NASCAR Auto Club 400!

The Generation 6 NASCAR Sprint Cup race car delivered on Sunday. The race was brilliant!



Get well soon Denny. It may have been a great battle but we don't want our gladiators hurt in the fight.



You have got to love the passion these guys have for their racing.



A great NASCAR race then...

Long may the action continue!

2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chevy SS... or... Hey Good Lookin' Part 4

The last of next years Sprint Cup race cars has now been unveiled.

 

Next years Chevy race car will be based on the still to be unveiled new "halo" car, the rear wheel drive, V8 engined "SS". The road car will basically be an American market version of the Australian Holden Commodore.

 

The race version does look good but without seeing the road equivalent we have nothing to compare it to. It is odd that with the new NASCAR bodies putting such a huge emphasis on manufacturer identity, or to put it another way, making sure the race cars look like the road cars, that Chevrolet have decided to show us what the race car looks like, but not the road car. I certainly hope the "SS" is more successfull than the Pontiac G8 was!

 

 

 

We are starting to see more and more 2013 paint schemes now, and it has to be said, again, that the 2013 Cup cars do look good!

 

Are we there yet?

NASCAR at Talladega!!!

The last restrictor plate race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season was a good'un.

The "big pack" was definately back with the "tandem draft" of the last few years now gone, replaced by old fashioned big pack bump drafting!

Dale Jr is complaining... Get over it! That was a good 'plate race!




This is the end of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, again from Talladega... pity they did not get to race back to the line.



And finally the end of the Nationwide Series race... A great last lap slingshot... maybe the tandem was not all bad...




Whether you like the "tandems" or the "big pack", if there is one thing NASCAR can still do, it's put on a great show at Talladega!!

To me the best balance for the Cup Series is a combination of the "big pack" but with the ability to race one-on-one, slingshot if you will, on the last lap for the win...

Don't want much do I?

Dale Jr... WINS!!

The win the world of NASCAR has been waiting for...

The win NASCAR wanted...

The win NASCAR needed...

Dale Earnhardt Jr has finally ended his winless streak!

In a year of lacklustre racing including average races at the newly repaved Pocono and Michigan, NASCAR needed a new headline, something to change the subject, and the sports most popular driver has given them just that.

The win shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, after all the 88 team has been consistant all year. The only surprise is that they have been consistantly good and with the Sprint Cup season being so long consistancy is no bad thing.

Take Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, neither of whom have had solid, consistant years so far. Race wins... Yes... Consistancy... No... This is why Dale Jr is now second in points, not race wins but consistancy.

Will we have to wait another four years for the 88 to win again? Well I for one hope not, but equally I think not, as long as he can maintain the consistancy.

The first hurdle for the 88 to overcome is carrying the confidence and the form into the next oval race regardless of what happens at this weeks Sonoma (Sears Point to me) road course race. The road courses are the wild card races in the schedule where anything can and probably will happen. Again a solid, consistant day will do for the 88 this weekend and the heat can be turned up again when the ovals return after that.

Is Dale Jr in with a shot at the title? As I said he is second in the points standings, but its too early to tell. After what hapened last season we will have to wait until after the first two Chase races are in the books to have that conversation.

All I can say at this time is well done to the 88 team. They deserved the win regardless of what you might think of the driver, the surname on the car or what has happened over the past few years...

And to Dale Jr...

With the racing the way it is at the moment, as the sports "poster boy" NASCAR needs you now more than ever...

Don't go too far...

Progress A Fresh Fit At Phoenix

A progressively banked Phoenix gave us a NASCAR Sprint Cup race that got progressively better as it progressed.

Phoenix was a race as much of failures as successes. A brake failure for Casey Mears brought out one of seven cautions. An electronic failure of sorts for a fuel saving Tony Stewart ended his day, while a fuel strategy failure for Kevin Harvick denied him the chance to really go for it at the end. These were offset by some good racing and the early season success of new partners driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Darian Grubb, the partnership proving to be a "fresh fit"!

