Last spring, Kurt Busch stayed ahead of the pack at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Whoever will win Sunday's Emory Healthcare 500, only that outcome really matters. (Photo: Getty Images)
HAMPTON, Ga. - The Emory Healthcare 500 had better be a healthy race.
For once, the weekly Sprint Cup race must stand on its own merits. Even though there are but two races remaining before the Hullabaloo (officially, the Chase for the Sprint Cup), precious little tension remains.
Twelve drivers make the championship lottery. Two spots, those belonging to Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, are already locked up. Six more spots are very likely to be mathematically clinched. Three more could easily happen.
That would leave only Clint Bowyer, who himself could clinch a spot in the Chase field by gaining 96 points on 13th place (Jamie McMurray, at present) in the points, to migrate from Atlanta Motor Speedway to Richmond International Raceway - the final regular-season race is there on Sept. 11 - with some mild level of uncertainty hanging on the outcome.
Unless disaster strikes - either Bowyer or Kurt Busch or Greg Biffle, or, god forbid, all of them - this is just going to be a regular race. That ought to be enough, by the way, and much more often, was back before the Chase was implemented back in 2004 to keep situations like this one from happening.
Bowyer bemoans being even in this situation, which, compared to previous seasons, is still relatively secure.
"There is a reason for every bad finish we've had this season," he said. "I know everyone has a reason for a bad finish, but I think every bad finish we've had, except for one race, something bogus happened around us."
Bogus, huh? How about totally bogus? Dude ...
"That's the frustrating thing about our season this year," Bowyer added. "Last year, there were a lot of bad finishes where you would say, 'Boy, we were terrible all weekend,' but, this year, we've been up front, running well and leading more laps than we ever have. Things have been good this year, but we haven't been able to get the finishes that we deserve in a lot of places."
Of course, there's a silver lining to that. Is having to finish 21st going to prevent winless Carl Edwards from trying to get into the victory column at a track where he has been notably successful? Probably not. If Edwards doesn't clinch the Chase here, he can wrap it up in Richmond.
Johnson and Denny Hamlin, with five victories and the 50 bonus points they represent, might as well ... just ... win, though Johnson technically needs a top-10 to clinch. Remember, the term "mathematical" is precise but not all that practically significant. Johnson, Hamlin and Kurt Busch only need top-10 finishes to clinch if McMurray or 14th-place Mark Martin wins the race.
And if McMurray and Martin don't run up front, it's going to be all over. They certainly have every reason to win, simply because a win is what it's probably going to take.
Monte performing at Pawlessfess in 2008. (Photo: David Byboth)
Sometimes I devote this space to offbeat topics. I should apologize in advance for being blatantly self-serving and commercial.
But, hell, I'll try to make it entertaining.
There's nothing I enjoy more than playing my silly songs -- and some less silly songs of others -- in front of people. Tying together gigs with NASCAR races, which I write about for a living, is a great way to keep one's sanity amid the frustrations of journalism. The next two weekends are going to be fun.
Tomorrow afternoon (Sept. 3), I'll be playing from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Depot Park of Hampton, Ga. I think it's at a farmer's market that must be there or adjoining or something. Hampton isn't a big place, and the town, home of Atlanta Motor Speedway, is only a mile or two behind the track's front straight. It's my understanding that, if you go to Hampton, you can't miss it. It's just a little off the Bruton Smith Parkway (Hwy. 20, I think), which runs basically from I-75 to the track. The address is 20 East Main Street, Hampton, Ga. 30228. It's usually fairly hard to set up gigs, but once I sing my songs and make a good impression, it's easier to do them again in the future. One of my goals is to set up stable gigs I can play each time NASCAR takes me to the area. It's helpful when I can draw some friends and acquaintances, and I'm grateful to so many friends in NASCAR who have come to see me play at various times. This one actually came to me. I was invited, and I hope this is going to be a lot of fun.
Six days -- or actually, six nights -- later, I'll be making my fourth appearance at Grandpa Eddie Alabama Ribs & BBQ, which, despite the influence of Alabama in the ribs department, is actually located at 11129 Three Chopt Road in Richmond, Va. At two of the previous three appearances at Grandpa Eddie's, Kyle Petty has shown up to see me and played a few of his songs onstage. Kyle and his Speed TV sidekick, Rutledge Wood, are busy dudes, but I'm satisfied they'll show up again if they can make it.
By the way, the food at Grandpa Eddie's is spectacular. These things don't work unless you deal with good people, and Carey Friedman is someone, as a performer, you look forward to seeing.
