Bleacher Report - Motorsports

Creature Vs. Creature Writers Pool: Results And Champion After Ford 400

Kelly Crandall — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:32:02 -0500

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is in the record books, and history has been made.

Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet team for Hendrick Motorsports have won their fourth consecutive championship over teammate Mark Martin. Johnson finished fifth at Homestead-Miami on Sunday night to wrap up the title.

Our Creature championship has come to an end as well after its first season. Heading into 2010 with some new faces, as well as returning players, the season champion will be a marked man.

After creating the game, Ben Bomberger has won the 2009 Creature title and bragging rights heading into next year's game.

After starting off the season a little slowly, Bomberger kicked it up during the summer months. First he took the point lead and then he went to victory lane for the first time thanks to Tony Stewart in the July Daytona event.

After that, he never looked back.

Win No. 2 came from Kyle Busch at Bristol in August and a month later, after the points were reset for the first race of the Chase, Bomberger went to victory lane at New Hampshire with Mark Martin for his third win.

Things keep going well for him as he stayed in the top two in points before winning at Martinsville with Denny Hamlin and began pulling away from the competition.

Then the icing on the cake and the sealed championship came from Jimmie Johnson in Phoenix for his fifth win of the season.

Thanks to his pick of Carl Edwards and the seventh place finish in Homestead, Bomberger won the title.

Here's how the rest of the Creatures finish in the 2009 competition.

Ben Bomberger (6,572 ) Carl Edwards finished seventh (5 )

Kelly Crandall (-80 ) Kurt Busch finished fourth (2 )

Mary Jo Buchanan (-223 ) Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 28th (2 )

Kara Martin (-233 ) Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 28th (4 )

Rob Tiongson (-261 ) Martin Truex Jr. finished ninth (2 )

Jen Preston (-327 ) NO PICK SENT (2 )

James Broomhead (-404 ) Matt Kenseth finished 13th (3 )

SM Napier (-506 ) Kurt Busch finished fourth (3 )

Mason Dunn (-802 ) NO PICK SENT (0 )

Danielle Henderson (-976 ) NO PICK SENT (2 )

David Phillips (-1,017 ) NO PICK SENT (2 )

Adam Heasley (-1,542 ) NO PICK SENT (3 )

Anyone who would like to join the competition for 2010, please let me know.

And any current Creature who wants to participate should please let me know. If I don't hear from you, I will assumed you do not want to participate and will take you off the email list.

Enjoy the offseason, everyone!

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

The Lugnut Report: Martin Comes Up Short Again In Homestead

Jen Preston — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:06:01 -0500

“Martin may be the bridesmaid once more, but he is anything but bitter.” -Examiner

“Mark Martin is NASCAR's king of close calls.” -Orlando Sentinel

“Fryer's Five: Martin is a true champion.” -Yahoo! Sports

All in all in 2009, Mark Martin was just happy to be there.

Entering the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway, Martin was 108 points behind championship leader and teammate Jimmie Johnson. Clinching his first Sprint Cup title was possible, but highly unlikely.

The team led by Alan Gustafson practiced well throughout the weekend, even winning the second practice session. He was also able to put his Chevrolet fourth on the board during Friday's qualifying. Unfortunately, Johnson qualified on pole, allowing them to pick the first pit stall, and give them a huge advantage going into Sunday's season finale.

Martin started fourth on the field, but struggled earlier on with a loose No. 5 Kellogg's/Carquest. Falling out of Top-10 at lap 116, Martin and company continued working on their Chevrolet, but it was to no avail.

On the lap 121, Johnson and Martin restarted 23rd and 25th, respectively. While his teammate was able to make his way back into the Top Five at a blistering pace, Martin struggled in traffic and was never able to get back to the Top 10, despite hoping pre-race that his car would improve as the sun went down.

Martin's car took several laps to start moving up through the pack, while Johnson continued to push his way to the front.

More than a hundred laps after falling into the clutches of traffic, Martin was challenging for a top 15 spot, and ended the night 12th. He remained second in points behind Johnson, 141 points behind his teammate.

"There's no frustration, man. I know you'd love it. I know all y'all would love it. But there's no frustration."

Martin will get another chance at Johnson and the Sprint Cup Championship, though. After coming out of retirement to sign with Hendrick for this season, Martin signed an extension that will keep him at HMS through 2011.

For Tony Stewart's Lugnut Report, click here .

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Winners and Losers: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2009 Season

Patti Rodisch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:18:02 -0500

The NASCAR season starts in February on the beaches of Daytona and ends on the beaches of South Florida in November. It’s a long, grueling season for every team. At the end of the season, only one team can be called the champion.

On Sunday, NASCAR Sprint Cup series crowned their champion under the lights.

Check out a special edition of the final winners and losers of the 2009 season.

Winners

Jimmie Johnson

It is incredible what Jimmie Johnson has done in NASCAR top touring series in the last four years. He has dominated when it counted and won when it mattered.

Jimmie Johnson and his team have done exactly what every team wants do, that is win races and you win championships.

Johnson will be a threat to win for years to come, the history he made on Sunday with his fourth championship in a row, many will never see again. So NASCAR fans need to embrace Johnson and what he has done.

It’s hard to root for a guy who dominates like he has, but you have to appreciate what he has done. What we witness is pure domination and a team that has no plans to slow down.

Congratulations Johnson on your fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Points: First

Michael Waltrip

No, Michael Waltrip has not won a championship and he does not win every week. What Waltrip has done for this sport cannot be overlooked. He is an ambassador for this sport, and his relationship with the fans is a testament to that.

On Sunday, Waltrip will take the checkered flag for the final time as a full-time driver. His career spans three decades of NASCAR racing.

Waltrip has been a very important voice in leading car manufacturer Toyota into a sport where the cars are American made.

Now Toyota has been widely accepted by NASCAR fans and is winning championships and NASCAR should thank Waltrip.

Waltrip numbers are not flashy and he would never have the win totals of a Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., or Jeff Gordon or even his brother, Darrell Waltrip. He will, though, have the respect of his fans and his peers.

2010 will be the first season of not having a Waltrip running full time, it is the end of an era in NASCAR.

Points: 33rd

Mark Martin

What a year it has been for Mark Martin. After coming out of semi-retirement, Martin signed on to drive the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports, his intentions were not to win a championship. He wanted to win races and see where you stack up.

Martin has exceeded his own expectations but to his fans and his peers, nobody ever counted Martin out of the championship.

Martin has shown age is just a number, winning five times and bringing life back into his career. You cannot be anything but a Martin fan. He is honest and accepts that he might never win a championship. but he loves what he does.

He might not have won the championship in 2009, but Martin heads into the off season one happy driver.

Points: Second

Joey Logano

There were so many expectations on Joey Logano coming into 2009, many expected to him right away; others did not buy the hype.

Logano had a slow start to the season. As they have returned to different tracks, Logano has slowly gotten better.

Logano became the youngest driver in NASCAR history to win a race when he pulled strategy in a rain-shortened race at Loudon in June.

Logano gained some confidence with these cars, and you saw that with how he ran on the race track.

Logano will win Rookie of the Year honors in 2009, the youngest to do so. The honor is well earned and well deserved. He might not have won multiple races but he certainly worked hard to live up to the expectations that were laid on him.

Points: 20th

Losers

Casey Mears

It has not been easy for Casey Mears, to find an organization where he can really settle in. He has driven for the best in this business, but yet Mears is heading into the offseason with a lot of uncertainty in his racing career.

He joined Richard Childress Racing in the offseason piloting the fourth car and carrying the Jack Daniels colors for sponsorship. Once again though Mears struggles with the new car and at times bad luck marred the first half of the season.

Then came the announcement that sponsor Jack Daniels would be pulling its support from NASCAR, leaving RCR and Mears searching for a sponsor for 2010. We have yet to hear of Mears plans or if RCR will continue to run the car in 2010.

A struggling economy though does not bode well for Mears and now once again he is auditioning for a ride not only for 2010, but for his career.

He has many opportunities but has been unable to capitalize, now he is hoping his late season surge will once again lead to an off season signing.

Points: 21st

Robby Gordon

Robby Gordon is one the few in a sport dominated by large organizations, with big names and big money behind them. Gordon has been doing it on his own and for a while he was able to hold his own, until the economy sank and sponsors pulled out of NASCAR.

Gordon acknowledged that he only has sponsorship for only eight races in 2010, after sponsor Jim Beam pulled its support. Now Gordon is hoping that another sponsor is willing to sign on; otherwise, he will be able to only run a limited schedule in 2009.

Gordon has always done it his way and never really conformed to what NASCAR has become but now if a sponsor does not sign Gordon will have to find another way to race on Sundays.

Points: 34th

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It has been a rough year for Dale Earnhardt Jr.; his fans do not need to be told that. It was not easy from the start of the season, pit road mistakes and bad luck. While his teammates were running up front, Earnhardt was struggling to stay competitive.

The frustration boiled over after Coca-Cola 600 and owner Rick Hendrick made the crew chief change. The move seemed to help Earnhardt, and while his finishes did not show the results, this team began to run better.

Earnhardt will not lose sponsors, his ride, or his fans with his disappointing season. Even so 2010 is an important year for Earnhardt.

He needs to be a contender each week and that means running up front and avoiding both mental mistakes but physical mistakes.

He has the talent to do so and I think we saw late this season he has the equipment. That might be the only positives fans can take in what has been a long season.

Points: 25th

Lucky Dog…

Juan Pablo Montoya

If there was one driver who was the biggest surprise to make the Chase, it was not a surprise to Montoya and his team.

One of their goals was to make the Chase and win races. They were unable to win a race, but they made the Chase.

Montoya had great cars in the second half of the season. Montoya was aggressive was willing to lay it all on the line for wins. Sometimes that aggression has cost him chances at wins and cost them good finishes.

Montoya though has a lot to be proud of for what he has accomplished in 2009. He has proven he will be a contender for the championship in 2010.

Points: Eighth

Final Lap…

Well the final race of the season has come and went and now the changes will start on Monday. For some they will not return to the track at Daytona for other drivers they will have new teams.

It has been a good season for NASCAR. They have shown they are listening to the fans and the drivers. The implementing of the double file restarts at Pocono made the racing exciting. NASCAR and its tracks are lowering prices for tickets.

They are trying to help the struggling race fan, and you have to give NASCAR credit for that.

It has been a fun season watching first time winners and great finishes. We have seen teams falter when it counted and teams rise to the occasion. We watched the end of an era with Waltrip and the beginning of a new one with Logano.

We watched two former champions in Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon rebound from disappointing 2008 seasons. There have been ups and downs. We watched a sport adapt to a changing media and struggling economy.

Now fans have to wait until Speed weeks to see if any team can dethrone Johnson. It’s a long 84 days till the green flag of the 52nd annual Daytona 500.

Thanks for reading my weekly series. I am looking forward to bringing you all the winners and losers in 2010.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

NASCAR Fans: What to Do For The Next 83 Days?

Brandon Caldwell — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:45:15 -0500

Now that the season is over, NASCAR junkies like me wonder what there is to do for the offseason?

There are a number of things to do. But nothing that compares to NASCAR.

You can start up your own silly-season sheet, and follow along with the silly season, and put everyone in the right places, that's what I do. Although it is indeed silly, it's fun.

You could watch football.

Don't get me wrong, I love football, and played it all four years of high school, enjoying every second of it. But sorry NFL fans, it doesn't even come close to NASCAR.

You could also spend time with your family.

If you're like me, you're blessed to have a great, fun family to spend the holidays with. Up here in the Appalachian Mountains of New Jersey, we shovel snow and build fires to keep the family warm.

I spend every Sunday of the long season in front of the TV for every NASCAR race, so I owe it to them to spend time with everyone.

But as soon as the holidays are over, and we start to get back to the real world and return to work, I find myself hungering for the sounds of a racing stock car.

I miss it in the offseason. All the hype trying to beat Jimmie Johnson and the struggles in the life of a Bobby Labonte fan; it is so much fun, and we're anxious for Daytona because we know anything can happen there.

So now it's 83 days and counting.

It's only an hour out of the season, and I'm looking forward to the Budweiser Shootout. Speaking of which...what the hell are they going to do with that?

That's just another thing to keep us busy in the most hectic and brutal offseason in all of sports.

Thanks for all the hard work by everyone on this website, and in NASCAR, for making this season another awesome one for me, and for making me crave more in 2010.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

The Lugnut Report: Tony Stewart Caps Off Season With 22nd Place Finish

Patti Rodisch — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:12:41 -0500

For first-year owner and driver Tony Stewart, 2009 should be considered a success.

After turning a struggling organization into a championship contending organization in a year, Stewart has a lot to be proud of.

Both he and teammate Ryan Newman made the Chase for the championship and both finished in the top-10 of the standings.

Stewart led the championship standings since Dover in the spring, but has struggled in the Chase.

It all came to an end on Sunday with the Ford 400 in Homestead-Miami. Stewart was looking to end the year on a high note and carry momentum into the offseason.

Stewart has won at the South Florida race track twice before, so Stewart knew how to find victory lane.

On Friday during the first practice Stewart ran a total of 20 laps and his fastest lap was lap 20. A 31.4 second lap was good enough for sixth on speed charts. The team then started preparing for qualifying later in the afternoon.

Stewart was to go out 22^nd on Friday for qualifying, Stewart put up a great lap, 31.3 seconds around the mile-and-a-half track. That fast lap had him taking the green in fifth position.

On Saturday the teams were looking to tune up the race car and get the handling right for the 400 mile event on Sunday.

