By Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio. Heard Sunday mornings from 6-9am (eastern) on 220 FOX Sports Radio Affiliates and XM Radio Channel 142.

“What a Wicked Game We Play” are lyrics made famous by romantic crooner Chris Isaak. On Sunday at the Kansas Speedway Carl Edwards changed the meaning of ‘wicked’ and made it wild.  By now, everyone has seen the footage of Edwards dive bombing underneath Jimmie Johnson, sliding up the track, along the wall and then diving down again to finish a mere two tenths behind Johnson. Edwards statement was that he meant to do it.

Despite the fact that it was a move reminiscent of days of old, Edwards astonished the fans and media alike by stating, “I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn't plan on the wall slowing me down that much,'' Edwards said. He added, "In video games, you can just run into the wall and run it wide open. That's what I did, but it didn't quite work out the same as the video game. I just really, really wanted to win this race.'' Can he be serious?

The use of SIM games has become a regular staple of many of the Sprint Cup drivers as a way of perfecting technique, strategy and generally imprinting the track in their minds in an effort to create a baseline from which to operate. McLaren, the British Formula One organization, uses a $50 million simulator that moves, is peripheral and has intense feedback. So we know that simulators have become serious tools for racing drivers. The Cup drivers have developed very elaborate home systems to get their fix. Carl Edwards included.

However, the question is once again, did Edwards really mean what he said? In that split second he made a conscious, or unconscious decision to switch from reality to the virtual world. It was a chance that he took without taking into account the physics of reality. "That's as hard as I can go there at the end. I couldn't sleep a wink if I didn't try everything I could to win. Now I know it doesn't work the same as in video games," Edwards said.

We are not in outer space where a moving body continues to stay in motion until met with an opposing force. On the contrary, everything about being here on good old Mother Earth says that gravity, opposing forces, such as racetrack walls, will slow you down. Just ask Mark Martin who crashed into the wall the day before in the Nationwide Series so hard he had trouble walking away.

In theory, however, Edwards move was brilliant. If he could have just slightly glanced or not hit the wall at all, he may very well have pulled off a stunning win, but he rode the wall too long. It’s debatable whether it would have ever worked at all, but he certainly tried.

Back in 2006 Denny Hamlin used an EA Sports video game for his first start at Pocono and won, "They got every tree on the site, everything's mapped out perfect, Hamlin said. Visually, I know where my let off points are." He added, "I honestly didn't think it would be this easy."

Let’s face it, some of the things we’ve done in the virtual world, whether in a SIM game or in our fantasies include robbing banks, shooting up the streets of New York, working for the mob or even being the Guitar Hero in the Rock Band Aerosmith. We don't live in fantasy land so consummating that liaison with Angelina Jolie (a real crowd pleaser) is still just that, fantasy. So don't think that it'll work for you, most of us don’t look like Brad Pitt and if we did, it doesn’t mean you would be guaranteed a date with Mrs. Jolie.

The games we play can be tools for learning and that is why racing car drivers, fighter pilots and operators of UAV and UUV (Underwater Un-manned Vehicles) use them to achieve greater results in the real world. We receive a great benefit from their use. But the danger in using these tools without clearly separating the real and virtual world could have consequences beyond what we anticipated.

On the other hand, Carl Edwards delivered exactly what we all craved and anticipated. One hell of a race, Game On!

VIDEO:
> Kansas Race Highlights
> ChannelShift with Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal

AUDIO:
> Carl Edwards: Talks about using a video game move that did not work for him.
> Cale Gale: (KHI Development Driver) Talks about using video games to train. Cale will join Rob and Michele this Sunday on Race Day.

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By: Rob D'Amico and Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio

Michele Rahal's Side

The first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship at Louden, New Hampshire is one in the books and a dark-horse takes the win, if you can call Greg Biffle a dark-horse. That’s what the Chase is supposed be and Sunday’s Sylvania 300 race didn’t disappoint, at least as it shook up the points. On the other hand, it was still a race where cars couldn’t turn, splitters hit the ground rendering the cars uncontrollable and passing was still a restart process rather than battling side by side on track racing. The common catchphrase by all the commentators has now become ‘track position’.

Aerodynamics are paramount on tracks like Lowes, Texas and Atlanta but the negative effects of it should not be as severe as it is on one mile tracks, no matter what the configuration. The mechanical grip should be the dominant force that controls whether a car can turn and actually pass in the corners.  If you have grip coming off the corner then you have speed at the end of the straight, hence an ability to pass. This is still not happening and the New Hampshire race was more of the same.

