A completely subjective rundown of Sunday's race at Chicago, taking into account expectations, results and the overall big picture.  For entertainment purposes only.

Richard Childress Racing - A.  All three cars in the top 10, and Kevin Harvick looks like he's starting to pick up some momentum again after losing it earlier in the season, which means "look out" to the rest of the field.  Don't be surprised if any of these three cars win at Indy.

 

Roush Racing - A-.  Two cars in the top five is a nice, and they barely missed having a third in the top 10.  Meanwhile, David Ragan kept the car pointed in the right direction all race long, and the team's only black mark was with Jamie McMurray's tire failure and subsequent meeting with the wall.  

 

Penske Racing South - A-.  Both cars in the top 10 - Kurt Busch's run to 6th from a 35th starting spot (and moving to the back at the start due to an engine change) was brilliant, while Ryan Newman showed more of the consistency that he needs to get into the Chase - only 30 points out of 12th. 

 

Joe Gibbs Racing - B+.  Tony Stewart's first win this season should give this team an 'A,' but on the other hand, Denny Hamlin ran a fairly quiet 17th, and J.J. Yeley continues to be plagued by some of the bad luck that sponsors don't care about when evaluating things at the end of the season.

 

Hendrick Motorsports - B.  A tire problem kept Jimmie Johnson from challenging for the win, while Casey Mears continues to justify his place within the team with a solid top 5 run.  Jeff Gordon padded his points cushion, and Kyle Busch had a Kyle Busch day (read: I didn't even notice him all day, and yet he still finished 13th).

 

Petty Enterprises - B.  Both cars in the top 20, with John Andretti finishing on the lead lap and Bobby Labonte not far behind.  This team continues to turn the corner (a phrase first uttered when PE brought on Robbie Loomis - it must be a really long corner).

 

BAM Racing - B.  On its face, a 31st place finish doesn't warrant a 'B,' but given BAM's struggle to make the show most weekends and recent crew chief change, Chad Chaffin's first weekend in the car was a success.  The single-car operation qualified respectably and finished ahead of both Evernham cars.  Kudos!

 

Ganassi Racing - B.  A solid day for two of the three cars, with Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya in the top 15.  David Stremme's engine let go - don't they know you shouldn't mix Tums and Coors Light?

 

Ginn Racing - B-.  Mark Martin was a virtual non-factor all day, managing to stay on the lead lap but finally dispelling any notions that a Chase is in his future.  Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek helped fill out the top 30.  A rumor making the rounds on another blog in this community is that we may have seen the last of Sterling Marlin in a Cup car.  If so … man, that sucks.  Never been the biggest Marlin fan, but I felt for the guy ever since his accident in 2002 knocked him out of the running for the championship, followed by the rather ignominious departure from Ganassi after sponsor Coors wanted someone young and pretty in the Silver Bullet.  Plus, he said over the radio that he "done blowed up" after done blowing up a few weeks ago.  

 

Robert Yates Racing - C+.  Ricky Rudd and David Gilliland qualified horribly - 41st and 42nd, respectively - but managed to salvage an OK finish, with Gilliland picking up 26 spots to just miss the top 15, and Rudd moving forward 20 spots, finishing almost exactly in midpack.  Still, the team has a long way to go to having consistent top-20 runs every week; its COT program is a mess and its mile-and-a-half program has holes also.  Oh, like I can do better.

 

Wood Brothers - C+.  Bill Elliott put this car in the top 20 in qualifying and kept his nose clean; the 21 takes over the 36th spot in owner points, and with about three more solid races and some racin' luck, could accomplish the mission of getting the car back into the top 35.  And then what?  

 

Haas CNC - C.  Two cars in the top 30 is about all you can expect from this team, and they delivered that in ####s.  An early Jeff Green spin kept the team from not being mentioned at all.  Johnny Sauter runs just good enough to stay in the top 35.

 

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. - C.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. soldiered on despite losing his power steering, posting a solid top 20 finish.  Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard finished in the bottom 10 due to various incidents and engine maladies; not a sterling day for DEI.  

 

Hall of Fame Racing - C.  Sometimes you feel like this team should do more, with the big-name ownership, the support it receives from JGR and its sponsorship.  I hate to say it since he's an Indiana boy, but is Tony Raines the answer for this team?  Anyway, he ran a mostly anonymous race, finishing 24th and doing little of note.