They struggled just a bit in this practice with the handling of the race car they ran a total of 19 laps. Their fastest lap was the first lap as it was with many teams. A 32.5 second lap was only good enough for 23^rd fastest on the speed charts.

The final practice of the weekend and of the season was crucial for teams to really dial in their race cars for race trim.

Stewart and his team ran a total of 38 laps in the final session. His fastest lap was his second. His fast lap of 32.8 seconds had him sitting 13^th on the speed charts.

Now the focus was race day and ending the season on high note.

Early on Stewart was moving up from his fifth place starting spot. By Lap 25 he was in second place and cutting into leader Jimmie Johnson lead. Stewart took the lead on Lap 33 and began to pull away from Johnson.

During the first round of pit stops Stewart lost the lead with a slower pit stop, but he retook the lead on Lap 64.

On the first caution for Marcos Ambrose's spin, Stewart won the race off of pit road, but was unable to hold the lead on the restart. He fell back but began to make up the lost ground.

On Lap 117, contact between himself and Juan Pablo Montoya sent Montoya to the wall and Stewart on pit road for fresh new tires. He was 29^th and sitting deep in traffic, the farthest back he had been all day long.

Stewart's car did not have a lot of damage so they were able to continue on. They were in the top 15 by Lap 148.

On Lap 156, Montoya and Stewart were running nose to tail, when Montoya came up behind and tagged Stewart. That sent Stewart spinning and caused slightly more damage than the last incident.

He ended up going a lap down after having a good car early in the race.

For Stewart his day was realistically over. The damage was done. They were able to get their lap back but it was too late. It was not the way they wanted to end the season as they finished 22^nd .

Even with a disappointing race, Stewart has a lot to be proud of. They have accomplished a lot in 2009 more than anyone even expected. The 2010 season is looking very bright for this organization.

Check out Jen Preston’s Lugnut Report on Mark Martin.

Thanks to everyone who followed Jen Preston and I on our Lugnut Reports. They will be back in 2010 tracking your favorite drivers from Daytona to Homestead.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Kevin Harvick Dominates For The Win; Hornaday Clinches The Owners Title

S M Napier — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:18:50 -0500

It's deja vu all over again, as Kevin Harvick wins another exciting green/white/checkers finish in the season finale for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Harvick with four laps to go under caution, came to pit road for four fresh Goodyear's and on the ensuing restart he'd cruise by Timothy Peters for the race win.

While Ron Hornday Jr. would clinch the owner's championship, after Kyle Busch suffered a cut tire, and went two laps down because of it.

For the second week in a row, the dueling burnout was exciting to see, and this time Harvick held his own with Hornaday.

Colin Braun in the No. 6 Con-Way Freight Ford starts on the pole, and it was his fifth pole of the season.

Chad McCumbee in the No. 07 Valvoline Fuel Proof/tiwi Chevrolet starts from the outside pole position.

Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Georgia Boot Chevrolet starts third, Ron Hornaday Jr. in the No. 33 Longhorn Chevrolet starts fourth and Mike Skinner in the No. 5 Exide Batteries Toyota starts fifth.

Tonight's race brings the end to Roush-Fenway Racing in the Trucks, Xpress Motorsports final race, as Brian Scott heads onto the Nationwide Series next season and Kyle Busch's final race for Billy Ballew Motorsports.

Kyle Busch in the No. 51 Miccosukee Resorts/Graceway Toyota started shotgun to the field after making a engine change.

At race time, it was 72 degrees, and a beautiful clear night. 36 trucks started the race and the pit window is 55 to 60 laps.

Braun took the green gets a great jump on McCumbee, Harvick takes second and starts to reel in the leader.

Busch by Lap Three, had picked up 17 positions currently running in 19th. Meanwhile the leader, Braun has Harvick in second and Skinner in third hot on his heels.

By Lap Five, Busch was running in 15th, Braun still leads but has Harvick on the low-side challenging him for the position.

Harvick would take the lead on Lap Six, passing Braun on the low-side and pull away by several truck length.

By Lap Eight, Busch has made it up to 11th and Harvick leads by 0.650 seconds on Braun in second.

On Lap 12, Hornaday running in fifth, would have Matt Crafton in the No. 88 Australian Gold Chevrolet in sixth make slight contact with him and neither was effected by it.

They have been racing together trying to work their way around McCumbee in fourth, who's been blocking Horn both high and low.

By Lap 18, Harvick is leading Skinner in second by 3.100 seconds and Busch is running 10th.

On Lap 20, Harvick leads continues to pull away from Skinner and Busch has made it up to eighth.

The best racing is Hornaday in fourth and Crafton in fifth, battling it out for those respective positions and have swapped the positions repeatedly over the last several laps.

On Lap 25, Harvick leads by five seconds over Skinner in second and Busch takes fourth, passing Hornaday on the high-side.

On Lap 27, Harvick leads but Skinner (second), Crafton (third) and Busch (fourth) are three wide battling over those positions.

Coming into turn three, Crafton on the high-side, Busch on the low-side split Skinner running in the middle and both pass him. Crafton takes second and Busch would get third.

On Lap 30, Harvick would lead by 6.532 seconds, while Busch would take second by passing Crafton on the high-side.

Hornaday would pass Skinner on the high-side for fourth and Timothy Peters in the No. 17 Strutmasters.com Toyota would also take fifth from Skinner.

The first caution comes out on Lap 33, for Shane Sieg in the No. 93 S&W Services Chevrolet who tagged the wall and pancaked the right side of his truck.

Everyone pits on Lap 34, when pit road opened everyone pits making the first of two stops for tires and then fuel.

Ryan Sieg in the No. 39 S&W Services Chevrolet was the Aaron's Lucky Dog Award winner under this caution.

Coming onto pit road, Almirola makes contact with Sauter and damages his front end and his team would make an extra stop to make repairs.

After pit stops on Lap 36, the top five was; Harvick leads, Busch second, Skinner third, Crafton fourth, and Johnny Sauter in the No. 13 FunSand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevrolet in fifth.

On the Lap 37 restart, Harvick took the green with Busch on his bumper but two laps later the race would be slowed by caution again.

The second caution came out on Lap 39, for Dan Brode in the No. 41 Mike Berg TruckingDodge losing it and spins exiting turn two.

Ricky Carmichael in the No. 31 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet was the Aaron's Lucky Dog winner under this caution.

On the Lap 41 restart, Harvick takes the green with Busch on his bumper and couldn't make a pass work for the lead on the low-side.

On Lap 42, Mike Bliss in the No. 25 Harris Trucking Toyota spins coming out of turn four onto pit road and results in no caution.

By Lap 44, Harvick had opened up a six truck length lead on Kyle Busch in second.

On Lap 46, the best racing was Braun sixth, Hornaday seventh and Peters eighth all racing together and fighting for those positions.

They would get to three wide racing with, Hornaday picking up sixth and Peters seventh passing Braun dropping him to eighth.

Harvick leads by 0.784 seconds on Busch in second and Crafton in third is 1.5 seconds back of the leader.

After 52 Laps, the top five was; Harvick leading, Busch second, Crafton third, Skinner fourth, and Peters fifth.

Harvick was leading by 0.650 seconds, when the third caution came out on Lap 59, for Lance Hooper in the No. 73 County Building Center lost a right front tire in turn one and got into the wall.

The pits opened on Lap 60, everyone pits making the first of two stops, and a few would use pit strategy taking just fuel. Of the leaders Busch was the only one to take fuel only.

Marc Davis in the No. 19 Howard University Radio/WHUR Chevrolet was the Aaron's Lucky Dog winner under the caution.

After pit stops on Lap 61, the top five was; Busch leading, David Starr in the No. 24 Zachry Toyota was second, Sauter third, Harvick fourth and Tayler Malsam in the No. 81 One-Eighty Toyota was fifth.

On the Lap 63 restart, Busch took the green gets a great start on Starr and pulls away by four truck lengths.

Back through the field the trucks are three and four wide battling for position.

On Lap 66, Busch leads by 0.698 seconds but Harvick in second is the fast truck on the track right now and he's coming in a hurry.

On Lap 69, Busch and Harvick are side by side battling for the lead, coming out of turn four to the stripe Harvick makes his pass on the low side stick and takes the lead.

After 73 Laps, the top five was; Harvicl leading by 0.236 seconds, Busch second, Peters third, Skinner fourth and Almirola fifth.

By Lap 78, Harvick leads by 1.648 seconds on Busch in second and Peters in third is 2.3 seconds back of the leader.

On Lap 83, Busch would come to pit road under green due to a cut right rear tire and would go a lap down because of it. His tires on the right side had the cores showing and a cut on the inside right rear.

Unfortunately, he also would be penalized for having a tire roll outside of his pit box and get black-flagged by NASCAR. Once he serviced the penalty he was two laps down.

On Lap 91, Harvick leads by 2.178 seconds over Peters in second and Busch serves his pass through penalty. He's now two laps down.

After 93 Laps, the top five was; Harvick leads, Peters second, Crafton third, Skinner fourth, and Aric Almirola in the No. 15 Graceway Pharmacueticals Toyota was fifth.

On Lap 99, Harvick would stretch his lead out to 3.565 seconds on Peters in second.

Scott pits due to a right front flat, comes to pit road for right side tires, and loses a lap to the leader.

On Lap 101, Harvick leads by 4.777 seconds now over Peters in second. Busch two laps down is trying to catch Harvick to get a lap back by racing for it.

After 106 Laps, the top five was; Harvick leads by 5.8 seconds, Peters second, Crafton third, Almirola fourth, and Skinner fifth.

On Lap 111, Harvick leads by 6.3 seconds on Peters in second, and Crafton in third is 8.893 seconds back of the leader.

From Laps 114 to 122, green flag pit stops happen with everyone coming for fuel stops to make it to the finish.

Peters took over the lead for two laps, when Harvick pitted for fuel. Then Almirola took over, leading for six laps before pitting and turning the lead back over to Harvick on Lap 123.

Speed TV would play audio from when Busch pitted for fuel, and wanted to park the Truck since his day was over.

Crew chief Richie Wauters told him, "No you're not. Get back out there and finish the race."

On his fuel stop, Almirola would get caught for speeding coming to pit road, serves a pass through and eliminates him from a chance to win the race.

After 126 Laps, the top five was; Harvick leading by 4.282 seconds, Peters second, Crafton third, Skinner fourth and Braun fifth.

The fourth caution flag came out on Lap 129, for Ryan Sieg in the No. 39 S&W Services Chevrolet gets into the wall after contact with James Buescher in the No. 10 Maxx Force International Diesel Ford.

When pit road opened on Lap 131, Peters would stay out, while the leader Harvick and the other 10 lead lap trucks also pit taking tires.

Which was a bad move by Peters, on the restart he'll be a sitting duck with everyone behind him having four fresh tires.

It'll be another exciting green/white/checkers finish, the eighth of the season, and 82nd in the Truck Series history.

On the Lap 134 restart, Peters took the green but going into turn one Harvick already passed Peters for the lead and he'd just pull away.

Harvick takes the white flag, keeps pulling away as Crafton, Peters and Braun are three wide battling for second and Crafton takes second on the low side.

Coming back out of turn four, Braun would get third from Peters drooping him to fourth.

Harvick would take the checkers, getting his second consecutive win in a row, and picked up his third win of the season.

Hornaday would win the owners championship, doing what he needed to do by finishing eighth, and just never had a decent enough truck to challenge for a better finish.

For the second week in a row we'd see the dueling burnouts by Harvick and Hornaday, pretty cool to see and it was the Harvick's second owners championship they've won.

Hornaday would officially receive the title, first from NASCAR's Mike Helton and then from Camping World's CEO Marcus Lemonis.

Matt Crafton finish second, ran a really good race and finished second for the fifth time in 2009. He's also excited that next season it'll be just one pit stop, felt the two stop rule hurt them costing them a couple wins.

Colin Braun finished third, started on the pole, led five laps, and ran a great race in his final Truck Series start—or at least while he's with Roush.

Timothy Peters finished fourth, lead six laps, tried pit strategy for the win but came up short and ran a really great race building momentum for the coming season.

Todd Bodine finished fifth, his team battled all day making adjustments to the Truck, he lead a lap and earned a hard fought top five finish today.

Six through 10th were; Mike Skinner, David Starr, Ron Hornaday Jr., Johnny Sauter, and T.J. Bell.

The points after the Ford 200 were;

1.) Ron Hornaday Jr.        3,959
2.) Matt Crafton              -187
3.) Mike Skinner               -357
4.) Todd Bodine               -527
5.) Colin Braun                 -621
6.) Johnny Sauter            -628
7.) Brian Scott                -652
8.) Timothy Peters           -670
9.) David Starr                -688
10.) Rick Crawford           -798

See you in 84 days, when the Trucks 2010 season starts at Daytona and be exciting to see what Horn does in those new Silverado's.

Author's note: Sorry this one got posted a little late, was distracted Saturday by College Football and spent Sunday following games online while finishing this up.

This race recap of the Ford 200, is based on my race notes and any mistakes are my own.

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Denny Hamlin Settles Score With Brad Keselowski—Maybe

Mary Jo Buchanan — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:56:28 -0500

On lap 35 of the final Nationwide race at Homestead, Denny Hamlin made good on his promise to get even with Brad Keselowski. Hamlin hooked Keselowski in the rear and spun him out.

The feud between both drivers has been longstanding. In fact, Hamlin and Keselowski have tangled at various times since the 2008 season.