On Oct. 13, Kyle and I are participating in a fundraiser for Victory Junction Gang Camp at Puckett Farm Equipment in Charlotte. Roger Alan Wade, Sunny Ledfurd, Kyle and I are going to take part in a song swap in which we take turns playing songs we've written. Some other special guests will also take part. That's a Wednesday night (Charlotte Motor Speedway qualifying is the next night), and it's scheduled for 7:30-10 p.m. Check out my previous blog for ticket information. It seems really strange to be typing this about a gig of mine, but there's a chance it's going to be sold out in advance, so if you're interested in attending, it might not be a bad idea to at least check out the situation online.
Another upcoming highlight is Pawlessfest, in Gainesville, Texas, on Sept. 24-25, which I'll be attending for the third straight year. Vince Pawless, a great guitar maker and equally great friend, puts this on to benefit Backpack Buddies, a local charity. I'll be handling some of the emcee duties again this year, performing on the first night and just generally hanging out having fun. I've got some aspirations to play late-night music around a campfire while I'm out there with so many of my Texas friends. Check out the lineup at www.pawlessfest.com.
Gosh, it's going to be good to see Vince, Bob and Dava, Melanie, David, Tom, Brian, Jessi, Josh, Mike, Chase, Ray and so many other great friends and entertainers who have already been at Pawlessfest in just a few years. Right now, Pawlessfest is getting bigger year by year, and I'm thinking the size might just be about perfect this year.
What else is going on in my life? NASCAR (obviously and necessarily). A novel that I'm trying to sell. Another novel I'm about to get started. I'm about to hit another songwriting spurt, too. I can feel it.
Right now I'm about to go have lunch with the local school superintendent, not because we have any business to discuss but because we went to high school together.
So I got friends in high places, too.
The Presbyterian Blue Hose of Clinton, South Carolina meet up with Wake Forest on Sept. 2 - hopefully not inaugurating another 0-11 season.
Are you ready for some football? This week all the young scholars - the Fighting Collegians -- start crashing into each other, and I can't wait.
Unfortunately, the next five nights - yes, the games run right through Monday - involve more football than Football. The games are somewhat evenly divided between interesting, if offbeat, intersectional games and potential laughers that no self-respecting Division I-AA (or Football Championship Subdivision) school should have to lower itself to play.
Presbyterian at Wake Forest, for instance. The Blue Hose were 0-11 last year but played Gardner-Webb close.
Money is the reason. Here's hoping Presbyterian, which visits the friendly confines of Clemson's Death Valley on Sept.11, still has a team to play The Citadel on Sept. 18.
In related stories, Marshall visits Ohio State, Samford invades Florida State, Coastal Carolina rides a wave into West Virginia, North Texas provides Clemson's first stern test, Western Carolina advances to North Carolina State and Tennessee-Martin pays its respects to the Tennessee that is in Knoxville.
These don't figure to be examples of Football. They shape up more as reenactments of Gallipoli.
I'm glad these little teams with their little players are going to be paid handsomely, but I think they ought to be asked first if they want to volunteer.
Let me hasten to add: I love an underdog. There's a difference, though, between relieving Bastogne and remembering the Alamo.
I hope every big school is sluggish and every small school is feisty. That way the score will be something respectable, like 55-28.
I wonder where I might be able to watch these pigskin lottery tickets in action.
Of course, the big Miami-Florida game is on ESPN. That's Miami of Ohio.
In fairness, there are interesting games coming up, none more so than the LSU-UNC game in Atlanta. Games matching relatively powerful teams that aren't close to each other provide some interest in terms of comparative scores that will be ridiculed and discounted later in the year.
Pitt's playing Utah. Connecticut visits Michigan. Oregon State visits TCU. Boise State travels to Virginia Tech. A few regional rivalries are on the slate: Missouri at Illinois, Kentucky at Louisville, Purdue at Notre Dame.
For many of the haves, though, these money games with the have-nots amount to little more than cruel and unusual punishment.
My heart yearns for a good, old Appalachian State upset of Michigan. (Where are the Apps? Chattanooga. Rats.)
After a 10th-place finish in May at Darlington Raceway, Brian Vickers, center, fell ill and had to cut his season short. Now, the driver plans to be back in 2011 after heart surgery. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)
Brian Vickers, who made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009, competed in only 11 races this season. After a 10th-place finish at Darlington Raceway on May 8, Vickers fell ill.
