Racing News Digest

Maybe my thinking is off here. I know, that is rare, but I am wondering why Danica Patrick is expected to either run INDY or NASCAR? Why not do both?

And that really goes for any driver in any different series.

If she has an interest in NASCAR, why not sign another 2 or 3 year contract with who ever she wants in INDY but on some from weekends come over and give a couple NASCAR races a try during that 2 or 3 year period. She could do some Camping World Truck Series races and maybe a lot of Nationwide races to get use to the car differences.

Then on the last year of he of the INDY contract concentrate more on getting into some Sprint Cup races along with doing some Nationwide races. All in an effort to get use to the differences in the cars.

I bet I know why. I expect her to fail miserably if she comes to NASCAR racing. I don’t want to be mean about that, that is just how I feel. I honestly believe she will be running in the back of the pack 90% of the time. Even after she has a couple years under her belt full-time to get use to the cars.

So, if she were to move she would want the most money and glamor as possible right now. If she did some races here and there for a couple of years and it showed how bad she was, then when it came time for a full ride she probably wouldn’t bring in as much money as she could right now to just jump over.

I believe that I have read that Danica Patrick wants to go straight to the Sprint Cup Series if she were to make the change. She would also want to go to a big name team. How many big teams have an opening for her. I read one article that said there was rumors of kicking Dale Earnhardt Jr. out of Hendrick and giving her a spot. I have read that Hendrick could place her with Stewart-Haas Racing. Doesn’t Tony Stewart have a saying in that?

How about not kicking Jr out of Hendrick, but helping Jr move his Nationwide team up to the cup level with Brad Keselowski. Making room for her at Hendrick. And Hendrick would have yet another team out there with big names.

I would think that the idea of having Danica Patrick on your team would be intriguing for a car owner. A lot of that intrigue would be centered around dollar signs obviously with the sponsorship that she could probably bring in.

Jack Roush has admitted that he has tossed around the idea of bringing Danica aboard. He thinks she is a great driver and at the top of the list of female drivers. But he is not willing to just sign her and through he into a Sprint Cup ride. She would have to do a couple of years in the Nationwide Series.

And apparently the Ford representatives have echoed the same thing.

I think that this would probably be a pretty popular consensus between owners and manufactures. Smaller teams would probably kill to have her regardless of how she may do. But it also does not sound like she wants to go to any smaller outfits.

With all that, I don’t think she is coming over to the series full-time anytime soon.

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I am not really going to discuss if Jeremy Mayfield is guilty or not. Everyone has their opinions on that just as I do. I think the process may be a little screwy and if Jeremy wants to fight then he should.

Plus right now we have a whole lot of “they said I said”.

Interestingly enough it seems that NASCAR has the second sample of Jeremy Mayfields tested by another party and entered those results into the court case. In the case Jeremy is attempting to get his indefinite suspension lifted. Jeremy and his lawyers don’t really seem to be contesting the results, but instead the manner in which the testing was handled.

But, that’s not what caught my eye today. This is what I read in an article that I think came from the associated press.

It makes one wonder if the more sensible route would have been quietly serving his NASCAR suspension and then attempting a career-saving comeback. Of course, participating in NASCAR’s “path to reinstatement” would have been akin to admitting guilt, something Mayfield has adamantly opposed since his suspension.

While it is hard to argue with that logic especially since it appears Mayfield is now (or has been) in some financial trouble. This all this taken care of as quick as possible and be done with it, guilty or innocent.

But let’s say he is not guilty. Can you imagine getting punished for something you did not do. How hard would you fight? And being a competitor in any sport with that drive to win would only compound it.

I think I have deserved every speeding I have ever received. I know if I knew in my heart that I was not speeding for one of those tickets, no matter how pointless it would be, I would be standing in front of the judge contesting it. Loosing money from work that day and probably court fees. I would fight all that I could if I knew I was innocent, even though it would probably make a lot more sense to pay the $100 and move on with my life.

I don’t think I have had a speeding ticket in years by the way.

Now lets say he is guilty. In this case it would make a ton more sense to take the slap on the wrist, do the rehabilitation and get reinstated. But still being competitive and maybe not the brightest light bulb in the box, it is understandable to want to get your name cleared.

If he is guilty that means that he more than likely he knew he was wrong in the beginning when he said it was combination of Calriton and an over the counter drug. And once you start in with a lie like that there is not much turning back.

The exception of course would be that the norm for these days is ….be bad, tell the truth, ask for forgiveness and everyone loves you.

