Earlier this week, it was announced that the Haas-CNC Sprint Cup teams were going to appeal the 150-point penalties NASCAR levied for their alleged illegal wing brackets. The catch is that until the appeal is heard, the teams will be listed in the owners standings with point totals reflecting the penalty. Now, leaving aside this SPECIFIC question of guilt or innocence at Haas-CNC, is there anyone here who REALLY would like to ever see THIS scenario? 1. Team inside top-35 gets penalized, moving the team outside the top-35.
This essentially happened to the #66 team, although they were in last week at Dover, their finish (39th) was poor enough to move them down to 36th. They were 25th without the penalty headed to Dover, and they would have been 28th headed to Pocono.
2. Team, now outside the top-35, misses a race or two.
Could happen, right? The 70 team has missed races. So has the 96. And the 10. And more.
3. Due largely to missing races, team falls well below top-35 cutline.
This happens SO MUCH faster than you would think. Right now, there is one team - the #66 - that is within 100 points of 35th. For J.J. Yeley to put his #96 back into the top-35, he would nearly have to win a race, or string together top-ten finishes - which, by the way, ISN'T nearly required to be barely in the top-35 (see Waltrip, Michael.) Every other team besides the #66 is at least 142 points behind 35th.
4. NASCAR accepts appeal and restores points that were penalized.
Again - not specific to the Haas-CNC case, but it could happen. Robby Gordon was docked 100 points this season that were returned. This is not an entirely implausible scenario.
Now, WHAT IF the rescinded penalty, applied for a few races then withdrawn, knocked a team out of the top-35 and forced them to miss races which they would have OTHERWISE qualified? WHAT IF NASCAR restored the points, yet those races that were missed left that team STILL outside the top-35? You know what that team would be?
Screwed.
Now, if you are reading this blog, you probably already don't like the top-35 rule - hardly anyone who really likes NASCAR does, right? But seriously, how can NASCAR not see that they made a rule that could potentially have GRAVE unintended consequences?
In this case, all the affected team could get is a "sorry, OUR bad" from NASCAR.
Despite a weekend of dreadfully boring racing this weekend at the Monster Mile, NASCAR has continued to reward us with the winning exploits of Kyle Busch. Busch dominated the last half of the Best Buy 400, and a quick pit-stop by the #18 crew sent Kyle on his way to a four second-win, and truthfully, it wasn't THAT close. Kudos to NASCAR for NOT throwing a debris caution, which would have been expected by many savvy NASCAR viewers.
Kyle's win is his fourth of the season in Sprint Cup, leading the series, but what I find immensely more fascinating is that it was his TENTH win of the season. Perspective? How's this list of the top winning seasons (on all levels of NASCAR) since 1982, the first year of the Busch Series.
YEAR CUP NWS CTS TOTAL Kevin Harvick 2006 5 9 0 14 Jeff Gordon 1998 13 0 0 13 Darrell Waltrip 1982 12 1 0 13 Dale Earnhardt 1987 11 1 0 12 Mark Martin 1993 5 7 0 12 Bill Elliott 1985 11 0 0 11 Dale Earnhardt 1990 9 2 0 11 Jimmie Johnson 2007 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1997 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1996 10 0 0 10 Rusty Wallace 1993 10 0 0 10 Harry Gant 1991 5 5 0 10 Dale Earnhardt 1986 5 5 0 10 Mark Martin 1997 4 6 0 10 Sam Ard 1983 0 10 0 10 Kyle Busch 2008 4 4 2 10
That's where Kyle sits on JUNE 2ND! Props to FOX for bringing up during their broadcast: this is one of THE most dominating streaks in NASCAR, ever. And the best thing? Kyle's running Texas, Nashville, AND Pocono next week.
Kyle's win extends his JJD points-lead over race runner-up Edwards. Dale Earnhardt Jr. holds third despite being collected in Elliott Sadler's lap 19 crash. (Is it me, or does Sadler seem to get into a lot of rookie-ish incidents for a veteran? And nice call my FOX blowing by Jeremy Mayfield's presence in the #40, racing Sadler hard on the outside 20 laps into a 400-lap race. Gee, why would Mayfield do THAT? And I suppose you could toss the fact that Gilliland was on the bottom and make a big soap opera out of it, too.) Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle gained spots with top-five finishes after Sadler's crash crippled many top-ten cars.
SPRINT CUP (DRIVERS) Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 171 1 2 Carl Edwards 127 2 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 99 3 4 Jeff Gordon 92 6 5 Jeff Burton 90 5 6 Denny Hamlin 86 4 7 Greg Biffle 85 10 8 Jimmie Johnson 84 7 9 Tony Stewart 73 8 10 Clint Bowyer 72 9 11 Ryan Newman 55 11 Matt Kenseth 55 14 13 Kasey Kahne 53 12 14 Kevin Harvick 50 13 15 Mark Martin 34 15 16 David Ragan 33 16 Martin Truex Jr. 33 17 18 Kurt Busch 23 18 19 Travis Kvapil 21 20 20 Brian Vickers 20 19
Joe Gibbs Racing strengthened its hold on the top-spot in the team standings with Kyle's win, but Roush Fenway Racing finished 2-3-4, with Greg Biffle winning the pole and leading the most laps, and they bumped Hendrick Motorsports from second-place, a big change from how things were a year ago. Some lower-ranked teams had good days at Dover as well, with Dave Blaney equalling his best finish of the year for Bill Davis racing in ninth, Travis Kvapil with yet another solid run finishing 11th, and Juam Pablo Montoya, he of the revolving door of crew chiefs, finishing 12th after starting 35th.
