NASCAR: NSCS -- Dover: AAA 400 Results

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Jimmie Johnson took a big step towards his fifth straight Sprint Cup championship this weekend at Dover.  Johnson won the pole, led five times for a race-high 191 (of 400) laps and beat Jeff Burton to the finish line by 2.637 seconds.

It was Johnson's sixth career win at Dover, most among active drivers, and his third victory in the last four races at the track.  It was Johnson's sixth win of the season and the 53rd of his career.  Johnson has now won 19 of the 62 Chase races he has been in.

Johnson passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 337 and held it until a green flag pit stop on Lap 363.  After the field cycled through stops, Johnson was back in the lead again and pulled away for the win.


Five of the top 6 finishers were Chase drivers.  Kurt Busch overcame a speeding penalty to finish fourth, followed by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.  Joey Logano finished third to break up the streak.  (Race results)

A. J. Allmendinger seemed to be the only driver who could compete with Johnson.  He started second and led three times for a career-high 146 laps, but a flat tire put him two laps down.  He rallied to a tenth-place finish.

How quickly the tide can turn in NASCAR.  Last week at Loudon, Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer were running 1-2 in the closing laps and looked like strong Chase contenders.  Stewart ran out of gas just before taking the white flag and fell to 24th.  Bowyer won, but was penalized 150 points when his car failed inspection.  At Dover, the misfortunes continued.  Both drivers were caught speeding on pit road and couldn't make up their laps.  Stewart finished 21st; Bowyer 25th.  Now, both drivers are virtually out of the title hunt.

Matt Kenseth got on the brakes too hard trying to get on pit road and blew a tire.  He finished 18th.  After his second mediocre finish in two Chase races, his title hopes are just about done too.  His Roush teammate Greg Biffle finished just behind him in 19th.  He was on pit road when a caution came out and lost a lap as a result.

Jeff Gordon had a good run, but lost a lot of time on the final pit stop when a tire changer dropped a lug nut.  His car was too loose at the end, and he fell back to finish eleventh.  Kevin Harvick also had handling problems at the end and finished 15th.

Denny Hamlin was quite satisfied with a ninth-place finish at one of his worst tracks.  That allowed him to hang on to the series lead in the points standings.  Johnson moved up four spots to second, 35 points back.  Kyle Busch remains in third, 45 points back.  Kurt Busch (-59) climbed one spot to fourth.  Harvick (-65) dropped three spots to fifth.  The top eight -- including Edwards, Burton and Gordon -- are within 83 points of Hamlin.

Hamlin had an eventful few days at Dover.  He made quite a few disparaging comments about Richard Childress Racing to the media Friday regarding Clint Bowyer's penalty and the excuses offered up.  Harvick took exception and purposefully ran into Hamlin during a practice session Saturday.  Both drivers took their cars to the garage to bang out the sheet metal.  Since they were 1-2 in points at the time, they had side-by-side stalls in the garage and took the opportunity to air out their differences in a little shouting match.  JGR president J. D. Gibbs later told Hamlin something along the lines of "The next time you have a thought, keep it to yourself."

Meanwhile, RCR's appeal of the penalties is set for Wednesday.  The numbers are not on their side.  There have been 132 appeals since 1999.  88 were upheld, and only 42 were reduced or overturned.  In two cases, the penalties were increased.  No penalties have been overturned in six appeals this season.  If RCR loses the appeal they can make one final appeal to the NASCAR chief appellate officer, John Middlebrook.

SEC Football -- Week Four

It was a big week in the SEC with three games between Top 25 teams, two of them intra-conference affairs.

Alabama survived a scare on the road at Arkansas.  Just like last week at Georgia, Arkansas was able to get the lead early, but wasn't able to hold it.  In the Georgia game, Razorback QB Ryan Mallott was able to make the big play late to pull it out; against Alabama, not so much.  Alabama overcame a 13-point deficit and took their first lead with just 3:18 to play, Mark Ingram scoring on a 1-yard run.  Two first-year starters in the secondary made big interceptions late for Alabama:  Robert Lester's second pick of the day put Alabama in position for the go-ahead score, and Dre Kirkpatrick's pick, on a ball that Mallott was trying to throw away, allowed Alabama to run out the clock on a 24-20 win.

Auburn fell behind South Carolina 20-7, but forced four fourth-quarter turnovers to get the 35-27 win.  After Stephen Garcia fumbled twice to end Gamecock drives, the quarterback was pulled for freshman backup Connor Shaw.  Shaw led the Gamecocks deep into Auburn territory twice in the closing minutes, but threw interceptions to end both drives.  Auburn QB Cameron Newton rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns and threw for two more.

Defense and special teams carried LSU over West Virginia.  The D held the Mountaineers to just 178 total yards.  Tiger CB Patrick Peterson returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and blocked a field goal.  LSU continues to struggle through the air:  QB Jordan Jefferson has now thrown for less than 100 yards and no touchdowns in three straight games.

Mississippi State broke a nine-game losing streak against Georgia that dated back to 1974 with a 24-12 win.  Georgia is now 0-3 in conference play for the first time since 1993.

Tennessee led Alabama-Birmingham 23-7 at the half and it looked like it was going to be an easy win for the Volunteers, but the Blazers stormed back with two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to send the game to overtime.  After trading field goals in the first overtime session, UAB settled for a field goal again in the second.  On Tennessee's first play of the second overtime, Matt Sims hooked up with Denarius Moore for a 25-yard TD pass and the 32-29 win.  UAB dominated Tennessee in nearly every facet of the game, but kicker Josh Zahn missed four field goals in the loss.

The scores:

#1 Alabama 24, #10 Arkansas 20
#9 Florida 48, Kentucky 14
#17 Auburn 35, #12 South Carolina 27
#15 LSU 20, #22 West Virginia 14
Mississippi State 24, Georgia 12
Tennessee 32, UAB 29 (2 OT)
Ole Miss 55, Fresno State 38

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NASCAR: NCWTS -- Las Vegas: Smith's Food & Drug Stores 350 Results

Image via WikipediaRookie Austin Dillon passed James Buescher with 35 laps to go in Saturday night's Smith's 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then pulled away to win by a commanding 5.588-second margin.

Dillon and Buescher battled over much of the final third of the race, but Dillon finally got around him for good one lap after a restart on Lap 111.  Buescher stayed on his bumper until he lost second place to Johnny Sauter on another restart on Lap 119.  After that, Dillon, in clean air, pulled away for the victory.

It was Dillon's second Truck Series victory; his first came at Iowa in July, ten races ago.  Sauter finished second, followed by Buescher, series leader Todd Bodine and Matt Crafton.  (Race results)

Bodine gained five points over Aric Almirola, who finished sixth, in the series standings.  Bodine now leads Almirola by 262 points with five races to go.  Johnny Sauter (-300) is third.  With the win, Dillon (-388) climbed two spots to fourth, the highest ranking of his young career.  Timothy Peter, who finished 26th, dropped one spot to fifth, 423 points behind Bodine.

NASCAR: NNS -- Dover: Dover 200 Results

Image via WikipediaKyle Busch dominated Saturday's Nationwide race at Dover, the Dover 200, leading 192 of the 200 laps and picking up his eleventh series win of the season,  That broke the single season series record set by Sam Ard in 1983 and matched by Busch last season.
 
Busch is rapidly closing in on Mark Martin's all-time record for series wins.  Martin has 48; Busch's win Saturday was his 41st.

