Quick Nascar News...

With the September 11, 2001 10th anniversary this Sunday several NASCAR teams plan tribute paint schemes to honor the victims of 9/11 on their cars at Richmond.

Stewart-Haas has released Tony Stewart's paint scheme...

Earnhardt-Ganassi's Jamie McMurray's car...

JGR's sponsor on the 18 car, Mars Candies, is mimicing an earlier paint scheme on Ken Schrader's number 36 car that was raced in September, 2001:

Here's JGR's sponsorless paint scheme seen today at Richmond... 

Several other teams and sponsors will also have tribute paint schemes. Look for the Roush-Fenway's Bayne, Edwards and Stenhouse Nationwide car paint schemes, all sponsored by Fastenall and the JRM GoDaddy number 7 Nationwide car driven by Danica Patrick.

After 10 long years our nation continues to be hounded by fears of terrorism...

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KHI to RCR

Interesting news just released: Kevin Harvick, Incorporated, is joining forces with Richard Childress Racing in the Nationwide Series and the Harvicks are getting out of truck racing completely.

KHI's equipment will be sold off, the racing team's 80,000 Sq. Ft. shop building in Kernersville, NC will be put on the market and 140 KHI employees were told Wednesday how many weeks they have left with the company.

In Kevin's words; “When RCR decided not to run the Nationwide cars, the cars were different. As the cars have migrated back to the same chassis, a lot of the same tires, a lot of the same components, it makes more sense from a performance standpoint to put them back at RCR to utilize the pieces. To make the things that need to be right (with the cars) in order to keep up with the Cup teams (fielding Nationwide cars) you have to be in a Cup shop. That’s just the unfortunate part about where we are with the process and things that come with the Nationwide cars. From a performance standpoint, I feel we will be better with the Cup people and technology in the (RCR) shop. … The Truck program, it’s just a tough model business wise and we’ve scrimped and scraped and got the sponsorship and things that you need and GM has been a great supporter of everything that we’ve done, but from a business standpoint sometimes you have to make the decisions on what you want to do and for us it just didn’t make sense.’’

Here's hoping KHI's 140 employees will be absorbed into RCR...

And this wonderful economy dishes out another hit.

NASCAR’s Premier Bully

Yahoo’s racing commentator Jay Busbee writes that he “really fights with pretty much everybody”.

The Sporting News had a feature article last May stating that he has a history of battles with the entire Sprint Cup top 10.

Scene Daily ran an article in December of 2009 that chronicled the best driver confrontations from 2000-2009 and this driver was named in three of the eight driver confrontations referred to.

So who is this bully? If you’re a true NASCAR fan it should come as no surprise. Kevin Harvick has had at least one confrontation each year since he took over Richard Childress’ Good Wrench Chevrolet after the 2001 Daytona 500 and it hasn’t been just limited to drivers with other teams / owners.

The two faces of Kevin Harvick... Happy and Bully...

Last season Harvick became so upset with Childress teammate Jeff Burton’s driving practices during the Martinsville Chase race he expressed his displeasure in no uncertain terms over the radio during a late in-race caution. At the time Kevin was in 3rd place in the Chase while Burton was on the outside looking in.

After the race Kevin passed off his public comments as “just racin”, but Jeff Burton wouldn’t hear of it. Here’s what Jeff had to say: “I don't understand what he is mad at, I think he is just wound up and racing for a championship. I can assure you I didn't do anything wrong and I would do it again a thousand times. Because if what I did was wrong, then I will just quit racing.”
Then Jeff made these really telling comments: "There will come a point when he (Harvick) realizes that everybody in the world is not against him. And every time it's a conflict he is involved. And you would think over the amount of years that he has done it, that he would get the hint that he is always in the middle of it and maybe sometimes if he just backed up a little bit and caught his breath, he would be OK. I'm not out to harm him. I am a teammate of his and I am trying to help him and there comes a point where he needs to just catch his breath and realize that it's my race track too.''