Doctors discovered that Vickers, 26, had developed blood clots in his left leg, left finger and lungs. A regimen of blood thinners made it impossible for him to compete in his No. 83 Team Red Bull Toyota. \ Recently, Vickers went successful surgery to repair a PFO (patent foramen ovale), a small hole between the two atriums of his heart. He was also diagnosed with May-Thurner Syndrome, in which blood flow is restricted because a vein and/or artery are pinched.
After surgery, a stent was placed in a vein, on July 13, to open it.
Now, however, Vickers expects to return to full-time competition next year.
"Not only did we figure out what the problem was," said Vickers, "but we were able to fix it. ... I'm going to be back in the No. 83 and very excited to be back with Red Bull."
Vickers, who has stayed mostly away from the track, has spent off time traveling and working out.
"My main priority is getting back to racing next year," he said. "I've been given a gift. Things happen for a reason. I've had some time to think back and look at my career, both personally and professionally. I don't think I'll change a lot when I come back, but I do think I will change some. I'll going to probably tolerate a lot less, but at the same time there will be areas I will tolerate a lot more, just depends on what it is. I have a new appreciation for life. I'm looking forward to it. I feel great, and can't wait to race."
Vickers, from Thomasville, N.C., expects to be off blood thinners by next January, at which point he will get back in a race car and begin testing to prepare for the 2011 season.
"What I love to do is race," he said. "It is not only my job, but my passion. I've been missing that need for speed, the competition, my people and friends in the industry, but at the same time, it has been nice to take a break."
NASCAR has its fingers crossed for a dramatic Chase.
- Why are Nationwide Series races on road courses nearly as long as Sprint Cup races on road courses? So that they can last all day?
- NASCAR desperately needs a dramatic Chase. Football season starts this week, and the Chase was, at least in part, devised to compete with the NCAA and NFL in the fall.
- This has been a season of feuds. Which one rises to the top during the Chase?
- Speaking of the Chase, Kyle Busch seems primed for it. This, however, has happened before. Will this Chase be different?
- This is the 51st consecutive season in which Atlanta Motor Speedway has hosted two (in one year, three) races in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. For the foreseeable future, it is also the last. AMS gets cut back to one next year.
- Auto Club Speedway also has only one race next year. Will scaling back to one race revive the popularity the track enjoyed before being allotted two races? Did the decline occur because of two annual races, or was it the track's acquisition by International Speedway Corporation? Maybe now we'll know.
- The odds favor the Chase consisting of the 12 drivers now in position to make it. If the field changes, it will almost surely come as a result of costly mistakes, not race wins. In other words, Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin, et al., need help. Lots of it.
- No one has worked harder than Boris Said to win in NASCAR. His Nationwide Series victory was long overdue.
- Brad Keselowski's ability to avoid disaster in the Nationwide Series is extraordinary, particularly for a driver with a reputed taste for trouble. The numbers belie the rap.
- Bonus points are overrated. Many gloss over the fact that the Chase is decided by points, not victories. Once the field is mathematically drawn together, the Chase goes back to the system that drew it apart.
As the Chase nears, Jimmie Johnson is trending downward, and Kyle Busch is trending up.
It's late Monday morning, I've finished writing the copy for "NASCAR This Week," the Gazette's syndicated page (circulated through King Features Syndicate), and in the privacy of home and thoughts, I'm starting to turn my attention to the next race, near Atlanta.
It's a big week. The regular season is winding down. It'll be Labor Day weekend near the city that's unofficially the capital of the South. From a personal standpoint, it's a big week because I'm playing music on Friday in the town of Hampton's Depot Park, from 3 to 6 p.m. The site of my concert is just a mile or two from Atlanta Motor Speedway, and I'm hoping some NASCAR fans will drop by to see if I can actually write songs as well as racing columns.
Even though two regular-season races remain, many eyes are turning to the Chase. Drivers will say they race 'em one at a time, but those with a stable place in the Chase - i.e., almost everyone presently in the top 12 - are looking ever so gently ahead, and if they're not, their teams are.
Winning, or even doing well, at Atlanta will be seen in terms of rounding into Chase shape.
At the moment, the winner of the past four Sprint Cup trophies, Jimmie Johnson, is trending downward, and regardless of how unflappable he and those around him are trying to be, this is a race Johnson needs to win. Johnson's chief problem lately has been bad luck, but in the superstitious mentality of a race team, that needs to be addressed as much as tangible problems. Johnson needs to turn his luck around.