SPRINT CUP (TEAMS) Rank Points 1 Joe Gibbs Racing 223 2 Roush Fenway Racing 186 3 Hendrick Motorsports 183 4 Richard Childress Racing 132 5 Penske Racing 60 6 Dale Earnhardt Inc. 58 7 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 55 8 Chip Ganassi Racing 31 9 Yates Racing 26 10 Red Bull Racing Team 21 11 Bill Davis Racing 11 12 Michael Waltrip Racing 9 13 Robby Gordon Motorsports 8 Petty Enterprises 8 15 Haas CNC Racing 2 16 Front Row Motorsports 1 Furniture Row Racing 1 Hall of Fame Racing 1
Surprisingly, NO teams would have been knocked out of the top-35 this week. However, a couple of big-time teams need a good week at Pocono after getting caught up in the early melee at Dover, as Tony Stewart is 24th and Kevin Harvick is 25th in owners points over the last five races. Paul Menard would need a good run at Pocono as well, as he loses a 14th-place result from Talladega next week.
JJD's IMPROVED TOP-35 RULE (including Haas CNC penalties) 31 Reed Sorenson 410 - 43rd* 32 Elliott Sadler 415 - 29th 33 Michael Waltrip 391 - 27th 34 Paul Menard 388 - 14th 35 A.J. Allmendinger 366 - 30th 36 Michael McDowell 352 - 26th 37 Dario Franchitti 334 - 28th 38 J.J. Yeley 319 - 45th 39 Joe Nemechek 317 - 25th 40 Scott Riggs 308 - 16th *Result at Talladega, which is dropped after the race at Pocono. A higher finish = more points to replace to stay in top-35.
Denny Hamlin won the Heluva Good! 200, and I'd like to be all fired up because yet another Joe Gibbs Racing Cup-driver won a Nationwide Series race, making it ten Nationwide wins for the trio (which, while patently ridiculous, is just a replay of Hendrick Motorsports' dominance in Cup last year), but look at some of the names that are consistently in the top-ten in this series. David Stremme and Brad Keselowski are non-Cup drivers on non-Cup teams (officially, anyway), yet they scored top-tens AGAIN this week, with Stremme third and BK seventh. Add to the mixed "Sliced Bread" Joey Logano's debut NWS start, resulting in a sixth-place finish, and I'd say Nashville is looking pretty interesting next week. NATIONWIDE SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 151 1 2 Clint Bowyer 121 2 3 Carl Edwards 98 4 4 Tony Stewart 97 3 5 Denny Hamlin 88 6 6 Kevin Harvick 80 5 7 David Stremme 72 8 8 David Reutimann 67 9 9 Brad Keselowski 66 7 10 David Ragan 49 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 49 10 12 Jeff Burton 46 12 13 Mike Bliss 42 13 14 Greg Biffle 40 18 15 Jason Leffler 38 14 Scott Wimmer 38 15 17 Brian Vickers 35 16 18 Matt Kenseth 33 17 19 Kasey Kahne 27 19 20 Steve Wallace 25 20
Joey Logano's sixth-place finish in his maiden NWS start actually further extends the #20 team's points-lead over Clint Bowyer and the #2 RCR Chevy, who finished ninth. Carl Edwards' runner-up finish moved the #60 team up from fifth to third, and depsite running only six out of fourteen races, the #18 moves up to fourth with Denny Hamlin's win.
NATIONWIDE SERIES (TEAMS) Rank Car# Owner Points 1 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 186 Drivers: T. Stewart (6 starts), D. Hamlin (4), Ky. Busch (3), J. Logano (1) 2 2 Richard Childress Racing 121 Driver: C. Bowyer (14 starts) 3 60 Roush Fenway Racing 98 Driver: C. Edwards (14 starts) 4 18 Joe Gibbs Racing 90 Driver: Ky. Busch (5 starts), D. Hamlin (1) 5 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. 85 Drivers: K. Harvick (11 starts), C. Gale (2), R. Hornaday (1) 6 29 Richard Childress Racing 84 Drivers: J. Burton (7 starts), S. Wimmer (7) 7 32 Braun Racing 78 Drivers: Ky. Busch(6 starts), D. Hamlin (3), B. Vickers (3), J. Buescher (1), M. Jourdain (1) 8 64 Rusty Wallace Inc. 72 Driver: D. Stremme (13 starts), M. Papis (1) 9 99 Michael Waltrip Racing 67 Driver: D. Reutimann (14 starts) 10 88 JR Motorsports 66 Driver: B. Keselowski (14 starts) 11 5 JR Motorsports 63 Drivers: D. Earnhardt Jr. (5 starts), L. Cassill (4), M. Martin (2), M. Truex Jr. (1), A. Fernandez (1), J. Johnson (1) 12 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 53 Drivers: K. Kahne (7 starts), P. Carpentier (3), C. Miller (3), E. Sadler (1) 13 6 Roush Fenway Racing 49 Driver: D. Ragan (13 starts) 16 Roush Fenway Racing 53 Drivers: G. Biffle (6 starts), J. McMurray (3), C. Braun (2) 15 17 Roush Fenway Racing 42 Drivers: M. Kenseth (4 starts), J. McMurray (1), E. Darnell (1)
NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS RESET ELIMINATING SPRINT CUP RACE WINNERS Rank Points 1 David Reutimann 2166 2 Brad Keselowski 2110 3 David Ragan 2087 4 Mike Bliss 2057 5 Jason Leffler 1928 6 David Stremme 1922 7 Mike Wallace 1907 8 Steve Wallace 1834 9 Jason Keller 1816 10 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 1751 11 Marcos Ambrose 1749 12 Kelly Bires 1737 13 Brad Coleman 1624 14 Kenny Wallace 1528 15 Kevin Lepage 1373
OFFICIAL JACK INGRAM CUP PRESENTED BY JJD STANDINGS Rank Points 1 David Reutimann 150 2 Brad Keselowski 140 3 David Ragan 139 4 David Stremme 133 5 Mike Bliss 114 6 Jason Leffler 95 7 Scott Wimmer 70 8 Steve Wallace 67 9 Mike Wallace 60 10 Kelly Bires 53 11 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 51 Marcos Ambrose 51 13 Jason Keller 49 14 Dario Franchitti 47 15 Patrick Carpentier 35
For the third week in a row, a previously winless driver went to Victory Lane in the Craftsman Truck Series, as Scott Speed won the AAA Insurance 200 by over three seconds. Speed joins previous winners Matt Crafton and Donny Lia as newcomers to the NASCAR wins list. Series veteran Jack Sprague was second, and he moves from 12th to seventh in JJD points, while Ron Hornaday's third-place finish gives him the points-lead back from Kyle Busch, who had transmission trouble while dominating and had to settle for 27th.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Ron Hornaday 79 2 2 Kyle Busch 73 1 3 Todd Bodine 62 3 4 Matt Crafton 60 5 5 Johnny Benson 55 4 6 Mike Skinner 52 6 7 Jack Sprague 50 12 8 David Starr 48 9 9 Rick Crawford 45 7 10 Chad McCumbee 42 7
What did all three race winners have in common this weekend? All were in Toyotas, and the sweep of the weekend extends Toyota's points-lead to 55 over Chevrolet, whose weekend peaked Friday with a second-place finish in Trucks, and Ford actually outscored Chevrolet for the weekend.
