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.
 

NMPA Hall of Fame inductees (l-r) Waddell Wilson, Tom Higgins and Dale Jarrett.

HAMPTON, Ga. - NASCAR has actually had a hall of fame for almost 50 years.

The National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame, headquartered at Darlington Raceway, has voted in engine builder Waddell Wilson, journalist Tom Higgins and driver Dale Jarrett.

All three were named on the required 65 percent of the ballots.

Wilson's engines powered teams to 109 victories and three Cup championships. He won three Daytona 500s as a crew chief.

Higgins covered NASCAR for 34 years at the Charlotte Observer.

Jarrett, now an ABC/ESPN analyst, won 32 races and a championship in 1999. Jarrett won the Daytona 500 in 1993, '96 and 2000.

* * *

TRIPLE-THREAT-- Kevin Harvick has won in all three major NASCAR touring series - Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck - at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Only two series are in action at TMS this weekend.

Harvick won the Nationwide Series race at AMS last year. The Great Clips 300 is Saturday night. He also won the Truck race in March.

"Any time you can win in any of the top three series, it makes for a lot of fun, let alone win in all of them at one track," he said. "There are several tracks where we've won in a couple races in a couple divisions, but not in Truck.

"Atlanta has been pretty successful for us."

* * *

BIG DIFFERENCE-- Qualifying for the Emory Healthcare 500 is scheduled for 4:40 p.m. The race will begin on Sunday at approximately 7:45 p.m.

Big difference.

"The track has two different personalities," said Jeff Burton. "You have the qualifying race track that is 'screaming fast,' and then you have to race on a track that has no grip. It's just a bizarre race track.

"Going to a place like this is a lot of fun, but it's also one of those players where it's really easy to make a mistake."

* * *

THE NATURAL--Marcos Ambrose isn't just a two-time champion of Australia's V8 Supercar Series.

According to Aussie journalists in the magazine V8X, he's the best Supercar driver ever. Ambrose won 28 races in addition to championships in 2003 and 2004.

* * *

YEAH, IT'S A SHRIMP-- In the past three Cup events, Hendrick Motorsports - and drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - has one top-10 finish. In a third of those entries, totaling 12, the finish has been outside the top 25.

* * *

BIG NUMBERS--For the final time, after 51 seasons, Atlanta Motor Speedway is hosting two Cup races. Forty-two drivers have won since the track opened in 1960.

This is AMS' 95th 500-mile race. No other track has held that many.
 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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.
 

OK, so Atlanta Motor Speedway's count of annual Sprint Cup races has been halved, due, mostly,  to poor attendance at the spring race. What is it with Atlanta, and NASCAR, and the economy, and Glenn Beck, and Labor Day? The answer, as it is perused, pursued and abused at the Ovalscreams blog of this editor, lies somewhere between Gone With the Wind and Deliverance, antebellum Eden and suburban hell. Check it out here.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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.)