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  How good would a team of Smoke and the Rocket be?  Will Tony Stewartfans have to endure the trauma of - Oh no, not again - changing numbers, as Junior fans did this year?   Tony Stewart driving the #66 Office Depot Chevrolet?  According to those closest to the silly season contenders, those are some of the questions we may just get to answers to in the coming days. 

Semi-regular, ON PIT ROW contributor Lee Spencer of Fox Sports has a few of sponsor names to mix in with the driver speculation….

Stewart is currently 11th in the point standings — 500 points behind teammate and leader Kyle Busch and closer to the bubble than he and crew chief Greg Zipadelli care to be. J.D. Gibbs insisted last Sunday that nothing has changed with Stewart’s status at Joe Gibbs Racing although there are reports that Office Depot and Old Spice will join the driver in his next venture — and rumors that Burger King and Jack Daniels could also be coming aboard.

Tom Jensen at Speed has this …. 

One way or another, it is likely Stewart will be out at JGR, either next year or in 2010, and almost certainly with a Chevy team. If he goes to Haas-CNC, he’ll likely take another front-line driver with him, either Martin Truex Jr. or Ryan Newman.

I have a feeling that Tony’s next big press conference will be a good one.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW

An item came across NASCAR.com and it made me shake my head. Mark Martin one of my 3 favorite drivers in NASCAR history, seems to have made another guarantee. In the story last week at Pocono, he said that he plans on winning at the Brickyard in July. I have no doubt Mark can win the race. I remember 10 years ago at Indy when he had a better car than Jeff Gordon throughout the day, yet couldn’t get around him at the end. I remember when Mark left the 6 for the 01 last year, he said he would have his best chance ever to win the Daytona 500 – and he did, but came up inches short. It saddens me to see someone that’s a traditional pessimist, like Mark, get exciting for something just to be heartbroken again. I felt the heartbreak of the 2002 season because he was so close. Two years later, in the inaugural Chase, Mark arguably had the best team but accidents and bad luck struck again. At that Daytona race 16 months ago, I watched him lead those last several laps as I had a kung-fu grip on a pillow in my room, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this could be the race of his life. It was the race of his life… he finished second again, and I fell to the floor with the air knocked out of my lungs. To be a Mark Martin fan, it’s similar to what being a Red Sox fan must have been like until the 2004 playoffs. In the back of your mind, you know something will happen. I don’t know how many fans understand how much Mark means to his fans, and the heartbreak his fans have gone through with him. Many times, it takes the man himself to keep us fans from going crazy.

Fast forward to this season’s race at Phoenix, which saw Mark lead a bunch of laps and appeared to be on his way to victory. What did Mark have to lose by staying out and gambling? He pitted from the lead, had the best car, so fuel mileage should have been on Tony Gibson’s mind. Yet, it didn’t happen, and surprise, Mark lost. The guarantee at Indianapolis is interesting. He qualified well at Pocono, yet seemed to fall back more and more during the race. DEI seems to be focusing on Truex and Menard at the moment, which is perfectly understandable. The prospect of Truex leaving would put one foot in the ground, I don’t see anyone tearing down the door to get into DEI the way guys would at Gibbs right now. In a certain sense, I think Mark may have to win at Indy to keep DEI relevant. Rumors swirl about the future of the Army sponsorship, given that the 01 has had limited sponsorship, and Bass Pro Shops could be leaving for Tony Stewart’s revamped Haas Racing.

I didn’t like the movie Groundhog Day. I hate recurring dreams. Most of all, I know deep down that Mark Martin won’t win the Brickyard this year. He’ll have a flat tire with 3 to go, he’ll get crashed out by a car 9 laps down, he’ll blow his engine on the white flag lap. The worst part? I’ll still be making him my pick to win. Some habits won’t go away.

Photo credit: BethAnne Heisler - ON PIT ROW 

Michigan International Speedway is my favorite NASCAR track. It doesn’t always feature the most exciting racing of the season. The races usually feature three or four main stories composed of different dominant cars separated by long, hot stretches of stock car endurance driving. But it’s fast. And it’s loud and it smells good. That’s what makes it number one in my book. The smell of rubber and racing fuel. And I’m there. I get to a fair number of events every year, but I always get to the Michigan races. I can count on the smells of MIS.

