Thank you ... and farewell

While many in NASCAR travel to Las Vegas for this week’s banquet, I’m headed on a different path.

My position as Landmark’s motorsports writer will be eliminated, and I will not be retained. Thursday is my final day. This is my final blog entry.

Thank you for everything. It’s been a heck of a ride the past 13 seasons. I hope I enlightened and entertained you with my coverage. 

Before I go, I want to pass along one hope for you. No matter what you do, enjoy life. Our lives are shaped by the experiences and people we meet.  I’ve been fortunate to hike the Grand Canyon, watch John Williams conduct an orchestra and attend various sporting events with fellow writers, among other things.

Don’t get the wrong idea, most of the time I was working (some told me too much). Even if you don’t or can’t travel, there’s still much you can do. Look around your community. How well do you really know your neighbors? How can you help make this a better place? There’s so much you can do to enrich your life and that of others. Don’t be afraid to take that chance.

As I move on, I look ahead and not behind. Life is a journey and this is my path. It’s unsettling, sure, but I could enjoy opportunities I would have never imagined.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my stories and chat through the years.  I’ve enjoyed our time together.

 

   

Backseat Drivers Fan Council delivers another message to NASCAR

While the season is over, members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council weren’t done with their opinions and had some comments for NASCAR.

NASCAR SECRET PENALTIES

69.3 percent are against any penalty not made public

16.8 percent are for NASCAR issuing secret penalties

13.9 percent don’t care

What Fan Council members said:

# I've never understood what's so terrible about transparency. Keep it all above board and gain some more respect. There's a reason most fans despise (NASCAR Chairman Brian France) - and it's because he represents the veiled, cloaked culture many believe exists.

# I don't care whether the fine is public or not. My problem is that a driver was fined for giving his opinion.

# I have no problem with NASCAR having secret fined for its sport. Fans think they are supposed to know every detail and it's just not true!

# Secret fines just take away NASCAR's creditability. You've got to wonder else is going on "secretly". The drivers should have a right to voice their opinions without worrying about getting fined. And what Brad said was just stating the obvious to anybody with any mechanical knowledge.

# Where is it written that NASCAR has to be completely transparent, he knew he would get fined when he said it.

# I also don't feel that NASCAR is required to tell me or the media the details of internal matters.

# Dean Wormer doesn't work for professional sports. We need public fines--and a public rule book. No more double-secret probation; it's bogus and amateur.

# Any penalty that is necessary should be made public, otherwise it just looks like NASCAR is trying to cover their own rear ends for a questionable fine / violation.

# Why I am not against the penalty, I am against it not being made public. NASCAR has come so far in its transparency over the last couple of years, I don't know why they cannot understand why they would undermine themselves with this secret fine issue.

# NASCAR can run their business however they see fit. I'm all for freedom of speech, but I'm not sure that Brad's comments were going to benefit anyone. They are going to fuel injection whether it's good, bad or indifferent. It probably wasn't the smartest fight he could pick.

# I feel like in this era of transparency NASCAR is claiming to have, there should be no secret fines. If they felt it was worth fining, it's worth revealing.

# Brad made some negative comments towards NASCAR. NASCAR didn't appreciate those comments and wanted to make sure Brad understood that wouldn't be tolerated, however, NASCAR didn't want to draw more attention to the message Brad sent out. I think it was an appropriate way to handle the situation. Unfortunately someone had loose lips and it made it into a bigger story than it ever needed to be.

GRADE SUNDAY’S CUP RACE

83.7 percent said it was Great

13.0 percent said it was Good

2.5 percent said it was Fair

0.7 percent said it was Poor

What Fan Council members said:

# Tony backed up exactly what he has been saying for the last month!! Awesome!!!

# Best race of the season! Lots of passing and Tony Stewart coming form the back to the front twice and backing up what he was saying made it that much better!!!

# Anyone who doesn't consider this as one of the greatest races in history (thanks to the storybook finish and Smoke's Herculean effort) is delusional or never pleased, no matter what.

# It felt more like a movie than an actual race. What a way to end the season!

# I couldn't sleep Sunday night, and have thought about that race all day. I still get chills. It is so amazing to know that I witnessed what will be one of the most famous races in NASCAR history.

# This is the only great I've handed out this year, Watching two great drivers was spectacular.

# You should have put "Spectacular"! That was absolutely the best race I have ever seen!

# Even though I'm a huge Edwards fan and was disappointed in the final result, this was an absolutely epic race. You really could not have scripted this any better.

# The only other final championship race in my time watching NASCAR (since '79) that is on this level was 1992 in Atlanta, which I thought was the Greatest Race. But this one is right up there. The only thing that was a drawback was the rain delay; all the rest was nail biting action!

# I have never been that into a race in my entire life. I couldn't take my eyes off the TV. Had a blast watching it and tweeting about it.

# Although I have a great dislike for both drivers involved in the championship race, there is no denying that the race was fantastic.

# I've been involved with NASCAR racing since 1949 with my uncle in Shelby, N.C. and this by far is the best race that I can remember.

GRADE THE SPRINT CUP SEASON

49.3 percent said it was Good

35.5 percent said it was Great

12.7 percent said it was Fair

2.5 percent it was Poor

What Fan Council members said:

# The new points system was tremendous. Eighteen different winners, including five first-timers. Stewart's late surge to take the title. Brad Keselowski coming from nowhere to earn a WC spot and fifth in points. I honestly don't know what more I could ask for as a fan....except for Mark Martin wins.

# I call it great, but with some reservation. It doesn't get much better than an epic title battle, a fairy tale Daytona 500 finish, lots of new winners and the most competitive fields ever. The only bummer is the economy claiming good guys like Ragan and Reutimann.

# I hope NASCAR can find a way to fix the single file racing, especially on the mile and a half tracks.

# What an amazing season starting with young Trevor winning the Daytona 500, and several other first time winners in big races like Darlington, Indy, Daytona. Dale Jr improved a great deal and finished 7th in points. Brad Keselowski has become a breakout talent in the Cup series and has endeared us with his personality on twitter. We had plenty of scandal with feuds and most of them involving the last name Busch. Then the battle for the championship was the most exciting thing I have ever seen! It was a battle to the end and a perfect blend of rewarding consistency and winning, but in the end the driver with the most wins won! What more could a fan ask for?

# Even tho the last race was excellent, most of the racing this year was boring. NASCAR better make some changes to the cars aerodynamically to make the racing more exciting.

# Honestly, for the most part I was pleased. Close points, some good racing. I'm giving it good instead of great because there were way too many fuel mileage events. Can't call those races when the slowest car wins.

# If you didn't have fun this season, you didn't try! It was my best Cup season!

# I rate it good only because of the first time winners and the championship race. The incredibly boring racing that took place on 2/3 of the tracks this season warrants a Fair or Poor rating, however there were a few great races and an epic drive by Tony Stewart that made 500 miles at Charlotte somehow bearable.

# TOO MANY FUEL MILEAGE RACES!!! When I read this question the boring fuel mileage events immediately came to mind. That depressing train of thought was rapidly followed by the nightmare of the two-car drafts that stunk up the show at all of the super speedways (formerly my favorite races). Smoke's win though leaves me looking forward to next year with hope. He raced his way to the championship. I feel as though NASCAR 'let them' race it out to the end resulting in a satisfying finish. I also feel that NASCAR is watching the action and listening to the fans and will make improvements next year. I believe we'll see fewer fuel mileage events, more boys having at it, and a judicious and necessary usage of cautions throughout the races.

