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NASCAR, if you don’t stop cancelling qualifying, Mindy’s gonna kick someone’s tail!

She likes the Biffster and thinks the Shrub is losing it.  But don’t take my word for it.  Afterall, It’s my fault that this is so late.

Watch the Monday Morning Crew Chief right here.

Should Red Bull Racing make the (stupid) decision to fire A.J. Allmendinger, Ganassi will score a coup. Allmendinger has returned from the brink in fine fashion this season after getting Mike Skinner in the car to confirm what he was feeling. A.J. has gone on to score no fewer than 9 finishes in the top half of the field, with 5 top 15 finishes – a marked improvement from his 2007 and early 2008 results. What’s more, Allmendinger won the Sprint Open in May and has run in the top 5 during races, specifically his race at California a few weeks ago. Yet he will likely face termination, possibly as soon as this week or next, to make room for Scott Speed. Sure, Speed has talent coming out of his painted toenails, but there is no reason to rush him to Cup – especially not to replace Allmendinger, who has shown more improvement than any driver except for David Ragan in 2008.

Should it happen, Ganassi will likely swoop in and sign Allmendinger to drive the #41 in 2009 – or sooner, should Reed Sorenson cause enough trouble to get released early to his new ride at GEM. It wouldn’t be the first time for Allmendinger and Ganassi to work together, last season Ganassi put A.J. in the #42 Busch car 7 races. It’s believed that this seat time helped A.J. immensely. Not to mention, as others have, Ganassi has multiple teams in open-wheel and sports cars to scratch whatever itch his drivers may have. That could include moving to the IRL and compete for the championship, or an Indy 500 win.

Simply put, I don’t want Allmendinger gone from Red Bull. He has done too much and shown too much promise to be shown the door. If it happens, I look at Ganassi being his best option. Juan Pablo Montoya’s been running a bit better lately, perhaps showing that the disbandment of the #40 team has helped. I know this: A.J. Allmendinger belongs in the Sprint Cup Series – whether it’s with Red Bull or Ganassi. He’ll prove to whoever doubts him that the talent and desire are there. He just needs the team and the equipment.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Did Matt Kenseth get screwed by Roush-Fenway and Robby Reiser?  Speaking of Robbys, was Robby Gordon done dirty by George Gillette and Gillette-Evernham Motorsports?  It seems that Mindy thinks so.

Ms Monday has thoughts on the Craftsman Truck Series too, in the all new Monday Morning Crew Chief.  Watch it right here.

And don’t forget to take your shot at winning a Kevin Harvick bobblehead, compliments of Shell Gasolines.  Enter the contest here.

Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are among the drivers to survive in “the Race for the Chase.”

While Jimmy Johnson was on his way to another Sprint Cup victory, the race within a race to make it into The Chase saw David Ragan crash out. Kasey Kahne never had enough race car to make it past Clint Bowyer, thus eliminating any hope for a Dodge team to make it into NASCAR’s post season.

Tony Stewart was agitated with Greg Zippadelli and threw his Home Depot crew under the bus on the team radio for their inability to get his car out of the pits ahead of race winner Jimmy Johnson during the final pit stop.

The scenario that brought the fans to their feet however was the contact between points leader Kyle Busch and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Junior was trying to pass The Shrub on the inside making slight contact and spinning him out. A similar incident occured in the first race at Richmond International Raceway but with the roles reversed, which was the beginning of the season long hatred of Busch.

And that brings us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Was Junior’s spin out of Kyle Busch retaliation for the incident at the first Richmond race or coincidence?

Let us know what you think and we could use your reply on this week’s ON PIT ROW. Listen live from 5-7pm ET here. Stay tuned to INSIDE ARCA from 7-8:30pm ET. Call the show at 877-502-8255 with your opinions.

Photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

The Sprint Cup Series heads to the 3/4-mile Richmond International Raceway for its final race of the regular season, with eight drivers competing for six available spots in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. While Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Burton are already locked into the Chase, and Greg Biffle will be simply by starting this weekend, some of the sport’s top names and up-and-coming stars are still searching for a Chase berth.