If you get Loose in Turn 3 at MIS - and don’t lose it - you will probably be fast. My cohorts - TZ at Do You NASCAR and Bruce of NASCAR Bits and Pieces - are always quick. Check out their comments on my Turn 3 question this week.

I’m stealing the theme for my question from a comment made on a post at Bench Racing by One Lugnut Short.

Would requiring race tracks that host multiple races, to have different race lengths for each race resolve the complaints of those who want to take races away from the Poconos and Californias?

Charlie: Actually, it would for me. Having one 500 mile race each at Pocono and California is fine. But make the other 400 or - as my buddy Steve-O wants - even 300. There is a big difference between 400 and 500 in strategy. One long, endurance test is fine. Make the other race something else. I know this won’t quell the clamor for taking races away from these tracks. But if that doesn’t happen - and it won’t at California I promise you - at least this solution creates variety.

Bruce: Would making different races at the same track different lengths resolve complaints? No, I don’t think so. Most detractors have their ulterior motives and I’m not sure race length is an issue with most. I have always thought that shortening up some of the events would be good though. It would be good for television ratings and good for the drone affect some races can develop on this viewer. I really like the length of the Nationwide races. Not too long, but not a dash and we still see mechanical failures at those set distances, so I’m not sure the overall affect would be detrimental. On the other hand, being shorter, you might see more aggressive strategies that would cause other physics issues (IE: 2 cars, one space). If I had a say, I’d say go for it.
TZ: I like the forward thinking in regards that diversity in the races themselves could make things a bit more exciting, but in all reality, no I don’t see that solving anything. Some people may tend to gripe about a track simply because they just got done watching a boring race, but for me, very seldom will hear me say anything good about the racing at California, Texas, or Michigan … why? Because whether it’s 200, 400, or 500 miles, the tracks themselves just simply do not alot for entertaining racing.

That’s what we think - how about you? Leave your thoughts in the comment section here, then check out the other blogs for our takes on TZ’s question…

Assuming that he was seriously contemplating the move, do the recent penalties awarded to Haas CNC Racing deter Tony Stewart from pursuing future ownership with that organization?

And make Bruce’s deal this week is…

So another Pocono race has come and gone. If NASCAR retains two races at Pocono, (And I don’t see why they won’t) do you think the track management should at least repave the track or is there something they can do to change up the action?

Martin Truex Jr grabbed his first and, so far only, Cup Series win at Dover Downs in 2007.  By my count, he was one of three drivers to accomplish that feat last year - Casey Mears and Clint Bowyer were the others.

I’m looking at the line up for this week’s tilt at the Monster Mile and wondering who will be the next first timer.  The answer is not obvious.  David Ragan would seem the best bet.  He drives for one of the major teams, as did all of 2007’s first time winners.  Ragan has lately been running up front and looked like a contender at Charlotte.  But who else.  Is there anybody else?

Before his injury, Dario Franchitti would have been my pick if only because of the two road courses where he should be one of the contenders.  His lost seat-time may not hurt his chances at Sonoma and the Glen, but it steepens the learning curve elsewhere.

Fellow Dodger Reed Sorenson looked strong coming out of Daytona.  Since then though, his team has been a big part of Ganassi’s funk.  The stirring of that pot by Chip doesn’t bode well for the Target car.

Dave Blaney is the only non winner in a Toyota who seems a candidate.  A J Allmendinger didn’t convince me at Lowes.  David Reutimann looks like a journeyman.

Who do you like in a Chevy?  All of 2007’s virgin winners were Bowtie Boys.  But who’s left?  Regan Smith?  Too soon and not enough chances.  Same for Aric Almirola.  The Haas CNC teams probably killed their chances by losing crew and car chiefs for six races.

No, the next winner looks to be a Ford man.  If not Ragan then maybe one of the Yates guys.  Travis Kvapil looks primed.

With fifty laps to go in the Coca Cola 600 I was mentally writing a headline about the start of summer finally arriving with Tony Stewart’s big win. Not to be. Instead Kasey Kahne won NASCAR’s longest race. And Dale Earnhardt Jr became the poster boy for Looseness in Turn Three.

This week, TZ from Do You NASCAR and Bruce of NASCAR Bits and Pieces and the guys at Bench Racing will thrash on three racing related topics. Here’s mine.

Why can’t Junior finish?

