Auto Club Speedway. Infineon Raceway. Lowe's Motor Speedway. O'Reilly Raceway Park. Sponsors are gradually taking over NASCAR racetracks. Before we know it, every speedway will have a sponsor. Someday, Daytona might even be renamed. When I mention Auto Club Speedway to another person, he or she asks "Where's that?" Then, I say California Speedway, and he or she says "Oh." I believe that a raceway should have a classic name like Sears Point. NASCAR needs to tell all speedway owners that they have to ban sponsors from buying the track. Our sport is becoming so advertising oriented, and it needs to be cut back on. It seems lately that it is more about the sponsors than the race.

Bruton Smith is slowly-but-surely purchasing every NASCAR racetrack. A few weeks ago it was Kentucky, now it is New Hampshire. Can he at least keep the original name and not change it to New Hampshire Motor Speedway? All I can say is he better get Kentucky a Sprint Cup race. Also, all of his tracks have the same, boring logo.

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It is frustrating that it is practically impossible to take a race away from one track and add it to another. Almost all of the raceways are owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. I feel that Atlanta only needs one race a year, and Las Vegas deserves two races. Also, I think that a track should only get two races if it can fill maybe 85% or more of the seats.

I have to give Mr. Smith credit for making all of his tracks successful. He can purchase a track and turn it into a successful racing facility. He is doing a good job selling tickets.

NASCAR needs to stop this craziness before it is too late.

Well, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 was one heck of a race. At the beginning, it looked like Kahne would dominate, then Johnson. On lap 33, Biffle had the lead, and he wrecked himself. In the middle of the Biff incident, Kyle Busch sneaked past Montoya in the middle of the dust to take the lead. For the rest of the race, it was the "Shrub" show. At one point, he had an 11 second lead over second place Jamie McMurray. Jeff Gordon was falling like crazy at the beginning but rebounded to third at the end. The conclusion of the race was total mania. It started when David Reutimann slammed into the tire barrier on lap 102. Then on lap 105, Kevin Harvick rammed into McMurray which turned into a chain reaction, taking out Stewart and Ron Fellows. Tony Stewart fell a long way back in the pack which made him so aggressive for points that he made his charge for 10th place. On lap 108, Stewart was running behind Scott Pruett and nudged him a little. Pruett got turned around because there was a car jam in front of him. Hamlin wrecked when he was accidentally tapped by Martin Truex, Jr. when Truex got pushed as Pruett spun out. As a result, the race was red-flagged for over ten minutes to get fluid off the race track. Finally, the race ended as "Wild Thing" took the checkered flag and burned his tires out. It was not a surprise that a "Road Ringer" did not go to victory lane. After the race during an interview, Tony Stewart told TNT pit reporter, Marty Snider, "You aren't in the car; you don't know what you're talking about."

Jack Roush said that he thought Toyota was doing something illegal, maybe testing parts in England. I, too, have to wonder because Toyota just dominates almost every race. On each restart during Sonoma, Kyle Busch just left the field in the dust. How can one manufacturer be so terrible one year and so dominant the next? Something is fishy. But of course, Darrell Waltrip would argue with me.

It seems with the Car of Tomorrow that the leader always takes off from the pack which is a huge advantage. It happens almost every week. NASCAR needs to figure out how to make it so that the rest of the field has a chance with the leader. That would make better racing.

Infineon Raceway- Sonoma, California. It is where the rich come for a spa vacation year round. It is where much wine is produced. But most important of all, it is where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series comes for an excruciating summer challenge. 10 turns and 220 miles are what the drivers will face in the middle of summer heat. The names of guys running near the front of the pack may surprise you.

Boris Said, Ron Fellows, and Scott Pruett are some of the names toward the top of the scoring tower that people may wonder about. Road racing is their special talent that they prepare for as the Cup racers drive their hardest each and every week. But who wins most of the races at Infineon? The Cup regulars. Drivers like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and Juan Pablo Montoya are the ones who finish the deal in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. These regular drivers have more experience in a stock car. "Road Ringers" are not as familiar with the Car of Tomorrow, and most of them have only driven it a couple of times. The road racing experts need to run some other races at 1.5 or 2 mile tracks to get some more practice with the new car. Boris Said, the 45 year-old, has run at Daytona some, and he is usually the highest-finishing "Road Ringer." The special, road course drivers will challenge the Sprint Cup regulars all race long, but they will not celebrate after 110 laps.

Race Info: Toyota/Save Mart 350        Infineon Raceway    Sonoma, California USA
                   Sunday, June 22, 2008     5 p.m. (eastern time) on TNT

Pole Question: Tell me the car number and/or driver of the racer who you think will go to victory lane on Sunday. If you wish, please tell me why you chose that driver.

An Interesting Idea: NASCAR should have Infineon Raceway add lights, and they could have a night race there.