Greg Biffle drove his heart out and beat an oncoming train across the tracks, the said train being Jimmie Johnson. It’s obvious that everyone has the same chassis to work with but those teams that have more money can make them work. Add to that the disparity that exists in horsepower from manufacturer to manufacturer and further exacerbate it with the ‘have and have nots’ and you end up with races that have not lived up to the hype.

It was great to see Greg Biffle win. It was sad to see a small bolt destroy Kyle Busch’s day. It was dramatic entertainment with dialogue between Dale Earnhardt, Jr and Rick Hendrick. Having stated this one would think that everything NASCAR wants to see happen to make a great race, but everything else in between was a continuation of the problems that have painfully existed the day the first COT hit the track.

It’s time to stop blaming Goodyear for its tires, after all, you can dress up a horse with new shoes, but it doesn’t make it run any faster.


Rob's Side

First it’s not the Car of Tomorrow. It’s here already and it’s called the “New Car”. Are there problems? Yes. Can they be fixed? Yes and they will over time, real competition time, not in Formula One simulators. The car hasn’t raced a full season to date and it has shown marked improvements.

The teams are finally beginning to find the correct direction for this car. Bob Osbourne, Carl Edwards crew chief, couldn’t get their car to handle this past weekend at New Hampshire. Things looked dismal. What did he do? He immediately went back to the hotel to pour over his notes and ultimately changed virtually everything. Bob shows up on Sunday morning and told Carl “we changed virtually everything on the car” and it’s going to work! The net result is that Carl, without even turning a lap to test it out, jumps in and takes the green then shoots out to an early lead ultimately finishing third.

Whining about the new car is like whining that the Chase is all wrong because a driver like Kyle Busch goes into the Chase dominating and comes out of the first round in 8th place. Whether or not that is fair is debatable, but the bottom line is that ‘it is what it is’. Work with it.
 
It’s disappointing that a $25 part takes Kyle Busch from the top spot but that same part could have failed on Reed Sorenson’s car as well. The positive in all this is that the chase is not like the NFL’s playoff system where a team is knocked out every week. Kyle Busch can come back next week and show us what he can do best when the car will let him.

This car was designed by NASCAR’s Research and Development Center for safety. The fact that it has taken the teams time to sort out the handling is irrelevant. They are all playing with the same rules, the same chassis and ultimately the racing will be better off for it.

My point here is to forget all the stuff you hear people saying about the “New Car” and look at the real stories in this sport. The teams will get this car right, Goodyear will catch up and the racing will speak for itself.

Has anyone given serious thought to the possibility that it may not be the cars handling at all, but the commitment of the manufacturers to deliver a competitive power-plant?
 

Rob D'Amico Race Day On Fox Sports Radio

Target Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Dan Wheldon, driver of the No. 10 Target Honda Dallara in the IndyCar Series have agreed to part ways opening the seat for Dario Franchitti to make a Indycar come back. Former Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion will return to open-wheel racing but this time behind the wheel of the vacated No. 10.

The native of Scotland has over 180 starts under his belt between the CART and IndyCar Series resulting in 18 wins, 17 poles, 63 top-five and 95 top-10 finishes (1997-2007). Franchitti is the winningest driver in U.S. open-wheel history from Great Britain. This creates a team that will have the last two Indy 500 winners as they take the green flag next year in St. Petersburg.

“Dan Wheldon has done everything this organization has asked of him, Chip Ganassi said. He was competitive from the moment that he stepped into the car for us back in 2006 and has provided Target Chip Ganassi Racing many highlights over his three years with the team. Dan is a class act both on and off the track and we wish him nothing but the best.”

Wheldon, who is 4th in points 142 back behind leader and teammate Scott Dixon said, "I have enjoyed these last three seasons with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, but will be moving on to pursue a very exciting opportunity for 2009. I want to personally thank Target and the whole Chip Ganassi Racing organization for the success and enjoyment we shared together. I will be announcing my plans for next season in the near future. In the meantime I want to focus my efforts on winning the last race of the season. I wish the team well for 2009 and beyond."

Scott Dixon along with teammate Dan Wheldon combined have eight wins of 16 races this season – second only to the Target team’s CART championship run in 1998 that tallied 10 wins at the hands of former Target champions Alex Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser.

