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As the great U.S. Of A. celebrates her freedom, NASCAR commemorates the occasion by returning to the “birthplace of speed”- Daytona International Speedway. We’re light years away in seems from the July of 1959- when Fireball Roberts took the checkered flag for the Firecracker 400, but the spirit is still very much the same.

It’s fast, it’s wild, it’s intense and untamed- in so many ways resembling the spirit of America- the land of possibilities.

Track Facts

Daytona’s 2.5 miles makes it the second biggest track behind Talladega. It possesses wicked steep 31 degrees of banking in the turns, 6 degrees on the straights, 18 degrees on the tri-oval. The Front Stretch measures 3,800 ft., with a Back Stretch of 3,000 ft.

The grandstands will hold 168,000 people. In recalling his first visit- Richard Petty, 10-time winner at Daytona- said it was an awesome spectacle to behold. The racers of his early career has never seen anything like this behemoth tri-oval.

Top Performers

As previously mentioned, Richard Petty has won the most races in the two points races at the Cup level held annually with 10. If you just look at the “400″ (known as the Firecracker 400 until 1985), David Pearson registered the most with 5.

Among active drivers, Jeff Gordon has the most DIS wins with 6. Part-timer Bill Elliott (who won’t be here this time) has 4. Michael Waltrip has won 3 races at Daytona.

In the summer event- Jeff Gordon has won the “400″ 3 times, Elliott twice and points leader Tony Stewart has a pair of checkered flags.

The fastest race speed for the 400 miler was Bobby Allison back on July 4, 1980 at 173.473 miles per hour. In the “restrictor plate era”, Ernie Irvan ran a 170.457 miles per hour in the 1992 Pepsi 400.

Bill Elliott’s 210.364 qualifying speed from February 9, 1987 stands as the track record for pole speed. Since restrictor plates were added, Ken Schrader’s speed of 196.515 m.p.h. for the 1989 Daytona 500 is the record qualifying speed.

There were 60 lead changes in the Feb. 17, 1974 Daytona 500, only one in the February 2, 1963 Daytona 500.   

12 cautions from the July, 1989 race is the record for the most at Daytona, there have been numerous occasions “back in the day” where there were none.

34 drivers finished on the lead lap in the summer of 2006, 41 racers finished the 2007 Pepsi 400.

As recent as the 1976 there has been occasion where only one driver finished on the lead lap. That day it was David Pearson. Only 7 drivers finished the 1965 Daytona 500 with Fred Lorenzen the winner.

Tuning In

Saturday’s race will air on TNT with pre-race starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. Green flag start is scheduled for 8:16 p.m. Eastern, 5:16 Pacific. Ralph Shaheen, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty describe the action. Larry Mc Reynolds offers the technical  insights.

The race will be covered on radio by MRN and Sirius.

Who’s Gonna Win?

Of course, you have to start with the guys who have won here. Kyle Busch took the checkered flag here last July and let’s face it, he’s just good on any kind of track. There’s no doubt he’s motivated after a string of ho-hum cup finishes.

Jeff Gordon hasn’t won at Daytona in a while, but he’s definitely on his game this year and coming off a good week at New Hampshire. Ditto that for Tony Stewart, who has also won 2 July races here. Believe it or not, Jimmie Johnson has only won once at Daytona (the 2006 “500″), but like Shrub, you’d be foolish to dismiss him.

If you want major dark horses- don’t forget Michael Waltrip and John Andretti have both won at the track. Remember Andretti’s win? He did that racing for Cale Yarborough in 1997 in a whisker over Texas Terry Labonte.

As I wrote yesterday, this could be a great race for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get back on the map. He knows the draft and he’s happy with his progress under interim crew chief Lance Mc Grew.

Do you call guys like Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth dark horses? I really wouldn’t. At the same time, Kenseth’s win here in February has been dismissed by many due to the circumstances (rain-shortened race). Believe or not, as good as he is, Mark Martin has NEVER won at Daytona, though he sure came close in 2007 “500.”

Let’s not forget Kenseth’s teammates. David Ragan’s lone bright spot has been his top 10 here in February. Biffle won here in the 2003 “400.” Jamie Mc Murray took the July 7, 2007 event.

I haven’t forgotten Ryan Newman, who won the Daytona 500 in 2008, and when I do, I think of another driver who makes a very intriguing pick to win THIS race. It’s Newman’s former teammate Kurt Busch.

In his last 9 starts at Daytona, “Big Shrub” has 5 top 5s and 6 top 10s- he’s just never won it. Usually, when you think of the Blue Deuce, you think of the northeast tracks like New Hampshire and Pocono, OR Bristol. Kurt Busch has done quite well on the plate tracks with no glory to show for his good work.

Kevin Harvick’s been a past winner here and teammate Clint Bowyer has a solid finishing average of 11.1- tops among active drivers over the last 5 years.

You can see, there’s quite a selection to choose from in picking a winner. My heart is kind of with Kurt Busch. Wouldn’t it be cool to see him locks horns with Gordon again? They have good starting positions.

Plate racing is just crazy. Both of the previous races this year at plate tracks have taught us that. Winners have come as far back as 39th at Daytona (that was Matt Kenseth this year). Brad Keselowski had a relatively slow car, but he happen to be riding Carl Edwards’ coattails at Talladega at the right time.

