Happy Monday everyone!

Today In Nascar History

March 23, 1997: Dale Jarrett wins the TranSouth Financial 400 Cup race at Darlington from the pole, beating Ted Musgrave to the line by .169 seconds. No driver has won a Cup race from the pole at Darlington since.

Bits and Pieces

Marlin wins Saturday Night Special at Bristol

Sterling Marlin got an assist from teammate Andy Petree and lead from start to finish to capture the Scotts Saturday Night Special at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 51-year-old Marlin started on the pole after Petree finished first in his celebrity heat. The Columbia, Tenn., native was elated in victory lane, where he was awarded the same trophy that will go to Sunday’s Food City 500 winner.

 ”Man, that felt so good,” said Marlin. “It felt so good to get in the car and to run like that. It just felt good to come back and run like that. I just had a great car and Andy got me a really good starting position. I had a great time. I’d like to do this again. I ran this car a couple of times in Nashville. Andy had tested a couple of times and we talked some. Andy’s car was really fast. I had a good car… so we should have won it.’

Rusty Wallace finished second, followed by L.D. Ottinger, Terry Labonte and Jimmy Spencer. Rounding out the 12-car field was Harry Gant, Phil Parsons, Jack Ingram, Cale Yarborough, David Green, Junior Johnson and Larry Pearson.

In the first heat of the afternoon featuring celebrity drivers, Philadelphia Akers place-kicker David Akers outlasted the field to take the win, while former crew chief and current ESPN analyst Petree picked up the win in the second heat. Trailing Akers to the finish line in the first heat was Bill Jordan, followed by Riki Rachtman, Frank Beamer and Mike Compton.

Brad Daugherty finished second to Petree in the second heat while Ron Capps came home third and Ray Evernham finished fourth.

Doug Herbert and Greg Anderson wrecked their cars in practice and were unable to compete in the second heat.

Race and Commercial Breakdown of the Food City 500
Total number of commercials: 127
Total number of companies or entities advertised: 67
Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 82
Start time to record race/commercial periods: 2:00 PM
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:10 PM
Total minutes: 190
Minutes of race broadcast: 137
Minutes of commercials: 53
Number of missed restarts: 0
Animated Digger sightings: 7
Digger still shots: 28

Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #33-Bowyer has been running at the finish in 78 consecutive races, the longest current streak, only 3 races behind the modern era record of #29-Harvick who had 81 until DNFing at California in Feb 2009, next up is #48-Johnson at 29 consecutive races. The all-time record for the longest streak of NOT having an DNF is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 [Beam didn't run all the races, but didn't DNF in 84 straight consecutive races that he ran]. Kevin Harvick holds the modern era (1972-present) record at 81 [he also has the 2nd longest at 58], then Jeff Gordon at 56 and Dale Earnhardt at 53 [Indy in 1996 thru Martinsville in the spring of 1998.

250 top 5's for Gordon: #24-Jeff Gordon made his 550th career start at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Food City 500, with his 4th place finish, Gordon now has 250 top-five finishes, which is 7th best all time. Next up is Cale Yarborough at 255. Richard Petty has the most with 555.

TRG Motorsports Heads to Martinsville 35th in Owner Points: David Gilliland soldiered through a tough day at Bristol Motor Speedway to finish the #71 Capital Window/TRG Motorsports Chevy in 36th position in the Food City 500. The team leaves Bristol 35th in owner points assuring that they are locked into next weekend's race at Martinsville.(TRG Motorsports PR)

Bristol could be last race for #28 UPDATE - done: Sources at Yates Racing confirmed that Sunday’s Food City 500 will be the last race in the foreseeable future for the #28 Ford driven by Travis Kvapil. Last year, the team was able to piecemeal enough sponsorship together to last the entire season for the #28, but despite some support from Golden Corral for the first five races of 2009, it wasn’t enough to keep the car going beyond this week.(SPEEDtv) UPDATE: Yates Racing will suspend operations of the #28 Ford of Travis Kvapil due to lack of sponsorship following Sunday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The team entered the race 40th in points. A decision on how many employees will be laid off has not been made. Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing that partners with Yates, said most of the #28 team members will be dispersed to other parts of the organization. "It's difficult to be in a situation when you have to deal with the consequences of the economy," Smith said. "We're in a situation where there's no extra cash to support running an unsponsored car for any period of time. If the economy picks up later in the season maybe we'll be able to pick up something for that team." The team suffered a major setback when Kvapil failed to make the third race at Las Vegas. That was compounded a week later when a blown engine left him 42nd at Atlanta. Smith wasn't optimistic sponsorship for Kvapil will come this season. He's having enough trouble with selling sponsorship for some of his other programs, such as Aflac on Carl Edwards' car, that have asked for relief. Roush has sponsors for all of its drivers through at least 2010 except Matt Kenseth, whose deal with DeWalt expires after this year. Smith said he's working with DeWalt to find a partner for next season. "There's a lot of pressure internally and externally for sponsors to decrease participation and find a partner or pull back altogether," Smith said. "There just aren't enough sponsors on our side of the garage to go around right now."(ESPN.com)

Loomis on the pit box for Sadler: An ill Kevin Buskirk left Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night and Richard Petty Motorsports Executive Vice President of Race Operations Robbie Loomis will serve as crew chief for #19-Elliott Sadler in the Food City 500 today. It will be the first time Loomis will be calling the shots for a driver since he worked with Jeff Gordon in 2005. “The big thing is figuring out what’s wrong with [Buskirk] – his wife is getting him checked out [by doctors] today,” Loomis said Sunday morning. “We’ve got a great team over there. Everybody knows their role. Kevin Kidd is their engineer, and I’ll be there for any assistance and leaning on.” Buskirk had been feeling ill all weekend, and Loomis had been paying more attention to the team in case Buskirk had to leave. As part of his new role resulting from the Petty Motorsports-Gillett Evernham Motorsports merger, Loomis oversees all the crew chiefs in the RPM organization. Loomis said the decisions on whether to take tires and fuel on pit stops as well as changes that will be made to the car likely will be done by committee. “We’ll be talking about it as a team, but I’ll be the voice on the radio,” Loomis said. “It will be fun. I’ve always liked Elliott. I’ve never worked with him. I’ll have to get that Virginia slang down pat.”(SceneDaily)