Charlie: When is Tony Eury Jr going to have a come to Jesus meeting with his driver
and tell him to quit running every lap two inches from the turn four wall?
Earnhardt is the only driver who runs every track and every lap of every race, in
the highest line there is. It works for him, I know. He’s been fast everywhere
this season. But he has hit the wall in more races than not. It seems to me that
his crew chief should be talking him down off that wall later in the race. It
probably wouldn’t work. Listening to Junior on the radio does not give me the
feeling that he listens to much of anything. He tells - commands. It might be time
for a change in tactics.

TZ: I think you have to start with Dale Junior’s relationship with Tony Eury Jr.
More often than not, I, too, find Earnhardt to be a bit overly demanding - and, not
very understanding - over his team radio, but I think that most people probably tend
to be a little more short-tempered when dealing with family at times. I think that
Junior probably doesn’t do the best job of translating what’s going on with the car
in the manner so that Eury can understand it, and as a result, they tend to let the
track start getting away from them near the ends of the races. And, yes … there
are times when he’d probably be a bit better off finding different grooves in the
track.

Bruce: The team is not used to finishing.. Not used to getting out there up front
now that they seem to have more consistent, improved equipment. I get the high
groove and yes, they should try different lines, but if it works it works.. the
high groove will give you more gear coming out of the corners and saves tires a bit
in the long run, but I’m not sure it’s worth it all the time like he does.. At least
he’s closer to the wall when a tire blows and then again, maybe he’s got some
lingering issues from past hits and he has a reason? Bet we won’t see the high
groove at Dover! And you’re right guys, he snaps / commands the crew when he needs
to be listening too… at least it seems that way.

That’s what we think. What do you think?

You should check out Tim’s post and discussion…

Should the no. 20 team have called for two right-side tires on Tony Stewart’s
next-to-last stop at the Coca Cola 600? 

And Bruce’s question this week…

My question is whether drivers should get over the idea of people moving over for them because they think they’re faster than they are?

There’s good stuff there.  We welcome your input.

NASCAR increases its points penalties for teams by fifty percent.

The going rate for infractions to the new car had been rather consistent at 100 owner and driver points, $100,000. fines for the crew chiefs and and 6 races suspensions for said crew chiefs. But with the Haas/CNC infractions on the Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter cars come 150 point penalties. NASCAR PR released this statement:

The No. 66 car driven by Scott Riggs and the No. 70 car driven by Johnny Sauter were found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20-3.1.3A (wing mounting locations were not as specified by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book). The infractions were discovered May 24 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

As a result, Riggs and No. 66 car owner Joe Custer have been penalized 150 championship driver and 150 championship owner points, respectively, as have Sauter and No. 70 car owner Margaret Haas. Both the crew chiefs and the car chiefs for the two cars – Bootie Barker and Derick Jennings for the No. 66 and Dave Skog and Thomas Harris for the No. 70 – have been suspended from the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events, suspended from NASCAR until July 9 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Additionally, Barker and Skog have each been fined $100,000 apiece.

The penalty also includes NASCAR’s confiscation of team 66 Serial Number HMS 12 06 415 race car and team 70 Serial Number HMS 04 08 507 race car.

You have to wonder if adding 50 points to the penalties is because NASCAR sees two cars from the same stable as being more offensive than if it had been just one. Or were the penalties increased because it was the wing area that was violated. NASCAR has taken a dim view of messing with the wing and its fittings.

Then again, Barker claimed that they had been using the same wing brackets the entire season with no problems and not a mention from any tech inspector. And they had passed inspection three times that same day. NASCAR’s Kerry Tharpe said the garage is self policing. That has to be interpreted as saying some fellow team threw the Haas/CNC boys under the bus.

The most likely candidates would be those teams and cars most likely to benefit from the 66 and 70 cars falling down the points ladder. A hard look has to be taken at the #55 and #77 teams of Michael Waltrip Racing and Penske Racing. Those two teams stand to gain the most with the redone points. Whether either of those teams or some other are the “garage police” for NASCAR, the system stinks worse than moldy leftovers.