At the end of the day- I’m really looking at five very strong possibilities: Stewart, the Busch Brothers, Gordon and yes, Dale Jr. Imagine a thrilling battle between the “88″ and the “18.”

While I feel a real pull towards Kurt Busch to win this race, I’m going to go with the points leader Tony Stewart. His team is on it’s game, he’ll have loads of good draft partners, a teammate to keep up with him if worse comes to worse and he’s got a penchant for winning heating up this time of year.

Now hopefully for Stewart fans, I won’t produce the same effect for Smoke that I do for rainy days by washing my car.

PHOTO CREDITS- Daytona Fireworks by sectionjake, Dale Jr. by junebug_008, Daytona racing by whinendine. To see more, click on the hyperlinks, or visit flickr.com.

On Racing Into the Chase, The Favorite Son & The Curious Case of Mr. Mayfield

Ah, Independence Day- America’s birthday, not the movie. Nothing says celebrate quite like a parade, a pool party, a few fireworks and a little racing at the “Birthplace of Speed.”

You can always count on restrictor plate racing to produce another wild card result in what has already been a season rife with more twists and turns than Infineon. Any discussion of draft buddies and speed merchants usually follows with the mention of NASCAR nobility: the Earnhardts.

The Draft Domin88er

All you critics can say what you want, but when it comes to the draft and restrictor plate racing, there’s no one more confident on these configurations than Dale Earnhardt Jr. If you you can’t concede his prowess on the superspeedways, you surely must know that no one in NASCAR has made more of a point to study the draft and how to take advantage of it than Earnhardt, who apprenticed under the tutelage of the master, his dad, the 7-time champion.

Unless there’s a comeback greater than Lazarus, Junior’s chances of contending for a championship are pretty well done. Nothing would do more to salvage an otherwise lost season than to redeem himself at the track where all his 2009 misery began.

All Earnhardt really needs to do is keep himself in a position to make a run on the last lap. Until then, he’ll be arguably one of the most attractive drafting partners because he’s got nothing to lose, a premier set of teammates to join forces with and no less than at least a begrudging respect for his “track presence” here.

For all that’s gone wrong for Junior Nation this season, there’s every reason to believe the “88″ team could pull off a win under the summer skies of Florida.

If he’s not THE favorite, Dale Jr. is at least A favorite among names like Stewart, Gordon and the Busch Brothers.

The Boys On The Bubble

While it can be argued Junior has nothing to lose, it’s quite a different story for a pack of drivers ranging from 8th to about 16th in the points. The closeness resembles a draft pack here or at Talladega.

There’s no question Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Martin will have the horses to ride among those with the most at stake presently. Martin’s experience will serve him well and Busch’s success last summer here will also be plusses. Don’t underestimate JPM, who’s been awfully doggone sporty at the plate tracks.

Nothing about Reutimann’s record jumps out at me, but the story of this season for Beak has been establishing new benchmarks for performance all throughout this sesaon. Let us also not forget that all of his bosses’ points wins came on plate tracks.

There’s also no reason to think that 2009 Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth won’t once again fare well as well as RFR teammates. For whatever reason, this team doesn’t seem to have all the wins you’d think they’d have at Daytona, but there’s no question the skill is there.

The way things have gone for RCR, I’d figuring out ways to make friends come race day if I were Clint Bowyer or Jeff Burton. A good draft partner may help overcome an absence of speed.

In a season full of improbability, it could get real interesting in terms of how this race may shape the chase.

The Curious Case Of Mr. Mayfield

As a judge has ruled that NASCAR must lift its suspension of Jeremy Mayfield, several have speculated this raises strongly the probability of Mayfield’s innocence. Although I am reserving judgment on either side, I’m not ready to go out on that limb.

My read of it is this: the judge is saying NASCAR needs to allow the man a chance to make a living doing what he knows how to do until the courts can weed the legal wranglings. NASCAR can lessen its fears of his cleanness by testing him ’til the cows come home. Mayfield knows he’d better test clean, or he won’t even be able to land a ride in the Siberian Super Scooter Series.

In a twisted sort of way, it’s a “no lose” scenario. If Mayfield’s clean, then there should be no problem letting him race providing he can demonstrate viz a viz a passed pee test. If he’s a junkie, the truth could reveal itself in pretty short order.

This may be proving to be a teachable moment for NASCAR. If you’ve read the story from the Orlando Sentinel then you know of Kasey Kahne’s account of how NASCAR seems to have come up with a much more detailed procedure than what they had at the outset of the season. It’s about time. If you’re going to have a policy, you’d better do it right. While I’m not necessarily suggesting NASCAR got a “false positive” with Mayfield, I would suggest an ongoing track record for flying by the seat of the pants when it comes to anything new, and perhaps this may offer a lesson learned that in this day and age, the outside world will hold the brass a little more accountable than it did when “Big Bill” France offered diplomacy down the barrel of a gun.

That’s another story for another time from our own John Chapman coming up soon on Bump Drafts.

I find it a bit amusing that everyone has suddenly become a lawyer or a chemist. All I will offer is this- as one who spends his time on the job observing the making and the enforcing of laws on the job: what is not said is often as important as what IS being said.

Until the lawsuit is decided upon I echo the words of Darrell Waltrip: “This gets more curioser and curioser.”