By Hamlin's count, Keselowski has wrecked him once at Watkins Glen last year and again at Dover this year. Hamlin also contends that Keselowski forced him into a three-wide wreck at California this season, as well as blatantly wrecking him at last weekend's Nationwide race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Keselowski on the other hand downplays his confrontations with Hamlin, stating that most of the issues are "just racing deals." Of their most recent confrontation at Phoenix International Raceway, Keselowski said, "We just got in a pushing match. I don’t really hold any grudges."

"I don’t know why he wanted to do that," Keselowski continued. "It’s just the way racing is, I guess.”

But Hamlin was not willing to let the issue go, vowing to "get even" with Keselowski the next chance that he could. His opportunity came in the early laps of the Ford 300, the season finale for the Nationwide Series.

On lap 35, Hamlin found himself right where he wanted to be, directly behind the No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet of his nemesis Keselowski. And Hamlin took full advantage, hitting Keselowski in the rear and sending him spinning.

Over his car radio, Hamlin said, "Look at this, all the guys down pit road are laughing at me. Every guy from every team that he ever took out is laughing. This is hilarious."

Even Keselowski seemed a bit amused saying to his crew over his radio, "That was fun. Give me four tires."

NASCAR, however, did not find the incident the least bit funny and deemed the pay back spin as intentional. NASCAR officials penalized the No. 11 of Hamlin one lap for rough driving.

In spite of the penalty, Hamlin finished the race in the fifth position. Keselowski also battled back from his spin, finishing in the 12th position.

After the race, Keselowski did not even acknowledge the confrontation with Hamlin until pressed by the media. He focused instead on congratulating race winner and Nationwide Series champion Kyle Busch.

When asked specifically about the incident on lap 35 between himself and Hamlin, Keselowski reiterated that he thought it was "pretty funny." But then he continued philosophically saying, "You know, I don't really hold any grudges. I'm ready to move on. Hell, I've already moved on."

"Hopefully, he feels the same way," Keselowski said of Hamlin. "I have a feeling when he wakes up in the morning, he's not going to feel any better about himself."

"He's got a lot of problems on and off the race track and I don't think spinning me is going to make him happy," Keselowski said. "That's just my take on it."

Hamlin had his own take on the incident and it was, of course, a bit different. "I feel great right now," Hamlin said enthusiastically. "It was well worth it."

"The sun was bad at that point and I'll use that as my excuse," Hamlin continued. "The fact is, I wasn't going to give him an inch."

"I thought when I went down pit road after the race that I had won," Hamlin said. "I've never seen so many crews applaud and give the 'thumbs up' on the way by."

"It just shows you all the cars he's torn up in the past," continued Hamlin. "All the teams, they feel a little redemption anyway."

"We'll never be even in that sense," Hamlin said. "I'm grateful to CJ giving me the opportunity to race this weekend and pay back my debts."

Hamlin acknowledged that while NASCAR is a self-policing sport, they also had to penalize him for the "deliberate" retaliation. "I wasn't mad about that at all," Hamlin said of his one lap penalty. "My objective was to win the race first and take care of him (Keselowski) second."

"There's going to be other days when we're racing and he's still going to think about it when I'm in his rear view mirror," Hamlin continued. "Obviously the scales are tipped a little bit more in my favor but still tipped a little bit too much."

After the race, NASCAR President Mike Helton was asked about the confrontation and NASCAR's reaction. "Our job is to maintain law and order," Helton said. "We honestly want the spirit and the character and the enthusiasm to come out but there is a point where NASCAR says 'enough is enough' and that's just the order part."

While Keselowski and Hamlin are finished with their Nationwide battles, the two are set to take the track together for the Cup finale Sunday afternoon at Homestead. Keselowski qualified in the 27th position, while Hamlin is well behind him, starting the race in the 38th spot.

Is the Hamlin vs. Keselowski battle over? It may be for now, but most likely this ongoing feud between these two drivers will not only continue but also carry over into next year's competition.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Roush Fenway Hoping To End Season The Way It Started: With a Victory

Sal Sigala Jr. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:19:24 -0500

When Roush Fenway Racing began the 2009 season at Daytona International Speedway, the only goal in mind was to get all five of the team’s drivers into contention to bring a championship back to an organization that hasn’t seen one since Kurt Busch won his first during the 2004 season.

Jack Roush, team owner of all five drivers, came so close last season with Carl Edwards, the driver of the No. 99 Aflac sponsored Ford Fusion, who put up a valiant effort against the eventual Sprint cup champion Jimmie Johnson, finishing second by only 69 points.

Even though Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M sponsored Ford Fusion, would finish out the 2008 season in third, 217 points behind Johnson, there was still that ray of hope that some of that momentum could be carried over into the 2009 season.

After all, the team was able to hold the powerhouse team of Hendrick Motorsports at bay with two of their three drivers taking two of the top five spots at season's end.

Roush Fenway would come out strong to start off the 2009 season with Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt sponsored Ford Fusion, picking up his first as well the organization's first Daytona 500 win.

The win sent a statement out to the rest of the teams that Roush Fenway was geared up and ready to play, and they were prepared to take on all comers.

After Kenseth picked up the victory the following week at Auto Club Speedway, giving him wins in the first two races of the season, the man in the hat had four of his drivers sitting in the top 10 in points (Matt Kenseth first, Greg Biffle fifth, David Ragan eighth, and Carl Edwards ninth).

But as the season would progress, so would the fire that burned within them leaving all but two drivers still within the top 10.

As fate would have it, Kenseth surprisingly would be eliminated from making the chase for the first time since its introduction into the series, back in 2004. Edwards and Biffle would be the only two Roush Fenway drivers representing the organization in the chase, even though they have both remained winless on the year.

Heading into the final race of the season at Homestead, Roush Fenway Racing is hoping to close out the season the same way it started: with a victory. Victories have been far and wide so far this season for an organization that has the most wins at this track, winning the last five and six out of the last seven.

Biffle’s three consecutive wins in 2004, 2005, and 2006, does make him a good candidate to pick up the team's fourth victory of the season and the second win of the Chase, coupled with Jamie McMurray who took the victory at Talladega Superspeedway.

“It’s always been a good track for me, and I’m pretty proud to have contributed half of those six wins,” said Biffle.

“As for the team as a whole, I think that we hit on something there a few years ago and were able to just carry over the success. It’s also a driver’s track, and we have some of the best drivers in the series.”

A strong case can also be made for Edwards who has finished inside the top five the last three years, including the win to close out last season's Chase (’06 – second, ’07 – fourth, and ’08 – first), even though he only has two top 10’s in this season's chase.

“It’s our last chance to get a win in 2009. It’s been a tough year. We’ve been working hard. Our mile-and-a-half program is better now than it’s been for a long time, so this race really is one that I feel we have a good shot of running well," Edwards said.

“Our history there is great. We won it last year. It was special to me last year, so it would be an honor for me to do that again.”

This weekend will mark the end of an era for Matt Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing. After more than a decade serving as the primary sponsor for Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 team, DEWALT will run its last race aboard the No. 17 Ford Fusion this weekend at Homestead.

One of the most successful partnerships in NASCAR history, the duo of Kenseth and DEWALT teamed for the 2000 Rookie of the Year Award, the 2003 Championship, and the 2009 Daytona 500 win during their 10-plus year tenure together.

Kenseth, who won here back in 2007, is hoping to end the season the same he started: with a victory.

“It started really well at Daytona and California obviously, but started to go down the next week at Las Vegas when we finished last," said Kenseth.

"It was a frustrating season, because we just did not run well enough. We’ve made some gains the last few weeks and hopefully we will continue to build on that as we move towards next season.”

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Homestead-Miami Final Practice: Childress Has Pair Of Hot-Rods

McCord Roberts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:46:44 -0500

The Chase for the Championship comes to a close Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Jimmie Johnson looking to win an unprecedented fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. Johnson currently has a comfortable 108-point lead over second place Mark Martin which equates to the difference from first to 25th place.

During the final preparations for the race in Saturday’s practice sessions, both Martin and Johnson look to be equally up for the task for Sunday’s showdown. Johnson, who won the pole on Friday, was strong in both sessions running third fastest in the early session and seventh fastest during happy Hour.

Martin fared better Saturday having the fastest times in the first practice and third best in Happy hour giving the No. 5 Hendrick some semblance of hope that at least they know they’ll have one of the strongest cars on race day.

Both drivers are coming in with winning chassis’ as well. Johnson has the same car that he won with at Indianapolis and Martin brought his same car that won a Darlington and Chicagoland.

While the main story all week has centered around the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers battling for the Championship, two Richard Childress Racing drivers came out blazing during Happy Hour creating their own story and making them serious contenders to win the race itself.

Jeff Burton led Happy Hour with the fastest lap of 165.736 mph and close behind was teammate Kevin Harvick with the second fastest lap. Both drivers laid down the quick times in the early stages of the session.

Burton is looking continue his current hot streak on the season that has seen him finish in the top-10 in his last three races including a season best second-place last week at Phoenix. In his last 1.5-mile high banked track, run at Texas, Burton finished fifth.

Despite the good run at Texas, Burton’s team opted to bring a brand new chassis for this race and if this an indication to what may be in store for 2010 for RCR, missing the Chase likely will not occur again.

Harvick’s good run in practice shouldn’t come as too much of surprise, even though he did beat out the regular practice bully’s of Johnson and Martin. Harvick has finished in the top-10 in six of his last eight Miami starts, including last season’s best of second-place. This week he has brought the same chassis that finished fifth at Texas two weeks ago.

Both Harvick and Burton also put together the best average lap speeds during happy Hour which means Mark Martin may have a battle on his hands as he attempts to lead the most laps and win the race.

Top Speeds - Saturday’s First Practice Session:
1) Mark Martin 168.177 mph—AVG 30 laps @ 162.027
2) Denny Hamlin 167.884 mph—AVG 32 laps @ 161.119
3) Jimmie Johnson 167.863 mph—AVG 31 laps @ 161.497
4) Ryan Newman 167.822 mph—AVG 28 laps @ 161.046
5) Kyle Busch 167.811 mph—24 laps @ 161.554
Top Average speed: Kevin Harvick 24 laps @ 163.194
Most laps run: Brian Vickers 39

Top Speeds - Saturday’s Final Practice (Happy Hour)
1) Jeff Burton 165.736 mph—AVG 44 laps @ 161.439
2) Kevin Harvick 165.375—AVG 42 laps @ 161.293
3) Mark Martin 165.067 mph—AVG 47 laps @ 160.923
4) Martin Truex Jr 165.022 mph—AVG 48 laps @ 160.923
5) Ryan Newman 164.604 mph—AVG 50 laps @ 160.103

Top-10 Rated Drivers do Homestead-Miami based on final practices, recent performances on high banked 1.5-mile tracks, and current state of the team.
1) Mark Martin
2) Kevin Harvick
3) Kurt Busch
4) Jeff Burton
5) Jimmie Johnson
6) Ryan Newman
7) Denny Hamlin
8) Tony Stewart
9) Kyle Busch
10) Juan Pablo Montoya

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and McLaren: Dream Ticket Or Huge Mistake?

Adamo Digby — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:13:29 -0500

The 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button will drive alongside 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton for McLaren in an all-English line-up next season. Adamo Digby looks at the move and wonders if the current champion might have made a mistake in choosing what some view as Formula One's most difficult seat.

So picture the scene. You are Formula One's top driver, just crowned World Champion and have the coveted No. 1 on your car for the season. You are the best in the business. You chose to move teams for a new challenge, joining McLaren Mercedes as you feel they offer the best opportunity to win again.

Yet from minute one, you are not treated as number-one. The team you should be leading belongs to someone else. The other driver is king here, loved, honoured and obeyed. The car, the racing suits, the seats all designed to bring out the best in a driver you know you are better than. You have nothing to prove to anyone, yet he rules this particular kingdom. You're new, he's been a part of the team, the McLaren family since he was a child.

This is not hearsay or speculation on what Jenson Button may face next season, it's the story of Fernando Alonso's time in the Silver Arrow. Alonso joined Hamilton at McLaren for the 2007 season, as the reigning World Champion. He was offered no special treatment and the team deferred to Hamilton far more often than the Spaniard, who left after one season. He returned to an uncompetitive Renault, forced to prove himself again.

Yet Button seems to not to have learned from this mistake and has left Ross Brawn and his old team behind for the start of his title defence. He will already be at a serious disadvantage behind his new teammate, who knows the team inside out, and will have already have huge knowledge of next season's car.

Their driving styles are hugely different. Hamilton is a pure racer, going flat-out and hammering his car into corners and overtaking, while Button is probably F1's smoothest driver, fluid and rhythmical. All of which leaves you wondering how the team can hope to produce a car to suit both men, or if it will even try?

What the pairing of the last two champions does give us, however, is a fantastic, enthralling, engaging story. It is one which Formula One fanatics cannot help but become excited by, whichever way it happens to unfold throughout the season. It is one which will draw even more casual viewers to the sport and no doubt provide us with countless talking points over the next year.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Brawn GP Season Review Part Three: Brawn Terminate the Opposition

Patrick Allen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:10:28 -0500

Well, little did I know when I set out writing these season review articles that they would be my last words on a team I’ve followed since 2003. Jenson Button was the reason I started supporting Honda, but I think, I would have stayed with the team if I didn’t think it was changing so much for the worse. No, I have instead decided to move on with Jens. That isn’t to say that I’m a fickle team changer! I don’t, nor will I ever support McLaren. From now on I’m and Jenson, Mark Webber and Fernando fan, the team is irrelevant (I kinda like it….it’s like I’m a maverick fan…..a man without a team!).