Franchitti who has 25 combined starts in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series did not see much success with only 1 Top 5 and 2 Top 10's all coming from the Nationwide Series where he suffered a fractured left ankle and minor contusions during a lap 11 crash in the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Super Speedway.  "I have really enjoyed this last season in stockcars and have not completely closed that chapter of my professional career," Franchitti said. Back in July, Chip Ganassi announced that they would be shutting down its No. 40 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team leaving Franchitti without a ride. Dario's Dodge was without sponsorship most of the 2008 season which eventually lead to the teams decision.

The demise of Dario Franchitti wasn't his team but the car itself. Dodge needs to get their act together because if Kasey Kahne doesn't make the "Chase" Dodge will not be running for the 2008 Championship. But I will say, it'll be a shame not see Ashley Judd, Franchitti’s wife, in the pits running through a rainstorm in a sundress as if she were starring in one of her films we’ve all learned to enjoy.

Franchitti who is the 2007 Indycar Champ will be back in that series fighting for the 2009 Championship for Chip Ganassi. “Part of the reason that I signed with Ganassi last year was because of how many options that Chip has at his disposal for a driver.  You can do almost any form of racing that you want.  With unification and the new schedule having more road and street courses it made me think about this more and more. I am really looking forward to getting behind the wheel of one of those Target cars and be a teammate to Scott Dixon.”

Dan Wheldon not ready to release plans for next year. "I will be announcing my plans for next season in the near future," Wheldon said. "In the meantime I want to focus my efforts on winning the last race of the season. I wish the team well for 2009 and beyond."

Michele Rahal from www.RaceDayOnFox.com talks about NASCAR's consolidation.

Call it a recession, call it an economic downturn, call it whatever you like. We’ll let the economic pundits argue over the technicalities, or tea leaves if you will, of where the economy is heading.

The marketing departments of the corporations that breath life into the NASCAR Sprint Cup series don’t care what we, or the economists think it is. If the corporations believe its anything even close to ominous, NASCAR is going to feel the pinch for far longer than one might think.

Anyone can clearly see the wagons circling among the Super Teams of JGR, Hendrick and Roush. How? They’ve begun to consolidate the most marketable drivers who are available and, if necessary, helped these drivers extricate themselves from contracts that are nearing an end.

The losers in this consolidation are clearly the satellite operations such as Yates and other teams that have become second and third tier teams such as Ganassi, DEI and, though it seems ironic, Penske.
Dodge has an apparent power-plant problem and the introduction of a new engine this year is still debatable as to what success that might bring the teams who are sticking with the marquee.

What of the newly formed Stewart-Haas team? If Stewart doesn’t choose a marketable driver or drivers and produce relatively quick results, the sponsors won’t remain. The news that GM is cutting costs doesn’t bode well for this team, other than GM has heavily invested in Stewart. GM cannot afford to pull out of Sprint Cup under the perception that Toyota has chased them out. Forget “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday”, its more a perception of defeat that would further push GM into a financial hole.

However, Troy Clarke, President of GM North America, stated: Motorsports "have not gone without scrutiny. I'm not going to get into specifics about NASCAR. But there will be modifications-changes in our marketing footprint-in this area." He added, "NASCAR, SCCA club racing-we are looking at where we need to be." Funding a championship-winning team such as Chevy's Hendrick Motorsports and drivers of the caliber of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. costs GM at least $30 million a year.

Very few of the best of the rest have the sponsor or investor power to hang on, Red bull is one that has deep pockets in the person of Dietrich Mateschiz, the owner of Red Bull who fully intends to bring Vickers, Allmindinger and now Scott Speed to the front. Mateschitz does not like to lose and his Formula One efforts have proven that he will spend the money, direct the resources and stay the course until he succeeds.

At the very bottom of this sponsorship crisis lies the basic truth that when a corporation sponsors a team they have to extraneously spend $2 for every $1 they give the teams in order for the investment to pay off in sales, branding or shareholder value. It’s called activating a sponsorship and very few corporations can spend the additional $30-60 million to convert that investment into profits.

On the other hand, make no mistake this isn’t all doom and gloom as NASCAR has seen harder times than we have now. The 1970’s and 1080’s had their share of difficulties with limited manufacture involvement, less expensive sponsorships and, yes, less intensive competition among teams. NASCAR will change, but it will survive.

