinsville, where the two craft an elaborate hoax in which a phony façade of Busch’s hauler placed in front of a Port-A-Potty lures Busch into a trap. Once inside, Busch is fork-lifted to an outer parking lot, and is forced to walk back and misses qualifying.

    *E! Network and ABC collaborate on a new reality show called “Keeping Up With The Chase Format: Extreme Makeover: NASCAR Edition.” In the show, host Brad Daugherty roams around NASCAR events asking fans if they understand not only the Chase For The Cup format, but Daugherty’s hayseed, mountain drawl.

    *Richard Childress Racing rookie Austin Dillon bulls his way to the win in a wreck-filled race at Bristol on March 16, as only 22 cars are running at the end. In Victory Lane, Dillon salutes his detractors with a middle finger, then pops the top on a beer before shouting “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!”

    The outburst makes Dillon a sensation, but also saddles the driver of the Childress No. 3 Chevy with the nickname “The Imitator.”

    *In an interview promoting a partnership between the No. 48 team and Caesar’s Palace before the March race in Las Vegas, Jimmie Johnson coins his quest for his seventh Sprint Cup championship “VIIni, VIIdi, VIIci.”

    Later, after International Speedway Corporation CEO Jim France makes Smith an insulting offer for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Smith slaps France, leading a fallen France to quip, “Et tu, Bruton?”

    Johnson leads the points standings for most of the year, and heads to Homestead with a chance to win No. 7, but engine trouble ends his day. He finishes third in the points standings.

    *Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. elope in Barbados on April 19th at a ceremony presided over by Russell Brand and streamed live on GoDaddy.com. Patrick wears a Vera Wang gown crafted from fire-suit material and accented with a HANS device and also featuring a plunging neckline that leaves little to the imagination.

    Patrick’s good fortune continues when she wins at Talladega on May 3rd, darting from 23rd to first on the final lap as a wild pileup eliminates half the field. A wild celebration ensues in Victory Lane, where Patrick delivers a message to her competitors, “There’s a party at my house. I hate to be ‘Petty,’ but no one’s invited, so you can all go home.”

    *In a new advertisement for ESPN’s Sportscenter, Clint Bowyer leads a spin class in the ESPN company workout facility, while Michael Waltrip is seen guiding a tour group from Finland around ESPN’s headquarters. The commercial ends when Bowyer and Waltrip dupe the tour group into paying a second admission fee before they’re busted by Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman, who accuse the MWR duo of “manipulating the Finnish.”

    *Carl Edwards is scheduled to make an appearance in the March 2nd episode of AMC’s The Walking Dead, in which he portrays the leader of a brainless following of half-dead dimwits, a group eerily similar to the Carl Edwards Fan Club.

    To publicize the event, the No. 99 sports a Subway/The Walking Dead paint scheme bearing the slogan, “Subway: Eat Flesh” at Phoenix. Edwards leads 88 laps and wins in a race that features only three lead changes. In Victory Lane, Edwards performs his trademark back flip while disappointed fans file out like zombies.

    *Matt Kenseth wins the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 6th, and is presented the winner’s trophy by “Duck Dynasty” patriarch Phil Robertson, who oddly comments that his favorite parts of the 1.5-mile track are the “straights.”

    *After a crash at Kentucky Speedway on June 28th, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards are summoned to the NASCAR hauler for a talk with NASCAR officials. Keselowski creates a firestorm when he tweets a picture from inside the hauler, a photo which shows he and Edwards smoking cigars and playing ping-pong while officials in the background relax in a hot tub.

    Keselowski is placed on probation for two weeks, while NASCAR bans cell phones and all liquids in excess of 3.4 ounces. 5-Hour Energy shots takes advantage of the opportunity, and becomes the official drink of drivers called to the NASCAR hauler.