Stewart donates to help injured Shih Tzu: #14-Tony Stewart's charitable foundation has donated an undisclosed amount of money to pay surgery costs for an injured stray Shih Tzu dog. Around midnight on St. Patrick's Day, the three-year-old male was taken to the Humane Society for Hamilton County with a broken back, and he needed immediate surgery. Joni Thompson, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Tony Stewart Foundation, found out and told the driver, whose Shih Tzu, Buddy, died in 2007. The foundation made a gift to the Humane Society specifically covering the costs of the surgery and the dog's special "wheelchair" to make up for losing the use of his hind legs. Stewart's past philanthropic work earned him NASCAR Illustrated "Person of the Year" honors last year.(Florida Today/AP)

Kahne and Setzer test at Motor Mile: Two Sprint Cup teams participated in a test this past Tuesday (March 17th) at Motor Mile Speedway. The track in Radford, VA was because of the similarities it shared with the paper-clip Martinsville Speedway short track in Henry County. Banked 15 degrees in the turns, MMS has a steeper banking than Martinsville by a mere three degrees. Certain similarities are the reason many teams throughout the NASCAR spectrum choose Motor Mile Speedway as their proving ground for waging a competitive campaign at weekend short tracks. In attendance on this particular Tuesday were Kasey Kahne, driver of Richard Petty Motorsports’ #9 Budweiser Dodge, and the #46 Romeo Guest sponsored Dodge, owned by Carl Long and driven by Dennis Setzer. It was Kahne’s first outing at the .416-mile oval. For veteran driver Dennis Setzer, the asphalt corners of MMS have become as familiar as the finish line at Martinsville. For crew chief Kenny Francis, the Radford short track could serve as a solution for more speed at the Sunday short tracks looming on the Sprint Cup schedule. “This is a pretty good track and pretty close to home. It’s got good grip and is pretty consistent, so you can learn here; you don’t have to chase the tires all day,” explains Francis. Carl Long and Setzer have partnered up in order to attempt the 500-lap event at Martinsville later this month. By the end of the test session the #46 team was a half-second off the pace set by Kahne’s #9 Dodge, with a top time of only 16.5.(MMS site)

RPM adds races to Allmendinger's sched: #44-AJ Allmendinger is confident that he not only will be rewarded next week with not having to worry about qualifying, he also will be awarded in future weeks with additional races to his original nine-race schedule for Richard Petty Motorsports. Originally Allmendinger was going to run the first eight events through Phoenix next month, but the team has added the four following points races – Talladega, Richmond, Darlington and Lowe’s Motor Speedway – in addition to NASCAR's Sprint All-Star Race. The other race, which already was on his schedule, is the July race at Daytona. Having pieced together sponsorship this year from Air Force, Valvoline, Charter, Harrah’s and LifeLock, the team has enough funds to keep Allmendinger in the seat at least through late May. Allmendinger has qualified for 10 consecutive events dating back to last season. At 20th in owner points, Allmendinger is all but assured he will remain in the top 35 heading into Martinsville next week, as he qualified at Bristol for his fifth consecutive race on speed – the only driver to do so in the first five races except for Tony Stewart, who had a past champion’s provisional if he needed it.(SceneDaily)

Kurt Busch victory lap gets name: #2-Kurt Busch had a contest to name the victory lap he ran at Atlanta in reverse. Winning entry, The Unwind Lap.(Virginian-Pilot)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Defends Embattled Crew Chief: #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has become accustomed to the topic. It’s been one of the primary debates in NASCAR for several years, but the heat has increased this season. Is the often-volatile working relationship between Earnhardt, Jr. and his cousin, Tony Eury, Jr. conducive to winning races? Eury serves as the crew chief on Earnhardt’s #88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. The two often engage in animated discussions – even arguments – over the scanner during races. Entering Sunday’s Food City 500, Earnhardt ranks 24th in Sprint Cup points with just one top-10 finish. Many of Earnhardt’s loyal fans blame Eury. Earnhardt addressed his struggles as well as his relationship with his cousin during a wide-ranging press conference Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I have said it a hundred times – and it just doesn’t seem to make a dent – but the guy that I feel bad for is Tony, Jr. because he gets criticized so badly,” Earnhardt said. “Everybody in this room – and some of you have criticized him yourselves – know how smart a guy he is. He is a good mechanic and a solid crew chief.” Clearly, Earnhardt has become frustrated with the attacks on his cousin by fans and media types. “[Eury, Jr.] just wanted to do this for a living, just like I do, but I’ll take the fall,” Earnhardt said. “I would rather be crucified than him. Every time I read in the paper that people are on his case, I feel like I am sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed, you know what I mean. I feel bad for him because he just wants to work and have fun.” As for the free-flowing chats with his crew chief, Earnhardt said it comes with the territory in a hyper-competitive and emotional sport. “There are riffs between every driver and every crew chief, and they work it out or they don’t,” Earnhardt said. “I think me and Tony, Jr. do a pretty good job of working it out. Obviously, through everything we have been through, we still love each other to death and would do anything for each other.”(Bristol Herald Courier)

Expected sigh of relief for Petty Motorsports

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Thanks in part to AJ Allmendinger’s spot-on performances in qualifying this season, Richard Petty Motorsports is all but certain to get a breather when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Martinsville next week.