Side-by-side battles are starting to shake out all throughout the driver standings. While the racing on an event-by-event basis might be a bit up and down, there’s no doubt that the chase picture is far from set in stone.

Up front, you’ve got Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon nose to nose. Right on their heels, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are ready to strike. Beyond these four, the fighting is fierce all the way back to 16th.

It’s very curious when you consider this:

The current top 10 (in order): Stewart, Gordon, Johnson,Kurt Busch, Edwards, Hamlin, Newman, Kyle Busch, Biffle, Kenseth.

The top seeds for the chase (if it started today): Kyle Busch, Martin, Johnson, Kenseth, Stewart, Gordon, Kurt Busch. Those would be your top 7 of 12.

Very strange days indeed.

#10- Kasey Kahne (ranked 9th last week)- Give him props. Richard Petty’s new golden boy follows a win with a solid finish. In the real life standings, “Kahnester” trails 12th place Juan Pablo Montoya by one point, 11th place Mark Martin by four, and 10th place Matt Kenseth by six. That’s tight.

#9- Kyle Busch (unranked last week)- Not only does winning pay better, it also has a way of offsetting cold spells. That 7th at New Hampshire a run of four straight sub-10th place finishes. It’s wild to think that the driver who would be a co-number one seed is just 71 points ahead of 13th. The good news for the Shrub Club is the JGR Toyotas have the horses for the plate tracks.

#8- Ryan Newman (ranked 8th last week)- It’s a bummer for Rocket to think that HE just missed winning at New Hampshire by a few sips of gas. As the June weather has heated up, Newman’s gone cool after a brilliant string of races. Newman will hope to recapture the mojo this week that won him a race in last year’s Daytona 500.

#7- Greg Biffle (ranked 7th last week)- Like the Matterhorn at Disneyland, Biffle’s season has been one wild roller coaster ride. He’ll be up for a while, then follow with a string of rough performances. While much attention is paid to how far off RCR’s teams are, the Roush Gang hasn’t quite matched their output from 2008 either. The Biff has a little cushion over NASCAR’s “Mendoza Line”, but not by a ton.

#6- Mark Martin (ranked 6th last week)- Since his improbable win at Michigan, Martin hasn’t had the best of luck. He’s 11th in the points, but he’s got three and four-wide competition in his pack.

#5- Carl Edwards (ranked 4th last week)- I can’t say this has been the season I envisioned for NASCAR’s most famous “cousin” and somehow I don’t think this is what he had in mind either. Edwards is well inside the chase picture, but he’s nowhere near relevance in terms of challenging Smoke and Gordo.

#4- Kurt Busch (ranked 5th last week)- Running well in front of the drivers behind him, the Blue Deuce was just that close to winning at New Hampshire and he’s just a win away from really giving the guys at the front a battle. He’s got the horses to run at the birthplace of speed, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the win he needed there.

#3 Jimmie Johnson (ranked 2nd last week)- The defending champion is experiencing a little of what Kyle Busch was fighting recently in the Nationwide Series. His car was good enough to lead tons of laps, but something would always do him in at the end. You can never count out Johnson, but there’s no doubt the “48″ is quite as consistent sa Stewart and Gordon.

#2-  Jeff Gordon (ranked 3rd last week)- It’s a heckuva a battle the Rainbow Warrior is waging with Tony Stewart for the points lead. Week after week, the former champs contend for wins. I need not tell you numerous Gordon fans feel cheated by the outcome of Sunday’s race. They thought it was his.

#1- (by a nose) Tony Stewart (ranked 1st last week)-  Smoke continues his amazing run through the 2009 schedule with another top 5 at New Hampshire. Let’s not forget his record for success in the July event at Daytona. Stewart leads Cup competition in top 5s (well, actually he’s tied with Gordon) and top 10s with 13. The next several weeks may change things, but right now, the “14″ is having a run very similar to what Matt Kenseth has in his championship run of 2003.

FALLING OFF THE PACE

Denny Hamlin….I’m not sure quite how he’s doing it, but Hamlin is actually 6th in the points. He’s just so close to winning some weeks, and then there’s those other weeks.

READY TO STRIKE

In spite of some real ups and downs, Matt Kenseth keeps hanging tough. The trouble for Matty is he’s in a vulnerable spot with the likes of Kahne, Martin, Biffle, Reutimann, and Montoya around him…I’d be a little more excited about Juan Pablo Montoya if he had at least ONE top 5, but to his credit, he’s not falling off and his 7 top 10s puts JPM ahead of Kahne, Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kenseth…David Reutimann got a nice 4th place run thanks to strategy. He just needs to find some consistency in a hurry.

DISTANT THUNDER

Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton have moments, but they’re really the only hope RCR has left for this year. Bowyer’s improved a little lately, but has to up his numbers quickly. Burton’s 31st place run at New Hampshire hurt his hopes big time.

PHOTO CREDITS- Top left by liontattoo. Three wide photo by Infinity Foto. Side by side photo by SoundsGood. To see more of their photo streams, visit flickr.com, or click on the hyperlinks.

Speed Channel’s scheduling of the NASCAR weekend coverage at New Hampshire Motor Speedway left me a little unsatisfied. Being from New England originally, I am well aware of how big of a deal the track’s two Sprint Cup weekends are.

