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Meet the Six Drivers Making Their (Sorta) NASCAR Debuts This Weekend

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It’s a jam-packed two days of racing for NASCAR’s top three series this weekend, with the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono Raceway while the Nationwide Series travels to Iowa Speedway.

As if the influx of racing (which will also be flanked with a K&N Pro Series event at Iowa and an ARCA race at Pocono) wasn’t enough, all three series will see new drivers join their ranks as first-time competitors — six in all. Of these six, four will be making their first NASCAR starts in the top three series, period, with a fifth possessing only one previous start.

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Looking Back: A Surprising 2012 for the Nationwide Series

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Anyone that’s followed NASCAR’s scheduling habits the past decade was far from surprised that one of the sure-fire races of the Nationwide Series season (Lucas Oil Raceway) was yanked from the schedule in favor of a 250-mile jaunt at the Brickyard. Never mind the logic that less crappy stock car racing is still crappy stock car racing.

But having said that as the Nationwide Series approaches its debut on the big track in Indy, the 2012 season has been, well, surprising, on a number of fronts. Enjoying a compelling title race for the second consecutive year after an ugly stretch of Cup dominance from 2006-2010, this year’s campaign has actually been worth watching. Now, heading down the summer stretch, here’s a few of those surprises that have made the season just that.

Childress Keeping Dillon in Nationwide a Smart Move

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On Monday, Richard Childress mentioned in an interview that his grandson, defending Camping World Truck Series champion and current Nationwide Series title competitor Austin Dillon, would remain in the second-tier series in 2013, ending speculation that the young driver might challenge Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. for the Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year title.

Smart move, Mr. Childress.

Of course, it’s unsurprising that Childress would decide to go this way with Dillon. It’s easy to forget that Dillon first drove in NASCAR in 2008, when he ran two Nationwide races and scored a fourth-place finish. Many teams might have thrown such a young talent onto the fast track to success after such a start, but Childress was in no hurry, entering his grandson in six Nationwide and Truck races in 2009 before finally going full-time in a truck in 2010 and 2011.

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Did You Notice? … Silly Season Swung Wide Open By One Bad NASCAR Drug Test

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*Did You Notice?…* That in life, all it takes is one fleeting moment, one spoken word to turn our lives from successful to shattered?

In this case, it was as simple and tasteless as peeing into a cup. A.J. Allmendinger’s life changed forever Tuesday, suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for violating the sport’s drug policy in a decision that plunges his career into chaos. The driver’s “B” sample, tested weeks after the “A” showed no change in result, an unknown substance (rumored to be everything from methamphetamine to a rare stimulant found in an energy drink A.J. was endorsing) the root cause of what has kept him on the sidelines since hours before the July 7th Cup Series race at Daytona.

Your 2012 Cup Champion: Look No Further Than These Five Drivers

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It certainly was strange not to have a Cup race to watch this past weekend. You get so used to the relentless nature of the schedule and the regular routine that when there is a brief moment of respite it seems, well, all a little strange. Now, though, with the off week consigned to the history books, it’s time for the stretch run and seventeen straight weekends of racing that will decide who does and doesn’t make the Chase; and ultimately who will be crowned the 2012 Sprint Cup Champion.

What Tony Stewart did last year in “the playoffs” was unparalleled in Chase history. No driver has ever won so many races to on the way to the wavy silver Sprint Cup trophy. You can top-5, top-10 the competition into the ground but wins count big. Real big. Truth is, it probably was something of an anomaly. How many drivers other than Smoke could have done that? You’re talking about a handful, at best. So yes, anything can happen.

The Big 6: Questions Answered After the 2012 LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at Loudon

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Loudon is one of those racetracks, like Darlington, where the view from inside is vastly different from what you see on TV. With the tight confines in the corners, there is nearly always some hard racing somewhere. Plus, it’s one of those tracks that separate the best from the rest because it’s one of the most difficult on the circuit, and the driver is a more important part of the equation than at most tracks, which is something most fans have said they want. It’s a unique track, a flat mile, vastly different from the other two mile tracks on the schedule, Phoenix and Dover. Since renovations several years ago, there is passing.

NHMS Success and Dashed Hopes Link Newman, Burton

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As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series prepares to race at its only New England venue this week, talk is also heating up about Silly Season. As drivers and sponsors begin to make moves (Matt Kenseth has already announced that he will be leaving Roush Fenway Racing for an as-of-yet undisclosed team, while sponsor U.S. Army has declared its plans to leave NASCAR racing at the end of the year), there are always questions. After the Army announcement earlier this week, Ryan Newman is suddenly in the midst of the talk, while in the background, quiet speculation has been made about the career of another veteran driver, Jeff Burton.

Professor Of Speed: The Numbers Game

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With the recent successes (give or take a couple rules violations) of 22-year old Austin Dillon in the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series, NASCAR fans are getting used to seeing a familiar number back in victory lane. The sport went nearly a decade since any race car bearing the No. 3 rolled into the winner’s circle anywhere. It was Austin Dillon who put the legendary number back in the spotlight with a K&N Pro Series East win at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in April of 2008. Until that event, the No. 3 hadn’t crossed the finish line first since Dale Earnhardt did so in dramatic fashion at Talladega Superspeedway during the fall race in 2000.

MPM2Nite: Short Takes Before A Short Break

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Some of you might not realize but after Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, the Cup regulars get a weekend off before the Brickyard 400; that off-weekend will be the last one of the season. Right now we’re in the midst of a 12-day heat wave that has sent temperature soaring into the triple digits, and by the time the Cup season ends I’ll likely be burning my wood stove. I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate: the Cup schedule is simply too long and needs to b e shortened by 25 percent, with a few off weekends added during the summer especially.

So before my week off, I wanted to comment on a few topics causing a buzz amongst the fans right now.