# 2 car tandem drafting took away the excitement of plate racing. Fuel mileage was a huge issue. Any one out in front for a cookie cutter race was going to lead a bunch of laps, because clean air is too important. The end of the season was spectacular, but, overall the season was fair, at best. NASCAR needs Goodyear to develop tires that fall off, so we can get back to racing on Sunday, not racing for track position on Friday in hopes of maintaining it on Sunday.

# I'm stuck between "fair" and "good." On the one hand, Trevor Bayne winning the 500 and some of the first time winners we've seen have been great. On the other, the racing has left an awful lot to be desired, especially at the bigger tracks.

# They HAVE to do something about Daytona and Talladega. We want to see more passing and RACING/PASSING.

# Despite the end, this really was a poor season filled with far too little true racing and way too much aero push, fuel mileage, and just riding around marking laps. Overall, it was probably one of the most boring seasons since the mid-1970s.

WILL YOU BE ATTENDING MORE CUP RACES NEXT YEAR?

35.3 percent said they were not sure at this point

33.5 percent said they did NOT plan to attend more Cup races next year

31.3 percent said they DID plan to attend more Cup races next year

What Fan Council members said:

# Going to both Charlottes, Martinsvilles and the spring Talladega. Can’t come soon enough!

# The dreaded work economy will play a part in 2012 no doubt!

# Where is the option to attend less Cup races next year? I would most certainly pick that option.

# Attending Cup races is already out of my budget. Sadly.

# Attended 9 this year. Plan to do fewer next year but we say that every year.

# 150 per night on Wednesday before the race, then $320 a night Thursday through Sunday? Outrageous ticket prices and concession stand prices...And everyone wonders why attendance sucks? PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD IT!

# I might have to cut back from 5 to 3 or 4.

# Yes, I attended two this year. I want to go see so many more in person.

# I attended the Kentucky fiasco and it was my first race. Bad first impression.

# I do plan to attend the Truck race at Rockingham, but how many Cup races I may attend is still up in the air.

# After traveling from Alaska to KY Speedway and having to listen to the race on the radio from I-71... I don't think I will be attending anymore NASCAR CUP races.

# My budget is locked in to my 3 races a year, but I'll be watching them all.

# I attend both Richmond races each year and have done this for many years. This year I plan on going to Darlington and the Coca Cola 600.

# I'd love to be able to go to another race. Being from Canada, it is a little tougher to make that happen, however, if the opportunity arises - I'll get there.

# While I would LIKE to attend MORE cup races, economics have drastically trimmed my NASCAR budget. On top of that, I always attended both Talladega races and Daytona in July . . . sorry, HATE the 2 car tandem racing. Those races have been totally ruined. I also live in KY and REFUSE to attend KY speedway for another race until I am totally convinced that the traffic has been corrected. I have been a season ticket holder there for 5 years and did NOT renew for 2012.

 

Stewart nips Edwards for title but Va. Tech grad is out as Stewart's crew chief

They will talk about Sunday for years. If you were lucky enough to be at Homestead as I was, it will be a race you will never forget. If you watched it on TV, there’s a good chance you also won’t forget it whether you are a Tony Stewart fan, Carl Edwards fan or just a racing fan. The roller coaster of emotions churned throughout the race until Stewart began to run away from Edwards in the final laps to win the closest points race in NASCAR history.

Here’s how it happened and what folks said:

STEWART WINS TITLE IN DRAMATIC STYLE

The debate this year was if the new points system rewarded winning more or consistency. In the end, it was wins that gave Stewart the title. He and Carl Edwards finished the season tied with 2,403 points. The tiebreaker is wins. Stewart had five wins _ all in the Chase _ and Edwards had only one win. Title to Stewart.

Stewart, who discounted his title hopes when the Chase began, won three of the last four races to win this championship. It was among one of the more remarkable clutch performances in the sport, especially when one considers all that happened in this race to Stewart:

# Stewart’s car hit debris early and put a hole in his grille. He restarted 40th after the team made repairs during the first caution and restarted 32nd after further repairs during the second caution.

# Later, Stewart lost track position when a lugnut got stuck in the air gun and forced crew chief Darian Grubb to change strategy from a four-tire stop to a two-tire stop so they wouldn’t lose any more time and positions on pit road.

# As this was happening, Carl Edwards was dominating the first half of the race, going from the pole to lead the most laps.

“They showed a lot of mental toughness to watch us go lead the first half of this race essentially and not panic, not make mistakes,’’ Edwards said. “I thought they did a really good job.’’

Said Stewart: “I think the way our season went and the first 100 laps of the race went, it was easy to put into perspective. It goes back to nobody has ever quit on this team. I think the season has been character building and when something like that’s happened, it’s easy to feel like you’re backing yourself in a corner but the way our day was and to battle from the back twice in those first hundred laps, I thought gave us that confidence that it wasn’t the end of the world and that we could recover from it.’’

They did and Stewart did what he had to win the race and win the championship.

Stewart said the key to winning the title actually went back to his win at Martinsville last month. Here’s what he said about that:

“ We had struggled at Martinsville the three races before this fall, and to battle, to stay on the lead lap, and once we stayed on the lead lap there, to battle back to the lead and to win the race with the drama that we have won the race, I have yet to have anybody tell me who has passed for the lead on the outside to win the race at Martinsville.

“To leave there doing something remarkable, I feel that was the turning point in the Chase for us.  And we backed it up a week later by winning Texas and not only winning Texas but by beating the guy that we are racing the points for, leading the most laps and really making a statement that, hey, do not count  don't make the mistake of counting us out of this.

“And you know, I just think that was a huge turning point for us, and you get that confidence that everything is going right and that  it's so much easier when things are going well.  Everybody relaxes.  Everybody is calm.  You're not trying to mentally figure out what the missing piece of the puzzle is. ‘’

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR

Carl Edwards led the points for more than half of the season and throughout much of the Chase but will be a footnote in history _ he’s the guy who finished tied for the points lead at the end of the season and lose because of a tiebreaker.

Crew chief Bob Osborne truly looked stunned on pit road after the race with a blank expression. As the media surrounded Edwards, Osborne stood to the side alone.

Edwards answered all the questions and seemed to be calm and although the defeat could be devastating, Edwards would not let it define him.

Here's the deal.  Whether we won tonight or we lost, I mean, tomorrow is the start of the next season.  I was prepared before this race began to do exactly what I'm going to go do and that's to be even better next year and to apply what I've learned here.

“We knew we could come into this thing and we knew that of all of the circumstances that could happen, this one was the least probable.  I mean, for us to finish like that, tied, fighting for the win.  That is the least probable outcome.  And so I was prepared for anything.  I knew that this was a possibility, though, and I was prepared for this.  And I told myself, I told my family that the one thing I'm going to do is I'm going to walk back to that most home, win, lose or draw and I'm going to be a good example for my kids and work hard and go be better next season.  Because, you know, we talked about it before the race, even if we won this thing, you go halfway through next season you and struggle, that's quickly forgotten. As painful as this is right now, I know that we have  we are fortunate to have the opportunity to go to Daytona and just start all over again and go race.’’