Busch beat his JGR teammate Joey Logano to the finish by four-tenths of a second.  Carl Edwards was third, followed by Reed Sorenson and Kevin Harvick.  (Race results)

Edwards cut 53 points off of Brad Keselowski's lead in the points standings, but still trails by 320 points with just seven races remaining.  Keselowski finished 17th.  Busch (-500), who has competed in just 23 of the 28 races this season, is third in the standings, followed by Justin Allgaier (-764) and Paul Menard (-817).

Danica Patrick prepared for the Monster Mile by competing in Friday's K&N Pro Series East race.  She led a few laps and finished sixth to earn her first NASCAR top-10 finish in the low level series.  But Saturday was "another character-building day".  She botched her qualifying run and started 42nd in the 43-car field, was a lap down 17 laps into the race, then blew a tire and hit the wall on Lap 71.  She went to the garage for about 90 laps to repair the damage, then returned to finish 35th, 94 laps down.

Elliott Sadler was involved in the scariest incident of the afternoon.  He spun in the middle of Turns Three and Four on Lap 136, backed into the wall and came to a stop in the middle of the track at the exit of Four. Rookie Drew Herring, who was having radio issues, didn't see him until it was too late and plowed into the front end of Elliott's car.  The race was red-flagged for almost eleven minutes to clean up the debris, but both drivers walked away.

NASCAR: Dover Preview

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeAll three of NASCAR's national touring series are in action the next two days, with two of the three races at Dover International Speedway.

First up is the Nationwide Series; they're in Dover Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2) for the Dover 200.  The Camping World Truck Series race is the second half of the Saturday doubleheader.  They're on the other side of the country in Las Vegas for the Smith's Food and Drug Stores 350 (9 p.m. ET, Speed).  The main event is Sunday's Sprint Cup race, the AAA 400 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN), back at Dover.  It's the second race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup.

After a dismal 25th place showing in last weekend's race at Loudon, Jimmie Johnson took a positive step toward his fifth consecutive championship by capturing the pole for Sunday's race.  Johnson turned a lap in 23.116 seconds (156.736 mph) to edge A. J. Allmendinger, who ran a qualifying lap of 23.130 seconds.  Mark Martin initially qualified third, but his lap was disallowed after inspection when the gas pressure in his right rear shock was found to be too high.  Martin will start 42nd.  Martin Truex Jr. starts third, followed by Denny Hamlin and Juan Montoya.

It was the 25th pole of Johnson's career, the third at Dover and the second of the season.  Johnson leads all active drivers with five wins at the track.

Other Chasers:  Greg Biffle starts sixth, Kurt Busch eighth, Carl Edwards tenth, Kyle Busch 11th, Matt Kenseth 14th, Jeff Gordon 15th, Clint Bowyer 24th, Tony Stewart 25th, Jeff Burton 27th and Kevin Harvick 33rd.

Jeff Green, Josh Wise and Ted Musgrave failed to qualify for the race.  (Race lineup)

Dover International Speedway is also known as the Monster Mile, and for good reason.  It's a mile-long concrete oval with high banking (24 degrees in the turns and nine degrees on the straightaways).  That translates into a lot of speed, but the track is very narrow, leaving drivers nowhere to go if (when) something happens in front of them.  It should be exciting.

After Clint Bowyer's 150-point penalty dropped him from second to twelfth in the points standings, Denny Hamlin now has a  45-point lead over the new second place guy, Kevin Harvick.  Hamlin finished fourth back in the May race, but doesn't usually do too well at Dover.  In fact, other than Daytona, Dover is Hamlin's worst track in terms of average finish.  His 22.8 is the worst among all Chasers.  But he was feeling cocky enough to get into a war of words with Richard Childress over Bowyer's rules violation.

Danica Patrick returns to NASCAR for Saturday's Nationwide race.  She got some valuable seat time at Dover in today's K&N Pro Series East race where she finished sixth.

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Clint Bowyer's Devastating Penalty

After Clint Bowyer's exciting win last Sunday at Loudon in the first Chase race of 2010, he vaulted from twelfth to second in the points standings, just 35 points behind Denny Hamlin.  Now, after a 150-point penalty from NASCAR, he is back in twelfth again, 185 points behind Hamlin and 49 points behind Matt Kenseth, who is eleventh.  It's a devastating penalty that has almost killed Bowyer's title hopes for 2010.

We heard some rumblings early in the week.  NASCAR announced that the car Bowyer drove in the final race of the "regular season" at Richmond was close to being illegal.  That is, the car was legal, but was flirting dangerously close to the tolerance of one of the many, many measurements NASCAR checks.  NASCAR officials met with Richard Childress Racing representatives to discuss the problem.

At the time, many NASCAR commentators dismissed this as not a very big deal.  It is the job of the crew chief to push the edge of the envelope.  If they can do that without going over, they are doing their job.  Turns out that it was a very big deal.

“When we work with the teams, when [we] see them heading in a direction that could wind up bad for everybody, we get together and we talk about it,” NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton said.

“As we’ve done in the past and will continue to do so in trying to regulate the sport, a big responsibility of NASCAR is to work as hard to keep people out of trouble as it is to write penalties,” Cup Series director John Darby said. “Obviously, when it gets to the point that we have to write a penalty, it’s not fun for everybody. So if we can take steps in the interim or in the in-betweens to put something to rest and not have it be an issue, well, by all means we’ll exhaust every effort that we can to do that.

Rewind to last Sunday at Loudon. With the white flag in sight, Tony Stewart ran out of gas, relinquishing the lead to Clint Bowyer, who was running on fumes and trying to hold off Denny Hamlin. Bowyer won the race, then ran out of gas just as he started doing his celebratory burnout.  His car had to be pushed to Victory Lane by a wrecker.

The car passed the post-race inspection at the track, but was one of several that was taken back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center near Charlotte for a more detailed inspection.   There the car was found to be illegal.  NASCAR declined to explain what the violation was or even to state if the violation could have given the #33 car an unfair advantage.

It was left up to Richard Childress to explain that the violation was related to how the body is hung on the frame.  The car was too high in the rear, exceeding specifications by less than 1/16th of an inch.  Childress claims that the car was legal when it left the shop and that the violation could have been caused by the wrecker that pushed the car to Victory Lane.  Also, several cars gave Bowyer a congratulatory tap in the rear on the cooldown lap.  Childress has vowed to appeal the penalty.

NASCAR doesn't agree with Childress's assessment.

“We looked at a lot of different things and we have a lot of documentation from cars from the last four years, and we understand that we have had cars with some severe body damage and cars without, and we don’t feel that the incidental contact from a push of the wrecker helped push this car out of tolerance at all,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said.

Childress also said that they were informed by NASCAR that the car would be taken to the R&D Center after the New Hampshire race because they had come so close to failing inspection the week before.

“It doesn’t make any sense at all that we would send a car to New Hampshire that wasn’t within NASCAR’s tolerances. I am confident we fixed the area of concern and the New Hampshire car left the race shop well within the tolerances required by NASCAR.”

Richard Childress was also docked 150 owner points. Crew chief Shane Wilson was fined $150,000.  Wilson and car chief Chad Haney were also suspended for six weeks.  Wilson and Haney can continue in their appointed roles until appeals are exhausted.  Bowyer is still credited with the win at Loudon. 

With Bowyer now back at the bottom of the 12-man Chase field, move the other Chasers up a spot in the points standings.  Denny Hamlin's lead is now 45 points over the new guy in second, Kevin Harvick.

The penalties, though excessive, are in line with those handed down to Brian Vickers's team for a similar violation in 2008.  No problems have been reported with the other RCR cars of Harvick and Jeff Burton.

