NASCAR on TV this week

Pace Laps: NASCAR’s Regular Rewards, Old Dogs, New Tricks And Caution Crisis

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*Sprint Cup: Regular Season Champion… For What?* Jimmie Johnson was quite vocal in his media center appearance this Friday about the fact that the point leader after the first 26 races in the Sprint Cup Series gets little recognition when the points are reset for the Chase. This has been long debated—should the “regular season” points leader get a trophy? Bonus points? Something else? But this kind of talk has rarely come from the drivers themselves; now that it is, the ball has gotten rolling behind the scenes on whether NASCAR should, in fact, consider a change.

Tracking the Trucks: VFW 200

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*In a Nutshell:* Nelson Piquet, Jr. took the checkered flag nearly ten seconds ahead of Jason White in Saturday afternoon’s VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Piquet, Jr. used a fuel mileage gamble and had enough in the fuel tank to score his first career victory. Dakoda Armstrong, Parker Kligerman, and James Buescher rounded out the top 5. Pole-sitter Joey Coulter failed to lead a lap and finished seventh.

*Who Should Have Won:* Nelson Piquet, Jr.

Nationwide Series Breakdown: NAPA 200

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It took more than a year, but Justin Allgaier finally found redemption for his fuel mileage shortcomings at Road America a season ago. In yet another Montreal race dotted with late-race yellows, Allgaier capitalized when leader Jacques Villeneuve got complacent in turn 6 trying to save fuel, bumped the No. 22, and took the lead for good. It was his third career Nationwide Series win, scoring a Sunday sweep for Turner Motorsports (Nelson Piquet Jr. had scored the Truck win at Michigan earlier in the day). Sam Hornish Jr., Villeneuve, Elliott Sadler, and Ron Fellows rounded out the top 5.

Five Could Clinch Chase Spots at MIS…But Can Any Of Them Stay the Course?

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As the NASCAR Sprint Cup tour heads to Michigan International Speedway this weekend, plenty of attention will be focused on the new tire that teams will race there, replacing the ones that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won convincingly on in June. Earnhardt, Jr. himself will be another focus of fans and media as he tries to grab another win to boost his Chase position. Earnhardt is also in position, should he get lucky, to clinch his Chase berth this week. In fact, he’s one of five who can seal the deal. Anyone who can nail down a spot early is dangerous simply because it gives those teams two or three weeks where they can go for broke every race in an attempt to gain the ever important bonus points that come with wins. But is simply getting assured of a spot early a guarantee of Chase success?

Four Burning Questions: New Standards and Clinch Scenarios

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*Has NASCAR inadvertently set a standard for itself?*

The lack of a call on the final lap of last week’s race at Watkins Glen has a debate roaring in the NASCAR community, and as such may have changed expectations. See, even if NASCAR couldn’t see the oil, the fact that they let the race play out on the final lap even though it was pretty obvious that something was going on speaks volumes.

So what happens if, say, someone blows an engine, runs out of gas, or cuts a tire on the final lap this weekend at Michigan? The fans will fully expect NASCAR to leave the race green. Unless there is a very serious wreck, it will just be an expectation simply because of what happened last week.

You Can’t Play the ‘Blame Game’ When It Comes to Lightning

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NASCAR is one of the few entities left in this country that is not ashamed to actively honor God before each of it’s events. So unashamed, that even the invocation is televised before each race. I ask you; When is the last time you saw a televised prayer before a professional or college sporting event? You can’t remember if you ever have, can you?

Having established the precedent that God is actively recognized in our sport, I am going to share a bit of scripture with you. Why, you may ask? Simply because I am sick and tired of any number of people out there that continue to assert that NASCAR, Pocono Raceway or anyone else is responsible for the tragic events that followed the rain-shortened event a couple of weeks ago.

Kenny Wallace Driver Diary: Taking Care of Business On and Off-Track

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We just got dirt racing this year. The DIRTCar Summer Nationals for the modifieds (is a series of races where the points are for) your ten best races. We had run nine races. I really like the Summer Nationals because they race a lot during the summer-28 races in 32 days. I wasn’t thinking about the championship, but we just got to racing and all of a sudden we started winning. We won like three out of five and all of a sudden I looked and I was only 39 points out of the lead. Well, my competitors had all already run ten or more. So I decided to go for the championship.

It was a crazy story because on Saturday, I had to be at a one hour Speed TV production meeting at Loudon. So, I came to the meeting and the stars aligned perfectly: Tony Stewart was flying to Eldora and the plane was literally going right over Toledo. So Tony just let me ride in his airplane, he didn’t even ask for any money, and they landed and dropped me off. Now, my guys were in Indiana. I told them to turn around, and they turned around and drove five hours the other way. We showed up, ran second in our heat. It was a 25-lap feature and we led like 18 or 19 laps and then my car picked up a big push—I guess we had it adjusted wrong—and we finished sixth and pulled it off.

Formula 1 Friday: The Brits – Part 2

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There’s nothing more infuriating for an F1 fanatic then the seemingly interminable mid-season break. It somehow feels longer and more dragged out even than the off-season. At least then you have a year of racing behind you, and sometimes you’re glad of the break, ready to come back afresh in March…this though…oh this is tiresome. Roll on the end of August and my favourite race, Spa Francorchamps.

In the interim you may have noticed that we here in Great Britain have been hosting another rather significant major sporting event, and rather well too, if I may be so bold. I say “may have noticed” as all reports from this side of the pond indicate NBC didn’t do a terribly good job of showing it to you guys, but take my word for it, the whole event was spectacular, uplifting and joyous – so we’re clinging on to that proud to be British feeling right now – which leads me beautifully on to part 2 of the 10 British World Champs…

MPM2Nite: One Tin Soldier Rides Away…

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Regretfully, gentle readers, this will likely be my last commentary column, at least for the foreseeable future. I’ve been at this NASCAR writing gig for sixteen years now and trust me, it’s tough to walk away. For all my cynicism, bitching, and occasional panic if I’d be able to find anything interesting to write after a boring race, I’ve loved every minute of it, being able to provide many of you with a few minutes of enjoyment or making you think on various issues while reading my columns. Your comments, both positive and negative have made a better writer out of me after a near hopelessly amateurish start to my so-called career.