Here’s what else Edwards said of his night:

About his chat with Bob Osborne after the race: “I just wanted to make sure that Bob knew that I believe he's the best crew chief here, and that he will be my crew chief for as long as he wants to be, and I'm behind him and his decision 100 percent. As tough as it is for me, you know, it's tougher, I think, for those guys, the guys that prepare these cars and determine which things we are going to work on throughout the year and what strategies we are going to use.’’

About what the difference was: “But I think it's important to look back and come up with things  you know, look at things you could do differently to really analyze everything and to see where you did things wrong, you did things right.

“My true feeling right now, my real _ like my gut feeling in my heart, is that I'm just _ I'm obviously disappointed we didn't win.  That would have been a spectacular result, okay.  But I'm very proud, some of the best races I've run in my life, were this Chase.  Kansas was unbelievable.  Martinsville, I've never used my head as much as I did at Martinsville.  I've never been able to put down my frustration like I did at Dover. If I look back on this Chase, there's not one thing that I say, man, I wish I'd have done this or I wish I'd have done that.  This whole season has gone very well.  I'm truly proud of this season. I mean, but it's over.’’

WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP, GO FIND A JOB

Crew chief Darian Grubb, whose decision for Tony Stewart to stretch his fuel was one of the key moments in Stewart winning the race and the championship, is out of a job.

Grubb, a Virginia Tech grad, confirmed after the race that he was told by the team last month during the Chase that he would not be back as crew chief.

Asked how does a crew chief who helps a team win five of 10 Chase races and the championship find himself looking for work and just how baffling it is, Grubb said: “It still is to me, honestly. Not really sure what is going to happen now, but I was told early on in the Chase before Charlotte that I was not going to be here next year, so we just kept fighting, doing everything we had to do every week and it didn’t change anything on what the outcome was going to be. We fought as if we were going to fight to win this championship and we did it. Now, we’ll just see this coming week how things change.’’

Asked if there was a chance he could remain with the Stewart –Haas Racing (as co-owner Gene Haas sat on the stage with Grubb), Grubb said: “I’m not sure.

As for if he’s talked to other teams, Grubb said: “I had a lot of conversations with a lot of people telling them to please give me the courtesy of waiting until tonight to see what we could accomplish. Now that we’ve done that, I guess we’ll start talking, but we’ll do a little celebrating first.’’

Stewart dodged questions about Grubb’s future.

Asked if Grubb could return, Stewart said: “There’s a lot of things in the offseason and a lot of decisions that have to be made and obviously, we wanted to get through this championship battle first. We’ll sit down as a group this week and figure out the direction of our program. The good thing right now is that we’re sitting up here as champions right now.’’

WHAT EDWARDS TOLD STEWART

After the race, Carl Edwards went on to the track when Tony Stewart came by on the frontstretch. Stewart stopped and Edwards leaned his head into the car and the chatted briefly, just the two of them.

Said Stewart: “He walked up and he said you're going to have fun with this for the rest of your life.  You couldn't ask for a better guy.  And he goes, "I hope a year from now, we are in the same battle again just like this."  And that  everybody respects Carl for the person that he is, and you know, there's been a lot of things that have happened that make you go, is there sincerity involved in what he says.  But there's no cameras there when he said that.  He just came and talked to me driver to driver, and that means a lot and it shows who he is as a person I think.’’

NOTES

# Tony Stewart’s third Cup win _ he’s won a Winston Cup, Nextel Cup and Sprint Cup title _ put him in a select group. He’s one of nine drivers with at least three championships. They are: Richard Petty (7), Dale Earnhardt (7), Jimmie Johnson (5), Jeff Gordon (4), Darrell Waltrip (3), Cale Yarborough (3), David Pearson (3) and Lee Petty (3)

# Andy Lally won Rookie of the Year honors. He was the only rookie candidate and did not have a ride for Sunday’s race.

# The top 10 in points go to the Cup banquet in Las Vegas. Kurt Busch (11th) and Kyle Busch (12th) both Las Vegas natives, missed the cut.

# Jimmie Johnson finished sixth in the points _ the first time since moving to Cup fulltime in 2002 that he didn’t finish in the top five in points.

THEY SAID IT

MARTIN TRUEX JR. (3rd): “It’s a lot of fun when you can run like that.  Michael (Waltrip) and Rob (Kauffman, team owner), they put a lot of resources and a lot of efforts into getting our cars better the second half of the year.  We’ve got a lot to build on this season.  Scott Miller (director of competition) came over and did a nice job being my interim crew chief while Chad (Johnston) was emailing setups from the race shop.  Just proud of everybody on the team for sticking together.  We ended the season on a strong note and we know what we’ve got to work on this winter.  We’ve had speed all year, we’ve just got to get more consistent.  If we can do that next year we’ll do some great things. We had a good car all weekend long.  I love coming down here to Homestead.  I don’t know what it is about this place but I really enjoy it.  I felt like we probably had the car to beat here last year.  Tonight we weren’t quite as good.  The 14 (Tony Stewart) and 99 (Carl Edwards) were just so stout.  Now you know why they battled for the championship this year.  A big night for our team.  This is a new car we built and took to Texas for the first time.  It’s something that the guys have been working on for a big part of this year to get better.  Just feels good to come out here and run well and finish the season off.  My crew chief (Chad Johnston) is at home emailing setups and notes trying to help us as much as he can through email and text and all of that.  I’ve just got to thank Scott Miller for coming on board and helping us.   Looking forward to next year.  We’ve had speed like this all year, we just have to get more consistency and next year we’ll do great things if we can do that.”

MATT KENSETH (4th): “It was a good run for us. I kind of hit the wall early and this Crown Royal team did a great job getting it fixed up and keeping it really competitive. I just wasn’t as good as the top two.  The 56 was better at times and I was a little better than him at times, but the 99 and 14 just had us all night. I don’t know what I would change to make it better. We had the balance pretty good. We had great stops. We did all that stuff, we just didn’t have the grip and the speed they had.” 

JEFF GORDON (5th): “When the sun went down it didn’t work as well for us.  We were good when it was slick and when the grip came, somehow the balance… and this happens to us a lot and when the balance changes from the cooler track temperatures it seems to shift us into an area that we have a hard time adjusting.  But it was a great day, a top-five, great year.   We had three wins, got number 85, and came up short in the Chase but we look forward to next year and battling it out for the Sprint Cup.”

KASEY KAHNE (7th): “We had to battle pretty hard during the race.  I think we had the best car there those couple runs before the final run.  We were flying.  It felt really good and then we just got tight in that final run.  I was kind of surprised we got tight, but the two runs before that our Red Bull Toyota was I think the fastest car on the track after about 10 laps and we were coming.  It was good and it was fun passing cars and having a great car again.  The guys did a ton of work today.  We started off way too loose and we were loose every run and could go at the end.  And then that final one we got a little too tight so we finally went too far.  It was still a good day, a good finish for us.  The team guys were awesome.  They brought a lot of great race cars to the track and nobody gave up and we were right there throughout the whole final three months.”