MANUFACTURERS Rank Points LW 1 Toyota 637 1
2 Chevrolet 582 2
3 Ford 454 3
4 Dodge 237 4
UPDATE: I haven't had time to post a proper points update since Richmond, but it's all for good. I took a vacation for the first time in FOREVER, getting on a plane for non-work reasons for the first time since 2003, and the Memorial Day holiday weekend truncated my work schedule for the week. Here's an abbreviated post to update the points, with a familiar name at the top of a LOT of these lists.
I should be able to get back into the swing of things next week. As always, leave a comment! SPRINT CUP (DRIVERS) Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 150 1 2 Carl Edwards 110 2 3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 99 3 4 Denny Hamlin 86 4 5 Jeff Burton 85 5 6 Jeff Gordon 81 9 7 Jimmie Johnson 77 5 8 Tony Stewart 73 7 9 Clint Bowyer 72 7 10 Greg Biffle 67 11 11 Ryan Newman 54 10 12 Kasey Kahne 53 15 13 Kevin Harvick 50 11 14 Matt Kenseth 42 13 15 Mark Martin 34 14 16 David Ragan 33 16 17 Martin Truex Jr. 25 17 18 Kurt Busch 23 18 19 Brian Vickers 20 19 20 Travis Kvapil 19 19
SPRINT CUP (TEAMS) Rank Points 1 Joe Gibbs Racing 202 2 Hendrick Motorsports 172 3 Roush Fenway Racing 166 4 Richard Childress Racing 127 5 Penske Racing 59 6 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 55 7 Dale Earnhardt Inc. 50 8 Chip Ganassi Racing 30 9 Yates Racing 24 10 Red Bull Racing Team 21 11 Robby Gordon Motorsports 8 Petty Enterprises 8 Michael Waltrip Racing 8 14 Bill Davis Racing 7 15 Haas CNC Racing 2 16 Front Row Motorsports 1 Furniture Row Racing 1 Hall of Fame Racing 1
JJD's IMPROVED TOP-35 RULE (including Haas CNC penalties) 31 Michael Waltrip 403 - 24th* 32 A.J. Allmendinger 393 - 28th 33 Paul Menard 391 - 22nd 34 Robby Gordon 389 - 29th 35 Reed Sorenson 362 - 42nd 36 Scott Riggs 347 - 26th 37 Michael McDowell 335 - 34th 38 CGR's #40 (Jeremy Mayfield) 313 - 32nd 39 Joe Nemechek 299 - 40th 40 Kyle Petty 275 - 44th *Result at Phoenix, which is dropped after the race at Dover. A higher finish = more points to replace to stay in top-35.