An interesting side note:  Robin Pemberton, one of those charged with handing down the penalties, was once on the other side of the issue.  In 1990, Pemberton was the crew chief for Mark Martin when the team was docked 46 points for using an illegal carburetor spacer plate in a victory at Richmond.  Martin eventually lost the championship to Dale Earnhardt that year by just 26 points.

SEC Football -- Week Three

It's still real early, but it looks like a down year for the SEC -- especially in the East.

Georgia and Tennessee are both 1-2, and Georgia already has two tough conference losses, including a last second loss at home to Arkansas Saturday.  Tennessee has looked pretty rough all around.  Kentucky is winning, but against subpar opponents.  Their first real test will come this week at Florida.  Vandy is still Vandy, though they did manage to whip up on Ole Miss Saturday, snapping a 10-game conference losing streak.  Florida and South Carolina are both 3-0, but Florida continues to struggle early in every game before turning to on in the second half.  That might hurt them later on down the road.

The West looks much stronger with Alabama, Arkansas, LSU and Auburn all 3-0.  Mississippi State seems to be improving, especially on offense, but the schedule has not been kind.  They're 1-2 (0-2) after losses to Auburn and LSU.  Ole Miss is going to have a long, long season.  They're now 1-2 (0-1) with losses to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt.  Their lone win came against Tulane 27-13 in Week Two.

Arkansas vs. Georgia was the most exciting game of the week.  Georgia overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but Arkansas QB Ryan Mallett threw a 40-yard pass to Greg Childs for the go-ahead score with just 15 seconds left.  Mallett was 21-of-33 for 380 yards and three TDs for the afternoon and was later named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week.

The scores:
#1 Alabama 62, Duke 13
#10 Florida 31, Tennessee 17
#12 Arkansas 31, Georgia 24
#13 South Carolina 38, Furman 19
#15 LSU 29, Mississippi State 7
#16 Auburn 27, Clemson 24
Vanderbilt 28, Mississippi 14
Kentucky 47, Akron 10

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NASCAR: Loudon Results

Image via WikipediaNSCS: the Sylvania 300

Clint Bowyer's fuel gamble paid off.  Tony Stewart's did not.

Coming out of Turn Four with the lead on Lap 299 (of 300) with the white flag in sight, Tony Stewart ran out of gas.  Clint Bowyer, who was also running on fumes, flew past him on the frontstretch and held off Denny Hamlin over the final lap to win the first race in the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sunday's Sylvania 300 at Loudon, New Hampshire.

Bowyer ran out of gas while doing his victory burnout and had to be pushed to Victory Lane by a wrecker.

Bowyer didn't back into the win.  He dominated the race, leading seven times for a race-high 177 laps, but a sputtering carburetor gave him problems on restarts, forcing him to drop back until he could get the car up to speed.

Denny Hamlin also had issues.  On Lap 214, Hamlin was rolling through Turn Four when Carl Edwards slid up the track into him causing him to spin.  That dropped Hamlin from third to 22nd, but sent him to pit road, allowing him to avoid the fuel issues of the cars that were ahead of him at the end.

Bowyer crossed the finish line 0.477 seconds ahead of Hamlin.  Jamie McMurray finished third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Kevin Harvick struggled all day with handling problems and slow pit stops, but rallied to finish fifth.  Stewart coasted around to finish 24th, the last car on the lead lap, a swing of 94 valuable points in the championship race.  (Race results)

The win snapped an 88-race winless streak for Bowyer dating back to the May 2008 race at Richmond.  It was Bowyer's third Cup win and his second at Loudon.  His first Cup win came in the 2007 Sylvania 300.

Kurt Busch had an ill-handling car and was involved in two incidents.  On Lap 221, he got together with Jeff Burton and they both spun.  That resulted in Jimmie Johnson getting into the rear of Kyle Busch, causing those two to spin as well.  Later, on Lap 241, Kurt Busch slid up the track into Joey Logano, putting him into the wall.

Johnson later developed a vibration and had to make an unscheduled stop for tires, putting him a lap down.  He couldn't get the lap back and finished 25th, worst of the Chase drivers.

Burton ran out of gas seconds before Stewart, but got it re-fired enough to finish 15th.

Matt Kenseth struggled mid-pack all race and was spun by Brad Keselowski  .  He finished 23rd.

With one Chase race down and nine to go to crown a champion, Hamlin stretched his lead in the point standings to 35.  He now leads Bowyer, who moved up ten spots into second place.   Harvick (-45) remains in third.  After finishing ninth, Kyle Busch (-62) remains in fourth.  Jeff Gordon (-75) finished sixth and moved up three spots to fifth.  Johnson (-92) dropped five spots to seventh.  Stewart (-124) dropped five spots to eleventh.


NCWTS:  TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175

Kyle Busch drove into James Buescher and the wall to win Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race at Loudon.

The race was a battle between Busch and Kevin Harvick, but Buescher snuck in there at the end and almost came away with his Truck Series win.

On Lap 166 (of 175), Harvick forced Busch up the track and Buescher dove underneath the two to take the lead.  Busch took the lead and the race on a restart on Lap 174.  Buescher restarted on the outside and led Busch into Turn One, but Busch battled ahead coming out of Turn Two.  Before he was clear, he moved up the track into Buescher's left front, then slapped the outside wall.

Busch beat Buescher to the finish by 0.280 seconds.  Harvick, who traded the lead with Busch fourteen times, finished third, followed by Matt Crafton and Austin Dillon.  (Race results)

After the race, Buescher took exception to Busch's tactics:

"He just went to the fence," Buescher said. "He wasn't clear at all. He drove like he had no truck on his outside, and he hit my left front and ended up in the wall. He just drove us dirty and got the win, and we hung in for a second-place finish."

 Todd Bodine finished ninth and has a commanding 257 point lead over Aric Almirola, who finished eighth, with just six races to go.  (Point standings)

SEC Football Wrapup -- Week Two

Week Two of the college football season found most of the Southeastern Conference teams facing stronger opposition -- too strong for some.  There were even a couple of conference games on the schedule.

It looks like Steve Spurrier might be giving the ground game a try at South Carolina.  Freshman RB Marcus Lattimore rushed 37 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Gamecocks over the Georgia Bulldogs 17-6.  Georgia tried to make a game of it.  Down 14-6 in the third, the Bulldogs drove to the South Carolina three.  An offsides penalty pushed them back five, then Washuan Ealey fumbled to end the threat.

With injured RB Mark Ingram on the bench for the second straight week, Trent Richardson stepped up and carried Alabama to 24-3 win over Penn State.  Richardson rushed 22 times for 144 yards and a touchdown.  He also caught four passes for 46 yards.  Coach Nick Saban said that Ingram could have played, but he didn't want to put him in without sufficient practice time.

Tennessee led Oregon 13-3 in the first half, then the Ducks went to work.  RB LaMichael James ran right and was stopped for a four-yard loss, but stayed on his feet, reversed direction and rumbled 72 yards down the sideline to break a 13-13 tie.  It was all part of 45 unanswered points Oregon scored to beat the Vols 48-13.

The scores:
#1 Alabama 24, #18 Penn State 3
#7 Oregon 48, Tennessee 13
#8 Florida 38, South Florida 14
#14 Arkansas 31, Louisiana-Monroe 7
#19 LSU 27, Vanderbilt 3
#21 Auburn 17, Mississippi State 14 (Thursday, 9/9)
#24 South Carolina 17, #22 Georgia 6
Kentucky 63, Western Kentucky 28
Mississippi 27, Tulane 13

NASCAR: NSCS -- Richmond: Air Guard 400 Results

Image by sidehike via Flickr
Denny Hamlin put in a dominating performance at his hometown track, Richmond International Raceway, Saturday night to win the Air Guard 400 and clinch the top spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Hamlin led six times for a race-high 251 laps (of 400), including the final 69, and held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch in the closing laps.