DENNY HAMLIN (9th): “(on rain impacting the track) A little bit.  It helped us.  It seemed like when the track would get cleaned off our car would be a little bit better once the rubber got laid down.  We just are a little off in a lot of areas and just have to get a little bit better.  It’s a step in the right direction on our mile-and-a-half program though.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR. (11th): “The race was OK. I would have liked to have finished in the top-10 and we had a good enough car all day to run there. But, I don’t know, the rain made our car just not handle the way we needed it to at the end. It was great at the start of the race. We got to handling kind of poorly there the last half of the race. But we still managed to do ok. We’ve been learning some things that I think are important that I think are important for next year. Everything is pretty positive right now.”

RYAN NEWMAN (12th): “It was pretty good on one side of it. Really proud of Tony (Stewart) and his guys. They delivered in the Chase when they needed to and obviously it kind of came out of nowhere. Really proud of them, really proud of everybody; all our partners at Stewart-Haas Racing. Thank you to Chevrolet for all they do. And the US Army. It’s amazing. It’s kind of bittersweet when it’s not you, but it is awesome when it is your teammate.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER (15th): “It’s a little bit sad. We accomplished our goal being top 15 in points, but I want so much more though. It’s one of those things that they deserve a little bit more and I wish I’d given it to them.  We’ve got some stuff to work on in the winter. We know that. I love working with Greg because he’s helped me so much. I know I still have a ways to go. We’re making steps and we know the areas we need to work on.’’

BRIAN VICKERS (17th): “It’s been a good five years.  Can’t thank everyone enough.  We had some ups and downs.  Unfortunately, this year wasn’t one of our better ones.  We won a race, made the Chase and sat on poles.  The only goal we didn’t accomplish was the championship.  Considering we only had four years to do it – I was out of the car for one (with a medical condition) – I don’t think that’s too bad.  I just want to thank everyone at Red Bull, Toyota and all the guys for their hard work through the years. This is it.”

DAVID REUTIMANN (18th): “It’s disappointing.  I love my guys.  A lot of these guys have been with me since the Truck Series and have come up with me.  I’m going to miss them.  I’m going to miss my guys most of all.  It’s certainly a lot more bitter than it is sweet this week for sure, but we’ll see what happens.

BRAD KESELOWSKI (20th): “I don’t think anyone really expected that out of us (to finish fifth in the point), but I never stopped believing that we could be, you know, be a contender and have a lot of fun and do well as a team. I think we’ve got a lot to build off of. We’ll have to work on it, build off it too.  I’m real proud of the effort for the whole team. We were just doing what we could to try to get up to third (in the Chase standings). We were going to finish fifth in the points, so we just took a chance to try to get to third. It just didn’t pay off. If we caught a yellow, we could have been in really good position, but just wasn’t meant to be. I think we did all the right things and just didn’t catch the breaks we needed and really just didn’t quite have a fast enough car. We put ourselves in position to have good things happen to us and that’s okay.” 

TREVOR BAYNE (25th): “We were awesome until the rain came the first time.  I guess they saw where our rear-end housing was leaking a little bit, I guess where I got in the wall and knocked a bolt loose, so the first half of the race I was pumped. We were coming and we got to 11th and I thought we were gonna be really good and then that happened and put us back in the field. Then I got in the wall a couple times and then when they crashed on the backstretch we lost our left-front fender when the tire blew, so it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for at the end, but it was really fast and I just wish I could have got a better finish for these guys. 

DAVID GILLILAND (33rd): “It looked like he (Jimmie Johnson) got loose up high and gathered it up, and then it was like he made a hard left like he was gonna come down pit road and I just got in the back of him. We had just got a break there and got back on the lead lap. We were working on the car and even though it wasn’t where we wanted it, we were working hard to try and get it there. We just came up a little short.”

KURT BUSCH (34th): "I've never been so disappointed in my life. I think I missed a race once my rookie year and this almost tops that."

GREG BIFFLE (35th): “The engine just gave up. It’s really weird the symptoms we’re having because the oil temperature, water temperature, everything is good.  We’re not revving them that high, so there must be something weird going on with them. They make great power and we’ve had good engines all year.”

DAVID RAGAN (38th): “It’s just engine trouble. The guys at Roush Yates do a great job and that was probably just pushing the issue. We are here racing for a win and had a fast car and that is our fourth engine failure of the year. You can’t make the Chase, and you can’t go for a championship having problems like that. They do a great job; we just pushed the envelope too much and were being a little aggressive on our car with not a whole lot to lose.’’

MARCOS AMBROSE (39th): “We had some engine issues. We’ve been so reliable all year.  We haven’t had a DNF, so to come down to the last race and maybe not finish is gonna be pretty gut-wrenching. It’s a bad way to finish the season, but we’ve had a great year and really wanted to finish on a high note.”

SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU GO HMMM

As of Monday, it is 97 days until the 2012 Daytona 500. Let the countdown begin!

STANDINGS

1.Tony Stewart … 2,403 points (wins title on tiebreaker with 5 wins to Edwards’ 1)

2. Carl Edwards … 2,403

3. Kevin Harvick … 58 points behind champion\

4. Matt Kenseth … 73 points behind champion

5. Brad Keselowski … 84 points behind champion

6. Jimmie Johnson … 99 points behind champion

7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. … 113 points behind champion

8. Jeff Gordon … 116 points behind champion

9. Denny Hamlin … 119 points behind champion

10. Ryan Newman … 119 points behind champion

11. Kurt Busch … 141 points behind champion

12. Kyle Busch … 157 points behind champion

13. Clint Bowyer … 1,047 points

14. Kasey Kahne … 1,041 points

15. AJ Allmendinger … 1,013 points

16. Greg Biffle … 997 points

17. Paul Menard … 947 points

18. Martin Truex Jr. … 937 points

19. Marcos Ambrose … 936 points

20. Jeff Burton … 935 points

21. Juan Pablo Montoya … 932 points

22. Mark Martin … 930 points

23. David Ragan … 906 points

24. Joey Logano … 902 points

25. Brian Vickers … 846 points

26. Regan Smith … 820 points

27. Jamie McMurray … 795 points

28. David Reutimann … 757 points

29. Bobby Labonte … 670 points

30. David Gilliland … 572 points

31. Casey Mears … 541 points

32. Dave Blaney … 508 points

33. Andy Lally … 398 points

34. Robby Gordon … 268 points

35. J.J. Yeley … 192 points

Stenhouse survives Roush's boot camp to win Nationwide championship

If the finish to Sunday’s Cup season finale is anything like the end of Saturday night’s Nationwide race, then hold on.

Brad Keselowski held off Ricky Stenhouse and Carl Edwards in a furious three-way battle for the lead to win. Keselowski said he blocked as much as he could and Edwards said he bumped him once but that was it. Both called it good clean racing.

Stenhouse clinched the Nationwide title on lap 28 when enough cars fell out of the race that Stenhouse could finish no worse than 37th assuring him the crown. Stenhouse won the championship by 45 points on Elliott Sadler. Justin Allgaier finished third in the standings, 117 points behind Stenhouse.

Stenhouse’s climb is remarkable considering a series of wrecks last year put his job at Roush Fenway Racing in jeopardy. Edwards said that car owner Jack Roush rode Stenhouse hard.

“It was almost like Jack turned it into a game,’’ Edwards said. “You bring up Ricky and he’s like, “Yep, we’re running him into the ground. We’re not letting up on him.’ It was like Jack made it his mission that he was going to go with Ricky to the end of the earth and it wasn’t going to be fun for Ricky until he turned it around. So, it worked out I guess.’’