That may be a little harder in this situation when we are talking about a team and a driver that has not performed all that well and probably lacking a serious fan base.

Of course, come out of this beating big bad NASCAR and he could possibly pick up some fans.

Jeremy Mayfield has himself in a bind now. Of course he could still throw in the towel I suppose, but he would loose a lot of face doing that. If he keeps fighting and looses (that will probably be the outcome) at least he can forever deny he did anything wrong….for whatever that’s worth.

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No, I did not state that wrong. Joey Logano got his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Logano was able to beat out Ryan Newman in fuel mileage while waiting for the rain to start falling. Just laps before the rain and caution Newman was leading and ran out of gas giving the lead to Joey Logano.

Yeah, it was awesome. You know, we pretty much we didn’t take off as good as we needed to. I think it’s just me still lost out there trying to figure out where I needed to be. We overcame a lot.

We had a left rear cut down right before we made that last long green flag run and just trying to overcome that. When that happened, I thought we were done. I was like, the day just went bad, just try to finish it off and get as best finish we can and we made the right move at the end. He went for it and I was just lucky enough to be in the seat.

This allows Joey Logano to hold the title of “Youngest Sprint Cup Winner Ever”. Congrats.

Now, most everyone should know that Joey has not had the stellar season that I think the media prepped him up for. Regardless of how it comes about though, a win is a win. And when it’s your first in a series, you’ll take it no matter how you can get it.

Prior to today’s race Logano’s best finish in the Sprint Cup Series this year was 9th, three times.

Joey does take a 3 points position jump to 21st. Maybe this win will kick start him to good finish for the season.

The “Big One” at New Hampshire was something else really. On a restart on lap 175 Dale Earnhardt Jr. who was running 3rd at that point spun his tires. Martin Truex Jr. had to get out of the gas a little to avoid Jr. Truex got back in the gas and bumped Earnhardt Jr a little causing Truex to float down the track a little and slow down a hair.

At that point Kyle Busch moved up the track just a hair to get on the high side of Truex. Kyle effectively attempting 3 wide really. At that point Martin Truex Jr. moves back up the track to his position having expected Kyle Busch to have let off the gas a little and not be right there.

By coming up the track Truex’s rear quarter panel met Kyle’s front quarter panel sending Martin Truex Jr into a spin that ulitmately got 8 cars involved. That’s just the cars that were right there I believe. Ryan Newman was towards the rear of the field while the accident was happening up front. It caused him to get collected up as well with some minor front end damage.

“I was just staying in line doing what I could to get going, and obviously you can’t pass before the start/finish line. And I guess Kyle just decided he didn’t want to lift, so I was just an innocent victim [Sunday],” said Martin Truex Jr., who got the worst of an accident that defined the Sprint Cup event until rookie Joey Logano won in the rain. “Someone spun the tires, and our lane didn’t go. Kyle just lost his head, like he usually does when something bad happens. He decided he wasn’t going to lift, he was going to turn me on the straightaway for no good reason at all. We have a tore up race car.”

“When I was in the care center, I saw the replay and it looked like the 18 was just completely impatient,” said Brian Vickers, also involved in the crash. “Very normal. Just hooked [Truex] in the right rear and turned him in front of the field. If you wreck somebody on the straightaway, you kind of should be black-flagged for it, but that’s NASCAR’s call, not my call. That’s the second week in a row that stupidity has cost us a race, and it’s frustrating. I guess everybody just learns to expect Kyle doing something stupid. Stupid is forever.”

This accident prompted the questioning of the double file restart. They were posing the question to Jeff Burton. The negative was obviously being highlighted about the double file restarts. Burton handled the questioning superb stating that it was basically just racing and stating something to the fact that no matter what there are going to be situations.

Today’s points didn’t change much. The first 5 positions didn’t change. Tony Stewart is still leading in the points with Jeff Gordon 69 points back and then Carl Edwards a whopping 367 points away from first.

Joey Logano was the biggest points jumper of the day with his 3 positions.

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Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch both win today…again.

Ron Hornaday won today at Memphis Motorsports Park in the Camping World Truck Series. This will be Hornaday’s 3rd win the Truck Series this year with back to back wins after winning last week at the Milwaukee Mile. He had similar performances at both tracks with the same truck.

“It’s a pretty dominant truck, for some reason,” Hornaday said. “I don’t know what we’re doing to it, but we’re going to go back and copy it somehow.”