NATIONWIDE SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 150 1 2 Clint Bowyer 117 2 3 Tony Stewart 97 3 4 Carl Edwards 81 4 5 Kevin Harvick 80 5 6 Denny Hamlin 65 8 7 Brad Keselowski 60 9 8 David Stremme 58 6 9 David Reutimann 55 7 10 David Ragan 49 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 49 15 12 Jeff Burton 46 12 13 Mike Bliss 42 11 14 Jason Leffler 38 13 15 Scott Wimmer 37 13 16 Brian Vickers 35 18 17 Matt Kenseth 33 16 18 Greg Biffle 30 17 19 Kasey Kahne 24 18 20 Steve Wallace 23 18 Bobby Labonte 23 18 Mark Martin 23 18
NATIONWIDE SERIES (TEAMS) Rank Car# Owner Points 1 20 Joe Gibbs Racing 178 Drivers: T. Stewart (6 starts), D. Hamlin (4), Ky. Busch (3) 2 2 Richard Childress Racing 117 Driver: C. Bowyer (13 starts) 3 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. 85 Drivers: K. Harvick (10 starts), C. Gale (2), R. Hornaday (1) 4 29 Richard Childress Racing 83 Drivers: J. Burton (7 starts), S. Wimmer (5) 5 60 Roush Fenway Racing 81 Driver: C. Edwards (13 starts) 6 32 Braun Racing 77 Drivers: Ky. Busch(5 starts), D. Hamlin (3), B. Vickers (3), J. Buescher (1), M. Jourdain (1) 7 18 Joe Gibbs Racing 67 Driver: Ky. Busch (5 starts) 8 5 JR Motorsports 63 Drivers: D. Earnhardt Jr. (5 starts), L. Cassill (3), M. Martin (2), M. Truex Jr. (1), A. Fernandez (1), J. Johnson (1) 9 88 JR Motorsports 60 Driver: B. Keselowski (13 starts) 10 64 Rusty Wallace Inc. 58 Driver: D. Stremme (12 starts), M. Papis (1) 11 99 Michael Waltrip Racing 55 Driver: D. Reutimann (13 starts) 12 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports 50 Drivers: K. Kahne (6 starts), P. Carpentier (3), C. Miller (3), E. Sadler (1) 13 6 Roush Fenway Racing 49 Driver: D. Ragan (13 starts) 14 16 Roush Fenway Racing 43 Drivers: G. Biffle (5 starts), J. McMurray (3), C. Braun (2) 15 17 Roush Fenway Racing 42 Drivers: M. Kenseth (4 starts), J. McMurray (1), E. Darnell (1)
NATIONWIDE SERIES POINTS RESET ELIMINATING SPRINT CUP RACE WINNERS Rank Points 1 David Reutimann 1996 2 David Ragan 1984 3 Brad Keselowski 1950 4 Mike Bliss 1930 5 Jason Leffler 1822 6 Mike Wallace 1752 7 David Stremme 1737 8 Jason Keller 1686 9 Steve Wallace 1684 10 Marcos Ambrose 1649 11 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 1613 12 Kelly Bires 1595 13 Brad Coleman 1530 14 Kenny Wallace 1407 15 Kevin Lepage 1278
OFFICIAL JACK INGRAM CUP PRESENTED BY JJD STANDINGS Rank Points 1 David Ragan 139 2 David Reutimann 134 3 Brad Keselowski 128 4 David Stremme 113 5 Mike Bliss 112 6 Jason Leffler 95 7 Scott Wimmer 64 8 Steve Wallace 59 9 Marcos Ambrose 51 10 Mike Wallace 50 11 Kelly Bires 48 12 Jason Keller 47 Bobby Hamilton Jr. 47 14 Dario Franchitti 44 15 Patrick Carpentier 35
CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES Rank Points LW 1 Kyle Busch 70 1 2 Ron Hornaday 64 2 3 Todd Bodine 61 4 4 Johnny Benson 52 5 5 Matt Crafton 50 3 6 Mike Skinner 45 9 7 Rick Crawford 41 6 Chad McCumbee 41 6 9 David Starr 40 14 10 Terry Cook 38 12
MANUFACTURERS Rank Points LW 1 Toyota 569 1
2 Chevrolet 540 2
3 Ford 404 3
4 Dodge 232 4
Last year after the Hendrick cars were parked at Sonoma, I wrote a couple of posts about what the penalties should be and why they were ineffective. Did a 100-point penalty have ANY impact on Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon's seasons? NO. NASCAR considered those infractions very serious - 100 points was about as big a penalty as they had handed down, yet it had as much effect as a holding penalty at the end of a 45-0 football game.
Flash-forward to this weekend, when Haas CNC racing had their two cars confiscated for illegal wing brackets. Now, the two Haas teams are nowhere near the championship, but with the top-35 rule in place the #66 at least had a locked-in spot in the field each week, while the #70 is currently outside the top-35 and must qualify on speed. Penalties - ANY penalties - should really hurt them, right?
Today NASCAR announced *150* point penalties to both the #66 and #70 teams. "OMG THEIR SEASONS ARE OVER!" Except...
- the #66 car moves from 26th in points to 34th - STILL LOCKED IN the top-35 - the #70 car moves from 40th in points to 43rd - STILL a GOGH car.
So, the net result for Haas CNC racing is...nothing?
Sure, the #66 team has a smaller margin of error, but they ARE in and over 150 points clear of the 37th-place car, meaning they really only have to stay ahead of Sam Hornish Jr. and Michael Waltrip to stay in the top-35, AND there are six cars bunched within 14 points of 35th, so if ONE of those cars breaks early or wrecks, the #66 is probably good-to-go as long as they stay out of trouble. Not really too significant considering they just got the biggest penalty in recent NASCAR history.
This is yet another reason why the top-35 should be changed to account for only the five most recent races. Over the last five races, the #66 car was *21st* in owners points. However, if you dock them 150 points from that total, they end up 36th, 15 points behind Reed Sorenson. Voilá! Suddenly, you have made the #66 a GOGH car, which could prove to be very costly.
Also, this would work with other cars, too. Look at Jimmie Johnson. He won at Phoenix, which is the first race of the most recent five events, but a string of relatively subpar results has the two-time champ 13th over the last five races (behind guys like David Ragan and Travis Kvapil, I'd add). Hit JJ with a big penalty AND replace his win (and the maximum points he gained) with a subpar finish, and HE could be hovering around 35th or so in points following Dover.
Getting these penalties to have some REAL teeth, for EVERY team in the standings, would surely make some teams think twice about skirting the rules.
On September 9, Tony George had a headache. It was bad enough that Sam Hornish Jr., IndyCar's three-time series champion and 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner, was planning to run several Nextel Cup races in the coming weeks to prepare for a possible, if not likely, jump to Penske Racing's NASCAR team. Now his newly-minted 2007 series champion and defending Indy winner - Dario Franchitti - was getting ready to make the same jump from Andretti Green Racing to Chip Ganassi's NASCAR crew. Something had to be done. Luckily, the phone call that would change the Indianapolis 500 was about to happen.