Should cheaters be dealt with accordingly? Absolutely. Should NASCAR take a look at its inspection process? Absolutely. If what Bootie Barker says is entirely true, then the inspectors that have passed those cars for eleven of the first twelve races should be disciplined as well.

photo credit: Icon Sports Media

OK, so Marty Smith posted a story he has about Tony Stewart being in negotiations with Chevy teams, mentioning Haas CNC by name. The story has even been here earlier this week. So, would Tony really leave JGR for ownership of Haas? I think it is very likely. Haas is a satellite team of Hendrick Motorsports, of course. I would imagine if Tony takes over the team, he would be receiving much more assistance in that aspect. Then there is the option of him buying into the team, and driving for another Chevy team. Hello #5? Hello #33? Casey Mears hasn’t lit the world on fire, but the NASCAR world may explode if Stewart joins Jeff, Jimmie, and Junior. That would leave the #33, flush with funds from General Mills, and Stewart has a champion’s provisional to guarantee the team makes the field. Also, at RCR, he has a good relationship with Kevin Harvick.

It certainly would be intriguing if Tony becomes an owner. He would the highest-profile new owner in the series since Dale Earnhardt Inc. moved to Cup in 1998 with Steve Park. What is interesting to look at is how owning a team affected Dale Earnhardt’s performance from ’98 until 2001. He won just once in ’98, three times in ’99, and twice in ‘00. That’s a total of six wins, but taking a closer look, three were at Talladega, and one each at Daytona, Bristol, and Atlanta. Four of his six wins came at plate tracks, where he was the acknowledged master. Did owning those teams really affect his performance? Hard to say, but it’s worth mentioning. He finished seventh in ’98, eighth in ’99, and rebounded to finish second in ’00. Perhaps the biggest factor is the equipment, and depending on whom Tony is driving for: himself, Childress, or Hendrick, he may not add significantly to his win total.

What I’ve failed to mention is Gibbs in this scenario. How willing is Gibbs to let Tony go? Well, I think it depends on how well Joey Logano performs in the Nationwide Series this year. If Logano proves to be what he is hyped to be, he could very well find himself sitting in the #20 come Daytona in February 2009.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

How much more interesting would the Sprint Cup Series be if Tony Stewart were to become a team owner?

According to Fox Sports’ Lee Spencer that possibility was the hot rumor around the Phoenix International Raceway garage on Friday.  It seems that Tony may be talking with Haas CNC Racing and Chevrolet about a partnership that would return Stewart to the Bow-tie fold as a driver-owner.  And where there is Smoke - there is news.

Lately a few of us had speculated that that Stewart might be a candidate for the #33 seat and General Mills sponsorship at Richard Childress Racing.  Others, like my buddy Steve, think that Stewart’s relationships with Joe Gibbs Racing and various pals will stop any potential defection.  I wonder if Chevrolet felt that way about their JGR connections before the Coach and the kid said sayonara?

When I brought the latest Tony Stewart rumor up to a colleague a little while ago, he said to me; “…well if he goes to his own team, he’ll never win again.” 

I’m not so sure about that.  But who’s to say that Tony Stewart would have to drive for his own team?  The late Dale Earnhardt never drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc in a Cup race, did he?  Of course he did drive the same manufacturer’s car as the team he owned used.

Regardless, this is shaping up to be the story of the year in NASCAR.  I do think that the Stewart camp is floating some of this stuff to enhance Tony’s negotiating position with JGR or RCR or whomever.  But I’m sure glad that they are.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Survival at Atlanta Motor Speedway last week, in a NASCAR sense, had to do with driving within the limits of Goodyear’s questionable tire choice. Kyle Busch mastered the task, as did Carl Edwards, before mechanical gremlins ate his chances. Even the loudest critics of the tires – Tony Stewart, Dales Earnhardt Jr and Jeff Gordon – used the combination of patience and talent necessary to bring their cars in with top five finishes.