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Here’s a sample of the many confrontations this man has been involved in:
Versus Greg Biffle, Bristol, 2002… A post-race verbal confrontation boiled into a physical one as Kevin Harvick tried to get Biffle in a head lock. Harvick was fined.

Versus Ricky Rudd, Richmond, 2003… A screaming, yelling Harvick stomps on the roof of Rudd’s car after late-race crash. A near-riot breaks out on pit road.
“Kevin was [ticked off], what do you say?” – Harvick team owner Richard Childress
“I don’t know. He’s got that little yap-yap mouth.” – Rudd, on what Harvick said.

Versus Ryan Newman, 2003… While Newman was piling up eight wins, Harvick accused Newman and his team of cheating to get better fuel mileage. An unfounded allegation…

Versus Matt Kenseth, Pocono, 2004… They spun each other out while under caution and were subsequently fined. This set off running commentary on both sides.

Versus Jimmie Johnson, Daytona, 2005… After Harvick wrecked Johnson and several other cars in a preseason race, Johnson said "It's a shame. He just tore up six or seven good racecars. I hope Childress either fires him or NASCAR does something about him, because this is ridiculous -- absolutely ridiculous."

Versus Kurt Busch, Atlanta, 2006… “I’ll tell you what I think,” Harvick said. “He’s a cocky, arrogant punk… I’d still like to whip his ass. Before the year’s over, he’ll make a fool out of (car owner) Roger Penske.”
Through a team spokesman, Busch declined comment on Harvick's statements.

Versus Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 2007… Harvick called out Dale Jr.’s former team owner, Teresa Earnhardt, calling her an absentee owner while Earnhardt still drove for her.

Versus Tony Stewart, Indianapolis Brickyard 400, 2007… “He’s the first one to complain about not getting room on the race track and he’s the first one to not give any,” Harvick said of Stewart after being bumped out of the way by Stewart on his way to the win.

Versus Juan Pablo Montoya, Watkins Glen, 2007… On-track incident leads to shoving and helmet-grabbing between two hotheads. NASCAR officials forced to break it up.
“I was talking about kicking his ass.” – Harvick
“I said it was my fault and he started shouting and grabbing me. I don’t appreciate that.” – Montoya.

Versus Carl Edwards, Talladega, Charlotte, 2008… Snipping back and forth after a Talladega wreck leads to a mysterious note followed by a physical confrontation in the Charlotte garage. In the confrontation Edwards makes like a wrestling star as he applies a choke-hold to Harvick.
The note from Edwards to Harvick read, “Kevin, thanks for [criticizing] me on TV. I was really trying to screw up everyone’s day! Love, Carl.” Edwards then went on to say, “I have absolutely no respect for Kevin Harvick. I think he's a bad person. That’s what I think and I’ve told him.”
“You just gotta be careful who you wanna pick a fight with.” – Harvick.

Strangely, we haven’t heard any more out of this feud.

Versus Denny Hamlin, 2010… Harvick intentionally ran into him during practice after Hamlin publicly criticized Richard Childress Racing.

Versus Joey Logano, 2010… The two traded paint prompting Logano to make his now famous post-race comment that Harvick’s wife “wears the firesuit in the family.”

Versus Kyle Busch, Darlington, 2011… Angry over an incident with less than four laps remaining, Kevin Harvick said later that he wanted to “beat the piss” out of Kyle Busch. There was a pit road incident that Harvick instigated and then a confrontation in the garage. The next week in Dover the two were on the carpet with NASCAR. Asked after their meeting with NASCAR officials when he thinks he and Busch will be able to get along, Harvick stated, “Never.” And Busch agreed.

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Considering Kevin Harvick’s checkered past I found it very interesting to read a satire on the Kevin versus Kyle debacle. Here’s a couple of excerpts from the article entitled “NASCAR to Kyle Busch: Bullying of Kevin Harvick Must Stop” (!)

