***UPDATE, UPDATE, UPDATE****
Qualifying rained out in New Hampshire.
Dexter Bean, Ted Christopher, and Mike Wallace go home as field is lined up by Owner Points, cosmic tea-leaf reading, and divining fortune cookie results as only the NASCAR brain trust can do so well. Tony Stewart will lead the field with Jeff Gordon by his side when drivers take the green flag on Sunday.
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The “Chase for the Chase” is the big story as the Sprint Cup Series visits New Hampshire Motor Speedway as the summer stretch in now in full swing. Only 232 points separate Kurt Busch in 4th position to Clint Bowyer in 16th position. If the Chase were decided now, Juan Montoya would be in securing 12th place with Kasey Kahne just three points back, but three more contenders could be just a bad pit stop away from pushing Montoya back to 16th. Here’s where the other drivers in this tight pack fall relative to Montoya’s spot, David Reutimann (-40), Jeff Burton (-46) and Clint Bowyer (-65).
Forty six cars are entered to qualify for Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301. Four cars will go home, but how many will find some convenient excuse to sneak off the track before the first pit stop? The real danger of the “Start and Park” phenomenon is the thought that some team fully intending to compete in a race will be shut out of action by another team that qualifies but has no intention of taking the first tank of fuel and set of tires. Might it be time to speak of a forfeit penalty? The issue certainly merits discussion.
Picking winners at New Hampshire is no easy task. Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are the only repeat winners in the last five years with Johnson winning both races in 2003 and Busch, then driving for Jack Roush, winning both races in 2004. Busch would win again last year for Roger Penske in a rain shortened event. At first glance, the track would seem to favor Chevrolets. Greg Biffle’s win last September was Ford’s first win since Busch’s victories in 2004. Ryan Newman drove a Penske Dodge to victory in 2005. Toyotas haven’t won at the New England facility yet.
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In other NASCAR notes, will Jeremy Mayfield please just go away? Hardly a NASCAR news cycle passes without more denials and whining about his drug suspension. Okay, the fellow deserves his appeal be heard, but his posturing isn’t winning any friends in the Sprint Cup garage, out in the stands, or in front of the television screen.
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NASCAR is a adopting an innovative PR program, the “NASCAR Green Clean Air” designed to capture race track carbon emissions by planting trees around the tracks. For each time the green flag drops, ten new trees will be planted. Eleven tracks will participate for the balance of the 2009 season with all venues involved next year. Surely, this will be a more difficult task in the desert surroundings at Las Vegas and Phoenix, but tracks like New Hampshire and Pocono are in lushly forested areas.
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Silly season rumors should start warming up soon. With the series visiting Daytona for the second time unofficially kicking off the second half of the season, the chatter about who goes where will warm up along with more speculation about Danica Patrick looking for a ride with fenders.
We should consider a Sprint Cup “stress test” on how viable teams will be as the Chase approaches and being prepared for the 2010 season with the auto industry in turmoil awaiting the fate of General Motors and Chrysler, the decline in attendance and TV viewers, and the tightening up of sponsor dollars. On the surface, it would appear that Jack Roush (Ford) and Joe Gibbs (Toyota) are better off, but is anybody seriously going to consider Rick Hendricks not having a few tricks up his sleeve. Meanwhile, Roger Penske has shown interest in purchasing Saturn from General Motors. Hmm, could their be some Saturn decals coming off the printing press to make some Saturn-like COT’s for 2010? There are plenty of engineering geeks in the Penske operation who could pull of some minor miracles for sure. Could Honda or Nissan have a future in NASCAR should a manufacturer pull out of the Sprint Cup scene?
All this is silliness, isn’t it?
We should consider a Sprint Cup “stress test” on how viable teams will be as the Chase approaches and being prepared for the 2010 season with the auto industry in turmoil awaiting the fate of General Motors and Chrysler, the decline in attendance and TV viewers, and the tightening up of sponsor dollars. On the surface, it would appear that Jack Roush (Ford) and Joe Gibbs (Toyota) are better off, but is anybody seriously going to consider Rick Hendricks not having a few tricks up his sleeve. Meanwhile, Roger Penske has shown interest in purchasing Saturn from General Motors. Hmm, could their be some Saturn decals coming off the printing press to make some Saturn-like COT’s for 2010? There are plenty of engineering geeks in the Penske operation who could pull of some minor miracles for sure. Could Honda or Nissan have a future in NASCAR should a manufacturer pull out of the Sprint Cup scene?
All this is silliness, isn’t it?
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