I remember the site in Loudon where the track now sits being the home of a small road course and a small paved oval in the mid-1980s. I also remember the chain of events leading up to the award of a coveted Cup Series date. The old site was plowed under and the track was constructed with no dates scheduled. A nice facility was built and an annual Busch Series race was held. The speedway kept busy with Busch North and Modified contests on the new one-mile oval and motorcycle events on the refurbished road course. After showing the racing world for years the speedway could hold weekends for quality racing tours, a Cup race was earned. It was very exciting for the region.

Track management did not forget the racers that had supported the speedway and helped bring it to this level. The NASCAR Modified and Busch North divisions, both New England staples, were booked as undercards for the now mammoth Cup weekends.

The Busch North Series has evolved into the current Camping World East Series. Modified cars are still the cornerstone of many a northeast racetrack. Both of these NASCAR regional tours had two of their biggest races of the year this past weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But you wouldn’t know it looking at the Speed Channel broadcast schedule.

Last Friday’s Loudon televised action consisted of Cup Series practice, Nationwide practice, Cup qualifying, and a NASCAR Live show. Without the rain problems there were five and one-half hours scheduled to be shown of live on track action. And not one moment of it was actual racing.

When Friday’s track schedule was ready for the East Series race, actual cars in competition, at 5PM eastern Speed went to a two-hour program of… taped coverage of the NASCAR All Star pit crew challenge from Charlotte, NC. Recorded on May twenty first.

Friday evening’s scheduled broadcast continued with Trackside, a Cup practice rerun, Cup qualifying rerun, a Trackside rerun, and an overnight second rerun of Cup qualifying. Again I realize the rain altered the schedule. It caused practice to be repeated to the point I lost track.

I cannot be the only one who sees the glaring snub directed towards the East Series here.

Saturday brought an opportunity for the Modified Tour to be ignored. The morning had another two and one-half hours of more Cup practice broadcast and Nationwide series qualifying. Following all of that, the Modifieds were up for their event before the Nationwide green flag. The Speed network cues up sixty minutes of NASCAR Live and NASCAR Smarts. Ugh.

For anyone who has never been to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there is something said by those people that have been there. The Modified race at NHMS is one of the best races you will ever see.

The horsepower, wide tires, and body styles provide a recipe for exciting racing that is hard to match. NASCAR mandates restrictor plates for these events and the cars respond superbly. The racing harkens back to Talladega Cup events in their heyday before restrictor plates. Cars can draft and pass. And they do it a lot.

Grassroots and local hometracks are absolutely the backbone of this sport. If they were to die so would Cup racing. Kill anything at the root and watch what happens. If Cup racing were to die, the short tracks would still go on and flourish.

Here was a chance for a small population of the grassroots world to bask in the spotlight in which it could be nothing but healthy. The two series are even under NASCAR sanction and now was the time to help strengthen both divisions. This fine opportunity was not afforded to them.

No network had to go out of their way to broadcast these missed races. The television trucks were already there. They were already sending out a signal. Somebody just chose to point the cameras in another direction.

Four hours of Cup practice was to be aired live going into the weekend, before any repeated shows. Two and one-half hours were devoted to time trials, cars running one at a time. What REAL race fan would rather tune into that instead of an actual race?

Is it that important we watch the Cup superstars practice than watch another, albeit lower, division run in side by side competition?

Who wants to see Rutledge on a game show with an audience member when we could see Ted Christopher come from a lap down, slice his way through the pack, and challenge for the win?

The East Series 125 miler will be broadcast Thursday afternoon, which is better than nothing at all. The September Modified date also had a tape delay broadcast scheduled. But, to me, a grand opportunity was missed by all involved.

I am not sure who to blame, the suits at Speed Channel or the suits at NASCAR. I’m pretty sure it was someone in a suit. And not a racer.

My last rhetorical question to pose is: Do the broadcast people air all the non racing NASCAR fluff shows because that is what they think fans want to see? Or do fans think they want to see the non racing NASCAR fluff shows because that is what broadcast people air?

Readers,

I am pleased to introduce as a new contributor Joe Chapman. I guess you could say Joe is kinda “old school” as he’s been going to races longer than there’s been a NASCAR. Not only has he been following NASCAR since the days of Big Bill France, he’s even turned a lap or two. Chapman had a buddy who raced a ‘55 Chevy and worked on his crew. Later, he did a little work on a drag racing car and Joe himself raced midgets in the 70s.

Without further delay…..here’s Joe Chapman, with his perspective on the mercurial rise of Joey Logano.

Today’s trivia question: Why is Joey the youngest winner in NA$CAR history?
Answer : Because most earlier drivers had to carry their own water.

One could argue that Joey has paid his dues, but not at this level. Lets look more closely at how this improbable event came to pass.

Mark Martin notices Joey, while supporting his son’s racing career. Mark is highly impressed, & justifiably so.Mark touts the kid in the strongest possible terms. As to the best of my knowledge, Matt Kenseth was the last driver that Mark was even remotely this impressed with. Given Mark’s  reputation, & his record as a talent scout. Like E. F. Hutton, when Mark speaks, people listen.

Given that Jack has no room in his stable, plus the fact that the long time affiliation between Jack, & Mark has ended, Joey is signed by the Coach. So here’s Joey at 17 with a few ARCA races under his belt. Just waiting for the Big 18, to jump into one of the top Nationwide rides. No doubt the Coach has a pretty traditional path to Cup mapped out for him.