Among those drivers is 13th-place David Ragan, the heir to Mark Martin in the No. 6 Ford at Roush Fenway Racing. Although Ragan could barely keep the car running straight two years ago in an abysmal start in Martinsville, he’s improved a full ten positions in the standings from his overall position last year. Although he hasn’t won yet, Ragan, fourth on the Roush food chain behind Edwards, Biffle and Matt Kenseth, has five top-5s this season, more than Burton, 12th-place Clint Bowyer, 14th-place Kasey Kahne, or 16th-place Ryan Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner.

At the same time, however, many wonder whether the sophomore driver’s season has been a product of a newfound maturity behind the wheel, or a combination of luck and Roush power. Securing a spot in the Chase this weekend would prove that Ragan’s no fluke.

Obviously, longtime NASCAR sponsor UPS is banking on Ragan being an annual force in the series, as rumors are abound that place the Atlanta-based company on the Georgia driver’s car for the 2009 season and beyond. Having failed to visit Victory Lane since 2005, the company wants an up-and-coming driver to throw its support behind after leaving Michael Waltrip Racing this season, and Ragan appears to be the perfect fit for the company.

However, we’ve seen drivers with plenty of promise falter before. Remember Casey Atwood? He had full backing from Dodge and Sirius, and couldn’t find Victory Lane. Scott Riggs hasn’t exactly done much with his career, save one 20th-place in points a few years back, even with the undying support of Valvoline. And Todd Kluever - the man who was really supposed to replace Martin at NASCAR’s largest team - flipped his car in an ARCA race in Daytona and was simply never the same afterwards.

What makes Ragan such a sure bet to be successful? He’s never won in any of NASCAR’s top three series, while Atwood has 2 Nationwide wins, Riggs has 9 in Nationwide and the trucks, and Kluever has three second-places in one Truck Series season. However, besides an unshakeable confidence, Ragan generally does a better job of keeping the car off the wall, running smoothly, and in one piece - his 7 career DNF’s in 63 career Cup starts compare favorable to Riggs’ 22 in 156 starts, Atwood’s 12 in 75 starts, and Kluever’s 9 DNF’s in 51 Nationwide starts. This compares favorably, as well, to UPS’s current driver, David Reutimann, who has 12 DNF’s (and 8 DNQ’s)in 52 Cup starts dating back to 2005.

It should also be noted that of past champions who have competed in Sprint Cup this year, it took Terry Labonte 58 races to first visit Victory Lane, his first victory coming in 1980. Bobby Labonte waited until his 74th start to win his first career race, in 1995. Finally, Dale Jarrett won his first race in his 129th start, in 1991, after four full winless seasons. Don’t be concerned at Ragan’s lack of wins - he’s just hitting his stride.

Before the green flag drops on the action at Richmond, here are this week’s five Quick Hits:

5. NASCAR is getting ready to announce a modification to its drug-testing policy within the next few weeks. The modification, according to CEO Brian France, deals with the testing end of the policy, rather than the penalties for a positive test. France did not specifically say that NASCAR would implement random drug testing, but did say in a NASCAR.com report that “there’ll be more testing.”

4. Current Team Red Bull general manager Jay Frye is being courted to join Stewart-Haas Racing in the same position for 2009 and beyond, and is expected to accept the position. No word on what would happen to current general manager Joe Custer.

3. Brad Keselowski was spotted visiting the Penske Racing complex in Mooresville, NC last week. However, Keselowski reportedly turned down a contract offer to drive the team’s No. 12 Dodge for next season, replacing Ryan Newman. David Stremme remains the front-runner for the ride, as a current Penske test driver with a good past relationship with Dodge.

2. The Dario Franchitti experiment is over at Chip Ganassi Racing, with the 2007 IRL champion returning to that series with Ganassi to partner with 2003 series champion Scott Dixon.

1. A new format for the season-opening Bud Shootout will allow the top six teams for each manufacturer into the race, starting with next season’s event. Previously, all pole winners from the previous season, as well as previous Shootout winners, were allowed to enter the race. But with Budweiser being replaced by Coors Light as the official sponsor of NASCAR’s pole award, Anheuser-Busch wanted to distance itself from its rival brewery.