Surviving Bristol will be a different story. It’s strange really. Bristol Motor Speedway has a history, maybe more than any other track, where certain drivers excel repeatedly. Darrell Waltrip had twelve wins in Thunder Valley, and is the historic king of the track. Three others were nine-time winners - Dale Earnhardt Sr, Cale Yarborough and Rusty Wallace – and there are several five-time winners including current contenders, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch. If you scan the list of winners at Bristol, you don’t find many names outside the top-tier of NASCAR competitors. The recent winners, since Kurt Busch’s run of four out of five from 2002-2004, are; Dale Jr, Harvick, Matt Kenseth twice, Kurt’s fifth and the hottest drivers of 2008, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. What makes this odd is the prevailing feeling that to survive Bristol’s biennial wreck-fest, you have to be lucky. There has to be some truth to that, given the tight confines of the half mile bull-ring, the speed that the thirty degree banking allows and the fact that there just aren’t many single car wrecks. So, why do the same names consistently show well at Bristol? Why doesn’t the luck – both the good and the bad – spread itself around a bit more? Matt Kenseth has won two of the last six Bristol contests so his top Loop Driver Rating of 111.4 is not a surprise. Kenseth leads in eight other categories as well. Notably he has an Ave. Mid Race Position of 5.3, so maybe running upfront helps avoid the wrecks but the front runners at Bristol are dealing with lapped traffic the whole race. Not much help really. Matt has also led nearly a quarter of all laps in the last six Bristol meetings – 23.5% for a total of 706. Jeff Gordon has the next best Driver Rating at 103.1. Gordon is one of the five-time Bristol winners but his only win since 1998 came in the 2002 night race. He must be doing something right lately though, to be ranked number 2. It’s my oft-stated opinion that Jeff Gordon is always a good pick. These numbers and the fact that Jeff has been in position to win every race since Daytona make it obvious this week. Greg Biffle has never won at Bristol. His driver Loop Data Rating of 102.7 is third best but NASCAR’s traditional stats have him number one, career-wise at the Tennessee track. In ten starts he has six top ten finishes and three top fives. But get this – he has completed, amazingly at Bristol, 100% of all laps in the races he’s entered. There’s that combination of skill, patience and luck you need at Bristol. Biffle’s been good in 2008 too, sitting second in points and contending every week. The wins are coming. Kevin Harvick has quietly moved into third place in the Sprint Cup standings and he ranks fourth in Bristol Driver Rating at 99.2. He has spent 74.5 % of his time at Bristol in the top fifteen and has finished half of his fourteen races at Bristol in the top five.

Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr come next with DRs of 97.7 and 97.5. Both drivers are Bristol winners and both overcame there rubber induced frustration to finish top three last week at Atlanta. Junior as the better overall stats at Bristol with a series best Ave. Finish of 6.5 compared to Smoke’s 14.0. But Tony has run up front for 1085 laps to Junior’s 708.

Gillette-Everham Motorsports drivers Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler are top ten Bristol Loop drivers, coming in with DRs of 94.2 and 92.9. Kahne has led 305 laps to Sadler’s 113 but Elliott is the one who won a Bristol race. Kurt Busch had a miserable 2007 spring race but he is unquestionably one of the masters of Thunder Valley, with five wins – all since 2002. His current Loop DR of 92.8 reflects that poor 2007 finish. He has nine top tens and five wins in fourteen total races and has led 535 laps. Kurt should contend Sunday.Steady, fast, Jeff Burton and the spectacular Kyle Busch are tenth and eleventh with Loop DRs of 90.5 and 90.0. They are followed by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte. Jimmy Johnson is sixteenth. Of those drivers, only Edwards has won at Bristol before. Bristol races have a reputation as wild-cards, much like Talladega and the best car often finishes thirty laps down. At Bristol it’s best to be lucky and good. Biffle is my pick this week, on a hunch for sure. For a dark-horse, I’ll take Jeremy Mayfield – our Tuesday guest ON PIT ROW - a former Bristol winner driving a Hendrick powered Chevy and deserving of a bit of good luck too.Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

It’s a good thing that the best brains in NASCAR discovered they had an engine issue before the races. Word is, a coating on a batch of lifters used by Hendrick Motorsports’ engine builders - and other motor shops too - is failing and the failure would have been fatal.

According to Lowes #48 team crew chief Chad Knaus, there’s no way the faulty power plants would have survived 150 miles. Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr all were forced to change engines, sending them to the back of the grid to start the Dual Daytona 500 qualifiying races.

The bad parts infected the Toyota of Dale Jarrett, Scott Riggs’ Haas CNC Chevy and probably others too.

As a blogger, I kind of wish they hadn’t found the problem. There would have been some great posting opportunities in the aftermath. Just think of the possibilities.

• Visions of hope in the eyes of Ford and Dodge teams as all of the HMS cars and their clients went up in smoke.

• Lists of the best trash talking lines used by Hendrick/Gordon/Johnson haters as they kicked the evil empire while it was down.

• Conspiracy theories - tons of them.

• How it’s obvious that the engine problems are Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s fault. I mean, look at what happened at DEI!

Now we’ll probably have to write about a brilliant, come-from-behind win or two instead.

Photo credit: Rusty Jarrett - Getty Images for NASCAR

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