                                  

Kyle Busch, 23 years old, is NASCARs newest hot head. He has been compared to "The Intimidator," Dale Earnhardt Sr. and is attempting to conquer all three championships in NASCARs three top racing leagues. But until he settles down, he will not take home the Sprint Cup.

On the weekend of June 8, 2008, "Shrub" made the decision to go to three different race tracks in three different series all on the same weekend. This was a decision that only a 23 year old hot rod would make. He knew that his stamina could weaken throughout the weekend and do poorly on Sunday. On Friday night in the truck race, he finished 2nd. on Saturday night in the Nationwide race, he finished 20th. Finally, on Sunday afternoon in the Sprint Cup he finished 43rd. This could have just been luck, or it could have been his low stamina. Last weekend , Busch ran two races on the same day at Michigan in the NCTS and at Kentucky in the NNS. Kyle is doing too much no matter what his age is. If he wants to win the championship, he needs to just focus on Sprint Cup. It is okay to run other races if they are at the same track or within a couple miles on the cup venue. Last weekend after the Nationwide race at Kentucky, I thought he made a very good call to hang it up and not go to Milwaukee. Kyle Busch is a very talented race car driver, but he just needs to calm down.

Honestly, I think Kyle Busch will come up short of the Sprint Cup championship. He does not have the respect or maturity to take the title. Look at the past champions like Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. They both had to settle down and gain self-control before it was each of his turn to win the cup. Maybe in a few years it will happen but not this year.

On the other hand, "Wild Thing's" aggressive style is good for the sport. It makes fans like me want to tune every week to see what he will get into. At the Nationwide race at Richmond, he got into a fight with Rusty Wallace's son after the race. In the cup race at Richmond, he did the unthinkable. Kyle took out Dale Jr. with a couple laps to go. He claimed that it was just racing, and the announcers thought he just got a little loose. But after that, Busch heard the boos that he earned from taking out the sports driver. But then, all he did was drive his car all out and go to victory lane at Darlington. "Shrub" has shown that he will race his hardest in every race no matter what the circumstances. Someday, he will be the Dale Sr. of NASCAR.

     

Throughout the course of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race season, three different networks have to split the cost. FOX, TNT, and ESPN/ABC. But which network has the best race coverage? Let's compare to find out.

FOX Budweiser Shootout, Races 1-13                   
                                                                                 
Pre-race Show announcers:                               
NASCAR on FOX Pre-race Show: Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond, Darrell Waltrip
Broadcast booth announcers: Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Pit Reporters: Di*k Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda, Matt Yocum

My thoughts: FOX has the best race coverage for many reasons: they have the best team of people, they have the best pre-race show, they joke around the most, they help people understand things the most, and they have the best format. One thing they could do is shorten all pre-race shows to 30 minutes (except the Daytona 500). I can see why NASCAR on FOX wins so many awards. I would love it if FOX covered the entire race season.

TNT Races 14-19

Pre-race Show announcers:
NASCAR on TNT Live! presented by Castrol GTX: Mark Fein, Larry McReynolds, Kyle Petty
Allstate Countdown to Green: Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach
Broadcast booth announcers: Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach, Kyle Petty
Pit Reporters: Lindsay Czarnaik, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Sneider, Matt Yocum

My thoughts: TNT has the worst race coverage for several reasons:
- They have the longest pre-race shows and do not know what to do for most of the time
Example: For most of the pre-race shows, all they do is interview drivers.
To fix this problem, they could cut the show NASCAR on TNT Live! presented by Castrol GTX ( I do not know why they added it in the first place.) and add more features to the Allstate Countdown to Green.
- They have the most boring team of race announcers. What network is desperate enough to hire Kyle Petty? To fix this problem, they could move Larry McReynolds up to the broadcast booth. Also, fire Bill Webber (He thinks he is so hot.).
- For something positive, Larry McReynolds does a good job down at the cutaway car and giving important keys.

ESPN/ABC ESPN: Races 20-25 ABC: Races 26-36

Pre-race Show announcers:
NASCAR Countdown: part-time Brent Musburger, rotates between Suzy Kolber and Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Brad Daughtry
Broadcast booth announcers: Doctor Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree
Pit Reporters: Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake

My thoughts: ESPN/ABC has the second best/worst race coverage for a couple reasons:
- Like TNT, for most races, they have a long and boring pre-race show. NASCAR Countdown does many interviews, but for the good, they sometimes bring in a NASCAR expert and have good analysts as well as interesting facts about drivers at the particular track.
- I would recommend that they shorten all pre-race shows to half an hour and add more special features.

All three networks compete all year-long to have the highest ratings and best race coverage. Some are better than others, and some have room for improvement.

First Place: FOX                                    

Second Place: ESPN/ABC

Third Place: TNT