Finally, congratulations to last week’s winners in California, Busch in the Nationwide Series and Johnson in Sprint Cup.

David Ragan that is.  Our Mindy Monday seems to like the fact that Ragan may be the new pilot of the UPS machine for Roush-Fenway Racing. 

Check out the latest edition of the Monday Morning Crew Chief videos right here.  It’s about magnets, package delivery and Stewart-Haas Racing maybe caving in to pressure. 

Monday Morning Crew Chief #7.  Let us know what you think.

Carl Edwards win on Sunday has him set up as the number two seed in The Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Jack Roush has always maintained that it is more important to win at Michigan than probably anywhere else on NASCAR’s top circuit. The proximity to Detroit and Ford’s headquarters in nearby Dearborn makes the two races in the Irish Hills important to Roush-Fenway Racing from a PR standpoint if nothing else.

Edwards was able to out duel points leader Kyle Busch after a late caution to secure his spot behind Busch in the points and assure himself of having at least the second most bonus points going into The Chase.

Roush ended up with all five of his cars in the top ten on Sunday with only Jamie McMurray and the #26 team outside the top five. Edwards has won two of the last three races and with his win in the Carfax 250 on Saturday, becomes only the second driver, along with The Shrub, to do a Sprint/Nationwide double this year and the first since Mark Martin did it at Michigan in August of 1993.

Martin’s double came in Roush Fords as well.

Edwards late surge along with his strong start leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Carl Edward’s win at Michigan is having some people say he is “peaking” at the right time. Is there such a thing in NASCAR, or is momentum a fleeting concept?

Let us know your opinion on this week’s BUZZ and we could use your response on Tuesday nights ON PIT ROW radio show. You can listen live starting at 5pm ET and may hear your answer ON PIT ROW. Stay tuned and listen to INSIDE ARCA immediately following ON PIT ROW at 7pm at arcaracing.com

photo credit: Icon Media Sports

It’s no secret that Roush-Fenway Racing has traditionally been pretty good at Michigan International Speedway. The Michigan races, after all, are in the shadow of Detroit and the “big three” manufacturers – and each one wants the bragging rights at the race closest to the city. That goes double for the Fords of Roush, as Roush is from Livonia, Michigan and Roush’s other companies are based in Livonia. Using the past 8 races at the track, it’s clear the drivers and teams have gotten the message: a Roush Ford has to run up front at Michigan. Since the August race in 2004 through the June race in 2008, Roush has won half the races at the track with 3 different drivers in Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth. Hold on, though… it gets better (for Roush).

In the August ’04 race, Roush accomplished a feat not seen often: all 5 cars finished in the top 10. The finishing order went like this:
Biffle
Martin
Jarrett
McMurray
Kahne
Busch
Gordon
Kenseth
Stewart
Edwards (in his first Cup race, no less)

In the June ’05 race, Biffle won once again, with 4 Roush cars in the top 5:
Biffle
Stewart
Martin
Kenseth
Edwards

In three other races, Roush cars took at least 3 spots inside of the top 10, twice putting 4 cars inside. This most recently happened in June of this year with Kenseth, Edwards, David Ragan, and Jamie McMurray.

In racing, they say some tracks are just made for a certain car. At Michigan, Fords have done pretty well, especially Roush Fords. This year, they’ll need to do well once again at Michigan, as Biffle, Kenseth, and Ragan are all fighting to secure spots inside of the top 12 by Richmond.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

NASCAR’s number two series has undergone a pretty successful transition to new series sponsor Nationwide. Those B-word mentions are infrequent, but the championship points leader has been mentioned almost as infrequent. Clint Bowyer leads the standings, and has done so for most of the year.

