My Two Cents Worth for 10/12/04

By Todd Berger, LGR Staff Correspondent

NASCAR returned to Kansas Speedway for the fourth Cup weekend in the track’s short lifespan.  When it first opened, the track was a treacherous one-groove racetrack.  Now, it is a treacherous two and a half-groove racetrack.  The treachery is evident in the number of guys that wrecked by themselves Sunday (Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Casey Mears, Robby Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne). 

With four of the ten races in the “thing” already complete, we know the following with some degree of certainty:

Non-chase drivers will get some coverage and airtime while leading or challenging to lead a race.

Kyle Busch may be talented, but he is Cole Trickling his way to quite a reputation for over-driving his racecars in the Cup series.  Of course, Jeff Gordon did that too, wrecking 13 cars in races during his rookie year and many more in testing and practices, so you never know.

Much like Dale Jr.’s burns, Allen Bestwick’s leg injury must have been worse than NBC let on, given that he was ordered by physicians to miss a second broadcast weekend. 

If Matt Kenseth was good and lucky last year, it looks like Kurt Busch is doing the same this year.  Spinning in front of the field exiting turn two and hitting nothing is not just lucky, it’s a miracle.  Busch now leads by 29 points and is heading to tracks where he’s been very successful in the past.

I’m sure we’ll learn more in the coming weeks, but I just wanted to mention a couple of things before we start this week.

Let’s have a look at the standing by comparing the new fancy made-up points structure to the old one.

New fangled made up points system

1 Busch 5685

2 Earnhardt Jr. –29 [-4] (pending the penalty appeal…cough, cough).

3 Gordon -79

4 Sadler -143

5 Martin -150

6 Stewart -173

7 Kenseth -180

8 Newman -232

9 Johnson -247

10 Mayfield -257

The chase for 11th: 

11 McMurray 3736

12 Jarrett –82

Here’s how they look using the old stupid way:

1 Gordon 4158

2 Earnhardt Jr. 4157 -1[+24]

3 Busch 3974  -184

4 Johnson 3935  -223

5 Stewart 387  -271

6 Sadler 3833  -325

7 Kenseth 3812  -346

8 McMurray 3736  -422

9 Martin 3654  -425

10 Jarrett 3654  -504

11 Newman 3634  -524

12 Mayfield 3611  -547

13 Harvick 3607  -551

14 Kahne 3549  -609

15 Labonte 3540 –618

Hmmmm….which one’s better?  The new one, while rendering any consistency and credibility to the sport’s scoring system useless, has realistically added the sum total of one extra driver to the title chase after four races.  Wee.  Mayfield is done, as is Jimmie Johnson.  I would say that Kenseth and Newman are done too, since they’d have to pass five or six guys, and that’s just not going to happen.  Stewart, Martin and Sadler are also one mediocre race from done-ness as well.  Sure, NASCAR will spin it differently, but the fact is that the best we’ll see is something like two or maybe three drivers even mathematically alive by season’s end.  And that’s been the case in recent years anyway, so why all of this fuss?

With the old system, we would have had Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. separated by a mere ONE POINT with six races to go!!  Nah, no one would have liked that.  The sports’ active championship leader vs. the son of the sport’s greatest driver, the late Dale Earnhardt.  Six races between two drivers fighting for the trophy.  Two drivers whose fans, more often than not, don’t like each other’s drivers or each other period.  How boring. 

Thanks again, Brian.  Your leadership has been inspiring.

Before I get to Sunday’s race, let me cover a couple of things from the Busch race, especially since both title contenders were involved.  While I know Martin Truex Jr. was mad about being involved in a racing incident just three laps into a race, the fact is that it was just that:  a racing incident.  Ron Hornaday, while aggressive, was not reckless.  He all but stopped trying not to hit Truex, but still got him a little and they both spun.  I hope Martin hasn’t let all of this “no one race the leaders” stuff go to his head.

It’s amazing that in a race where Kyle Busch could have closed nearly the entire points gap, Busch ended up involved in a wreck that dropped him to a 29th place finish, just one spot and three points ahead of Truex Jr.  At the end of the day, two guys this close in skill and equipment have only a handful of races to make up ground on one another over the course of a season.  Kyle let one get away this week.

I think it’s interesting that, in light of all of the talk swirling around Brendan Gaughan and the 77 team that Gaughan is currently second in the Rookie of the Year standings.  That’s right.  He is ahead of Felony Motorsports’ own Brian Vickers, yet I don’t hear anyone calling for Brian’s head or his seat in the 25 car.  I am wondering if there isn’t something more to that story.