Anyway, enough of that rubbish. Here is the next part of my season review for the glorious Brawn GP team. LONG LIVE HONDA AND BRAWN!

SPAIN 2009

Saturday Qualifying

It was Rubens who was the man to beat in Brawn colours throughout the practice sessions. However, thanks to arguably one of Jenson’s best qualifying laps ever under the watchful eye of the Terminator, the Championship leader stuck his car on the front spot.

The first couple of sessions were shaky to say the least. In Q1 Jenson comfortably made it through in P2, whilst Rubens spent some time in the drop zone before rising to P5. Then in Q2 whilst Rubens smashed through in P1, Jenson struggled for pace and only made it to P5.

In Q3, the Toyotas, Red Bulls and Brawns were fast and it was great! It was tense, but Rubens looked like a man possessed. The day was surly his, but no, Jens (who had crossed the start finish line one second before the chequered flag), made his last gasp lap work and perfectly plucked P1 out from under his team mate’s feet!

Sunday Race

The last eight people to qualify on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix have won on Sunday and 2009 was no different. Jenson Button drove like a man possessed and simply delivered a fantastic performance.

Jenson seemed a little bit slow to get started and Rubens darted past into first. Thankfully Vettel and Massa were too busy fighting each other to threaten the Brawns.

Rubens’s fastest laps early on I expect led many non Brawn fans to turn off, surly it was all over.

However, the Ferrari and Red Bull kept the Brawns honest and on lap seven, Rubens was told to really push it to stay ahead.

The Brawns were very lucky that earlier in the race Massa had passed Vettel. This was because the Red Bull driver would have been a far more serious threat if he was in third.

A crucial part of the race came when Jenson stopped having put in consistent fast laps. It looked as if Jenson’s three stop strategy had been changed to a two stopper. interestingly, Rubens’s strategy was not changed. It was now down to Rubens; he had to put in consistent fast laps and keep Jenson at arms length.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, for whatever reason, he wasn’t fast enough and the race win seemed to slip out of his reach.

On lap 30 Rubens pitted and re-joined in P4. The race was now Jenson’s to loose. He had to be consistently fast and stay ahead.

Some commentators began to suggest that Brawn had deliberately created a strategy that favoured Button, but Nick Fry denied this claim stating that it was up to the individual engineers to decide on their driver’s strategy. Unfortunately for Rubens, Fry was right. Car 23 was simply not fast enough, but it wasn’t all Rubens’s fault as the car was experiencing technical difficulties.

Jenson Button was in a class of his own, he made the hard tyres work for him like no other driver on the track.

With six laps left the Championship leader was the fastest man in Spain. Sure enough, Jens went on to claim his fifth career victory, Brawn’s fourth out of five races.

MONACO BABY 2009

Saturday Qualifying

After a reasonable few practice sessions, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Brawn for qualifying. Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Alonso and to an extent Force India had been strong and I must say I was very excited!

Fernando Alonso said earlier that 70 percent of winning the race at Monaco depended on qualifying on pole. Apparently in twenty three years, only one driver has won from outside of the top three.

The Toyotas were out first today, but the session was quickly yellow flagged after a mistake from Massa near the swimming pool complex just four minutes in.

The first time was eventually set by Fisichella (1:19:473) and with five minutes gone there were 10 times on the board. The key question for Brawn was when to go out. Traffic would play a huge role at this Grand Prix and as the track came into its own, timing would be critical.

A safe Q1 was followed by a very tense Q2 in which Jens only made it through in P8! However, despite strong challenges from Rosberg, and Vettel, out of nowhere….Jens was absolutely hammering it! He was amazing. With a phenomenal lap, the Championship leader showed us all how truly great he is with yet another pole. Rubens must have been down, as for yet another week despite being faster than his team mate in all sessions, he simply couldn’t beat him in Q3. Still, P3 was good enough for the Brazilian.

Sunday Race

Both Jenson and Rubens started on the Super Soft tyres, which would have given them good traction off the start, but the tyres would probably start to lose grip after just eight laps! (Let alone the 20 odd laps the two drivers planned to complete.)

A fantastic start from both Jens and Rubens, saw Button comfortably take off, whilst his Brazilian team mate muscled brilliantly past the Finnish Ferrari in P2.

Jenson and Rubens now had to lap quickly, whilst looking after their tyres. Thankfully the professional veterans managed to take out and maintain a decent lead over the Ferrari of Raikkonen. Jenson was on fire, but by lap three, Rubens had set the fastest lap.

Unfortunately for Rubens, being in Jenson’s dirty air was damaging his rear tyres more than hoped. The Brazilian was warned on lap 10 to watch out for his tyres as Vettel had practically shredded his super softs back in P5.

Vettel had been doing a good job of backing up the Brawn’s fast competitors, but on lap 10 having pushed a little too hard, he fell behind Massa, Rosberg and Kovelinen with tyre damage. (The German would later crash out).

By lap 11 Jenson was about to lap World Champion and future team mate Hamilton. However, by this stage Ruben’s tyres were dead and Raikkonen was proving very difficult to deal with.

The Brazilian would need to pit and soon. Now, this is where Jenson’s class comes into it’s own. Yes, Rubens had dirty air, but Jens’s smooth, relaxed driving style meant that he could handle the difficult stage much better.

After everyone’s first stops, the Brawns were once again first and second. Jenson pulled away on a slower Rubens (16 seconds). The next rounds of pit stops proved to also be eventless and despite a couple of scary charges from the Ferraris, Jens and Rubes comfortably brought home the third Brawn one two.

The only thing Jenson did wrong all weekend is park in the wrong place, but that didn’t matter because we were treated to a fantastic lap of glory as the race winner leapt from his car and ran from the pits to the front of the grid. He was literally jumping for joy...and so was I.

Rubens had been struggling with a dodgy seatbelt throughout the race and so to finish where he did was great. However, these two races illustrate an important part of Jenson’s eventual title victory. In both Monaco and Spain Rubens was faster on Friday and throughout most of Saturday. Crucially, Jenson was able to pip his team mate in the dying moments and this gave him physical and mental advantages. So fantastic performances from two world class drivers yet again. Surly the season was over? Nope, Little did they know but the Brawn dominance was about to take a stark dive!

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Dustin Off the Final Race: Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Dustin Parks — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:24:51 -0500

It will be a bitter-sweet feeling for everyone in the NASCAR community as this Sunday, the 2009 season will come to a close. All the miles, all the finishes, and all the stories during the 36-race season end at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

All the miles, all the laps, and all the checkered flags will conclude Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It has been a season of many highs and many lows. Some things shocked us while others were expected.

It will definitely be a season that will be remembered. Now, in this finale edition of "Dustin Off," we'll go through the drivers to watch out for in the Ford 400 and a look at the championship race.

FAVORITES

CARL EDWARDS

The driver of the No. 99 was the bridesmaid at this race last season for a couple reasons. He won the race by using fuel strategy to make it to the end.

But, Johnson finished high enough to win his third title, a title that he was battling Edwards for.

This year has been a little different for Edwards as he has yet to win a race. He has been near the front and come close, but some incidents were outside his control.

This is a very good track for Roush-Fenway racing, as they have won the last four events. This is the last chance for Edwards to get a victory and salvage some good from the season. He will certainly be a factor come Sunday.

GREG BIFFLE

The other surprise from the Roush-Fenway stable is definitely Greg Biffle. As expected, he made the Chase, but has not made as much noise as expected.

Biffle has no wins this year, just like Edwards, but has run very consistent.

This is also his last chance to come away with a victory in the 2009 season. He came close at Michigan this past June, but fell half a lap short in gas.

Prior to Edwards winning last season, Biffle won three consecutive races at Homestead. He definitely will be up front.

TONY STEWART

Alright, so it has been nine years since "Smoke" has put his car in victory lane here, but that doesn't mean he won't be running well.

Stewart won the first two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1999 and 2000, but there was a big difference in those races. The track had very little banking, as in six degrees in the corners, when Stewart won.

Since the track was reconfigured to have the progressive banking, Stewart has not found his way to victory lane.

However, tracks such as Atlanta and Charlotte have similar banking, and Stewart has won at both. Watch for Stewart's team to use a similar set up for this track as they would there.

This has been a dream season for the owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and there's no better way to end the year than in victory lane.

SLEEPERS

KURT BUSCH

It looks as though Busch is taking a page out of Rusty Wallace's playbook. When he was with Penske, after a victory Wallace would name the race car.

Two weeks ago, Busch went to victory lane at Texas, and afterwards named the car "Patriot" because he carried Operation Homefront on the hood. This weekend that same car will be on the track again.

Both tracks were similar in banking, so the car will already be set up to run well and maybe just a bit loose to get off the corners.

I would not be surprised if he makes his way to the front early, so watch for the No. 2 Miller Lite Doge.

MARK MARTIN

No, that's not a typo, I'm actually putting Martin in this category for a reason. I have him as a sleeper because in order for him to even remotely have a chance to steal the championship, his weekend needs to be perfect.

He needs to win the race, lead the most laps, and somehow hope Jimmie Johnson has a problem. The likeliness of all that happening is slim to none, but he's going to try.

A win to finish out an incredible season would give this entire team a lot of momentum heading into 2010. Martin will be a contender for the title next year for sure.

A win would culminate an incredible return to full-time driving for Martin. He could sneak up and take some of the attention away from his teammate.

But, the attention will be on Johnson all weekend. Friday he came out and scorched the field in qualifying, putting his car on the pole. For a team that only needs to finish 25th or better, they came out fast and hard.

It will be a new chapter in NASCAR's history, as for the first time, a driver will have won four consecutive titles. That is unheard of in any sport. That's like seeing a team in the NFL win four straight Super Bowls, or a baseball team winning four World Series titles back to back.

It is history in itself, and one that everyone will be talking about for years to come. An incredible feat by an incredible driver.

Sunday culminates one of the most competitive seasons NASCAR has ever seen. The only question remaining is who will win the final race, and have bragging rights heading to Daytona in 2010. Coverage will be on ABC starting at 2:30 with NASCAR Countdown.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Mercedes GP Trying To Sign Michael Schumacher

Stuart Baird — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:12:22 -0500

The BBC are reporting that the newly formed team, Mercedes GP, are trying to sign seven time world champion Michael Schumacher for 2010. The new owners of Brawn GP are aggressively chasing Schumacher to join the team.

F1 pundit, and former team owner, Eddie Jordan believes that the German will race for the team.

"The possibility is being actively pursued and I believe it is going to happen ," said Jordan.

"It started with a meeting between Michael, Ross Brawn and Daimler chief executive officer Dieter Zetsche at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "

Jordan has many close sources within the GP circus, and is usually well informed about the rumours that float around the F1 paddock.

The rumoured plan is that Schumacher would be a stop gap to allow the Mercedes team to steal Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull Racing.

Schumacher's spokesperson, Sabine Kehm has commented on the subject.

"A return would be highly unlikely, but never say never."

Mercedes would have to try and lure Schumacher from the illustrious Ferrari team. Although Schumacher does not race for the team, at the moment, he plays a large role in advising the team, as well as helping to set up the prototype road cars at the factory. Schumacher is still currently linked with Ferrari with a lucrative contract.

But Eddie Jordan also had something to say about that too,

"At the moment, it is not possible for Michael to drive for Mercedes because he has a consultancy contract with Ferrari."

"But I understand he was due to meet Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo with a view to being released - and that it will be approved because it is in the interests of F1."

The evidence that is giving credence to this rumour is that Schumacher would be re-united with technical genius, Ross Brawn, who assisted all of Schumacher's seven world titles.

Schumacher has also previously raced for Mercedes, in his early racing career in sportscar racing, and so has already established a relationship with the company.

Mercedes GP has already said, many times, that the team will be an international team, not a German team, but if they succeed in signing Schumacher, or Vettel, then alongside Rosberg they will have made a German team.

If Schumacher does join Mercedes for a year or two, it would give him the chance to re-sign for Ferrari, bringing a legendary driver back to legendary team.

The F1 community was very excited about Schumacher's return in early August '09, but the plans were scuppered by a neck injury that was aggravated by testing an F1 car. At the time, Schumacher refused to comment on if he would be racing in 2010 or not. This lead to a lot of rumours suggesting that he would return for Ferrari in 2010.

Ferrari president, Luca Di Montezemolo, also added fuel to the fire, by saying that he would love Schumacher to return. The last time Montezemolo said that he wanted something to happen, it was Fernando Alonso to join the team. He also wants the German driver, Sebastian Vettel to join the team in 2012

This also suggested that Ferrari would push hard for a change in the rules to allow the teams to run three cars, instead of two. However, as of yet there has been no signal from Ferrari that it is pursuing this idea.

If Ferrari doesn't push for the third car in F1, then Schumacher may join the Mercedes team in order to get a race seat for 2010.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Who Will Race for the Silver Arrow Mercedes in 2010?

Ravikumar Rajagopal — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:16:28 -0500

Mercedes-Benz traditionally has been one of the early power houses in F1 and finally after 55 years, Mercedes is back in grand prix racing as a constructor ever since taking over Brawn GP a few days back.

Though the McLaren Mercedes alliance has been one of the most enduring one in the sport and has lasted 15 years, it is quite possible that it may even go on to last 21 years after their revised contract, in which McLaren buys back its shares while Mercedes supplies engines until 2015.

For years, Mercedes wanted a German driver for the team, but McLaren has usually gone with a Finnish or British driver.