 

Michael Waltrip Racing - C.  Michael Waltrip got into the race without having to buy a ticket, which is a plus.  He brought his Michigan car to Chicago, hoping to duplicate the top-10 success of that race, but limped to 30th.  David Reutimann continues to show why MWR should find a way to re-sign him for 2008, but brought up the rear after an early engine failure.  Dale Jarrett continues to not deliver on Fridays.

 

Bill Davis Racing - C-.  Got both cars in the field on speed.  Jeremy Mayfield ran midpack and finished as the best Toyota, while Dave Blaney's day was ended early after he cut a tire and collected Ward Burton.  

 

Robby Gordon Motorsports - D.  Same song, different verse:  accident ruined Robby Gordon's otherwise nondescript day.  

 

Morgan-McClure - D.  Ward Burton barely made the race thanks to the champion's provisional not being used, and before getting wrecked, didn't venture too far inside the top 40.  There's a Casey Kasem punchline in there somewhere begging to be sprung free and unleashed upon the world; I leave it to you to make it.

 

Evernham Motorsports - F.  Scott Riggs failed to qualify again, and Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler both finished in the 30s - behind Chad Chaffin (!).  Inexplicably, Kahne still moved up two spots in the standings. A nightmare season for Evernham - does Budweiser really want to jump to this operation?

(July 14, Daytona International Speedway.  A press conference begins.)

Brandon_G:  Thank you all for coming today.  First, a couple of opening remarks.   I'd like to thank Mr. Helton for graciously stepping aside to allow me to oversee NASCAR's Winston Cup … what? … Really? … When? … OK.  (takes marker, makes impromptu changes to prepared remarks) … Nextel Cup series.  I'm confident that the plan that I've shared with Mr. Helton, the Frances and NASCAR's board of directors will help keep our beloved sport out of the death spiral that, in all honesty, has been creeping in for several years now.  With that, I am prepared to take your questions.  Yes?

Reporter:  What exactly are your qualifications for this position?  Pardon me for saying so, but we've never heard of you.

Brandon_G:  You know how every couple of years, there is a groundswell of support for the idea that we need to "throw the bums out" of Washington, because they're living a lifestyle insulated from their constituents, and have lost touch with the ideas that put them in Washington in the first place?  This is the same deal, but different:  different because these people up here on the stage with me have recognized that NASCAR grew too big too quickly, and they have lost touch with the average racing fan.  And many kudos to them, by the way, for having the foresight to realize this.  As far as my own qualifications are concerned, I have an entire wall of Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd paraphernalia in my home.  I have also attended one race.  Next?

Reporter: What do you consider the biggest challenges facing the sport as we enter the dog days of summer, and beyond?

Brandon_G:  I am here to represent the average fan.  The average fan is feeling a little left behind by the direction that our sport is taking.  They're feeling a little forgotten. Why?  Well, television coverage needs to drastically improve, for one.  This business of showing only the top two or three finishers at the end of every race has to stop.  This business of having almost a third of the race time filled with commercials has to stop. 

Our sport is becoming less about racing and more about sponsors.  TNT's "Wide Open" Coverage of last weekend's Pepsi 400 was a step in the right direction, but also has room for improvement.  TNT paid a handsome ransom to air their six races, and their coverage has been creative, to say the least, but the next TV contract is going to have some specifications that the current one doesn't.  

 

Another challenge is how to deal with "cheaters" and people who cross into a "gray area" when working on their cars.  Beginning immediately:  we're tossing the bulk of the rulebook out the window.  No, you won't be able to run jet fuel in your cars, and yes, your car still must be a specific make and model approved by NASCAR.  But we've lost sight of the fact that innovation is the lifeblood of our sport.  We need to reward excellence and new ideas, and not banish a crew chief for six weeks because he wants to squeeze another tenth of a second out of his car.

 

Also, the Top 35 rule:  out.  Boris Said was on the pole for the Pepsi 400.  Jeremy Mayfield was in the top 5 also.  Then the rains came, and qualifying got rained out before all of the cars could run.  Boris Said and Jeremy Mayfield went home.  How do we reward these teams who aren't in the top 35 in points, yet can put a car in the top 5 on a given weekend?  How do I explain to my son, "Well, yes, Boris had the fastest car, but he won't be able to race on Saturday"?  It's becoming too convoluted, people, and I'm banishing this rule so that daddies don't have to explain to their sons that sometimes the fastest car doesn't always get in the race.  Let's reward excellence, not mere consistency!

