NASCAR on TV this week

Best NASCAR Driver Of The Modern Era? Building A Case, Brick By Brick(yard)

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They say he’s too politically correct. They say his team has more money and, therefore, better equipment than anyone else inside the 43-car field. They say his crew chief is a cheater, someone who should have been suspended from NASCAR as recently as this February’s Daytona 500. Heck, this man’s mere presence behind the wheel is blamed for the self-destruction of stock car racing’s popularity.

But as Sunday wrapped up, as a group of grown men in Lowe’s firesuits were getting busy kissing bricks on pillows (we’ll skip that for now), it was hard for the critics to argue this point: Jimmie Johnson has prepped a resume that will make him the best driver of NASCAR’s modern era. After putting up the latest bullet point, a fourth Brickyard 400 victory in his last seven starts at Indianapolis, even rivals could do nothing but stand up in awe.

Has Earnhardt Jr.’s Time Finally Come?

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After the dust settled at Indianapolis, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. emerged with the point lead for the first time since 2004. That’s right; the driver once labeled “fourth-best” at Hendrick used a fourth-place finish to climb to the top of NASCAR’s championship Chase for the first time since Joey Logano was practically in diapers. Although NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver won’t be the point leader when the postseason starts, unless he goes on a phenomenal winning streak, there is no doubt that he is a legitimate threat to win the championship in 2012. While the wins have not come in large numbers, the speed and consistency are there to position Earnhardt near the top of any pre-Chase favorite lists. With the current state of the sport somewhere between its niche status of the 1980s and its boom years in the 2000s, nothing could give it a bigger shot in the arm than having the No. 88 team in the mix for the championship once the green flag flies in Homestead.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis

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Regan Smith finished a somewhat disappointing 18th on Sunday after having a shot to wind up much higher. However, about halfway through the race he restarted on the outside of the front row next to Brad Keselowski. After racing Keselowski hard through turn 1 and the South Chute, the two had contact in turn 2. There did not appear to be any malice in what happened, but both drivers never truly recovered.

Nationwide Breakdown: Indiana 250

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The Nationwide Series debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday as part of the track’s “Super Weekend.” The 100-lap race started out looking like it was going to be a Kyle Busch walkover, shifted into a Elliott Sadler points lead protector, then finished up with Roger Penske’s first ever stock car win at the fabled racetrack. Most importantly of all, there were actual people sitting there watching it all unfold. While the rumblings among some fans and most of the media was that the idea to move the Nationwide Series from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Speedway was a horrendous idea, attendees came out in some surprising numbers. While NASCAR’s overall estimate might be generous at 40,000 fans, it was, indeed a typical Nationwide crowd. Once the checkered flag flew, Brad Keselowski was in the Winner’s Circle celebrating the victory in the inaugural Nationwide race at the Brickyard.

Winner, Champion…and Racer: Kenny Wallace Is All of These

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_ I don’t care if it’s Travis Pastrana racing World Rally cars, or if it’s Kenny Schrader winning the dirt series in the late models or Kenny right now in modifieds or Tony Stewart—they all have a connection. They’re winners, they’re champions, and most importantly, they’re racers.” –Jeff Hammond_

Saturday morning came early to Loudon, New Hampshire, with the promise of being a scorcher of a day, and Kenny Wallace was sick to his stomach. It wasn’t the heat or the flu that was making the 48-year-old Wallace feel like he’d swallowed a whole herd of angry butterflies, but rather the conflict between commitment and opportunity.

Four Burning Questions: Distractions and Additions

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*What happens at Penske Racing from here on out?*

The suspension of AJ Allmendinger due to a failed drug test has been a gigantic distraction for the race team. You can argue with me all day, but you cannot convince me that _two_ negative tests and the waiting around in between the two hasn’t at least provided some uneasiness in the Penske camp.

Sam Hornish Jr. will compete in at least the next two races, though Penske has yet to announce what will happen after that. While Allmendinger has agreed to go through NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program, that process is at least five months in the making and Allmendinger’s contract with Penske was up at the end of the year.

Do You Think of NASCAR and Integrity In the Same Sentence?

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Aside from not having any…but of course, that is my opinion. I want to know what you think.

Counting the headline as number one, here’s a second question for you to mull over. Do you think AJ Allmendinger is a drug head? While you think those over, here are some quotes from some of the players involved and some who are not.

“I don’t see how any man, if he’s got any (manhood) at all, can go and take what he’s fixing to have to take — and that’s going through the Road to Recovery for a guy who did not take drugs or did not do what they’re saying he did,” Jeremy Mayfield said, when asked about Allmendinger’s situation. “It’d be tough because you’re basically living a lie to be a poster boy for NASCAR’s drug policy.”

Landon Cassill Driver Diary: Move Over Flags and Twitter Trades

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Executing all of our goals as a team, like pit stops or getting through practice without mistakes, or race strategy, or anything that I do in the racecar, it’s kind of just a matter of putting it all together all at once. We need to be able to do that. If we can do that every week, I think that’s where I can run top 25.

In response to the recent issues with lapped traffic, I don’t really think that comparing lapped traffic in Nationwide to lapped traffic in Cup to be apples to apples. I think there’s a vast difference of professional drivers that are in the Cup Series that could drive circles around those drivers in the Nationwide Series that are lapped cars. There’s definitely a huge difference between the guys that are running 30th in Cup and the guys that are running 30th in Nationwide. To me, you’re curious to see what someone like Harvick says about that.