NASCAR: The Chase is ON, and almost over!

Two races remain in the season. Fans who have drivers still in the Chase are going into overdrive to find out all information and opinion available. I have just a few quick thoughts, to perhaps lead us into the Phoenix race.

Jimmie Johnson appears to have his ride on rails. This team seems to have a better attitude this year, and have been so consistent it is amazing. They have taken bad cars and made them better. They have had amazingly great cars, also.

Matt Kenseth and his team just don't seem to know how to panic. They too continue to keep focused and have their eye firmly on the target.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr WOW! What a comeback last week. This team is showing some true grit. Perhaps the car does not unload off of the truck in perfect condition, but they sure seem to make things better!

Denny Hamlin A few months ago, while watching Inside Nextel Cup, Kenny Schrader compared Denny to Davey Allison. Wow! and Whoa! and Yikes! And by the way, Kenny.....I agree totally. This rookie will be around a long time. He too has had cars that don't run well, (as in with 7 cylinders) and they still pull off top ten finishes!

Kevin Harvick, in my opinion, is the last one who still has a chance at the title. This team has really come around. Comparing this year to last year is like comparing the Taj Mahal to a grass hut!

Jeff Gordon is probably out of the Chase. But, good days are in his future. When he announced his engagement, he went right out and won. Now that he is married, who knows! A win here, too?

Jeff Burton A great comeback from the last several years. I don't think there is a fan out there who would not be thrilled to see him win again!

Kyle Busch A driver that so many seem to dislike, few can deny his talent! A great year ....to be so young and made the Chase...WOW! By the way, one of the local Las Vegas newspapers had a great article discussing how Kyle is helping a young short track driver. See it here.

Mark Martin I hate that he appears to be out of the running. I hate even more that he will be driving something other than a Ford. But then again, a bunch of my favorite drivers are making changes.

Kasey Kahne What can I say? The car, and the kid can win. But, I see a trend with Evernham cars making the Chase and then self-imploding. In fact, if I were Ray Evernham, I would be very concerned about the engine program.

And while not in the Chase, Tony Stewart is sure showing us how to run without the pressure of points racing. He is racing for wins, nothing more, and nothing less! Way to go, Tony!

More later!

Armchair Quarterbacking, NASCAR Style!....Football not included!

As we start to wind down the season, the last few races are heating up. NASCAR is fraught with controversy and debate. In others words, our racing world is still normal!

• Gordon Weds: Congratulations to Jeff and Ingrid Gordon. I hope that both will be happy together, forever. And yes, that is said with sincerity. US Magazine

• Tony Stewart gets Sirius:Tony Stewart fans listening to Sirius Speedway recently learned that Tony's show will debut on the Thursday of the NASCAR banquet week. It appears that it will be up in full force in 2007. In the meantime, I consider Sirius Speedway to be THE most entertaining motorsports radio talk show available. Here is the blog for Dave, Marty and Suzie Check them out!

• Harvick vs. the Crewman: The internet seems to have some diverse reactions to the incident involving a crewman from the #10 car, the Harvicks, and a NASCAR official.
  

1. One of the most surprising reactions is that Delana, by wearing the crew uniform, or by being a team owner, puts herself into a postion of 'needing to be prepared to have this happen!" I have to shake my head over this, as it may imply that Delana somehow 'deserved it' for wearing the crew uniform. I am sure that most rational folks would agree that NO ONE deserves to be on the receiving end of a violent assault. EVER! If Ray Evernham, Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, or (gasp) Teresa Earnhardt had been knocked down, instead of Delana, I am sure that no one would say 'that is part of the job of being on a team or a crew or the business!
   
2. Some speculation claims that since it was Delana, the penalty was much more severe. Perhaps, but if it had been another driver, another team owner, or anyone else high profile, it would still have received just as much negative publicity. I personally think the fact that a NASCAR official was injured may have had a bigger impact than having Delana getting the shove. Trust me, if Mike Helton or Brian France had been one of those knocked over, we would probably find the crewman knocked back to working at the mill.
   
3. The crewman, by many accounts, shoved Kevin from behind. It is one thing to have an altercation face-to-face. But to sneak up behind someone and shove them hard enough to cause TWO others to fall is frankly a cowardly move.The crewman had a suspension, and a hefty fine. I don't agree with the size of the fine, but can only think that NASCAR is saying "Pay Attention, or Pay Up!"
4. Don't forget....when crime is committed out in the real world, the penalty/sentence is increased if the crime brings physical harm to innocents during the course of the crime, whether intended or not. Perhaps if the crewman had NOT involved anyone else, the penalty would have been less severe.
   

• Rookies: Denny Hamlin is soaring this season. However, JJ Yeley has improved greatly, and so has Martin Truex, Jr. Now, the newest crop of rookies are already showing up in the last races. David Gilliland has been showing some very strong runs lately, but the finishes have not shown it. Come to think of it, Stephen Leicht, the RYR Busch driver, is really coming along also. (By the way, whatever happend to Matt McCall?) Juan Paul Montoya found the intermediate track to be more challenging, but I am sure he will be a very quick study! AJ Allmendinger? Unproven, but then he has tried to qualify in unproven, unrun cars. We will see! Good luck to Sam Hornish, Jr this weekend! Now, when Helio joins NASCAR, my happiness will be complete!
  