Kyle Busch is trending upward, though much of his momentum comes from somewhere besides Cup races. In terms of the Chase, the younger Busch brother has something to prove, and as a general rule, he doesn't leave many wrongs unrighted.
Oh, and by the way, his brother Kurt has won two of the past three races at AMS. At the moment, Gibbs and Roush Fenway are headed up, Hendrick is headed down and Childress remains rock-solid. Atlanta would appear to be a perfect place for Kurt Busch to blunt a slump. It would also appear to be a potential place for Carl Edwards to return to victory lane.
If, as Kris Kristofferson most notably suggested, freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose, then freedom will ring at AMS for drivers such as Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and maybe a few others. They are all unlikely to make the Chase.
Nothing beats those lowdown, not-gonna-make-the-Chase blues like winning a race anyway.
Boris Said, driver of the #09 Zaxby's Ford crosses the finish line ahead of Max Papis, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series Napa Auto Parts 200 on August 29 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo: Getty Images)
As I watch the start of the Nationwide Series race in Montreal, it occurs to me that Sprint Cup drivers win almost all the ovals and road racers (or Cup drivers) win the road courses. The changing face of NASCAR road racing just puts one more hammer in the coffin of non-Cup regulars, whom I've come to call Nationwide "specialists."
This isn't going to take the form of the "stream of consciousness blogs" I sometimes do watching Cup races I don't actually cover on-site. I'm not going to write any play-by-play (or, to be more correct, in racing, lap-by-lap). I'm just going to watch the race and write what occurs to me, which may or may not be about racing. Instead of it being about the race, I'm trying to make it about what I think while watching the race.
So far ESPN2 seems to be more interested in me learning about Canada than NASCAR. Then again, all these caution-flag laps create lots of time to talk about Canada.
I wonder who the world champion is in Surfing Down Rapids?
A Challenger sure makes a great pace car.
NASCAR recently told owners the Nationwide purses might be 20 percent smaller next year. Based on the crashes in this one, they should've told the drivers. Ah, the weirdness of stock cars on road courses. Robby Gordon is leading under caution, and he's only pitted ... seven times so far. Or so Allen Bestwick tells me.
It's five o'clock, and there are still 27 laps to go. Looking at my channel guide, it appears as if the U.S. vs. Slovenia will have to wait. That's not live, right? Wasn't the game played yesterday or something? If so, that's probably a wise programming choice, given the length of this Montreal crashfest. Meanwhile, I've engaged in a meaningful Facebook string over the difference in the words "O" (as in "O Canada") and "oh" (as in "oh, my"). Conclusion: They mostly mean the same thing.
Do you ever find yourself thinking you actually have something to do with what's going on, even though you're sitting in an easy chair nearly 1,000 miles away? Notice how as soon as I made reference to endless crashes ... they stopped occurring.
So much for the cozy ending. A crash erases Carl Edwards' lead. Then ... Edwards' track bar is broken. Someone else is going to win. And I bet the crashes resume in the final few laps.
I cannot believe Jacques Villeneuve is pitting. He'll apparently be seventh on the restart. If he wins, it's going to be exciting.
Hate to say I told you so ...
I really hate to hear TV announcers say of a crash, "Wow. Look at all that carnage," as Bestwick just did.
Carnage denotes bloodshed. It should not be used in reference to a NASCAR crash.
car·nage: widespread slaughter of people: widespread and indiscriminate slaughter or massacre, especially of human beings
Basically, it means "gory death," and announcers shouldn't use it at sporting events.
The ending isn't going to be elegant. Stock cars on road courses seldom are. Yes, where Robby Gordon is concerned, something always happens. One of the reasons is that he always takes outrageous chances.
Ringers go 1-2-3 -- Boris Said, Max Papis and Villeneuve -- and, man, was the finish amazing.
Leaving one with that most damning of sportswriter quandaries: Is it "Said said" or "said Said"? Perhaps one should switch to, oh, "Said opined."
Jeff Gordon at Indy earlier this year. photo: Getty Images
The Chase for the Sprint Cup is three races away. In the remaining two regular-season races, everyone likely to make the Chase - and there isn't much likelihood of a change in the top 12 in points - is concentrating on the 10 bonus points awarded to race winners.
Once the Chase starts, it's all about points again.
"Consistency is still key, but I'm almost wondering right now if it's more important to win during the regular season than it is in the Chase," said Jeff Gordon. "Get the bonus points to get yourself eeded where you really need to, to get that advantage going into the Chase, and then knock out your top fives throughout the Chase and win it that way."