    *June’s road race at Sonoma is delayed for three hours after a mild earthquake strikes the region, causing slight damage to the circuit’s surface. Swan Racing part-owner 50 Cent is seen inspecting a fissure in the track along pit road, leading to TNT’s Kyle Petty to make the controversial statement, “Well, he was a crack dealer.”

    50 laughs off the comment, and later in the year makes a big splash when, as honorary starter at Dover in June, eschews waving the green flag and instead fires a starters pistol nine times. In doing so, 50 becomes the first rapper to be “shot nine times” twice.

    *Gene Haas abandons his plan to enter Formula 1 and instead opts to field a funny car in the NHRA. Haas car flops, failing to qualify for a single final, and becomes the laughingstock in the drag racing garage, leading to the nickname “Funny Haas Haas.”

    *A healthy Denny Hamlin wins four races on the season, including March’s Martinsville race, where he fights off a challenge from Joey Logano, than challenges Logano to a fight after the race. Hamlin and Logano settle their differences in a charity 1-on-1 basketball game, which ends in a tie, 1-to-1.

    Hamlin qualifies for the “Elimination Round” of NASCAR’s revamped Chase For The Cup format, and wins at Phoenix on November 9th, but tweaks his back shaking an oversized champagne bottle and struggles the following week at Homestead.

  • The Final Word – Did Matt Kenseth’s 2003 title run ruin NASCAR?

    The Final Word – Did Matt Kenseth’s 2003 title run ruin NASCAR?

    Matt Kenseth ruined NASCAR. He did not mean to do it, and we did not know at the time that he did, but it would seem his single win 2003 championship changed everything. Maybe if his personality was more like a Busch, a Harvick, or a Stewart, who would answer such criticism with a simple “kiss my ass” it might have been different. It was also the season Ryan Newman won eight races, but was a distant sixth in the standings.

    Of course, the Chase was supposed to be the remedy. That was before we discovered that NASCAR had no interest in determining who was the best over the course of the season, but rather sought a gimmick to keep people watching to the end. A final four with winner take all, with wins being the determining factor, is now supposed to be the answer. This ignores the fact that a driver can still go winless, make the final four, and finish third at Homestead and win it all. So, the season crown could wind up being meaningless, no matter what legend might come out and parrot the company line.

    Maybe a three race playoff, featuring the three track configurations (short, long, and road) and only those 16 drivers (or whatever cut off line they determine) taking part might be a more legitimate solution. Then again, one driver could win the first two and then we are back to a meaningless season finale.

    Still, 2003’s result started the changes. What if we had a system at that time which rewarded wins, Top Fives, and Top Tens more? Might that have changed things? The new points system was a good start, so rather than reinvent the wheel let us start with that. I thought giving up 70 or 75 points for a win, extra for Top Fives and Top Tens might do the trick. I mean, close to 40 points between first and 11th should have altered the landscape somewhat, at least enough to close the gap back in 2003.

    Actually, it would not. Kenseth, who lost an engine and was dead last at Homestead that year, would have finished well ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Newman. Kenseth was just too consistent, consistently high that is, to be caught as this system would have rewarded the eventual champion for his 25 Top Tens that year. So, what if we only gave the steroid treatment for wins, and leave everything else the same?

    Just how many points should a win be worth? 65…70…75…more? In doing so, might we also be able to see at least one contender within 30 or so points from the leader going into the final race of the season? Hey, if it ticks all the boxes, including the “game seven” moment desired by Mr. France, so much the better, but with no gimmicks and no Chase.

    Here are what the standings would have looked like going into Homestead for the season finale based on those numbers for 2003, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Do any of them tickle your own fancy? Do any of them identify a champion you would recognize as the very best on that particular season?

    2003 Wins 65 pts 70 pts 75 pts
    Newman 8 1263 1303 1343
    Kenseth 1 1252 1257 1262
    Johnson 3 1214 1229 1244

    Awarding the winner a maximum 65 points, 2003 would have seen Ryan Newman entering Homestead with an 11 point lead over Matt Kenseth. Increase the winner’s total to 70, and Newman’s eight win season would have jumped him 46 points ahead. At 75, he would have had it already won, going in 81 points on top.

