For some people the 1996 Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix International Raceway is more than just another race. It’s the day reality came back to NASCAR and Petty Enterprises found victory lane once again.

Petty Enterprises was the Hendrick Motorsports of the first 3 decades of NASCAR. Wait, I take that back. Hendrick Motorsports loses every now and then. Petty Enterprises didn’t.

Richard Petty had 198 of his 200 wins at Petty Enterprises and 7 championships with the organization. Richard’s father Lee Petty won 54 races and 3 championships in his 16 years as a driver.

From 1949-1983 Petty Enterprises had won an unprecedented 265 races, including 10 championships and 9 Daytona 500’s.

Yet after the 1983 season Petty Enterprises and Richard Petty would be together no longer after family dispute opted him to move to Mike Curb’s operation and brought the 43 and STP over with him. Petty would win only two races in the two years with Mike Curb and cooler heads prevailed and Petty and his family run team would reunite before the 1986 season.

Yet the same success would never be found again. Petty would go winless in his final 7 seasons at Petty Enterprises before retiring in 1992.

The Randleman, North Carolina ran business would have three drivers from 1993-1995. First it was Rick Wilson, who ran the No. 44 STP Pontiac to one top ten finish in the 1993 season before being replaced by Wally Dallenbach, Jr for the start of the 1994 season. The familiar No. 43 would be back on the car as well.

Dallenbach wasn’t the answer either. He struggled and after missing six races, Petty Enterprises had seen enough and hired John Andretti to finish out the 1994 season.

In 1995 a driver from Nashville, Tennessee became available. That driver was Bobby Hamilton. Hamilton had had an interesting career until that point. He broke into the NASCAR Winston Cup Circuit by driving cars for the movie Days of Thunder. He nearly won the 1988 Autoworks 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, before a blown engine on lap 215 derailed his day to 32nd place finish.

Hamilton had moderate success on the NASCAR circuit. He won a 1989 Busch Series race at Richmond that impressed many people. Everyone thought the man needed a break. When Richard Petty came knocking, Hamliton had finally gotten his break.

Throughout the 1995 season it appeared Hamilton and Petty Enterprises were a good fit. Hamilton was giving Petty Enterprises its best point season since 1987. Hamilton would finish 14th in the standings with 4 top 5’s and ten top tens. All things pointed to a very successful 1996 season.

1996 did get off to a good start for Hamilton. After an 11th place finish at Talladega, Bobby Hamilton was 9th in the standings and had caught everyone’s attention.

Yet a mediocre middle of the season had left Hamilton and Petty Enterprises scratching their heads as to what went wrong.

By the end of the Southern 500 in September, Hamilton had dropped to a dismal 16th in the standings. Bad luck, with a combination of a single car operation may have taken its toll.

Or so we all thought.

However, after the Southern 500, Hamilton went on a tear. In the next four races Hamilton put together four consecutive top ten finishes. By the time we got to Phoenix in late October, Petty Enterprises were feeling pretty good about things.

Yet no one saw this coming. Hamilton had started 17th in the event and no one thought the Petty car would have a chance.

Yet Bobby Hamilton flew. Coming from 17th, he and crew chief Robbie Loomis would fix their racecar and figure out a way to get in front of race leader Dale Jarrett and on lap 153 Hamilton had the lead. The lead would change several times during the event.

Then Geoff Bodine took the lead with 52 laps to go. It looked like it may be Bodine’s day. But slowly creeping closer was Hamilton, who got to Bodine’s bumper with 20 to go, and passed him for the lead.

The fans at Phoenix International Raceway were witnessing something they hadn’t seen in over 13 years. A Petty Enterprise car going to victory lane. Finally the checkered flag fell and Bobby Hamilton added his name to the list of winners in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Tom Higgins covered his last NASCAR race that day and wrote an article about it. He remembers a shocked Bobby Hamilton.

“I couldn’t believe it. Those last laps I thought I felt tires going down. I heard rattles and even thought the battery was shaking. My mind was running wild the last lap. There were three cars smoking and and I was concerned they would put some oil on the track. I’m so happy for Richard and Dale Inman and Robbie Loomis and the other guys on the team. They’ve worked so hard and have gone a lot of years without a win. To be the first to do it in this Pontiac since Richard means a lot to me,” stated Hamilton.