Another success of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the 312 mile race length. Strange I know, but the race was held over 500 kilometres, therefore 312 miles and laps. Quite what a distinctly European kilometre has to with a distinctly American race series is beyond me, but I have long been an advocate of shortening certain Cup Series races so the principle worked for me. Now use the same thinking at other tracks, Pocono perhaps, but call the race the "Whatever 312" next time and make a feature of the shorter race distance.

The most exciting moments of the race came when Mr Twitter, Brad Keselowski in the, still a Penske Dodge, 2 car battled with the 48 Chevy of, a determined to earn some points this week, Jimmie Johnson and, the always aggressive, Kyle Busch in the 18 Toyota, and when the Rowdy vs Harvick feud reared it's head. These battles proved the still new progressive banking can produce good side by side racing once the grip comes in. I am still not sure about the "short cut" though! The other exciting moments were the closing stages, the "will they make it, won't they make it" laps.

The most bizarre moment of the race came not on the track but in the garage, with the news that to investigate what went wrong with the 14 car, Tony Stewarts crew would have to "plug the car in".

Welcome to the modern world NASCAR. Computers in stock car racing...

That's what they call progress!

Duel at the Daytona Corrall

What do we know after yesterdays two Gatorade Duel races ?

Firstly the field is now set for Sundays running of the Daytona 500!


http://www.jayski.com/news/stats/2012/story/_/page/01-Daytona-Qualifying-Lineup

We know the big race could be a race of two halves. The first, fairly laid back, just getting some laps in, trying a few things out, settling the car in to the track, seeing how the draft works, and seeing how the engine temperatures change when bump drafting, a lot like the second Duel race. The second half could be a real eye opener, just like the first Duel race. Full of action, wrecks and riches for the victor.

We know that not only does tandem drafting work, for as long as the engine temps can handle it, but we also know that the old fashioned draft works very well too! Just look at the run the 88 had on the 14 on the last lap of the first Duel when the yellow flag came out. Was Smoke really going to win that race had it stayed green?



We know that Danica was very unlucky! We must also be impressed with not only what she did with her hands as she approached the inside wall, but also her attitude to the whole weekend, learn and gain respect first and results will come!

We know that as a young, inexperienced rookie, Michael Waltrip is likely to make silly mistakes...

We also know that the 500 is a long race, and a different prospect completely to the Shootout and the Duels.

So I guess that means we don't know all that much after all!

Bud "Shootout" Indeed!!

So last night, or this morning, 3.30am UK time this morning in fact, I sat up to watch the 2012 NASCAR Bud Shootout...

Was it worth it??

Hell yeah!!

If you listed every element the perfect pre-season event should have the list would include lots of lead changes, close racing, wrecks, and a nail biting finish.

This years race had all those elements packed into an 82 lap action packed sprint!

Surely the racing was exactly what NASCAR fans wanted, a return to pack racing... or was it? The racing was definately more "pack" than "tandem" but a "return"? This was not "old school" pack racing where drivers sat two or three wide, lap after lap, unable to race for themselves. This was "new school" pack racing where drivers could draft or bump draft to overtake... and it was good!

There were wrecks, several wrecks, but what do you expect when you put that many drivers, that close together, for that few laps. The only real sticking point and the cause of the wrecks, was the effect of bump drafting in the corners, especially when the pushing car is lower on the track than the car being pushed.

FoxSports.com are already running a poll asking fans, "Should NASCAR make changes after the Shootout?" Richard Childress is not happy. Should NASCAR change the rules package? Should NASCAR ban bump drafting in the turns? Should NASCAR do this, should NASCAR do that?   

“NASCAR asked the teams and the drivers what we could do to make it better,” said Tony Stewart, the defending Cup Champion. “My point is, this is better than having to sit there and stare at the back of a spoiler for 500 miles and not be able to see where you're going half the race. We had control of what lane we got to run in. We got to move whenever we wanted. You didn't have to not move because you had a guy behind you that you had to rely on making your decision on what he had to do also. We had more control as drivers today.”