    2011 Wins 65 pts 70 pts 75 pts
    Edwards 1 1251 1256 1261
    Harvick 4 1231 1251 1271
    Stewart 4 1212 1232 1252

    In 2011, Tony Stewart beat Carl Edwards in the Chase by win totals (5-to-1). Had they awarded up to 65 points for a win, Edwards would have entered Homestead 20 points up on Kevin Harvick, with Stewart 39 behind. At 70, the gap narrows to just 5 points, with Smoke 24 in arrears, while at 75, Harvick is up by ten and Stewart within 19 of the leader. Stewart’s Homestead win could have given him the title over Edwards by 1, 6, or 11 points.

    2012 Wins 65 pts 70 pts 75 pts
    Keselowski 5 1315 1340 1365
    Johnson 5 1307 1332 1357

    2012 was claimed by Brad Keselowski via the Chase, but as both he and Johnson were tied in wins, Keselowski would have entered Homestead up by eight points regardless.

    2013 Wins 65 pts 70 pts 75 pts
    Johnson 6 1315 1345 1375
    Kenseth 7 1267 1302 1337

    That brings us to last season when Johnson went into Homestead with the advantage but with Kenseth having one more win to his credit. Award up to 65 points per win, and Johnson leads by 48 points. By 70, and the lead is cut to 43. Award the victor up to 75 points, and we have a 38 point gap.

    If wins mean almost everything, then as long as the challenger has a hope for the title with a win at Homestead, we should be satisfied. By awarding the winner 69 or 70 points for victory, the gap between first and second would be between 25 and 28 points, depending on race bonuses. In 2003, Kenseth would still have claimed the crown with a victory as long as Newman finished no better than 22nd. In 2011, Stewart would have won the title with a win, no matter what Edwards did that day. The same goes for Johnson in 2012 against Keselowski. Last season, a Kenseth win and a Johnson finish of no better than 18th would have given Matt his second championship.

    No gimmicks. No Chase. Sometimes game seven moments are not to be. Win 27 races, like Richard Petty did in 1967, and you just hand the sceptre to the King. No other result would have been acceptable.

    What do you think?

  • If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    If by chance the France proposal had come to pass…in 2013

    A year or two ago, let us say that Brian France had a brainwave. He came up with a proposal to allow 16 drivers into the Chase, first determined by wins gathered up to and including Richmond. The rest would get an invite due to the points accumulated. Let him add another twist. Let him have the rank of contenders drop by four after three Chase events, another four after six, with four more gone just as they headed to Homestead. In the big finale, an artificially engineered four driver showdown for all the marbles would take place, also featuring 39 also-rans out there to keep them company.

    So, after the race in Richmond in 2013, they would have set the sweet 16, to steal yet another concept from another sport. A dozen would wind up getting a pass based on having won at least once up to that moment. Welcome David Ragan to the derby for his win at Talladega. Tony Stewart would limp in, though he would be gone after the third race of the Chase for obvious reasons.  Just like Clint Bowyer, not enough penalties could have kept Martin Truex Jr out, due to his win at Sonoma. The remaining four spots get in on points, which would mean no help needed by Jeff Gordon as he would join Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch, and Bowyer..

    Three races down in the Chase, and four drivers would be eliminated. Stewart is officially gone, to be joined by Ragan, who in three races earned only 53 points more than the idle Smoke.  A lousy day at Loudon finished Kasey Kahne’s hopes, while Joey Logano started the Chase bad and that was all that was needed. Then, to keep us all on the edge of our seats, they evened up the points to put the final dozen on an equal footing.