Pay attention, here’s where it begins to get a little weird!

Coach has one of the top teams in NA$CAR in the 20 team. The entire package: brash but absolutely top talented  driver, one of the most respected Crew Chiefs, a high profile big money sponsor. A team that had remained largely intact, through two Cup Championships.

All of a sudden Gene Haas gets to thinking (he had plenty of time to think), “My team pretty much stinks. What to do?, What to do? Eureka! Maybe if I gave half my team to Tony,  he could do more with it (Well, duh). Then the half will be better than the whole, I have now. He dangles the bait in front of Tony. Who rises it like a trout to a fly.

Now bingo, one of the best teams has an empty seat, while all the rest of the components remain in place.

Against all odds, and absent an heir apparent, Coach decides to put in the kid and Home Depot agrees to go along with it. Reportedly for a reduction in money, not a bad inducement in today’s economy.

Goodbye, carefully crafted plan. Hello, “O.J.T.” Joey predictably struggles, but his talent begins to show and after a rough start, things begin to look up.

Meanwhile back in Daytona, after the short tack style restart, had been well received in the Race of Champions and desperate for anything to add pizzazz to lackluster ratings. the decision was made to made to implement this in Cup immediately.

This improbable turn of events brings us to Loudon. Joey has a little trouble early, & goes a lap down. The car’s not killed, but it’s not helped either. A timely yellow now comes out. With the new rules, not only the LD, but 10 other cars, including Joey. Get the wave around, putting them back on the LL. as most of these cars had made a recent stop, they were able to stay on track. Then another caution allowed them to get back on sequence.

Due to the damage, and maybe just an average car, Joey goes back a lap down. Just then, another caution, and this time they are the Lucky Dog, allowing them to pit under yellow, but behind the lead lap cars, thus giving them a splash more fuel than the other lead lap cars.

The rest, as they say, “is history!” With the skills he possesses and if this string of events is any indication of his luck, don’t look for “Sliced Bread” to become “Toast” anytime soon.

His entire career, he’s been running ahead of schedule. At a time when most guys his age hadn’t even studied for their learner’s permit, Joey Logano was planning a career racing a car. When he “turned pro”, the lanky Logano found his first win at NASCAR’s “junior varsity” level, while most of his “newbie” peers were finding the wall.

The master plan called for perfecting his chops in the Nationwide Series for at least a couple of seasons  before he took the cockpit of a Cup car full-time. Tony Stewart’s announced move to morph Haas- CNC Racing into Stewart- Haas Racing changed all that. “No problem” Joe and J.D. Gibbs figure. “We’ll just get him some seat time at the tail end of the (2008) season, and get some testing in before the start of the ‘09 season.” Then NASCAR announces a ban on testing prior to the start of Logano’s rookie year.

No doubt, the first few races bore glaring shades of green for a driver whose peers just discovered frat parties and final exams. When he wasn’t downright out of control, the Conneticut native appeared conspicuously conservative- a kind of “anti-Busch” if you will.

But things have been changing over the course of the last couple of months. Joey Logano has gone from  being a driver whose butt was skimming the “sub-35″ waters to standing on his own two feet. I take that back. Actually, there’s no way you can tell the rookie’s story without dishing up heaping helpings of credit the the guiding forces of his driving career. Since Ray Evernham isn’t active anymore, one would struggle to find a better crew chief this side of Chad Knaus to bring Logano along than Greg Zipadelli- a key figure in the NASCAR success story of two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart. Let’s also not forget the cool, calm and collected coaching the lad is getting on the Nationwide side from Dave Rogers.

These are just two examples of the quality within the Joe Gibbs organization. The fact is, there’s quality people from top to bottom at JGR- the same recipe for success that Coach Gibbs used during his football glory days with the Washington Redskins.

The point I’m working up to is this: you may take away Joey Logano’s win at New Hampshire if you will. Admittedly, he had no better than maybe a 20th to 25th place car Sunday. But whether or not you think this win is legitimate (how is Joey’s win less legit than Keselowski’s win at Talladega, or David Reutimann’s win at Lowes?), it was a matter of time before the wins would come. JGR has invested too wisely and planned too carefully from the time Logano was barely in high school for there to be any other outcome.

The brilliance the young man has achieved in the Nationwide Series (where he’s had more experience) will also quickly follow for more success at the Cup level. In case you’ve missed it amidst all the crowing over Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski, Logano has become a Nationwide stud with 2 wins, 8 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in 13 NNS starts. What this observer gleans from those numbers is the kid is a quick study.

Need further evidence? Tempted to dismiss his Nationwide performance because it’s a different car at a different level (don’t tell Busch and Edwards that)? Let’s consider his performance at the Cup level, where Joey Logano is just getting started. Since finishing 19th at Richmond- “Sliced Bread” has finished 9th at Darlington, 8th in the All-Star race, 9th in the Coca- Cola 600, a respectable 19th at Dover and 15th on the road course at Infineon before coming into New Hampshire.

Let’s put it another way. Let’s compare Logano’s performance to that of fellow rookie Scott Speed. The former open wheel stud sits in 35th and has one top 5 and one top 10, compared to Logano’s one win, one top 5 and 3 top 10s.

