NASCAR on TV this week

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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The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

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What a mess. That’s what several teams were left thinking after the wreckfest that was the Hollywood Casino 400. A track-record and season-high 14 cautions marred the racing over the course of the 400-mile event, caused by everything from a rash of blown tires, a couple of driver errors at the wrong time, a move made in anger, and a very slick repaved racetrack. “If people are wondering where all the cautions went, they moved to Kansas,” Brad Keselowski said at one point during the day, referencing complaints about a lack of yellow flags during several events this season.

Johnson’s Big Loss Or Keselowski’s Big Break? How The Title Could Be Won

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Sunday’s race in Kansas was a challenge for all the teams, new pavement and rough tire compounds leading to a 14-caution, 400-miler Survivor of an afternoon. No one knew the roller coaster better, though, than the top two drivers in the point battle who got caught in the crossfire. Brad Keselowski started the race mired in 25th position. Throughout the day, his team plugged along and coaxed a finish out of a car that Keselowski wasn’t supremely confident in after a qualifying run that wasn’t near his best, on the type of track that hasn’t always treated him well. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson had a car that started in the top 10, allowed him to lead the race and then deflated into a self-induced mistake that could have cost the No. 48 team a title chance. Yet as the checkered flag flew over the field, Keselowski beat Johnson to the line by only one position. As a result the drivers are still equally separated in the point standings with one fewer race to go.