It was Hamlin's second win at the track; he has now won consecutive September Richmond races.  It was his series-leading sixth victory of the season and the 14th of his career.

Hamlin beat Busch to the finish line by 0.537 seconds.  Jimmie Johnson finished third, followed by Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose.  (Race results)

Greg Biffle clinched his spot in the Chase on Lap 48 when Jason Leffler retired to the garage.  That guaranteed Biffle at least 42nd place in the race, all he would need if Ryan Newman, the 13th place driver, could win and lead the most laps.  Biffle finished 32nd, five laps down.

Clint Bowyer came into the race needing to finish 28th or better to guarantee his spot in the Chase.  He started fourth, led three times for 33 laps, and finished sixth.

Newman finished eleventh and never led a lap.

All in all, it was pretty uneventful for a Richmond race -- no Chase drama and only three cautions on the night.  David Reutimann blew a tire and spun to bring out the first yellow on Lap 55.  Terry Labonte, who failed to make the race in Friday qualifying but replaced Mike Bliss in the No. 55 Prism Motorsports car, brought out the second caution when he blew a tire and hit the wall on Lap 145.  The final caution came out on Lap 226 for some light rain on the track.

The victory gives Hamlin the top seed in the Chase, putting him ten points ahead of Jimmie Johnson going into next week's race at Loudon, New Hampshire.  The points are reset now with each Chaser getting 5000 points plus ten bonus points for each victory in the "regular season."  This is the first time Hamlin has led the points standings in his career.

The Chase seedings:
1.  Denny Hamlin  5060
2.  Jimmie Johnson  -10
3.  Kevin Harvick  -30
4.  Kyle Busch  -30
5.  Kurt Busch  -40
6.  Tony Stewart  -50
7.  Greg Biffle  -50
8.  Jeff Gordon  -60
9.  Carl Edwards  -60
10. Jeff Burton  -60
11. Matt Kenseth  -60
12. Clint Bowyer  -60

NASCAR: Richmond - NNS: Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Results

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via FlickrKevin Harvick held off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to pick up the victory in Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Richmond, the Virginia 529 College Savings 250.  It was Harvick's third Nationwide win of the year and the 37th of his career, third all time in the series.  It was Harvick's fifth Nationwide win at Richmond, tying him with Mark Martin for most series wins at the track.

It was an impressive performance by Harvick and Keselowski, the series points leader, in the third race in the new Nationwide car.  Harvick led a race-high 170 laps.  Keselowski fell two laps down around the midpoint of the race due to problems on pit road, but rallied to take the lead from Kyle Busch on Lap 163 (of 250).  Harvick took the lead from Keselowski on Lap 197, and held him off the rest of the way.  It was a close thing though.  Lapped traffic allowed Keselowski to close in on Harvick in the final laps and challenge him for the win.  Harvick slapped the wall on the next-to-last lap, but managed to hang on and cross the finish line 0.256 seconds ahead of Keselowski.

Trevor Bayne finished third, tying a career best in the series.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fourth, followed by Reed Sorenson.  (Race results)

Kyle Busch was going for a record 11th Nationwide Series win of the season, but had problems on a pit stop on Lap 205.  The nozzle broke off on one of the gas cans and Busch drove away with it still stuck in the car.  Penalized for taking equipment from the pits, Busch restarted 21st, but rallied to finish ninth.

Keselowski increased his lead in the Nationwide point standings to 373 over Carl Edwards, who finished tenth.

NASCAR: Richmond Preview

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via FlickrNASCAR is on a tight schedule at Richmond International Raceway this weekend.  The Sprint Cup race, the Air Guard 400, is set for 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC).  The Nationwide race, the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, is already underway (ESPN2).  The Camping World Truck Series is off this weekend; they'll be back next weekend at Loudon.

Unlike past years, there's not a lot of drama going into this final race of the "regular season" over who will make the Chase.  Ten drivers have already qualified.  If 13th place Ryan Newman wins Saturday night and leads the most laps, earning the maximum 195 points, Greg Biffle needs to finish 42nd or better and Clint Bowyer needs to finish 28th or better to make the Chase field.  Bowyer leads Newman by 117 points in the points standings.

Carl Edwards earned the pole for Saturday night's race in the just completed qualifying session.  Edwards ran a lap of 21.13 seconds (127.762 mph), edging Juan Pablo Montoya (21.18 seconds, 127.455 mph).  A. J. Allmendinger will start third, followed by Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann.  Bobby Labonte needed to use the past champion's provisional to make the field.  That meant that the provisional wasn't available for brother Terry, who was making his first attempt with a new team, Stavola Labonte Racing.  Michael McDowell, Todd Bodine, Scott Riggs and Brian Keselowski also failed to make the 43-car field.  (Race lineup)

Mattias Ekstrom will be driving the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota.  The two-time German Touring car champ made his NASCAR debut in June at Infineon Raceway.  This will be Ekstrom's oval debut. Brian Vickers is scheduled to be back in the car next season.

NASCAR: Atlanta -- Emory Healthcare 500 Results

Image via WikipediaTony Stewart pulled away from Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson to pick up the victory in Sunday night's Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was Stewart's first victory in 31 races dating back to October 2009 at Kansas. It was Stewart's third win at the track and the 38th of his career. Stewart led eight times for a race-high 176 laps, including the final 25.

Edwards beat Stewart out of the pits after the seventh caution of the night on Lap 295 (of 325), but Stewart quickly got by him after the restart. Stewart had trouble on restarts all night spinning his tires, but held on and pulled away on the final restart, which came out for debris from a collision caused by Ryan Newman getting into Kasey Kahne which put him into Kurt Busch on Lap 302.

Carl Edwards finished 1.316 seconds behind Stewart with Johnson right behind. Jeff Burton went a lap down early, but rallied to finish a distant fourth. Kyle Busch overcame a terrible pit stop on Lap 49 to finish fifth. Busch was clocked too fast entering pit road, then his rear tire changer had issues with the gun, leaving him with a loose wheel which he had to make an unscheduled stop to fix. (Race results)

Kahne ran up front most of the night, but the contact by Newman brought on a flat tire that ended his chance of making the Chase.  Kahne retaliated with a minor bump to Newman after he got back on the track.  Earlier, on Lap 152, Newman got into Greg Biffle and knocked him into Elliott Sadler.  Kasey Kahne had a flat tire on Lap 178 that extinguished his slim hopes of making the Chase.  Denny Hamlin had a strong car through the early part of the race, but blew his engine on Lap 143 and finished last.

Eight more drivers clinched spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, joining Kevin Harvick and Johnson, who clinched last weekend at Bristol.  With only Saturday night's race at Richmond left before the Chase begins, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer have a virtual lock on the final two spots in the Chase.  Biffle only needs to show up at Richmond and finish 42nd or better to clinch his spot.  If Ryan Newman, who moved into 13th position after finishing eighth at Atlanta, picks up the maximum 195 points at Richmond by winning and leading the most laps, Bowyer only needs to finish 28th or better.

