Sprint Cup 2012: Race 13 -- the White Cliffs of Dover

They might not be the White Cliffs of Dover but the high concrete banks of Dover International Raceway provide a bold landscape for racing at its best.

"Bristol on steroids."

     -Jeff Hammond, Fox commentor - championship crew chief

In the last race of the Boogity-Boogity circuit (Sprint Cup Races on Fox) Mark Martin, the ageless wonder, sits on the poll in the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine for tomorrow’s Fed Ex 400 for Autism Speaks on the high banked concrete monster in Dover Delaware. Jimmie Johnson, the hottest driver in the pact, holds the outside poll. Two cars, the #26 Ford and #74 Chevrolet failed to qualify with seven marginal rides that are almost certain to pull off and park not giving any measure of competition whatsoever. On a track where pit space is sparse and too much lap traffic really impedes competition – the situation is crying out for resolution, NASCAR must reduce the number of starting entries, cut their losses, trim the fat, and make the product on the track truly represent nothing but serious competition. That Dover cannot sellout in such a population rich region, a quick ride from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and New York, Dover provides superb conditions for outstanding racing, but Brian France and Mike Helton must get serious about putting outstanding racing on the track.

Let’s be honest, NASCAR exploded in popularity in the 90’s and into the next decade but their highest peaks do not define their new norm. The decision to mandate all races start with 43 entries looked workable when started in 1998. However, when Sprint Cup lineups have entries that wouldn’t even come close to being competitive in the regional series allowing the insane start and park races where marginal under supported teams typically pocket at least $80k for just showing up, 43 starters is not realistic. Each series from the K&N Pro Series through the Camping World Trucks, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup series should feature progressively more elite qualified competition where one series prepares teams for the next level. Sprint Cup and Nationwide are loaded with a substantial number of no-compete entries. Meanwhile, Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner can’t find a full-time ride on the Nationwide level. The lower starting positions of Sprint and Nationwide should be of young, hungry driver learning the trade pushing to complete races. Clearly the market does not support 43 teams at the highest two levels and how nice it would be to see room opening up for some of the exciting young drivers in the lesser series not a bunch of also-rans and rejects. ARE YOU LISTENING BRIAN FRANCE AND MIKE HELTON???

No race better demonstrated the need for smaller starting fields and getting rid and penalizing entries who refuse to compete than today’s Nationwide race. First, only 42 cars started the race. They did not have a full field. Second up to nine cars just called it quits.

Considering the inability to field a competitive lineup the more visible issue is declining attendance at man events. Hall-of-fame inductee, Rusty Wallace, and most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. have both spoken of shortening the season. It’s hard to miss the tarpaulins covering sections of seating at Dover, but a bad race at Dover exceeds a packed house at most tracks. Much was made of the dreadful attendance at this year’s first race at Bristol. Since NASCAR events are seldom “home town” but destination events not only do higher full costs and less blow money figure into the equation, but the hotel industry in many markets charge substantially jacked up rates requiring minimum stays further impacting the fans’ ability to afford events.

NASCAR cannot stay the course and not risk continued erosion of the integrity of the sport. Leadership, owners, drivers, manufacturers, media, and sponsors need to work together and develop a blueprint for the sports’ future from feeder series to the top.

While we’re airing dirty laundry – what to do with Kurt Busch, a sociopath with a helmet? After his latest digression into disgusting boorish behavior and the terms of his handshake agreement with owner, James Finch, he was in the thick of controversy today with another spat with another driver and then cussing out an ESPN reporter. Where does it end? Perhaps inclusion in the Jeremy Mayfield Hall of Shame is not that far off.

The good news is that Sprint Cup at its highest levels produces superb competition and 2012 is no exception so far. The thin distance in points between the top drivers and number of winning drivers shows competition is red hot and real.

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	SPEED
1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	158.297
2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's Madagascar	158.263
3	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans	158.235
4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	158.047
5	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Best Buy	157.985
6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy Johns	157.867
7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M / Heilind (EMD)	157.839
8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's	157.839
9	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	157.611
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Freight / Autism Speaks	157.549
11	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	157.542
12	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Jani-King / Smithfield	157.494
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	HendrickCars.com	157.418
14	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	157.405
15	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	BB&T	157.363
16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	157.343
17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	AMP Energy / Diet Mtn. Dew / National Guard	157.329
18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	157.178
19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Subway	157.061
20	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards / Pittsburgh Paints	156.822
21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Stanley	156.822
22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Scott Products	156.781
23	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	156.637
24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Allstate	156.563
25	179	Scott Speed	Ford	Team Kyle / Koma Unwind	156.488
26	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / CSX "Play it Safe"	156.46
27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	156.27
28	34	David Ragan	Ford	MHP / 8 Hour Alert	156.216
29	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1 / Office Depot	156.121
30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Autism Speaks	155.723
31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	155.676
32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	155.266
33	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	154.912
34	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents	154.672
35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves	154.559
36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	154.559
37	33	Stephen Leicht*	Chevrolet	Little Joes Autos	154.48
38	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	FAS Lane Racing	154.096
39	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	154.024
40	13	Casey Mears+	Ford	GEICO	153.866
41	36	Dave Blaney+	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	153.702
42	93	Travis Kvapil+	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	153.584
43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	154.48
		Did Not Qualify
44	26	Josh Wise*	Ford	MDS Transport	154.288
45	74	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	Turn One Racing	154.242