Winners and Losers From Atlanta

09/08/2010 By Leave a Comment

For the past 50 years, NASCAR has been racing twice per season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But with the track seeing one of its two race dates shifted to a sister-track located in Kentucky next year, there was some mixed emotion surrounding the Emory Healthcare 500.

Whether it was that emotion or simple happenstance, the action that transpired on the track this past weekend was fantastic. And a worthy way to honor one of the best tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule. With that in mind, let’s sort through this week’s winners and losers.

Winners

Tony Stewart
With his first win of 2010, and with the consistency that he has exhibited throughout the summer, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include Tony Stewart’s name on the list of possible championship contenders. He doesn’t necessarily deserve to be atop that list, but he certainly belongs on it somewhere.

Carl Edwards
In finishing second, the Emory Healthcare 500 is further proof that Carl Edwards has returned to the form he exhibited in 2008, when he won eight races and ended with him finishing second in points to Jimmie Johnson. Its worth noting, that in the last eight races, Edwards’ worst finish is a 12th Bristol, and his average finish overall in those same eight races is fifth.

Jimmie Johnson
One third-place finish doesn’t erase what we’ve seen from the 48 team the in last month-and-a-half. But what it does do, is reconfirm my belief that no matter how mortal they’ve looked – they’ve looked mighty mortal as of late – this team is still the favorite until someone shows they can topple them when it matters the most.

Clint Bowyer
Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne all stubbed their toes and sealed their Chase fate. By finishing seventh, Clint Bowyer capitalized on the opportunity that presented itself and all but locked up the 12th and final postseason spot. Now, all he has to do at Richmond is finish 28th or better.

Kyle Busch
The “Old” Kyle Busch would’ve packed it in after a pit road speeding penalty and problem on a pit stop left him a lap down. The “New” Kyle Busch maintained his composure and raced his way to his seventh top-five finish of ’10. I guess that’s what we call maturity.

Jeff Burton & Kurt Busch
Both drivers fell a lap down early, but both worked on making their cars better, used pit strategy to their advantage and left Atlanta with top-10 finishes. For Burton (4th), it was his first top-five finish since Daytona on Fourth of July weekend. While Busch (6th) posted his third top-10 finish in four races.

Reed Sorenson
Coming off the heels of a 15th-place finish at Bristol, Reed Sorenson (14th), in his home state of Georgia, drove to his second straight top-15 finish.

For his efforts, what does the 24-year-old get? He gets replaced at Richmond by a German Touring Car driver (Mattias Ekstrom), who’s never started a NASCAR race on an oval.

Dave Blaney
For many drivers crossing the finish line in 24th is a disappointing day. But for Dave Blaney, finishing 24th marks his best finish in a Sprint Cup race since he finished 22nd at Homestead in the season finale of the 2008 season.

Atlanta Motor Speedway
Of the seven mile-and-a-half tracks that are on the Sprint Cup schedule, Atlanta Motor Speedway is by far the raciest of them all. (The good kind of racy mind you, not the bad kind.)

Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin exchanged the lead throughout the early portions of the 500-mile race. Later, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards put on a three-man duel for second-place, which will go down as some of the best racing we’ve seen all year. Except…

Losers

Atlanta Motor Speedway
… sadly though, despite annually hosting some of the best and most memorable races of recent years, the track can’t get enough people to buy tickets to warrant two races at the facility.

Bruton Smith
Bruton Smith is one of those guys who like to shoot-from-the-hip. The majority of time, the stuff he says, though controversial, is spot-on and is something that needs to be said for the good of the sport.

But when asked Saturday about the track he owns in Las Vegas hosting the finale Sprint Cup race of the season, something Smith is adamantly in favor of, here was his quote, “If you’re going to do a championship, you’ve got to do it at the proper place, and I don’t think North Cuba is the proper place.”

Funny? Sort of. Appropriate? No. And unquestionably something a mover-and-shaker of Smith’s magnitude should never say in front of the media.

When he had a chance to make amends for his comment on Sunday, Smith, of course, didn’t back away.

“I was just speaking the truth,” he said. “I was actually complimenting them. It was actually based on location, so I was just kind of being kind to the location. That’s what it was.”

Here’s what needs to happen: Someone needs to take Smith aside and explain to him that not only do loose lips sink ships, and they also don’t get track owners the dates they oh so covet from NASCAR.