    12 left, with four more about to go by the time they left Talladega. A bad day in Chicago was all that was needed to eliminate Ryan Newman while Truex had a tough time just finishing in the Top 20 in those initial Chase weeks. Chicago also meant the end of Kyle Busch’s hopes, as the second stage also would have spelled adios for Greg Biffle. For the eight that remain, the points are again evened out as they all start from scratch, season be damned.

    While Johnson would have cruised through the next segment with a win and a pair of Top Fives, Kurt Busch was just so-so, so he had to go. Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards both had Texas disasters, while Bowyer was good at a time he needed to be great. 12 drivers and nine races down and it was down to NASCAR’s manufactured “game seven”…even though no other sport actually attempts to engineer such a thing. There is the Super Bowl, I guess, but I can’t help but notice that only the contenders ever hit the field on game day and most often the two teams are meeting for the first time that year. Still, I digress.

    So, off they would have gone to Homestead, just four still alive in the hunt for the paper title. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Matt Kenseth in a one race showdown. What a wonder for the ages it would have been, that is if the fans had bought into the nonsense.  All four were on the lead lap on the final day, and while in-race observer Denny Hamlin was out in front at the end, the third place Junior was putting on a furious charge in an attempt to catch the second place Kenseth on the track. He would come up just short. Matt would no doubt have been overjoyed to win his second title, while Johnson finished ninth in the one race spectacular. Despite an average finish of 5.1 over the final ten races, it just would have not been good enough under the new France system. Would it have been a good enough finish for you?

    While Matt celebrated and Johnson pondered what could have been, Dale Earnhardt rolled over in his grave. As for Richard Petty, he was just happy that the 1967 season was run under different rules. If it had not been, Bobby Allison’s sixth win that year in the Weaverville, North Carolina finale would have trumped the King’s 27 to claim the title that year. Petty finished second in the race, but even the best season in NASCAR history would have been reduced to a mere footnote.  Still, imagine the excitement and joy of the fans in watching that “game seven” spectacular. Imagine the legitimacy of the championship.

    Just imagine.

  • The Final Word – Mr. France, I’m afraid this is a terribly stupid idea

    The Final Word – Mr. France, I’m afraid this is a terribly stupid idea

    Playoffs. As exciting as they might be from time to time, they are simply a gimmick to keep interested those who are not all that interested in the first place. Still, as long as they do not go beyond the pale, to be too stupid in presenting their post-season tournament, they can create a measure of excitement.

    The latest NASCAR proposal that has come to light would have 16 cars enter the Chase. Rather a large number, but actually in line with what some other sports welcome among the season’s championship contenders. Then let us whittle that group down over the ten race “playoff” until we just have four left in contention in the final race. That might work, except for the 39 other guys who have no business even being on the field of battle.

    Imagine the upcoming Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. Let us play the game in San Francisco before only 49er fans, as we know just how much they love them Seahawks. Then, let us have the New England Patriots supply all the officials, on the field and beyond. While we are at it, let us have a few folks from the remaining 28 teams call a few plays, heck, let them even run a few themselves. Obviously, this would be a stupid idea, but thankfully no one in the NFL is stupid enough to institute it. NASCAR, however, might actually be thinking of implementing something just as stupid.

    There is a reason they have a World Series. In 1903, they wondered who might be best, the champion of the National League or the American League. So, they played a series of games to answer the question. In 1969, Joe Namath and the New York Jets won the American Football League title, and then played the NFL champion Baltimore Colts to decide which champion was the best. Back in the spring of 1976, Guy Lafleur’s Montreal Canadiens were the best in hockey. Or were they? If they had played Bobby Hull’s Winnipeg Jets in a NHL/WHA showdown, we might have received a different answer. In each of the above cases, there was no cross-over, no common opponents. The only way to decide who was best was to have the two champions showdown for all the marbles.

    There was no showdown prior to late October last year between the Red Sox and Cardinals, so the best team from each league needed a final series to determine the best. It’s the same this season in the NFL, where they can play no more than 16 of their 31 rivals during the course of the regular season. As Seattle and Denver have yet to play each other this campaign, we still need that final game to sort things out.