Barring a disaster of epic proportions Sunday at Bristol, all of RPM’s cars will be locked into a Cup event for the first time in 73 races — meaning that vice president of competition Mark McArdle won’t have to agonize during qualifying for the March 29 Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

All four Petty cars are comfortably in the top 35 in 2009 owner points, and all four are in the field for Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol. Through that race, the top 35 cars in season-ending 2008 owner points were guaranteed starting spots in Cup races. Henceforth, the current top 35 will determine which cars are locked into the field.

“Beginning in 2007 at that spring Martinsville race, the No. 10 car fell out of the top 35, and it’s been a long two years,” McArdle said. “It’s not something you want to get good at (qualifying), but I guess we’ve had to.”

Allmendinger has qualified on speed for each of the first five races; only he and Tony Stewart share that distinction — and Stewart had the safety net of a past champion’s provisional starting spot to use as needed.

In the 2009 owners’ standings, the No. 9 Dodge driven by Kasey Kahne is ninth, the No. 19 of Elliott Sadler is 17th, Allmendinger’s No. 44 is 20th and the No. 43 of Reed Sorenson (which superseded the No. 10 after an offseason merger between Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Holdings) is 27th.

McArdle hopes the solid performances of the organization will ease the search for additional sponsorship for Allmendinger, whose schedule has been extended for five races and now includes all events through the May 24 Coca-Cola 600 as well as the Coke Zero 400 in July.

“Hopefully, this says to (potential sponsors) that we’ve got our act together and we’re worthy of consideration,” McArdle said. “If we can keep the momentum going, keep some interest coming our way, hopefully we can continue to extend five races more at a time and patch together a full season for that 44.

“I think it’s vital to the performance of the whole team.”

For McArdle, the relief derived from having all four cars in the show is almost palpable.

“I used to be 6-4,” he joked, “and I had a lot less gray hairs 73 races ago.”

Ambrose getting the hang of oval racing

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn.–With a strong qualifying effort, Marcos Ambrose started 13th Sunday. With an astute call to stay on the track during the first round of pit stops under caution, Ambrose’s crew chief, Frank Kerr, leap-frogged the Australian driver to third in the running order.

If there was a surprise in Sunday’s race, it’s that Ambrose, who made his reputation as a road-course racer, managed to hold onto a 10th-place finish despite dropping a cylinder in the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota late in the race. His previous best Cup finish on an oval track was 17th at Daytona earlier this year.

“I’m really keen to trying to break that mentality thing of a road-racing guy,” Ambrose said. “I know I’m good on road courses, but I want to be good at every single track we go to, and today was a big step to really validate why I’m here on a full-time Cup ride.

“Just really excited for my guys. I’m just so proud of them for giving me a great car today and for just working so hard. We’re going to celebrate tonight because it feels like a win to us considering the adversity that we had today.”

Kvapil does his job but still needs help

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn.–Unless something good happens–soon–Travis Kvapil won’t be racing next Sunday at Martinsville. Bottom line: the No. 28 Yates Racing Ford needs sponsorship to continue the 2009 Cup campaign.

Kvapil did his part Sunday, finishing 18th at Bristol on a dismal day for the Ford camp. During one stretch he battled race winner Kyle Busch lap after lap in an attempt to stay on the lead lap, a contest Busch eventually won.

Only Carl Edwards (15th) had a better result for the manufacturer. Kvapil knows, however, that the effort and determination he showed Sunday still might not be enough to attract backing for his team.

“Today we weren’t laying over for anybody,” Kvapil said. “We had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I raced 110 percent every lap. It was frustrating. I hate it for Kyle. I’m sure he was frustrated and wanted to just wreck me, but he did a great job of racing me clean.

“Who knows? If the caution would have come out, we would have stayed on the lead lap and we could have finished four or five spots higher at the end of the day.

“Right now, Martinsville is questionable. Hopefully in the next 24 hours something great happens to this team. That’s all we can pray for.”

Johnson elated by 3rd-place finish

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn.–As crew chief Chad Knaus reminded driver Jimmie Johnson late in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, sometimes it pays to look at the big picture.

Though Johnson ran in the top five most of the afternoon, the big picture on Sunday simply meant finishing the race near the front of the field.

So when Kyle Busch knifed between Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet and the lapped car of Sam Hornish Jr. to take the lead on Lap 369, Johnson wasn’t concerned. When race runner-up Denny Hamlin grabbed the second spot a few laps later, it was still no big deal in the overall scheme of things.

“My deal wasn’t to race the 18 (Busch), and even when Denny got to me, I let him go,” said Johnson, who jumped four positions to ninth in the Sprint Cup standings, the first time this season he has occupied a Chase-eligible position. “I knew I had a top-three, top-five car. I just wanted to finish this race. I wanted to see all 500 laps.

“If it was (down) to the last pit stop, and I had a shot at it, throw caution to the wind at that point. Up until then, I needed to figure out how to run 500 laps here, finish up front. That was my goal today, and we did it.”

Busch bashes at boring Bristol

Greg Engle/nascarexaminer.com

Sunday’s race at Bristol had about as much drama as a Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin movie (If who you don’t know who they are just ask your parents).

Kyle Busch won his second race of the year and the 14th of his career. But it wasn’t exactly in dramatic fashion. Busch led 378 of the 503 laps run and other then a few token challenges simply cruised to victory.

There were moments that looked like they could set the stage for some high drama. Marcos Ambrose ran inside the top five for most of the second half of the race and looked to be setting up for a run at a dramatic upset victory, but that faded when his engine lost a cylinder. He finished 10th his best Sprint Cup finish on an oval. Jimmie Johnson led some laps but came home third and will have to try again next time around to score that elusive Bristol win.

In the end not even a green white checker flag finish could provide the type of action we normally associate with Bristol

Perhaps the biggest drama came from the endless parade of movie promos shown during the television broadcast. John Cena’s new movie ’12 Rounds’ is coming out Friday, as viewers were reminded by the announcers and the seemingly endless display of graphics bouncing all over the screen.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and no doubt Fox needed the money the promos paid, something that unfortunately is happening a lot in the media during these tough economic times.