“A teary-eyed Kevin Harvick said he has been so stressed by the bullying he has received from Kyle Busch that he is often afraid to shave.” (Hilarious!)

“Kevin Harvick has accused Busch of being a bully for much of the season.” (!)

And finally these: Harvick and Busch almost came to blows earlier in the season at Daytona. Busch was walking by Harvick just prior to race time and said, “Hey Harvick, how did you ever get Jimmie John’s to sponsor you? You’re so slow I don’t think you could even qualify as a delivery boy driver.”

At Bristol, Busch left a pair of reading glasses and a note on the seat of Harvick’s car. In the note Busch volunteered to help “Old man Harvick” read a map of the Bristol track so that Harvick wouldn’t get lost going around.

Finally, this last week at the Showtime Southern 500 after Busch suckered Harvick into getting out of his car, Busch took off and pushed Harvick’s empty car into the wall and then drove away laughing so loud it could be heard in the stands. Harvick collapsed on the track and began to cry so hard he fogged up his helmet and had to be helped from the track. (!)

Like I said… It’s a satirical look at the current “hottest feud” in NASCAR inspired by Mr. Harvick.

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I was taught the best way to deal with a bully is to call their bluff. Once the bully knows you aren’t going to allow them to push you around they’re just cowardly enough to back off. I think that’s the lesson Carl Edwards taught everyone concerning Kevin Harvick and now Kyle Busch needs to take a step in that direction as well.

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Kevin Harvick came on the scene under terrible circumstances and made the best of his chance being named Rookie of the Year in 2001. What first appeared to be a very promising career has been eaten up with a “me against the world” mindset that apparently can’t be righted.

We’ve all seen rookies break into Cup racing who at first are in awe of their situation and then have to face the fact that it’s a dog eat dog world in this business. They learn sometimes they have to defend themselves to gain the respect of their peers. It’s a process that eventually yields the desired result.

In Kevin Harvick’s case, he’s pushed his over-reacting in tough situations to an extreme. He’s ended up losing whatever respect he might have had among his fellow competitors.

A very telling moment came during the confrontation Kevin initiated at the entrance to Darlington’s pit road by stopping Kyle Busch and then stepping from his car to try and punch Kyle in the face. The television director switched cameras to one focused on Kevin’s wife sitting atop the number 29’s pit box. Delana, watching a television monitor, had both her hands on her cheeks while slowly shaking her head in an unmistakable “Oh no, not again…” manner.

Yes, Delana, again… And who’s next on the Kevin Harvick “hit” parade?

References:
Jay Busbee:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Kevin-Harvick-really-fights-with-pretty-much-eve?urn=nascar-wp1153
The Sporting News:
http://aol.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2011-05-10/kevin-harvicks-history-of-battles-with-the-entire-cup-top-10
Scene Daily: http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/DECADE_IN_REVIEW_NASCARs_best_confrontations_2000-2009.html
iRaceFanNews:
http://iracefannews.com/2011/nascar-to-kyle-busch-bullying-of-kevin-harvick-must-stop

Junior Got Clocked!