“The boys did good today,” said Petty, who was mobbed on pit road when the checkered flag fell. “I just sat and watched. Today, we had it all together. I thought Bobby had enough to take care of ’em there at the end, but you never know for sure.”

Higgins recalls tears in Hamilton’s eyes that evening in the press box. According to Higgins, most people in the box that day had tears in their eyes, happy for Hamilton and Richard Petty. Among those, Higgins recalls was the king, who under his glasses, Higgins sensed, his eyes were moist too.

Hamilton and Petty Enterprises would find victory lane just one more time before he and the organization parted ways before the 1998 season.

Petty Enterprises would win only one more race from that point on, in 1999 at Martinsville with John Andretti.

The organization would fold, following the 2008 season, but not before leaving countless memories on the sport, including the unforgettable day at Phoenix International Raceway, where Bobby Hamilton made even the King cry.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase has boiled down to a battle of egos as much as a battle of drivers and teams trying to secure wins and points.

Mike Ford, crew chief for Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, threw down the gauntlet at Texas Motor Speedway when he chose the pit stall in front of the Lowe’s No. 48 team.  It was payback for the same thing Chad Knaus had done to him at the Kansas race.

Ford has shown his ability to produce strong race cars and guide his team to eight wins this season and the lead in the point standings for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase. 

Now head games will play a part in the strategy between he and Jimmie Johnson’s team which is now Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 team.

Ford has had to go head to head with Knaus, who is a man possessed by the goal of winning championships for Hendrick Motorsports.  Knaus has done it four years in a row and intends to see Johnson get his fifth title this year regardless of what it takes.

Ford made the comment that the switching of pit crews during the race at Texas was “an act of desperation.”

Ford said, “I think our race team is better than their race team, and I’m not going to tiptoe around them because of where they’re at.”  He added, “I’m going to do what it’s going to require for us to win a championship–beat them…..I stayed focused on what we needed to do.”

Hamlin’s crew chief spoke about the No. 48 team watching them and said, “That means they are chasing and they made mistakes doing so.”

Hendrick Motorsports General Manager, Marshall Carlson, said, “I’m just surprised Mike Ford is thinking and talking about the 48 team so much.”

The battle of egos is very much on the driver level as well.  Jimmie Johnson has the four consecutive championships to boost his confidence and his prima donna status at Hendrick Motorsports.

Despite comments to the contrary at HMS about everything being about getting a championship for Mr. Hendrick, it is obvious getting Johnson’s fifth consecutive title is priority one. 

Hamlin has been coached by Joe Gibbs, his team owner and neighbor.  Gibbs is a master at coaching life skills just as we was at coaching football.

Hamlin has shown maturity and confidence this season.  He has walked the walk which was not easy with his knee surgery and talked the talk through eight wins this season.  Now the Virginia native has snatched the point lead from Johnson in the Chase.

With two races left, Ford has to continue to give Hamlin strong cars and not make  mistakes.  Perhaps the momentum is in his favor because of the shakeup at HMS with the pit crew swapping.

Knaus equated the change of pit crews to, “changing a spring or changing a shock or something like that.  You have to put the best components together to try to win a championship.”

So with two more rounds in the Chase left, we shall see if Mike Ford and his team can deliver the knockout blow to the No. 48 team and their chance to win the title this year.

Speedway Media News and Bits: For the NSCS

*Jimmie Johnson, to Honor Veterans in Scottsdale:

There will be a private concert and program with Johnson and local bands The Gin Blossoms and The Rembrandts.

*Phyzix Synthetics Signs Exclusive Partnership With NASCAR Performance.

NASCAR announced today that it has reached an exclusive agreement with Phyzix Synthetics, a division of Phyzix Automotive, to manufacture and distribute a line of NASCAR-licensed professional automobile maintenance fluids that will be designated as the No. 1 Professional Maintenance Fluid of NASCAR.

*” The Price Is Right” Welcomes NASCAR Drivers Clint Bowyer and Austin Dillon, Monday November 15.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star Clint Bowyer and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie Austin Dillon speed into The Price Is Right for a special NASCAR-themed episode Monday November 15 (11:00 AM-12:00 Noon ET: 10:00-11:00AM PT) on CBS. Bowyer and Dillon will present two NASCAR-themed showcases, featuring a trip to North Caroline to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a trip to Miami to see the season-ending races in all three National Series at the end of November and a Chevy Impala LS.

