Labor Day weekend, NASCAR Cup racing fires up in Dixie, and that’s a good thing, at least for now. Given the experiment of replacing the traditional Southern 500 in Darlington with a second date at Fontana California turned out to be a total failure, it might seem like a step in the right direction to see the race in Hot ‘Lanta, but Atlanta has its own set of problems which could make this a limited time deal.
Consider this, Bruton Smith is red hot for a date at Kentucky Motor Speedway, southwest of Cincinnati opening up a territory loaded with race fans. Atlanta has had attendance problems for years. One rumor has it that Smith would give his Infineon date to Kentucky, move the Infineon race to Atlanta’s March date, and eliminate that race in Atlanta. If one of Smith’s racetracks is likely to be cut a date in favor of Kentucky, Atlanta is the most obvious target. Surely, his other tracks with two dates would not be likely moves: Charlotte, Texas, Bristol, and New Hampshire.
The first night race at Atlanta is one loaded with consequences as it’s the next to last race before the Chase field is set. Kyle Busch stands 34 points behind Matt Kenseth in 13th place one spot below the cutoff while Brian Vickers is just five points behind Busch. It wouldn’t take much in just the normal conduct of a race for these positions to flip around, but add to that, in 11th, Kasey Kahne is only 18 points ahead of Kenseth, while Mark Martin, despite his courageous 2nd place finish at Bristol holds down tenth eight points ahead of Kahne. If that’s not enough, Juan Montoya, Greg Biffle, and Ryan Newman are all a bad finish away from disaster with Newman, the best of that trio only 14 points ahead of Martin or put another way, Newman is 84 points ahead of Busch. Eight drivers are fighting for six spots with Clint Bowyer a long shot to get in.
To make things more interesting, though Kyle Busch is outside looking in, were he to get in the chase, he’d go to the top of standings with being tied with Mark Martin with four wins assuming he doesn’t win Atlanta or Richmond. Essentially, it’s feast of famine for the #18 team just as it would be a dreadful disappointment to Mark Martin fans should he somehow fall out of the top 12. While all this plays out, it looks like the battle for the championship is most likely a duel between Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.
Bobby Labonte, as reported earlier in the week, will be missing from the field, not even eligible to use his past champion’s provisional given he’s squeezed out of his ride with Yates/All Star. Can anyone argue Yates is still a top flight Sprint Cup garage? They’re just a cut above the park and ride brigade and have had next to nothing to show other than a couple bold qualifiers since the Dale Jarrett/Elliot Sadler combo broke up. Labonte did wind up getting a break from Kevin Buckler’s TRG racing who will employ Labonte for his seven races where Ask.com sponsorship is off the 96 car. With this playing out, it looks all the worse for the instability of the Yates operation.
So now David Gilliland is the guy on the rocks, another casualty of the mess at Yates not being renewed for 2009. He’ll be racing with the Wood Brothers filling in for Bill Elliot in their part-time effort for the legendary (a term we are obliged to use in any reference to the Wood Brothers) #21 car. He apparently will race three events as a 4th entry for Joe Gibbs and another as a 2nd ride for Robby Gordon.
Folks they don’t call this the “silly season” for nothing, but now the game of checkers is playing out in real time on the track.
Last off season was rough due to the tough economy and auto industry difficulties seeing teams evaporate and difficult mergers such as DEI/Ganassi and Richard Petty/Gillette-Evernham. We’ve seen teams vanish during the year including famous numbers like #8 and #28. Now’s the time teams start shaping up things for the following season. Where might there be more cutbacks? Corporate America will be under increasing pressure to justify sponsorship dollars. Fans find the cost of a weekend at the track out of reach. We see it in the “park and ride” entries too, teams with no intent on competing who run just a few laps and cash it in. Would NASCAR be better off with a smaller, but more competitive field?
