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No Matter the Format, NASCAR Cream Rising to the Top in Chase

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The Chase may be a manufactured contest to try and generate additional interest in the late season races of a long NASCAR season, but one thing is for sure: the best teams in any sport will always find their way to the top of the ranks more times than they’ll finish near the bottom. Last week’s race at Chicagoland saw Denny Hamlin run out of gas late and lose a multitude of spots on the final lap while Jeff Gordon’s day was ruined by a stuck throttle. However, week two of the playoffs finds Hamlin standing in Victory Lane with a Gatorade-soaked driver suit while Gordon, sans mustache, was the third driver to cross the finish line. The reason the 12 teams who made the Chase are in contention for the title is because they were the 12 best teams in the first 26 races of the season.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 Sylvania 300 at Loudon

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It wasn’t a win for Jeff Gordon, and he still has a lot of ground to make up before he can even begin to think about that elusive fifth Cup title. But this week, Gordon certainly looked a lot more like… well, like Jeff Gordon. After starting on the pole, Gordon remained in the hunt throughout the race, running inside the top 10 all day long and ending the day in fourth place.

The End of the Eury Era at JR Motorsports

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For a team that is the de facto Hendrick Motorsports entrant in the Nationwide Series, JR Motorsports’ results of late can’t be described as anything other than underwhelming. No wins since 2010, with only two poles in that same span. In 59 starts for the operation in 2012, only 20 top 10 finishes have been scored. And with the team’s leading full-timer Cole Whitt a distant seventh in points, JRM is poised to have its worst finish in team history in terms of fielding a regular driver.

Considering this is one of the rare teams in the Nationwide garage with full sponsorship on its race cars, that their driver stable includes the most hyped open-wheel convert since Juan Pablo Montoya and the hottest prospect the Truck Series had at the end of the 2011 campaign, that they carry the name Earnhardt, the status quo does not meet any expectations. The status quo is not acceptable.

Truckin’ Thursdays: Could Kentucky Determine the Champion?

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With just seven races remaining to determine the 2012 Camping World Truck Series champion, the series heads off to Kentucky Speedway for a Nationwide Series companion race this weekend. While a visit to Kentucky may not be all that spectacular on its own, six champions have also won in the Bluegrass state during their respective championship seasons.

It all began back in 2000, the inaugural season for the Truck Series at Kentucky when Greg Biffle snagged his third of five wins that year, in a season where he finished outside the top 14 just once; a 25th-place result at Texas in November. Just two years later, it was Mike Bliss who scored his third of five victories in 2002, winning the championship after leading the standings for the final ten races of the year.

A Regal Entrance: John King, Other Rookies Return at Kentucky

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Remember this past February? Yeah, it’s been a good while, but in the realm of NASCAR racing, it may not be too tough to recall. After all, that month saw all three top series visit Daytona, the Speedweeks kickoff which naturally produces the most memorable races of the entire season. The Nationwide and Truck races in particular saw first-time winners in James Buescher and John King, respectively.

And then King, a rookie then driving for Red Horse Racing, pretty much fell off the face of the earth when it came to NASCAR. Although able to secure funding for the first five races of the Camping World Truck Series season, King’s team scaled back tremendously, only resurfacing when Parker Kligerman took over the ride just last month. King was the first in a line of young drivers who lost their rides in the series, and is now the latest to emerge with a new team. At this weekend’s Kentucky 201 at Kentucky Speedway, the Tennessee native aligns with Wauters Motorsports, itself the former home of a much-maligned rookie, Paulie Harraka.

Did You Notice? … Earnhardt’s NASCAR Family Failure

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*Did You Notice?…* For Dale Earnhardt, Jr., there’s no such thing as a “family business” anymore? Just five years after leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc., getting scorned by stepmother Teresa Earnhardt by his bid for control of the organization Dale Jr. has turned a blind eye to a different set of relatives. Tony Eury, Sr. and Jr., his uncle and cousin respectively have been kicked to the curb from his JR Motorsports operation, a Nationwide Series team that admittedly hasn’t won a race in two-plus seasons but also features a car, the No. 88 solidly inside the top 10 in championship points with rookie Cole Whitt. Add in third-year driver Danica Patrick, 11th in the season standings and it’s not like this organization is the laughingstock of the league. Far from it.

Top Ten Pre-Race Rituals for Chasers Other Than Tony Stewart

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*10.* Jeff Gordon: Burns an effigy of the creator of The Chase. After all, if not for him, he’d have five, maybe six Championships.

*9.* Kyle Busch: Something different than he had been doing before the Chase, obviously.

*8.* Martin Truex, Jr.: Nothing really as he keeps forgetting that he’s actually IN the Chase.

Mirror Driving: Who Can Rebound, On And Off The Track In NASCAR

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*Jeff Gordon’s Chicagoland race was cut short when he hit the wall after the throttle stuck on the No. 24. Is Gordon’s Chase bid over already, or is it too early to count anyone out?*

Kevin: It’s too early to count anyone out completely, I think. But it’s not looking good for him. Another race like this, say this week or next… then I’ll be more likely to count him out.
Mike N.: He’s done. I know it seems ludicrous to say that but Gordon’s already a full race behind with 11 drivers in front of him. The odds of overcoming that are ridiculous.