*Penalties and Appeals for 11/09/2010:

NASCAR Penalizes Kyle Busch for actions at Texas Motor Speedway: NASCAR has fined Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota $25,000 and placed him on NASCAR probation until December 31 for his actions during last Sunday’s race at TMS.

Busch, Violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing-inappropriate gesture and verbal abuse to NASCAR Officials). Of the 2010 NASCAR Rule Book.

The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel heard and considered the appeal of the No. 46 Whitney Racing NSCS team. The penalties concern: Section 12-1, Section 12-4-J “Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the Race Equipment used in the Event does not conform to NASCAR rules”, and Section 20-2.3A “Unapproved added weight location and unapproved added weight. Lower A-frames were filled with weight pellets.”

This stemmed from the opening day inspection for a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway on October 29, 2010.

The Penalties assessed were:

· Loss of 50 NSCS Championship Car Owner points for owner Dusty Whitney.

· Loss of 50 NSCS Championship Driver points for driver, Michael McDowell.

· $50,000 fine and indefinite suspension from NASCAR for crew chief, Thomas Tucker.

· Indefinite suspension from NASCAR for crew members: Tony Furr and Richard Boga.

The appellants requested and were granted a deferral of the suspensions and fine until such time as this hearing could be convened.

*NASCAR News and Notes for Phoenix: Race 35 of 36

*Kobalt Tools 500 from Phoenix International Raceway, Sunday November 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race will be televised on ESPN, with pre-race starting at 2:00 p.m. ET; it will be aired on MRN/Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128. PIR is a 1 mile oval, and the race will consist of 312 laps for 500 mile.

*These are your Points Standings and Race for the Chase Driver Ratings coming Into Phoenix.

Rank Season

Last Driver

Driver Pts Wins Poles Week Rating

1. Denny Hamlin 6,325 8 2 2 95.6

2. Jimmie Johnson 6,292 6 2 1 107.3

3. Kevin Harvick 6,266 3 0 3 97.5

4. Carl Edwards 6,008 0 2 6 88.8

5. Matt Kenseth 6,000 0 0 8 85.1

6. Jeff Gordon 5,994 0 1 4 100.2

7. Kyle Busch 5,986 3 2 5 98.2

8. Tony Stewart 5,962 2 2 7 91.3

9. Greg Biffle 5,953 2 0 11 88.1

10. Clint Bowyer 5,928 2 0 12 92.7

11. Kurt Busch 5,890 2 2 9 91.4

12. Jeff Burton 5,852 0 0 10 97.0

*This week’s Spoiler: Mark Martin:

Martin is coming off a second-place finish at Martinsville, and 11th-place finish at Talladega and a third-place finish at Texas. Martin has made 27 starts at Phoenix International Raceway posting one pole, two wins, 12 top five finishes and 18 top 10’s including starting from the pole and winning the 2009 spring event.

*The Pre-Race will be a Salute to the Military:

To help NASCAR fans celebrate Veterans’ Day, PIR will pay tribute to the generations of men and women who have served or are serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Kobalt Tolls 500 NSCS pre-race show beginning at 12:30p.m…

The pre-race show will feature more than 60,000 American Flags waving the grandstands donated by the Paralyzed Veterans of America and will also include the following:

*A “Welcome Home” ceremony for 150 guardsmen from the Arizona National Guard.

*Recognition of Arizona selections for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

*A performance by the U.S. Army Band.

*An aerial entrance to the track by skydivers carrying the American Flag.

*Display of 200-foot American Flag by Arizona Project Challenge.

*National Anthem by acclaimed trumpeter Dr. Jesse McGuire.

*F-16 fly-over by Luke Air Force Base

*Luke Air Force Base Honor Guard.

Thank you to all who have served and continue to serve our country.

So much for those boring, cookie cutter tracks.  You know the ones like Charlotte, Chicago, and Texas.  They’re supposed to induce sleeping in the afternoon, but not this week.  For some reason, tempers flared, drivers were pushing and shoving each other outside their cars and one notable finger was given.  So while Greg Biffle threatened to put us to sleep, Jeff, Jeff, Kyle, Chad, and Denny woke us up and made us wonder if there really was a full moon.

