The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.
Carl Edwards, not known as a restrictor-plate expert, shocked observers by taking the top spot for the Great American Race. In what would be a sign of things to come, he never led a lap despite leading the field to green and endured an up-and-down day
For Jeff Burton, after a momentum-building finish to 2011 his team went through a questionable personnel switch.
Some might say Sonoma was the high point for Kurt Busch, perhaps the only race in 2012 he had a realistic chance to win driving the No. 51 Phoenix Chevy.
Kyle Busch, who had won the last three spring races at Richmond, spent most of this Saturday night thinking the streak would come to an end.
*Did You Notice?…* As the dust begins to settle on the 2012 Sprint Cup season, a look inside the numbers tells you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on the state of the sport. Let’s get right to it:
*The Good:* A total of fifteen different drivers won a race this season, roughly one-third of what would compose a 43-car grid in a total that’s roughly in line with previous years. Also, for the second straight season parity took center stage as no driver got more than five wins apiece. Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, drivers from three different organizations _and_ manufacturers shared the honor. It’s hard to get competition any closer than that; NASCAR hasn’t had league-leading victory totals this low in back-to-back years since 1991-92.
Matt Kenseth slapped on two fresh tires, came out the leader with 49 laps left and became the de facto winner in an event where there were exactly two on-track, green-flag passes for the lead over the course of 400 miles – lap 1 and during a mid-race wreck.
Brad Keselowski ran out of gas, down the backstretch with 58 laps left, allowing Clint Bowyer to breeze by. That left the No. 15 team virtually unencumbered as they turned on the fuel mileage jets, put a Rip Van Winkle spell over the stands, and advanced to a shocking intermediate oval victory at Charlotte.
Did You Notice? How the US Army’s departure from NASCAR puts the focus on the No. 88 car manned by the sport’s Most Popular Driver?
The 2012 grave for ‘Dinger will officially be dug this week, when NASCAR tests his “B” sample after a failed drug test got him pulled from Daytona.
NASCAR Senior Vice President Steve O’Donnell announced that AJ Allmendinger has been temporarily suspended by NASCAR.