There’s an old axiom that says “The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree…” and it’s used to describe how closely a person’s offspring resembles and/or acts like their parent. Evidently this isn’t necessarily true in NASCAR. The two greatest drivers in the sport were followed by sons who, for whatever reason, have not risen to the same heights. Yes, there are other examples of young drivers with well-known names who have performed very well at the top level of the sport (Dale Jarrett and Davey Allison immediately come to mind), but they are few and far between… This shortfall was excruciatingly evident in yesterday’s finale at Martinsville's Goody's 500. Just for a few moments in time (the final two laps), imagine Dale Earnhardt Sr. was behind the wheel of the 88 Chevrolet instead of Dale Jr. Given everything else being equal, who do you think would have crossed the finish line first? _______________________________________________________ But what we got was Kevin Harvick explaining on the post-race interview how sorry he was to be the bad guy for winning the race and then expressing thanks to Junior for driving clean. This while Junior was apologizing to Kyle Busch for bumping him and then hanging his head in his own interview wishing he had won the clock! _______________________________________________________ Man! It’s been what, almost 100 Cup races since Dale last visited victory lane? _______________________________________________________ I’m thinkin’ the Martinsville crowd would have literally gone bonkers if Dale had punted Kevin for the win, I know I would’ve been and I’m not what you’d call even a remote Earnhardt fan… My apologies to you Harvick fans, but that one move for the win by the sport’s most popular driver would have been like a tonic to NASCAR. Junior’s victory in a manner so reminiscent of “The Intimidator” would have been splashed all over the sporting news wires each and every day of the next week. The news would have done wonders for a sport that’s been floundering with fans starving for such a thing… A victory like that would have been remembered for years to come. ________________________________________________________ Yeah, I know. Then we would have been inundated by the whining conspiracy theorists.

Off The Wall Racing News

NASCAR Edition

Fontana!(?)

Along with Pocono, probably the most maligned racing venue in NASCAR is Fontana Speedway. This weekend Southern California’s Inland Empire populace gets a chance at redemption with a new, shortened Auto Club 400 race moved from the second to the fifth racing date of the season.

The relatively new track built in 1997 by a consortium led by Roger Penske and later sold to International Speedway Corporation, features an asphalt 2 mile long “D” oval with uniform 14 degree banking through the turns, 11 degree banking on the frontstretch and only 3 degrees of banking on the long straightaway. The early on races went along glowingly until 2004 when NASCAR pulled Rockingham’s late season race and moved it to the Southern California track. It suddenly became apparent that the Southern California market is a one race town as attendance dropped even though Fontana was hosting a very meaningful race late in the racing season. The laid back Southern California lifestyle had struck yet another professional sport. This coupled with the ill-will NASCAR generated with its core fan base in the Southern United States by pulling this important race date from one of the South’s historic tracks located in North Carolina has worked to denigrate Fontana.
Even though the track’s layout has led to a refreshingly different style of racing in NASCAR with three wide or more side by side competition being commonplace, the fans haven’t returned after the track’s early success. Today it appears the local politicians have taken notice of just how important the NASCAR race date has been to the local economy and they are openly encouraging everyone in the area to get involved or the region might lose as much as $100 million in revenue if NASCAR completely pulls out…
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Kevin Harvick and Fontana

Fontana can be called the home track to a formidable group of NASCAR stars that includes Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick. Of this group, JJ has by far had the most success here while Kevin Harvick for some reason just can’t seem to put it together at Fontana. In 17 career Sprint Cup starts on the D oval, Kevin has just 2 top five’s and an average finish of 17th place. The problems have persisted in the Nationwide Series races as well where Kevin, despite 7 top three finishes in 16 starts still hasn’t won a race. Sometimes when athletes know they have family and friends in the stands they simply try too hard and things go haywire…

Is this the year Kevin breaks out of his Fontana funk?
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The NASCAR Points Racing Change Effect

Can you tell me off the top of your head who the points leader is right now in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series? How about Jason Leffler! In a move that makes a lot of sense, NASCAR has shined the media attention light on a group of young up and comers (with the exceptions of Kenny Wallace and Elliot Sadler) racing in the Nationwide Series. Here are the current top 10 in the Nationwide standings:
1. Jason Leffler – 142 Points, 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 140, 3. Justine Allgaier – 124, 4. Reed Sorenson – 121, 5. Aric Almirola – 119, 6. Trevor Bayne – 112, 7. Kenny Wallace – 111, 8. Elliot Sadler – 110, 9. Danica Patrick – 109 and 10. Brian Scott – 107…

Here’s another example of a home track not yielding success. Long Beach native Jason Leffler hasn’t had much luck at Fontana. Driving for Turner Motorsports, Jason’s unbridled optimism remains intact as expressed in a San Bernardino Sun article by staff writer Louis Brewster:

"This is a really fun race track. It's wide open pretty much all the way around and has multiple grooves, so there is a lot of two- and three-wide racing," said the driver of the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet. "You're always searching for that groove where your car is the fastest."

