Attack Of The Killer Tweets

Ugh!!!  Where have all the real men gone in NASCAR.  It used to be if two drivers had a beef at Bristol,  they'd settle it with some pushing and shoving, some fisticuffs, and maybe an occasional poke here and there.  At the very least, somebody would get a water bottle bounced off their skull.  Today, however, is a new day and this ain't your Daddy's NASCAR.  Today's drivers slug it out using verbal judo and their smart phones, as witnessed after the Food City 500 today:

1. Joey Logano ‏@joeylogano

   Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on

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2. 1hDenny Hamlin ‏@dennyhamlin

   Why's that.. What would u do? “@joeylogano: Hey @dennyhamlin great job protecting that genius brain of yours by keeping your helmet on”

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   Joey Logano ‏@joeylogano

   @dennyhamlin

Show you some love and appreciation. 👍

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 Denny Hamlin ‏@dennyhamlin

Need my address?

Image will appear as a link

1. 26m

Heck even Hamlin's spotter, Chris Lambert is getting in on cyber tomfoolery, whipping up the passions of Brad Keselowski fans, (how'd they drag him into this?).

 Chris Lambert ‏@3widemiddle

@keselowski-I got a great idea, quit playing games on restarts. Known for it, just ask around to your peers.Even us lowly spotters know it!

Heck, even the milk and cookies poster boy, Jeff Gordon bypassed formal salutations and gave healthy shoves to Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton, when he felt they wronged him on the track.  Can you imagine Chocolate Myers, back in the day, running up to Ricky Rudd's crew at North Wilkesboro and saying, "You guys made me really angry today, and I'm gonna send some really mean tweets about you when I get home."  Now let's go racin'!!!

Heroes And A Zero

      This has been a real feel good year for Penske Racing.  Coming off of Brad Keselowski's 2012 Sprint Cup Championship, the Captain, Roger Penske, is doing all he can to keep the good karma going. Rather than kick A.J. Allmendinger to the curb and forget about him after his 2012 NASCAR suspension, Penske showed some real class by sticking with the Dinger.  Allmendinger is an all-around nice guy, whose misgivings were a real shock to the racing world.  In a "forgive and forget" move, Penske resuscitated Allmendinger's racing career by putting him back in a car for both the Indycar and NASCAR series.  The Captain knows what he's doing, if he didn't think the Dinger was up to it, he never would have made those moves.
      Penske Racing's Month of Love really kicked in last Saturday.  Another Penske "Nice guy," Sam Hornish Jr., won his second Nationwide series race while in Vegas, and he didn't just win the race, he took it away from everybody in a dominate fashion.  In a series that has gotten used to watching Kyle Busch drive away from the field whenever he's entered,  imagine the shock and awe as Hornish Jr. easily handled the field.  Then in a couple of late restarts, he drove away from Busch and the rest of the world.  Kudos to the Captain and his ship.
      On October 13, 2010 I wrote that Denny Hamlin was " another year or two away from being able to keep his head screwed on straight."  Well, it's not easy to say I was wrong, but I was wrong.  I probably should have written it would take four or five years, if at all.  Less than four races into the 2013 campaign, and Hamlin has proven once again, that his biggest nemesis is not on the track, but rather inside his head.  Two weeks ago he effectively bit the hand that feeds him.  If that wasn't enough, today he figuratively flipped off the rest of the garage during a media availability.  Denny, what are you thinking?  You're at Bristol this week.  You've got 500 laps to tick people off, why start two days before the race, especially at Bristol?      
      Don't get me wrong, Denny Hamlin is a very talented driver, and yes I think he's good enough to win a championship.  But until he starts wearing his big boy pants to the race track, it's never going to happen.  Now let's go racin'!!!

No Whining Allowed!!!

Cry me a river Denny! I'm sure there are about 42 other drivers that would love to have had your finish last week.  How did you manage to get to third place from the back of the pack, if the car was soooo bad?  It's not supposed to be easy to pass other cars and work your way through the field because..., it's racing.  This is especially true when you reach the top ten.  Typically these are the best cars in the race, and them being the best...., makes it difficult to pass them.  That's what makes a 43rd to 3rd charge pretty darn amazing.  You should be kissing that car's hood, not spitting in the injectors.  This isn't the first time you've shown a lack of better judgement and maybe a little maturity too, with your comments, whether they were about racing or teammates.  Quit your whining and race.

