Following Sunday’s race at Atlanta, ten of the twelve Chase drivers are set, with Greg Biffle needing to finish only 42nd or better at Richmond to be in, and Clint Bowyer needing a 28th or better to be in. So with the field all but set, who’s your pick to win the 2010 Cup Series Championship?
Just in case you need a little reminder, here are the twelve drivers that will battle for the title over the final ten races (barring any last minute heroics by Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, or Mark Martin):
After Richmond, the points will be reset among the twelve, with the number of wins being the determining factor for who starts where in the standings and with how many points. Right now, Johnson and Hamlin have the most wins, each with five, so they will be atop the standings heading to New Hampshire.
Now, with everything we’ve seen this season, and what we know of each of these drivers and how they race, who’s your champion? Does Jimmie win a fifth straight? Will a Childress driver finally break through? Will Ford emerge over the last ten races? Let’s hear it!
Also, both Journo and myself wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend!
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Filed under: Greg Biffle, Ford, Roush Fenway Racing, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR
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Filed under: Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
Filed under: Greg Biffle, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
When it comes to racing Joey Logano, a pattern is starting to emerge with how some of the veterans treat the young driver. And the message from the veterans appears to be that they don’t respect this kid very much. Recent run-ins with Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya kept Logano from good finishes at Pocono and Infineon, and it’s no secret he doesn’t get along with Greg Biffle. Instead of complaining about his fellow competitors to the media like he’s been doing though, it’s time Logano finally took action on the track.
The most talked about incident between Logano and a veteran happened a few weeks ago at Pocono. While running in the top five late in the race, Logano was turned by Harvick with two laps to go. Logano charged back to finish 13th, but after the race, Logano spouted off in anger and said:
“It’s disappointing, to be honest with you. I had a top-five run going. I was racing the 29 and he let me go in the middle of the straightaway and decided to dump me in the next turn. I don’t know what his deal is with me. It’s probably not his fault, you know? His wife wears the fire suit in the family, tells him what to do, so it’s not his fault.”
Besides the comment, Logano also took the opportunity to get in Harvick’s face after the race and let him know he was upset about what happened. ”Sliced Bread” was so angry, he had to be restrained by crew members.
The move ultimately backfired on Logano though. Instead of making him look tougher, Harvick and his wife Delana turned it around and made light of the situation by selling “firesuit” t-shirts, with proceeds benefiting the Harvicks’ charity. Not exactly what Logano was looking for.
Now that he’s gotten a taste of how this all works, I’m of the opinion that Logano needs to quit talking. The next time he gets wrecked by a competitor, he needs to exact revenge. Whether that means waiting for a payback track like Bristol or Martinsville, or taking out his frustrations under a caution a la Clint Bowyer at Dover, it’s time for action. These guys won’t get the picture that Logano isn’t to be messed with until he shows that he isn’t afraid to ruin someone else’s day. Some of these guys are messing with Joey because they know they can push him around and he won’t do anything about it. That needs to change.
Don’t get me wrong here though, I’m not usually one for wrecks. When I watch a race, I want to see good, hard, clean action. I know too many drivers, and seeing somebody get hurt is the last thing I want.
At some point though, Logano needs to stand up and make a statement. And that statement needs to be made with action, on track, and not by complaining to a guy with a microphone.
The struggles for the Ford teams have been well documented this season. There is even a tidbit on Jayski’s Cup Series page right now about how this is Ford’s longest winless drought to start a season since 1983. And those struggles haven’t just been on the Cup side. Roush Fenway’s Nationwide Series program hasn’t been as strong this season as they’ve been in past years. Carl Edwards has led the way, but for a time, two of the other RFR teams were outside the top 30 in points. The #16 team has since raced their way back in, but the #6 team remains 102 points out of a guaranteed starting spot. The one Ford team that did have a moderate amount of success over the first part of the season, especially with limited resources, was Baker Curb Racing’s #27 team with Greg Biffle.
After Eddie Pardue was dismissed as crew chief of RFR’s #16 a few weeks back, Ben Leslie took over as the interim boss. It was announced this week however, that starting at Road America the #16 team would have a new leader; none other then Baker Curb’s Ricky Viers.
With Red Man tobacco on the hood, Greg Biffle behind the wheel, and Viers calling the shots, Baker Curb’s #27 was the best running Ford in several races this season. They managed to finish second twice, just missing wins at Las Vegas and Richmond.
A new FDA regulation that basically ends tobacco advertisements curtailed Red Man’s sponsorship, and with the team’s future in jeopardy, Roush took the opportunity to bring Viers on board. Who better to help turn around your company’s NNS program then the guy who’s been beating you all season?
Viers joins Drew Blickensderfer, Matt Puccia, and Mike Kelley as crew chiefs at Roush Fenway, and the pressure is on these four to slow down Joe Gibbs Racing’s dominance of the series.
Besides hopefully helping the whole program, Viers is tasked with making contenders out of Roush prospects Colin Braun and Brian Ickler. Braun and fellow Roush young gun Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have both struggled mightily in their first full seasons, and those struggles have led to their schedules being cut. Ickler was brought in from Kyle Busch Motorsports to strengthen Roush’s driver development program and fill those holes in the schedule.
