Clint Bowyer is on a roll… His performance over the last several weeks has been enviable and he won the Sylvania 300 on fumes Sunday afternoon. To say no one expected him to win it would not be quite correct, but he was the “twelfth seed” going into the Chase and he received the least amount of attention as to who would win at Loudon. Oh, and by the way, he probably wouldn’t have won, IF, (and that’s a mighty big if), Tony Stewart hadn’t run out of gas about a lap from the end. I find it interesting how things sometimes go in racing. I mean, if you take a good close look at the end of the race Sunday afternoon, three teams chanced not coming in for fuel and possibly tires and two of those three ran out of gas. (In case you weren’t watching, Clint Bowyer,...

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Say what you will about the Chase, but one thing is certain… Even though NASCAR Cup teams visit ten tracks during the Chase, Loudon is one tough short track and it is one tough place to kick off the Chase. Add to that the fact it is a relatively short race, with probably a minimum of cautions and the possibility of some short tempers and there’s no telling what will happen. Once again, in this fan’s opinion, I don’t think qualifying times are going to tell us the whole story of how things will go Sunday afternoon. To me, it seemed many of the teams hadn’t quite figured what setup they wanted to use by time for qualifying. After qualifying, it seemed many teams made major changes to what they thought was going to be “the setup” and some that qualified poorly, looked mighty strong after the two Saturday...

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NASCAR hits the Richmond International Raceway tonight and it is definitely one and done and on to the Chase for the top twelve in points. Of course, when it comes to the Chase all the others will be showing up but they only get to run for the thirteenth spot no matter how much they win or where they finish. This is one of the sticky spots with some NASCAR fans, (not as much for this one, of course) but some think that all of the points should be reset for all forty-three teams and then we start a 10 race run to the Sprint Cup Championship. Although I do disagree with their point, I do understand what they are saying (and we will have to wait until NASCAR tells us what next years Chase will be like to see what kind of changes they may make.) Personally, I...

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Tony Stewart won the Emory Healthcare 500 at AMS, ten of the top twelve are locked into the Chase and the last two of the top twelve would have to have an absolute   disastrous race in Richmond to miss it. Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer aren’t locked in, but they might as well be with what it would take for them to miss out on a chance to make a run for the Sprint Cup Championship. That is exactly what Ryan Newman is hoping for next Saturday night; a totally unexpected happening that takes one or both of them out and giving him an opportunity to make it in. The chances of Ryan making it are astronomical, at least from this fan’s view, but it will add at least the slightest bit of drama to a points race that is pretty much already decided. Yeah, many are still pulling...

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NASCAR Cup teams hit the 1½ mile oval at Atlanta this weekend and it is definitely now or never for the ones that have even the slimmest chance of making it into the Chase. The question in everyone’s mind is whether or not the three closest to Clint Bowyer can make it into the top twelve and have a chance for the Cup Championship. Those three are Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman and to put it lightly, Clint Bowyer would definitely have to have a couple of bad weeks for any of the three to make it in before him. From this fan’s view the one with the best chance is Jamie McMurray. He has definitely been performing as good as anyone over the last several weeks and he has won two of the most prestigious races on the Cup circuit, the Daytona 500 and the Indy...

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Kyle Bush made NASCAR history again last weekend at Bristol and will probably continue to do so throughout his career… but, not everyone is happy with him. Yes, it is true he became the first to win in all three series in one weekend at a track but some question the way he won at least one of the races. I guess the most seen highlight of the week would be where he got a little shove from Brad Keselowski that caused him to brush the wall and then he followed Brad, turned him and took him out of contention. Some call it aggressive driving (referencing Dale Earnhardt Sr) and others just call it dirty driving… and me… well… It has been an interesting couple of years for Brad Keselowski. He has become one of the  more criticized drivers in the garages of the Nationwide series and the Sprint...

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David Reutimann and his #00 Team covered the field at ChicagoLand last Saturday night and it could be a precursor of things to come for Michael Waltrip Racing, if not in the near, at least the not too distant future. I have stated in the past and don’t hesitate to say it again; David Reutimann has been in position to be in the top five more than a few times and possibly could have won a race or two before winning at ChicagoLand. Now, that doesn’t mean he will be in the Chase for 2010 although earlier in the year I did mention he might be the first from Michael Waltrip Racing to make it into the Chase. I have been impressed with what’s been going on at MWR all year and, even if they don’t make it into the Chase this year, I do think next year will...

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Several things are definite when the NASCAR Cup teams hit the track at Daytona this weekend; their cars will have to handle while the larger restrictor plates control the added horsepower before the fireworks go off. One thing isn’t so definite and that would be whether the fireworks will only be after the race… or during it. Generally a restrictor plate super speedway is not a place where someone would take an opportunity to give a little payback, but this year… who knows. With the media constantly stirring the pot and giving multiple opportunities for the airing of frustrations and emotions, it is possible we could see a really big “big one” if someone decides to press the envelope of sensibility in the two and three wide tight packs associated with these type races. All it will take is someone not willing to give that extra inch which could...

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