 

Reporter:  But sponsors like the Top 35 rule.  They've paid good money, and lots of it, to showcase their names and products on cars that are locked into the field and guaranteed to race.

 

Brandon_G:  Tough.  This sport isn't about the sponsors - or, it won't be on my watch, anyway..  Listen - I appreciate all that Budweiser and the National Guard and Nextel and DuPont have done for the sport.  I really do.  They've been great partners --

 

Reporter:  -- but they have contracts.

 

Brandon_G:  And we have lawyers.  Next.

 

Reporter:  Do you feel that too much attention is paid to the "young guns" of the series, regardless of whether they can wheel a stock car?

 

Brandon_G:  I'm not going to bemoan the shuffling out of older drivers in favor of younger, sleeker, more sponsor-friendly drivers.  I mean, Ricky Rudd and Kyle Petty were young once, too, back when they were racing dinosaurs around Moses Speedway.  

 

That being said - Sterling Marlin is still someone's favorite driver.  Dale Jarrett, when he races, is still someone's favorite driver.  Just because they're not young and pretty and young (sic) anymore doesn't mean they don't exist in the series, and doesn't mean they don't have fans.  Our TV partners need to realize this; we're alienating our core group of fans, the tried-and-true folks who can remember Morgan Shepherd's last win, who remember when Darrell Waltrip was a driver and not an announcer.  Next?

Reporter:  You said earlier that NASCAR has grown too big, too fast.  Could you expand on that a little bit?

 

Brandon_G:  (Tosses a container of what appear to be cherry tomatoes to reporter)  Have you seen these before?  Those are cherry tomatoes with the NASCAR logo on the package.  (Editor's note:  These actually exist.)  What's the point?  Do these tomatoes smell like 93 octane?  Do they make you change lug nuts faster?  Was there not a "checks and balances" system in NASCAR's marketing department?  Was there not someone there who said, "Wait a minute.  This strikes me as a stupid idea, and I feel we should reconsider"?  Anyway, my first edict is this:  No more NASCAR-branded fruits and vegetables.

 

Reporter:  Thanks for your answer, and a quick followup:  You didn't really answer my question.  (examining cherry tomatoes)

 

Brandon_G:  I know.  I just wanted you to see those.  Isn't that the stupidest (expletive) you've ever seen?  (laughter all around) 

Anyway, to address your question:  Over the last decade and a half, NASCAR has been less about racing and more about money.  We all know that "money buys horsepower, so how fast do you want to go"?  So there's always been money in the sport.  It's just that now we're drowning in it, and we've lost sight of how we got here.  Why don't we just get back to racing?  Why can't we go back to North Wilkesboro and Rockingham?  Next question.

Reporter:  Do you have any concerns about the Car of Tomorrow?

Brandon_G:  Other than the fact that it should be banished to the scrap heap, no.  I think it's a great idea if you had no other ideas.  Don't get me wrong: one of the selling points of the COT was safety, which is paramount.  But we've put a man on the moon - why can't we build safety features into our current cars?  

Yes, lots of people have poured lots of money into getting the COT on track, and I congratulate them.  But the drivers aren't happy with it.  If you weren't happy with the tools of your trade, and your employer was still forcing them on you, wouldn't you have an issue with it?  Next question.

 

Reporter:  Give us a summary of how you're going to make NASCAR broaden its appeal.

 

Brandon_G:  There are always going to be people who consider NASCAR a "southern sport," a "####" sport, who poke fun at it - why on earth we are trying to appeal to these people, I'll never know.  I think that NASCAR's appeal is broad enough - we've reached the people we need to reach, and if they become true-blue fans, that's great. But in such a crowded marketplace, people are going to move on to the next hot thing and lose interest.  This is a fact of life.  Instead of approaching these people, hat in hand, begging them to come to a race so that they'll have the time of their lives, why not dance with the people who brought us here?  Would a ballet company from New York decide it wants to broaden its appeal to the South and the Midwest, and start running fewer shows in New York?  Then why on earth do we want to go where we are not wanted?