Mark Martin
After a mediocre 21st-place run Sunday, Mark Martin is all but guaranteed not to be making a return trip to the Chase.

There are a lot of reasons to explain why Mark Martin has not come anywhere close to matching his performance from a year ago, when he won five times and finished second overall in the standings. But at the end of the day, all the excuses that could possibly be given are nothing more than that, excuses.

Jamie McMurray
Like a lot of guys Sunday night Jamie McMurray was befuddled by a myriad of problems. But unlike some of the guys listed above in the winner’s portion of this column, the reigning Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 champion wasn’t able to recover enough (15th-place finish) to give himself a reasonable chance to make the Chase this coming Saturday night at Richmond.

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin came into this weekend talking big on how he and his team were treating this race like a Chase race. When he won the pole Saturday, and proceeded to lead 74 of the first 140 laps, it looked as if all that talk was in fact reality. Perhaps even a shot across the bow to the competition of what was to come when the Chase begins in two weeks.

Instead, Hamlin’s motor went kaboom and regulated him to 43rd in the final rundown.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Atlanta, Blaney, Bowyer, Bruton Smith, Burton, Busch, Edwards, Hamlin, Johnson, Martin, McMurray, Sorenson, Stewart, Winners and Losers

Sorting Through the New Sprint Cup Schedule

08/13/2010 By Leave a Comment

Monday NASCAR announced that Chicagoland will be the opening race in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup. On Tuesday, the dual Kansas and Kentucky press conferences confirmed that Kansas is getting a second date on the ‘11 Sprint Cup calendar and that Kentucky is finally getting its long-sought after race. With these announcements, the Sprint Cup schedule madness has finally come to an end.

Although the changes weren’t nearly as dramatic as we all thought they would be (we’ll get into that more below), there are still plenty of changes that occurred which warrants me writing another article about the subject.

While I’m not shocked that NASCAR completely disregarded, ignored and overlooked the blueprint I laid out for them three weeks ago, there is one positive that I find in the situation. By ignoring my suggestions – or as I like to refer to it as, “A Roadmap to Giving the Fans What They Want” – I can milk a third column on the subject in less than a month.

Now, I don’t have to look for a topic to rail about for the week. I mean, if you’re going to throw me a belt-high fastball down the middle of plate, you have to expect me to swing for the fences. Or I guess I should say in this case, the catchfences.

So allow me second to dig in at the plate and take aim.

Batter Up.

Winners

Bruton Smith
When Bruton Smith, the CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc. – the same company that owns the Bristol, Texas, Infineon, New Hampshire, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Charlotte racetracks – bought Kentucky Speedway a year ago, he promised that he would bring a Sprint Cup race to the speedway located just outside of Cincinnati.

With his track in Atlanta having a difficult time selling enough tickets to justify two Cup races, it was the impetus that Smith needed to shift a date to Kentucky. Which is why, starting next season, the speedway will be hosting an annual Saturday night 400-mile race.

“The passionate NASCAR fans throughout Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati have deserved a Sprint Cup Race for a long time,” declared Smith Tuesday. “Before this, racing in Kentucky was about horses, but now it’s all about more horsepower.”

All of this proves once again that, Bruton Smith is a man of his word and someone who knows how to get things done.

With his popularity off the charts throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I think if he ran for governor, he’d win in a landslide.

I think I just gave him an idea for his next venture.

Kentucky Motor Speedway
Since the track was constructed 11-years-ago, the facility has begged, groveled and attempted to negotiate with NASCAR to give them a Cup date. On Tuesday, their wish was granted.

In preparation for their primetime debut, speedway officials said they will be putting in an additional 40,000 seats. This will push the tracks capacity to over 100,000.

New Hampshire Motor Speedway
There has been a lot of buzz as of late that one of New Hampshire’s two dates was on the chopping block. The rumor was that one the dates would either be shifted to Kentucky or Las Vegas.

Instead, its sister track, Atlanta, lost a race and the powers that be gave the Loudon track a stay of execution. They will once again have two stops next season.

Kansas Speedway
Let’s just say it was a mere formality that the series signed off on giving Kansas a second race and here are the reasons why:

Series sponsor Sprint is located just down the road, in Overland Park, Kansas.