"TG - it's your old pal Robin Miller here. I just wanted to get your thoughts about Dario jumping ship to drive taxi cabs for the Chipster..."
...was how it started, a long conversation where Tony let Robin know he had had enough, and that it was time to do something about it. A week later, there was a press conference at Indianapoilis Motor Speedway, with the new IndyCar Director of Public Relations at the podium.
"Folks, thanks for coming out today. I know a lot of you in this room know me, but for those who don't, my name is Robin Miller, and I've been covering the Indianapolis 500 and open-wheel racing in America since before a lot of you folks were born. I'm totally sick that the last two champions of the greatest race in the world have decided to try their hand at NASCAR, and I'm also sick of this split between Champ Car and IndyCar. Now, I agree with my friend Tony George that the Indianapolis 500 is THE greatest event in motorsports, and it is about damn time that we get all of the best drivers in the world - as many as we can - Back to the Brickyard."
"Our Back to the Brickyard initiative is two-fold: purse and scheduling. Tony asked me how it could be that so many of our sport's greatest drivers were opting to drive tintops. Folks, we all know money talks, and this ain't twenty years ago. In 1989, Emerson Fittipaldi cleared a million large for winning the 500, and the total purse was over $5.7 million. Meanwhile, NASCAR was paying a pittance - $185k - to Darrell Waltrip for winning THEIR biggest race, and that year's total Daytona 500 purse was under $2 mil. Today, the race winners at Indy and Daytona are paid about the same, but their purse is over $8 million more than that of the Indy 500. Tony and I agree that's not getting it done."
Today, we proudly announce that the winner of the 2008 Indianapolis 500 will take home a check for $3.25 million, and the entire purse of the race will be $25 million, paying $450,000 for the 33rd-place finisher. We also announce that we are going too cap entries at five cars per team, lest Michael Andretti try to field eight cars so his entire family can come back in cars that will probably all break in the last ten laps or some such nonsense."
"Part Two of our Back to the Brickyard program will concern the schedule. You may notice all of the bulldozers and equipment around the outside of the Speedway. IMS is installing lights that will be ready for the '08 race. We won't actually use them in the race unless necessary, but they will be on so that qualifying and especially practice can take place at night."
"We also proudly announce that the 2008 Indianapolis 500 will take place Monday, May 26, beginning at 1:00 pm, eastern. Shifting the race to Monday should allow any driver that wants to go for the largest prize in American motorsports to do so. We will also have three days of pole qualifying, Sunday May 11, Saturday May 17, and Sunday May 18. Two of those days are not currently being used by certain other racing series, you might notice, but I assure you that is only a coincidence."
"To answer your biggest question, yes, we will be running spec Dallara-Hondas with Firestone tires for 2008. That is an issue that we will revisit following this year's race. We're not exactly taking it one thing at a time, but if we get a lot of teams saying they would bring cars if they could have different makes - something we would actually prefer, given Indy's history - we will absolutely address that. But for now, we are focusing on increasing the car count and the profile of the drivers here, to get back to the era when ALL of the best drivers strove for Brickyard glory. Good day, ladies and gentlemen (and you, Despain. *wink*)"
October 3 - At the press conference officially announcing Dario Franchitti as the new driver of his #40 Dodge Charger, Chip Ganassi indicates he is strongly looking into adding cars for Dario and Juan Pablo Montoya to his duo of Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon for the Indy 500. "We'll probably have a fifth car, too. Shouldn't be too hard to find a driver, I wouldn't think," says Chip.
November 10 - Roger Penske announces that despite struggles in qualifying for Nextel Cup races, Sam Hornish Jr. will race the entire 2008 Sprint Cup schedule for Penske Racing. The Captain also speculates "if Chip's bringing five cars to Indy, I'll most likely add cars myself. I'm pretty sure Sam would be up for it."
Feburary 17 - Following his first Daytona 500 win, Ryan Newman jokes that he'd like to thank Kurt Busch for pushing him to victory and that "Roger and I had a deal where if I won the 500 he'd put me in a car for Indy." Penske tells Newman he'll "look into that."
February 18 - Tony Stewart asks his guest, Daytona champ-Newman, if he thinks he can get Roger to put him into an IndyCar. Ryan tells Tony they were semi-seriously joking about it all night, and Tony declares "there ain't no way YOU are running the Indy 500 and I'm not."
February 20 - Despite failing to make the field for the Daytona 500, February is not an entirely lost month for former Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve, as Chip Ganassi announces that Villeneuve will run his fifth and final car at Indianapolis, completing his stable of drivers that will, in fact, include Franchitti and Montoya, along with Dixon and Wheldon.
February 22 - Despite its best efforts to run a 2008 season, the Champ Car series closes shop. Immediately, IndyCar announces that all former Champ Car teams will receive additional technical support should they decide to run the IndyCar season. Only Gerry Forsythe's team declines, and ten Champ Car teams are added to the entry list for Indy.
February 24 - During a rain delay at the Auto Club 500, Roger Penske concedes that "if Chip's running five cars, I'm probably bringing five, too" and that he "wouldn't be opposed" to putting either of his stock car drivers into one or both of the seats he would need to fill.
February 27 - At the press conference announcing the National Guard's sponsorship of Panther Racing's single-car team, owner John Barnes states that they do not plan to run only one car at Indianapolis, but that no announcements would be made regarding other cars until late March, at the earliest.
March 1 - After Mark Martin drives his JR Motorsports Chevrolet to his first win as a Nationwide Series owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. casually mentions in the post-race press conference that he has seen the Delphi/National Guard IndyCar and that "it looks pretty cool along with my Cup car. You know, Daddy used to mention around Indy-time that he'd wished he tried the Indy 500 at least once."
