By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Though it was pretty great to see the No. 48 team score its first road-course win, you couldn’t help but feel Marcose Ambrose’s complete and total heartbreak as he saw the victory slip from his grasp. After racing hard, dominating the later part of the race, and expertly holding off second-place Jimmie Johnson, the Aussie underdog hit some miserable luck in the final four laps when his car refused to re-fire after he’d coasted it under caution to conserve gas. Though drivers are not generally supposed to be able to gain (or lose) positions under caution, NASCAR ruled that Ambrose start from the position he’d slid to after his car rolled to a stop, far enough from the front that he’d have no hope of fighting his way back, simultaneously handing Jimmie the No. 1 spot. Ouch.

It seems a bit rough, but ultimately… fair? NASCAR cited “failure to maintain a reasonable speed on the track” as grounds for the penalty, even though by the end other cars were spinning out and shedding sheetmetal onto the track without so much as triggering a caution. A little inconsistent, maybe? After the race, even Jimmie Johnson said he was a bit astonished by what had happened–though he’d planned to stay on Ambrose, to keep pushing him as hard as he could to try to get him to slip up, this was “the last mistake he expected him to make,” and even hinted that NASCAR’s decision was odd enough that he would’ve fought it if he had been on the receiving end. Did NASCAR make the right call here? Or did they make an exception at the expense of the relatively powerless Ambrose, perhaps so they could help Jimmie on to the high-profile victory while quieting media and fan clamor over the No. 48 team’s so-called slump?

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By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Jimmie Johnson gets a couple of wheels off the ground and shoots flame while getting it whoa’d down for Turn 9 at Infineon during Sprint Cup Practice today. These cars are stiff, but they also weigh 3500 lbs, and it’s amazing how articulated they get as they punt themselves off the curbs on these road-course corners. Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was fourth quickest in final practice today, and he’s been consistently fast during practice and quals here over the last few days. Jimmie hasn’t yet won at a road course and is pretty desperate to put that feather in his cap. Marcos Ambrose turned the fastest final-practice laps, but Kasey Kahne, pole-sitter for Sunday’s race where he’ll start alongside Jimmie, was only 25th fastest on the final run. Hmm, in a race where passing is difficult and track position is everything, there’s likely going to be a bit of a bumper-car derby if ultimately slower cars are at the front of the starting grid. I’m kind of guessing Jimmie’s going to run away from the field, at least initially. Do you think this will be the place where he’ll end his slump and score his first road-course win?

NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The Sprint Cup cars are running a few more practice sessions in advance of tomorrow’s race. Jimmie Johnson, generally a strong contender for the win here at Dover (he swept both races last year), was rubbing a tire as soon as he was out on the track. The No. 48 seemed to be smoking out of the right side after he pulled it onto pit row for the tire-testers to inspect before heading straight back to the garage. Check out a few more pics from practice below the jump.

NASCAR coverage brought to you by Valvoline Engine Guarantee–the first and only motor oil in the industry that will guarantee your engine up to 300,000 miles. *Registration required, some limitations apply.

Continue reading "Sprint Cup Practice At Dover" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Last night, Jimmie Johnson became the first driver in NASCAR’s 61-year history to win four consecutive Sprint Cup championships. Any way you cut it, that’s pretty impressive–Jimmie and Chad the entire Hendrick organization absolutely deserve to revel in the victory they’ve earned. At the same time, Jimmie (perhaps unfairly) has come to represent to a lot of folks everything that is bloodless and corporate about modern stock car racing. There’s a good chance that his run of wins will turn a lot of people away from the sport, as the abysmal ratings of this year’s Chase for the Cup have already suggested–especially old-school fans who crave the firey personalities and distinguishable cars and cut-throat driving of yesteryear’s NASCAR. People forget that Jimmie grew up in a trailer park, and that just like everyone else he earned his salt in motorsports, rising through the ranks of motocross and off-road and the minor leagues of ASA and NASCAR to get to where he is today. But regrettably, despite his obviously prodigious driving skill and team dedication, he often comes across as simply a corporate racebot who’s just had everything handed to him. How about you–what are your feelings on Jimmie’s fourth championship victory? And how will it affect how you watch NASCAR in the 2010 season?