Edwards said he had been through something similar with Roush.

“He pulled me in after one wreck that I caused and he asked me to come in and have a meeting  with him and I was under the impression that this was going to be a “Don’t worry, things are going to be great, we’re working really hard, you’re a good driver meeting.’ He sat me down and (said) “I want to make sure you feel bad enough about what you’ve done and he proceeded to tell me all the things that I had screwed up. He’s not afraid to break you down real far and make you look at all the things you’re doing and you have to be strong to put up with that and if you’re not, it’s been my observation that he doesn’t have much use for you. You’ve got to be able to take what he’s able to dish out.’’

Here’s what Stenhouse had to say about those learning times with Roush.

“He’s got his ways of doing things and you’ve just got to look at the positives from it and I think that was one of the biggest things I learned.’’

Here’s what Roush said about what he put Stenhouse through and why he did what he did and not give up on Stenhouse:

“Ricky was extraordinarily talented. Every challenge that we gave him with a new race track or with a new problem with the car as we changed the car, Ricky was bright and he was quick and he was talented and meeting those challenges. The thing that was always there when you reach a situation when it was clear that you could go down this path or that path … and we decided we were going to go down one of the two paths that was out there, Ricky always went along with it. He never called his dad for support, saying they’re being too hard on me. He never challenged what we were trying to do. He just went along with the program and that’s what a rookie needs to do, he needs to go along with the program with the people that are trying to look after him if they’ve got his interest in mind and my group obviously did.

“The other thing was he was just driven to be competitive to the extent of self-destruction to start with. It’s much easier to temper that and … deal with that. I’ve had people that could drive the race cars and didn’t want it bad enough, as bad as the people next to them and they couldn’t realize the ultimate price. Ricky wanted it bad. This was his opportunity. He tried to hang on to it too tight to start with so he couldn’t realize the success that was there for him. Very quickly we got over that.’’

 

Austin Dillon wins Truck championship

Austin Dillon’s 10th-place finish was good enough to secure his first Camping World Truck title Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway.  Dillon won the title when series officials called the race because of rain 15 laps from the finish.

A strong but quick storm soaked the track and it would have likely taken two hours to dry it, meaning the finish would not have come until after midnight had officials tried to continue the event. Instead, Johnny Sauter was declared the race winner and Dillon the championship.

This is the second title for the Dillon family this year. Austin’s younger brother, Ty, won the ARCA title. Also, Joey Coulter won Rookie of the Year honors for the Truck series and Kevin Harvick Inc. was the owner’s champion in what is the final year for the organization.

Dillon finishes the season with five poles with two wins, 10 top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes in 25 races. At 22 years, 6 months and 22 days, Dillon becomes the youngest champion in Truck series history.

Dillon said he wasn’t too nervous. He said he relaxed during the day by watching the Clint Eastwood movie, “Every Which Way But Loose.’’

“When it got down to it, I started listening to my music, then had our team meeting and that’s where we all get emotional because we all know why we were here,’’ Dillon said. “We all had a prayer session before. I told them I was nervous going in, as nervous as they are, but we got to do our job and we did.’’

After winning the title, Dillon planked on the wet surface.  He admitted he thought about Tebowing but didn’t.

For Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather and car owner, winning the title with a family member was thrilling.

“I remember the very first championship with Dale Earnhardt, I had the same feeling tonight watching Austin,’’ Childress said.  “It’s just so special to have the family (there).’’

The championship run wasn’t without some concern. On the final restart, Dillon fell back from second to 15th (he needed to finish 16th or better to clinch the title).

“Right behind the right front fender we were knocked in,’’ Dillon said. “I don’t know how it happened, I didn’t hit anybody on the track but I think it happened on pit road. We got really tight once we got back there, but I think it was more the conservative side when I was three wide. We were in the middle. To force a spot right there is not worth it. I think we had a shot to win the race. When you get back there in that situation, your head tells you to be smart but at the same time, they’re telling you to go. I went as hard as I could. ‘’

Sauter finished second in the season standings to Dillon, losing the title by six points. Asked what impressed him most about Dillon as Dillon held on to the points lead, Sauter said: “The thing that he did was he kept his trucks in one piece. For a younger guy with the pressure of leading the points, I’d say that’s probably one thing that sticks out to me that a lot of guys probably can’t do at that age in their careers.  That’s probably the one thing that sticks out to me.’’

 

 

Keselowski discusses his secret fine by NASCAR; says it won't change him

Brad Keselowski talked to the media Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and much of the discussion was the secret $25,000 fine NASCAR issued for his recent comments about fuel injection.

Keselowski was outspoken in his beliefs against about fuel injection, as reported by USA Today.

Here’s what Keselowski said to the media:

About his penalty: The first thing I can say is that it is my goal, and I think more so in words but in action, if you look at the role I have an owner in the truck side, to become a man of stature in this sport, who can be a part of a leadership role that I think it takes for this sport to be complete, whether that’s from driver interface with the fans, media or the sanctioning body, and it’s because of that that I speak my mind. In this particular instance, probably not with the highest level of discretion. I could have done a better job of that, but because of that intention, it’s also useful for me to look out for the sport and look out for those that I may need along the way to be successful and to be able to have that role that I desire. So, that makes it, as I’ve said to some of you guys, inherently in the best nature of myself to keep some of those conversations private, whether that is with NASCAR or not, and this particular instance, is probably one of them. It’s not something I desire to have to go through that process but sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward.’’

Q: Denny Hamlin said his fine last year made his curb his Twitter comments and being so outspoken, will that happen to you?

KESELOWKSI: “No. I think you can be yourself. I think you can say what you think. I think I could have said what I thought with a lot more discretion and I guess that’s probably the strongest thing that I take from it. I’ve got a great sponsor with Miller Lite, which encourages me to be me, to say what I think and how I feel about things. That moment where I didn’t use probably the highest level of discretion with my words was an authentic moment, how I felt. I feel lucky to have a sponsor that allows me to do that. I think that, if anything, I’ll probably be smarter, not necessarily quieter.

Q: Do you understand why a sport has to limit what drivers say that they feel would be detrimental?

KESELOWSKI: “I understand the sanctioning body and the leaders of this sport feeling that way. I understand that, although I may not agree with it.’’

Q: Do you honestly believe that the things you said somehow denigrated the sport?

KESELOWSKI: “I guess it depends on what that means to you.

Q: Well to you?

KESELOWKSI: “To me, what I said, to me, was a reflection out of protection for the sport not out of any wish to do harm or any bias to my own team’s standing. It was my intention to be open and honest and share with what was a fan event how I felt with the fans and what I felt was in the best interest in the sport. Obviously, that contradicted someone else’s thoughts.’’

Q: Are you going to put money aside at the start of each year for such fines if you’re going to remain outspoken?

KESELOWSKI: “I wasn’t really planning on it. That’s still a lot of money, I don’t care who you are. It’s tough because as the sport is ran and as it has to be run, the sport has to be a dictatorship. I think if you look at any racing body that hasn’t been run that way, it’s not successful. It was a long time ago, but my uncle used to tell me this saying that trying to keep racers together is like trying to herd cats, they all go different directions and they never go the way you want them to go. The only way to get them to go straight is to give one guy the cattle prod of the net or whatever it takes to get them right. Racing is a dictatorship and because of that, successful racing organizations, whether it is NASCAR or Formula 1 and I guess before that you could look at IRL, it has to be that way. With that said, that group has the power and you have to respect them if you expect to have any longevity in the sport.’’