Leffler will debut a new chassis for the race, and the powerplant is supplied by Hendrick Engines.

"I feel we have the right equipment to make a run for the championship," said Leffler, who's benefitted from NASCAR's new rule the says drivers must choose a series in which to compete for the driving title.
"It's great to race with the Cup guys - certainly we can learn from them - but it's good that NASCAR has decided to strengthen the Nationwide identity."
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The He Said-She Said Rick Russell-Jennifer Jo Cobb Deal Devolves

The owner of 2nd Chance Motorsports (interesting name considering the
circumstances), Rick Russell, has reportedly filed charges accusing Cobb and her crew chief Steve Kuykendall of larceny (stealing/theft). This is a serious matter if true but Ms. Cobb explained it as follows:
"I'm not sure how you steal something from someone when you move it from their property A to their property B," Cobb said, "It's just him trying to stir up more trouble. I'm not concerned. He's just trying to rattle us.
"Picture a divorce,” Cobb added. “You move out of the house and accidentally take the ex-wife's favorite hair brush you both use. That's what this is like."

We all know what happened just prior to last weekend’s Bristol Nationwide race and now this…

As of yesterday, Sgt. S.D. Elliott of the Mooresville North Carolina police department commented that Russell accused both Cobb and Kuykendall adding he’s talked to all parties in the case, and that no charges have been filed and no arrests have been made.

And the beat goes on… And watch as Jennifer Jo shows up at Fontana driving for Rick Ware Racing.
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Bobby Labonte

Let’s all pay close attention this weekend to former Cup champion Bobby Labonte as his comeback continues. Back driving full-time after a two year hiatus of poorly funded driving, Labonte has been very competitive so far in 2011. Marcos Ambrose’s old number 47 Toyota ride with JTG-Daugherty has been a Godsend for Labonte who has responded, not only thankful to the car’s owner for putting him in a well-funded racing effort but also for the team atmosphere surrounding JTG-Daugherty working with Michael Waltrip Racing’s drivers (Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann) and shop personnel.

Here’s hoping Bobby remains in the heat of things throughout the season!
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Honoring Ronald Reagan


Watch for Richard Childress Racing’s number 33 car driven by Clint Bowyer this weekend. It will feature a new paint job honoring who I consider to be the greatest President so far in my lifetime, Ronald Reagan. This will be part of the year-long Ronald Reagan Centennial celebrating what would have been Reagan’s 100th birthday. Oh how I wish another man of integrity would emerge on the scene to run for the Presidency next year…
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Finally, here’s a look at the forecasted weather this weekend –

The Fontana weather forecast:

Today: Showers likely, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 58. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Tonight: Areas of fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 57. East wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest.

Saturday Night: Rain likely, mainly after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. South wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. South wind around 5 mph.

It looks like practice and qualifying will be rained out today… And green tracks may be in the offing for both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races but hopefully the races won’t be hindered by rain beyond that.
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For you open wheelers… Melbourne Australia is forecast to have a chance of rain right up through Saturday night and then have a bright, blustery (winds from 7 to 20 mph) sunshiny day while St. Petersburg Florida will be partly cloudy with daytime highs in the low 80’s all weekend…
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Here we go!

Ready to Rumble?

Now it appears the appealed illegal activities carried out by Richard Childress' Clint Bowyer number 33 Chevrolet team has drawn several comments from JGR's Denny Hamlin who finished second to Bowyer last weekend in New Hampshire. One comment from Denny led to others from Richard Childress and his drivers. As you can imagine, the NASCAR media has been all over it.