    In NASCAR, we had the same 30 cars go head-to-head in each and every one of the 36 Cup races over the course of the season. From that number, Jimmie Johnson was the best over the season, beating Kevin Harvick by almost an entire race worth of points. Oh, but they had a 10 race Chase playoff, yet Johnson proved to be the best again, by 19 points over Matt Kenseth. Jimmie Johnson was the best over the season, the best in the playoffs, and any cockamamie system that would have deprived him of a championship would have made a mockery out of the sport.

    Back in 2003, Kenseth won the title with but a single win (in the third race of the season) and that horrid occurrence spawned the Chase. Instead of giving out more points for a win, NASCAR decided it needed a playoff like all the other guys. In short, an attempt to artificially create some sort of excitement instead of being content with simply honoring the best over the course of the season. Maybe what they needed to do was rejig the points system at that time while adding more bonus points for victories, then possibly we would not even need the Chase. I mean, they had gone without it for 55 years just fine.

    To be honest, we do not yet know the details of this plan, how 16 contenders would be whittled down to four over the course of ten races before determining a final champion. We do not even know for sure if this is the real deal. However, I think most of us have learned that when you hear someone proposing something stupid and you say nothing, don’t be surprised when you end up with stupid. If they want to trade legitimacy for drama in declaring a NASCAR champion, might I suggest a coin toss? It would save us all a lot of time and money.

  • The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    The Top 20 Sprint Cup Drivers entering 2014

    This was pretty tough to put together. Honestly, anybody in the top 10 outside of first could be ranked in any order, and so many teams are so good it’s tough to put them in order.

    One thing I’ve noticed is that the good drivers keep getting better. In 2005, Tony Stewart won the championship with five top-fives and seven top-10s, with no wins during the Chase. Eight years later, Jimmie Johnson wins the championship with two wins, seven top-fives, and nine top-10s, with all 10 races in the Chase being top-15 finishes. While the quality of racing may not be as good as it was in 2005, nobody can argue the competition has become more fierce.

    Remember though, that this list is my opinion. You are allowed to disagree and give me yours in the comment section below.

    I ranked this using Chase Results, overall season stats, off-season changes and my opinion on the driver. This is not my predictions for final 2014 points, only who is the best going into the season. I do not count Nationwide Series results unless the driver raced for points in that series last season; this is why Kyle Busch isn’t first and Larson and Dillon are where they are.

    Honorable Mention: AJ Allmendinger

    What a comeback year for the 32 year old driver from California. After losing the ride of a lifetime in 2012 after failing a drug test, he gets rehired by Penske Racing to run a few IndyCar and Nationwide Series races and over performs. He won both of his Nationwide races last season and might have won the Indy 500 if it were not for a broken seat belt. Then he gets hired by JTG-Daugherty and gives them the best runs in that car since Marcos Ambrose ran it, with a shot to win Watkins Glen in particular. All of this without mentioning his top-15 runs helping to put the tiny James Finch team in the top-10 in Sprint Cup owner points in the early portion of the 2013 season.

    20: Jamie McMurray

    The 2010 Daytona 500 champion enters 2014 as the veteran driver of Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). Outside of Loudon and his Talladega win, he really didn’t do much in the Chase. He can make the 2014 Chase, but his two main problems are constituency and he needs to turn top-20s into top-10s, and top-10s into top-fives.

    19. Carl Edwards

    My, how the mighty have fallen. After tying with Tony Stewart for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in points in 2011 (losing on tiebreaker), he missed the Chase in 2012 and had the single worst point finish of any Chaser in history. (Nobody has finished worse than 12th before, Edwards finished 13th).

    18. Greg Biffle

    Biffle is the quietest guy in the Cup Series. I almost completely forgot about him when making this ranking. If he wants to move from 10th in points to top five, he needs to do better than 16th or worse in three Chase races.