There were some desperate times for several drivers in terms of their standings in the owner’s points coming into Sunday. Bristol was the last race that used the top 35 in owner’s points from last season was used to set the field. Starting at Martinsville next week the top 35 owner points from this season will determine the field, and that will change week to week.

But there was no real drama there either as t0hose drivers who needed to stay inside the top 35 did so. Both Mark Martin and Ryan Newman the most high profile drivers near the cutoff both had good finishes, Martin finished sixth and Newman came home just behind him in seventh. Those finishes were the best of the season for both drivers and have them comfortably inside the top 35. Martin gained four spots and is in 31st while Newman moved up five and is in 27th.

No one however actually dropped out of the top 35, even the upstart TRG Racing, which boosts a total of 10 crewmembers and driver David Gilliland, managed to hang on to the 35th spot despite finishing 36th, 10 laps down Sunday.

On a high note, after there was some question whether Bristol would be a sellout, something that had happened 54 consecutive times. The sellout did happen Sunday keeping a streak alive that has dated back to 1982, by the way that‘s the same year that John Cena star of the new movie ’12 Rounds’ that debuts in theatres nationwide this Friday March 27th turned five years old.

The full grandstands at Bristol Sunday saw an uncharacteristic Bristol affair. There were no bashed up fenders, flying fists or bruised egos. In fact NASCAR had to issue only one warning for rough driving and that was to Juan Pablo Montoya, nothing unusual there.

In the end Kyle Busch dominated and actually won unlike last fall where he came up just a bit short in what turned out to be a pretty dramatic ending for Carl Edwards.

There was no drama at Bristol Sunday however. Of course there will be plenty of drama and a lot of action when ’12 Rounds’ starring John Cena debuts in theaters Nationwide this Friday.

Yeah, times are tough all over.

See you at Martinsville.

Busch pokes fun at Earnhardt

by Lee Spencer/foxsports.com

Kyle Busch led the field for most of Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he seemed acutely aware of what was happening behind him — way behind him.

When the race's sixth caution was called for debris on Lap 320, Busch noted which lapped car was allowed to return to the lead lap. ''Eighty-eight, lucky dog," he crowed into his radio. "Hahahahaha!"

"Eighty-eight" would be, of course, Dale Earnhardt Jr. The driver who took Busch's place at Hendrick Motorsports. The driver who sells more souvenirs than anyone else. The driver who has one win since debuting with Hendrick Motorsports last season — nine fewer than Busch has compiled for Joe Gibbs Racing over the same period.

After the race, Busch was asked about being compared to Earnhardt — Senior — in racing style, fan popularity and souvenir sales.

"Well, I haven't really paid attention a whole lot to the souvenir sales and stuff," Busch said. "I really don't care about that stuff. I'm not out there to be No. 1. We all know who No. 1 is and forever will be. "To me, I go out there to win races, to be No. 1 on the racetrack. That's where I feel like I win, where my benefit is."

Joe Gibbs Racing had a history of dominating runs at Bristol. But despite the team leading the most laps in the spring race the last three years, no JGR driver could close the deal — until Busch on Sunday.

"Yeah, boys. That's what I'm talking about," Busch said as he took the checkered flag.

"Bristol, buddy. Always wanted to win one here," replied crew chief Steve Addington.

Busch initially took the lead from Jimmie Johnson on Lap 69. From there, he methodically picked off drivers one car at a time, putting all but 21 cars a lap down by Lap 261 of 503. Only his teammate Denny Hamlin, who finished second, was able to pass him for the lead under competition.

After Busch was penalized because of a miscue from his pit crew in the Nationwide race on Saturday after leading 156 of 300 laps, he was a bit sensitive following Sunday's second-to-last pit stop from the finish. When the No. 18 car exited pit road third behind Jimmie Johnson and Hamlin, it elicited a snarky "Do we all see how important pit road is?" from the driver,

Busch took the lead 47 laps later. Although he relinquished one lap to Hamlin over the final 135 circuits, his crew heard the message and was able to hold the lead for Busch in the pits on the final stop.

"I told the ladies to man up and they did," Busch said.

With eight laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano's Gibbs entry blew up, bringing out the ninth caution of the day and sending the race into overtime. Given that Busch had led 415 laps last August and was nudged out of the lead by Carl Edwards for the win, the last thing he wanted to see on his way to leading 378 circuits on Sunday was the caution.

"There was a teammate behind me so I was hoping he was going to be good and not get into me or anything like what happened to me last year," Busch said. "I've got full belief in Denny and trust him. If it came down to it the reversed way and I couldn't get by him clean I wouldn't try to make it worse for the both of us. That's how it should always be with teammates."

Busch was able to sprint off the restart and increased his lead by 0.391 of a second at the finish over Hamlin with Johnson. Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five.

After the race, his teammate wasn't feeling nearly as charitable. Would Hamlin have punted his teammate if he caught him during the final restart?

"For sure," Hamlin said. "He's won too much."

Busch's 14th career Sprint Cup victory in 155 starts — and his second at Bristol Motor Speedway — enabled him to climb three positions in the points to fourth. Gordon remains on top of the standings with a 76-marker lead over Kurt Busch.

All's good in the No. 88 camp

On Sunday, Earnhardt Jr. reiterated what his crew chief/cousin Tony Eury Jr. said the day before: Everything is fine on the No. 88 crew.

"He's in good shape," Earnhardt said. "The media and the internet and all that, they make such a big deal out of everything and it is definitely not reality."

Sources close to the situation say that team owner Rick Hendrick sat with the driver and crew chief behind closed doors in Las Vegas well after the Cup garage was closed to discuss their relationship and what he could do to improve things. At that point, the team was 35th in the point standings and the critics weren't relenting.