The pressure to win is great, the pressure to make the Chase is almost unbearable, but the pressure to win the Championship is beyond anything we’ve seen in any of the past years. Toyota has seen to that, thus validating Jack Roush’s cries of more support from Ford.

Roush’s ride through the streets on horseback shouting ‘The Japanese are coming! The Japanese are coming!’ have come true and his early campaign aimed at increased Ford support paid off. Chevrolet stayed the course, introduced a new engine and carefully consolidated its efforts under Hendrick and now Tony Stewart.

Dodge has, unfortunately, found itself painted into a corner as only Gillett-Evernham has risen anywhere near the top. Penske can only skirt the outer reaches of the Chase. Dodge has a great deal of development to do in order to keep from collapsing in its NASCAR efforts. That scenario isn’t so far fetched as the controlling interest in Chrysler is a private equity firm called Cerberus.

Private equity firms have one thing on their minds and that is cost efficiencies. If GM has put their racing programs on the block, imagine what Cerberus might do.

What’s the answer? There is none. The old adage that only the strong survive will be the order of the day and no one will actually have answers about who will be absorbed and who will go away until the Chase is over. Once that happens the silly season we’ve all become used to talking about will seem very small in comparison to who is left standing when we turn our thoughts to Daytona 2009.

Michele Rahal from Race Day on Fox Sports Radio

It sounds like the title from a Hollywood science fiction film that was written about a future event from the past. In some respects it is. The reference here is, of course, the dominant teams that we are seeing consolidate in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Hendricks, Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush-Fenway and Richard Childress Racing. The rest are aspiring to reach these levels of power, though they will require deals with Venture Capitalists, Investment Bankers and, to a lesser degree, wealthy privateers.

Let’s state here and now that this movement is in no way a precedent. Without reverting this into a history lesson, this methodology began long before World War II with Auto Union, whom we now know as AUDI and after World War II became a global mission by the great manufacturers of the day to see who could dominate whom. During the Post War years the most notable of these legendary brands were Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.

Fast forward to the 1960’s and you see the American racing scene, through NASCAR, begin to adopt the same practice, though with fewer multi-car teams such as Holman-Moody, the Woods Brothers, Junior Johnson and, of course, Petty Enterprises. The idea that a one or two car team could lay claim to the label of ‘Super Team’ was largely dependant on the manufacturer itself and whether that manufacturer, whether it be Ford, Chevrolet or Oldsmobile gave the team the “Factory” blessing.

My, how times have changed, or have they? The Daytona 500 broadcast on live television in 1979 jumpstarted the change that would ultimately bring NASCAR into the American lexicon. The demise of Open Wheeled racing (CART) and the numerous Baseball strikes combined with Bill France, Jr’s ingenious television deals convinced the corporations that they had discovered the great marketing vehicle of the modern era.

Though NASCAR has never looked back, it has had its challenges and faces one today. A weak economy, let the pundits argue whether it’s a recession or not, will inherently slow down the investment of corporations in their marketing budgets. It has never made sense to me that the first thing these companies cut is advertising and marketing, but that is the historical process in all businesses. “Cost-Efficiencies” actually appear as revenue on their books. However, not everyone in the NASCAR garage will suffer shut downs and layoffs from this plight. This leads us to the next level of the rise of the Super Teams.

The manufacturers are fighting hard against each other and if you look at the situation between them carefully you discover a method to the madness. Mark Martin un-retiring, again, to drive the #5 Chevrolet for Hendrick and stating that it’s because he wanted to simply “Drive the #5”, Tony Stewart bailing on Toyota and heading for Chevrolet with the promise of ownership and Lord knows what else behind the scenes he’s been promised and Roush-Fenway still managing to prop up Yates Racing without sponsors. All of these moves could be sold to the public on the surface that Toyota is the Evil Empire.

What is actually happening is that the larger teams are grabbing the most marketable, salable and best drivers in order to get the best sponsors, more money, better equipment and some information sharing system that they can use across their platforms whether their drivers like it or not. The smaller teams, such as Waltrip Racing, Petty Enterprises and the Woods Brothers are now left scrambling to find investors that can bring them at least to a level where the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t an on-coming train. These are the second tier teams with no big brother.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Red Bull will lead the Toyota assault. Hendrick, without a doubt, and perhaps Stewart-Haas will lead the Chevrolet camp. It may be too late for DEI as the rumors have already begun to swirl that they are dressing up for the investor-mating dance. In Dodge’s case only Evernham can be considered a contender for the moment as the manufacturer is still reeling from what its new masters, Cerberus, a private equity firm, may be doing to their racing program internally. A new engine this year wont be enough to keep up with the other manufacturers as the driver pool shrinks.