Or how about this? Joey Logano currently sits 21st in the standings- which puts him ahead of other heralded young guns like David Ragan, Reed Sorenson and A.J. Allmendinger. In fact, I’ll say the most fitting comparison in terms of equipment and organizational quality may be Ragan, and he presently sits 30th in the standings with a lone top 10 for the 2009 season.

Better than that, don’t take my word it. Consider the high praise Joey Logano has earned not only from Gibbs, but from guys who know a thing or two about racing success like Mark Martin and Donnie Allison. They believe that among all the NASCAR neophytes, this guy is the one to watch.

With all the focus of an Olympic athlete, Logano studies, listens, learns and drives. More so than even some of the up and comers a few years ahead, I see a driver focused and determined- unfazed by the trappings of fame and fortune.

So you can go ahead and cast aspersions on Joey Logano’s first career Sprint Cup win. I have news for you: there’s more coming.

Many more.

By the way- I want to take a moment to thank Patrick Reynolds for minding the store in my absence as I took my family on a little vacation to Disneyland and my wife’s 20 year high school reunion. Patrick kept things rolling while Jeremy T. Sellers chipped in with a few fine posts, and Miss Mustang Jackie chipped in with a humorous tale that reminds us there’s a world outside the track walls who simply don’t understand our burning passion for burning rubber.

Thanks for all your help and for keeping it all together in my absence.

PHOTO CREDITS- Logano with Bobby Allison by XSPImages. Logano’s Nationwide burnout by Johnny’s Photos. Bottom left photo by jimz68.

The critics will no doubt look down their nose at the first career Cup win for Joey Logano- who had the thrill of doing his first victory dance in front of his New England “homeys” at New Hampshire. “He was no better than a top 20 car,” “They should have run the last 28 laps on Monday or Tuesday,” “The kid stole the race from Gordon, Stewart and Kurt,” “NASCAR handed a win to their up and coming Golden Boy” and I’m sure there will be other criticisms handed out for Logano like there was for Dale Jr’s win at Michigan last year, Mikey’s 2003 win at Daytona or David Reutimann’s win at Charlotte.

You can say what you want. To be sure, even Logano knows he didn’t even have a top 10 car. On the other hand, no matter what the sport, sometimes the win goes to the lucky, and Sunday, June 28, 2009 was much-ballyhooed rookie’s lucky day.

If you’ll excuse the grammar- ain’t no wins cheap.

For every day like this for Logano, there have been and there will be days where he’ll be running a winning car that will get collected in somebody else’s mess. A tire will go down, a tire changer will botch a pit stop, or any other variety of maladies will undo the best laid and best executed plans of “Team 20″ at Joe Gibbs Racing.

So for what it’s worth, I’d advise letting the young man have his day in the liquid sun. Besides, from everything this observer has seen- this is only the beginning.

Now with that said, the bottom line for this race will not reflect the old school banging and battling among three of NASCAR’s champions: Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart. Gordon seized on early troubles for Smoke to capture the lead. At every turn, Busch’s “Blue Deuce” was equal to the task, treating fans to the paint trading, side by side battles they’ve been clamoring for.

Kudos to Stewart and Company for taking a back-up car to the front. His run was pretty remarkable and it was fun watching a pair of bad boys make contact when Stewart hooked up with Kyle Busch for a few pleasantries.

Speaking of contact and Busch the younger- fans will no doubt be dishing out the smack over the big re-start wreck caused when Junior spun his tires, Martin Truex Jr. checked up, and Kyle Busch got into the back of Truex- triggering a melee that ruined what was shaping up to be a good day for the “1″ in his native Northeast, and also playing havoc on the fortunes of Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, Brian Vickers, David Reutimann and Jamie Mc Murray. Junior-hating Busch fans will blame it on Junior’s re-start, Shrub-hating Junior fans will blame the “18″ for a perceived impatience. Regardless of how you see it- stuff happens, fans will remain dug in on their opinions and really, it just looked like a racing incident from this point of view.

The day’s results provided another day of needed good runs for racers on the bubble like David Reutimann (he played the rain game to his advantage to take 4th), Kasey Kahne (who took 10th), Juan Pablo Montoya (finishing a respectable 12th) and Mark Martin (whose finish of 14th keeps him in the top 12 for the season standings).

“Atta boys” also go out to other “noobs” like Sam Hornish Jr. (showing again and affinity for flat tracks) for 8th place. Brad Keselowski took a very pleasing 6th place to further suggest he’s worthy of a a full-time ride.

In a perfect world, Joey Logano would have traded paint with a the grizzled veterans of NASCAR on the final lap with a photo finish. Alas, we live in far less than a perfect world. No one has to tell Logano that crew chief extraordanaire  Greg Zipadelli is the engineer of this win, and that he is also the beneficiary of stepping into the world of Cup racing within the top flight confines of Joe Gibbs Racing. He is a fortunate son and that’s o.k. There’ll be other days when when Lady Luck- with her capricious nature- will choose to smile on someone else and leave the promising phenom at the altar.

On this day- Logano was lucky- and sometimes it pays to be lucky rather than good. That o.k.- it’s no different than football games won on tipped passes, basketball games won on buzzer heaves, or baseball games called after 5 completed innings due to rain. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

Logano and his team had to race their way back into contention after early misfortune in this race, and the fact they were in a position to benefit from the rain says a great deal about the driver, his crew chief and his team.