For 2010, they have pulled a major coup and has pulled the rug under Mercedes by recruiting Jenson Button, the 2009 World Champion who will team up with Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 Champion.

It will be a dream team for all the British marketing firms, as finally McLaren has two British drivers who have won the Championship in the last two seasons.

Crucially, Button will once again bring the No. 1 to the team while Mercedes after buying Brawn who won both the titles last year had to go through one more season to reclaim the No. 1 position.

Though the team has said that it wants to become an international power house team, it is most likely to have two German drivers in its cockpits.

Though for F1, there is nothing better than a Great Britain-Germany rivalry but then Mercedes could be forced to field two drivers who have raced in more than 200 races without even winning once.

Well, Rosberg never had a car which can win races while Heidfeld despite being a very promising driver never was in the right teams.

Rosberg was considered to be the “Next Big Thing” of F1 while Heidfeld has become from being the "nearly" man to a vastly underestimated driver who is Mr Consistent.

It may not be a team of superstars, but it has enough talent and potential backed by an ideal machinery, and it could well go on and challenge Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull for the title.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were no superstars. Button was more or less a “has-been” driver in 2009 with a single race win due to rain.

Barrichello was one the world’s best No. 2 driver who can be a good side-kick but never good enough to challenge for the crown.

However, in 2009, both were fighting for the crown and now Button is a World Champion and will join McLaren while Barrichello despite his age still manages to find a seat in Williams.

For 2010, we will see Mercedes Grand Prix end up with Rosberg and Heidfeld, but you just cannot ignore two other drivers who had a chance to drive for the team and both are ex-Ferrari drivers.

2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen was in contention for a McLaren seat, but due to money related issues and with Jenson Button joining the team, that option is closed.

But Norbert Haug has always been impressed with Kimi, and you can still have Kimi leading the charge for the Mercedes team for the next season.

The other option is something which has been going around in many circles, but if you do look at the past, it was Mercedes which did support Michael Schumacher in his early career and though he has been retired from the sport for the last three years.

He was still in contention to race for Ferrari as a replacement for Massa and if not for his injured neck, he could well have made a comeback.

But a more interesting link to the Mercedes team is that Ross Brawn was involved in all the seven World Titles he has won with Ferrari and Benetton.

It could be the most amazing comeback in the history of F1, and if one person can pull it off, it can be only Schumacher, but then he is so much associated with Ferrari, it is actually strange to even imagine him driving for any other team apart from Ferrari.

But then never say never in F1 and he can be winning the championship next year with the Silver Arrow Mercedes.

One thing is sure and that is Mercedes is surely having one German driver and this is Rosberg, but who will partner him is still a mystery and given the current scenario, you can expect anything and it can even lead to a Cinderella comeback for Schumacher.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Why Jamie McMurray Is My Dark Horse Title Contender For 2010

Sam Miller — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:30:47 -0500

Okay, I'm not exactly saying that Jimmie Johnson needs to watch out for the No. 1 car next year, but I do believe that Jamie DOES have a legitimate chance not only to win a race or two, but also quite possibly make the chase, something he has yet to do.

A lot of people have said that they believe that Jamie is washed up, that he belongs only in the Nationwide Series, but that is not true.

Here are a few reasons why:

1) Jamie is no longer the fifth racer on a five-man team. Say what you will about how strong Roush may be, but being the 4/5th racer on a team does little to boost a drivers performance.

At Ganassi in his early years, Jamie was one of their top drivers, and was given priority in equipment. When he went to Roush next year, though, he immediately got what was essentially the leftovers. Ask most drivers, and they'll tell you being a fourth or fifth driver is not a good situation. Being second at EGR WILL give him a boost, if not in confidence, but definitely from a technical standpoint. I hate to say it, but Chevy>Ford.

2) Fresh start. Jamie goes back to the organization where he had the most success as a driver, and should benefit from being under the guidance of the EGR family once again.

3) The engines and support from Childress and Ganassi has finally come around, and the results have shown. Next year, I only expect their program to continue to improve.

4) Jamie is the "veteran" on a race team. Funny to think of a 33-year-old as a veteran in NASCAR, but JPM has an opportunity to learn from many of the things Jamie has gone through, and Jamie not only can learn from a chase driver what it takes, but he also gains a teammate that I have considered to be a rival.

JPM and J-Mac dont always get along, and it usually ended with J-Mac in the wall. But as teammates, that will not be the case.

5) The final talking point, its still a contract year. I will admit, this year there was a weak free-agent class, but the next class will not be. If Jamie hopes to snag a ride for next year, this year is a put up or shut year.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Jack Daniel's Chevrolet To Carry Special “Thank You” Hood at Homestead

Sal Sigala Jr. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:31:59 -0500

After five seasons and three drivers with RCR, Jack Daniel’s, sponsor of the No. 07 Richard Childress Chevrolet, will no longer be a part of NASCAR after the season-ending race in Homestead this weekend.

So, in honor of all the drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, and administration personnel who have worked with the program since first climbing on board with RCR back in 2005, the company has decided to put all 140 plus names around the words "Jack" and "Thanks" on the hood.

The special hood was the company’s way of showing how much they appreciated all the hard work that went on to make this team the success that it was.

It also added a personal touch that was handed down from the founder Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel, who personally made sure his recipe for Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 was always carried out by human touch.

Clint Bowyer, who is currently sitting 15th in the points standings, had the longest stint with Jack Daniels from 2006-2008 before moving over to Cheerios/Hamburger Helper for the 2009 season.

Dave Blaney was the initial driver behind the sponsor in 2005, and Casey Mears picked up the sponsor when he signed with RCR for the 2009 season.

During the five year span from 2005-2009, the Old No. 7 picked up two wins, and two pole awards, to go along with 21 top-fives and 61 top-10 finishes.

"The last five years in the sport has been fun and exciting, to say the least,” said Dave Stang, Assistant Vice President of Brand Awareness for Jack Daniel’s. "It took a ton of people, and all those fantastic fans, to help Jack get its responsible drinking message communicated throughout the USA and beyond. We recognize them all with this little token of appreciation, Jack would be proud."

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Tiffany Daniels Invited to ASA Race in South Africa

Mary Jo Buchanan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:24:58 -0500

Tiffany Daniels, who competed most recently in the Camping World Series East, is one of two female racers invited to the ASA Transcontinental Series Free State 500 in South Africa in January 2010.

Tiff, as she is nicknamed, will join fellow female competitor Toni McCray to compete at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit oval in Welkom, Free State South Africa on January 31.

"I am really excited," Daniels said of her invitation. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to go over to South Africa and run a race."

"I think it's going to be so much fun," Daniels continued. "It will be really great racing with drivers from the US and South Africa and that is something that we normally don't get to to in our racing careers."

"I'm really looking forward to it."

Daniels began her racing career in Legend cars, finishing third at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Summer Shootout Series and third in the Winter Heat Series points. Daniels then graduated to late models, where she had six Top Five and nine Top 10 finishes in 2007.

In 2008, Daniels participated in Lyn St. James Driver Development Program, a well-known development program focusing on bringing females to the top levels of the sport. In that program, Daniels won the Kara Hendrick Memorial Award for her spirit and talent.

In 2009, Daniels competed in five Camping World Series East races, with her best finish at the Monster Mile. Daniels took the checkered flag in the 14th position, an impressive showing on her first attempt at the Dover International Speedway.

Daniels currently lives in North Carolina, having graduated from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte with a Mechanical Engineering degree. In addition to her own racing, Daniels works full-time with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, supporting the teams of Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex, Jr.

As well as competing with one other female in the ASA South Africa event, Daniels will be teammate to Marc Davis, a familiar competitor and a good friend. The two racers grew up together on the short tracks of North Carolina and Virginia.

"She is more than a competitor and teammate, Tiffany is a friend," Davis said. "We are both excited to represent Team USA in the ASA Free State 500."

"We will be the youngest team and hopefully the fastest," Davis continued. "Our goals are to make new friends see what a wonderful country South Africa is, and finish first and second."

With a friend as a teammate and another female racer in the competition, Daniels is a bit torn as to who she would really like to win the race. "That would be great to have the girls show up the guys over in South Africa," Daniels said. "But really as long as I'm finishing first I don't care what the rest of the field looks like."

Daniels continued, "I'm going to be completely honest about it. It would be great for the girls to get a one-two finish and also going as a teammate to Marc Davis, I'm also hoping our cars finish one-two as well."

Daniels is no stranger to ASA racing, particularly through a friendship she developed with Reed Sorenson. "I raced with Reed in Legends," Daniels said. "And our families became good friends. I remember going to watch Reed race at ASA events at Concord and Berlin and learned a lot about ASA from that."

"There have been some huge changes in the ASA program and they have done so much to expand, especially to come up with a race over in South Africa," Daniels said. "That is really impressive and its definitely a good series to be a part of."

Dennis Huth, ASA President, has good things to say about Daniels and her participation in the series. "Tiff has a great personality and talent and we're excited to have her as part of this event," Huth said. "Her enthusiasm shows every time I talk to her."

Not only is Daniels looking forward to the ASA race in South Africa in the New Year, but she is also anticipating another milestone in her life. She will be celebrating her 25th birthday on January 6, 2010, prior to going overseas.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Is There Anything Left To Accomplish in NASCAR For Jimmie Johnson?

Kelly Crandall — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:11:05 -0500

There has been one big question on everyone’s mind over the last four years in NASCAR: when will Jimmie Johnson’s dominance end?

The answer has yet to be seen, and the fact that he’s not getting ready to retire anytime soon doesn’t bode well for haters of the No. 48 team.

It’s both well documented and continually repeated just how much Johnson has accomplished in his eight years on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit.

And when it comes to the 10-race Chase, he’s made it his personal playground.

“I’ve wanted my whole life to be able—to be a champion, to compete against the best drivers in the world,” he says.

But in his eight years in NASCAR, Johnson has accomplished more than most drivers do in their entire careers. He’s won the big races, he’s won championships, and in fact he’s never finished lower than fifth in points.

In most sports, once a player accomplishes everything he or she can or everything there is, the player moves on and tries something else or retires.

Just look at fellow driver Juan Pablo Montoya. He dominated and won everything there was to win in open wheel racing and then decided to give NASCAR a shot.

Johnson has accomplished everything there is in NASCAR; actually he’s done it numerous times.

He’s a two-time winner of the Sprint All-Star race (2003, 2006). He’s a three-time Coca-Cola 600 winner (2003, 2004, 2005).

He’s also a three-time winner of the Brickyard 400 (2006, 2008, 2009).

He’s won the Daytona 500 (2006), and after Sunday, could have four Sprint Cup Series championships (2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009).

Along the way he’s won at many other great tracks, such as Martinsville, Talladega, and Richmond.

He’s set records and is on the verge of making more history.

Which begs the question: what’s left for Johnson in NASCAR?

He’s done it all, he’s won it all, and yet he’s back year after year to do the same thing.

Doesn’t it get a little old and boring?

Doesn’t he want new challenges?

After all, you can only make history once.

But, Johnson doesn’t think of it like that. When asked Thursday afternoon what else he wanted from NASCAR he replied, “Of course, I want to be successful and win more races and contend for championships, that kind of thing.”

What that means is that Johnson and his No. 48 team won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Instead, they’re going to keep showing up to the racetrack with new determination.

Take, for instance, a few weeks ago at Lowe’s.

Crew chief Chad Knaus badly wanted to complete a perfect weekend by being the fastest in every practice session, winning the pole, leading the most laps, and winning the race.

They did exactly that, and Knaus talked about how he’s always wanted to pull that off, it was something important to him.

Since they’ve done everything else there is, seems they need new ways to find motivation to go out and win.

If fans are looking for ways to get Johnson either away from racing, or distracted enough to end his championship-winning ways, that’s not going to happen either.

Sure, he’s married, but he’s told the media that he and wife Chandra have no plans to start a family. Especially not after seeing teammate Jeff Gordon raising a daughter, he once joked.

He does enjoy spending time at home and with family, but says that it’s not something that he’s looking for on a full-time basis.

“I’m not at a point where I’m craving that time, and I wish I had it,” he says. “Because I love my job, and I love what I’m doing.”

What he’s doing is cementing his place in history, and he’ll be back in 2010 to continue to add to his trophy case.

And while there is nothing major left for Johnson to accomplish, there are six tracks left on the schedule at which he’s never won.

He’s taken home a checkered flag at every style of track except for a road course, he’s 0-8 at both Infineon and Watkins Glen, and has said he wants to add a road course victory to his resume.

And while he’s captured his first and only Nationwide Series victory at Chicagoland, he’s still 0-8 in the Cup Series.

Another 0-8 track is Homestead-Miami, the final race of the year. Johnson has never run well at the track and has never focused on winning the event because he’s always more worried about winning the championship.

While he says he plans to go there and win the event and the title this weekend, that’s hard to believe.

The championship comes first, and until he’s not able to win the title, maybe he’ll focus on winning the race.

The final two tracks that the No. 48 has never pulled into victory lane are Bristol and Michigan; he’s 0-16 at both venues.

Johnson hasn’t been very good at the bullring in Tennessee, but the last few races he has finished in the Top 10.

He’ll be back strong in 2010, and the same goes for Michigan, a track that he’s always run well at but has had problems down the home stretch (problems such as running out of fuel while leading in the late stages of the event). He’ll get two more chances to get the ‘W’ next year.

So, while he has accomplished almost everything there is in NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus won’t rest until they’ve accomplished everything of everything.