The answer according to Dale Earnhardt Jr - "You just hold your damn car where it needs to be and not drive around like an idiot."

Quite! The rules package worked perfectly. I do not believe the drivers will bump draft to the extreme we saw in the Shootout for the whole 500 miles next Sunday. The 500 is a different kettle of fish, a long race to survive, not a sprint. We might see more of the same in the last 100 miles but that has always been the way, hasn't it? The drivers have the Gatorade Duels next, more time to get the hang of the "new school" pack racing.    

The other story from the Bud Shootout was Kyle Busch and his “stab and steer — and some braking" saves and his last corner slingshot for the win on Tony Stewart. Love Kyle or hate him, that boy sure can drive a race car.

So what have we learnt so far?

"Pack" racing is back, don't bump draft the left side of another car in the turns, Kyle Busch sure can save a race car...

Don't lead the last lap...

Now that's very old school after all!!

2012 Here We Come... or... Silly Season, You Bet!!

So what do we know about 2012 so far?

Well 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart has a new Crew Chief in Steve Addington and his team has poached Greg Zipadelli to oversee all things "Competition" including Danicas Cup efforts... Sounds good...

Kurt Busch has "left" Penske and has found a ride... where? Seriously...

Penske now have 'Dinger instead of Kurt... Cool...

Smokes former Crew Chief, Darian Grubb, is now with Denny Hamlin at Gibbs...

At Daytona... Smaller rads... Bigger 'plates... Smaller spoilers... Softer springs... Higher air intakes = less tandem drafing? My breathe is held...

In F1 Raikkonen is back... Hhhmmm... We will see...

and Patrick Head retires...

Caterham... in F1? Well I never...

In Indycar... New car is good on road courses but still needs work on the ovals... Keep trying guys as you need to get it right for the sake of the Indy 500. It doesn't matter if they are slower as long as the racings good...

Kentucky off... Watkins Glen on... Pity about loosing an oval but if you have to have another road course the 'Glen is a good'un...

In BTCC... New NGTC cars being developed... Goodo...

and it's not even 2012 yet...

Excited??

2011 Review Gallery

2011 Shiftin' Gears Quotes Part 1... NASCAR

To start the off season I thought I would review my favourite quotes from this seasons blogs... so here we go...

Part 1... NASCAR

In the world of NASCAR, Daytona International Speedway is the new Noahs Ark and the drivers are coming in two by two!!

If 2010 was "have at it, boys" then maybe 2011 is... "NO LONGER YOU'RE GRANDDADS NASCAR"!

Las Vegas wasn’t the greatest race ever, but it does show that anything can happen, and probably will!

Kyle Busch, who led most of the race, was trying to hold on while Jimmie Johnson did everything he could to take it. At the same time Kevin Harvick got physical saying "I don't think so" and beat them both... and all that in the last two laps! A great ending!! Pity they didn't have KERS or DRS movable rear wings though...

I have nothing against international drivers racing in NASCAR as long as they earn their place, and as long as the series for the “good old boys” stays true to that.

“Hand Bags at Dawn” or “Racing Rivalries”

I think it’s a shame that the ”All Star Race” is included in NASCAR probationary periods, imposed after a driver has done something untoward. The non-points scoring sprint race format is be the perfect arena for drivers to “have at it,” safe in the knowledge that their actions in the “All Star Race” would not affect the regular season.

Am I the only one who thinks it a bit odd that the track creating the best old fashioned bump-‘n-run racing is... not Martinsville or Bristol... but... a road course?

Performace parity... that's BTCC talk, in NASCAR it's called good hard racing!

I have never minded the two car bump drafting we are currently seeing at the ‘plate tracks, however when it gets to the point where drivers plan in advance who they are going to work with, and stay together until the end without any thought of changing, it has gone a bit too far.

Jeff Gordon is now third on the all time NASCAR win list!

One point has to be made though... while Tony Stewart might have won the race because of his fuel strategy; he got to the front by out racing the opposition!