The same family which owns this facility is the same family who dictates which tracks get a Cup race.

In addition, said family is in the process of building a multi-million dollar hotel/casino right next door to the 1.5-mile track. Having two races each year will certainly increase the amount of traffic that goes in and out of the hotel and casino.

So yeah, I think we can safely assume that a rubber stamp was used somewhere in the process.

Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland is a fine track just outside the third-largest city in the U.S that often got lost in the summer stretch of races. Now, going forward, they get a chance to shine as it will become the opening round in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

There’s just one problem which we will address below.

Homestead-Miami Speedway
One of the racier intermediate tracks on the schedule has done a very good job of creating a worthy season-ending event for all three of NASCAR’s national touring series. Although their attendance isn’t where anyone would like it to be, it will retain its place on the schedule for another year.

Losers

NASCAR
There have been some strong hints during the past couple of months that NASCAR was going to really shakeup the 36-race Sprint Cup schedule.

Ah, nevermind.

Because if moving Chicagoland into the Chase, giving Kansas a second date, and finally granting Kentucky a race quantifies as a big shakeup, then that’s the equivalent of promising your daughter a pony and buying her a goldfish instead.

Las Vegas
Everyone thinks ending the season in Sin City is a good idea, except of course, those who make the final call. But alas, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world with a racetrack just outside the city, will maintain its same place on ’11 schedule as it’s had for the last 12 years.

Vegas in March! Get excited!

Whatever.

Auto Club Speedway
Everyone tried so, so hard to make two dates at the track on the outskirts of Los Angeles work, and sadly, it just wasn’t to be.

You can blame the bad weather (which track officials did) for all the empty seats we’ve seen over the past few years all you want. But the reason fans never came out had nothing to do with the weather. It had everything to with what has happened on the track. Or should I say, not happening? There was too little passing and not enough excitement to entice people to come back.

Fans
When NASCAR indicated that a shakeup of the schedule was going to happen, fans were buzzing about all the possibilities. With hints of big changes coming, our expectations grew exceedingly high.

In the end, a road course was not added or moved into the Chase and there were no more short tracks added to the schedule. Outside of a few, what I could classify as lukewarm moves, this whole process as left me, and many other fans a little disappointed to say the least.

Anyone Wishing For a Chase Shakeup
This is the seventh year that the Chase for the Sprint Cup has been used to determine the champion. Ever since 2004, when the Chase was first put into practice, the majority of the fans that I’ve talked to, swapped emails with or used carrier pigeons to exchange messages have all said the same thing: The Chase needs less cookie-cutter tracks, another short track or two and a road course.

Instead, what we get is one intermediate track that produced single-file racing (Auto Club Speedway) being exchanged for another intermediate track (Chicagoland) where the racing isn’t much better.

So much for diversity.

Atlanta Motor Speedw
ay
Since opening its doors in 1960, the track has annually hosted two Sprint Cup races per year.

In the last 20 years, the one-and-a-half-mile track has hosted some of the most memorable NASCAR races. Who can forget Alan Kulwicki’s underdog title win in ’92, Dale Sr. and Bobby Labonte racing side-by-side to the checkered flag in ’00 or Kevin Harvick winning in The Intimidator’s car just three races after his untimely death?

As just about every driver in the garage can attest, Atlanta was one of, if not thee, best tracks on the circuit.

It’s just too bad that its located in a terrible sports town where the fans didn’t bother to show their support.

Chicagoland Speedway
NASCAR and track officials better hope that the Bears have a Monday night game and that both the Cubs and White Sox are out of the playoff hunt come the third Sunday of September 2011.

If not, this race is going to have almost no media presence in the “Windy City.” Thus, defeating the whole purpose of moving the first Chase race to a track that hasn’t shown they truly deserve it.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Atlanta, Auto Club Speedway, Bruton Smith, Chicago, Homestead, Kansas, Kentucky, Las Vegas, NASCAR, New Hampshire, Schedule

Brickyard Winners and Losers

07/27/2010 By Leave a Comment


The Brickyard 400 is over and done with for another year. Before we shift our attention onto this week’s race at Pocono, let’s recap the winners and losers from what was a very memorable weekend in Indianapolis.

