NASCAR on TV this week

Five Points to Ponder: A Sad Season, Not-So Fab 4 and Captain’s Hope

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Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will mark the midway point of the 2012 Chase, so since we’re at the serious end of the season I’m going to dive right in with this week’s edition of Five Points to Ponder.

*ONE: Another “Pathetic” Season*

Lost amidst the last lap chaos and carnage was a hard luck finish for Jamie McMurray. Having run upfront most of the afternoon, McMurray spun out through the grass with six to go, wrecked his car and wound up with a dismal 34th place finish.

It was, in many ways, a microcosm of a horribly disappointing 2012 season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. In 60 Sprint Cup starts, McMurray and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya have zero wins, zero top-5s and a paltry five top-10 finishes between them. On the preseason media tour, team owner Chip Ganassi described his team’s 2011 performance as pathetic. 2012 has been even worse, not to mention the recent loss of Bass Pro Shops as a primary sponsor for McMurray. Tony Stewart might very well be a better brand fit, but this was unquestionably a bitter blow to a team in need of a boost.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in NASCAR: Talladega/Charlotte Edition

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The point of this column each week is to separate the winners and the losers after each race. It is to point out those who are trending up and those who are sliding back. After Sunday’s race at Talladega, it was hard to find many winners.

Ten of the 12 Chase drivers were involved in the chaos that ensued on the last lap, and every driver besides Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle lost ground on leader Brad Keselowski. The race that was supposed to tighten up the championship battle instead just knocked worthy drivers such as Clint Bowyer further out of contention.

Tech Talk: Night Racing in Charlotte with Tony Gibson and the No. 39

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_The Cup series heads to Charlotte for the final night race of the season. Teams will be dealing with a more stable racing surface since the entire race will be run after the sun is below the horizon. The teams will also be sleeping in their own beds and racing in front of friends and family that don’t normally get to see them compete live. As the Chase reaches its halfway point, Tony Gibson shares his views on preparing for 500 miles at Charlotte Motor Speedway._

_Gibson touches base on how smart the EFI system is, squashing tires to calculate spring rates and how much better racing would be if the tires wore out more. Check out his opinions in this week’s edition of Tech Talk._

Couch Potato Tuesday: Sunspots Detract from Race Broadcasts

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Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast critique is the name of our game. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series were both in action at Talladega Superspeedway. High speeds and close quarters were definitely on tap.

Last weekend was the 50th running of the *Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.* As you probably noticed, we didn’t get it live this year on SPEED, which officially bites. SPEED decided not to put up the money to send a crew down to Bathurst for the race like last year. They even admitted that springing for airfare back to the U.S. in between Bathurst and Surfer’s Paradise was a terrible idea and that if they returned, they’d stay over during the break.

Matt McLaughlin’s Thinkin’ Out Loud: Talladega-2 Race Recap

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*Key Moment* – Matt Kenseth entered Turn 3 of the last lap a sitting duck – even though he was leading the race. Seconds later, he exited Turn 4 the only car still standing in a 500-mile event that could have easily been run as a 1-lap Demolition Derby.

*In a Nutshell* – A spectacular, heart-stopping final 20 minutes of side-by-side drama turned into an eyesore of an ending. Drivers left angry, owners lost millions, officials are lucky no one was killed, and the sport wound up with a virtual punch in the face.

No Daytona 500 For Earnhardt? NASCAR Plates Pushing Drivers To Edge

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_“Wrecking like that is ridiculous. It’s blood-thirsty if that is what people want. I can’t believe that nobody is sensible enough to realize just how ridiculous that was. Everybody is just ‘ho hum’ no big deal… that is not alright. I don’t even want to go to Daytona or Talladega next year, but I ain’t got much choice.”_ – _Dale Earnhardt, Jr._

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega

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Although qualifying doesn’t matter much at Talladega, you might think that winning the pole would make for a less stressful day. Not so for Kasey Kahne, who ran out of gas under green-flag conditions and got shuffled all over the place during the event. Then, things only went from bad to worse; he got a windshield full of Stewart’s undercarriage in the last-lap mayhem as Stewart landed on top of his car. Just like that, Kahne was relegated to a 13th-place finish.

It’s a Three-Horse Race

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The Cup Series point system was changed last year to make it easier for fans to understand the points earned by each driver during each race. Like many changes that are implemented in sports, there are unintended consequences that can have a lasting impact. NASCAR may or may not have wanted to reward consistency more with the new point system but, in the long run, that is exactly what has happened. Drivers who finish near the front week after week often find it more difficult to overcome the point system than drivers who have sporadic performances. Unlike the old system, top of the standings results do not carry any more weight than ones in the middle of the pack. Because of that, gaining many points on a driver who does not have a DNF is nearly impossible. As a result, the 2012 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup title is down to a three horse race — even though there’s still six weeks to go.