Since then, they recorded their first top 10 of the season that weekend and finished 11th at Atlanta seven days later. Although Earnhardt qualified 34th for Bristol, he was forced to start at the rear of the field after the team elected to change transmissions before the race. Regardless, Earnhardt salvaged a 14th-place finish in the Food City 500 and vaulted five positions in the standings to 19th.

"We need to run better than that," Earnhardt said. "We had a better car than was the result but that was my fault for qualifying so poorly."

On a related note, Eury confirmed that the No. 88 team replaced rear-tire changer D.J. Richardson with Kip Wolfmeier from the No. 5's back-up squad.

Danger zone

Only 35 points separate rookie Joey Logano from being inside the top 35 in owner points and having to qualify on time at Martinsville Speedway on Friday.

David Gilliland is on the bubble (35th) after he finished 36th at Bristol while Scott Speed, Aric Almirola and Paul Menard are among the full-timers who will be required to make the show on time next weekend.

Joe Gibbs admits his veteran crew chief Greg Zipadelli, who won the last two championships for JGR, "is really upset." But Gibbs defended his freshman driver, noting the difficulty of the Cup Series and how a lack of testing has hampered the team's progress.

"It probably hurts the young guy a lot more than a vet, a guy that's been around," Gibbs said. "I think that was a tough deal for us. Many times Joey has been at someplace where he's never had a lap in (the Car of Tomorrow). I think it's been a struggle for us. He's had two wrecks. Other people caused them. Then we blow a motor. It's been disheartening."

With Home Depot signed up for the season, Gibbs is locked in with his decision. Bringing in a seasoned driver for his flagship program and easing the 18-year-old into his role with the fourth team likely would have been a better strategy.

Less well-heeled teams, such as the No. 28 Yates Racing team with Travis Kvapil, which is currently 39th in points, will be parked this week unless a sponsor can be found.

"Of course this is where I want to be and this is the team I want to be with," Kvapil said before the race on Sunday.

However, after discovering his fate on the internet on Saturday, Kvapil hasn't had time to formulate Plan B.

The problems aren't isolated to Yates Racing.

Team owner Chip Ganassi says he "was hoping to get to 10" races with Almirola this season but added, "I don't think we're going to make it. It's disappointing. That's a great team and they've done a good job. I hate to blame it on the economy, but we'll see."

In his head

Jimmie Johnson has won at all but six of the 22 racetracks on the Sprint Cup schedule. One venue that has eluded Johnson is Bristol. In 15 starts on the half-mile track, Johnson's average finish is 16.4 — not very JJ-like considering his short-track prowess. Between Martinsville and Richmond, Johnson has eight career wins.

So Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus the No. 48 Lowe's crew went back to the drawing board.

"My guys sat me down a couple weeks ago, we went through our data," Johnson said. "I made a wish list of what I wanted the car to do. Chad and the guys really gave me what I needed."

While Johnson can't scratch Bristol off the tracks where he has yet to win, he did match a career-high third-place finish and posted his first top-five of the season. The performance enabled Johnson to gain four positions in the standings and move into the Chase zone for the first time this year.

Busch-Earnhardt Jr. Swap Turning Into One Of The Worst 'Trades' In NASCAR History

John Close/closefinishes.com

John Holland and Rick Hendrick have a lot in common even though they probably never met each other.

Holland, the General Manager of the Chicago Cubs from 1957-1975, is noted for making one of the worst trades in the history of Major League Baseball when he dealt young outfielder Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz in 1964. Brock went on to a Hall of Fame career over the next decade plus with the Cards while Broglio and Shantz went a combined 8-21 over the next two seasons, both exiting the Cubs’ roster by the end of 1965.

At present, it looks like Hendrick – the captain of the ship at Hendrick Motorsports - has his own ‘Brock for Broglio’ swap jettisoning Kyle Busch for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. prior to the start of the 2008 NASCAR season. Since then, Busch has ruled the NASCAR scene while Earnhardt has been little more than an also ran in most events.

The numbers in the Busch versus Earnhardt are overwhelmingly in ‘The Shrub’s’ favor. Busch’s latest win – a dominating performance in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol – gave him 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup victories since leaving Hendrick Motorsports. Meanwhile, Earnhardt has just one victory while driving for Hendrick, that coming last June at Michigan. In the 41 Cup races since the driver swap was made, Busch has double the Top-5 finishes – 20 compared to Earnhardt’s 10 - and 24 Top-10 efforts to ‘Little E’s’ 17.

Aside from the wins, the most glaring discrepancy is that Busch has led 3,761 laps to Earnhardt’s 897 over those past 41 events. In the last 15 races - since the beginning of the ‘Chase’ at Loudon, NH last year - Earnhardt has led a total of just 22 circuits and has just one of lap led so far this season. Meanwhile, Busch led 378 laps in Sunday’s race at Bristol alone while Earnhardt needed three ‘Lucky Dog’ free passes just to hang on the lead lap and finish 14th.

If you ever needed proof that Earnhardt hasn’t been a front-runner of late or has been outperformed by Busch since the driver swap, these stats say it all.

We bring up these points not to ‘bag’ on Earnhardt or Hendrick, but to rather point out that for all the hype and hoopla surrounding the deal, the fact is that like any trade in baseball, football, basketball and any other sport, there is usually a winner and a loser. In this case – at least so far - it’s pretty easy to see who got the best of this deal.

More Shrub

It’s too bad most of the media – including NASCAR’s PR machine – have drank the Kool Aid on Earnhardt, Jr. While they are all fawning over Junior’s latest non-accomplishments in print and on the air, they are missing out on reporting one of the greatest hot streaks in Stock Car racing history.

Busch’s win Sunday at Bristol was his fifth this season – two in Cup, one in Nationwide, and two in the Truck Series. Over the past 14 months (two which didn’t have any racing), Busch has won 26 times (10 Cup, 11 Nationwide, 5 Truck). In 2009, Busch has won at least one time every weekend he has competed in a NASCAR race.

