NASCAR on TV this week

IndyCar Race Recap: Penske Power Dominates in Sonoma

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*Key Moment:* The dust-up between Sebastian Bourdais and Josef Newgarden proved to be the difference maker in the race. The collision, which sent a skidding Newgarden head-first into the restraining tires, allowed Briscoe to take the top spot. Bourdais commented that he was unable to steer his car in interviews, and Newgarden was the unfortunate beneficiary of being in the way. Bourdais walked away OK, but Newgarden was reported to have injured his left index finger and will be evaluated upon returning home to Indianapolis.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol

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The big question for Brian Vickers is: where does he go from here? He has done an admirable job filling in for Mark Martin in the No. 55 for select races, but Martin is signed with Michael Waltrip Racing for the lion’s share of the 2013 schedule as well, and Vickers deserves a ride before 2014. Vickers is a proven commodity with two Sprint Cup wins and a Nationwide Series title… and yet, his name hasn’t been heard in the mix for a ride. MWR has been reportedly looking at a fourth team for Vickers; but as of yet, that’s merely a possibility. He’s as good as some of the drivers whose names are being bandied around… and why his name isn’t among them might be the biggest question of Silly Season.

Bristol’s Best Intentions Turned Bizarre: Did The New Track Still Deliver?

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We’ve all heard the story. The folks at Bristol Motor Speedway thought that putting in progressive banking when they had to repave the track surface in 2007 would bring a whole new level of racing to the track. When the cars took to the track they were able to run from the top to the bottom and everywhere in-between. Cars ran side-by-side for laps on end with battles throughout the field. As a result, there were fewer caution flags than almost ever before because the need to move people in order to pass them was taken out of the equation. The desired effect was achieved by the operators of the track. The undesired effect was that fans starting staying away in droves.

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Food City 250

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Joey Logano emerged victorious yet again in Nationwide Series competition Friday night, capitalizing on a strong qualifying effort and off-sequence pit strategy en route to score his sixth trophy of 2012 and his first at Bristol. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 5.

The story of the night emerged with less than 10 laps to go after a lap 242 caution that saw Austin Dillon slip up and slam polesitter Trevor Bayne into the fence. With points leader Sadler in position to challenge for the victory, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. executed a textbook bump and run on the lap 249 restart, driving off to a runner-up finish. Stenhouse went to Sadler’s car immediately post-race to try and clear the air, but Sadler in his post-race remarks noted that the move would open the door for the rest of the season in terms of racing aggressively with the championship on the line.

The Old Bristol? She Ain’t Coming Back…But It’s Not Just Because of the Track

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NASCAR fans head to Bristol this week for the first time since the track made major modifications earlier this summer in an attempt to narrow out the racing groove and bring back the type of racing that the track was known for: beating and banging, and using the chrome horn to make a pass. Since the track was reconfigured in 2007 with progressive banking, the wide groove made two- and three-wide racing the norm, rather than the bump-and-run, which was often good for taking out several cars in one move. In short, fans are asking Bristol to turn back time.

Tracking the Trucks: UNOH 200

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*In a Nutshell:* Timothy Peters trounced the field and took the checkered flag 0.465 seconds ahead of teammate Parker Kligerman to win with UNOH 200 Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Peters took the lead before completing the first lap and never relinquished the top spot all night long. Ross Chastain, Joey Coulter and Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top 5.

*Who Should Have Won:* Timothy Peters. What more is there to say really? Despite several attempts by his competitors, Peters’ No. 17 Toyota was unbeatable Wednesday night. Add in that he and his crew were flawless on every visit to pit road and there’s no reason to believe anyone else should have won the race.

Four Burning Questions: Bristol Blunders and Walking Away

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*Will fans be pleased regardless of how the race plays out at Bristol?*

If you use Bristol’s 40% figure when they decided to reconfigure the track _back_ to where it was before the first one, you’ll see that those fans were in the minority. Yet the track decided to spend millions of dollars to try and reverse time and get fans back in the stands.

Well if Wednesday night’s Truck Series race was any indication, it didn’t do anything like that. There was plenty of side-by-side racing to be found – heck, we even saw three wide on many occasions! At Bristol!

IndyCar In-Depth: GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Preview

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*Whats News?*

The IZOD IndyCar Series returns in full force this week after a three week hiatus. The teams and drivers are heading out to Sonoma this week for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, and as we inch closer to the end of the season, championship contenders such as Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay know they have to make every week count in order to win the title. The big news going into the race this week is the track configuration change that was ordered by INDYCAR. Turns 7, 9, and 11 of the Sonoma course were all reconfigured to make the event racier and to promote more passing.

Regan Smith Driver Diary: Unhappy with Ambrose and the Berrier Impact

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As drivers, there is always something to do in between races and this week was no different. On Tuesday, we were at Pikes Peak for testing. Overall, I thought things went pretty well. Some stuff worked, some didn’t. Any time we get to test, it serves as a good opportunity to gather information that we can apply anywhere. If I had to pick a specific track where I expect what we learned to especially benefit us, I would say Richmond more than anywhere else; Pikes Peak is just a little bit rougher. We’re also hoping some of the things we found could work at Bristol.

We used to get to Pikes Peak a lot but this is actually the first time since the end of last year that we were able to test there. I enjoy going there and if they got rid of some of the bumps, I think you would see a lot more teams crossing the country to test there. From a short track perspective, I think it’s one of the best venues in the nation to collect data and knowledge at. I think it’s a great facility and I have a lot of fond memories from when we used to race there.