I enjoyed watching Jeff Gordon lose last weekends NASCAR Sprint Cup race from New Hampshire. I also enjoyed watching Clint Bowyer lose the race.

For the first time since the current Cup car was introduced I am wondering if something about the COT is hurting the racing.

I would be like to thank Richard Childress Racing for putting the "R" back in "NASCAR", for letting their drivers "race" for the win and not just drive.

Was I supposed to be surprised by the actions of Kyle Busch in last weeks Truck race? Oh good, 'cos I wasn't.

A few weeks ago I may have commented on the particularly disjointed nature of the pre-Chase regular season. No one driver looking strong enough to dominate, but many in with a shot… I might have been wrong..

What will 2012 bring??

2011 NASCAR Memories

With the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at an end I thought I would start the off-season by looking back at highlights of this tightly fought Championship...

After five consecutive Jimmie Johnson titles was 2011 going to become number 6?



The season got off to a great start with a new name, Trevor Bayne, winning the years biggest race. Not only that, but he also put one of NASCARs oldest teams, Wood Brothers Racing, back in Victory Lane!

The Daytona 500 signalled the start of an up and down year for restrictor plate racing in NASCAR with "tandem drafting" one of the stories of the year. Two cars have always been faster than one, but this year things got physical with drivers literally pushing each other all the way round the two 'plate tracks. Sounds exciting but was not always, until...



The finish was close but many fans were not convinced by this style of racing, me included. The downside of this style of racing was that the drivers teamed up before the race and decided who was going to do the pushing and who was going to be pushed. It all got a little too planned for my liking. I do not want a return to the old "pack" races where drivers could not overtake, but it would be nice if a driver could race for themselves... then again...



Clint Bowyer proved that even in the era of the "tandem", the slingshot is alive and kicking!!

That wasn't the only close finish of the year...



2011 brought a renewed emphasis on winning and several drivers took their first Sprint Cup win this year...





Which brings me on to another story of the year, Kyle Busch... for all the wrong reasons...



"Boys Have At It" has always had an imaginary line that drivers should not cross, trouble is NASCAR decided that he did! NASCAR told Kyle he wasn't racing any more that weekend, put him on probation to the end of the year and issued him with a fine! He also got in trouble with his team and his sponsors. What effects that incident will have on him for next year only time will tell.

"Retaliation" and "payback" were two of the years watch words...




Which brings me to what will be the long standing story of the year, not a sixth title for the 48 car but the battle between Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart. After such a dominating run by one driver it was great to see that run broken by one of the tightest battles in NASCAR history.



One of the greatest NASCAR Championship battles ever?

Certainly!

Do NASCAR have to work on the product a bit... I think so, but that's for another day...

And That's How You Do It!!

WHAT A RACE!

WHAT A CHASE!

A few weeks ago I may have commented on the particularly disjointed nature of the pre-Chase regular season. No one driver looking strong enough to dominate, but many in with a shot.

I might have been wrong...

Tony Stewart and his crew dominated their way to the title. They did not have it easy, nor did they make it easy for themselves but in the end Stewarts take-no-prisoners driving at Homestead earned them the title.

It may also go down as one of the greatest drives ever.

With the level of competition that high, and with the cars evenly matched, the 14 car literally took on all-comers and walked away the winner.

He overtook 118 cars...

Two, three, and four wide passes...

Had to win the race...

Race won...

Championship won!

First owner/driver Champion since Alan Kulwicki.

The great thing about this years Chase was that it came down to two drivers, one-on-one for the race win. Not a maths equasion of "if he finishes here then I can be there" but a straight battle to the chequered flag. That alone is good, that it was also for the title made it great.

Carl Edwards did more than keep Steward honest, it was his title until the last race, but ultimately he could not stop the unstoppable and unthinkable.

Congratulations to Tony Stewart and Stewart Haas Racing...

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP CHAMPIONS!

I said you would only need the edge of your seat...

3... 2... 1...

3... points.

2... drivers.

1... race.

Ford vs. Chevy.

Stewart vs. Edwards.