Huge kudos to Joe Nemechek, Ricky Rudd, Greg Biffle, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield.  With the exception of Mayfield (who is a chaser but would be 14th in points if you read the first half of this column), all the other drivers are non-chasers and they put on a show worthy of any race this year.  I would dare say that the last 50 laps were the best racing of the year, and very little of it involved a top ten driver. 

I would like to wish specific congratulations to Joe Nemechek and Ricky Rudd, their respective teams as well as Greg Biffle.  Nemechek dominated the weekend, won both race and won the Cup pole.  Rudd was up front all day Sunday, as was Biffle.  Biffle was great on Sunday but also ran strong all day Saturday too.

One neat thing was that of the three top finishers, all three were US Armed Forces sponsored cars.  (Nemechek – US Army, Rudd – US Air Force, Biffle – US National Guard).  It was also the 01 team’s first win and Ryan Pemberton’s first win as a crew chief.  Since the accident that critically injured Jerry Nadeau, this team’s had lots of ups and downs, and seeing them persevere and win made Sunday’s race worth watching all by itself.

I wonder if Sterling Marlin is considering calling in a bomb threat next time the Cup series goes to Kansas.  In 2002, he wrecked so bad it knocked him out for the balance of the season.  Sunday, Sterling had a problem on the one to go lap before the green, took the green, and a big piece fell off the bottom of the shifter.  Not only that, when the tow truck gave him a push, the drive shaft fell out of a car.  That is never a good thing.

Elliott Sadler very quietly moved into fourth in the chase standings with his fourth place finish Sunday.  If not for NASCAR blowing the throwing of the caution at Talladega last week on the last lap, Sadler would be about 50 points closer to the leaders, setting us up for a good finish to the season.  But why would NASCAR have wanted their own rules to get in the way of an arbitrary decision relating to a driver’s health and well being as well as the sport’s credibility? (No, I’m not still bitter…)

I will relay the facts about the following story as best I know them, courtesy of NBC, Jayski, and other news sources.

Tony Stewart drove in the Busch race for Chance2 in a car owned by Dale and Theresa Earnhardt.  Tony was leading and at the front for much of the day.  Under a caution during the race, Tony Stewart came up on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Mike Bliss, who was damaged and running slowly.  According to sources, Bliss signaled Tony to pass him on the high side, a signal that Stewart apparently missed.  Tony was angry that Bliss wouldn’t move over, so he started banging on the back of the 20.  Bliss then beat on the back of the 20 some, but the race went on, Tony got turned on the hood of Joe Nemechek’s ride and ended up with a totaled car and in 25th place and (I’m sure) in a bad mood. 

A side note here:  The Stewart-Nemechek deal was a racing incident too, in my opinion.  Nemechek had a line and a run on the 81, and Tony didn’t want to let him by, they made contact and the 81 wrecked.  It happens.  But it’s not related to the other story other than Tony was probably mad already.

Tony goes to Mike Bliss’ transporter and waits for Bliss.  Bliss and others arrive, Tony pops Mike Bliss, then wrestles him to the floor and punches Bliss three more times.

No TV cameras saw this.  No reporters saw this.  No fans or officials saw this. 

I agree completely with how this was handled on Tony’s part from a racer’s standpoint.  He didn’t use his car as a weapon (much), he didn’t swear on camera, and he didn’t talk then run and hide.  He went to the guy’s truck, waited, and punched him out.  NASCAR should applaud this.  This is what they want, or so they let us believe.

That said, if I were part of Joe Gibbs Racing’s management, Mike Bliss’ crew, his crew chief, his agent, Joe Gibbs himself or anyone else, I’d be out of my freaking tree.  Tony Stewart (who looks bigger and / or fatter than ever these days) lying in wait to attack a driver who is listed (optimistically) as 6’ 0” and 190 pounds is a joke, especially when the driver to be attacked is a teammate and employee of the same company.  (I bet Mike Bliss hasn’t weighed 190 pounds since he carried two 15 pound blocks across the scale, but I digress).

Tony Stewart is a fiery racer.  He wants to win more than anything else, and that’s good.  However, Tony has done literally nothing of note lately or this year to bring favorable attention upon himself, his team, the company he works for, his sponsor or the sport. 

People talk about Junior getting favorable treatment, yet Tony Stewart walks around punching guys, smacking guys strapped in their cars, spinning guys that he thinks need lessons, pushing reporters, swatting track safety workers, and well…you get the point.  He does all of these things, and his penalty is a mere 25 points for the smacking of Brian Vickers, but that’s it.  That and four stints on the probation list in his six-year career. Not exactly a boy scout or the picture of who I want representing me or my company.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  If Tony doesn’t like all of the attention he gets while being a Nextel Cup driver, he can head back to USAC.  He won’t be bothered by any mainstream media attention there, I assure you.