Few hot streaks in the history of NASCAR compare to Busch’s current run of victories. Richard Petty’s 43 Cup wins over the 1967 and 1968 seasons is the first, and frankly, the only one that immediately comes to mind when looking for a comparable hot streak.

You would think that sooner or later, the media (and NASCAR) are going to notice what Busch is doing is incredibly special. Right now, Busch is racing's Tiger Woods, but Busch hasn't captured the public's imagination because the majority of the racing media and NASCAR are too busy reporting Earnhardt, Jr’s. latest struggles, what Jimmie and Jeffy are doing in their spare time, or shoving the exploits of the annimated (inane?) character Digger down the fan's throats.

In a time when NASCAR really needs a publicty boost, Busch is providing one of Tiger-like epic proportions. Too bad nobody seems to know about it or want to report it.  

Send ‘Em To Jail

Seeing Busch pick up a beer can and pretend to drink from it after winning at Bristol Sunday was a humorous way to diffuse what could have been a tragic moment.

Anyone who thinks it’s cool, funny, or more importantly, justified to throw a beer can – or anything else for that matter – on the track or at someone is a complete moron and should be immediately arrested. No questions asked, throw their ass in jail. There is no place in the sport for grandstand cowards who think the price of admission allows them to injure someone – all because their personal favorite driver failed to beat the winning competitor and team.

We again call out to the good fans in racing to curtail this abhorrent behavior by immediately pointing out the offenders to track police and security staff. If NASCAR and the tracks have to beef up security to accomplish this, so be it. More stadium announcements prior to the events about the consequences of such behavior are also a good idea and don’t cost anything to produce. Unless these things happen, it’s just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured – or worse.

Wouldn’t that make a great Sportscenter highlight? Can you see the show’s opening - Bristol winner Kyle Busch being loaded into an ambulance with serious injuries after been hit by a half-full beer can thrown by some fool from 50 rows up? The sport is struggling enough with identity, competitive and economic issues without having to deal with that kind of crap.

C’mon people. If you can’t control your behavior, STAY HOME. Racing doesn’t need you or your cash.

Thinkin’ Out Loud

Food City 500

Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch.com

The Key Moment: Kyle Busch was able to hold off teammate Denny Hamlin in the final two lap shootout that decided the race.

In a Nutshell: Geographically it’s in the same place but this joint just doesn’t seem like Bristol anymore does it?

Dramatic Moment: Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya actually got annoyed with each other and did a little rooting and gouging. Relatively speaking everybody else acted like choirboys on a field trip to a basilica.

What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week

You know, if you look at it dispassionately the racing at Bristol is actually way better as far as side by side racing and passing rather than a constant series of wrecks but it’s just not as much fun is it?

So what’s really changed at Bristol? Is it the new track configuration, the new cars, the new tires, or the new points system?

Did I miss it or was there no Digger cartoon today? Maybe someone at FOX is finally getting the picture. Certainly there were far less mentions of the annoying little rodent when he popped up on the screen and the attempts to sell Digger merchandise seemed almost desperate at times. Given the state of the economy and the number of people laid off we could do a lot worse than to find Digger on the dole.

Fame is fickle. Matt Kenseth was the hottest thing since nuclear fusion after he won two races to start off the season but his terrible run at Bristol earned nary a comment from the broadcast crew other than a quick note (without visuals) stating he was in the pits with a broken splitter.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he wants to finish his career with Tony Eury Jr. as his crew chief. If his last name was something other than “Earnhardt” he likely already would have finished his career at least a couple years ago. The 88 team just can’t seem to get it together. It seems like an eternity since Earnhardt pulled off a weekend sweep here back in 2004.

Is Chevy ever going to win a race again? (My gut tells me either Johnson or Gordon will win next week.)

Apparently Mark Martin would like to compete again full time in 2010. Color me surprised. Cue up that old Lynyrd Skynrd LP because I’ll take the word of a liar…one more time. Don’t get me wrong. Martin is a class individual and his name belongs on any top 5 list of the greatest drivers never to win a title alongside Junior Johnson and Tim Richmond, but I feel he owes anyone who bought his “Salute to You” retirement gear what seems like a decade ago a refund.

Why would NASCAR open pit road with a safety vehicle (the yellow Ford Super Duty during the third caution period) parked sideways in front of the energy absorbing barrels at the entrance of pit road? They didn’t put those barrels there because nobody ever hits there.

NASCAR’s three short tracks steal a page from Goldilocks. Bristol might be too much and Martinsville might be too little but Richmond is just right.

Sadly I must report the demise of the Yates Racing number 28 team. With no sponsorship now and none on the horizon, the operation will shut down for the foreseeable future after Sunday’s race. Those who recall Davey Allison’s charge at the 1992 title and Ernie Irvan’s dramatic Loudon win after nearly dying in that car can’t help but mourn the team’s passing. Back in the day, the 28 team came to play, each and every weekend.

Well that’s troubling. Jack Roush’s sponsorship guru Geoff Smith (who was trying to find backing for the 28 team mentioned above) also noted that Carl Edwards’ primary sponsor AFLAC is looking for “relief”. That doesn’t mean the Duck people want to bail on the team. They just want other sponsors to step up to the plate and pay to run the car at some select events to ease the financial burden on the insurer. If Carl Edwards can’t find a full time sponsor willing to pay the freight that doesn’t speak well of the financial situation in today’s Cup garage.

Perhaps not unexpectedly Sunday’s Bristol Cup race sold out, continuing the trend of a sold out race followed by one with lackluster attendance this season. Hmmm. It almost seems if NASCAR would cut down on the number of races on the schedule they’d get better attendance and ratings for the remaining races. Nah. Too much of a good thing is never enough…..though too much of a mediocre thing is just too much.

For all the hot air expended reminding people what a great driver Darrell Waltrip was at Bristol (and to be fair he won a ton of races here) wouldn’t it have been nice for DW to put his money where his ever-ratcheting mouth is and run that Saturday night all-star race?