Win the race, win the title.

Nothing else will do.

They both need to win!

Homestead Miami...

Sunday...

Get the beer and dips in...

Don't worry about a complete seat...

You will only need the edge...

Bring It On!

To Finish First... First You Must... Start

To Finish First...

Another Chase race and another good one.

At one of NASCARs fastest tracks the top two in points went head to head, Carl Edwards vs. Tony Stewart... And Smoke came out on top. Que cheesy headlines, "Stewart Smokes 'Em", etc.

Stewart did what he had to do, win, while at the same time Edwards did what he had to, shadow Stewart.

At Texas that was enough but it will not be enough from now on. At Phoenix, with only three points seperating them, they will be all out for the win, again.

Just how a Championship should be decided then!

... First You Must Start!

Was I supposed to be surprised by the actions of Kyle Busch in last weeks Truck race? Oh good, 'cos I wasn't.

Was I supposed to be surprised that Mike Helton threw the NASCAR rulebook at Kyle? Good, 'cos I wasn't.

Was I supposed to be surprised that the majority of fans think Kyle should loose his job as a result of what he did? Good, oh you get the idea.

Kyle Busch is NASCARs marmite, you either love him or hate him, or you love to hate him. Regardless of what fans thought of this one incident, if you ask the question a lot of fans will want Kyle out of the way.

The problem with Kyle, as has been well documented, is, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Rowdy is as Rowdy does".

Drivers lose their cool from time to time. However Kyle seems to loose his, not so cool, more often than most and when he does he also looses any sense of what to about it.

Have NASCAR been a bit heavy with the penalties? I think not. They have always said they would encorage "boys have at it" but there is a line in the sand and cross it at your peril. No one can debate that what Kyle did crossed that, until know, unseen line. As I said after Martinsville, retaliation on a short track is one thing, at a fast mile-and-a-half, something else. And lets face it this incident is the latest in a long line.

Whether Kyle will be out of a ride in a couple of weeks time, I would have thought is down to how patient Coach Gibbs and his sponsors are. I am not a Kyle Busch fan but I will openly admit that he has some of the best car control in the sport... And the sport is better off with contraversial drivers like him around...

If only he could reign in his ego he could win Championships... But then so could I if I only had his talent... And thats not going to happen... If only...

Wham Bam Thank You Men

Martinsville.

Action...

Wrecks...

Contact...

Retaliation...

All the top drivers having a go...

A late caution...

A late pass for the lead and a close finish...

What was not to like?

The little paperclip delivered just what the Sprint Cup needed, a good old fashioned short track bust up, and in the process injected some much needed on track action into the Chase.

We watched the sports best, from Gibbs, Roush, Childress, Hendrick Stewart Haas and others battle it out, no holes barred.

Finally they all got it together at the same time, and the result was great to watch.

The late pass by Tony Stewart on the outside of Jimmie Johnson showed class from both drivers. From Smoke a classy move, squeezing the 48 down low and getting the win. The lack of contact once the lead was lost showed a level of respect from the reigning Sprint Cup champion towards his fellow driver. Would I be blaming or holding it against the 48 car if the bumper had been used, no, thats short track racing, but it did show respect and a level of class from Jimmie Johnson.

For the opposite style of racing look at Earnhardt Jr among others. Again, nothing wrong with a bit of contact, nothing wrong with a bit more either.

Should NASCAR be worried about the retaliation? Not in my book. The rules at Martinsville may be different to those at Texas but I am still all for "have at it boys".

NASCAR has always been a contact sport and there have always been rivalries. It may be a bit "primal", a bit "wrestling" but hard hitting short track racing is as much a part of the sport as drafting at Daytona... And long may it continue!

Riddle Me This, Riddle Me That...

Take 43 of the best stock car drivers...

Pair them up with the best Crew Chief they can find...

Have the best teams in the business run them...

And watch one driver dominate?

Not one team, but one driver.