The season-ending race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup will be run at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, and I wasn’t altogether sure I was going to even bother watching. The always-robotic Jimmie Johnson has all but clinched it in the points—he only needs to finish 36th to win his third consecutive championship, tying the record set by Cale Yarborough between 1973 and 1976. While that’s real great and all, watching Jimmie win anything is pretty boring—it’s always like someone has just flipped his "win" switch, and he’s going for a Sunday drive while desperate kamikaze antics erupt all around him. For him to not win, he’d basically have to DNF, and there’s no provision in Jimmie’s programming for DNFs. John is a little more sympathetic to the guy, because I guess Jimmie’s handlers had flipped his "be funny" switch for the driver’s appearance on Letterman, and John dug it. But hell, I once saw him giving a victory-lane interview when one of his crew guys came from out of nowhere and joyfully tackled him, pretty roughly, and Jimmie didn’t even pause in the delivery of the polished-sounding sentence he was spooling out. Like, didn’t even miss a beat or take a breath. That’s not nerves of steel, that’s just, my programmers forgot to flip my "remember to act like a human being in victory lane" switch. I don’t know, I guess I just feel that Jeff Hammond should be the only cyborg allowed in NASCAR, because he just does such a spectacularly awesome job of it. Can’t wait for the broadcast to return to Fox for the Daytona 500 in February!

Anyway, maybe Carl Edwards still has a chance, but it’d take a miracle (or a disaster). How about you? Gonna watch the race tomorrow?

In today’s Top Three, Buck Fever and Bass Masters from Rowdy.com explain the sweet move that Kyle Busch pulled on Jimmy Johnson at the end of the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. Larry Mac and Tim Brewer may need a telestrator, but not Buck and Bass. What do you think—after seven Sprint Cup wins for 2008, is Kyle Busch the shizzle or fizzle?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

NASCAR charity auctions seem to be all the rage right now, in keeping with the squeaky-clean image that the sport is constantly striving to project. These eBay auctions at least look a lot more worthwhile than the one-lap-in-a-pickup-truck auction that’s stagnating over at the Bristol Motor Speedway site. What you’re bidding on is the opportunity to bowl a few frames with "The King" Richard Petty, NASCAR legend and record-holder for number of career wins. You can also put in a bid for a game with mild-mannered No. 48 driver Jimmie Johnson, the defending Sprint Cup Series champion. And if you just like to win, you can elect to hit the lanes with Richard Petty’s son, Kyle. Hey, I don’t have anything against the guy, but if he bowls anything like he races the No. 45 car, you won’t have to worry much about getting beat. 100% of proceeds go to the Jimmie Johnson Foundation for children’s charities, and if you’re a fan of any of these racers, the prize is pretty sweet.

By Jen

Editor

Ok, so you only get one lap with them, and it’s not a hot lap in a stock car. But for those who’ve always wanted to wave regally to 160,000 screaming fans from the back of a pickup truck alongside their favorite NASCAR driver—which, if you think about it, is a pretty specific fantasy—head on over to Bristol Motor Speedway’s "Ride of a Lifetime" auction and plunk down a bid. Among the drivers for sale are Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, defending series champ Jimmie Johnson—and last week’s Daytona 500 winner, Ryan Newman. I’m kind of curious to see what kinds of prices everyone will all fetch, but beware: the auction site requires registration, even just to watch.

Defending Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will head up the pack when the green flag flies over Daytona next weekend, starting the season-opening race from the pole position for the second time in his career. Michael Waltrip, who was burned big-time last season after his Toyota team was caught cheating with an unauthorized fuel additive, earned a second-place start during the qualifying session earlier today. He’ll be starting the race in the first row, alongside Johnson in the outside position. Check out the rest of the qualifiying lap times at NASCAR.com, and stay tuned for the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, which will determine the rest of the Daytona starting positions!

No. 29 driver Kevin Harvick, who won last year’s Daytona 500 with a dramatic final-lap steal as the field behind him exploded into fire, predicts that this year’s Great American Race isn’t going to be anything like the ’07 run. For one thing, he says, the Daytona track is worn out and rough, factors which thwart the kind of sustained side-by-side battles that fans have come to expect. Other drivers point to the Car of Tomorrow, whose compatibility with the particular style of racing at Daytona is still largely unknown.  Restrictor-plate racing, which forces cars to clump together in packs and use each other’s draft to slingshot to the front, is complicated by the altered handling and aerodynamics of the CoT. As always at Daytona, little errors amount to big wrecks. 2007 Nextel Cup champ Jimmie Johnson worried about the CoT’s erratic handling in testing at Daytona, and No. 10 driver Patrick Carpentier noted that its fragile shell doesn’t hold up well to the low-grade bumpin’ and bangin’ typical of Daytona, leading to squirrelly steering as the car gets misshapen and fights against aerodynamics. The CoT’s behavior is the big question mark, and it’s what will make it either a sedate and uneventful Daytona or a long, brutal one filled with big wrecks.

Which driver is your pick for this year’s Daytona 500 winner?