Is it simply a war of words or will the displeasure of Hamlin's remarks carry over to tomorrow's Sprint Cup Chase race at Dover...

During practice for the Dover race Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick started bumping and heading off each other followed by a heated exchange in the garage where, ironically, Hamlin's 11 team and Harvick's 29 team found themselves parked right next to each other.

I'm runnin' out of fingers to count up all the vendettas that these guys are carrying around... Will all hell break loose in Dover?

Are We Ready to Rumble?

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships!

If I’m correctly reading what the Indycar Series people are doing, they’re now going to award three championships per racing season based on the tracks they race on. There will be a road course champion, an oval track champion and (I’m speculating here, but it makes sense) there will be an overall champion.

Taking a page from the IZOD Indycar Series (stealing their idea!), I’ve cooked the books down to yield four different NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships. Here are the categories:

The Short Track Championship (tracks one mile or less in length)

The Road Course Championship (Infineon and Watkins Glen)

The Intermediate Track Championship (tracks between one and two miles in length)

And The Long Track Championship (tracks two miles in length or longer)

At this point in the season, with 22 races completed, we have just found our first champion of the season…

Our 2010 Road Course Champion is Juan Pablo Montoya driving the Earnhardt-Ganassi red number 42 Target Chevrolet!

Here are the top 20 Road Warriors of 2010:

---Road Course Championship Final Standings---

-------------------------Average-Total --Total

--Driver -----------------Finish -Points -Earnings
1 Juan Pablo Montoya -----5.50 --329 --$374,087
2 Marcos Ambrose --------4.50 --325 --$302,121
3 Kevin Harvick -----------7.00 --295 --$304,602
4 Jeff Gordon --------------7.50 --289 --$271,027
5 Tony Stewart ------------8.00 --289 --$246,371
6 A J Allmendinger --------8.50 ---284 -$268,852
7 Jimmie Johnson --------14.50 ---274 -$443,431
8 Jamie McMurray -------10.50 ---273 -$243,408
9 Kasey Kahne -----------10.50 ---272 -$284,805
10 Ryan Newman --------14.00 ---247 -$223,633
11 Greg Biffle ------------15.50 ---237 -$182,625
12 Kurt Busch -----------17.00 ---237 -$304,576
13 Mark Martin ---------16.50 ---232 -$185,475
14 Carl Edwards --------17.00 ---231 -$248,496
15 Robby Gordon -------19.00 ---225 -$291,646
16 Jeff Burton ----------18.00 ---220 -$226,055
17 Dale Earnhardt Jr. ---18.50 ---215 -$169,850
18 Paul Menard --------19.00 --212 -$164,900
19 Matt Kenseth -------21.50 --197 --$237,277
20 David Reutimann ---21.50 --197 --$209,637

Congratulations to Juan and Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing!

So how are the drivers doing with the other three championships?

With half (6) of the short track races in the books entering mid-August here are the top twenty:

--------Short Track Championship Standings--------
--------------------------Average -Total ---Total
--Driver ------------------Finish --Points --Earnings
1 Jimmie Johnson ----------6.67 ---952 --$1,057,758
2 Jeff Gordon --------------6.00 ---931 --$979,354
3 Kyle Busch ---------------8.67 ---907 --$1,116,909
4 Ryan Newman -----------8.00 ---891 --$865,922
5 Carl Edwards ------------9.83 ---828 --$775,211
6 Matt Kenseth ----------10.33 ----825 --$871,479
7 Jeff Burton -------------12.17 ----807 --$849,738
8 Kevin Harvick ----------12.33 ---788 --$823,579
9 Denny Hamlin ----------13.17 ---785 --$711,800
10 Joey Logano ----------12.33 ---778 --$766,263
11 Martin Truex Jr. ------12.50 ---774 --$523,825
12 Tony Stewart ---------14.17 ----771 --$834,636
13 Greg Biffle ------------13.33 ----758 --$589,050
14 Kurt Busch -----------16.83 ----722 --$818,411
15 Clint Bowyer ---------15.33 ----712 --$571,225
16 Brad Keselowski -----16.50 ----686 --$651,008
17 Dale Earnhardt Jr. ---17.33 ----673 --$537,400
18 A J Allmendinger ----18.50 ----651 --$715,354
19 Marcos Ambrose ----18.83 ----641 --$638,598
20 Mark Martin --------20.17 ----629 --$611,585