Winners

Jamie McMurray
In golf and tennis you’re judged by how you do in the four majors. If that were the same standard in NASCAR, Jamie McMurray would unquestionably be the Driver of the Year regardless of his position in the standings.

In McMurray’s case, he’s 16th in points and has wins in the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. At the same time he finished second in both the Southern 500 (Darlington) and Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte).

Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick ran a great race on Sunday. He ran in the top-10 almost the entire afternoon, and his average running position in the race was sixth. If it weren’t for Juan Pablo Montoya hitting the wall, Harvick would have likely been celebrating his second Brickyard win.

Greg Biffle
For the first time since Bristol, Greg Biffle finished a race in the top-five. What might be an even better sign for Roush Fenway Racing, and the No. 16 team in particular, is that they have appeared to have turned the proverbial corner as they led 38 laps in the race.

Even better, the third-place finish went a long way towards him solidifying a place in the Chase.

Joe Gibbs Racing
In the first 10 laps Kyle Busch spun out, and both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin had to make unscheduled pit stops due to overheating. At that point it didn’t appear as if the Brickyard 400 was going to be a good race for anyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing.

At the end of the race though, all three cars rallied back nicely and finished in the top-15, with Busch crossing the line eighth, Logano ninth, and Hamlin 15th.

They may not have won, and they didn’t even lead a lap, but it was an impressive day nonetheless.

Clint Bowyer
Before Sunday, Clint Bowyer had never finished in the top-five in back-to-back races. But with a fourth-place run at Indianapolis that followed a fourth at Chicagoland, Bowyer can now cross that off the list of things he’s never done in Sprint Cup.

Chip Ganassi
With wins in the Daytona 500, Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400, I’m going to walkout on a limb and say that 2010 has been a pretty good year for Chip Ganassi. Again, it’s a pretty small limb, but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway.

Carl Edwards
Three straight top-10s are nice, but what’s nicer is the fact that Carl Edwards went through an entire race without intentionally wrecking another anyone.

Richard Childress Racing
All three Richard Childress-owned cars finished sixth or better on Sunday, and four of the top-six cars were powered by an RCR engine.

While other organizations may have more victories this season, there may not be a more consistent organization in 2010 than Richard Childress Racing.

Losers

Juan Pablo Montoya
Two straight years Juan Pablo Montoya has had the car to win one of the more prestigious races in racing. Yet, he’s been shutout both years. There really isn’t anything else to say.

Hendrick Motorsports
It doesn’t happen often, but it was a rough, rough day for a team that was expected to be in contention for the checkered flag. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were never competitive. Dale Earnhardt Jr. overheated early and got tagged by Juan Pablo Montoya late. And Mark Martin, after a strong start to the race that saw him run up front early, faded back to 11th by the race’s conclusion.

David Reutimann
Following his win at Chicagoland two weeks ago, there was a belief among many pundits that David Reutimann was going to make a late push to get into the Chase. But after finishing 28th due to getting entangled in the Turn-2 crash on Lap 1, his Chase hopes are now nothing more than a pipedream.

Bruton Smith
Why is Bruton Smith on this list you’re asking yourself? Well, on Sunday following a meeting with NASCAR about getting another race for his track located in Las Vegas, Smith was quoted as saying NASCAR has a “moral obligation” to give a second date to Las Vegas.

Huh?

I would love to have an explanation as to why NASCAR has a moral obligation to give Las Vegas another race. If Smith wants a second race at Vegas so bad, then why doesn’t he move a date from another one of his many tracks? Perhaps Atlanta, which has had an extremely tough time selling tickets the last few years?

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images/NASCAR Media

Filed Under: Biffle, Bowyer, Bruton Smith, Childress, Edwards, Ganassi, Gibbs, Harvick, Hendrick, Indianapolis, McMurray, Montoya, NASCAR, Reutimann, Winners and Losers

$20 Mil for Winning Indy & Charlotte Sounds Great, But It Isn’t Happening

05/20/2010 By 6 Comments

Being the huge motorsports fan that I am, when I heard the news that starting next year Bruton Smith – who owns the Charlotte, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Infineon, Atlanta, Texas, Bristol, and Las Vegas racetracks and has a net worth that would make some Saudi princes blush – was willing to put up $20 million to any driver who could turn the double and win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day I was ecstatic to say the least. That’s an understatement of all understatements.

