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What Has Happened To The Gibbs Teams???

By Mark Young

If someone would have told me a month ago that Kyle Busch would be 12th in points after dominating the entire first 26 races of the season I would have laughed in their face and tell them they were nuts.  If someone would have told me that Kyle's teammates Tony Stewart would be 11th and Denny Hamlin 10th I would have been on the floor rolling in laughter at the absurdity of it all.  But here we are, three races into the Chase and there sits Joe Gibbs Racing sitting dead last in the Chase standings.  What has gone wrong?

Sure Tony Stewart hasn't won a race all year.  People could blame it on the distraction of buying his own team, and that is partly true, but that 20 team just isn't up to par.  Perhaps Tony and his team have become a test team similar to what DEI was rumored to have done to Dale Jr. last season?

Denny Hamlin has one win but we haven't seen that #11 car up front much either.  Yes, he had some bad luck along the way but I would have been willing to bet anyone that he would be challenging for the title all year.

Kyle's issues are just the result of bad luck.  Broken front suspension parts and back to back races with engine problems are unexplainable for a team that has won eight races this season.  I had a conversation with a fan on Sunday that says it is a conspiracy.  He thinks that someone has been sabotaging the #18 car in an effort to stop Kyle.....and this guy is a Rouch racing fan.

I think the answer doesn't rest directly upon the Gibbs' organization.  I believe that the Rouch, Hendrick, and to some extent the Childress teams have all stepped up as the Chase started.  Maybe the Gibbs teams had gotten complacent with their recent success.  Either way I just wouldn't never had imagined Kyle Busch's demise in the first three races of the Chase.

What do you think?

The most deserving champion is...

By DAVID GREEN

Is Kyle Busch out of the Chase? Have all his hopes for a championship been dashed?

Of course not. Points in the eight remaining races are awarded in much the same manner as they were in the final six races of 1992, when Alan Kulwicki overhauled Bill Elliott and Davey Allison from 278 points in arrears. Busch is only 210 behind, with two more races in which to make up lost ground.

Would Busch have surrendered his points lead, and the championship, if not for the ersatz playoff Chase format? Quite possibly. His finishes at New Hampshire and Dover have been worse than Elliott and Allison performed in many of those half-dozen races in which Kulwicki clawed his way back into contention.

As I have written a time or two in this space, our opinions about this don't really count. NASCAR has set up the championship as they wish it to be, and there it is. There won't be any debate that matters about the 2008 Cup Series champion, because the guy who's going to get the trophy and the prize money is the one NASCAR's system determines.

That doesn't mean we can't play "what if," and ponder different scenarios. Somewhere, somebody is (probably, multiple somebodies are) keeping alternate points systems and can tell us just how much of his huge lead Busch has lost in the last two races.

It also doesn't prevent us from forming our own opinions about whether the system actually determines the most deserving driver as the champion.

Most of us will make up our minds based on our personal opinions of how drivers ought to be rewarded, points-wise, for their season-long performances. (Some of us will be influenced in forming our opinions by how well our favorite drivers have fared, but that's a different debate.)

In my mind, no one has come close to deserving the championship more than Busch or Carl Edwards. The two drivers have 14 wins between them, and winning races, I think, should be the primary criterion for determining the champion.

Greg Biffle has taken the first two steps toward becoming championship-worthy. Jimmie Johnson is also in the hunt. Before the season is done, one or both may have earned full-blown credibility to claim the Cup.

At this point, from where I sit, neither Johnson nor Biffle is deserving of his position in the points standings, and if not for the Chase, neither would be where he is. Nor would Busch be 210 points out of first place.

There's no perfect system, nor even one that would please an overwhelming majority of fans. But I wonder if there are any that would leave as many people wondering "what if" as the Chase.

Can Kyle Handle It?

By Mark Young

Well we all got to watch Kyle Busch bag it on Sunday at Dover after he blew up.  He all but conceded the Championship after a 43rd and 34th places finish in the first two races of The Chase.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing that day.  How can a guy who has won eight races this year in the Cup Series, eight wins in the Nationwide Series, and three more wins in the Truck Series sit there and give up to the wold after two bad races?

This makes me ask the question.....Can Kyle Busch handle the pressure?

I have come to respect Kyle Busch as a race car driver this year.  He has clearly been the best driver in all of NASCAR.  To be as dominant like he has been and to sit and tell the world the season is over shows that he just isn't mature enough to win a Championship.