Other than that battle to clinch the final two spots in the Chase, the point standings are meaningless.  After Richmond, the points will be reset with each driver receiving 5000 points plus ten bonus points for each win.  This is the way the Chase points work out as of now:

1.  Jimmie Johnson 5050
2.  Denny Hamlin 5050
3.  Kevin Harvick 5030
4.  Kyle Busch 5030
5.  Kurt Busch 5020
6.  Tony Stewart 5010
7.  Greg Biffle 5010
8.  Jeff Gordon 5000
9.  Carl Edwards 5000
10. Jeff Burton 5000
11. Matt Kenseth 5000
12. Clint Bowyer 5000

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tony Stewart breaks the ice with first 2010 win (sportingnews.com)
• Stewart Feeling Good About Chase After 1st Cup Win (abcnews.go.com)

NASCAR Basics: The Sprint All-Star Race

Originally published at Meanwhile... on May 14, 2008

The Sprint All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston and the Nextel All-Star Challenge, is a non-points event held in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The race is open to drivers who have won a race in the current or previous season, past Sprint Cup champions*, and former winners of the event.

The Sprint Showdown, held just before the All-Star race, is open to drivers who haven't otherwise qualified. The top two finishers of the Showdown transfer into the All-Star Race. In addition, one driver is also voted in by the fans.

The race was first run in 1985 and has been held at Charlotte Motor Speedway every year except 1986, when it was run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The format has changed many times over the years. Currently, the race is 100 laps run in four 25-lap segments. A ten-minute "halftime" break follows the second segment. The third and fourth segments are separated by a five-lap caution period. Drivers will make a mandatory pit stop (at least a "stop and go") during the break.

Since no points are on the line, only prize money, look for drivers to take chances that they normally wouldn't take. Because the racing is so hard, drivers almost always prepare separate cars for the Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600, held at Lowe's on the following weekend.

The All-Star weekend's festivities also include the Burnout Competition, the Pit Crew Challenge, and a Camping World Truck Series race.

* The past champions must have won the championship in the past ten years and competed in a Cup race in the current or previous season.

NASCAR Basics: Flags

Originally published at Meanwhile... on March 12, 2008

In NASCAR posts I'll sometimes talk about the race being red-flagged and drivers being black-flagged or races ending with a green/white/checkered finish. You might not have any idea what I'm talking about, so here's a brief primer on flags, eight different ones...

NASCAR races get off to a rolling start with drivers beginning with a couple or a few laps under yellow.  These laps don't actually count, but once the pace car drops onto pit road and the green flag waves, all laps, green, yellow and white, do count in the scheduled distance of a race.

Green

When the green flag waves, at the beginning of the race and after a caution period, the race is on, boys! Boogity-boogity-boogity! Put the hammer down!

Yellow

Yellow means caution. There is a hazard on the track -- an accident, debris, light rain, etc. -- something that makes racing unsafe. The pace car will pull back on the track and drivers must fall in line behind it. Yellow periods usually last at least three laps, allowing drivers enough time to pit and fall back in line behind the pace car. On the last yellow flag lap, the pace car will turn off its roof lights to alert the drivers that racing is about to resume.

The Lucky Dog -- Years ago, when a yellow flew, drivers would race back to the start/finish line for position. Drivers a lap down would race the leader back to the line to get their lap back. Accidents ensued. With the advent of electronic scoring, NASCAR was able to freeze the field when the caution came out. The drivers now slow down immediately and maintain their positions in the field until they pit. Now, whenever a yellow flag flies, the first driver a lap down is the Lucky Dog. He gets his lap back. He must pass the pace car and circle around until he comes to the back of the pack.

Red

All competition must stop. Red flags are typically seen during rain delays and when the track is blocked due to a particularly bad accident. Drivers stop behind the pace car at a point on the track where they won't be in the way or on pit road. A red flag is always followed by a few yellow flag laps to allow the drivers to warm up their engines and tires or make a pit stop.

Additionally, all work in the pits and garage must stop.  Crews can look the car over and lay out all the tools and parts needed, but work can't resume until the red flag is lifted.

If an accident happens near the end of a race, NASCAR will wave the red flag instead of allowing the race to continue and end under caution (yellow). Track workers will cleanup the track while the drivers are stopped. Drivers will then make the yellow flag laps that follow a red, but the race will go into overtime -- a green/white/checkered finish -- a two-lap shootout. When the green flag waves, the racing will resume. The next time by the start/finish line, the white flag will wave. The next time by, the checkered flag ends the race. If a yellow comes during the green/white/checkered finish, the field is frozen and the race is over then and there. 

2010 Update: NASCAR changed the rules for green/white/checkered finishes. No longer does a yellow flag end the race. As long as the leader does not take the white flag, up to three attempts can be made to end the race under green. If the leader does take the white flag and a yellow flag follows, the field is frozen and the race is over.

Black

Black is not good. A black flag is a "consultation" flag. It means that NASCAR officials need to consult with the driver immediately. You can be black-flagged for breaking a rule such a speeding on pit road or failing to maintain the minimum speed limit. You can also be black-flagged if your car appears to be unsafe, i.e., pieces are falling off of it or it's smoking or leaking fluid on the track. Drivers who are black-flagged must pit within five laps.

Black with a white X

A driver who has been black-flagged and doesn't pit within five laps is shown the black flag with the white X. This means that they are no longer being scored by NASCAR (their laps aren't being counted) until they obey the black flag and return to the pits.

Blue with an orange diagonal stripe

This is the "courtesy" flag. It tells a driver (or a group of drivers) that the leaders are coming up. Please be courteous and get out of the way. The courtesy flag is the only flag that a driver may ignore at his own discretion.

White

The white flag flies only once during a race, signaling one lap to go in the race. Again, if a yellow flag flies on the white flag lap, the field is frozen and the race is over.

Checkered

This is simple enough. The first one to the checkered flag wins the race.

Allison's Memories Vivid For Fans, Not Self

Image via WikipediaA version of this post was first published at Meanwhile... on March 8, 2008

NASCAR.com has a great profile of racing legend Bobby Allison. It's a tragic story. Thanks to a wreck at Pocono in 1988, he can't remember his greatest moments on the track or the greatest tragedies in his life -- the deaths of two of his sons.
read more

NASCAR Basics: NASCAR? A Sport?

Originally published at Meanwhile... on Feb. 28, 2008

Another in a series of posts on NASCAR basics. This post doesn't really explain much. It's more of a postscript or footnote...

I just recently finished reading St. Dale by Sharyn McCrumb. I should have read it a couple of years ago, when it was first published, as it combines two of my favorite things in life, NASCAR and the writing of Sharyn McCrumb, but I somehow got out of the habit of reading for a while. I'm trying to get back into the habit, even if just a chapter or two before bed each night. If you love NASCAR, or if you'd just like to learn a little more about it, I highly recommend the book.

St. Dale is the story of the Dale Earnhardt Memorial Pilgrimage, a bus tour to honor the memory of Dale Earnhardt that takes place not long after his death. The pilgrims visit several places, mostly racetracks, that played an important part in Dale's life...and death. The tour guide is Harley Claymore, a fictional washed up NASCAR driver who wants more than anything to get back to the show, to get another ride.

The following scene takes place at the Tri-Cities Airport near Bristol, Tennessee, where Harley is about to meet the tourists who are about to make the pilgrimage. It counters a constant criticism of NASCAR and other motor racing, that it's not really a sport, that it's just drivers going around in a circle...

Harley Claymore found that he was more nervous about meeting this group of tourists than he had ever been about driving 180 miles per hour with Bill Elliott on his bumper and Earnhardt closing fast.

Glad-handling people was not one of his more conspicuous talents. He was not afraid of coming up against a question he couldn't answer. He was more nervous about the prospect of facing a question he had heard so many times that a rude retort would escape his lips before he could stop himself. Candor was his besetting sin.