 

That's all the time I have, and I appreciate you all coming out today.  I think that together with the people on this stage today, with this plan in hand, we can help NASCAR reclaim its former glory and move forward into 2008 and beyond.

News item:  After months of negotiations, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony George announced yesterday that Formula 1 wouldn't be back at the Brickyard in 2008, though he left the door open for F1 to race there in the following years.

Now that the tumultuous 8-year marriage of convenience between the world's most popular form of motorsport and the preeminent American motorsports shrine has entered a trial separation, a moment of reflection is in order.  Was Formula 1 at Indy a success or failure?

Like many marriages, the initial honeymoon period was an unqualified success for all involved.  The debut race in 2000, won by Michael Schumacher in a runaway despite a late-race spin, saw over 200,000 spectators on hand, easily the largest crowd to witness an F1 race that season.  The F1 cognoscenti spared no kudos in declaring the race a winner; the illustrious grandprix.com said of the race, "As the fans streamed home, everyone seemed to be happy. The Americans had found an event of which to be proud and the Europeans had all had a good time.  And that is great news for Formula 1."

Afterwards, though, attendance started to drop off slightly, but the union between F1 and Indy was still strong.  The 2001 grand prix was the first major sporting event to be held on American soil after 9/11, yet 185,000 still showed up to see Mika Hakkinen claim the win. 

Then, in 2002, the bloom began falling from the rose.  Michael Schumacher, never a wildly popular figure in America because Americans don't tend to root for robotic Teutonics who are technically superior but lacking in emotion and other basic human traits, had the race in hand yet decided to pull over after the final turn and let teammate Rubens Barrichello pass him for the victory.  Schumacher claimed at first he was trying for a dead heat; later, he amended his story to say that he was paying his teammate back for obeying team orders at a race earlier in the year and pulling over to let the German win.  Whatever the case, the finish was contrived, and not a result of actual competition, which cast Formula 1 overall, and Schumacher in particular, in a bad light in America.  Schumacher again dominated in 2003 and 2004, winning by nearly 20 seconds in the former.

The Michelin debacle in 2005 spelled the beginning of the end for F1 at Indy.  It turned off a large portion of the American market to F1, as "concern for the fans" gave way to obstinance and flat-out arrogance.  Fourteen cars pulled off the grid before the race started due to safety concerns about their Michelin tires, leaving only the six Bridgestone-shod entries to battle it out - race winner Schumacher, Barrichello, and the minnows at Jordan and Minardi.  The lasting image of that race, in my view, was Jordan driver Tiago Monteiro's ridiculous podium celebration of 3rd place, the only time in his short career that he even sniffed the podium.

Shockingly, F1 came back to Indiana in 2006, with another Schumacher victory, giving him five wins at the Brickyard in seven races (and it would have been six wins had he not handed Barrichello the win in 2002).  In 2007, with fan favorites Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve out of the field and a crowd of roughly 100,000 on hand, the story of Lewis Hamilton took center stage.  The rookie sensation's win was a feel-good story - the first black driver to ever win at the Brickyard in any form of racing - but the race was the last that we'll see from F1 in Indianapolis for a long time, if ever again.

The racing itself was never anything to write home about; the IMS road course wasn't conducive to passing, bearing a close resemblance to the single-file racing prevalent at the Hungaroring, and Michael Schumacher's sheer dominance made most of the races a yawner.  These circumstances made the U.S. Grand Prix less of a race and more of an event.  Whether this lends to the "success/failure" definition of the event, I don't know.

On the other hand, the businesses around Indy will miss the income that travelers to the race brought to the city, and the race was, even at "just" 100,000 spectators as estimated this year, still one of the best-attended races on the circuit.  And the F1 teams' corporate sponsors loved being in the American market, even if F1 is nothing more than a niche sport in America; they will miss F1's presence in America and may have to retool their strategies as time goes on.

In the end, like many marriages that fail, there's a certain sense of relief that Formula One won't be in Indy and vice versa.  There were some successes, sure, but a black cloud seemed to descend on Indy as F1 came to town most years.  Both parties will find other suitors - the IMS will welcome MotoGP to the Brickyard in 2008, while other cities like Las Vegas have been vying for years to bring F1 to their city.  Ultimately, both sides will move on, survive and even thrive in the wake of the dissolution of this marriage.