March 3 - Team Red Bull announces Mike Skinner will be replacing the struggling A.J. Allmendinger in the #84 Toyota Camry. Red Bull GM Jay Frye declares "the team hasn't lost any faith in A.J. In fact, we're going to field a couple of cars at Indianapolis and he's going to be in the #84 for the Indy 500." No word on who the second driver could be.
March 27 - Andretti Green Racing announces they will field a fifth car with team co-owner Michael Andretti behind the wheel of the car #1, just as he was when he finished third.
April 7 - After a fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, Ryan Newman is announced as the driver of the Penske Racing #39 entry for the Indianapolis 500, where he will join Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, and Sam Hornish Jr. as drivers, with a fifth driver to be determined. Kurt Busch denies he will drive the fifth car.
April 9 - At the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix, Tony Stewart and A.J. Foyt announce Stewart will drive a Subway-sponsored #41 at the Indy 500, with Tony adding that he'll be exclusively eating Subway in attempt to be able to fit in the car better. Foyt adds that Stewart will join Darren Manning, who will drive the #14, and "probably at least one more guy you have heard of" for the race.
April 11 - The Indianapolis 500 entry list is released with fifty cars, including five each for Penske Racing (with one drivers TBA), Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti Green Racing. A.J. Foyt lists four entries (with two TBA), as does Panther Racing, who creates a stir with three TBA drivers - #48, #55, and #88. Newman/Haas/Lanigan adds a third car as TBA, with speculation that Paul Tracy will be behind the wheel.
April 14 - A.J. Foyt announces that Robby Gordon will drive his #31 car, and that he's "got a pretty hot driver in mind" for his fourth car, but is not ready to announce that driver.
April 20 - Kyle Busch wins the Nationwide Series Corona Mexico 200, his third straight series win. Fielding a question about winning in every kind of car, Kyle smiles and replies "not EVERY kind of car, not yet, anyway."
April 22 - A.J. Foyt announces Kyle Busch will drive his #32 car, completing his group of four drivers. Tony Stewart says "now Kyle will quit asking me about it, at last, and we'll see who is faster in May."
April 23 - Panther Racing announces their complete 2008 driver line-up, as joining Vitor Meira will be three well-known American drivers: former open-wheeler Casey Mears (nephew of four-time Indy champion Rick Mears), four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, and the most popular driver in America, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior explains "the National Guard people brought it up kind of off-the-cuff, and I mentioned it to Jeff which was a big mistake, because Mr. Hendrick would let Jeff do just about anything he wants, and then Casey got wind of it while Jeff was pestering me, and eventually we all ended up here." Jimmie Johnson admits he is intrigued by the idea of joining his Hendrick teammates, but decided to let those guys give it a shot and see about next year because of what we are trying to accomplish in NASCAR with three straight championships."
April 26 - Dario Franchitti suffers a broken ankle in a crash during the Nationwide Series Aaron's 312 at Talladega. Franchitti ruefully allows that is is "extremely unlikely" that he will be able to run at Indianapolis, but perks up at the notion of several weeks out of the car with his lovely wife.
April 27 - Chip Ganassi insists he plans to go forward with five cars for Indy, despite Franchitti's injury.
April 28 - Penske Racing announces Paul Tracy will complete their five driver-lineup. PT admits he was close to signing with NHLR, but decided "to go with Roger in better equipment instead of that #### Bourdais used to drive".
April 29 - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, spurned by Paul Tracy, turns to an unlikely source to fill their third car - Sprint Cup star Carl Edwards. Edwards says the whole thing was Doug Yates' idea, and as a tribute, NHLR officals say the plan to put the #28 on Edwards' car.
May 1 - Despite an apparent dearth of available drivers, Chip Ganassi announces that he had found a replacement driver for Dario Franchitti, and yes, he went to an old reliable source - ex-Formula One drivers. Ganassi rocks the racing world but installing seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in the car. Schumacher admits he is "excited to drive in the most famous race in the world", but deflects a question about whether he can win the Rookie of the Year award with "I don't feel like a rookie being seven-time world champion, no?"
May 11 - Pole Day qualifying goes mostly as expected, with IndyCar's Big Three teams dominating the charts. Scott Dixon continues his strong performance for the month by taking the pole, fending off challenges from first his teammate Wheldon, then Sam Hornish Jr., who qualifies second to split the Ganassi drivers on row 1. The reverse occurs on row 2, where Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves sit outside Juan Pablo Montoya's #42, who returns to Indy qualifying fifth. Motegi-winner Danica Patrick briefly holds the pole, then sits on her time to qualify seventh, with her AGR teammate Tony Kanaan eighth and Schumacher a satisfied ninth. Marco Andretti sits tenth, and Tony Stewart makes a late run to take the final spot in the top-eleven qualifiers.
May 17 - Day Two of qualifying sees Kyle Busch take the first attempt, post a speed that would have placed him third on the grid, and leaves the speedway via helicopter to fly to the Sprint All-Star Challenge in Charlotte. Jacques Villeneuve puts the #44 Ganassi-mobile inside row 5, joining Vitor Meira and Paul Tracy. Michael Andretti, Robby Gordon and Jeff Gordon in the #48 are solid in row 6. A.J. Allmendinger lands in the middle of row 7 with Hideki Mutoh inside and Ed Carpenter outside, and follows it up by qualifying for the Sprint All-Star Challenge by winning the Sprint Showdown qualifying race. Tomas Scheckter leads row 8, with the surprising Townsend Bell and Casey Mears joining him. Graham Rahal qualified 25th, Scott Speed 26th, and Darren Manning 27th to make up row 9, and Bruno Junqueira seemed to be safely in the field after qualifying 28th.