I’ll admit my own fault in this, I’ve been more than happy to talk about the Joe Gibbs dominance and anxiously waiting for David Ragan to finally win a race, but Bowyer’s year has been championship caliber. He has 11 straight top 10s and only three finishes outside of the top 10 – and hasn’t finished worse than 25th. That, my friends, is impressive. What may be giving most everyone trouble is that Bowyer’s year has been low-key, matching his personality. He has no pole positions and just one win, which came at Bristol. Yet his 18 top 10 finishes blow everyone else out of the water, as Keselowski and Ragan are next behind him with 13. His year reminds me of Matt Kenseth’s 2003 championship year. He goes about his business, records top 10 finishes, and doesn’t beat himself. Look at the results during this 11-race stretch: 9th, 2nd, 6th, 9th, 4th. 9th, 3rd, 9th, 4th, 7th, 8th. Kenseth would go multiple races inside the top 10, and in his early season stretch in ’03 - from Daytona through Michigan – he finished outside of the top 10 twice. Bowyer’s year has been the same way, and also similar to Kenseth - it hasn’t been covered.

Bowyer’s lead in the standings has been bouncing between 150 and 200 points. Currently, Keselowski sits in 2nd place 170 markers out while Carl Edwards takes 3rd, 201 back. In the final 14 races of the year, this one’s going to be won by one of those three. Edwards seems to have regained his form after coasting the rest of the ’07 year and getting off to a sluggish start in ’08, recording two wins under new crew chief Drew Blickensdurfer since the change was made five races ago. Keselowski has been no slouch, he has nine consecutive top 10s and hasn’t finished worse than 15th since Talladega. He also recorded his first career win at Nashville.

Bowyer might not win the Nationwide title this year, but I hope if he doesn’t, his performance through the first 21 races doesn’t become just a footnote. If he does win the title, it will be because of those finishes earlier in the year no one noticed.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

 

New Hampshire International Speedway always makes me nervous.   This year, maybe more so than ever.  The track has seen more than its share of carnage through its history.  Loudon may have been the track that most needed the soft-wall technology of the Safer barriers.   With long straights and sharp, relatively flat corners, the New Hampshire miler will be especially tough on drivers for teams that don’t have the New Car’s special handling requirements figured out.  Missing the set-up could hurt.

The Loose in Turn Three experiment continues this week with Do You NASCAR, Bruce’s NASCAR Bits and Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie each fielding a topic to chew on.  Here’s the Bench Racing hor dourve of the week….

After what we saw at Infineon Raceway, is there still a place for “road-course ringers” in the Cup Series?

Charlie:  If you run a top tier Cup team, your drivers better be able to at least hold their own on the road courses. Your best teams need drivers that can do it all. The ability of most of the regular Sprint Cup drivers to handle the road courses has improved so much that it would take the perfect storm of circumstances to have a non-regular win ANY Cup race.  Only if you have a team that is on the edge of top thirty five contention - or is out of the top thirty five all together - would trying to catch a specialist’s lightning in a bottle be worth disrupting your group’s chemistry.

Bruce:  No.  Only if you’re a 30th and worse team with driver proven to be inefficient on road courses would you even think about it.  Any time a team brings a ringer in, it’s a slap in the face to the regular driver, even if he appears on board, you’re killing his opportunity to accrue valuable driver points.  Everyone either has the talent, or can be taught the skills, if the team really wants to invest in their driver.
 
TZ: Of course any team that’s on the bubble for the top-35 in owner points should consider using specialists at courses like Infineon or Watkins Glen. But, to throw a wrench in your guys’ theory that it’s reserved ONLY for those teams, what about teams like the no. 8 DEI car? You’re already limiting his Cup experience to a measley 8 races this year, so there’s no real logic in making sure that he gets in there at the road courses. Then, there’s also occassions when that teams are well within the top-35, yet have no real loyalty in a multi-year sense to their driver … guys like a Dave Blaney. In this instance, lingering After what we saw at Infineon Raceway, is there still a place for “road
course ringers” in the Cup Series?

That’s what we think.  How ’bout you?  Leave your feedback in the comments section.  After doing that, head over to DoYouNASCAR.com for TZ’s topic for the week…..

After a lackluster 2007 season, can the no. 16 team keep it together long enough through the next 10 races to keep Greg Biffle in Chase contention?

Then check out Bruce’s Bits for this one…
 
Should NASCAR and Sunoco make a concerted effort to convert the sport over to a less fossil fuel centric sport?

Photo credit:  BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

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