Q: Are you clear on what you can and can’t say?

KESELOWSKI: “I’ll be honest, I thought what I said was edgy but I didn’t feel that it was that edgy. I think every circumstance is different, so I don’t think it can be a clear situation.’’

Q: Brian France said that NASCAR meets with the drivers each year and discusses such things. Do you remember it?

KESELOWSKI: “Yeah, absolutely. Brian uses a good analogy, which I like about the restaurant and not saying the food (there) is bad and that you shouldn’t eat here, which I think is a great analogy. But I go back to a story that I tell people, anyone that has ever eaten with me knows that I do this everywhere I go that when I go to a restaurant and ask the waitress about the food, the first thing I ask her is, “What would you not order? What’s the worst item on the menu?” Because I feel like that any restaurant you go to is going to have bad food and they’re going to have good food. You only trust the person for a recommendation if they can admit that they have one item on the menu that is not quite so good. It is out of that respect and appreciation when I can get an honest waitress that will say, “hey, this is terrible, you should get this.’ Then I believe her when she says, “hey, don’t eat the omelet, eat the French toast and then I believe her. If she can look me in the eye and say that the omelet is not so good. That’s how I’ve always viewed the sport. I’ve always viewed the sport as being credible when it can admit its fallacies.’’

Q: Had you expressed your concerns about fuel injection to NASCAR before making your public comments?

KESELOWSKI: “I had not.

Q: Do you feel that was one of your bigger mistakes in this issue?

KESELOWSKI: “Absolutely. I think I could have handled it better. When I say I could have used better discretion, I could have definitely gone through some channels that I did not make enough time for.’’

Q: What Denny said last year and got fined for seemed more a slap at the officiating and what you said seemed to be something they didn’t like.

KESELOWSKI: “I think honestly if you look at it it was a compliment to the officiating on how well NASCAR has for years handled the situation with carburetors and I was in support of that decision for the last 50 years to stick with.’’

Q: Does this mean you can’t give your opinion on stuff?

KESELOWSKI: “Hell, I don’t know. I ain’t got all the answers. You tell me.’’

 

Brian France to drivers: Don't denigrate direction of sport or quality of racing

NASCAR Chairman Brian France met with the media Friday at Homestead. Just two days before what could be as dramatic a finish to the season as the sport has had in recent years, the topic was not about the racing but another secret fine NASCAR has issued.

The Associated Press reported this week that NASCAR had secretly fined Brad Keselowski $25,000 for comments he made recently about NASCAR’s move to fuel injection next season.

In this story in USA Today, Keselowski called fuel injection “a disaster.’’

He also said: "My dislike list is very long," Keselowski said. "I'm not a big fan of it at all. Carburetor technology is 50 years old but is very simple. The benefit of a carburetor is that it's very, very easy to police. That's why NASCAR stuck with that. Now, because of all the green initiatives, etc., etc., the sport has taken a lot of flak from different groups that probably don't understand that. They've been pressured into switching it through the green initiatives. In reality it's no more efficient than what we have, and it costs a lot more."

France was asked often by the media about the secret fines.

“When you cross a line that denigrates the direction of the sport or the quality of racing, we’re not going to accept that, not going to accept that,’’ France said. “Happy to have any other criticism, any other complaint, happy to hear them all but if I own a restaurant and I say, “You know what? The food in my restaurant is not very good.’ We’re not going to accept that. It’s as simple as that.’’

Asked why not reveal the fines, France said: “What would be the benefit? The drivers know exactly what we’re after. We have these annual meetings with them, right? And then we semi-annual meetings with them and we meet them every weekend at the track. So they know exactly what we expect out of them and when they don’t handle that, the only way we can control that is, obviously, a fining system. Look, don’t panic over this. We’ll look at it over the offseason. If we need to change it, we’ll change it. Not a big deal.’’

Ryan Newman has been secretly fined for his comments about the sport. It came last year in comments he made after a crash at Talladega where he questioned the racing there.

So, I asked Newman how being secretly fined for comments affected what he says and if he wonders why some drivers get fined and some don’t. This is what Newman said:

“The comment that Brian said that we all know (that line) and we all don’t know that line. We know that area, but we don’t know that line. Yes, there are times, and I’m sure you could go talk to every driver out there where they wanted to say something at one point and they decided not to, whether it was a four-letter word, whether it was a comment, whether it was a biased opinion of somebody or whatever, that has always happened in the history of all the sports. Knowing that line is entirely different than knowing that area of where you cross that line.

“There’s things that I’ve heard people say that I questioned. There’s things that I’ve said that I don’t think should have ever been an issue but they were. It’s not black-and-white, it’s not cut and dry. It’s not that simple. Period.’’

In other areas that Brian France discussed:

# On how much he hopes to end tandem drafting at Daytona and Talladega:  “It is one of the things we are after.  We would prefer to eliminate tandem racing in the manner it exists today.  There is no question about that.  We are working on rolling back the clock to traditional Daytona, Talladega races.  We'll have to see how that goes.  I think the majority of fans would like to see that and so would we.’’

# On if there will be changes to the Chase:  “It's possible.  I don't know.  We take those ideas throughout the year.  We really look at them as carefully as we can.  Then what we do is we run them past the team owners and drivers and other  everybody else in the industry in the offseason before we would do anything, and that's exactly what we did last year going into this year. We looked at all kinds of things and settled on this as a nice step forward to simplifying the point system.  Hopefully getting what we have, which is a more competitive Chase, and we'll look at it again.  I don't know where we'll end up.’’

# On uptick in TV ratings:  “We've always said that ratings go up and down because of many, many things.  The things we can control are showcasing the racing, telling our story, and giving the drivers some big moments to race for.  That will help us.  You never know how it all percentage wise what really matters the most. But we know that that's the NASCAR we want.  We want to see these elevated performances, and they're just fun to watch.  We want to see what's happened.  I'm confident if we do that, and do a lot of other things, we will have better ratings and better attendance.’’

# On why no penalties to Matt Kenseth or Brian Vickers for their incidents but Kyle Busch was penalized for his incident with Ron Hornaday: “Well, there is something being done about that.  We're having a conversation about that, and they are very different circumstances.  One was on a mile and a half track, a lot faster.  One was under caution, which is very significant different. Racing accidents under green are always subjective.  Even though you may say this one wasn't, but typically there is always a debate about who went where.  Ron Hornaday was racing for a championship, and you know we value that greatly. So there are lots of differences.  It doesn't mean though that we didn't think the line was almost met or somewhat close, whereby, we would have a conversation to explain that.  We will be having a conversation with both Brian and Matt regarding really what happened in Martinsville the week before, which is a short track. A lot of contact happened in that particular race.  Like I said earlier, there is a line.  The drivers know where the line is.  If we should be guessing about that for some reason, we're happy to sit down and walk them through it.’’

 

 

Stewart-Edwards banter provides early fireworks for championship battle

Tony Stewart was his casual, confident and cocky self at Thursday’s press conference with Carl Edwards. Stewart threw barbs at Edwards, who batted many of them away in what was colorful session in South Beach.

The banter started early as they were seated together on a stage for the press conference.