You simply can’t be a fan of racing and not get excited about the possibilities that might exist if Bruton goes through with his pledge.

The potential is there to see Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt and Kyle Busch and others all crossover and try and win the most famous auto race in the world. Then in the same day, return to Charlotte trying to win the most grueling race on the NASCAR schedule with a $20 million bonus awaiting them if they can pull the double off.

And how great would it be to see Helio Castroneves wheel a Roger Penske stockcar in the 600 or Scott Dixon or Dario Franchitti drive an Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet mere hours after winning the Borg-Warner Trophy that is awarded to the winner of the Indy 500.

It’s a race fans dream, and it would most certainly restore the luster and prestige of winning the Indy 500 that has been lost in the last 15 years. Not to mention attract a few additional eyeballs to one of NASCAR’s four major events.

After my initial enthusiasm and anticipation had worn off though, I stepped back and really started to think about this proposed idea. It was then I came to the sad realization that because there are simply too many variables in play that would have to align, that it’s just not realistic for a driver to compete and win the 500 and 600 in the same weekend. At least not in the environment that currently exists today.

As long as IndyCar is tied to one engine manufacturer (Honda), and as long as IndyCar and NASCAR are competing entities, going head-to-head for the same market share, sponsors, etc., a driver competing and winning the double isn’t an option, no matter how much money is at stake.
Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and starting next year Kasey Kahne, aren’t going to hop into an IndyCar that doesn’t have an engine with a bowtie on it. Chevrolet isn’t going to signoff on that, it is simple as that.

And if you think Toyota is going to allow Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin to drive a car powered by Honda engineering, their bitter rivals, I have some land in Florida I think you may be interested in buying.

And why would NASCAR, who has seen its attendance and television ratings decline dramatically, not to mention a shortage of sponsors due to the tough economy, go out of its way to accommodate a competing racing series?

A series that just 15-20 years ago was garnering the same television and attendance numbers as NASCAR. It wasn’t just that IndyCar racing was a legitimate threat to NASCAR. No, they were in position to challenge Formula One for worldwide motorsports supremacy.

While the upside is certainly there for NASCAR – the Coca Cola 600, one of their crown jewel races would be provided with even more mainstream media attention then it receives now – the negatives far out weigh the positives for the premiere sanctioning body in North America to extend a helping hand to the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Unless the motorsports landscape dramatically changes, and either the IndyCar Series becomes the number one racing series in the United States or NASCAR buys outright the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and/or the Indy Racing League, Bruton Smith’s idea is nothing more than a pipedream.

A pipedream mind you, which every racing fan shares with him. But like most dreams, that’s all it will ever be, a dream.

If you would like to contact the author of this post, please feel free to email him at jordan@theracinggeek.com and you can also follow The Racing Geek on Twitter.

Filed Under: Bruton Smith, Charlotte, Indy 500, IndyCar, IRL, NASCAR

News and Notes

05/07/2009 By Leave a Comment

After a stirring finish at Talladega, I thought the ratings for the Sprint Cup race at Richmond would show an improvement, not a dramatic improvement mind you, but just a slight one. Apparently though, that wasn’t the case.

From the I don’t know how the hell this happened department. Danica Patrick has been named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. In an unrelated note, I am now canceling my subscription to Time.

Could Kurt Busch be driving a Saturn in 2010? Well, if Roger Penske buys Saturn, it might just happen.

With the All-Star race and the 600 coming up at Lowes Motor Speedway, here’s some friendly advice for you if you plan on attending either race; if you see Bruton Smith, now is not the time to ask him for a loan.

And if Bruton Smith is wondering how he can start saving some money, let me give him this piece of advice; you don’t need to be giving the winner of the Coke 600 a 225 pound trophy made from Oscuro marble, whatever that is.

After not racing at the speedway since 2002, when he lost the Indy 500 in slightly controversial fashion to Helio Castroneves, Paul Tracy has quickly shown that even at the age of 40, and having not driven an IndyCar since last summer, he still knows a thing or two about getting around the Brickyard.

And if you’re wondering about the picture above, it’s a picture of the car that Alex Lloyd will be attempting to qualify for the Indy 500. As the saying goes, “it takes a real man to drive a pink racecar.”

Filed Under: Bruton Smith, Danica Patrick, Lowes, Penske, Talladega, Television, Tracy