That’s racin’.

Jeremy Sellers makes another contribution this week about a NASCAR legend. Marvin Panch adorns the Wall of Fame in Jerm’s Joint and Sellers writes about his search for Panch’s autograph. As is typical in these stories, the former driver steps up and gives Jeremy more than what he asks for.

For some of us true fans of the sport, the name MIGHT ring abell. Those of us who have been hanging in since the beginning probably smile when they hear the name. Then, there’s us “newbies” (less than 15 years) who are just now starting up their time machines to travel back and become a student of what made the sport the icon it is today. I am one of these pupils. The last year has truly opened my eyes to the legends of NASCAR both living and passed. I would allude this experience to misplacing a toy as a child then finding it a couple years later, it’s brand new again.

As some of you are aware, my public service buddies have spent countless hours, materials, dollars, and late nights of beer-induced philosophy sessions converting my basement into a NASCAR-themed bar and brewery. November of 2006 saw a new challenge of us trying to find somewhere to put the ever-growing number of autographed pictures I was getting from drivers in every form of auto racing. This led to
the development of a small “wall of fame” which divides one end of my bar from the rest of the basement. With this new found room, I used this opprotunity to tool around with the idea of seeking legend autographs which started during my trip to Daytona back in February.

Since then, I’ve obtained in person autogrpahs from Russ Truelove, Dick Fleck, and Ray Fox. It wasn’t until recently I discovered Marvin Panch, his achievements, and the fact that he is alive and well!

Along with notching up 17 career victories (2 of which where he became the first driver to win both Atlanta races in 1965 and the first Pontiac to win the Daytona 500 in 1961), Marvin has several other presitigious accomplishments within the racing community. He was voted one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 and an inaugural inductee into the Legends of Racing in 1993. For all of Marvin’s accomplishments, go to www.marvinpanch.com.

Now that I’ve got all of this out of the way, I can get to the meat of the story. I ordered an autographed picture from his website, and explained we were a group of firefighters, EMT’s, Paramedics, and Police Officers who share a passion for racing, it’s history, and how we’ve constructed tribute to such in my basement.

It was then I found out that Marvette Panch-Bagwell, Mr. Panch’s daughter, handles all of his business affairs and is a wonderful woman. She first sent me an email apologizing for the delay in processing my order and thanked us for doing what we did for a living and that in some way, everyone depends on us.

Shortly after, I received a confirmation email that the picture had been sent with tracking information included. Nothing special, correct? Today, I recievd a Priority Mail envelope in the mail and was excited to know what was inside. Not only did Mr. Panch sign “To the Guys at Jerm’s Joint” on a picture of him speeding around the track back in the day, there was another black and white picture signed, “You Guys Rock”…It’s this simple black and white that probably means more than the color picture addressed to my bar.

You see, in this photo, Marvin is seen talking with a gentleman who has “Newell VFD” embroidered on the back of his jumpsuit with his fire engine in the background. With it, is a small note stating, “Thought you may like the old photo of dad in Charlotte sitting in the pits talking with a Newell Volunteer Fireman-check out their old firetruck in the back of the photo”. Not only did Mr. Panch take the time to sign a racing photo for us humble public servants, but humbled us even more by finding a photo which included himself, our profession, and took the time to sign it to us as well.

Guarantee that I will have the number 20 on my fire helmet as a tribute to “Project 20″, the 1960 Pontiac which Marvin drove to a Daytona 500 victory in 1961. Thanks Mr. Panch, that meant to the world to us!

Firefighter/Paramedic Jeremy T. Sellers
Firefighter/Paramedic Michael L. Mausteller Jr.
Fireifhgter/EMT James F. Moeller
Officer Cody J. Anderson
Firefighter/EMT Cindy Longberry

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Race number eighteen of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season takes place at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway this Sunday. Aside from the race victory, a lot of talk has been about who is in or who is out of the Chase to the Championship. There are nine races to be run before we find out the dozen who will rise to the top and settle the title. Last week’s race in California started the “Chase to the Chase” so to speak.

This week’s contest is on the New England oval that measures a tick over one mile in length and has twelve degrees of banking in the corners. As far as race teams are concerned this is a flat short track. Brake systems always get a lot of attention at Martinsville and they should. They are an important topic here as well.

Many teams will be running a similar type brake setup to slow the 3400 lb. machines into the corners each lap. Front brake rotors could be around one and-a-quarter inches thick and the calipers will be of the six-piston variety. Front spring changes during practice are very challenging due to the extensive brake cooling hoses channeling air from the scoops fabricated into the car’s nose. NHMS is often referred to a one-mile version of the Virginia short track. Teams prepare for it the same way.

The distance of 301 laps is derived from the race sponsor’s promotion of looking for heroes who “go the extra mile”; hence the extra mile added to the race distance.

Track Notes

The speedway, now in the Speedway Motorsports fold, measures 1.058 miles in length…
The first race was a then-Busch Series event on July 15, 1990… The first Cup Series race was held July 11, 1993 and won by Rusty Wallace… There was one Cup event staged from 1993 to 1996 when the autumn weekend was added in 1997… Ryan Newman holds the qualifying record of 133.357 miles per hour set in September of 2003… Kurt Busch is the defending race winner… Jeff Burton has the most Cup victories with four… The starting position with the most victories is first, taking place on four occasions… Oddly the starting position with the second most victories is thirteenth with three triumphs… Jimmie Johnson (2003) and Kurt Busch (2004) are the only drivers to sweep the season’s races there…. All forty-three cars were running at the conclusion of the September 2007 event.

