Returning to Pocono

After last week's tire fiasco at Indianapolis I'm sure most race fans will be happy to know that the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams are headed to Pocono this weekend for the second time this season. Here are my picks to win this weekend's event:

Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford (Roush Fenway Racing)
Last Week: 2nd place finish in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Career at Pocono: 16.1 Avg. Finish, 1 win, 2 top 5's, 3 top 10's
Why he could win: I'm almost positive that after last week's race at Indianapolis that Carl Edwards is more determined then ever to get back to victory lane. Why not do it at Pocono where Edwards earned his second career Sprint Cup victory.

Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)
Last Week: 7th place finish in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Career at Pocono: 17.7 Avg. Finish, 1 win, 2 top 5's, 3 top 10's
Why he could win: Kahne dominated at Pocono earlier this year, leading the most laps en route to his second win of the 2008 season. If he can duplicate that run this weekend I don't think anyone will be able to beat him.

Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Last Week: 3rd place finish in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Career at Pocono: 2.8 Avg. Finish, 2 wins, 4 top 5's, 5 top 5's
Why he could win: A 2.8 average finish? Is that real? Apparently it is. With that kind of consistency its hard to believe he's only been a full time driver on the circuit for a few years.

This week's underdog just earned his first career Sprint Cup top 10 last week and had a strong run at the spring Pocono race.

A.J. Allmendinger, No. 84 Red Bull Toyota (Red Bull Racing)
Last Week: 10th place finish in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
Career at Pocono: 25.5 Avg. Finish, 0 top 5's, 0 top 10's
Why he could win: Allmendinger had a very competitive car here when the teams visited this track earlier this season, running in the top 10 most of the afternoon before fading late. After last week's strong run at Indianapolis I have every reason to expect Allmendinger to continue running up front.

Fire on the mountain

So I was relaxing at my parents home in Polk County, NC today when the phone rang. My father, who works in and around Lake Lure daily, was in Lake Lure watching fire helicopters trying to put out a forest fire on the backside of Chimney Rock. So what do I do? I jump into superhero mode and grab my camera and fly out the door to Lake Lure. Below are a few of my favorite photos, the end results of my labor shall we say.

Was that really a race?

I can only assume that when NASCAR returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend they had no idea the tires Goodyear planned to supply were going to be as bad as they were.
What was presented to fans Sunday on ESPN and live at Indianapolis could hardly be considered a NASCAR race. It seemed that NASCAR had to throw a caution every 20 laps or so to prevent tires from shredding.

For lack of a better term, Goodyear just screwed up. Tires were coming apart right down the middle tire and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The images of tires blowing apart, ala Matt Kenseth, are not what anyone wanted to see.

While I understand why NASCAR was throwing the cautions, I highly disagree with it. The fans at home and at Indianapolis came to the track to watch a NASCAR race, not heat races, which is what the race ended up turning into.

The fans at Indianapolis were obviously not happy with the way the race was being run and I can’t imagine the fans at home weren’t much happier. I can only hope that both NASCAR and Goodyear use Sunday’s race as a learning experience so that they don’t make the same mistakes again.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson earned his second win at the Brickyard by out dueling Carl Edwards. Johnson lead a race high 71 laps and was easily the class of the field most of the day. Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus did a good job managing their tires and using strategy to keep them up front when it counted most.

Interestingly, Johnson’s victory Sunday is the first win this season for Hendrick Motorsports that didn’t come thanks to fuel mileage. Who would have guessed that after the 2007 season Hendrick Motorsports had?

Elsewhere in the field, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray and and AJ Allmendinger all recorded their best finishes of the 2008 season. Sadler looked like he had a car to catch Denny Hamlin before that late caution reset the field with Johnson out front, yet he still finished an impressive fourth. McMurray ran in the top 10 most of the day and so did Allmendinger, who recorded his first career top 10 finish.

Tater pictures from Alive After 5

I walked up to Alive After 5 for a few minutes yesterday afternoon to say hello to some friends and snap some photos of local Shelby favorite Tater as they made their second appearance this summer at Alive After 5. Here are a few of those photos.

A fan, whom I actually know but will decline to name, gives a big 'ole thumbs up to Tater

Roger Padgett bends some strings on his guitar

Roger Padgett, left, and Luke Edwards

Phil Simmons using his regular pose

Luke Edwards singing one of Tater's fan favorite songs

Luke Edwards, left, and Phil Simmons

Luke Edwards, guitar and lead vocals

From left, Roger Padgett, Luke Edwards, Kelly Hull and Phil Simmons

Kelly Hull, drums

Brittany Randolph, Star photo intern, how did this get in here? :)

Stewart announces sponsors, car number

Tony Stewart made the announcement that everyone was expecting since he announced he was leaving Joe Gibbs Racing a few weeks ago. Old Spice and Office Depot will co-sponsor his new ride with Stewart Haas Racing in 2009. The car number will be 14, in honor of racing legend AJ Foyt.

These announcements were pretty well known even before the official press conference today to unveil the car. Regardless, its another brick in the foundation of the 2009 Sprint Cup season. No other announcements were made by Stewart today in regards to his second car and who may drive and sponsor it. A rumor did pop up that the second car's number could be 4, but of course that has yet to be confirmed.

The legendary Brickyard

Most NASCAR drivers would agree that the second biggest race on the NASCAR schedule, only behind the Daytona 500, is the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A lot of teams and drivers put a lot of focus on winning at the Brickyard and the winner of the race is usually a precursor to whomever ends up winning the Sprint Cup Title. My picks this week include the seasons dominant driver, the constant Brickyard favorite and the most consistent driver in NASCAR in the last two months.


Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Two weeks ago: Won the LifeLock.com 400
Career at the Brickyard: 7.0 Avg. Finish, 1 top 5, 3 top 10's
Why he could win: Come on folks, Kyle Busch has been a serious threat to win almost every weekend so far this year. What makes you think this weekend is really going to be any different? He'll run up front and probably lead a good chunk of the race. Winning? He has a lot of other drivers to beat first.


Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota (Joe Gibbs Racing)
Two weeks ago: 5th place finish in the LifeLock.com 400
Career at the Brickyard: 7.6 Avg. Finish, 2 wins, 4 top 5's, 6 top 10's
Why he could win: If you travel to Indianapolis you MUST consider Tony Stewart the odds on favorite no matter how well he has been running in the weeks leading up to the Allstate 400. There is no doubt that in his last season with Joe Gibbs Racing Stewart would love to add his third Allstate 400 trophy to his trophy case.


Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DEWALT Tools Ford (Roush Fenway Racing)
Two weeks ago: 7th place finish in the LifeLock.com 400
Career at the Brickyard: 13.2 Avg. Finish, 4 top 5's, 5 top 10's
Why he could win: In the last six races at Indy Kenseth has finished in the top 10 5 times, including two second place finishes (2003, 2006). Lets not forget he has been the most consistent driver in NASCAR in the last two or three months, earning 8 top 10's in his last 9 races. He's bound to win sooner or later, so why not this weekend at Indy?

My underdog this week is a past Allstate 400 winner and a past Sprint Cup Series Champion.

Bill Elliott, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford (Wood Brothers Racing)
Two weeks ago: 35th place finish in the LifeLock.com 400
Career at the Brickyard: 11.0 Avg. Finish, 1 win, 5 top 5's, 9 top 10's
Why he could win: Alright, so he probably won't win the race. Compete in the top 20 or maybe even make a run at the top 10? Sure, it could happen. In Elliott's first 11 races at Indy he finished in the top 10 an amazing nine times. Even if Awesome Bill is on his last leg that still makes him a legit threat in anyone's play book.

Off weekend thoughts and observations

Despite the fact that the Sprint Cup had the weekend off, several drivers didn't bother resting. Instead, they just kept racing. Carl Edwards, for one, didn't do much resting. He road his bicycle 200 miles from his home to Gateway International Raceway where he later won the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. He was followed to the line by Joey Logano, Jason Keller, Jason Leffler and Brad Keselowski.

Meanwhile in Kansas Johnny Benson earned his second win of the year in the Craftsman Truck Series by besting rookie and teammate Michael Annett, Matt Crafton, Dennis Setzer and David Starr.

Off weekend thoughts and observations

I often wonder how much free time drivers in the Sprint Cup Series get during a year. With 36 points races on the schedule (not counting the All-Star Race, Shootout and Gatorade Duel's) they only get 3 weekends off during a season. Yet, on the last off weekend of the season, seven full time Cup drivers could be found at one of the two NASCAR sanctioned events this weekend. That's not counting all the drivers racing on local short tracks around the country (Kenseth, Harvick and Sauter where just some I know about). I guess if its really in your blood you never really take a break from racing, huh?

Talk about hometown pride. Carl Edwards win at Gateway was his second in the Nationwide Series at the track that Carl considers his hometown track. He said in victory lane that winning that race means more to him then pretty much any other race in any of NASCAR's top divisions.

Joey Logano continues to impress. This 18-year-old put on another show on Saturday and came home a convincing 2nd behind Edwards (the second time Logano has finished 2nd to Edwards). Yet, i'm still very apprehensive about the idea of moving Logano straight into Tony Stewart's soon to be vacant No. 20 Sprint Cup machine. As good as Logano may be i'm a strong advocate of experience. I think Logano may be better served spending his 2009 season racing full time in the Nationwide Series before making the full time move to Cup in 2010. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Food for thought: Three of the top 10 finishers in Saturday's race at Gateway were less then 20 years old. Logano (18), Cassill (19) and Buescher (18) are certainly showing their stuff against the veterans of the sport like Edwards (28), Keller (38) and Leffler (32). Wait, those are veterans? Wow, things sure have changed a bit haven't they?

Elsewhere this weekend Johnny Benson continues to prove just because your not racing in the Sprint Cup doesn't mean your a bad driver. Benson's win at Kansas (his second this year and 11th of his career) moved him into the Craftsman Truck Series point lead, all of 1 point ahead of Matt Crafton. Former champion and constant championship threat Ron Hornaday sits third, only 5 points behind Benson.

One thing i've always liked about the Craftsman Truck Series is how competitive the racing is. It doesn't matter if your at Daytona, Bristol, Kansas or anywhere else for that matter. The racing is always good. On top of that, it seems like everyone has a chance to win. For example, nine different drivers have wins this season in the Trucks. Guess how many of them are Truck only drivers. Eight. Yes, eight. Kyle Busch is the only one who isn't a full time Truck driver (he has two wins).

More food for thought: The two youngest drivers in the top 10 in the Craftsman Truck Series points are 8th place Erik Darnell (25) and 2nd place Matt Crafton (32). After that, the next youngest driver is 7th place Terry Cook (40). Maybe they should rename the Truck Series the Veterans Series.

Marcos Ambrose and JTG/Daugherty Racing have entered this week's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the first attempt at a Sprint Cup race for the new team. Is anyone else interested in just how well they perform?