Then they can look back at all the championships, Coca-Cola 600s, All-Star races, Brickyard 400s, Daytona 500s and say they’re the only team to have won at all 23 tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.

“Racing’s it. It’s all I’ve ever done. I’m glad it’s worked out because I don’t know what the hell I’d be doing otherwise,” says Johnson. “I’m finally good at it, and I want to keep it up, I want to keep it going.”

And on Friday morning it was announced that Jimmie Johnson will be keeping it going with Hendrick Motorsports and Lowe's until 2015.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Tony Stewart Is Far from Dissapointed with 2009 Season; 2010 Should Be Better

Sal Sigala Jr. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:08:39 -0500

Life has a very peculiar way of helping us to expose what we are made of from the inside out. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing or that it should be taken the wrong way, but instead it should be looked at as more of a positive, especially when your own personal goals are involved.

Expectations along with those same personal goals always run high at the beginning of every season, and Tony Stewart was one driver who took that initiative, when he left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the 2008 season to take over half ownership of Haas CNC Racing.

Stewart had found success in 10 years driving for Joe Gibbs Racing by winning two championships along with 33 victories overall, but there was still that void of someday owning his own Sprint Cup team which finally became a reality for Stewart.

Stewart, who brought along with him Penske driver Ryan Newman, set his sights on making the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship, which he did while keeping his season from becoming a total loss.

Newman on the other hand left an organization that was not going in the direction that he felt was going to benefit his career, and with his contract expiring at the end of the 2008 season, the opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time to sign on with a team that would meet his own expectations.

“People ask about our expectations and our goals and we had some goals and we didn't know what the expectations were going to be.”

Newman added that, “We've done a lot of great things as an organization. We've done a lot of great things as drivers to get to where we are, and for me personally to make the big change and obviously Tony as well, didn't have any idea what to expect.”

Stewart already knew that ownership has its fair share of responsibilities, and it all starts with a good solid foundation as well as a strong commitment to want to succeed.

"It has been consistent from day one. As soon as we made the commitment that this was what we were going to do. And as soon as Darian Grubb came aboard, I think that was the biggest key in making sure that it was a smoother transition.”

So now with one race left, Stewart sits fifth in points, while his teammate Newman also made the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship while holding onto the ninth spot.

Stewart should be feeling very proud of himself even though they are both mathematically eliminated from winning the championship this season.

Stewart has always been known as a driver that does not give in to adversity, and because of that trait he was able to pick up his first win as a team owner at Pocono back in June of this season.

Stewart would add another three wins to bring his total up to four so far on the season, easily surpassing those of his fellow Chevy team owners with the exception of Hendrick Motorsports which has 13 of its own.

Stewart also led the point standings for 13 weeks before giving way to Mark Martin once the Chase started, but even surrendering that lead wasn’t enough for him to look at this season as a disappointment.

"I think it's hard to be disappointed no matter where we end up. Just by getting two cars in the Chase and winning the races we've won this year exceeded more than what any of you guys [media] could have anticipated and we could have anticipated we were able to do.”

Stewart added that, “We knew on paper that it was possible, but the reality of it was going there and competing against great race teams every week. So to be able to accomplish this goal has been an awesome year for us. It's still no different than it was when everybody talked to us after Richmond about losing a 200-point lead of whatever it was.”

Good, solid teams don’t just magically come together; instead they are carefully planned out with a lot of hard work and dedication, and all that usually comes with a lot of trial and error.

Setbacks, as well as those times when all the hard work doesn’t seem to be paying off, are all part of the building process, but in order for a team to have a chance at succeeding it must go through those growing pains.

“It just shows that we still have work to do. We were able to exceed our expectations for the year, but at the same time we won't stop at that," said Stewart.

“We'll keep pushing to be better and to try to be where the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) team and the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon) team and the No. 5 (Mark Martin) team and all these great race teams that we're competing against and that we're racing for points.”

Stewart Haas Racing has all the ingredients needed to become a championship caliber team in the near future, but as in life there is still a building process that must take place before greatness can be reached.

The path that Stewart has chosen for his team has already begun paying dividends, and that alone is the best way to get started in the right direction.

But only time will tell just how much character and poise this team really has when it comes down to crunch time, and that will be the time when its foundation will be put to the test.

With the 2010 season just beyond the horizon, Newman has already begun looking ahead at the team’s potential, and his outlook sounds very promising.

“Realistically just building on the relationships that we’ve got and working on the race cars. I think we have great relationships we just have to use those relationships to polish up the race cars and be ready for 2010.”

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Kyle Busch To Claim Nationwide Championship: Let the Celebration Begin

Mary Allworth — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:44:01 -0500

Kyle Busch’s incredible season finally gets its proper recognition Saturday when he’s crowned the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Busch needs only to start the Ford 300 to claim the title. “I feel like any championship in NASCAR is something to be proud of,” Busch said.

He’s led the series standings for the last 28 weeks, 29 overall. His eight wins lead the series. He’s amassed a series-record 2,625 laps led. He added to his series mark for the most perfect Driver Ratings (150.0) by collecting four this year, bringing his career total to eight.

He’s secured the first series driver title for Joe Gibbs Racing and for the first time in two years, has unified the driver and owner championship. This is JGR’s second consecutive owner title.

Kyle Busch is either loved or hated by race fans. Jenna Fryer, Yahoo Sports, put it best when she said “There’s no middle ground with the confident – some even say cocky – Busch, who rubs people the wrong way when he’s both winning and losing. Either way, he’s exciting, passionate and races hard, forcing everyone around him to raise their game.”

"Through my whole racing career, once I started, it was all about winning. That's the way I was brought up," Busch added. "It was all about going out there and getting the checkered flag and bringing home the trophy and kissing the pretty girl. That's pretty much how Kurt [Busch] and I were both raised, and when we finished second or third in our local short track days, we went home mad. We weren't happy that we were there because we weren't there to finish second or third."

One thing you can never take away from Kyle Busch is the fact that he has an immense amount of talent. I admit that his behavior and the fans response make it interesting at times. I guess it's kind of like pro wrestling. The existence of villains keeps things lively.

He is exactly what NASCAR needs, someone who keeps the fans coming back for more. Watch out for this guy next year, although he won’t be running full time in the Nationwide Series, he will put on one hell of a show in Cup.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

"Kyle [Busch] Got a Lot Of the Credit" Says Mark Martin About No.5 Team

Kelly Crandall — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:08:09 -0500

When Mark Martin announced in July of 2008 that he would be retuning full-time in 2009 with Hendrick Motorsports, he said it was because he didn’t want to regret never getting the chance to drive one of Rick Hendrick’s cars.

Now that Martin’s gotten the chance he’s repeatedly said throughout the year that “this is the best team I’ve ever driven for,” and that he loves driving their cars.

The continuous praise for the No.5 team and Alan Gustafson wasn’t hard to find from Martin. When Martin would say how great a crew chief Gustafson was, Gustafson would turn around and talk about how great a driver Martin was.

He also revealed that he’s been a Mark Martin fan since he was a child and he has a whole respect for him now that they’ve worked together.

But the trading of love on the team is all with good reason. Since Martin’s taken the wheel of the Kellogg’s Chevrolet, they’ve gone from could be contender, to multiple race winner and championship caliber.

Quite a pick up from 2008 when they finished 20^th in points with only one top five finish and six top tens.

This year, Martin has been the sentimental favorite to capture his first Sprint Cup Championship.

On Thursday afternoon Martin was back to praising his team and the expectations they set and then passed. “It definitely has turned out to exceed my expectations. I knew that the race team would be awesome,” he said. “I knew the car would be fast. I just hoped that I would be able to get the job done.”

He continued saying, “You know, I just have exceeded I think my expectations. The race team has done everything that I knew that they could. I just didn't know, you know, if I could—I really didn't know if I could compete against Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. coming into this season, for sure.”

Mission accomplished and much more.

While many have said this season that Martin has been the reason the No.5 has turned the corner and become one of the series tops team, was because of the man behind the wheel.

Even those at Hendrick Motorsports say that they all knew, and have seen, that Martin was going to make everyone at the company better.

Everyone credits Martin with the team’s success.

But he wants to make it clear that this has always been a good team, a team that never gets the attention and recognition they deserve.

Martin revealed that he’s paid attention to the No.5 team long before he started driving for them and was impressed by what he saw, and heard from them.

“I knew how good Alan was. I watched close for multiple years, I’ve watched him close,” Martin says. “I listened to him and Kyle [Busch] on the radio. I’ve been a fan of his. I think, as Jimmie says, it’s really special to see those guys. They showed what they could do with Kyle at an early state in his career.”

Because of that, Martin says it hasn’t been fair to the team. The wrong person was getting the credit for what was taking place and what was being accomplished.

“I think that Kyle got a lot of the credit for what they were doing because of his talent, and now this is the year that they really had a chance to shine.”

In 2009 they’ve won five races, seven poles, have 21 top tens, 14 top fives, and led 805 laps.

If you look at what the team accomplished with Busch over three seasons, Martin’s numbers look more impressive.

From 2005 through 2007, the team had four wins, two poles, 51 top tens, and 30 top fives and led 1,570 laps. The No.5 team was one of the best on the circuit but with Martin, they’re just a little bit better.

Just don’t credit him or any other driver for doing that.

“Alan and that group, especially after, you know, having a tough time last year, for them to come up and show everybody that not only are they a great race team, but they can give the best in the business a run for their money, it’s huge for me,” he says.

“I’m very, very proud.”

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Jimmie Johnson Extends Contract with Lowes and HMS Through 2015

Sal Sigala Jr. — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:14:47 -0500

Lowes Companies Inc. announced today that they will be extending Jimmie Johnsons sponsorship deal all the way through the 2013 season, along with Hendrick Motorsports who extended Johnsons contract keeping him behind the wheel of the No. 48 through the 2015 season.

"Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are a key part of our marketing efforts and outreach to our more than 225,000 employees," said Robert A. Niblock, Lowe's chairman and CEO. "We believe this is the best combination in racing, and we're proud to have Jimmie carry the Lowe's name in NASCAR."

Lowes has been Johnson’s primary sponsor since 2001, and together they have become one the most profitable relationships in NASCAR today.

Johnson, who picked up his first official NASCAR win at Auto Club Speedway his rookie year in 2002 along with finishing fifth in points, had nothing but admiration for the only primary sponsor that Johnson has ever had since coming into the series.

"Lowe's commitment to the 48 team and Hendrick Motorsports is tremendous and has been a source of pride for me personally," said Johnson. "We've built a championship team together, and I'm proud the 48 will carry the Lowe's colors for many more years."

Johnson who is on the verge of making NASCAR history with possibly his fourth championship in a row if he can finish 25th or better this weekend at Homestead, is also fourth on the list of drivers with the highest win percentage with 47 victories.

Johnson’s commitment to winning championships has made him one of NASCAR’s most marketable drivers, even though many of the sports fans have said that he lacks the fiery, hard nosed persona that most of the drivers carry around with them.

Johnson has been labeled at times of being a little to politically correct at times, but that didn’t sway Lowes decision to continue a business relationship with the 34-year-old California native.

Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick said that, "Jimmie is charting new territory in our sport, and that's due to a combination of natural talent and unsurpassed work ethic."

Hendrick also added that because of, "How he's committed himself is just incredible, and it shows in everything that he does—not just on the racetrack. There's no question that he's one of the great champions in all of sports, and he's not done yet."

Johnson’s current contract with Lowes would have expired after the 2010 season, and there is no word yet about the status of his crew chief Chad Knaus, whose contract expires at the end of 2010 season.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Creature vs. Creature Writers Pool: Picks for the Ford 400 at Homestead

Kelly Crandall — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:42:30 -0500

The final race of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season has arrived.

Jimmie Johnson needs to finish 25th or better on Sunday to wrap up his fourth straight championship. Teammate Mark Martin will be relying on a miracle if he’s going to overcome the 108-point deficit.

There are many other things to watch for this weekend besides the championship battle.

Carl Edwards is still looking for his first win of the year, after winning nine times in 2008. The same goes for his teammate Greg Biffle, as they head to a track that has been very good to Roush-Fenway drivers in the past.

Jamie McMurray, Reed Sorenson, and Martin Truex Jr. will all be making their final starts with their current teams before moving elsewhere in 2010.

And who will enter 2010 as our Creature champion?

The battle is a little closer than the one that Johnson and Martin will partake in, but doesn’t seem the top two will be trading positions unless a problem occurs. However, anything can happen.

Here’s who our Creatures are picking for the final time in 2009.

Ben Bomberger: Carl Edwards

This weekend the 2009 season will conclude and many believed Edwards would be the one hoisting the championship trophy—myself included. But as we enter the final weekend, the No. 99 team sits a disappointing 11th in the championship standings.

Edwards would like nothing better than to end the season with a win—again. At the 1.5-mile track in the heat of Miami, Edwards has captured one win, three top-fives, four top-10s, one pole and has an average finish of 6.4 in five races.

He leads all other drivers in average running position (7.3), driver rating (117.2), fastest laps run (111), average green flag speed (164.222 mph) and laps in the top 15 (89 percent).

I expect Edwards to bring home a solid finish this weekend and clinch the Creature Championship for myself.

James Broomhead: Matt Kenseth

There’s nothing to lose and nothing to prove for Matt Kenseth and myself this weekend in the last race of the year. Kenseth will have the new Ford engine this weekend, and hopefully it’ll take him all the way to another Homestead victory.