Hornaday started the race in the pole position and led 175 or the 201 laps today. Last week he led 180 laps of the 2oo lap race.

Kyle Busch grabbed his 5th checked flag of the year in the Nationwide Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway today after passing teammate Joey Logano for the lead with 36 laps to go. Logano led 108 of the 200 lap race.

“We just kept adjusting on our car all day,” said Busch, who had led the most laps in the last eight Nationwide races while winning only two of them. “Normally, when we’re out front, we don’t adjust on it. Today we didn’t have the winning car, we made the winning car.

[Crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] and myself, we talked this past week about what we need in order to get better, in order to take this team to Victory Lane instead of finishing second week in and week out. This is a good step in the right direction.”

Kyle is referring to his last 2 races at the Kentucky Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile where he finished second. As well as Nashville Superspeedway and probably Lowes Motor Speedway where he finished 3rd.

But come on, this is his 5th win this year in the Nationwide Series.

Both Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday are leading the points standings in the Nationwide and Truck series respectively.

Hornaday should now have a 76 point lead over second place Matt Crafton. 149 points separate Ron Hornaday and 4th place Todd Bodine with Mike Skinner sitting in 3rd.

While Ron Hornaday may have a little cushion to work with the Truck Series points, Kyle Busch has put a 162 points gap between him and the 2nd place position held by Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series after today’s race. The next driver back in the points in 3rd is Brad Keselowski a whopping 243 points back from Kyle Busch.

CHAMPIONSHIP ?
I think both of these guys will get the championship at the end of the year. While Kyle’s current points standings makes him seem like a stronger “for sure thing”, my gut is telling me that Carl Edwards can catch him!?! Carl missed the Nationwide Championship by 21 points last year, I think he is thirsty. Of course he did just win the championship back in 2007.

Ron Hornaday missed the Championship by a mere 7 points last year to Johnny Benson and won it in 2007.

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Six races under out belts so far this year. I got to looking at who has won races, who hasn’t, who is performing well and who is not. There are a couple of things that really stick out for me that are probably no-brainer’s.

Stewart-Haas Racing
I think my biggest overall surprise of the year is how well Stewart-Haas Racing Is doing. Tony Stewart being the team owner and a driver has been sitting at the top of the points for a couple of weeks now in his first year as owner/driver. Hats off to him. He is doing great and already has 2 wins (1 points win) under his belt. I think that is pretty incredible.

And being a big Ryan Newman fan you have to applaud that team as well. Ryan moved over to Stewart-Haas Racing after leaving Penske. So far it seems like it was the right decision. Newman is currently sitting 6th in the points.

I think that whole operation is my biggest surprise of the year. Maybe more so being a Ryan Newman fan, I don’t know. I just expected it to be a little bit bumpy of a season for that whole team and that has not really been the case. Newman did start off rough, but made up ground fast.

I know Ryan and Tony have it in them, I just wasn’t expecting it this year.

Kurt Busch

Huge turn around for Kurt Busch this season so far. He finished 18th in the points last year. Back to Ryan Newman, I figured Kurt would be running for Penske as soon as possible as well. Now I am not so sure. He is running great this year with 1 win, 4 top 5’s and 8 top 10’s.

Once again, I know Kurt has it in him, just didn’t think we would see him rebound until he left Penske.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch sitting 9th in the points surprises me. He dominated last year then blew it in the Chase. He is 9th in points with 3 wins, 4 top 5’s and 5 top 10’s. In the last 6 races he has finished 31st, 6th, 23rd, 22nd, 13th and 22nd. Right before that string was his latest win this year.

I figured we would be seeing Kyle up front all year again. And while being inside the top 12 (or top 10) is great, he is -402 points outside of 1st.

And in the big picture that isn’t really going to matter to much because he will have the bonus points of those 3 wins applied to his chase points. So all in all, at this point, he probably isn’t to bad for the chase.

BUT, he is only 48 points away from dropping out of the top 12.

GUYS WITH MULTIPLE WINS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TOP 12

I don’t know why, but I find it kind of fascinating and probably irrelevent that all the drivers with multiple wins are sitting at the bottom of the top 12 with the exception of Jimmie Johnson (2 wins) who is in 3rd.

The single race winners (that are in the top 12) are at the top of the list. Tony Stewart (1st) - 1 win. Jeff Gordon (2nd) 1 win and Kurt Busch (4th) with 1 win.

Multiple race winners sitting at the bottom of the top 12 are Mark Martin (11th) - 3 wins, Matt Kenseth (10th) - 2 wins, Kyle Busch (9th) - 3 wins.