What he should do is go out and do whatever possible to win every race that is left and let thing go from there.  His "Fly by the seat of his pants" style of driving has gotten him this far, I don't see a reason why it can make him more determined to finish the year as strong as possible.

IF he does that and the rest have a bad race (and they all could) he could easily regain the top spot in the standings.

Dover Recap

By Mark Young

WHEW!!  What a race in Dover, well at least what about those last 80 laps or so?  I have to admit, I split time during the live broadcast of the race and the conclusion of The Ryder Cup, but I bet TR.com's editor Bob Henry was too.  Later on Sunday night I watched the rest on DVR and I have to say that was likely the best Dover race I have seen in a long time.  Yes, there was several long green flag sessions where things got spread out but in between we had quite a bit of excitement.

The Rouch-Fenway organization is on a roll right now and it seems they have peaked at the right time.  If it weren't for McMurray's bad luck of getting caught up in someone's demise he likely could have had a top ten finish.  It was fun to watch Biffle, Kenseth, and Edwards run those last 30 laps and I hope we see the rest of the season end with races like that.

Greg Biffle is now a very serious contender for the title.  I wouldn't hesitate to pick him for this weekend either.

Kyle Busch has bagged the rest of the season.  I had to sit there and shake my head listening to him whine about how the same thing happened last year.  Well Mr. Busch with an attitude like that you will never win a championship.  For a guy who has won as many races as he has this year nothing is impossible....unless you give up.

Dale Jr. was the focus of pre-race conversations on Sunday.  They questioned his communication and his fitness (or lack there of) as being reasons why the #88 falls off at the end of races.  Sunday it didn't take the last 1/3 of the race to fall apart, he was bad all day.  But what I see different between him and Kyle is that he hasn't bagged the last eight races.

Denny Hamlin had a bad day as well.  I'm not sure what the final diagnosis was but after replacing the entire rear drive-train of his car he was out of contention for the day.

Kevin Harvick had his eighth consecutive top ten finish and all three RCR cars finished in the top ten and Dover.  Looks like they are on track as well.

All in all I thought that was a great race, what do you guys think?

Civil liberties versus security

By DAVID GREEN

NASCAR's announcement this morning of a change in its drug testing policy means drivers, crew members and officials will be tested at the start of next season and will be subject to random testing throughout the season.

Presently, testing is done only if there is reasonable suspicion that someone is abusing a substance.

The majority of negative reaction is likely to come from outside the sport -- specifically, from the American Civil Liberties Union, which I expect will frown on the announcement. The ACLU fancies itself the protector of citizens against encroachment on their Constitutionally guaranteed rights, which kind of suggests a lack of confidence in the Constitution itself, but I guess the ACLU is a necessary part of our social debate.

Any competitor who is against the new policy is likely to keep his objections to himself. Some fans will assert that the sport is clean, and testing isn't necessary; skeptics will suggest that the testing won't be 100 percent effective and that some abusers will be able to get away with their abuse.

But I think most fans and competitors alike will welcome the tougher policy.

Many observers and participants have pointed out the difference between auto racing and other athletic competition, and how dire the consequences could be if a substance abuser uses poor judgment. There can be little argument about that. Drunk driving statistics stand as testimony to the dangers or operating an automobile while impaired.

Developments over the past few years also negate the suggestion that no NASCAR driver would ever do such a thing. We have good reason to believe some would, and in fact have.

In other sports, the issue is performance enhancement. In NASCAR, that's a mechanical and technical matter. The drug issue for NASCAR's athletes is safety related.

Hopefully, the new policy will be flexible enough to allow drivers to compete while using medication that might be needed to treat legitimate health issues. Bobby Labonte was diagnosed in the 1990s with Graves disease, which causes overproduction of the hormone thyroxine by the thyroid gland. There's no reason Labonte should not be able to take whatever medication is prescribed and continue to compete, as long as there are no side effects that might hamper his abilities as a driver. Clearly, there have not been.

Likewise, I hope NASCAR doesn't overreact and reject a driver who has a cold or the flu and is taking antibiotics or over-the-counter medications. Is that driver likely to be at his best? No, but that doesn't automatically mean he will be a hazard.

It all comes down to the debate over individual liberty versus security. We all have to surrender some of our individual rights for the good of the society overall. The question is not whether we should do that, but where we should draw the line separating the two opposing concepts. For reasonable and rational people, that's not a fixed point. It's a moving and elusive target.

Does America have a drug problem? You bet. Is NASCAR a microcosm of America? Affirmative. Does that mean there's some likelihood that a competitor will give in to the temptation of using illegal and harmful substances? Without a doubt.