    17. Kyle Larson

    This guy has a lot of talent, as has been said before. He’s a huge question mark this season. Is it too early? Can CGR compete with other teams? “The Knife” could have a typical rookie season, be incredibly successful or be like Danica Patrick and finish 27th in points.

    16. Kasey Kahne

    Next year’s champion?  Every single year I see people say this will be Kahne’s season, almost more so than a certain driver in a bright yellow Toyota. In reality, almost every season he struggles to make the Chase. Then if he does make the Chase, he usually doesn’t do much or is too inconsistent to do much. Last season in particular, I think his big hurdle is that when it gets down to it, he can’t close and get the win. Just look at his awesome duels with Kenseth all throughout 2013 and who ended up going to Victory Lane in every one of them.

    15. Ryan Newman

    It was a roller coaster season for the “Ogre from South Bend.” First he loses his ride, then that very week he wins at his home track in Indianapolis. Then he gets screwed out of the Chase due to Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) shenanigans, but was put in it anyway. Now he’s with a new Richard Childress Racing (RCR) where the only returning driver is Paul Menard. It’s going to be interesting to see what Newman will do in the No. 31 compared to Jeff Burton, who did a lot of nothing over the past two years.

    14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Here’s my crazy prediction for this season – Stenhouse will contend for the Chase and win a couple of races. He’s got a year under his belt now and he has his old Nationwide championship winning crew chief now. He scored all three of his top-10s in the last 11 races of the season. I think he’s also going to continue being way ahead of Danica Patrick. When she said that she wanted to be the one among the two who got the first victory, I really doubt I was the only one who out and out belly laughed.

    13. Denny Hamlin

    Everything since 2010 Homestead has been downhill for Hamlin. Yes he won five races in 2012, but only one of those was in the Chase. Winning races is good and all, but at this point in Hamlin’s career, you need to be competing for championships year in and year out. Even if he wasn’t knocked out of action at Auto Club Speedway, I really doubt he would have competed for one in 2013. The only reason he’s this high on the list is because of four top-10s in the final six races along with a win at Homestead.

    12. Joey Logano

    Logano finally buckled down and made the Chase last season, even though he was too inconsistent to do much. He didn’t make many friends last season at all, but he finally grew as a driver and is starting to live up to his potential while breaking the 22 car curse. A great thing going for him is his teammate. Say what you will about Brad Keselowski, but it isn’t like Logano had a former champion to help him out back with Gibbs.

    11. Clint Bowyer

    This team might have very well won the championship or at least could have been a contender before Richmond. It took a lot of momentum from MWR as a whole and Bowyer’s team might have suffered the most with them being in the center of the controversy. He may change things in 2014 but he enters it at an all time low.

    10.  Austin Dillon

    Dillon is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year (ROTY) and the Nationwide Series championship. Yes, he didn’t win a race last season in Nationwide, but that’s primarily because of Sprint Cup drivers winning 26 races last year (28 if you count AJ Allmendinger, which I don’t.) He’s going to have enormous pressure coming into this season, as would any driver stepping into that No. 3 Chevy.

    9. Kurt Busch

    He took a tiny team into the Chase and gave all of the bigger teams a run for their money. Now he’s finally back in a car with the best equipment in the business and with a championship winning team in Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). Don’t call it a comeback, because he never really left.

    8. Brad Keselowski

    The 2012 Champ started off 2013 wrong and it just kept getting worse and worse. Part of the problem has to have been Roush-Yates engines not being ready to support two more full time teams, as the Fords in general struggled this year.

    7. Tony Stewart

    Okay, he might be a strange choice to be in the top 10, but let me explain. I think he’s one of the best pure drivers in NASCAR, and I think he’s going to enter this season ready to make up for lost time.