I think the only group in NASCAR that complains more than the drivers, are the fans.  That, however, is another subject for another time.  Now let's go racin'!!!

Contenders and Pretenders

      Anybody ready to crown the 2011 Sprint Cup Champion?  I hope not.  While there is no one driver that is the stand out to win it all, there is one thing that is apparent, this may well be one of the tightest races in the history of NASCAR.  When the circus roles into Homestead next month, chances are that there will be more than one driver that will be in contention to hoist the Cup at the end of the day.  Heck, there could be a whole gaggle of drivers that think they can take the Cup home that weekend.

      There are a lot of people, motorsports journalists included, that have already coronated King James the Sixth.  Methinks that such a pronouncement, may be just a bit premature.  Sure Jimmie et al have won the championship the last five years, with seasons that resembled this year.  Sure they have run strong in the Chase, basically stinking up the field in Kansas and pulling to within four points of the lead.  Sure Prince Chad still calls the shots from his throne atop the pitbox.  There is one difference this year.  This has been the year that a bunch of other teams finally caught up to the 48.  Yes they are running strong and in championship form, but there are too many are teams out there that have the potential to dethrone them this year.

      The most obvious contenders to dethrone the JJ Express at this point, (it seems to change after every Chase race, which should delight NASCAR fans), is Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.  Edwards, through some determined driving, turned a disastrous situation at Kansas into an excellent points day, snatching the lead from Harvick by one point.  The 99 team has had the most consistent finishes of any of the contenders in the Chase.  Harvick has been spectacularly unspectacular all season.  Not a lot of flash, but a whole lot of results.  He has been at or the top of the standings all season.  His sixth place finish at Kansas was just enough to keep him in the super elites of the Chasers.

      Two of the hottest racers in the Chase have been Brad Kesolowski and Matt Kenseth.  Being eleven and twelve points, respectively, out of the lead, either one could play the part of the spoiler, and walk out of Victory Lane as the Champion in Homestead.  For as much as the 29 has been unspectacular, Kesolowski has been ultra-spectacular the last two months.  Had he broken his leg a little earlier in the year, he could well be walking away with the points lead.  Kenseth has been a low flying rocket lately, pretty much flying under everyone’s radar.  His fourth place finish last week has cemented his place as a serious championship threat.  Oh yeah, this week they’re running at one of those mile-and-half tracks that the Roush Fenway Fords just really seem to love.

      At the outer reaches of contention are Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.  Needing to gain four points a race on first place over the next six races, which is a very attainable goal, they are the final Chasers with a real chance of winning the Cup.  In order for either to be the 2011 Champion, they would have to go on a tear and finish the season mistake free.  This would be a tall order for most teams, but both of theses drivers have proven in the past that they are more than capable of pulling this off.

      Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon are two drivers that while numerically in contention, they are out of contention.  Busch may be the older of the Busch brothers, but as of late has not been acting the part.  His history of bashing his team in public really hurts his chances of being champion.  After all, it is a team sport, remember.  At only sixteen points back, Busch should be right in the thick of the Chase, not trying to patch up his relationship with his team.  The rumors, this week, of Steve Addington leaving surely do not help the situation.  Gordon on the other hand, has conceded defeat, stating in a NASCAR.com interview that the Chase is a three man race between Johnson, Edwards, and Harvick.  As long as Gordon thinks he is out of contention, no miracle in the world will be big enough to help him finish as the Champion.

      NASCAR hit a home run with the new points system.  That, with the race teams being so equal, are making this one of the most exciting Sprint Cup seasons ever.  The Chase could very well arrive in Homestead with no clear-cut favorite to be the Champion.  With Talladega looming next week, and the new asphalt at Phoenix, an already tight points race, may get even tighter.

Kwestion 4 Kyle:

Tie..RT @ArmChairPitBox: @kylepetty What will be a bigger crapshoot, plate racing in 'Dega, or new asphalt at Phoenix?