Jimmie Johnson

Looks like the usual suspects on this list. Four of the six remaining short track races are Chase races…

There have been 6 intermediate track races (out of 11) so far this year. Here’s how the leaderboard stands at this time:

-----Intermediate Track Championship Standing-----
--------------------------Average -Total -----Total
--Driver ------------------Finish --Points ---Earnings
1 Jeff Gordon --------------10.83 ---859 --$1,076,931
2 Kurt Busch --------------11.67 ----858 --$1,265,588
3 Denny Hamlin -----------11.33 ----847 --$1,229,475
4 Kasey Kahne -------------9.33 ----843 ---$919,615
5 Matt Kenseth -----------10.50 ----820 ---$937,381
6 Kyle Busch --------------11.67 ----814 --$1,071,986
7 Kevin Harvick -----------11.50 ---805 --$1,010,261
8 Mark Martin ------------13.00 ---767 ---$807,600
9 Jeff Burton --------------13.83 ---751 ---$812,390
10 Ryan Newman ---------14.33 ---729 ---$828,849
11 Jamie McMurray -------17.00 --725 --$1,081,599
12 Tony Stewart ----------16.50 ---707 ---$818,788
13 David Reutimann ------17.83 ---704 ---$968,721
14 Jimmie Johnson -------18.83 ---702 --$1,298,543
15 Dale Earnhardt Jr. ----17.00 ---685 ---$632,625
16 Clint Bowyer ----------18.33 ---684 --$660,025
17 Paul Menard ----------17.50 ---679 ---$614,225
18 Martin Truex Jr. ------18.17 ---658 ---$589,750
19 A J Allmendinger ------18.17 ---656 ---$784,681
20 Carl Edwards ---------19.50 ---645 ---$868,788

Jeff Gordon

Here again, four of the remaining five intermediate track races are part of the Chase. Notice the same names at the top of these standings…

Finally, here are the long track standings with 8 races in the books and 3 remaining (2 of which will be included in the Chase):

---------Long Track Championship Standings-----------
---------------------------Average --Total ----Total
--Driver -------------------Finish ---Points ---Earnings
1 Kevin Harvick -------------5.00 ---1,322 --$2,132,649
2 Denny Hamlin ------------12.00 ---1,127 --$1,355,820
3 Carl Edwards --------------9.13 ---1,117 --$1,401,325
4 Jeff Burton ---------------10.00 ---1,117 --$1,428,236
5 Greg Biffle ----------------11.38 ---1,106 --$1,787,545
6 Tony Stewart ------------10.88 ---1,098 --$1,498,525
7 Clint Bowyer -------------10.75 ---1,093 --$1,500,695
8 Kurt Busch --------------12.00 ---1,075 --$1,431,575
9 Mark Martin ------------14.00 ---1,013 --$1,182,770
10 Matt Kenseth ----------14.88 -----964 --$1,367,424
11 Jamie McMurray ------17.75 ------961 --$2,773,823
12 Kyle Busch ------------16.25 ------957 --$1,445,264
13 Jimmie Johnson -------17.63 ------954 --$1,581,934
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. ----16.38 ------947 --$1,836,245
15 David Reutimann -----15.38 ------947 --$1,408,889
16 Jeff Gordon -----------17.00 -----946 --$1,390,824
17 Juan Pablo Montoya --18.25 ------916 --$1,342,739
18 Kasey Kahne ---------18.50 ------901 --$1,417,446
19 Joey Logano ----------18.38 ------883 --$1,273,297
20 Paul Menard ----------17.75 ------883 --$1,004,920

All Right! Kevin Harvick!