    6. Jeff Gordon

    Just missing out on a top five spot in 2013, Gordon’s Chase personified his career the past few years. He’ll do consistently well, even winning a race, before something happens, in this case, a wreck at Texas on lap 75. If you don’t count that, he’s in the top 15 in every single race from Bristol onward.

    5. Matt Kenseth

    Yes, I know I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this. It seems really strange having the runner-up in points who won seven races last year, only fifth, but I think the runner-up hangover is just too strong to get over. Bowyer couldn’t, Edwards couldn’t, and it’s still affecting Hamlin four years later. I don’t see how he’s going to be that different.

    4. Kyle Busch

    The 18 team are the Dallas Cowboys of NASCAR. They either fail to make the playoffs against all odds, or they do and choke away the championship either way.  And like Dallas, it’s really sad to see it happen, because outside of the play-offs they are supremely talented and always a threat every week. You also either love them or hate them. There is very little middle ground.

    3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    I think Earnhardt’s big problem this year is the new crew chief search. That will always distract a driver when it happens to them, in some way. It’s a shame too, because he and Letarte finally started clicking together this season, the final eight races in particular.

    2. Kevin Harvick

    The only problem Harvick might have next season is that SHR is spreading itself a bit thin. Otherwise, he has all the momentum and now he’s in absolute top of the line equipment, not the RCR stuff that only he can win with.

    1. Jimmie Johnson

    Who were you expecting to be up here? If Jimmie wins nine races and the championship this season, he’ll match Earnhardt Sr. in wins and championships in roughly five less full-time seasons. And the scary thing is that I think nobody in the entire sport would be shocked if he has that kind of season. Case in point: his worst finish in the Chase was a 13th at Talladega, the place where luck takes priority over talent or equipment. Other than that, he had seven top-fives, a sixth at Kansas and a ninth at Homestead, where he was more concerned with finishing the race rather than getting the best result possible. Can anybody stop Johnson? Possibly but I wouldn’t bet on it.

  • Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking Back at NASCAR’s 2013

    Looking back at the 2013 season, NASCAR had the usual ups and downs but this year would be different. NASCAR unveiled its new GEN-6 car to mixed reviews and fans waiting to see what this new car would bring to actual racing.

    It started with the horrific wreck during the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).  Unfortunately, we watched the same scene played out at most restrictor plate tracks like Daytona, only this time when the “big one” happened the fence didn’t hold and fans were hurt, some seriously.  Everyone waited and listened the rest of the day for updates on those injured and looked back in amazement that the car of Kyle Larson, which had hit the fence, was destroyed, yet he walked away.

    The next day at the Daytona 500 we all waited and watched, held our breath and prayed that the scene the day before would not repeat itself and thankfully it didn’t. The 55th running of the Daytona 500 went off without any major issues with Jimmie Johnson in his 400th start taking the prize. That perhaps was a sign of the year to come.

    It was the fifth race of the season in Fontana, California that Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin got together with six laps to go and ended up wrecking each other. Denny Hamlin suffered a compression fracture in his back that most thought would sideline the driver for the season.  But Hamlin worked hard at his recovery and was able to return to race at Talladega.

    Talladega was a rainy day and eventually the race was red flagged due to the rain. The red flag was three hours and 36 minutes long and darkness had started to fall but with the rain stopped, NASCAR made the decision to go ahead and race. A late race caution bunched the field up with 20 to go. By this time the skies were even darker and the “big one” happened sending Kurt Busch flipping and landing on top of Ryan Newman’s car. In all 14 cars were involved and Newman went on to criticize NASCAR for continuing the race in the dark.

    It was at Iowa Speedway where Tony Stewart crashed hard into a car that spun in front of him. Stewart was taken to the hospital where it was determined by doctors that he had broken both his tibia and fibula in his lower right leg. Stewart would be sidelined for the rest of the season, after undergoing several surgeries and then physical therapy, so that he would be ready for the 2014 season.