What does this mean to the smaller teams that can still manage to compete in the Sprint Cup Series? It means they will be competing for scraps for the foreseeable future even if they are aligned with a manufacturer. If they aren’t a satellite team, they won’t get what they need. It doesn’t mean that the fans won’t tune in, after all their favorite drivers are still in the hunt, they may not travel to the events with the frequency they have in past years, but they will tune in. Television ratings are up as a result of a phenomenon that has been observable when economies are bad or are perceived to be in decline, entertainment such as television, movies and sports in general increase in interest.

How do all these movements relate to the sport in general? It is becoming a manufacturers series much like Formula One. It wasn’t intended to be that way, but in order for it to survive at the popularity level it presently enjoys, it is necessary. It never ceases to amaze me how history, even racing history, repeats itself.

So pick your Super Team, root for that driver in that team and watch NASCAR evolve once again.

Michele Rahal - RACE DAY on FOX Sports Radio

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Glad To Be Gone!

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has probably never been happier to leave a track faster than he left Sonoma, despite a 12th-place finish, road races aren’t his cup of tea, or glass of wine if you will. He will definitely, however, be happy to see the oval at Louden, NW. The ovals are more to his liking and he has shown a consistency in the Hendrick cars that he hasn’t enjoyed in years. Lying third in the points he has a chance to reduce the gap between himself and the superstar formally known as Kyle Busch. Earnhardt is motivated but so are several of the Cup drivers coming off of strong finishes. Bowyer would love to repeat and Harvick would dearly love to break his winless streak. But then there’s a problem. Kyle Busch.

Look for the Gibbs cars to come off the trucks with an attitude that may not be all mental. Chances are that they have positioned the rear of the car with a small degree of yaw in order for them to turn more efficiently on the flat track. This deficiency in the COT may not be problematic for Kyle Busch if he can loosen up his car as his attitude is ‘loose is fast and I’m fast anyway’. Busch has done what all Formula One drivers aspire to do. Outperform their teammates.

Only Hamlin and Bowyer have fewer starts at New Hampshire, each with four, before collecting a win than Kyle Busch with six starts. Look for Busch to adjust his car as the race goes on to make it as loose as possible for the final run. Advantage Kyle Busch.

Kyle Busch Can Rule The World?

My having picked Kyle Busch to win this weekend isn’t a function of being psychic, though I do possess many talents. In fact, you couldn’t place a bet in Vegas and make money by choosing Busch to win in New Hampshire, or the Championship for that matter. What you could do is say that he’s one of a very rare breed of driver that occasionally comes along. That’s right, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., Mario Andretti or Michael Schumacher. All are phenoms and all seemingly genius in their execution of the art form we call racing cars. He seems unchallenged at the moment.

He does, however face challenges and the one that is most ominous to Kyle Busch is Kyle Busch himself. There is no doubt in my mind that as his points lead began to dwindle prior to his brilliant drive in Sonoma, “The Coach”, in typical Joe Gibbs fashion, slammed the velvet hammer down upon the young stars head. It wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Gibbs reminding Busch that a Sprint Cup Championship is on the line and despite the fact that Busch loves to frolic around the racing world proving his prowess for all to see, he is under a contract that is worth millions of dollars to himself, the sponsors and the team. Game over, it’s time to get down to business. If the race is at the same track, go do it, but if you have to travel, forget it.

Kyle Busch has attracted worldwide attention to the point that Toyota, in private circles, is no longer calling his forthcoming test of their Formula One car a “demonstration”, but rather a full blown, full race mapped engine test.

This is no small feat for a tall, brash American to accomplish. A real Formula One test can cost a million dollars when done correctly and apparently Toyota is willing to take that risk.

Being American, it's even more apparent that the manufacturer has designs on using Busch in this event later in December as a reminder to all that Toyota is dedicated to America itself. Great Public Relations and even greater if the engineers give him a fair shake. No full-time NASCAR driver has ever made a switch to Formula One.

Could he really be that good?

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