The Sprint Cup races this year have me baffled. Each week there is some good racing throughout the field, and we have seen a lot of different winners this year but still there is no consistancy. A while ago I was championing this as a good thing, variety being the spice of life as they say. However this variety has me wondering how one driver can hit on a set up so much better than all the others that they dominate a race like Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team did at Kansas.

What did that team do which made them the best, on that day, by some margin. You would have thought out of the other 42 cars someone else would have hit on that magic formula as well and given the 48 a run for his money. Stewart got close at times but only ever looked like he had a second place car and not one able to battle for the win.

It's not as though one team is dominating, as last Sunday Gordon had an average race and Earnhardt and Martin were never really in contention. In fact if one driver in a team is winning you can almost guarantee that the others in the same team are nowhere to be seen. If Tony is winning then Ryan is average. If the 48 is up front the 24 is at the back, and visa versa. If Brad is hot, Kurt is not and again visa versa.

You may say track position, and being the lead car, has a part to play in this but I don't buy it. The racing behind Johnson was good and proved overtaking was possible using the various grooves through the turns.

Is it down to the edgy nature of the cars? They are hard to drive ane we often hear Crew Chiefs talk about the fine line between a car that works and one that doesn't. However with the regulations for the cars being so tight, or to put it another way all of the cars are more or less the same, you would think that more than one team would find a setup that works on a given weekend. Also considering the limited number of car builders, Hendrick for Chevy, Roush for Ford, Penske for Dodge and MWR/Gibbs for Toyota, you would think the secret formula for the ultimate setup would not be secret for long.

I look forward to the race when all the top drivers find a setup that works at the same time, Homestead perhaps, and then we will have a race on.

I am not complaining, I am just puzzled. It looks like the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion will be the driver and team who can hit on that magic setup the most over the coming weeks, and not fall that far when they miss.

Lose Some, Win Some

I enjoyed watching Jeff Gordon lose last weekends NASCAR Sprint Cup race from New Hampshire.

I also enjoyed watching Clint Bowyer lose the race.

This is not because I have some weird adversion to the drvers of the 24 or 33 cars, far from it. I may be a fan of the 14 car and its driver but this is not about the individual drivers, or a sudden fondness for fuel mileage races. What I enjoyed was the thinking behind the way in which they lost the race and Stewart won it.

The 24 and 33 cars lost the race by desperately trying to win it! The 24 car, with a sizeable lead remember, went one lap too far on a tank of gas, one lap, and it cost him the win! In the same way, Clint Bowyer lost the race, handing the win to a currently on form Tony Stewart.

The Cup drivers are doing everything they can to win, not finish high up, but win! For a fan of the sport this is great. By pushing the fuel window, not at the end of the race, but on the way to his final pit stop, Jeff Gordon showed us that the 2011 race for the Chase is win or nothing for these guys.

So we have a Chase race in which the "favourites" are not doing so well and others find themseves a position to win it... or loose it, we will see. Factor in a 'Dega race with a different plate and cooling package and who knows what will happen.

Is it too early to join the "Anybody but Jimmie" camp?

Keep it up Smoke!!

Zero to Hero

Zero to hero with one with one win, but don't get too comfortable as one bad race can put you back down the standings again...

Tony Stewart really did Smoke'em at Chicagoland, one of only two drivers to make it into the Chase with no wins in the regular season, Stewart addressed that with a win in the first Chase race of 2011!

However this season is still wide open, and one bad weekend can turn the points standings on its head. The good news for Stewart is that the next race is New Hampshire, and we all know what happened there earlier in the year!

If the latest chase points system has done one thing it has put more of an emphasis on race wins. The old points system, along with the long race season put an emphasis on consistancy. Despite the changes I think the emphasis is still on consistancy, only now instead of being consistantly in, say, the top 15, now you have to be consistantly winning or very, very close.

You can not afford to have a bad weekend in the Chase if you want to be in the top 3, and in with a chance, at the end.