Check It Out

TNT will provide television coverage of the 301 lapper. Pre race begins at 12:30 PM eastern time, 9:30 am Pacific. The green flag is scheduled to wave approximately 2:15 PM Eastern. Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and Kyle Petty handle the announcing duties. Matt Yocum, Marty Snider, Ralph Sheheen, and Lindsay Czarniak will be the pit reporters.

PRM and XM Satellite radio are the radio coverage providers.

Predictions

By definition this track is a superspeedway by being a mile or over in length. It is a short track as far as the Cup teams are concerned. Teams with a good short track program will show their strength. I look to Martinsville and Phoenix as gauges for telling us who the serious contenders will be.

I don’t foresee any surprises making headlines Sunday. A road course or a restrictor plate contest can produce an upset or a darkhorse win. I can’t see that here. Our winner will come from the usual suspects.

Tony Stewart will be good despite having to go to a backup car after crashing his primary in Friday practice. Ryan Newman will also perform well. Newman has a good New Hampshire history and won his first career Cup race at this track.

The Hendrick Motorsports muscle flexing will continue for three out of their four teams. Junior’s group will show continued improvement but I don’t think is ready to outperform the other Chevrolets. Johnson, Gordon and Martin will be top fifteen runners at their worst.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will be in victory contention. The two Joe Gibbs Racing cars are always good and Hamlin is known for his flat track prowess.

The Roush and Penske teams will bring competitive efforts, although not winning ones. I would like to see Richard Petty Motorsports ride their wave of momentum for another week. I am not sure we will see that though.

My pick: Ryan Newman hoists his first trophy with Stewart-Haas Racing.

As sports fans go, NASCAR fans are a unique breed of cat. In terms of loyalty, fans of what Jim Rome derisively coined the “Left Turn League” rank right up there with fans of the Chicago Cubs, the New York Knicks, and the Green Bay Packers. Outsiders try to understand why but regard said fan like they would that beloved, yet slightly eccentric cousin.

Without any further aduei, here’s Jackie….

Even if you are just a casual fan of NASCAR, you will immediately recognize the names Earnhardt, Petty, and Gordon. And if you are a big fan you will recognize others like Martin, Edwards, and Stewart. And if you are a die hard fan, you’ll recognize old timers like Cale Yarborough, Junior Johnson, and Tim Flock.

Angela is someone I consider my best friend. We’ve known each other since before the first grade. All through our school years, Angela lived on a neighboring farm, 3 miles from my Dad’s farm. When we went off to Texas Tech, Angela was my roommate for 3 1/2 years. And today, because of job obligations and other circumstances we live about 150 miles apart. But we stay in touch by phone and e-mails almost daily. And we try to visit each other often as possible.

But try as I may, I cannot get Angela interested in NASCAR. “It’s boring to watch cars go in a circle!!!” she says. I try to explain that it’s not all about what you see on the track each weekend, but having favorite drivers and teams, keeping up with the points, watching 13 second pit stops and of course, watching for the “Big One” to happen during a race. But the phrase “Gentleman start your engines!!” and “Boogity Boogity Boogity!!” has no meaning to her at all.

But all this leads to the start of the story… What’s in a name?

A few months ago, Angela and I were going to the local Wal-Mart. Now, in West Texas going to a local Wal-Mart means driving 30 or 40 miles on a more or less desolate highway with miles of nothing except cotton fields and mesquite trees on either side. Angela and I was in my car.

A little about my car… It’s a Mustang GT and I bought it new in the fall of 2000. Since then a friend that owns an auto repair shop in Lubbock has added a few “performance” parts to the engine. To say it in a modest way, it will go fast when I mash the gas.

So as Angela and I were cruising along that long stretch of road and talking our usual gossip, I caught up with another car going fairly slow. It was one of the little “rice burners”, a Toyota or Honda, I’m not sure. And it had that ridiculous looking huge tailpipe underneath and silly looking wing on the trunk.

As I pulled out in the left lane to pass, I looked over and the driver of the car and his passenger were zit faced teenage boys, apparently trying to look cool by wearing their caps backwards. And although I couldn’t see for sure, no doubt they were probably wearing those droopy drawer pants.

I was almost clear of their car when they sped up and ran along side of us. On occasion I have been known to have a short temper, so it did irk me that they wanted to “play”. We ran side by side for a ways until I looked over and saw stupid grins on their faces. I guess they thought that the glorified 4 banger motor they had would run against my 400hp pony. Wrong…

I downshifted from 5th to 4th gear and went to about 4000+ rpm and shifted back to 5th. As you might guess, we were going just a litttle over the 70mph speed limit by then, maybe even a tad over triple digit speed. Angela does not share my need for speed and was saying things like “Are you nuts???!!! Slow down!!”. In a few miles those two ads for pimple medication and their Japanese boat anchor were just dots in my rearview mirror.

But Angela was still giving me the riot act about my driving. I was about to tell her to cool it when she said “What are you thinking??? Are you trying to drive like that Dale Barnhart Jr guy on TV??”

So what’s in a name… even from a non-NASCAR fan?