Hello, race fans. Welcome back to Couch Potato Tuesday, where race telecast criticism and praise is our goal. This past weekend, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series raced at Richmond International Raceway, and in the case of Sprint Cup, dealt with rain.
Before we start, there are two things I must note. ESPN confirmed Jamie Little will be back on pit road this weekend in Joliet. I’m happy to have Little back on the telecasts.
_After leading the points before Richmond, Matt Puccia and Greg Biffle are now sitting tied for fifth with Clint Bowyer as the green flag waves over the Chase for the Sprint Cup this weekend at Chicago. Puccia took over the reins on top of the No. 16 pit box in July and has since led Biffle to a win, two top 5s, and five top 10s in nine races. Greg Biffle is the only driver in the Chase with the chance to secure a title in all three of the national touring series of NASCAR should he claim the Cup. That task has eluded everyone since the Truck series was started in 1995. If Puccia and Biffle can avoid the up and down nature that Biffle’s luck seems to follow, they just might pull it off_.
It’s time for the Chase! Aren’t you thrilled? Oh. Well, actually neither am I. The fact is the haze of summer has given way to …
by Garrett Horton 0 The number of times Kyle Busch has finished higher than eighth in the standings during his tenure with Joe Gibbs. In …
On lap 313, Clint Bowyer managed to pass Ryan Newman and he never yielded that position the rest of the night.
*Sprint Cup: A Postseason Snapshot* After 26 long weeks, the field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup has been decided. Only one spot actually changed hands in Richmond, as Jeff Gordon passed Kyle Busch for twelfth place on the points chart and the final wild card. (Both Gordon and Busch had one win on the year, making points the deciding factor.) Now, as the series heads toward Chicago, the talk will inevitably turn towards that of title favorites among the twelve who make the final cut.
Those numbers, causing a ho-hum title race in the process were enough for NASCAR to make a change. The season-long process to pick a champion, in place since 1975 was scrapped the following year with the advent of the Chase for the Cup. The title was now to be settled among the top 10 drivers in points after 26 races of the season. But in just three years, after a couple high profile drivers and a defending champion failed to make the Chase the rules were expanded to include the top 12. But the ADD nature of NASCAR fans apparently was still not enraptured by that set of changes; at least, so it seemed because after the 2010 season, the “playoffs” endured a third major change. The point system that had been used for decades was scrapped for the one point per position system, while the Wild Card entries for the Chase were added. The race for the last two spots would certainly now come down to the last race and the uncertain nature of who would make the final 12 would obviously keep every single fan on the edge of their seat.
It was a tough night for pit crews on Saturday. Several misjudged a rain forecast or the importance of fresh tires and left their drivers out under the last caution, while others pitted and hoped they could stretch their fuel to the end, which proved not to be the case for many. Chad Knaus did call his driver in, but unfortunately for Jimmie Johnson, Knaus was on the wrong radio channel and he didn’t get the message in time to get to pit road. But no pit strategy stung more than a costly pit-stop error by Kyle Busch’s team. A loose lugnut on a green-flag pit stop was most likely the deciding factor that kept Busch from the Chase as Jeff Gordon beat Busch by a slim three-point margin for the final Chase slot.
Although Friday’s event was largely uneventful at the front, the same could not be said for the title contenders that endured a wild 250 laps. Sam Hornish Jr. cut a tire down after contact with teammate Ryan Blaney on lap 156, spinning into the turn 1 wall and eventually backing down directly into Timmy Hill’s path. The resulting wreckage left both ends of Hornish’s Dodge crunched and the fourth title contender with an ugly 30th place result. Even more notable was both the wreck and recovery of Elliott Sadler, who spun himself out trying to pass Ricky Stenhouse Jr., but rebounded with crash damage to salvage a 13th place result.
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