What is it with the mile-and-a-half races this year? They should produce some great racing, and some close finishes with the smooth wide surfaces giving the drivers lots of racing room and various grooves to choose from. However many races this year have ended as fuel mileage races. Before you say it, yes fuel strategy is part of NASCAR racing and so it should be, however I would shorten some of the race lengths to put the emphasis on racing not fuel economy.

One point has to be made though... while Tony Stewart might have won the race because of his fuel strategy, he got to the front by out racing the opposition!

The question is... who can be the most consistant in the run to the Championship?

85 Wins... and... NGTC Podiums

85, that’s 85 Wins!!

Jeff Gordon is now third on the all time NASCAR win list!

I find it easy to forget, in the era of the 48, just how much the 24 has achieved. Remember Jeff Gordon started racing against the black 3 in Luminas, and you were either a 3 fan or a 24 fan. Yes I was a 3 fan, but I can now look back and appreciate what an achievement those Championships and all those wins add up to.

Watching Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon slipping and sliding their way round Atlanta at the end of the race was great. How sideways was the 48 coming off of the last turn??

And how about Tony Stewart, where did he come from. In the last 100 laps he worked his way from about 20th into the top 10, and with about 10 to go looked like an 8th place finish was as far as he was going to get. However as we watched the leaders go at it, he stormed his way up to third!

So with one race to go the 48 is leading the points standings... am I supposed to be surprised by this? He does not, however, look as dominant as he has in the past. Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon among others can race with and beat the 48. I think the title race will be between those three.

Knock Knock Knockhill at the door...

If you look in a racing encyclopaedia under the topic “bad day”, it will say see the 2011 BTCC Knockhill round and refer to Matt Jackson. He went in to the meeting leading the Championship and came out with three DNF’s. Oops...

It was good to hear that next years new Honda Civic race car will be a NGTC spec car. Following the first two podiums for the new spec car, (well done Frank Wrathall) next year needs to see the series moving forward, and not have another year like this one. Don’t slow the NGTC cars too much. If they are to be the future, encourage them, I want an NGTC car to win a race!

In one way I feel sorry for Plato... but no by much. Even after playing with the turbo boost levels the old naturally aspirated cars cannot keep up with the newer turbo cars on the straights. My answer to that, get a turbo! However... Plato has been known to drive aggressively and when he is on the receiving end of that kind of driving it is hard not to think, “what goes around...”

I find it hard to believe the MSA will not ask Tom Boardman to write a cheque for the restart accident he caused on his way to the win. The leader can dictate the pace and can decide when to accelerate, but stopping in the middle of the track is just plain stupid, and he was lucky not to be taken out himself. Slow the field down, yes, stop, er... no!

There is one thing the drivers need to get their collective heads around. It appears the new spec cars are prone to terminal damage when making contact with another car. This means they will have to give each other room and race cleanly if they want to finish races! That would make a change!

I still say the organisers should ban the old naturally aspirated engines from next year and then just allow the NGTC spec cars from 2013! Firstly it would stop Platos whinging, create a more level playing field, and move the series a step closer to the future!

Indiana Jones and the Yard of Bricks

Star Wars... two sets of three.

 

Three Spiderman films, and by the end of next year there will have been three Batman movies...

Pirates of the Caribbean originally came in three parts...

Raiders of the Lost Ark originally had two follow ups...

What does any of this have to do with racing?

Hollywood loves a twist. And the movie of the Brickyard 400 always throws up a surprise.

Juan Pablo Montoya should have won the last two races at the Brickyard but let both races slip through his fingers. Will this weekend’s race be part three of the trilogy or the much needed franchise reboot? Montoya needs to hold on to this one, or "Indy, no more parachutes!"

Another cast member hoping to turn a great weekend at the box office into a successful follow up has to be Stewart Haas Racing. After starting and finishing in first and second at New Hampshire, (how many times do the front row of the grid finish in that order in a Cup race) the sequel needs feature another set of strong performances but, for the sake of their championship chances, with the “leading man” getting the spoils this time, not his “sidekick”.

The Brickyard is a wonderful setting for a NASCAR rollercoaster storyline...

I can’t wait to see who’s name is on top of the list come the credits!