NASCAR on TV this week

Goodyear Engineer Justin Vanthozen On Picking the Right Tire for Kansas

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_Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has been making racing tires for as long as there has been racing. In 1914 every competitor in the Indianapolis 500 raced on Goodyear tires. Over the company’s long history they have continually advanced tire technology to new heights that some would argue might be too advanced for what their product is supposed to do. Whatever your opinion, the fact of the matter is that Goodyear is the top manufacturer of tires in the United States and they have developed racing tires that are the most durable that we’ve ever seen in our sport._

_Goodyear Engineer Justin Vanthozen sat down with Frontstretch to discuss tires; how they are constructed, the most important characteristics in race tires, the construction compounds (without divulging industry secrets of course) and more. As the series heads into Kansas with their newly repaved surface, tires will most certainly be at the forefront of the conversation, and Vanthozen helped to clarify that picture._

For Once, It’s Jeff Gordon Who Needs to Bite His Tongue

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When one thinks of NASCAR racers making stupid comments in press conferences, there’s no shortage of names that come to mind: Harvick, the Busches, Stewart, these names easily roll off the tongue. Then there’s the heat of the moment stupids such as Kevin Lepage insisting he did nothing wrong by merging into traffic at Talladega or Todd Bodine abdicating all responsibility for his actions at Daytona.

Keselowski Opens A Door Johnson Can’t Quite Step Through?

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Brad Keselowski and Paul Wolfe have been doing it to perfection all year and they’re sitting in first place in points because of it. Jimmie Johnson has almost never done it successfully, but on Saturday night he did. Denny Hamlin has had mixed results but, like Johnson, it paid off for him on Saturday night.

What is it?

The fuel mileage game.

Keselowski has been schooling the entire garage on stretching fuel all year. They’ve won races because of it and they’ve had better results because of it. That weapon, probably more than any other in their arsenal, has been the difference this season. On Saturday night, it failed them. Yes, the damage was only half a lap, leaving the car able to finish on the lead lap, but it cost this driver half of his lead on Johnson and almost half of it on Hamlin. That misstep by the No. 2 team very well be what costs them the championship when all is said and done in November.

Pace Laps: Time Running Out for Title Contender and “As the Concussion Turns”

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*Sprint Cup: As The Concussion Turns* — The biggest story by far this weekend was the news Dale Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR’s perennial Most Popular Driver, was out of the car for the Bank of America 500 and will remain sidelined at least through Kansas this weekend after suffering a concussion in a last-lap wreck at Talladega. Earnhardt had suffered a similar head injury five weeks ago, after crashing during a tire test at Kansas Speedway, but it initially went undiagnosed. However, the second hit last week left him suffering from headaches, consistent enough in their severity that the driver took action. After seeing Dr. Jerry Petty, a Charlotte neurosurgeon who has worked with numerous NASCAR personnel as well as the Carolina Panthers NFL team, Earnhardt was declared unfit to race. Regan Smith jumped in the No. 88 Saturday night, putting the car well inside the top 10 before suffering engine failure before the 200-mile mark.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Bank of America 500 at Charlotte

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It wasn’t the win he has been searching for for more than a year and a half, but for Carl Edwards, a seventh-place finish was a welcome ending. For Edwards, who has just three top-five performances in 2012, this week’s result was only the second to fall inside the top 10 in the last eight weeks, just his 13th top-10 finish in 31 races. That’s half the number he had a year ago, when Edwards lost the Sprint Cup title to Tony Stewart in a tiebreaker. The top-five stat is even more dismal. Edwards finished in that group 19 times in 2011, more than six times as often as 2012. No matter where his points finish is, it will be the worst of his career because he didn’t make the Chase cut and can finish no better than 13th.

NASCAR’s Hidden Gem… For How Much Longer?

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There’s a mystery driver these days putting up big time numbers – just without the big time accolades to go with it. He has six victories in the last three years, more than Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, or Kurt Busch on the Cup Series level. During that span, his 53 top-10 finishes collected are greater than all but three drivers: Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick. It’s a collection of stats made more impressive by the fact that A) he’s switched teams the last two years and B) he’s never been the number one driver in any organization he’s been a part of.

When are we going to give Clint Bowyer the credit he’s due?

Nationwide Breakdown: Dollar General 300

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Joey Logano proved once again that the Nationwide series is his world and the rest of the Nationwide drivers are just squirrels trying to get a nut. Logano led a race high six times for 62 laps. Logano beat Kevin Harvick to the line for the win. Elliott Sadler, the series point leader came home in third. Kyle Busch drove the No. 54 to a fourth place finish with Denny Hamlin finishing up the top 5.

Logano has not run all of the races on the Nationwide schedule this season but, when he has climbed behind the wheel in the junior series, he’s won almost half of the races. This victory is number eight for the year for Logano in Nationwide competition, far and away the most in the series. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is second in season wins with five while Sadler has four. The race was slowed by five cautions, four of them for on track incidents. There were nine leaders who participated in a total of 21 lead changes. Sadler played it conservatively because he is the leader in the point battle, and in the end added to his point lead by not opening himself up to potential pit road pitfalls.