When asked how far they would go to win the championship, especially if it came down to the last lap Sunday at Homestead, Stewart said: “I’d wreck my mom to win a championship. I’d wreck your mom (referring to the reporter’s) to win a championship. I respect (Edwards) as a driver, but this isn’t about friendships this weekend. This is war. This is battle. This is for a national championship. It’s no-holds barred this weekend. I didn’t come this far to be one step away from it and let it slip away, so we’re going to go for it.’’

Said Edwards: “Did you say something?

Said Stewart: “Yeah, you can come visit my trophy in the room at Vegas when you come out there.’’

Said Edwards: “(Stewart) has got the talking part figured out.  Problem is you haven’t let the point points yet this year, have you? (NOTE: Actually, Stewart has led after two races this year)

Said Stewart: “They say there’s talkers and doers. I’ve done this twice.’’

Said Edwards: “That the funny thing. I’ve listened to you talk a lot today. You’ve talked a lot about your past successes. That is very respectable. And truly, all joking aside, that will make it more fun if we’re able to beat you, it will make me more proud.’’

Stewart later kept the full-court press going when asked how in 2002 and 2005 he was protecting leads in the finale at Homestead and how this is different being 3 points back.

Said Stewart: “In 2002 and 2005, we had big leads, but still you were nervous about it because you knew it could get away. I guess the fact that we didn’t think we would even be in the Chase to begin with, it’s taken a lot of that pressure off.

“We’re not trying to overcome a big deficit. We’re right there behind him. For us, like I said, we can finish 43rd this weekend and not be any worse off than we are right now (in the points), so we don’t have anything to lose. We can throw everything we got at it. If we make a mistake doing it, it doesn’t cost us anything.  … We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Like I said, it’s a dangerous combination to put us in that kind of mode because we’ve been hot lately, we’ve been running good.

Asked about Stewart saying he has nothing to lose, Edwards said: “I’m not really buying it. He does have two trophies already at home. That’s a huge accomplishment. If you’re asking me to believe that he doesn’t go to bed thinking, “Man, I want to win this thing as bad as anyone,’ I don’t believe that.’’

Stewart has said that his previous championship experience is helping him in this Chase, while he’s not said how, he’s certainly been as relaxed as ever. Edwards was asked how he thinks Stewart’s two previous championships provide an advantage for Tony: “I don’t know of any part of that trophy that makes a car go faster this Sunday,’’ Edwards said. “We’ll just see what happens.’’

Stewart was asked about if he really thinks his talking could work, he said: “It’s like Kid Rock said: “It’s not cocky if you can back it up. I think we’ve been backing it up the last three weeks.’’

Later, when the title contenders broke apart sessions with reporters, here’s more of what Stewart said about Carl and what he sees out of Edwards: “We were parked beside him last week. I see what he looks like, I see what his guys look like and I see what our guys look like, and I know how I feel about it. It’s two different demeanors in the garage right now. All you’ve got to do is walk around the garage and watch them. You can make that decision for yourself. I know what I see.’’

Asked about Edwards demeanor while on stage, Stewart said: “I think he’s doing a pretty good acting job today. I think he’s a lot more nervous than he lets on, but he’s got a lot of class and he’s got a lot of character. He’s a strong person, but I don’t think he’s as strong as he wants to lead everybody to believe that he is going into this weekend.

Edwards about the sparring on stage today: “It’s fun for you guys to talk about and for fans to talk about, but racing has a funny way … humbling people and just working out regardless of what is said. You can do all the talking in the world, you can do whatever you want, but when you get into that race car every one of us knows it’s just based on how fast you can go and the decisions you make.’’

 

Could Virginia Tech grad celebrate a title as he's looking for a new job?

Stewart-Haas Racing already is looking for a competition director with the departure of Bobby Hutchins earlier this season, but questions have been raised about the future of crew chief Darian Grubb (a Virginia Tech) grad even as Stewart races for a championship this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Grubb has been with Stewart since 2009 when Stewart moved over there from Joe Gibbs Racing.

When asked on a teleconference this week if he’d be back at Stewart-Haas Racing after this season, Grubb replied:

“We'll leave that to after Sunday and figure out what's going to happen there.  Our goal is to win the championship and we'll decide everything else after that.’’

Not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a crew chief whose team is on the verge of a title (Stewart trails Carl Edwards by three points entering Sunday’s season finale)

Grubb used to be at Hendrick Motorsport and with Jimmie Johnson’s team. He scored his first win in 2006 when Johnson won the Daytona 500. Grubb was serving as interim crew chief after NASCAR suspended Knaus for a few races early that season. In 2007, Grubb served as Casey Mears’ crew chief and helped Mears win the Coca-Cola 600. He joined Stewart’s team in 2009. Together, they’ve won 10 races. They’ve won six of the 29 Chase races since 2009.

If there is a change, don’t be surprised if it’s not announced until December _ and after the banquet in Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

Backseat Drivers Fan Council debates Boys have at it & more ...

Members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council debated if Brian Vickers should have been penalized after his incident with Matt Kenseth and if the idea of “Boys have at it’’ has gone too far, among other things in this week’s edition.

SHOULD NASCAR HAVE PENALIZED VICKERS

Two weeks after an incident with Matt Kenseth at Martinsville, Brian Vickers got into an incident with Kenseth at Phoenix. Fan Council members were asked if NASCAR (which caused it a racing incident) should have penalized Vickers.

57.8 percent said Yes

42.2 percent said No

What Fan Council members said:

# In my mind there is no difference in the intent of Brian's actions versus Kyle's. Not to mention the fact he's been walking around telling everyone that he's gunning for Matt and intends to wreck him for a previous incident. That shows malice and lack of judgment and respect for the damage and injury that can be caused by intentionally wrecking someone.

# You have to be consistent. I'm so tired of watching Kyle get in trouble and everyone else get a slap on the wrist - or nothing.

# After Martinsville, you don't give Vickers the benefit of the doubt. NASCAR loses some credibility with me for penalizing Busch and not Vickers.

# Since Brian and Matt were the only two vehicles involved, no I don't. If Vickers had caused damage to other cars, or changed the course of the Chase championship, then I would definitely think he should be punished. This was a case of Boys Have At It. He was offended and he kept his promise.

# What Brian did was wrong, no matter how much he protests that it was an accident.

# Everyone thinks it was intentional, and it wasn't. Even Kenseth said he was letting up early, and it was obvious from the video. Similar to Sadler wreck on Saturday, lead car braked sooner than expected.

# Fair is fair except love, war and NASCAR. It was clearly pre-meditated retaliation. Vickers took out a driver that was at that point still a contender in the championship. He should have been parked. And parked next week as well.

# You can't punish Kyle Busch for retaliating and then NOT punish Vickers! Even worse was NASCAR'S statement that it was a "racing incident" it was obviously NOT a racing incident that was a copout by NASCAR giving them an excuse to continue to have different rules for different drivers.

# He should have been parked immediately. Vickers has said he was going to do exactly what he did. Intentional wrecking by whoever should be punished.

# I’m undecided here. This is so tricky. They said 'boys have at it'. but then it seems they are selective to WHO can 'have at it'. If they go by how they punished Kyle, then yes, they should. But I'm in the rare minority who think Kyle shouldn’t have been punished like he was....