We Got Us A Race

      Holy Shmoley!!!  What a Chase this has been.  In three weeks time what was up is down and what was down is up, and things in the middle are just kind of strewn around.

      While none of the Chasers are mathematically eliminated, only the top nine have a realistic chance of hoisting the Cup come November.  Nineteen point separate first and ninth.  With seven races remaining, that is a paltry sum that can quickly be overcome.

      They say that the cream will rise to the top, and no where was this more evident than at Dover.  Seven of the top nine chase contenders finished in the top ten, with Kurt Busch leading the way for the win.  At nine points out, Busch is now tied for third place with Tony Stewart, who as he himself anticipated, had a less than spectacular day finishing 25^th.

      At the top of the heap and tied no less are Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.  Edwards had a good weekend at Dover, dominating the Nationwide race on Saturday, and finishing third on Sunday.  Harvick just continued on in an efficiently style, doing what he had to do to stay on top by finishing tenth.

      From here on out, no one can have a bad day.  Even a mediocre day could cost a driver the championship.  Perfection is the plan on race day.  No mistakes, and capitalizing on other chase drivers miscues will be the trademarks of this year’s champion.

      Who’s it going to be?  Beats me, I don’t have a nine sided coin, but it sure is going to be fun to watch.

      This week, congratulations goes out to Ron Hornaday, for holding off a hard charging Austin Dillon at the Kentucky NCWTS race, and winning his 50^th truck race.  Chalk one up for the old guys.

Kwestion 4 Kyle:

All of them...RT @ArmChairPitBox: @kylepetty What are your favorite tracks for racing, reporting, and spectating?

Where There's Smoke There's Fire to Win

      Wow!!!  How about that 14 team?  I think Smoke has found the key to his third cup title; just win all of the Chase races.  It’s still too early to concede the championship to Stewart, but Dover should be a pretty good indicator of how serious a contender he is.  A top five finish on a track where he’s had problems could be a bad sign for the rest of the Chasers.

      Who’s going to be Stewart’s biggest obstacle?  It could be the 29 or the 2 cars.  Harvick, while winning four races in the first 26, has not been exactly spectacular.  What he has been, however, is the picture of consistency.  Seemingly no where to be found, he has managed to show up near the front by the end of races all season.  Harvick is probably the favorite to douse Smoke’s fire.

      Kesolowski has been the Midas of NASCAR ever since breaking his ankle at a testing session this summer.  “Bad Brad” has literally driven himself from the land of the back markers into Chase contention, almost breaking into the coveted top ten.  If his meteoric rise in the standings doesn’t flame out, Kesolowski could very easily take home the Sprint Cup at Homewood.

      This leaves one last serious contender.  The “Rainbow Warrior” himself, Jeff Gordon.  Gordon has had an air of mature confidence all season.  Going into the Chase he had championship momentum, but fuel issues in the first two races of the Chase has cost him in the points.  He did manage to overcome these issues at Loudon though, and salvage a 4^th place finish.  That’s what champions do.   Twenty-three points, while nothing to sneeze at, are not insurmountable to this team.

      Where does this leave Carl Edwards?  He‘ll be driving his Roush Ford, trying to get his first title in 2012.  Edwards is a talented driver, but maybe next year Carl. 

      While the 11 has been imploding since the last race of the 2010 Chase, the 22 and the 48 have waited for the 2011 Chase to start the downward spiral.

      A dark horse in the whole shooting match could be the 18 of Kyle Busch.  His runs at Chicago and New Hampshire were less than championship quality, but man can that kid drive.  If he can keep his head straight and with a little luck……..

Congratulations to 15 year old Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of 2X Indy 500 winner Emmerson Fitipaldi, for winning the Limited Late Model Championship at Hickory Motor Speedway.  http://twitpic.com/6qmb5j

Welcome to the Arm Chair Pit Box

The vast majority of NASCAR fans enjoy their racing from the comfort of their favorite easy chair.  It is their very own pit box that they can sit on top of and analyze the race, question strategies, cuss the bad guy, and for a few hours every week, be a part of this world of roaring engines and smoking tires.  If you are such a NASCAR fan, this blog's for you.