It won't work perfectly and in a overwhelming majority of cases, it will be completely unnecessary. But I think the new mandatory testing policy is a good idea.

Well.....uh....that was boring.

By Mark Young

Sorry gang, Loudon did nothing for me.  I was actually looking forward to sitting and watching the race because, like the people in Texas dealing with Hurricane Ike, I was socked in the house dealing with 10+" of rain in two days and a bad cold.  I really wanted to watch this race and be excited because it was the first race of the Chase.  I wanted to see a good race where there was a lot of action.  Well other than  watching Kyle's team deal with an odd mechanical failure I didn't see anything worthy of being a Chase-style race.

Now I want to premise this post with a statement.  The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a very nice race track with a wonderful and colorful history.  I am sure that the season is filled with a bunch of great racing filled with modified and other winged race cars.  There is one more thing I am certain of, Loudon does not deserve two Cup Series races let alone a race in the Chase.  Just the same as California, Phoenix, and Michigan, this place does not create good racing.

Correct me if I am wrong, because I watched most of it live and then watched it again on DVR, there was more passing on pit road than there was on the track.  Don't go blaming the COT either because the racing was bad there with the other car too.

Maybe I am just in a weather-related bad mood but I would rather see Bristol end the race for the Cahse and Richmond be the first race of the Chase.  Stick Loudon somewhere in the middle of the season....once.  Let those die-hard fans in the Northeast that love their racing just as much as I do have the chance to see their favorite driver, hang out with friends, and party.  Just don't make it part of the ten most important races of the year when racing on the track doesn't happen

And the winner is...

By DAVID GREEN

For some time now, NASCAR has had a policy of not altering the result of a race despite post-race inspection issues. A winner who is determined to be guilty of a rules violation is punished in some way other than having the victory taken away.

So, it was a little bit jarring to me when Formula One race stewards, after some three hours of consideration, assessed a 25-second penalty that dropped Belgian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton to third place in the official results. Felipe Massa, not Hamilton, was determined to be the winner.

Once upon a time this was common practice in NASCAR. Remember that it was Johnny Beauchamp, not Lee Petty, who celebrated at the finish of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.

There are numerous other examples. Many fans know about the only victory scored by African American driver Wendell Scott in December 1963, and how it was only after a long recheck of scorecards that Scott was declared the winner. It was Buck Baker who had been flagged the winner and who had celebrated the victory.

Then there was the Southern 500 victory won by Larry Frank in 1962. That victory was taken away from the victory lane celebrant, Junior Johnson, hours after the checkered flag was waved over the wrong driver.

In 1992 at Sears Point, NASCAR officials assessed a time penalty after an incident in which Ricky Rudd and Davey Allison tangled in a late battle for the lead. Rudd crossed the finish line first, but Allison was flagged the winner.

There was a similar incident at the finish of the 1995 Indy 500, when Scott Goodyear was penalized and Jacques Villeneuve got the win, and in 2002, when a controversial finish under the caution flag resulted in Helio Castroneves being declared the winner instead of Paul Tracy, who was judged to have overtaken Castroneves after the yellow lights came on.

The big difference between the Belgian GP and those incidents is that the penalties were assessed immediately, not hours after the fact.

To me, that's better than sending fans home having seen what they believed to be the outcome of an event, only to alter it later.

At the same time, just about everyone wants the one who deserves to win to get credit for the victory.

In this day and age, there's a huge emphasis in sports on getting results right and the technology is there to help us do that, such as instant replay in football and other sports and racing's modern electronic timing and scoring. There won't likely be any instances such as the 1959 Daytona 500, '62 Southern 500 or the historic '63 race at Jacksonville, Fla.

But there will be instances when a winner's car fails post-race technical inspection, and on-track incidents when officials' judgment will affect the outcome. What should be done in such incidents?

I have seriously mixed emotions on this one. The historian in me wants it recorded correctly. I don't care if it did take three days to review film and photographs; it's good that Petty is listed in the record books as the winner of the first Daytona 500.

Conversely, the fan and competitor in me wants the event decided on the track, with engines revving, tires squealing and fans cheering. I don't want to go home from the track, only to find out what I saw is not what I got.

It doesn't happen all that often, fortunately. But when it does, it presents a dilemma that defies resolution.

Dodge Leaving Trucks, What Is Next?

By Mark Young

This past weekend Dodge announced that they would not be funding corporate sponsorship in the NASCAR Truck Series next year.  Frankly that is a big blow to what this blogger feels is the most competitive series in NASCAR racing.  We all know that the United States auto manufacturers are hurting, heck who isn't in some way shape or form.  The pull-out from the trucks by a manufacturer is not srprising given these economic times but it still hurts.