# Matt Kenseth was not punished for his incident with Vickers.

# Love the "Boys have at it" mentality but like Busch last week Vickers went over the line this week. In my mind Vickers did the exact same thing as Busch by intentionally pushing a guy into the wall. The only difference is this time it was under green flag conditions not caution.

# NO! This is extremely different than what Kyle did at Texas. He spun Hornaday under yellow going full throttle when the yellow could have been for other reasons other than them scraping the wall. Safety workers were on the track and under NASCAR rules you are supposed to slow immediately as soon as you realize the yellow is out.

BOYS HAVE IT STILL WORTHWHILE?

With the recent actions on the track, Fan Council members were asked what NASCAR should do with “Boys have at it’’

70.3 percent said nothing. Boys should keep having at it

17.1 percent said penalize anything that appears to be retaliation regardless of if it is

12.6 percent said penalize only if the victim ends up in the garage

What Fan Council members said:

# We have seen enough deaths in motor sports to know what can happen at the speeds and tracks NASCAR races on. There is no excuse for intentionally wrecking another competitor. It shows lack of sportsmanship, lack of respect for the life of fellow competitors, fans and officials and for property of fellow race teams. It is an action detrimental to stock car racing because it lowers the standard of respect the sport commands. They'll be a lot more careful to avoid wrecking someone if they know they'll be penalized for it.

# Vickers made it clear he intended to take Kenseth out. Premeditated actions and actions that impact safety shouldn't be tolerated.

# Racing should not be made in to a PC sport.

# Everything is getting so bland, NASCAR can reap the benefits if it remains true to its rough and rowdy roots.

# Put it back on the shelf...it's clear as mud and puts the sanctioning body in a contradictory position when it comes to making calls.

# It’s all fun until someone gets hurt and at the current rate of "retaliation" it's only a matter of time before a driver gets hurt. NASCAR would be best served to avoid that PR nightmare.

# Get rid of it. I admit I was wrong when it first came out I was for it. Until sitting in the stands in Atlanta and watching Carl go after Brad. And then Gateway and all those destroyed race cars and amazingly no one was seriously hurt.

# They should keep it, but that's not an endorsement for excessive retaliation. NASCAR needs to get a handle on that part of it. Somebody else who isn't involved often gets hurt in that deal. They need to put an end to the big time wrecking.

# Some drivers need to stop constantly using their cars as weapons. Period. The only way to stop the reckless ones is to penalize them all. I know some people like wrecking for some strange reason, but it takes more talent to race clean.

# Yes, Let the Boys have at it. These cars are multi-millon dollar investments for these team, which are the employer each instance. They will give guidance (or leeway) to their drivers on how to deal with different types of situations.

# I don't even care about the "Boys Have At It" anymore. It was a nice idea that I supported, but since the fans are just incensed at NASCAR's inability to appear consistent and NASCAR has no problem looking like they are playing favorites, then the policy just sucks.

# Nothing is wrong, retaliation is a part of racing.

# I'm torn on this one. I like seeing the drivers being able to push the limits a little bit. But when they start using cars to vent their frustrations, that's too far.

# Leave it alone. When someone steps out of line like Kyle Busch did, then take action.

# I said nothing because if NASCAR starts penalizing retaliation(s) then we're back where we started before Boys Have at It. # This wasn't an option but I think boys have at it, should just go. If you have a problem with a driver, take it up with them after the race if you want to seriously do some damage. You think he wrecked you....then you go talk to him after the race.

CARL VS. TONY

Last week, 70 percent said that Tony Stewart would win the title. A week later, Fan Council members were asked the same question, who will win the title?

67.9 percent said Tony Stewart

32.1 percent said Carl Edwards

What Fan Council members said:

# It's Carl's to lose at this point because they have been running neck and neck in the last few races. It will take a weaker performance from Carl than what we've seen these past few races for Tony to overtake him.

# My thoughts haven't changed. I still believe that Smoke will be the champion

# Carl Edwards thinks he knows what it takes to be Cup Champion, but Tony, as a former champ, really knows what it takes. Tony is going all out to win the championship. I'd be proud to call him Sprint Cup Champion (since the 48 is out of the running). Carl is trying to worm his way into the championship. Smoke is winning his way toward the championship. Carl is just trying to hold on - he'll take the win if it’s convenient, but mostly he just wants the title of champion. He doesn't actually seem to want to be the best. I will be disappointed if Carl wins, especially if the margin is only his bonus points. This Chase has made me wish Chase wins counted more than regular season wins.

# Tony’s got the experience. He won't fold like Carl will.

# Still say Tony can do it. Even though Carl is strong at Miami, I still believe in Smoke. Either way it’s going to be a good one!

# I picked Stewart last week because he had the momentum, but he needed to capitalize at Phoenix, and he didn't. Hard to pick against the point leader this week heading into his best track, Carl will make a good champion and represent us well.

# Tony keeps trying to psyche out Carl, but think about it. Tony has been running lights out and is still 3 points behind. I think he's the one feeling the pressure. He’s been performing far beyond what he could ever expect and he's still behind. That has to be demoralizing!!

# Really want to pick Tony, but Carl, and Fords in general have been so dominant at Homestead it’s hard not to pick Carl to win it.

# 4 wins vs 0 wins in the chase. 2 championships vs 0 championships. Laws of average tell me it's going to be Stewart.

# Still picking Tony. I'm not sure why people are "giving" Carl Homestead. I know the Roush Fords are good at Homestead, but...Texas happened, right?

# I thought Carl would win it but seeing him now he looks nervous and worn out where as Tony has the eye of the tiger in him so my money is on Tony.

# I am still picking Tony Stewart. I know Carl Edwards is supposed to be "The Man" at Homestead, but I think this Chase, Tony is The Man, period.

GRADING SUNDAY’S CUP RACE FROM PHOENIX

56.1 percent called it Good

21.6 percent called it Fair

16.5 percent called it Great

5.8 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said:

# 25% of the race I saw reminded me of Charlotte back in October where ya couldn’t pass, guess that’s why I spent the other 75% watching Carolina basketball & the NFL

# Good racing throughout. And a nice battle shaped up toward the end. Really liked the new configuration.

# It was great. I was expecting a one lane newly paved track. Phoenix did a great job with the rubbering in of the track.

# It wasn't the race I was expecting after all the hype. Every one said there would be no passing. Turns out there was passing and not all of it on pit lane. I found it exciting throughout the whole race. Seeing Kahne in victory lane was a bonus.

# Except for a couple of laps after every restart it was just another "clean air' snooze-fest.

# There was nothing exciting. No passing = NASCAR parade. Booooooring.

# 99 and 14 made it a great race.

# Absolutely great competition start to finish. Plenty of passing and excitement. I love the new Phoenix, the uphill/downhill runs almost remind of North Wilkesboro a little

# There's always room for improvement but when you make a list of all the races we've seen so far this year, this one has to be in the top 5.

# New pavement, tire's too hard. Lucky it wasn't worse is about all ya can say.

# I think all the hype NASCAR and the media tried to build up for the new configuration and repaving of the track let some fans down. I was all ready for all the "unknowns" they kept talking about. Really the only change was the dipping below the yellow line at the dogleg.

# Great to have a new winner! The "new" Phoenix didn't disappoint with all the twists and turns. Who would have thought after practices that it would be a three wide, able to pass track so soon.

# Hate races after repaves. It'll be a few races before Phoenix will be good to watch again.