Mary Jo Buchanan: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Since my third-place points position mirrors my driver Jeff Gordon and I'm essentially out of it as soon as Ben Bomberger and Kelly Crandall take the track this weekend for the finale in Homestead, I'm going for my dark horse.

My pick to win Homestead is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Do I think he can win? Well, I'm not really sure on that one. But does he need some loving and some kind of motivation to get back in the game for 2010? He sure does. So, there you go Jr. Go get 'em!

Kelly Crandall: Kurt Busch

Kurt is my last shot at the Creature title for 2009 and he’ll also be looking for a last call in victory lane with crew chief Pat Tryson. We’ll both have a great shot at getting the win we both want as Kurt heads to Homestead with the same car that he won at Texas with just a few weeks ago.

Mason Dunn: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

Adam Heasley: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

Danielle Henderson: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

Kara Martin: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

No comments sent.

SM Napier: Kurt Busch

I just feel he'll have the Blue Deuce running up front and have a shot at the win.

David Phillips: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

Jen Preston: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

Rob Tiongson: Martin Truex Jr.

No pun intended, but it would be one heck of a sendoff from his longtime employers at DEI aka EGR to win the season finale in his last race with the No. 1 team. He has been suddenly coming on strong with his pole position efforts as of late and he's shown some of that promise that fans have noted since his only great Cup season in 2007.

Might be a long shot, but 2009 has been on of those wackier years.

Points Race

Here’s one more look at who’s still in the title hunt in the season finale, and who will be looking for a top five finish in the points.

Ben Bomberger (6,426 ) Jimmie Johnson won (5 )

Kelly Crandall (-99 ) Mark Martin finished fourth (2 )

Mary Jo Buchanan (-156 ) Kevin Harvick finished 24th (2 )

Kara Martin (-166 ) Mark Martin finished fourth (4 )

Jen Preston (-181 ) Kasey Kahne finished 15th (2 )

Rob Tiongson (-253 ) Kevin Harvick finished 24th (2 )

James Broomhead (-382 ) Mark Martin finished fourth (3 )

SM Napier (-525 ) Kevin Harvick finished 24th (3 )

Mason Dunn (-656 ) NO PICK SENT (0 )

Danielle Henderson (-830 ) NO PICK SENT (2 )

David Phillips (-871 ) NO PICK SENT (2 )

Adam Heasley (-1,396 ) NO PICK SENT (3 )

Final Thoughts

Anyone that would like to join the Creature competition for 2010 please let me know as soon as possible!

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Tony Stewart Adds Tornados To His List of Sponsors for the 2010 Season

Sal Sigala Jr. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:36:09 -0500

At this time last season, Tony Stewart was putting the final touches on making a lifelong dream come true.

After entering the NASCAR series 10 years ago in 1999, Stewart went on to win two championships to go along with his 33 victories during this time span. In so doing, he added his name to the list of successful drivers in the Cup series.

Stewart, who is no stranger to taking on a few business ventures when it comes to the world of motorsports, took half ownership of a struggling team and within a season was able to turn it around while making a legitimate run for the Sprint Cup championship.

But all of this couldn’t have been possible, had it not been for the sponsorship that Stewart was able to secure for the season.

Sponsorship has not been easy to come by this past season, and even Stewart knew that he would have to depict his team as a serious threat to win races if he wanted to lock up good solid sponsors.

Old Spice and Office Depot quickly climbed on board, along with The Army for his teammate Newman, and he would also pick up Burger King along the way.

With many of the teams losing sponsorship for the 2010 season, Stewart is doing the opposite.

He announced this past Saturday that Tornadoes, a brand of Ruiz Foods, will take over for five races as Newman’s primary sponsor for the 2010 season.

"I honestly don't know. This is a time when you don't see a lot of new groups coming into the sport," said Stewart. "When we made the decision to start this venture last year and Ryan came on board, I think everybody kind of rallied around that and I think that's what's attracted a lot of these corporations to be a part of our family.”

Stewart will also carry the “How Bold Is How We Roll” logo on the hood of his No. 14 Chevrolet for a few races next season.

"It's important for us as a team," Stewart said. "But at the same time, it's important for Tornados. This is a time in our sport where it's hard to find sponsors that have the availability to sponsor a car for the whole season.”

“Making a package that works for them also is something that's important in our sport," Stewart added. "So it works for both sides. This is something that if it doesn't work for them, it doesn't work for us either."

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Ron Hornaday Jr. Needs To Finish Ninth or Better in the Ford 200

S M Napier — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:04:22 -0500

Kevin Harvick Inc.'s Ron Hornaday Jr. will have the Longhorn brand back on his No. 33 Chevrolet Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Ford 200.

Horn made life easy for himself by clinching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship at Phoenix.

He leads the owners points by 60 points, over Kyle Busch, and just needs to finish ninth or better.

By clinching the driver title, it gives him the best chance to clinch the owners title for Delana and Kevin Harvick by just having to race Busch and not Matt Crafton, too.

Horn will be making his 250th career start in the Truck Series and what a storied career it's been; four championships, 45 wins, 122 top fives, 177 top-10 finishes, 23 poles won and 8853 laps led.

Homestead has been one of his better tracks. He always been consistent compiling one win, has three top fives, and eight top-10 finishes.

The multi-grooved tracks seem to fit Horn's style, were he can work the outside or inside groove to perfection, but it's also a track were Ren and the No. 33 play a role in were he'll finish.

"Every time I go to the track, I go with the frame of mind to win the race. It is very important to finish well during the last race of the year. It helps carry momentum throughout the entire off season and helps with the confidence and team morale as you prepare for a new year."

Horn will be racing chassis No. 29 at Homestead, it won at Kentucky, Nashville, and finished fourth at Iowa.

He'll have a fast truck, this weekend, he'll be fast, qualify front row, and lead a bunch of laps. But have him finishing second, securing and winning the owner's title.

Unfortunately, that Scott Kid will beat him off pit road to get the lead and leave Horn trying to catch him and pass him for the win.

It's been an exciting year, if your a Ron Hornaday fan or just a fan of Kevin Harvick Inc. your probably like me enjoying the championship a lot and still on cloud nine.

Watching Kevin Harvick, in the 2010 equipment can't wait till Feburary to see Horn in the new truck and the ECR engines. Be exciting to see if he'll be the first to repeat as champion.

As a team in 2009 to date, combining the stats from the Nos. 2, 4, & 33 trucks, they picked up eight wins, five poles, 22 top fives, 28 top-10 finishes, one championship and soon they'll add No. 2 with the owner's title.

Source for quote and photo credit: kevinharvickinc.com.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Top Picks for NASCAR Truck Series' Ford 200 Race With Bonus Pick

S M Napier — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:03:37 -0500

This week, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be racing Friday night under the lights at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It's race No. 25 of 25 and the trucks are always exciting to watch on the very fast multi-grooved 1.5 mile oval.

Here are my top six picks for the race along with a sleeper pick and my Raybestos Rookie of the Race.

1.) Brian Scott

In two races at the track, Scott has compiled one top-five, one top-10 and led four laps.

Scott will have the best truck of his fleet, be fast and qualify top-three. His Hensley-led crew will be an asset this week. He should be leading after the final pit stops and be the truck everyone is chasing to catch for the win.

2.) Ron Hornaday Jr.

In nine races at the track, Horn gas compiled one win, three top-fives, eight top-10s and led 110 laps.

Horn will have another stout truck, be fast, qualify front row and run top-five the entire race. In the closing laps he'll settle for second and win the owner's title for Delana.

3.) Todd Bodine

In four races at the track, Bodine has compiled two wins, two top-fives, two top-10s and led 82 laps.

Bodine will be another one with a decent truck. He'll qualify well and could use pit strategy for track position or the win. He will be their in the end vying for the win or another top-five finish.

4.) Rick Crawford

In 12 races at the track, Crawford has compiled one win, three top-fives, seven top-10s and led 90 laps.

Crawford should have a decent truck, but he'll need to use the practices to make his truck better. He needs to qualify well. He and crew chief Cowboy Starland could use pit strategy to get the lead or end the season with another top-five finish.

5.) Kevin Harvick

In four races at the track, Harvick has compiled two top-fives, two top-10s and led 17 laps.

Harvick will have another stout, brand-new 2010 Silverado that should be fast. He'll qualify well. He'll take two tires, using pit strategy only to fall back but finish top five.

6.) Kyle Busch

In three races at the track, Busch has compiled two top-fives, three top-10s and led 133 laps.

Busch will have another stout truck that will be fast and should qualify well. He'll be tough most of the race, but will take on four fresh tires late and only make it back to sixth.

My Raybestos Rookie of the Race: Johnny Sauter

On tracks of one to two miles in length, Sauter's compiled one win, six top-fives, 10 top-10s, two poles and led 115 laps in 18 races.

He'll have another decent truck that will qualify well. He could be vying for the best possible finish in the closing laps and finish in the top 10.

My Sleeper Pick: Mike Skinner

In seven races at the track, Skinner has compiled one top-five, two top-10s, two poles and led 125 laps.

He should be another one with a decent truck. He needs to qualify well and be tough all race. He'll be vying for the win or the best possible finish.

Aric Almirola, Matt Crafton, and Colin Braun just missed the cut.

Timothy Peters, David Starr, Mike Bliss, Chad McCumbee, James Buescher and Tayler Malsam could all factor in, as well.

I've always liked Homestead. The champion gets crowned every year at the track, but what I like the most is it's a track were the pit crew plays a role in who wins.

With the two-stop rule, though, the crew probably won't play as big a role as in past years.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Horsepower and Manpower: The Greatest Dynasties in Motorsports

Dustin Parks — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:20:36 -0500

This coming Sunday, it looks as though a new chapter in motorsports will be written. For 61 years, there has never been one driver, with one team, to win four consecutive titles. However, when the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the possibility of that happening will look to become a reality. With all the hype that is going around Jimmie Johnson, it got me wondering what it takes to become a dynasty in the world of motorsports. The fact is, not many have actually taken place. It is tough enough to succeed in the sport, let alone become a dynasty, but there have been drivers and teams that have successfully proved everyone wrong. So, as we embark on a very historic moment in motorsports, I thought it would be appropriate to look back at some of the greatest dynasties in motorsports.

Begin Slideshow

One and Done: Ford 400

Christopher Leone — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:27:33 -0500

Well, the Sprint Cup Series ends this week at Homestead, and I'm pretty sure that we're all glad to see the end of yet another season of Jimmie Johnson taking advantage of the Chase format like a fat man at the Golden Corral.

It's just not fun to watch anymore. Worse, it's not fun to do these fantasy picks when the obvious choice is the same guy every weekend. It makes everything...easy. Too easy.

So you know what? We're going to try something different this week. Instead of picking Chase drivers for this week's Homestead race, seeing as most of you have exhausted your supply of Chasers that are worth picking, I am going to make it a point of recommending non-Chase drivers this week.

If you have them available, you know who to pick, but for the rest of us, let's make things interesting.

Kevin Harvick (avg. fn. 9.1): Despite clinching the Camping World Truck championship with Ron Hornaday last week at Phoenix, Happy's had little to smile about on the Cup side of things this year. Luckily for him, he has an opportunity to finish the year on a high note, as Homestead is one of his better tracks.

Despite never winning the season finale, he's never finished worse than 20th and has completed 2140 of 2141 possible laps.

A.J. Allmendinger (avg. fn. 11.0): I know, he's only made one start at Homestead, last year. But he passed 32 cars after starting dead last. That says a lot.

Martin Truex Jr. (avg. fn. 12.5): His average finish would be higher had he not run this race in 2004 as a reward for his Busch Series title. In the past three years, he's finished second, sixth, and 10th, respectively, for an average finish of 6.0.

It's his last race with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, and I'm sure Truex would like to go out with a good finish, especially considering how bad this year has been for him.

Jamie McMurray (avg. fn. 15.4): Truex's replacement in the No. 1 car doesn't have quite as stellar a record at Homestead as his predecessor does, but he's not a pushover, either.

Since he became a full-time Sprint Cup driver in 2003, his average finish at Homestead is 14.3, and that's dragged down by an engine failure in 2006. Look for McMurray, relieved at finally signing a contract for 2010, to perform well this weekend.

Bobby Labonte (avg. fn. 18.7): The only former Homestead winner in this bunch, having scored the victory in 2003, Labonte had top 10 finishes in four of his first five starts at the track. Since then, his record has declined, but that's more of a testament to his Petty Enterprises cars being weak.

Maybe Kevin Buckler's cars aren't much better, but Labonte has gotten things out of those cars that David Gilliland could not (when he wasn't starting and parking, that is). One can't lose sight of the fact that Labonte led 174 laps the first time that the Cup cars came to Homestead.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

NASCAR Power Rankings: Phoenix

Jeffrey Boswell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:15:47 -0500

Note: the quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Jimmie Johnson

Johnson dominated in Phoenix, whipping the field for his fourth victory of the Chase. He led 238-of-312 laps in the desert, and needs only to finish 25th or better to clinch the Sprint Cup.

"My wreck in Texas may have opened the door," Johnson said, "but my performance in Phoenix certainly closed it. So things went from 'slammed' to 'slammed shut.'"

"In any case, it doesn't matter if my quest for the Cup goes slightly astray, I'll still be yelling 'Four!' to my competitors as a warning to 'watch out.'"

2. Mark Martin

Martin finished fourth in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 in Phoenix, losing 31 points to leader and race winner Jimmie Johnson. Martin trails by 108, and is the only driver with a mathematical chance to overtake Johnson.

"Here in Phoenix," said Martin, "it was pretty much left up to the weather to put the heat on Jimmie."