It's unlikely that anyone is going to win the championship without winning any races, but six of the 12 likely qualifiers are winless at the moment.
"I think the guy who wins the championship is going to at least have one win this season and, more than likely, in the Chase," said Gordon.
* * *
GOOD AND BAD--As presently configured, the Chase would consist of six teams: three from Richard Childress Racing and Roush Fenway, two from Hendrick and Gibbs, and one each from Penske and Stewart Haas.
Most consider having teammates in the Chase an advantage, but Gibbs' Denny Hamlin isn't so sure.
"It's good and bad," he said. "One, it's another guy that you've got to beat for the championship. In-house, anytime you have a teammate in the Chase or around you in points, you're always wanting to one-up them.
"I think it's important for team competition and keeping everyone fired up. The only benefit to not having one is maybe some of the resources get pulled more toward your way."
JUMP STREET--A victory in a Camping World Truck Series race may not have been the most exciting night for Kyle Busch during the past week.
The driver who has won the last four NASCAR races he's entered tried his hand - and apparently took his lumps - in off-road racing, competing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., in the TORC (The Off Road Championship) series.
Busch liked his new experience.
"Any time you can put a big heavy vehicle up in the air like that, it's always cool," he said.
WELCOME BACK--NASCAR officials have reinstated Randy LaJoie's license. The 1996 Busch (now Nationwide) Series champion was suspended on June 22 for violating drug policies.
LaJoie completed a NASCAR-approved treatment program. He has been a pioneer in the construction of safe racing seats through his Joie of Seating business.
The first sign that something was amiss was when I picked up Alex.
Alex is my niece's son. He is 7. He is my favorite person. Usually we go see movies. I know more about animated features than Richard Corliss.
But I got this bright idea. Clinton High School, my alma mater, coming off a 2009 state championship in football, was scheduled to open its season in Newberry, which is roughly halfway between Clinton and West Columbia, where Alex lives. Hey, we'll go to the game. He'll get to see Uncle Monte's alma mater in action. He'll get to see some of the roots of his raising. I'll take him to the game and explain how football works.
Quite by accident, when I picked up Alex, he looked great. He was wearing a navy shirt and light-blue shorts. The problem was that Newberry wears navy and light blue. Oh, well. He had no way of knowing. I had on my red football jersey. If the game was in Clinton, I'd try to buy him a shirt, but it wasn't. No big deal.
I thought it was an accident instead of a bad omen.
Alex and I went to McDonald's. He had a happy meal. I had some new Angus burger that I didn't think was all that great. Alex made friends quickly and it took some effort to pry him loose from the playland.
We got to the game. I let Alex choose where he wanted to sit. He almost immediately made another friend and started playing, which was fine, though I was concerned about the status of his obviously brand-new sneakers.
What I wasn't concerned about was the weather. The sky was half-blue. Inexplicably, it started raining about a half hour before the game was supposed to start. It wasn't heavy but the drops were large. I was almost sure it was going to blow over. I had checked: only a 20-percent chance. Famous last words.
Heavy rain hit. High winds. Thunder. The teams scattered. The P.A. went out. I remained in the stands, getting totally drenched for a bit too long. The rain and wind got even heavier. Real heavy. Alex got scared.
We slogged back to the car as if we were part of Napoleon's army trying to get out of Russia. Alex was crying. "The rain hurts!" I told him to be brave, that there was nothing we could do about it so there was no use in getting scared about something over which we had no control until we could make it another 100 yards or so to the car.
We finally got there. Alex wanted to go home. Since we were wet, the inside of my Honda almost immediately fogged up. Several times, as I drove slowly through flooded lots and out on the highway, I had to take an Atlanta Braves flag and wipe off the inside of the windshield.
It was a freak storm. It washed the game out. I took Alex home. About 20 miles down the road, he suggested perhaps we should go back, and then he thought, well, maybe it would be nice to go to Gamestop, but I wasn't about to go squishing around anywhere once I got in the car.
After taking Alex home and then driving all the way back past Newberry, it was still raining, and I saw a huge lightning strike. I got back home in time to see most of a glorious Red Sox victory over the Rays.
The game is now tonight. Maybe I'll take an older nephew this time. Maybe I'll stay home. I'll probably go, though. Thanks to the NASCAR beat, I don't get to see the Red Devils play often. The new coach, Scott King, was a player when I last covered the team.
I can laugh about it now, but it was serious business.