NASCAR on TV this week

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Ford EcoBoost 300

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After a late-race wreck drastically changed the championship picture at Phoenix courtesy of Elliott Sadler’s troubles, the season finale race at Homestead was tame by comparison. Though Sadler started strong and even challenged for the lead during the first run of the race, by event’s end it was business as usual, with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. comfortably ahead of Sadler, who had faded in the final stretches. The result was Stenhouse and the No. 6 team easily scoring their second consecutive Nationwide Series championship, with Sadler holding off teammate Austin Dillon by only one point for second in the standings.

Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2012 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead

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Jeff Gordon was among the drivers who pitted on a quick caution on lap 155. In the end, it resulted in the No. 24 having enough fuel to make it to the finish when Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. had to pit from the front of the field. Gordon ended the night taking the first win for Hendrick Motorsports at Homestead-Miami Speedway while his teammate Jimmie Johnson sat in his car in the garage, having lost the championship due to a faulty rear end.

One Move, One Champion

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There’s a name not often mentioned as the catalyst for Brad Keselowski, 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. For every Roger Penske, Paul Wolfe, or Miller Lite VP with a bucket load of cash there’s just one name I will always think of, one whose own failure could have changed the course of the sport.

Mark Martin.

No Such Thing As a Bad Champion: Thoughts As the Offseason Looms

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It’s hard to believe that the NASCAR season ends in just two days-it goes by so fast, and so much has happened since the engines fired in Daytona last February. Anticipation for the end of the title hunt is in the air, but so is the realization that the engines will be silent for the winter. A lot has happened this season, and, looking back, there are a few things that I’ve been thinking about this week as the season closes on a slightly anticlimactic note, with at least two of three championships all but decided before the teams even unload this weekend.

Voices from the Cheapseats: Finer Points to Bring Back Fans

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As I promised in my last article, I will continue to expound upon some of the finer points that NASCAR could change that would help bring back some of the fans that have lost their zeal for the sport they once loved.

As fate would have it, the race at Phoenix proved to be a perfect example of some of the things that have gone wrong with the sport. Not only was the race a good example but some of the comments left by faithful readers have pretty much written this one for me.

Here are a few excerpts that I agree with.

Handicapping the 2012 Nationwide Series Finale at Homestead

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One race. Three hundred miles. Three contenders left. Let’s handicap the 2013 Nationwide Series championship race as it ends in Homestead:

*Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet*
*3rd in points (-25)*
*2 wins, 26 top 10s*
One race. Three hundred miles. Three contenders left. Let’s handicap the 2013 Nationwide Series championship race as it ends in Homestead:

*Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet*
*3rd in points (-25)*
*2 wins, 26 top 10s*

2012 Truck Series Wrap-Up: Buescher, Dillon, Larson, and Gale

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_Author’s Note: Hey readers! As the 2012 draws to a close, we’re planning for next year. Please click here to send me an email or let me know in the comments below what you’d like to see in Tracking the Trucks that currently isn’t in there. Is there something you don’t like about this format? I want to know that too! I’ll collect your comments throughout the rest of the year and the offseason and debut the new and improved Tracking the Trucks in February for the season opener at Daytona. Thank you for your dedicated readership! –Beth_

Four Burning Questions: Will Brad Seal the Deal in Homestead?

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Well folks, it took 10 months, but we’re finally here. This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its final road trip of the year for the season finale in Homestead-Miami, FL. Jimmie Johnson’s tire failure midway through last Sunday’s race in Phoenix essentially doomed his chances for a title, and Brad Keselowski now sits with a comfortable 20 point advantage heading into the season’s final race. And, word on the street is that there was some sort of altercation late in last week’s race, apparently involving Jeff Gordon?

Professor Of Speed: When Art Imitates Life

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Boy howdy! Last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway was one that fans won’t likely forget very soon. Both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races kicked it old school as the 2012 season wound down to its final events. Nothing like some blown tires and bent sheet metal to grab headlines. Fussing and fighting and whining and fining always put NASCAR squarely back on America’s sports pages.

That is, unless you’re the parent of a child in elementary school. If you’re dealing with backpacks and lunch sacks every weekday, your radar screen has likely been preoccupied with the motion picture Wreck-It Ralph, the latest release from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Speeding Through Summer: Trucks and Tempers

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One to go and I’m sad to say that the excitement that was there for last year’s championship is not there this season. We’re not going to get a battle between the two championship leaders in the waning laps of the race that will both determine the race winner and the Sprint Cup champion, there will likely be no tie, and barring something crazy, Brad Keselowski will win his first Sprint Cup Series championship.

However, all hope is not lost. Let’s not forget that this “something crazy” happened to Jimmie Johnson in Phoenix (a blown tire) that shaped the points system as it is now. The exact same thing could happen to Keselowski, or worse. He could lose a tire like Kurt Busch in 2004. A stray lapped car could wiggle slightly and send him into the wall. A pit road incident outside of Keselowski’s control could ruin everything. This championship is certainly not over just yet, though it likely won’t hurt to at least have Brad’s first few initials engraved in the trophy.

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