Sprint Cup 2012: Race 31 -- Home Sweet Home

Perhaps it’s only just that the Sprint Cup tour should stop at Charlotte after racing in Talladega last week. In a sport where every week is a road trip, Charlotte is the only time the Cup drivers get a home game. As if the “big one” wasn’t bad enough for the number of cars that were collected in the horrific last lap wreck and how many hopes for the season dashed, the news that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will sit out at least the next two weeks ending perhaps his best chance in his career to run for a championship underscores just how frightening the Alabama track is as if memories of Carl Edwards crashing into the guard fence, horrible accidents involving Junior’s dad or the defining accident where Bobby Allison’s car jumped the fence hastening the era of restrictor plate racing aren’t all terror enough for a normal sports fan.

Talladega was a track built a little too soon. It pushed big bulky cars to their limits when it opened but as cars became lighter and more aerodynamic making speeds of over 200 mph, even faster than 210 possible, no track has made the darker side of racing more possible, and perhaps we are blessed that more horrors haven’t happened. The deadly consequences have been more frequent at its sister track in Daytona.

Let’s not forget as they buckle up for Charlotte, the IRL saw Charlotte as an attractive venue for Indy Car racing, but a track that allows more speed than car technology proved lethal with history repeating itself last year at a similar track in Las Vegas, the last on track event killing a popular driver. A Charlotte configuration works just fine for Sprint Cup at its current level of technology. No fan wants an IRL like event in Charlotte to be NASCAR’s fate in Alabama. That Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sports’ favorite driver, got his brain rattled should perhaps rattle a few brains among the NASCAR brain trust and seriously think about what options they have to improve safety concerns at Talladega. While tremendous advancements have made Sprint Cup racing much safer since Dale Earnhardt’s death at Daytona, February, 2001, drivers aren’t the only possible casualties at racing events. Many options are on the drawing board but none ever seem to be close to reality. The judgment is “We’ll just have to live with Talladega the way it is right now,” but the instant somebody is killed or gruesomely disabled such smugness will end. This is avoidable not inevitable.

As action approaches tomorrow night, the Chase for the Cup is pretty much a three driver competition between Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. If any driver seems to own Charlotte, it’s Johnson. Starting 21^st, Keselowski has his work cut out for him requiring brilliant pit strategy, patience, and opportunism to give him a fighting chance to build on his 14 point lead over Johnson.

This will be only Keselowski’s 7^th race at the venerated speedway with only one top five, his last race in May. He’s only failed to finish on the lead lap once with an average 16.5 finish at the Carolina track.

Jimmie Johnson is absolutely dominant at Charlotte with six wins, ten top fives, and an average 11.8 finish. The consolation is Johnson has finished outside the top ten in his last four races in Charlotte with a 34^th and 37^th finish in his last two fall races. Johnson starts fifth, well-positioned to get back to his typical form at the track.

Denny Hamlin’s results at Charlotte are lackluster, with a 15^th average finish, no wins, only two top 5’s and seven top 10’s, this is not one of Hamlin’s stronger tracks though he is no slouch on 1 ½ mile tracks in general. Hamlin starts 9^th in good striking distance for a good evening of racing.

Regan Smith, shopping for a job for next year, starts 26^th substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. While Earnhardt’s chance for a top ten finish this year are over, a respectable performance from Smith will certainly help Hendricks Motor Sports maintain its dominance in owner points as the sports’ team to beat.

Almost certainly, Tony Stewart’s desire to repeat as champ is over. He starts a horrible 32^nd right in front of the trash heap. Does anyone wonder if he misses Darien Grubb, one of the three crew chiefs right in the thick of the battle for the championship. In 7^th place,  46 points out, he’s racing for pride and next year.

The starting field is listed below with Chase drivers shown in CAPS. 

POS		CAR		DRIVER		MAKE		SPONSOR		SPEED
1		16		GREG BIFFLE		Ford		3M / IDG		193.708
2		55		Mark Martin		Toyota		Aaron's Dream Machine		193.361
3		39		Ryan Newman		Chevrolet		Quicken Loans		193.251
4		15		CLINT BOWYER		Toyota		5-Hour Energy		193.043
5		48		JIMMIE JOHNSON		Chevrolet		MyLowe's		192.995
6		56		MARTIN TRUEX, JR.		Toyota		NAPA Auto Parts		192.919
7		17		MATT KENSETH		Ford		Best Buy		192.885
8		18		Kyle Busch		Toyota		M&M's		192.850
9		11		DENNY HAMLIN		Toyota		FedEx Ground		192.802
10		5		KASEY KAHNE		Chevrolet		Time Warner Cable		192.644
11		29		KEVIN HARVICK		Chevrolet		Jimmy Johns		192.637
12		20		Joey Logano		Toyota		The Home Depot		192.561
13		24		JEFF GORDON		Chevrolet		Drive to End Hunger		192.212
14		22		Sam Hornish Jr.		Dodge		Shell / Pennzoil		191.666
15		47		Bobby Labonte		Toyota		Scott Products		191.605
16		21		Trevor Bayne		Ford		Good Sam Club / Camping World		191.293
17		43		Aric Almirola		Ford		Smithfield		191.286
18		9		Marcos Ambrose		Ford		Stanley		191.279
19		99		Carl Edwards		Ford		Kellogg's		191.245
20		2		BRAD KESELOWSKI		Dodge		Miller Lite		191.232
21		78		Kurt Busch		Chevrolet		Furniture Row / Farm American		191.225
22		42		Juan Montoya		Chevrolet		Target / Kellogg's		190.691
23		195		Scott Speed		Ford		B&D Electrical		190.691
24		27		Paul Menard		Chevrolet		Menards / Pittsburgh Paints		190.617
25		34		David Ragan		Ford		Glory Foods		190.382
26		88		Regan Smith		Chevrolet		AMP Energy / National Guard		190.181
27		13		Casey Mears		Ford		GEICO		190.027
28		19		Mike Bliss		Toyota		Plinker Tactical		190.027
29		6		Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford		Best Buy		189.987
30		1		Jamie McMurray		Chevrolet		McDonald's		189.867
31		30		David Stremme		Toyota		Inception Motorsports		189.687
32		14		TONY STEWART		Chevrolet		Mobil 1 / Office Depot		189.587
33		98		Michael McDowell		Ford		K-Love / Curb Records		189.587
34		10		David Reutimann		Chevrolet		Tommy Baldwin Racing		189.520
35		37		J.J. Yeley		Ford		MaxQworkforce		189.341
36		38		David Gilliland		Ford		Glory Foods		189.255
37		83		Landon Cassill		Toyota		Burger King / Dr Pepper		189.168
38		51		AJ Allmendinger		Chevrolet		Phoenix Construction		189.142
39		31		Jeff Burton		Chevrolet		Caterpillar		188.469
40		32		Timmy Hill		Ford		U.S. Chrome		188.225
41		93		Travis Kvapil+		Toyota		Burger King / Dr Pepper		186.735
42		36		Dave Blaney+		Chevrolet		Tommy Baldwin Racing		186.322
43		91		Reed Sorenson		Toyota		Aquaria USA		189.102
Did Not Qualify
44		87		Joe Nemechek		Toyota		AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves		188.937
45		26		Josh Wise*		Ford		MDS Transport		187.123
46		23		Scott Riggs		Chevrolet		North Texas Pipe		184.988
47		33		Cole Whitt		Chevrolet		Little Joes A		183.517