ROOKIE PERFORMANCE

Dismal to say the least. I don’t want to hear about a “learning curve” or anything like that. I want a rookie to come into Sprint Cup Series and blow everyones (drivers and fans) doors right off the hinges.

Joey Logano was suppose to be that kid. We were disappointed. He is up to 24th in the points which is a lot better off from where he started.

In fact Logano is really the one we can talk about. He is the only that has completed all 16 races.

Scott Speed is also someone that I had hoped to get behind. He is in 35th and has only completed 15 races.

I wouldn’t mind seeing either of these guys succeed and they probably will. But I just love seeing a rookie come onto the scene and dominate. We have been missing that I think.

Richard Childress Racing

What happened over there? Jeff Burton is 15th in points followed by Clint Bowyer in 16th, Casey Mears in 21st and then we drop down to 25th to find Kevin Harvick.

These guys (not including Mears) were all in the chase last year. They still could be…but…..Harvick would really have to make up some ground.

Just some items that have caught my interest. Maybe no surprise to others.

What are some of your biggest surprises of the year in the NASCAR world? Good or bad!

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We returned from our vacation Saturday night, or maybe it was early Sunday morning. We had a great time in Virginia with my wife and I taking 3 days by ourselves to go to Virginia Beach with out the kids. They stayed with my parents. Overall a fantastic vacation.

So Sunday was mostly spend getting unpacked and settled back in. Yard work needed to be done and that took quite awhile. We seem to have a toad up rising as there are probably thousands just in out neighborhood. Little baby toads jumping all over the yard.

My point? Well, while I had the race on the TV and paid attention as much as possible we were pretty busy around the house so the race did not receive my up most attention.

But Kasey Kahne was the winner and that gave The King Richard Petty his first win as a team owner. Huge congratulation’s to Kahne and the King for the win at Infineon for the Toyota/SaveMart 350.

This was Kasey’s first win in over a year and should move him up in the points 2 positions to 13th. He is only 3 points outside the top 12 now.

I was reading that Tony Stewart was pressuring Kasey Kahne at the end of the race. I didn’t really see it that way. Granted if Kahne would have bobbled a little Smoke may have been able to get around him. But I don’t think Stewart was really any match for Kahne at the end of the race.

Other than than I have started liking road courses more and more as I get more into NASCAR. At first I thought they were plain ol’ boring, but I can really appreciate all the effort that goes into them now.

And let’s face it, I thought yesterdays race was pretty exciting. At least the parts that I was able to catch.

This was the first road course race with double file restarts. During these restarts it was very important to be out front so you didn’t get caught up in the demolition derby that was happening behind you.

“The restarts were just wild,” Jamie McMurray said. “Everybody runs into each other and doesn’t really race. They just drive over their head, so it was frustrating. It was exciting, I’m sure, for the fans — but the guys just don’t pass right. They just run into each other.”

“It was intense. They were a riot,” Boris Said said of the restarts after finishing 24th. “It was just chaos — a free-for-all. Unfortunately, I don’t know who tagged me on the last one in Turn 7, but they spun me around and I had to let the whole pack go by. We were done then.”

Overall on other tracks the drivers don’t seem to mind the double file restarts. But I think they were all dreading it for the road course which is understandable. Restarting like that and hitting those corners on a road course is a lot different than oval course.

That being said, I think the fans loved it unless of course you driver was a victim of it. And overall I don’t think there were that many issues on the restarts. There were some yes, but it could have been a lot more.

POINTS

Tony Stewart’s 2nd place finish has helped him to maintain the top spot in the points. He was also able to put a little more distance on Jeff Gordon by expanding his lead to 84 points, almost a 40 point increase from last week.

Gordon finished 9th.

Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards flopped the 5th and 6th points positions. Ryan Newman had a rough day and finished 17th while Carl Edwards got a 13th place finish. Only 5 points separate these 2.

Mark Martin fell 3 positions to 11th after having a very bad day and finishing 35th.

New to the top 12 this week is Juan Pablo Montoya who jumped up 2 positions to 12th after finishing 6th. Kasey Kahne is knocking on his door just 3 points behind in 13th.

When one person enters the top 12 that means one person leaves the top 12. After finishing 34th Jeff Burton fell 3 positions to 15th 6 points behind David Reutimann.

The top 12 is a pretty tight points race. Looking at positions 4th through 12th it is only a 167 point difference.

From 1st to 12th is a 447 point difference.

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