He remembered an unfortunate encounter with a lady reporter during his racing days. She hadn't been a sports reporter, he knew that. Maybe she had been down to collect recipes from the wives or some such meringue assignment, but he had encountered her at one of the pre-race appearances that sponsors liked to host in hopes of getting their driver more publicity.

The woman in black, swizzle-stick thin and improbably blonde, had tottered up to him on stiletto heels and announced that she was a writer. She named a magazine he'd never heard of, but he nodded and smiled as if she'd said Newsweek. Then she wanted to know if he was a driver. Harley said that he was, and asked politely if she followed the sport.

The woman had attempted to wrinkle her botoxed forehead, and then -- with the air of someone making a startlingly original observation -- she smirked and said, "But it isn't really a sport, is it? Just a bunch of cars going around in a circle for three hours."

"Yes," said Harley. "Yes, it is." He tapped her little green notebook. "And writing isn't very hard, either, is it? Just juggling those same old twenty-six letters over and over again in various combinations?"

In retrospect, he conceded that the remark had not been designed to convert the lady to an appreciation of NASCAR. She had stalked off in a huff, with the word "redneck" hovering on her lips, which Harley didn't mind, because if people are going to think it, they might as well say it, and then you know where you are. He'd ended up going home alone. Maybe the reporter had found someone more willing to humor her. Thinking it over later, Harley supposed that he could have found a more diplomatic answer to the woman's tiresome display of ignorance. Maybe for future reference he should have asked Alan Kulwicki, who had an engineering degree, what technical explanation you ought to give to people who didn't realize that the "simplicity" of the sport was merely their own incomprehension, just as -- to the uninitiated -- opera was noise and modern art a paint spill. The difference was that people felt embarrassed about not understanding music or art, but they seemed almost smug about being ignorant on the subject of motor sports. Stupidity as a status symbol. He never did understand it, but it had long ago ceased to surprise him.

NASCAR Basics: Qualifying Explained

Originally published at Meanwhile... on Feb. 10, 2008

It should be that everyone comes to the track, runs two laps and the 43 fastest guys make the race, but that's not the way they do it in NASCAR. A while back, to make sure that the top guys with the biggest sponsors make the race, they decided to lock the top 35 in owner points into the race. That only leaves eight spots up for grabs in qualifying. Everyone goes through qualifying, but the top 35 cars are already in the race; they're just trying to get a good position in the field. The other guys, the "go or go home" guys, are fighting to get in.

The top 35 is everything. That was the biggest problem Toyota had last year in their first year competing in the Sprint Cup. They were with brand new teams that didn't have any owner points and had to try to qualify for every race. Michael Waltrip had the worst time. During inspection for the Daytona 500 last year, he was found to have an illegal fuel additive in his carburator. He was fined and docked 100 points -- points he didn't have because he hadn't competed in a race yet. He made the Daytona 500 field and earned some points, but was still in the hole. He then failed to qualify for several races in a row. For a while, anyone could say, "My life might suck, but at least I've got more cup points than Michael Waltrip. I don't have any, but he's got -22."

For the first five races of the season, they go by owner points from the previous year. This is to ensure that one or two bad finishes do not wreck your chances for the year. After the fifth week, it's a week-to-week thing. You'll see those teams near the bottom of the top 35 trying to stay there and teams out of the top 35 trying to get in.

NASCAR has made a new change to qualifying this season. The teams in the top 35 will qualify first, then all the "go or go home" teams will qualify. As the qualifying goes on track conditions change. More tire rubber is being laid down on the track and the weather might change -- all of which will affect how fast a car can go. By putting all the "go or go home" guys together, NASCAR is leveling the playing field, minimizing changes in track and weather conditions.

There is also the past champion's provisional. A former Sprint Cup champion who doesn't make his way into the race by qualifying gets in just because he's a former champion. Only one championship provisional can be used for each race. It goes to the latest champion who doesn't otherwise make the race by being in the top 35 or through qualifying. Last year, they added a limit to the number of times one former champion can use the provisional to make the field -- six.

You'll see some teams bending the rules a little to get their cars into the race. Dale Jarrett, driving for one of the new Toyota teams last year, used up his allotted provisionals to make the early races, then the provisional fell to Bill Elliott, who was suddenly hired by the Wood Brothers to drive their car that was out of the top 35. This season, Sam Hornish Jr., new to NASCAR from IRL and driving a new car for Penske that doesn't have any points, was given the points of teammate Kurt Busch. Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, will use the championship provisional to make any races he doesn't qualify for. NASCAR's position on the points swap was "Whatever."

I can see what NASCAR is trying to accomplish with the Top 35 rule and even the champion's provisional -- fans are going to be real upset if they come to the track to see Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart and they're not in the race -- but they should level the playing field a little. Maybe make it the top 30 or the top 25 to give more guys a chance to get in the race.

Further reading: Guarantee of Top 35 Keeps Pressure on Drivers, Teams


The Daytona 500

If all the above is not complicated enough, NASCAR has made qualifying for the Daytona 500 almost as convoluted as IRL has made Indy 500 qualifying. You start with the top 35; they're in the race. You have Pole Day (which was today). Everyone takes two laps and the fastest two guys get on the front row. Then, later in the week, Thursday, February 14 this season, you have the Gatorade Duels, two 150-mile races. The top two "go or go home" finishers in each race makes the field. Then you have one former champion using a provisional to make the field, if needed.

So the top 35 is in. If a "go or go home" guy finishes in the top two spots on Pole Day that's more spots that are gone. Two more spots go to the top "go or go home" guys in each of the Gatorade Duel 150s. Then another spot, possibly, goes to someone using a championship provisional. However many spots are left to fill out the 43-car field are filled by qualifying speeds on Pole Day. The positions in the starting field are filled by the order of finish in the Gatorade Duels (except for the front row that is filled on Pole Day). Clear as mud, right?

NASCAR Basics: The Bud Shootout

Originally posted at Meanwhile... on Feb. 8, 2008 and updated over the years to reflect changes in the race

The first race of the NASCAR season is a non-points exhibition race, the Bud Shootout. The Shootout is one of the two non-point Sprint Cup events during the NASCAR season (the other is the Sprint All-Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway in May.) The race takes place at Daytona International Speedway the weekend before the Daytona 500.

The race started in 1979 as the Busch Clash. In 1998 the name was changed to the Bud Shootout. The "official name" was changed to the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in 2001, but is still known to one and all as simply the Bud Shootout. Over the years NASCAR has tinkered with the format of the race and the qualifications for entry.

2009 Update: The Bud Shootout will be around at least three more years after Budweiser extended their sponsorship with NASCAR, but the Pole Award is now being sponsored by a rival brewing company (Coors), necessitating a change in the Bud Shootout which had featured the Bud Pole Award winners in recent years. The new format puts the spotlight on the manufacturers: 28 teams will be in the race, the top six teams from each of the four manufacturers based on owners' points and a "wild card" entry that must meet certain criteria. The "wild card" entry can be a past Sprint Cup champion who attempted to qualify for all 36 races last year, or it must be the seventh place car in owner points from the manufacturer. If the seventh place car is no longer active, the next car in owner points would be designated. The race was also increased from 70 to 75 laps with segments of 25 and 50 laps around a 10-minute intermission.


2010 Update: By the start of the 2010 season, Dodge was down to just three Cup drivers, the Penske Racing organization. As this would limit the size of the field, NASCAR decided to put the focus on past Daytona winners -- all past Shootout and Daytona Cup race winners would be eligible to compete in the 2010 race, along with all former Cup champions and the reigning Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

NASCAR Basics: The Points System Explained

Originally published at Meanwhile... on Feb. 7, 2008.