May 18 - A mix of IndyCar, Champ Car, and NASCAR veterans looked to lock their place in the field on Bump Day 2008. Sarah Fisher had her own car bumped from the grid by Ryan Newman, who would qualify 29th. Justin Wilson's strong qualifying run bumped fellow "transitional" driver, Champ Car alum Will Power out of the field and put him on the outside of row 10, and while they both admitted they would have been "kind of" embarrassed had they failed to qualify, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards both managed to find the tail end of the field, in 31th and 32nd. The final half-hour of qualifying was extremely action-packed, with a series of bumps that saw Fisher, Power, 1996 champion Buddy Lazier Davey Hamilton, and rookie Alex Lloyd in the field, then out with 2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice bumping Hamilton on the day's final attempt to take the final spot on the grid.
May 26 - The 92nd Indianapolis 500 waas one of the most anticipated races in recent memory, with nine Formula One championships, seven Indianapolis 500 championships, five Daytona 500 championships, and six NASCAR championships among its competitors. The early start of the race was Kyle Busch, who had moved from twelfth qualifying spot to fourth in ten laps, then led 46 laps in the early going before cementing his place and the most hated driver in America, spinning out in turn 4 while lapping Dale Earnhardt Jr, a wreck that also collected Danica Patrick, third at the time, for her first Indy 500 DNF. Robby Gordon and both Red Bull cars were eliminated after Robby but A.J. Allmendinger on pit road, damaging both cars and collecting Allmendinger's teammate, Scott Speed, who was leaving his pit. Chip Ganassi's team saw mixed results, as the usually reliable Honda engine failed both Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon while his other three cars were strong all day. Michael Andretti's lap 183 crash - after gaining a ten-second lead his steering wheel fell off for no discernible reason, sending him into the SAFER barrier - brought the field together for one last restart with twelve laps remaining. As Michael Schumacher led the field to the restart, he spun the tires and allowed the Tonys, Kanaan and Stewart to pass. Sam Hornish and Helio Castroneves hounded Schumacher for third, but soon Juan Pablo Montoya was in the mix as well, passing Helio on the backstretch with eight laps remaining to take fifth. With three laps remaining, Kanaan and Stewart diced it up at the front, exchanging the lead through turns one and two, and again through three and four, with TK out front, while Helio's bold three-wide pass of Hornish and Montoya gave him a run the allowed him to sweep past Schmuacher for third. On the final lap, Kanaan and Stewart, both victims of repeated bad luck at Indy, locked wheels and both spun into the turn one wall, giving Helio Castroneves the 2008 Indianapolis 500 title, with Montoya second, followed by Schumacher, Hornish, Paul Tracy, and Jacques Villeneuve. Graham Rahal finished a surprising seventh, Marco Andretti finished eighth, with Vitor Meira ninth, just ahead of his teammate for a day, Jeff Gordon. Kanaan was scored tenth, with Stewart, trying to accomplish the unprecedented double after winning Sunday's Coca Cola 600, forced to watch Helio climb the fence instead of him.
Kyle Busch is truly on an incredible roll. Last night at Darlington, he won his eighth race of the season - BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY. He also had two earlier Nationwide races in the bag before suffering mechanical problems, and he could have easily won last week's Cup race at Richmond had he and Dale Earnhardt Jr. not tangled with three laps to go.
Obviously, Busch's success is not only a result of his considerable driving talent. Joe Gibbs Racing has been the dominant team in NASCAR in 2008, with the kind of combined dominance of the Cup and Nationwide Series that we saw from Hendrick Motorsports at the Cup level in 2007. If Kyle keeps it up, could he make a run, albeit an unofficial one, at THE most unbreakable of NASCAR records - Richard Petty's 27-win season?
I already broke down the King's 1967 season here to distill how many wins that year were comparable to today's NASCAR, but I would say the King's record still holds up when you look at the entire body of a NASCAR season. During 1967 season, Petty was the only driver to run more than 46 races, and while the King was running the maximum of 48, only nine other drivers ran more than 40, which means in several races he was one of only a handful of top-level drivers competing. (David Pearson and Cale Yarborough won four races in only 39 COMBINED starts that year.)
What that tells me is that, while it isn't considered THE highest level, today's Nationwide and even Truck Series races are comparable to some of those old races the King gets credit for. Wouldn't you say that Tony Stewart's Nationwide win Friday night - beating plenty of Cup drivers including Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and others - is just as impressive (moreso, actually) than, say, winning the 1967 Columbia 200 - which had five or six top drivers in the field among its whopping NINETEEN competitors, in a race that was shorter than any Nationwide Series race today?
Over the years, there have been several Cup racers who have run enough to put together impressive win total in the Nationwide/Busch Series. Dale Earnhardt won five Busch races in 1986. Harry Gant won five Busch races in 1991. Mark Martin has won as many as seven Busch races AND six Truck races in a season (although not the same one). And just two years ago Kevin Harvick nearly tied the all-time Busch Series record with nine wins. In fact, that season was the MOST wins in a season since the Busch Series was created in 1982. Here is the list.