In the comments section of my column last week someone took exception to my comments on Joey Logano noting that nobody expected him to be racing in the Cup series this year, least of all Mr. Logano. Really? How’d that come to be?

(The morning of the 2009 Daytona 500)
Greg Zipadelli to Joe Gibbs: Joe, we have nobody to drive the 20 car today!
Gibbs: What? Where’s Tony?
Zippy: Well it turns out Tony Stewart left to start his own team.
Gibbs: Why didn’t I get the memo! Now what? Who around here has a crash helmet?
Zippy: Well there’s that Logano kid but he wasn’t expecting to be running Cup this season.
Gibbs: Aw, Hell, let’s give him a shot. He’s got a helmet.
Logano: Put me in, Coach, I’m ready to play.
Yes, folks did expect Logano to race in the Cup series this year. He just hasn’t so far, not to any meaningful degree anyway.

Maybe it’s time Michael Waltrip wakes up and smells the coffee? With his team cars running notably better with the exception of the 55 car, maybe he’d be doing himself and the team a favor concentrating on running the team and putting somebody else in the car? That’s not being cruel. A lot of good drivers who were a lot smarter than Waltrip found out that they couldn’t do both.

Yes, I know that it has absolutely nothing to do with racing, but I’m from Philly where we’ve endured a year long string of losses of our brave police officers in the line of duty. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families, friends and co-workers of the four Oakland, CA police officers murdered this weekend while doing their jobs. This crap has got to stop now or convicted felons need to start shooting the judges who gave them lenient sentences rather than cops.

The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune

Kevin Harvick’s Cup car just wasn’t up to speed all weekend, and getting caught up in an early race caution not of his own making just made his afternoon that much longer.

Despite a pretty spirited run peppered with an occasional flash of brilliance, Travis Kvapil finds himself without a ride next weekend.

Greg Biffle started the race with a rack of bruised up ribs (but no beat up old Buick and certainly not dressed like dynamite) and ended his day in 39th with a whole bunch of expensive engine bits reduced to rubble in his oil pan. On a brighter note nobody called him “The Biff”.

It had to irk Jack Roush to see four of his five drivers finish outside the top 25.

The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune

Marcos Ambrose scored his first top 10 finish on an oval track despite having dropped a cylinder while running in the top 10.

Kurt Busch’s day seemed over when he ran into the back of Kevin Harvick’s car after Michael Waltrip ran into Todd Bodine. Busch soldiered on to finish eleventh.

Jeff Gordon barely drove around the spinning car of Jamie McMurray en route to a fourth place finish.

Ryan Newman finished seventh which moved him all the way up to 27th in the standings. Sucks to be him, but it pays good.

The good news for Mark Martin is his sixth place finish which buys him a little breathing room in the that top 35 deal. The bad news is next week the circuit heads off to Martinsville, which oddly enough is Martin’s least favorite track. In fact Mark Martin once threatened to run naked through the grandstands if he won at Martinsville. I think we can all agree that that’s something (like this movie, 12 Rounds) we don’t want to see.

Worth Noting

• Kyle Busch has won at least one event every race weekend of this season. Nobody has won a Cup race this March other than the Busch brothers.
• The top 10 finishers at Bristol piloted three Toyotas, six Chevys and a Dodge. Carl Edwards in 15th was the top finishing Ford driver.
• Denny Hamlin’s second place finish was his best since he won at Martinsville a year ago next weekend.
• Jimmie Johnson (third) managed his first top 5 finish of the 2009 Cup season.
• Jeff Gordon (fourth) has strung together four straight top 6 finishes.
• Kasey Kahne (fifth) drove to his first top 5 finish since Charlotte last fall.
• Mark Martin’s sixth place finish was his best since Dover last fall.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (ninth) managed his first top 10 finish on an oval since Talladega last spring.
• Don’t look now but David Reutimann has finished in the top 15 in four of this season’s five points paying Cup races.
• Tony Stewart (17th) missed the top 10 for only the second time this season. Actually it was only the second time he didn’t finish eighth this season.

What’s the Points?

You’re already worried about the points? How do you sleep at night worrying about a flaming chunk of space debris crashing through your bedroom window and beaning you in the noggin?

For the record Jeff Gordon still leads the points. (And he still hasn’t won a race in well over a year. Maybe these F1 folks are onto something? Tune in Thursday when I’ll discuss just that.) Kurt Busch advanced a spot to take over second place in the standings, 76 points behind Gordon, displacing, Clint Bowyer who fell to third in the standings, four points behind Kurt.

Kyle Busch is fourth in the standings. If he didn’t get wrecked out at Daytona he’d be leaving the field in the dust.

Jimmie Johnson moved up four spots to ninth in the standings. Kasey Kahne moved up three spots to sixth.

Matt Kenseth, who won this year’s first two points paying races, fell five spots to tenth in the standings. Under the F1 system he’d be tied with Kyle Busch for the lead. We’ll talk about it. Tune in Thursday, same Matt-time, same Matt-station.

Kevin Harvick tumbled four spots to twelfth in the standings. Greg Biffle really took it on the chin (and in the ribs) at Bristol tumbling eight spots from tenth to 18th in the standings.

Fellow rookies Joey Logano and Scott Speed find themselves 34th and 35th in the standings respectively. They’ve got razor thin points margin gaps over that dreaded 36th spot in the standings that means a driver actually has to qualify for races on speed (the way God and Dale Earnhardt intended) rather than counting on corporate largesse and welfare to make the races.

If the Chase were to start right now….a whole lot of wasted Sunday afternoons better spent drinking beer or riding motorcycles could be avoided. But it’s not going to be so don’t worry about points…be happy.

Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) Yeah, there was some racing back in the pack and an occasional swap of the lead, but this one won’t go down on the Bristol highlight reel. We’ll give this one three cans because of unfulfilled expectations.