Two things to keep in mind about the NASCAR points system...

1. Only two Sprint Cup events are non-point races, the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February and the Sprint All-Star Challenge at Lowes Motor Speedway in May. Points are awarded at all other races equally -- the winner of the Daytona 500 receives the same number of points as the winner of any other race. There aren't any unimportant races.

2. Unlike most other racing series, NASCAR awards points to every racer who qualifies for the race. Even the guy who crashes on the first lap of the race and finishes 43rd gets some points. Even if you have no hope of winning, you need to keep racing to garner as many points as you can.

The winner of the race receives 185 points (actually 190 -- I'll explain in a moment), second place receives 170. Subtract five points for each position down to sixth place which is worth 150 points. After that, subtract four points for each position down to eleventh place which is worth 130 points. Subtract three points for each position after that. That guy who crashed on the first lap and finished 43rd goes home with 34 points. (See table below.)

Five bonus points are awarded for leading a lap. Every driver who leads any lap gets five extra points. You can only receive this bonus once during a race regardless of how many times you take the lead or how many laps you lead. This is why the winner of the race gets 190 points. He has to lead at least one lap to win even if it's only the final lap. Another five bonus points is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps. So the winner of a race can receive 195 points if he also leads the most laps.

There are 36 Sprint Cup points races. After the first 26 races, the top 12 drivers in points become eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the championship. NASCAR started this "playoff" system in 2004 and has tinkered with the format a couple of times since. Currently, the top twelve drivers have their point totals reset to 5000 points. They are also given ten bonus points for each race won during the "regular season." The idea here is to make the last races of the season more competitive, to keep a driver from running away with the championship before the season is over.

Jeff Gordon probably would have won the championship last year if not for the Chase. After 26 races he had a commanding lead of over 300 points. After the points were reset he was in second place, twenty points behind Jimmie Johnson.

Owner Points

Just as a driver is awarded points, the car owner is also awarded points based on where the car finishes the race, regardless of who's driving.

Mark Martin, who has been retiring from racing for the past couple of years, is scheduled to drive the DEI #8 U.S. Army Chevy in 26 races this year. Aric Almirola will drive the car during the other races. Mark Martin and Aric Almirola will receive driver points based on where they finish in the races they start. DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc. -- owned by Teresa Earnhardt) gets owner points based on where the #8 car finishes a race regardless of whether Martin, Almirola, or anyone else is driving.

Owner points primarily come into play during race qualifying. The top 35 cars as determined by owner points are automatically qualified for the next race. Only eight spots are up for grabs to fill out a 43-car field.
Owner points are also awarded to cars that fail to qualify. The car that qualifies 44th and misses the race receives 31 owner points (the 34 points that the 43rd finisher receives minus three.) Keep subtracting three points for every qualifying position. The car that finishes dead last in qualifying receives one point just for showing up.

Manufacturer Points

The winner of a race earns his car's manufacturer nine points. The second-highest finishing manufacturer receives six points. The third-highest finishing manufacturer receives four points. The last manufacturer (there are only four -- Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Toyota) receives three points. Manufacturer points are not good for too much except bragging rights. Chevy has dominated the manufacturer points the last couple of years, but Ford is the all-time manufacturer.

Driver Points Table

Finish	Points
1st	185
2nd	170
3rd	165
4th	160
5th	155
6th	150
7th	146
8th	142
9th	138
10th	134
11th	130
12th	127
13th	124
14th	121
15th	118
16th	115
17th	112
18th	109
19th	106
20th	103
21st	100
22nd	97
23rd	94
24th	91
25th	88
26th	85
27th	82
28th	79
29th	76
30th	73
31st	70
32nd	67
33rd	64
34th	61
35th	58
36th	55
37th	52
38th	49
39th	46
40th	43
41st	40
42nd	37
43rd	34

NASCAR Basics: The National Series

Originally published at Meanwhile... on Feb. 5, 2008

NASCAR is the largest motorsports sanctioning body in the United States, overseeing over 1500 events at over 100 tracks in 39 states, Canada and Mexico, many at a small-town track near you. The Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series and the Craftsman Truck Series are the three national divisions of NASCAR.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR's major league is the Sprint Cup Series. Back in olden times (the 40's to the 70's), it was called the Grand National Division. In 1971, RJ Reynolds put down the money to sponsor the series which became known as the Winston Cup. When cigarette advertising was banned, RJ Reynolds was forced to relinquish the series sponsorship. Nextel stepped in and the series became the Nextel Cup. Nextel was a casualty in the Great Cellphone Wars, snatched up by Sprint. Starting this year, the old Grand National series will be known as the Sprint Cup.

It sounds kind of dinky. Sprint means the same thing in auto racing that it does in other types of racing: small, short, quick races. But they're paying the money; they can call it what they like.

Sprint Cup has the best drivers, the best teams, the most prize money. They race 36 times during the season, including ten races in the Chase for the Cup.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series

This is also a new series name, and will probably be harder to get used to. Nationwide Insurance replaces Busch Beer as the series sponsor this year. Anheuser-Busch has been the sponsor since the series began in 1982 and the name "Busch" has always been used to identify the series. The Nationwide Series has roots in NASCAR's old Sportsman division.

If Sprint Cup is the major leagues, the Nationwide Series is probably Triple A. Here you'll find some good, young drivers hoping to make it to the big show. A few of these drivers are almost children, barely old enough to legally drive on public roads. You'll also find quite a few Sprint Cup drivers doing double driving duty in both series for various reasons. These Buschwhackers usually dominate the Nationwide Series. They have more experience, better teams, more money to spend. Sprint Cup regular Carl Edwards is the defending Nationwide Series champion.

The Nationwide Series races are often held at the same track as the Sprint Cup races on the same weekend, but the races are usually shorter. The Nationwide cars usually have a shorter wheelbase and less horsepower than Sprint Cup cars. They race 35 times during the 2008 season.

The Craftsman Truck Series

The Craftsman Truck Series, as the name indicates, is a series that features pickup trucks. The series began in 1995. This series will undergo a name change next year; Craftsman has announced that this will be their final year sponsoring the series.

The Truck Series is almost a senior league. Here you'll find a lot of former Sprint Cup drivers. You'll also newcomers looking to get into the Cup races and the occasional Cup regular. They race 25 times this season, and the races are even shorter than the Nationwide races.


In a typical weekend, the Craftsman Truck Series race takes place on Friday night, the Nationwide Series race on Saturday afternoon, and the Sprint Cup race on Sunday afternoon. Occasionally the races are all at the same track. Often they are not, making it difficult for drivers that want to compete in more than one series.

Update: As indicated above, the Craftsman Truck Series picked up a new sponsor in 2009. It is now the Camping World Truck Series.

Why NASCAR?

Originally posted at Meanwhile... on Feb. 3, 2008

"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."

Ernest Hemingway is usually cited for the above quote. I don't know if he said that or not. Probably not. Hemingway, like Mark Twain and Yogi Berra, is often credited for any quote that sounds like he might have said it. As Yogi once put it, "I really didn't say everything I said."

I don't think much of bullfighting and don't much see the point of mountaineering, but I agree with Hemingway (or whomever) about auto racing. I love all forms of auto racing. I was in a state of panic for about a week recently when my cable provider (rhymes with Bombast) did a little lineup musical chairs and the Speed Channel disappeared. It turns out that they had just moved it to another channel, but they really had me worried there for a while. When I'm channel surfing, I'll always stop at Speed to watch a race. I might not watch past the next commercial, but I'll always stop to check out what kind of cars or motorcycles they're racing, see who's winning, see if I've heard of anybody.