YEAR CUP NWS CTS TOTAL Kevin Harvick 2006 5 9 0 14 Jeff Gordon 1998 13 0 0 13 Darrell Waltrip 1982 12 1 0 13 Dale Earnhardt 1987 11 1 0 12 Mark Martin 1993 5 7 0 12 Bill Elliott 1985 11 0 0 11 Dale Earnhardt 1990 9 2 0 11 Jimmie Johnson 2007 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1997 10 0 0 10 Jeff Gordon 1996 10 0 0 10 Rusty Wallace 1993 10 0 0 10 Harry Gant 1991 5 5 0 10 Dale Earnhardt 1986 5 5 0 10 Mark Martin 1997 4 6 0 10 Sam Ard 1983 0 10 0 10 Mark Martin 1998 7 2 0 9 Darrell Waltrip 1984 7 2 0 9 Carl Edwards 2005 4 5 0 9 Greg Biffle 1999 0 0 9 9 Jimmie Johnson 2004 8 0 0 8 Ryan Newman 2003 8 0 0 8 Rusty Wallace 1994 8 0 0 8 Bobby Allison 1982 8 0 0 8 Jeff Gordon 1999 7 1 0 8 Tim Richmond 1986 7 1 0 8 Kasey Kahne 2006 6 2 0 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2004 6 2 0 8 Dale Earnhardt 1993 6 2 0 8 Jeff Burton 2000 4 4 0 8 Kyle Busch 2008 3 3 2 8 Mark Martin 1999 2 6 0 8 Jack Ingram 1984 0 8 0 8 Sam Ard 1984 0 8 0 8 Mike Skinner 1996 0 0 8 8 Mike Skinner 1995 0 0 8 8
There's Krazy Kyle - and it's worth repeating, but that's before Mother's Day!
Now, I know you're kind of thinking that Harvick "only" won five Cup races, so he doesn't really belong in first, and I would only say you obviously need to put some perspective into it. Would you try to say Bill Elliott's 1985 season somehow wasn't as good? Of course not. BUT, Eliiott could have run some Busch races if he felt like it, right? And think about some of those wins the King got - twelve cars on a track, sixty miles, those count as much as last night's Dodge Challenger 500, in NASCAR's eyes. Shouldn't the reverse be true, at least to some degree?
To try and put Harvick's 2006 win total in some perspective, here is the list of most wins in a season, all-time, including all Busch and Trucks. This is the top-twenty.
YEAR WINS Richard Petty 1967 27 Richard Petty 1971 21 Richard Petty 1970 18 Tim Flock 1955 18 Bobby Isaac 1969 17 David Pearson 1968 16 Richard Petty 1968 16 David Pearson 1966 15 Ned Jarrett 1964 15 Kevin Harvick 2006 14 Richard Petty 1963 14 Buck Baker 1956 14 Darrell Waltrip 1982 13 Jeff Gordon 1998 13 Richard Petty 1975 13 Junior Johnson 1965 13 Ned Jarrett 1965 13 Mark Martin 1993 12 Dale Earnhardt 1987 12 Darrell Waltrip 1981 12 Herb Thomas 1954 12 Herb Thomas 1953 12
Now, the BOLD totals all came after NASCAR stopped sanctioning those small field/short distance-races. Kevin Harvick won the most NASCAR races in a season in 36 (!) years in 2006. Kyle Busch is ALREADY over HALF-WAY to Harvick's total, with six months of racing still to come.
I realize Kyle Busch isn't exactly lacking for media coverage lately, but Kyle - and really all of today's drivers - get short-changed the way NASCAR refuses to acknowledge the vastly different landscape of today's NASCAR vs. that of the 1950s and 1960s.
First things first - if what I saw at Richmond Saturday night was "real racin'", give me that ol' fake plate-racing EVERY weekend. Good grief. Maybe this was a race you would have appreciated more in-person than on television. Denny Hamlin dominated the entire race. The top-five positions BARELY changed hands but for a few occassions, even after pit stops. That was the most boring Richmond race ever. That is, of course, until it wasn't. (But it was for a LONG time.)
There are so many guys to feel badly for in the aftermath of the finish, and all those guys also can take some blame, depending on your point-of-view. Hamlin having a tire go down on his way to sure victory - horrible, shades of Danica Patrick's Michigan race last year, where she was poised to win only to be forced to pit with a deflating tire with a few laps to go. Unfortunately, just like Bad Danica, Bad Denny took root in the seat of the FedEx Toyota after Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch split his wounded car on lap 383. I don't have a problem that he tried to nurse the car around the track, hoping for a caution to come so he could pit under yellow, and also hoping that the tire would hold out for the rest of the run. But Denny, STAY AT THE BOTTOM, for crying out loud! I saw the #11 car in the middle and on the outside far too much, and of course the tire let go right AFTER the pit entrance. Even if you weren't trying to force a yellow for your teammate (I don't think he was doing THAT so much as a forcing a yellow for himself), it still looked REALLY bad and plenty of people are questioning your character after that happened. I think the two-lap penalty Denny received, dropping him to 24th from probably 19th, wasn't really AT Denny so much as a "don't anyone ever do that again". Besides, Denny's IN the Chase, probably no matter what, so a 25 or 100-point penalty after the fact wouldn't really amount to anything in the end, anyway.
As far as Kyle and Junior's dust-up, I thought it was good, hard, CLEAN racing. Both guys tried to slow the other's lap - Junior moreso than Kyle - and that stuff is going to happen. Obviously, Junior was denied his first victory on two years, again, but Kyle might have beaten him, anyway. And Kyle has a history of close finishes where when hasn't wrecked an opponent - he really only gets into trouble when he pushes his own car past the limit or into a space that isn't totally there.
Add it all up, and you've got Denny denied a home sweep of the Nationwide and Cup races, Kyle denied a win that would have been a ridiculous #8 on the year (five in as many weeks, too) and back-to-back in the Cup Series, and Junior denied a chance at victory for the second straight week. The good news? They'll all be back at Darlington Sunday.
Oh, and hey - Clint Bowyer actually won the obesely-titled "Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400". (Viva gimmicky race names. Not.) The win was Clint's second career Cup victory and ninth overall, and puts him in