    There was a lot of hype over Danica Patrick joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) for the 2013 season. There was a lot of expectation put on her but she was still a rookie and ended up with a best finish of 8th, her only top-10 finish, which came in the Daytona 500 where she had also won the pole.  Her boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, competed with Patrick for Rookie of the Year in which Stenhouse took home the prize.

    Jamie McMurray won at Talladega, his second at that track, and his seventh win overall in his NSCS career. The win snapped a 108 winless streak for McMurray.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. would see the 2013 season close without a win.  But it was a consistent season overall and he ended up fifth in the series standings.

    We had the announcement that Mark Martin had decided to retire along with Ken Schrader. Martin ended a long career with NASCAR starting in 1981 in North Wilkesboro and giving him a career with 40 wins, 453 top 10′s and 56 poles. Schrader started his career in 1984 in Nashville and went on to have four wins, 184 top 10′s, and 23 poles. NASCAR will not be the same without these drivers and they will both be missed in 2014.

    To everyone’s astonishment we also had what was dubbed “Spingate” which was Michael Waltrip Racing’s (MWR) attempt to manipulate the chase for the championship. This not only marred MWR but their reputation was further damaged by Clint Bowyer who is believed to have spun to cause a caution in order to get a teammate into the chase.  These issues actually made NASCAR add a 13th spot to the chase, to the benefit of Jeff Gordon being that 13th driver. This put another mark on NASCAR for adding the 13th spot but with the chase outcome in question, it was the only course of action NASCAR could see to attempt to right what MWR had attempted to change. The biggest loser in that whole deal was Martin Truex Jr. who had done no wrong but paid a penalty all the same.

    Matt Kenseth probably had one of his best years of his career and in the end was truly the only driver in contention with Johnson to take home the big prize. Kevin Harvick, having a good run of his own, was unable to catch Kenseth and Johnson. Kenseth did everything he could and came out strong at the end but it was Johnson who would bring home the 2013 Sprint Cup Series trophy, the sixth of his career, making him at the moment the only driver with the chance to tie or surpass Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt’s seven championships.

    When we look back on the year there were tragedies as well.

    On June 12th 2013 on a Wednesday night we heard of a serious crash at Bridgeport Speedway involving former NASCAR driver Jason Leffler in a Sprint car. We would find out later that Jason “LEFturn” Leffler had died from the injuries that he sustained in the accident. He left behind one son, five year old Charlie. The biggest tragedy of all is learning that if Sprint cars used the same neck restraints as NASCAR does, he may have survived the accident.

    It was May 16th that I learned of the death of my friend, Richard Leroy Trickle, aka Dick Trickle; he had taken his own life after years of struggling with chronic pain. He had raced in NASCAR becoming the oldest Rookie of the Year at age 48 in 1989. He was best known for his career in the Midwest. Known best as “the White Knight,” it is estimated that he ran well over 2,200 races in his Midwest short track career and his many loyal fans will remember not how he died, but how he lived.  He will be remembered wearing snakeskin boots, a cigarette in one hand, and a cup of coffee or barley pop (beer) in the other, signing autographs and even going down to his knees to be eye level with children who wanted an autograph.

    With a new season beginning, questions remain to be answered.

    • What will the 2014 NASCAR season bring?
    • Which rookie will come out on top, maybe Kyle Larson or perhaps Parker Kligerman?
    • Who will win their first race this season?
    • Will Austin Dillon, driving the number three, live up to the expectations of fans that are waiting to see if he will do the number three proud?
    • Who will take it all? Matt Kenseth or maybe it will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s breakout year, or will it be Jimmie Johnson again, tying that seventh championship.
    • What new rivalries will form, and what old rivalries will manage to put it behind them?

    Hopefully in 2014 there will be no injuries or tragedies as we’ve seen this year. Perhaps it will be NASCAR’s best year yet. We won’t have to wait long as it’s right around the corner!