Next Up: Next week the series takes a step back to yesterday with a trip to Martinsville, NASCAR’s at least partially preserved anachronism of racing the way it used to be back when Cale Yarborough wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing a “Honda” hat.

A system to humble even NASCAR's Intimidator

Drivers agree, going to wins-only point system bad idea

By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The man in black would have been known as a great driver, but not necessarily a larger-than-life one. The Intimidator persona would have been a little softer around the edges, if it ever developed. All those No. 3 flags might never have been hoisted. NASCAR's greatest icon would have completed his career as a two-time champion, and perhaps never even emerged as an icon at all.

You want to emphasize victories more than anything else? You want to determine a champion by race wins, and not a points system? Then be prepared to suffer the consequences. There's no greater evidence of the fallacy of determining a champion exclusively by race wins than the knowledge that Dale Earnhardt -- called NASCAR's "greatest driver ever" by none other than former chairman Bill France Jr. upon his untimely passing at Daytona in 2001 -- would have seen his legendary status severely eroded under such a system.

Recent discussions in Formula One about adopting a championship format based solely on race wins have generated plenty of discussion on the same topic this week at Bristol Motor Speedway. No question, there are many NASCAR fans who pine for such a system, especially after watching Carl Edwards finish second to Jimmie Johnson last season despite amassing two more victories. Let's get this straight right now -- there's no evidence that NASCAR is even remotely considering such an idea, which is just fine with the men who pilot these 3,400-pound stock cars each weekend.

"I think if you determine your champion just based on wins, you're taking a huge gamble of having the wrong champion," Edwards said. "If one guy wins one race and runs 20th in the rest of them, and another guy finishes second in every single race, [the first] is not the right guy for a champion. The more and more I pay attention to all of these changes with all these point systems all over the board, the more I like the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series, where the guy with the best average finishing position throughout the year wins. I think the farther we get away from that, the bigger the chance of changing our sport to try to fit in with others and I don't think that's best for us."

And this from the guy who would have benefitted the most had such a system been in place last year. Go back through recent NASCAR history, and under a wins-only format titles would have awarded titles to drivers like Kasey Kahne (2006), Greg Biffle (2005), and Ryan Newman (2003). Jeff Gordon would have six titles, with crowns in 1999 (over Dale Jarrett) and 1996 (over Terry Labonte) to go along with the four he has now. Rusty Wallace would have three championships, Tony Stewart just one. And Earnhardt, who did more to make the sport popular among its grassroots fans than anyone else, would have exerted only a fraction of the impact that he ultimately made.

Had NASCAR employed the system being debated in F1, Earnhardt would still have his championships in 1990 and 1987. But he would have lost his 1994 and 1993 titles to Wallace, who came up empty despite seasons of eight and 10 victories, respectively. He would have surrendered his 1991 crown to either Davey Allison or Harry Gant, depending on what kind of tiebreaker was used. His 1986 triumph would have instead gone to Tim Richmond. And that 1980 championship, when a 29-year-old Earnhardt claimed an unexpected title that propelled him into better rides with Bud Moore and Richard Childress, would have been celebrated by Cale Yarborough.

Granted, statistics can never accurately reflect the measure of man. Earnhardt was such a presence, such a competitor, that he may very well have shaped the sport even if he had only enjoyed a portion of the success he did. But all those championships gave him credibility. They burnished his reputation, gave the very mention of his name a gravity other drivers could never match, provided him with unparalleled leverage both in NASCAR offices and in the grandstands. Earnhardt became larger than life because of all he did and all he was. Remove one of those from the equation, and you have to wonder if Earnhardt would have been able to mobilize an entire fan base in the way he did.

But the issue goes beyond Earnhardt. F1 is a series where a very few cars have any realistic chance of winning. It's a series with a 17-event schedule and races that are capped at two hours in length. By contract, the Sprint Cup tour is an absolute slog, a 36-event schedule where most races are 400 or 500 miles and take upwards of four hours to complete. Under those conditions, being able to overcome adversity is absolutely as important as winning. In NASCAR, as many championships have been won by salvaging a ninth-place race finish as they have by taking the checkered flag. Track promoters may hate it, fans maybe loathe to admit it, drivers may be frustrated by it, but being able to as squeeze as much as you can out of a less-than-perfect race car is one of the hallmarks of this sport.

"I like the fact that you have to show consistency," Jeff Burton said. "You have to be a consistent front-runner. You do those things on a consistent basis, especially in a series where you run 36 or 38 races. The more races you run, the more important that becomes. If you have a 10-race schedule, then I think that changes things. As the sport goes, we run some of the longest races in the longest year compared to other forms of motorsports. So that means you need a different type of points system. I believe consistency matters."

Johnson agreed. "Initial thoughts are, if they raced 36 times a year, I would be curious to see how their champion would be crowned at that point," he said. "I think they are different worlds. You have three teams that can really win [in F1] and a fourth if it rains. I just think it is a different environment, and I am not sure it would work in our form of racing. I still think we could spread out the points and reward guys for finishing better in the top-three, top-five and keep breaking that out further and go that direction. I think basing it solely on wins is probably a bad idea."

Even the powers-that-be in F1 are beginning to realize that. Three days after the sanctioning body approved the win-only championship format, the idea was deferred because of a unanimous protest by the team owners' association. Talk of a boycott was bandied about. The new system might be implemented next year, it might not. For now, at least, the championship will be awarded similar to the way it is in NASCAR -- to the driver who is most consistent, and not necessarily the one who most often reaches Victory Lane. You'd have to think that Earnhardt, who owes much of his legacy not to his 76 career wins but his defining doggedness and perseverance, would certainly approve.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

Well, that's all for today.  Until the next time, I remain,

Your Nascar Momma

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

his list is authored by:

Sandra Monacelli
221 W. 57th Street 18B
Loveland, CO  80538
970/663-6967