*In a Nutshell:* Parker Kligerman took the checkered flag under caution to win the Fred’s 250 presented by Coca-Cola Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway. With a big push from runner-up Johnny Sauter, the driver of the No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota took the lead with just two laps remaining en route to his first career Camping World Truck Series victory. James Buescher, Ty Dillon, and Timothy Peters rounded out the top-5 finishers.
As I’m sure you all know, the past few weeks certainly have not been the most pleasant of my career. I was informed that I would not be back with the team and then found out with the rest of you that Kurt Busch would be in the car. I had an inkling that he was going to replace me, but that was for the team to talk about, not me. What did catch me off guard was the fact that I will be out of the car after Talladega. I would have expected to at least have been able to finish the season after all of my efforts, but it is not to be.
With that being said, I am already working on putting this disappointment behind me so that I can focus on the fact that I’ll be a free agent and I need to move forward. It’s late in the season and a lot of moves have already been made in terms of seats being filled, but those are the cards that I was dealt. I will do the best that I can to emerge from this in the best possible situation.
*Did You Notice?…* The difference between FOX, TNT, and ESPN when negotiating their NASCAR TV deals? FOX, according to multiple reports, is almost finished on an extension that will keep them broadcasting most of the Sprint Cup season’s first half for years to come. As a part of that, sources are claiming the cost of doing business will go up after 2014 — a likely, albeit surprising rights fee increase that’s eyebrow-raising when you consider the recent drop in NASCAR popularity, both on and off the racetrack. Just this week, Dover registered a 2.2 Nielsen rating, with just 3.581 million viewers that keeps the Chase on track for its lowest audience since the format’s 2004 debut.
*In 2011, Tony Stewart won the championship on the strength of five Chase victories. After two races this year, Jimmie Johnson leads the points after finishing second twice. Will that type of consistency near the front be enough to capture a Chase title… or will it take multiple wins?*
Mike: It all depends on what happens around Johnson. In reality, most every year if you can average a top-5 finish you’re going to be right there.
Amy: I think it will take multiple wins…but will it take five? That’s a stretch to think it will go that way again with so many teams capable of winning two or more races.
*In a Nutshell:* James Buescher took the checkered flag 1.292 seconds ahead of Parker Kligerman in Friday night’s Kentucky 201 at Kentucky Speedway. Buescher led three times for a race high 64 laps en route to his fourth victory of the year. Ty Dillon, Joey Coulter and Brian Scott rounded out the top 5.
*Who Should Have Won:* James Buescher. Turner Motorsports and Buescher in particular have excelled all year on the intermediate tracks, and Kentucky was no different. After qualifying eighth, the driver of the No. 30 Chevrolet spent just 33 laps working his way toward the front. He took the lead for the final time on pit road under the sixth caution and never looked back, pulling out to a more than two-second lead at times.
Something odd is happening in NASCAR. Should you only watch the Cup coverage on Sunday, you wouldn’t notice. But tune in on Saturday or even …
The Chase is on… and for 12 drivers that means the chance at standing at the pinnacle of NASCAR in November. For everyone else, unfortunately, it means toiling in relative anonymity for the next two months, especially when seven of the top-10 finishers in the race are in the Chase as was the case in Chicago. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was not among them; but both of his teammates were. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano finished fourth and seventh, respectively, though neither received much recognition during a television broadcast that was clearly more concerned with the Chase contenders.
Of course there will be the Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland, the first of 10 races in the Chase for the 2012 championship. Several storylines, from who will come out strongest out of the gate to how Kyle Busch will take missing the Chase, are sure to form over 400 miles Sunday afternoon.
And of course there will also be that race’s predecessor, a Chicagoland Nationwide Series event that will see Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. continue to battle for the season championship, with Cup regulars Paul Menard, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch hoping to play spoiler along with young newcomer Alex Bowman.
*In a Nutshell:* Ty Dillon took the checkered flag 3.227 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch to win the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200 Friday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Dillon passed Busch for the lead with just six laps remaining and never looked back en route to his first career victory. James Buescher, Parker Kligerman and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 5.
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.