NASCAR on TV this week

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in NASCAR: Kansas/Martinsville Edition

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There are moments that define championship teams and Jimmie Johnson’s crew had one of them on Sunday at Kansas. Johnson seemingly drove himself out of Cup contention when he got loose trying to race his way through the pack and backed his No. 48 hard into the outside wall.

The wreck mirrored what happened to Johnson at Charlotte in 2011 in many ways. The impact wasn’t as great this time around, but it was a similar situation where the five-time champion jumped on the gas too quickly while looking to the inside of another car. At the time, the repercussions seemed the same — he appeared to be eliminated from the hunt for the big trophy.

An Ode to Martinsville: The Short Track That Could

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After the caution flag craziness of the freshly repaved Kansas Speedway and the previous week’s somnolent procession at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it sure will be good to get back to Martinsville Speedway this Sunday afternoon for some old school racing. Now, in the interests of full disclosure, and put as simply as possible, I love Martinsville. For me, it’s one of the best, if not the best, track on the current schedule. So if you’re looking for an article full of doom and gloom, dire predictions and proclamations as to the worrying state of NASCAR’s future, I suggest you click away now because this column is going to accentuate the positive.

Why? Simple: I absolutely love Martinsville.

Five Points to Ponder: Paving Potholes, Danica’s Dustup and Spec Cars

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*ONE: Shutdown for Repaves*

Yes, it would pose an extreme economic hardship. Yes, it would require NASCAR to have a rotating schedule (shudder). But after watching the Midwest’s best impression of “Levigation 2005” render the Chase’s sixth race a never-ending train of blown tires, unassisted spin-outs and another fuel mileage race, I’d rather watch ISC’s facilities leave their racing surfaces alone until they crumble to powder than have them repave another oval. Goodyear’s tires were hard as rocks, yet they kept blowing out. Side-by-side racing caused spin-outs, the cars spun out by themselves, the yellow flags would not stop flying.

Logano Is The Whammy While Bad Production Decisions Hurt ESPN

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Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast criticism is our grandmaster plan. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were each at Kansas Speedway for a cavalcade of wrecks, and some racing as well.

However, before we start, there are a couple of motorsports-related news bites that must be mentioned. On Friday, the ARCA Racing Series announced that they have reached a multi-year agreement with Fox Sports Media Group to continue airing a minimum of ten races a year on SPEED and/or Fox Sports 1 through at least 2014 on a live or same day, tape-delay basis. This decision shores up the deal for a series that just a little while ago appeared to be falling off of television as a result of the changeover.

Tech Talk: NASCAR Eyes In The Sky Equals A Full-Time Job

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_This week for Tech Talk, we thought we’d take a detour from life under the hood to give you a taste of what life is like up on the roof. Mike Herman, Jr. has been spotting for several years for drivers at local tracks all of the way up to the Sprint Cup Series. Before that, he was a driver and mechanic, winning multiple track championships at Concord Speedway and competing in the Hooters Pro Cup Series back when it was one of the strongest short track divisions in the country. So as NASCAR heads to Martinsville, Virginia this weekend with its Chase for the Championship Frontstretch sat down with Herman to talk a little about the tools of his trade. Find out more insight about the responsibilities of a spotter, what the toughest pit road in the sport is and how much the best spotters in the business spend on their equipment as Herman, Jr. sits down for an extended conversation with our own Mike Neff. Oh, and we talk a little Martinsville inside info, too…_

Pace Laps: Decision 2012 For ‘Dinger And Finch, George Goes Kaput & Title Dreams

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*Sprint Cup: Did AJ Earn Himself A Second Chance?* AJ Allmendinger’s season has been nothing short of a nightmare. Owner James Finch had spent the year _living_ with a nightmare in Kurt Busch, then seeing bills mount as a lack of sponsorship money has put his team, in existence for 20+ years on the brink of foreclosure. Both men, with 2013 a great unknown are in search of both survival and redemption in this sport.

Underdogs Shine In Kansas… And Beyond

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Matt Kenseth is taking the “lame” out of “lame duck” by winning two races in the Chase in his final season with his current Sprint Cup Series team. It’s impressive, to say the least, and completely unexpected from my point of view.

My reaction to Kenseth’s success, however, is nothing compared with my reaction when I saw Aric Almirola take the lead and keep it during the first chunk of the race. Almirola? Really?!

Or Menard, when he started 14th and somehow found his way up to the top five and maintained it.

And how about Regan Smith? He gets thrown to the wolves when Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets thrown out and he makes the most of the situation.

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