The NNS teams tested at Road America today in advance of Saturday’s race, and things may already be looking up for RFR. Ford drivers were first and second fastest in both sessions, and the combo of Viers and Braun was good for fourth quick. With Braun’s road racing background, this might be just what this team needs to turn the season around.
We’ve all heard the saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.” In the ultra competitive world of NASCAR, it becomes “if you can’t beat them, steal what makes them better then you.”
Filed under: Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Roush Fenway Racing, Chase for the Sprint Cup
Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway
After the 2008 season, we decided to look back over the season and see how we did in terms of reporting on rumors and breaking some news. In the end, we got eight correct, had two pushes, screwed one up, and had three rumors outstanding. With 2009 behind us, I thought it would be fun to again do the same thing. I’m going to start with the three bits we had outstanding, and then we’ll move into 2009.
Fastenal to RCR: After the info we heard, we thought this one was in the books. Even Jayski reported at one point that this was going to happen, even mentioning a driver lineup. But in the end, Fastenal ended up at JR Motorsports for the ‘09 season. Scratch this one.
Rule Changes Coming to the Truck Series: NASCAR did indeed make changes to the Truck Series rules for 2009, and we were close. We first reported they were only going to allow only four crew members over the wall and that they would initiate a hard card limit. They did indeed limit both, but we missed the crew limit by one. It was five members over the wall and not four. I’m still giving us the point here. Plus one for the Insiders.
BDR Employees Laid Off: This indeed was true, and what was left of BDR was turned into Triad Racing Technologies. TRT supplies teams with Toyota engines, chassis, and some other services. Plus one for the Insiders.
First Crew Member Tests Positive: In my post following the Daytona 500, I let you know that I’d heard NASCAR had caught it’s first offender of the new substance abuse policy. We found out a short time later that it was a Mayfield Motorsports employee, and he was suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. It was strange foreshadowing for the summer to come and drug testing. Plus one for the Insiders.
RMM Cuts Salaries: Early in the season, we heard that Randy Moss Motorsports had cut it’s employees salaries by as much as 35%. While no official announcement was ever put out, this was indeed true. The budget for the #5 Tundra for Mike Skinner was limited at best, which led to the cuts. Plus one for the Insiders.
Trouble At Trail: 2009 was supposed to be the first season for minority owned Trail Motorsport. But what started off with much fan fare and press, fizzled before it ever got started. We first told you in April about the problems internally at Trail. On it’s own, the team never fielded a race car at a Truck Series, Nationwide Series, or Cup Series event. Plus one for the Insiders.
Kyle Busch, Team Owner in 2010: We were the first to tell you about Kyle Busch’s plans to start his own NASCAR team for the 2010 season. In July, we reported that construction was ongoing on a new race shop for Kyle and that he, Johnny Benson, and Brian Ickler may drive for the new team. Busch will indeed have a team in 2010, with two full time trucks. One for himself and Brian Ickler, and another for Tayler Malsam. If sponsorship can be found, Benson may run a third truck. Plus one for the Insiders.
Parker Kligerman, Wyler Racing, & Michael McDowell: In September we told you that ARCA driver Parker Kligerman would run some NNS races for Penske, that Wyler Racing may be closing up shop, and that Michael McDowell would run at New Hampshire for Thorsport Racing. Kligerman ended up running at Kansas and Homestead for Penske Racing. Wyler did make it to the end of the season, but from what we know just barely. As of today, there is no word on Wyler Racing’s 2010 plans. And finally, McDowell did run at NHMS for Thorsport. He ran the #98 truck, that was painted up like a police car. We will call that plus two and minus one for the Insiders.
Your Favorite Team and a Funded Driver: While we did write a post mentioning a rumor, we wrote the post more as commentary then actually reporting the rumor. The post itself was about John Wes Townley and his impending move to Richard Childress Racing. Townley will indeed race for RCR in 2010, and will compete full time in the NNS in the #21 Zaxbys Chevrolet. Since we didn’t call the driver out, nor did we get anything wrong, I’ll give us a push.
Rick Ren Gone from KHI: We told you before Homestead that Kevin Harvick Inc. crew chief Rick Ren was leaving at the end of the season, possibly to take a managerial role at Kyle Busch’s new team. This rumor was actually denied publicly by Kevin Harvick, but in the end turned out to be true. Ren will serve as the Director of Operations for KBM this season. Plus one for the Insiders.
Eric Phillips to KBM: To add to this stout lineup for 2010, we were the first to tell you about Eric Phillips leaving Randy Moss Motorsports for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Phillips will serve as crew chief for the #18 truck piloted by Busch and Brian Ickler for this season. We were certainly all over the KBM stuff in ‘09. Plus one for the Insiders.
Biffle and Baker Curb: And last but not least, after it was reported by SceneDaily.com that Baker Curb was working on a deal with a Cup driver for the 2010 NNS season, we told you that Cup driver was Greg Biffle. Biffle will pilot the #27 Red Man Ford Fusion for Baker Curb this season in an undetermined number of races. Plus one for the Insiders.
Looking back over all the rumors, I think we had another pretty good year. We got eleven right, missed two calls, and had one push. So over the last two years, that makes us 19-3-3 on the scoreboard. We certainly don’t know it all or hear it all, and we also won’t report every rumor we hear. But I think this shows that when you hear a rumor from TNI, odds are pretty good it’s true. What do you think?