• More on Rookies: More internet discussion has centered on if brand new rookies should be allowed to start their careers while the Chase is running. Why should it be any different for Chase races vs. non-Chase races? Rookies have always been entered in the last few races of the season, to get a head start on the next season. Now, granted, David Ragan brought some extreme exposure to this issue, but he WILL be racing next year, at least for the first few races. But, if you go back a few years to a Truck Race championship...Brendan Gaughan had the Championship lined up, when a freak accident by a first time NCTS racer took him out of contention, with the championship reverting to Travis Kvapil. (During the off season, I plan to research the first years of many of today's stars. Perhaps it will give us a perspective that will show us that some of this year's rookies will be next year's stars!)

• Robby Gordon All I can say is Robby, Robby, Robby! I realize that Robby is not the first one to do this, and certainly won't be the last. There has been much public outcry that the penalty was too strong, or not strong enough. If you consider that Jr. deliberately spinning out cost him 25 points, and the illegal shock on the #2 recently caused the car to only go to the tail for the race start, it makes you wonder! Will we ever find that the penalties will fit the 'crime?' Probably not! Too many factors have to be judged. And since they haven't asked me (yet) to provide input, I guess this is my best hope! *grin*

• Chase! In the Chase, Jimmie Johnson may well have it wired this year. It is his race to lose! Matt Kenseth is breathing down his neck. Kevin, Denny and Junior must not have a single glitch, and must also hope that Jimmie and Matt DO have glitches! Good run for Jeff, Jeff, Kyle, Mark and Kasey, but I think they are out of it.

• Speaking of Kasey.....what the heck has happened to Evernham's program? Granted Scott has had some bad luck, but Kasey's car blows up a motor on a caution? And look at the engine failures recently! As far as Sadler, well....that team change sure is working out well, eh?

• Terry Labonte.... you will be missed. Softspoken, yet a ferocious competitor! I met you once, and fell completely into fandom. You took the time to listen to what I stammered out, as my nervousness was creating a speech impediment. You didn't laugh, get irritated or roll your eyes at me. You listened, you smiled and you thanked ME! Many of the drivers in the sport today need to take a lesson from you...yes, even some of those so-called veterens. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your career, and your retirement.
  

And by the way, just in case Dave, Marty or Suzie were to stop by.............Sirius Speedway Rocks My World!

Nascar could take a lesson from MLB!

Let me start by saying I am NOT a baseball fan! However, due to a houseguest, we have been watching the World Series. I grumbled a lot, but secretly I was starting to immerse myself in the drama. (The only games I had ever attended in my life were the Cardinals, as a young girl with my father! There is a sense of irony here, after all! )

I watched Wainwright throw the last pitch, throw his hands in the air, jumble up with his team. I saw a bunch of players pile on each other. I saw the team manager walking through the field with a face quietly happy. The team was hugging, slapping, and dare I say, crying! I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting...for something! Then it struck me, I was waiting for the NASCAR spin on the celebration.

WHAT IN THE WORLD? Where was the media? Wasn't there supposed to someone there telling the team members when to shout with glee? Why didn't we break for a commercial, and then point to the team members and say "NOW, how thrilled are you?" And wait, did I miss seeing the microphone immediately shoved in the face of the last Tiger's batter? No, I saw the media training their cameras on the celebrations. I was able to be a part of that celebration, but I was not an intruder.

How could this be so different? Perhaps NASCAR has become too rigid. To justify the way things are done, they can recite the requirments of the television contracts. They can recite timing of the race. They can give us a million reasons why they like it to be done THIS way, but every moment of Victory Lane is carefully choreagraphed.

The end of the NASCAR broadcasts are so stilted that one could wonder why a fan would even bother to watch. Perhaps, we are hoping to see something different, a flash of emotion, a burst of excitement or just hoping to see someone who looks just plain glad to be there!

NASCAR, listen up here! Those team members all work so hard to get a win, we would like to see them celebrate without being immediately obligated to respond to the camera. Give them a moment, one moment only. Let them be themselves.

AJ to NASCAR? Sure looks like it!

Anyone out there really think that Champ driver AJ Allmendinger is NOT coming to NASCAR? It certainly appears that he will be the next Open Wheel driver make the move to NASCAR!

For those who don't know, this young Californian has an even bigger Cinderella story than David Gilliland. In June of this year, AJ was fired from RuSport and five days later, hired by Forsythe Championship Racing. He then proceeded to rock the Champ world by winning his next three races.

AJ does have a current affiliation with Red Bull racing. Speed TV's Robin Miller Reports from Australia that it appears AJ has been offered some pretty big bucks to go to NASCAR. Here is a quote from Robin:

How big? Well, CSS Stellar Management (A.J.'s representatives) was asking Gerry Forsythe for $3 million a year to keep the kid he picked up off the unemployment line back in June.

Forsythe, who had offered Allmendinger a five-year contract with incentives and wanted his signature before this weekend, rejected that figure and basically stated they were too far apart to even continue negotiating.

That was a week ago, and everybody is pretty quiet on both sides. A.J. claims he hasn't signed anything, yet his fiancée told friends on Wednesday night, "We're going to NASCAR."

And nobody on his Forsythe crew seems to think he'll be back.

AJ has already shown quite a bit of potential in his first trips around the NASCAR ovals. Racing in the CTS truck owned by Bill Davis, he finished 13th and 5th. He will make his cup debut at Atlanta.

Is this influx of open-wheel drivers good for our sport? From the outside, one might think the extra publicity will help the image of NASCAR in the worldwide world of motorsports. Even though Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Kasey Kahne made successful transitions, the series is littered with other drivers who failed to make the top ranks in NASCAR. Also, the newest wave of outsiders are closing the doors for many young talented drivers who have been working their way up through the stock car ranks.

Next year should be very interesting!