Based on these results, I really have to wonder what Jeff Gordon’s honest feelings are concerning NASCAR’s Chase format.

Jeff Gordon will make the Chase again this season and with 8 of the 10 Chase races on short and intermediate length tracks, Gordon might not be a bad bet to win it all, but will he in his last season being known as the Rainbow Warrior?

Daytona Dreams

Kevin Harvick, after winning the Coke Zero 400 last month, set the tone for what was to come when he said in victory lane; "I don't care so much about the trophy; I want some of the pavement from the start/finish line..." Harvick went on to say from Victory Lane, "This race track obviously is the most historic racetrack that we race on, and I think if that asphalt could talk, you can go back and look at all the stories. Any time you can win, though, whether it's new asphalt or old asphalt, it's always going to be the baddest place to win, and that's Daytona."

Immediately after the end of the 2010 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway workers started swarming over NASCAR's most famous racetrack. For the first time in Daytona’s fifty plus years, the old racing surface is being completely removed and replaced (In 1978 a fresh layer of asphalt was laid down on top of the existing track). This is a pictorial of the process one month in.

First, the perimeter light poles, safety fencing and safer barriers had to come down.

Then the fun began as the old asphalt was ripped up and hauled away to what I suppose is someplace like a Fort Knox. I say that based on the fact that the old, historic track surface is going to be marketed to the general public. This work is taking the surface out, completely down to the original lime/rock base.

If you’re interested in picking up a piece of NASCAR’s history, go to this site and check into it: http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/

I’m not sure what they plan on asking for a piece of asphalt but with Jostens (yes the yearbook and class ring people) it probably will be pricey…

Wouldn’t ya know it! Gene Haddock’s close friend, DW, along with his little brother were there to lend a hand and help out on the removal job. (Good Ol' DW...)

HEY! Put that back Mikey!

(You do have to hand it to those Waltrip brothers. They always seem ready to show up and help promote the sport that made them famous.)

With the old track surface removed, the soil base will be carefully laid back out and re-compacted then a four-layer repaving process will be carried out. This is a cross section of what the new track surface will be:

Here’s a peek at the repaving equipment at work:

How'd you like to run up and down that banking?

As precise as this initial layer (drainage) work appears, I’m going to venture to say that each subsequent layer will receive ever higher levels of precision. We hear the drivers talk out of both sides of their mouth concerning the old surface. Some hated the bumpiness while others welcomed racing on it saying the bumpiness gave Daytona uniqueness found nowhere else. Well boys, I’ve found in my life that although most people don’t like change, that is one of the few things that's inevitable. It’s my opinion that this new surface will take the quality of racing to a whole new level.

A job this size requires an on-site asphalt cooker!

As the repaving process continues fans can still tour the Daytona International Speedway, notice the tour trams in the foreground:

So why the estimated $22 million job? (This has been added to satisfy CR) Remember last February's 500? It's all Fox Sports' fault!

There he is! Get 'em!

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January 1st is the completion date at which point 33 acres of new pavement will have been precisely laid out on NASCAR’s premier racing facility. Recently Jamie McMurray and Chip Ganassi unveiled the 2011 Daytona 500 logo.

I can’t wait!

Resources:
http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/07/06/daytona-to-mine-asphalt-for-gold/
http://www.roadracerx.com/breaking-news/daytona-international-speedway-to-repave/
http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/july/121009/Waltrip-brothers-help-repave-speedway
http://www.examiner.com/x-9182-Motorsports-Examiner~y2010m5d1-FYI-WIRZ-Earnhardt-Jr-in-No-3-Daytona-over-old-track