"Now, I probably won't win the Cup this year, but there's nothing wrong with second place, although with me, it grows tiresome. But if I didn't feel confidently about next year, I never would have re-upped with Hendrick Motorsports for 2010. I guess you could say I'm coming back for 'seconds.'"

3. Jeff Gordon

Gordon's ninth-place finish in Phoenix, coupled with Jimmie Johnson's win, knocked Gordon out of contention for a chance to win the Sprint Cup. When Johnson starts Sunday at Homestead, Gordon will be officially eliminated.

"I'm really disappointed that we don't at least have a shot," Gordon said. "It hurts to know that all Jimmie has to do is start, and we're 'finished.' But we're not dead yet. There's a chance, albeit a very slight one, that Johnson won't qualify for the race. Sure, it's unlikely, but there are times when a wacky Mayan prophecy is all you have left to cling to."

4. Denny Hamlin

Hamlin posted his 14th Top-Five finish of the year with a third in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500. Hamlin moved up three spots to eighth in the point standings, 322 out of first.

"Jimmie Johnson's fourth Sprint Cup title aside," Hamlin said, "the biggest story in NASCAR now is my feud with Brad Keselowski. NASCAR called the brash young star into the hauler before Sunday's race, probably to tell him that 'brash' rhymes with 'crash.' I've already vowed to wreck him at Homestead. I'm not sure where my front bumper will meet his back bumper, but I do know that 'FedEx' will mark the spot."

5. Kurt Busch

Busch led 69 laps in Phoenix and came home sixth, his 20th Top-10 result of the year. Busch's No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge led the first 52 laps and was seemingly the only other car on the track capable of remotely challenging Jimmie Johnson's No. 48.

"I though we 'had something' for Johnson," Busch said. "That 'something' was nothing more than a goodbye wave as he blew by me. But I'm sure Jimmie can smell victory. It smells like champagne and dust — the champagne he'll be drinking, and the dust we're already eating."

6. Juan Montoya

Montoya finished eighth in Phoenix, his 18th Top-10 finish of the year. He remained sixth in the points, and trails Jimmie Johnson by 289.

"I guess my hopes of becoming the first Hispanic NASCAR champion are over," Montoya said. "At least heading in to Phoenix, there was a chance. Afterwards, there's nada chance."

7. Tony Stewart

Stewart was one of several cars collected in a lap 169 crash started when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got loose on the narrow back straightaway. Stewart eventually finished 25th, two laps down, and held on to fifth in the points, 285 out of first.

"It looks like Jimmie brought his 'A' game to Phoenix," Biffle said, "while everyone else brought their 'B' game, or worse. Some, like Junior, brought their 'E' games.

8. Greg Biffle

Biffle finished 14th in Phoenix, and is seventh in the point standings, 321 out of first.

"The race at Homestead will be nothing more than a 400 mile victory parade," Biffle said. "It will be just like any parade — there will be clowns, erratic driving, and the man everyone came to see. No, not Santa Claus, but Jimmie Johnson."

9. Kasey Kahne

Kahne came home 15th in the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, and maintained the 10th spot in the standings, where he is 476 out of first.

"With Jimmie Johnson's fourth title imminent," Kahne said, "there's very little left to the imagination, except for the rumors of Danica Patrick joining NASCAR. I'm imagining it right now. The day that Patrick signs with a NASCAR team will be anything but a 'Dog Day Afternoon,' and I'll be the one leading the 'Danica! Danica! Danica!' chant."

10. Carl Edwards

Edwards remained winless in Cup races this year, finishing 16th in Phoenix. After nine wins last year, Edwards looked like a shoo-in to contend for the Cup, but 2009 has been a series of disappointments.

"I won this race last year," Edwards said, "and defending that victory would put a positive spin on the season. And I'm sure Mark Martin would like to see a 'positive spin', as well, which in his case would be another early wreck by Jimmie Johnson."

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

NASCAR, Stop the Talladega “Flip” Flap [and Improve Competition] (Part Two)

Crabber 1967 . — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:28:09 -0500

If we can agree that flipping cars are not acceptable at Talladega, or any other track for that matter, what does NASCAR do?

At this point in time NASCAR seems inclined to do nothing.

If a very large minority of fans is seemingly unconcerned about cars flipping into the air, with the potential of entry into spectator areas, then these fans don’t understand what a disaster such an event would be.

The flipping race cars at Talladega (including the Carl Edwards flip in April of 2009) should raise concerns among fans and the sanctioning body.

Now I agree that the flip of Carl Edwards’s car was, in part, a fluke.

While it is true that Edwards’ car was returning to the track surface before it was launched off the hood of Ryan Newman’s #39, the accident came close to becoming a tragedy. See the clip on YouTube:

Carl Edwards Talladega Crash 4-26-09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9FsYDEIZWk&feature=related .

The possibility of a car getting into the spectator areas was clearly illustrated for the first time when Bobby Allison’s 1987 accident occurred. This potential for tragedy is clearly shown in the following YouTube clip: Talladega Crash Bobby Allison Bill Elliott http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt5XCCgwulA .

But beyond such grave concerns, the current race car and the rules governing the racing has suffered due to the box that the advance of technology has forced the cars and teams into.

NASCAR’s tightening of the “box” that the teams can work within has not helped the entertainment value of the events, either.

Now for those of you who think that I am just some guy from the 60s [guilty on that point] ranting about “The Good Old Days,” I would like to point out the following comments by a person who covers all the NASCAR Cup races each week.

The AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer wrote on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 an article titled “Time to address Talladega issues.” She began the article with the following:

NASCAR will point to the 58 lead changes among 26 drivers as proof of a good race at Talladega Superspeedway.

But pushing those stats is much like a used car salesman trying to unload a lemon. You can spit-shine the product all you want, but a dud is still a dud.

Ms Fryer further commented:

It was instead the watered-down results of a technology-driven sport that has far surpassed the limitations of the 2.66-mile speedway. But still, in the end, all the measures taken by NASCAR to improve safety and reduce the eye-popping accidents that have become a staple of restrictor plate racing were for naught. The final 10 laps were still marred by two frightening accidents in which cars went airborne—bringing the total to four vehicle rollovers in two Talladega weekends this season.

Wasn’t keeping the cars on the track the point of all the safety measures?

And she concluded the article thusly:

NASCAR has many different directions it can take on fixing the issues at Talladega. The time is now to pick one.

After the completion of the Halloween 2009 Talladega race, some thoughts came to me concerning the reduction of speed and a subsequent increase in competition in NASCAR’s Cup series.

My first thought was: “Have them race trucks! The trucks are boxy, even more than the NASCAR-designed COT. And… Wait a minute… they already race trucks… Never Mind!”

My second thought was: Zipper Top cars! Follow the example of the Convertible Series (1956-59) where teams cut the tops off the Grand National (Cup) cars to run in convertible races on Saturday, then would bolt the top on (“Zipper Tops”) for the GN race on Sunday.

The fact that convertibles were slower was shown at the first Daytona 500, when the hardtops ran one qualifying race and the convertibles ran the other at a much slower speed. When the race started the hardtops ran away from the convertibles.

So, have the current cars run as convertibles instead of using restrictor plates.

But wait! Convertibles aren’t the big sellers that they were back in the 1950’s, and the manufacturers probably would not be happy as they don’t make convertible Fusions, Impalas, Chargers or Camry’s;never mind.

My third thought was: Well, cut the engines in half I’m sure the teams have something a little more sophisticated than a hacksaw that could literally cut the engines in two. A smaller engine would result in a slower car.

Now the first two ideas are pretty much absurd, but number three has some merit.

NASCAR did flirt with reducing engine size in the early 1970’s. The engine size limit was 427 cubic inches (seven liters) when six and one half liters (396 cubic inches) was considered for Daytona and Talladega.

So, although, the size limit was not reduced, the fact that Chevrolet introduced a 396 cubic inch engine in their street cars was no coincidence.

Currently, NASCAR has demanded that the new engines designed for NASCAR racing continue to follow the designs used in that part of the 20th Century.

When Toyota entered the Cup series, they had to make a pushrod, rocker arm cam-in-block V8 with a carburetor. Does anyone know if Toyota has ever built a pushrod, rocker arm engine? And how long ago did they last make an engine with a carburetor?

So should the change just be a simple reduction in engine size? If NASCAR were to try to lower car speeds (a big if) a reduction in engine size would probably be what they would do.

But what about changes that would take a new direction, that would be relevant to the automotive challenges of today?

Why not really get back to the possibility of “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday?”

Racing true stock cars (like they did when a pushrod, rocker arm cam-in-block V8 with a carburetor WAS state-of-the-art) would possibly once more make winning a race a true sales aid.

What about a change to the series that would help push the boundaries of today’s automotive technology?

This change would entice manufacturers to enter the series because the interest generated with the general public (not just the racing public) virtually demands it?

Now the question is, how to do this?

Well, as it turns out, someone who has a lot more experience with the automobile industry than I do has an idea that addresses the above questions, and his name is Peter M. De Lorenzo.

Mr. De Lorenzo has a web site called autoextremist.com and his bio describes him this way:

After a 22-year career in automotive advertising and marketing, Peter M. De Lorenzo founded Autoextremist.com on June 1, 1999 as an Internet magazine devoted to news, commentary and analysis of the auto industry. Since then, the site has become a weekly "must read" for leading professionals within and outside the auto industry and De Lorenzo is considered to be one of the most influential voices commenting on the business today.

The idea is simple, really; the rules would simplified.

The box inside which the cars must fit would be a literal box. Overall dimensions, weight and fuel usage would be the main parameters.

The fuel limit would be simply a fixed amount of fuel for a race weekend. Safety rules would have the most detail, requiring the latest in safety developments.

Manufacturers would send their brightest minds to answer the challenges that would be presented by this sort of rules package.

As far as NASCAR is concerned, Mr. De Lorenzo has the following comments:

Even NASCAR would benefit from this new perspective, even though it’s clear that for the brainiacs in Daytona Beach change is anathema. To say that NASCAR and its ruling France family cabal operate in a parallel universe devoid of any semblance of rational thought or visionary thinking, is to state the excruciatingly obvious.

How Brian France and his minions have managed to accelerate NASCAR's already alarming pirouette into mediocrity with a numbing combination of non-decisions and a flat-out refusal to do anything proactive that might actually improve their on-track "show" or help position their antiquated, out-of-touch racing series for the future is almost beyond comprehension and will make for a nice business school marketing class case study down the road one day.

As in how not to do it.

But how could we possibly expect anything else from these masters of the oblivious? Why should we expect an immediate rule change to dramatically smaller engines, which would negate the use of restrictors in an effort to bring an aspect of throttle control and real racing back to the drivers on the superspeedways? And oh, by the way, why should we expect them to bring overall fuel-efficiency into the equation? Because a move like that would make too damn much sense, that's why.

Mr. De Lorenzo goes on to say:

NASCAR is an organization still operating in the "we've always done it this way" mode while the rest of the world has been operating in the “what have you done for us lately?" mode for a long, long time. To say that the rational world has passed NASCAR by is a gross understatement.

As I've said repeatedly, NASCAR not only adamantly believes in the "not invented here" mindset, they take the madness one step further to the point that if they didn't think of something it must not exist . I don't find this mentality to be "charming" or "quaint" or an example of some benign state of "old school" thinking; it's just pathetic.

The short story? They need to get back to stock cars, period. And for purposes of this discussion, that means taking Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers, while putting all the latest safety gear in the stock dimension bodywork, of course and using production engines with fuel-injection and dry sump lubrication, for starters and then let them go as fast as they want, as long as they deliver 15 mpg over the entire race weekend.

Mr. De Lorenzo’s full comments are on his website under the November 11, 2009 “Fumes” column titled: “For Love of the Game.” http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/ . If necessary scroll to the bottom of the “Fumes” page and select “Next Entry” to find the entry dated November 11 2009.

This column address most forms of motorsport, not just NASCAR and I recommend it to all thinking motorsports fansand ask them to imagine “What if?”

Would NASCAR dare to go this way? Would any sanctioning body dare go this way? Unfortunately, the answer is almost assuredly no.

In the meantime I hope NASCAR takes some sort of meaningful measures that will truly keep the cars on the ground;changes that have a chance to improve the racing as well.

NASCAR has what I call an “Institutional Memory.” This Institutional Memory is remarkable in that Big Bill France, his son, and virtually all of the people that ran NASCAR in the 1960’s have either died or retired from the day-to-day operations of the sanctioning body.

Despite this, NASCAR remembers the boycotts of the 1960’s by the manufacturers over engine and car designs. This is the reason that now we see NASCAR mandating a single engine design, as well as a race car totally designed by the organization.

The car apparently is very precious to NASCAR. Somewhat like a child to its mother. The COT may not be perfect (far from it) but its “birth mother” NASCAR seems willing to protect this vehicle design, even if (in my opinion) it could be improved.

And by “improved,” I mean a car that would be, at least somewhat, easier to drive, and not so sensitive that when it is leading the race it can easily dominate, while identical cars (NASCAR says they are) cannot catch up because of aerodynamic turbulence from the other cars.

Wasn’t one of the ideas behind the COT, was to make the cars LESS aerodynamically sensitive?

If we agree that no matter how enticing the ideas expressed by Mr. De Lorenzo are, they won’t happen, then must we be stuck with what we have?

So to NASCAR I pose these questions:

Why not slow the cars?

Why not try some changes in the NASCAR-mobile that may just make the racing better?

Why not?

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com