Auto racing is high drama -- man versus man, man versus machine, life and death. Auto racing seems to be an individual sport, but it's really the ultimate team sport. The driver is the individual with his reputation (and life) on the line, but he is just the most visible part of a race team. To bring the checkered flag and the big trophy home, everyone on the team has to do their part.

Compare and Contrast

Back in the Dark Ages, back when the average television set could only receive three or four channels, you couldn't see much auto racing on television. You would see the Indy 500 every year, of course, and you might see the occasional race highlighted on Wide World of Sports, but that was about it.

The United States Auto Club (USAC) ran the show at Indy when I was kid, but split up into rival factions, the Indy Racing League (IRL, or Indy Cars) and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART, or Champ Cars).

CART was the more dominant of the two leagues in the beginning, but has since declared bankruptcy. Champ Car lives on under another sanctioning body. The last Champ Car race I saw last year was a fairly sad affair with just over a dozen competitors.

Both leagues race technologically advanced open-wheeled racers. The wheels are not covered by fenders. The tires jut out. The cars fly and turn on a dime, but there's no bumping and grinding here. IRL racing is very team oriented with teammates expected to work together.

Formula One (F1) is king in much of the world. Their cars are technological marvels, the creme de la creme of racing. Their cars are also open-wheeled. F1 races take place all around the world, from the United States to Japan to Bahrain, and the races sometimes come on TV here at very odd hours. F1 is the ultimate team racing, with a lot of politics and a little corporate espionage...a little too much for me.

As a son of the South, NASCAR (an acronym: the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) suits me just fine. It too has its roots in the South, starting with moonshiners who honed their skills by outrunning revenuers going to the dirt track to test their luck. I watched a fair amount of NASCAR growing up. Back in those aforementioned Dark Ages, they provided a lot of those Wide World of Sports highlights, but in February of 1979, CBS tried something new: a wire-to-wire broadcast of the Daytona 500. They had cameras right there at track level where you could almost feel the cars zooming by. They had in-car cameras. And CBS got lucky. Almost the entire Eastern United States was snowed and iced in on that February afternoon. There weren't any other major sporting events on the telly that day. A record audience (a captive audience) saw one of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history...



A lot of NASCAR fans were born that day and the regional sport began moving out of the South. NASCAR now holds Sprint Cup races from Fontana, California to Dover, Delaware to Homestead, Florida. The cars are not so technologically advanced. Juan Pablo Montoya won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Raybestos (everything has a sponsor) Rookie of the Year award last year. He found the biggest adjustment to NASCAR to be the racecar...

"When I first came here, they told me I was running for Raybestos Rookie of the Year, and I was like, 'you've got to be kidding me,'" said Montoya, the 1999 Indianapolis 500 winner and a seven-time winner in Formula One. "I thought I would be an exception or something. In a lot of ways, I really was a rookie. Do I have a lot of experience as a racing driver? Yes, but I've never been in a stock car before, so coming here and getting into it was a big deal. We had a lot of fun...

At Daytona, first race of the year, I thought we had a good car, and we did, but after Lap 5, it was so tight I was just about to get lapped every time it went yellow," Montoya said. "It's just knowing how far off I was when I thought the car was good. When you think you have a good car, you're still miles away, and other times when you're so loose you're about to kill yourself, you're competitive.
"To get that into your system is pretty hard."

But other drivers, including Dario Franchitti, last year's IRL champion, and Jacques Villeneuve, one of only three drivers to win the Indy 500, the CART championship, and a F1 championship, are following Montoya to NASCAR.

NASCAR is a lot easier for the average fan to follow. Almost every Sunday (except for when they race on Saturday nights), the race is going to be on. The schedule is pretty full. They take Mother's Day and a couple of other weekends off, but otherwise they race from February to November, making NASCAR the sport with the longest season. It's especially welcome in February and March, the dead zone for sports when basketball is the only game in town.

In that 1979 Daytona 500, the drivers drove cars that looked a lot like those you could buy from your local Chevy or Oldsmobile dealer. They weren't very safe and occasionally a driver would die.

Life in the pits was rough too. There was no pit road speed limit. Cars zoomed in at 100 mph, past crewmen clad in short-sleeved shirts and work pants. When you had to change right side tires, the crewman had to turn their backs to pit road. Crew members didn't wear helmets -- the better to feel the hair stand up on the back of their necks.

And like all professional and some college sports, the money hadn't mucked up the sport yet. The teams had sponsors, but the cars weren't traveling billboards like they are now. Excepting Richard Petty's #43 STP car, you usually had to look hard to figure out who the sponsors were. The sponsor might even be some local diner or a mom-and-pop hardware store.

To see how much things have changed, tune into this year's Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 17.

SEC Football Wrapup

The first weekend of the 2010 college football season is in the books.  Since most of the SEC teams were playing tuneups against Sisters of the Poor teams, there weren't many surprises.  Just one, in fact:

The Ole Miss Rebels blew a 31-10 halftime lead and ended up losing to Jacksonville State 49-48 in two overtimes.  It was JSU's first win against an FBS school since September 2007 when they beat Arkansas State, and the largest deficit overcome in the school's history.  JSU, a FCS school from the Ohio Valley Conference, outscored the Rebels 21-3 in the fourth quarter to force overtime, then completed a pass to get the two-point conversion and the win.  JSU's final touchdown came on fourth-and-30, a pass from Coty Blanchard to Kevyn Cooper.

The North Carolina-LSU game was somewhat of a surprise to me.  Although UNC was the higher ranked team going in, I was surprised that LSU had such a hard time in earning the 30-24 win.  With 13 players benched due to an NCAA investigation and down 20 at the half, the Tarheels put on a furious rally that came up just a little short.  With seconds left on the clock, UNC was on the LSU six-yard line, but two pass fell incomplete.  Either UNC has made great strides or LSU has fallen off worse than expected.  UNC did capitalize on a bad call on an onside kick and got their final chance after a costly fumble while LSU was trying to run out the clock.

The Scores:
#1 Alabama 48, San Jose State 3
#4 Florida 34, Miami (OH) 12
#17 Arkansas 44, Tennessee Tech 3
#20 LSU 30, #18 North Carolina 24
#22 Auburn 52, Arkansas State 26
#23 Georgia 55, LA-Lafayette 7
Jacksonville State 49, Mississippi 48 (2OT)
Kentucky 23, Louisville 16
Tennessee 50, TN-Martin 0
Mississippi State 49, Memphis 7
Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 21
South Carolina 41, Southern Miss. 13 (Thursday, 9/2)

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• Jacksonville State stuns Masoli, Ole Miss in 2OT (sports.espn.go.com)
• L.S.U. 30, North Carolina 24: Short-Handed Tar Heels Rally but Fall Short (nytimes.com)
• SEC Power Rankings: Florida Shaky, While Mississppi State Surprises After Week 1 (bleacherreport.com)

A New Blog

Once upon a time I had several blogs, including one devoted to sports.  Demands on my time made it hard to keep up with all of them, so I consolidated everything into one blog.  But my disparate interests made that one blog downright unreadable so I've decided to split everything up again.

This is an effort to reestablish a blog devoted to sports.  You'll see a lot about NASCAR, some stuff about the Atlanta Braves and SEC football, and other stuff as the mood strikes.  You'll also see some older stuff that has been transferred over from my main blog.

Down, set, hike...