I could expound a ton of words that say the same as this short little piece.  If Dodge is pulling out of the trucks, and Craftsman is too, could this be the end of the NASCAR Truck Series?  I surely hope not.  Beside the fact that they are pulling out of the trucks, dodge has been less than competitive in any of NASCAR's racing series.  Could this be a sign of things to come?

What do you think?

Random Richmond Thoughts.....

By Mark Young

Let me start off by saying that I don't want to hear ANYONE complain that the Richmond race was boring on Sunday.  We saw a ton of passing, perhaps because ESPN showed more of the field because of the Chase cut-off, on multiple grooves.  This was one of the first races in a while that I was able to watch live and found myself drawn to it which was a refreshing change compared to recent events.  So let's hit a few items that caught my eye and let me hear what you think.......

U WANT SOME?

The biggest thing that stands out was the multiple racing grooves.  Night racing is great to see and I love having race parties on Saturday nights with my buddies but the cool temperatures and increased grip often means limited racing grooves, and Richmond is usually that way.  When they race in the daytime the track changes more and it becomes more of a driver's race.  I couldn't tell you the last time I saw drivers rim-riding at Richmond.

Junior vs. Kyle.  It wasn't payback, get real people.  If Junior had meant to wreck him then why would he have locked up the brakes?  Kyle tried to put a block on and got punted, his fault period........That's Racin'.

Hats of to David Reutimann, he ran up front and showed he belonged.  In fact, for a while all three MWR teams were in the top 10.  Perhaps Mike Skinner brought some insight to the organization after spending time at Red Bull several weeks ago......

The Home Depot commercial with Tony and Joey was flippin' great!!  Talk about Mutt and Jeff!!  If that kid turned sideways he'd look like a zipper.

For as strong as the Rouch cars have been of late where were they on Sunday?  Kenseth wasn't real pleased and didn't mince words about it either.  I'm not going to go off on him like I did Hamlin because Matt did it a little more prfessionally......take notes Denny.

If Dale Junior and Tony Junior can figure out how to get the car to work at the end of the race like they do at the beginning they would be dominant.

As we head into the Chase Mr. Kyle Busch should be a little worried.  Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards are hot right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see them turn the heat up a bit more in weeks to come.

I could go on but I want to hear about what you people thought about Richmond.......

The level playing field

By DAVID GREEN

Toyota's Craftsman Truck Series engines, as of a few days ago, now have the same restriction that was imposed in July on the engines powering Camrys in the Nationwide Series; to wit, the engines -- because of the architecture of their cylinder blocks -- must run horsepower-reducing tapered spacers underneath their carburetors.

Predictably, those in the Toyota camp are not happy. Much reaction from the spectator galleries is very likely tied to manufacturer loyalties, but not all of it; even some anti-Toyota fans have complained about NASCAR's attempt to micromanage technical rules.

I don't believe anyone, competitor or fan, wants honest-to-goodness unregulated, run-what-you-brung racing, in any category from four-cylinder dirt to Formula One. So, what we're debating here is not the matter of a sanctioning organization governing rules, but how they do it and the extent to which they regulate.

In her story published on TR.com, Associated Press writer Jenna Fryer quotes Toyota Racing Development president Lee White as saying the Japanese marque "is being punished for working hard." White goes on to state the company opinion that "there is no technical justification for this unjustly choke."

If you buy the argument that cylinder bore spacing has no impact on an engine's ability to produce horsepower, perhaps White is correct in his assessment of "technical justification." I'm not sure that's correct, but I'm no engineer.

I do know that the "hard work" cliche' has been twisted out of shape worse than anything except, possibly, the new generation's notion of "respect."

I think it's fairly safe to suggest every team works hard. Some work better than others, but just about all of them give a whole lot better effort than some of the 15- and 16-year-olds in my English classroom.

So, spare me the angst about hard work earning punishment. It's the dominance demonstrated by the Toyota trucks and Nationwide cars that attracted NASCAR's attention, whether they worked extra hard or just happened to stumble onto something that has "magic bullet" qualities. It's irrelevant how they achieved the dominant position; the question is whether that's a good thing for the series overall.

Unless you think you want unregulated racing, then we're back to the debate over details: At what point, and to what extent, and exactly how, should NASCAR (a) determine a need for action and (b) implement it?

Go ahead -- come up with an answer that will satisfy everybody.