Let’s leave the bigger questions for conversation later on. Right now, after a rare late season week off, the competition is ready to fire up and race in Hampton, Georgia. The Atlanta track provides fast, lively racing though can often come down to fuel mileage. With the final Chase selection getting near, what better than eight reasons, the eight teams fighting for the final spots in the field, to watch Sunday night’s race.
Consider this, Bruton Smith is red hot for a date at Kentucky Motor Speedway, southwest of Cincinnati opening up a territory loaded with race fans. Atlanta has had attendance problems for years. One rumor has it that Smith would give his Infineon date to Kentucky, move the Infineon race to Atlanta’s March date, and eliminate that race in Atlanta. If one of Smith’s racetracks is likely to be cut a date in favor of Kentucky, Atlanta is the most obvious target. Surely, his other tracks with two dates would not be likely moves: Charlotte, Texas, Bristol, and New Hampshire.
The first night race at Atlanta is one loaded with consequences as it’s the next to last race before the Chase field is set. Kyle Busch stands 34 points behind Matt Kenseth in 13th place one spot below the cutoff while Brian Vickers is just five points behind Busch. It wouldn’t take much in just the normal conduct of a race for these positions to flip around, but add to that, in 11th, Kasey Kahne is only 18 points ahead of Kenseth, while Mark Martin, despite his courageous 2nd place finish at Bristol holds down tenth eight points ahead of Kahne. If that’s not enough, Juan Montoya, Greg Biffle, and Ryan Newman are all a bad finish away from disaster with Newman, the best of that trio only 14 points ahead of Martin or put another way, Newman is 84 points ahead of Busch. Eight drivers are fighting for six spots with Clint Bowyer a long shot to get in.
To make things more interesting, though Kyle Busch is outside looking in, were he to get in the chase, he’d go to the top of standings with being tied with Mark Martin with four wins assuming he doesn’t win Atlanta or Richmond. Essentially, it’s feast of famine for the #18 team just as it would be a dreadful disappointment to Mark Martin fans should he somehow fall out of the top 12. While all this plays out, it looks like the battle for the championship is most likely a duel between Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.
Bobby Labonte, as reported earlier in the week, will be missing from the field, not even eligible to use his past champion’s provisional given he’s squeezed out of his ride with Yates/All Star. Can anyone argue Yates is still a top flight Sprint Cup garage? They’re just a cut above the park and ride brigade and have had next to nothing to show other than a couple bold qualifiers since the Dale Jarrett/Elliot Sadler combo broke up. Labonte did wind up getting a break from Kevin Buckler’s TRG racing who will employ Labonte for his seven races where Ask.com sponsorship is off the 96 car. With this playing out, it looks all the worse for the instability of the Yates operation.
So now David Gilliland is the guy on the rocks, another casualty of the mess at Yates not being renewed for 2009. He’ll be racing with the Wood Brothers filling in for Bill Elliot in their part-time effort for the legendary (a term we are obliged to use in any reference to the Wood Brothers) #21 car. He apparently will race three events as a 4th entry for Joe Gibbs and another as a 2nd ride for Robby Gordon.
Folks they don’t call this the “silly season” for nothing, but now the game of checkers is playing out in real time on the track.
Last off season was rough due to the tough economy and auto industry difficulties seeing teams evaporate and difficult mergers such as DEI/Ganassi and Richard Petty/Gillette-Evernham. We’ve seen teams vanish during the year including famous numbers like #8 and #28. Now’s the time teams start shaping up things for the following season. Where might there be more cutbacks? Corporate America will be under increasing pressure to justify sponsorship dollars. Fans find the cost of a weekend at the track out of reach. We see it in the “park and ride” entries too, teams with no intent on competing who run just a few laps and cash it in. Would NASCAR be better off with a smaller, but more competitive field?
Let’s leave the bigger questions for conversation later on. Right now, after a rare late season week off, the competition is ready to fire up and race in Hampton, Georgia. The Atlanta track provides fast, lively racing though can often come down to fuel mileage. With the final Chase selection getting near, what better than eight reasons, the eight teams fighting for the final spots in the field, to watch Sunday night’s race.
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