In case you were on Mars yesterday or were glued to the Not Football League, something got into Jeff Burton and he wrecked Jeff Gordon under caution.  These two mild mannered drivers met on the track and did something resembling a…pushing match.  The crowd loved it until they say the numerous slow motion replays and saw it wasn’t a fight.

Kyle Busch had some bad luck and left the pits too quickly.  He didn’t much care for the call and gave the NASCAR official the finger on television in front of God and everyone watching (the ESPN guys called it an obscene gesture).  It cost him two laps and filled the air (of those with scanners) with new words to look up.

Then there was Chad Knaus and the entire Hendrick Motorsports Empire.  They proved to the world that team is a non-term at the sport’s leading team.  Apparently all that matters is a fifth straight championship.  In the middle of the race, no less, the greedy bunch decided that the No. 48 pit crew, which had been a little off that day, needed to be demoted to cleaning up the mess from the No. 24’s crash and burn act while the No, 24’s team was promoted to pitting the four-time champ, something that’s not allowed in the other two major NASCAR series.  So much for team morale.

Then, The Biff lost second gear, Matt Kenseth found himself in a car capable of winning, and Denny Hamlin, who was nowhere near the lead for most of the day, ran like a scalded dog to the front, held off Kenseth, and took the points lead.  I thought last week was Halloween.

So, there was plenty to talk about on NASCAR radio today.  Mixed in with the usual, “I think this is the week that Junior’s gonna do it this week,” and “we’re seeing history and we should be proud to have experienced it,” was a serious discussion about how NASCAR really wasn’t so much a team sport as it was all about winning the championship.  Tell that to the Jimmie Johnson pit crew.

So, what did we learn this week?  Let’s start with the fact that Denny Hamlin is on a roll.  Whether he can keep it up for two more races remains to be seen, but his run Sunday was incredible.  Jimmie Johnson’s team will either be demoralized or show new strength.  Kevin Harvick will continue to move forward with determination.  And whether it was noticed or not, a new star was born.   Trevor Bayne drove the Wood Brother’s Ford to a 17^th place finish.  It’s notable because pretty much no one has mentioned it.  Watch this kid.  He’s going to be in the headlines soon enough.  It’s too bad that these days, we pay more attention to a ten race run than really exemplary performances.  But that’s the way it is.

So we head to Phoenix, a place that is Jimmie’s house, so all bets are off.  It will be interesting to see if Hamlin can continue this tremendous run.  It will also be interesting to see if Harvick can continue to be strong and steady, and if one of the Fords will be the spoiler.  It’s much better than the last four years.  Johnson will have to work for this championship, but I would have liked to hear more about the Wood Brothers and Trevor Bayne.  Silly me.

During the previous NASCAR weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway we watched a driver back up his personal prediction. We learned how races, and possibly championships, are won and lost in the pits. We learned that sometimes freedom of speech is necessarily free. We saw a new version of “have at it boys” and then discovered that sometimes race drivers fight like girls. With those thoughts in mind, let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Denny Hamlin, the winner of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. The “all we do is win” mind set this team adopted quite some ago was clearly in place when Hamlin collected his series high eighth win of the season and 16th career Sprint Cup win.

Hamlin deserves another HOORAH for clearly backing up his personal prediction regarding the final three Chase races. After crossing under the checkers last Sunday at Texas, Hamlin came on his radio and said “I told you we were going to pick it up with three, (races), to go: it’s on.”

For those of you into professional wrestling you’re probably aware of a famous saying that wrestling icon Rick Flair has used for years: “to be the man you have to beat the man.” That’s exactly what Hamlin did last Sunday in Texas. With Chase rival Jimmie Johnson finishing ninth, Hamlin’s now the new points leader and goes into next weekend’s race at Phoenix leading the standings by 33 points.

HOORAH to the race winner’s crew chief, Mike Ford. Making your official NASCAR 200^th start as a crew chief is certainly a milestone to be proud of. But add winning the race and taking over the championship points lead to that and it truly becomes a very special day.

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But there are many observers that will tell you that a Roush Fenway Ford should have won at Texas. WAZZUP with Greg Biffle’s hard luck with his broken lower gears? After collecting bonus points for leading the most laps, a very strong potential race winner was extremely slow on restarts because of the gear problem. In the waning laps of the race Biffle was making a strong run to the front only to helplessly watch the final caution flag of the race present itself with seven laps left.  Despite this aggravation, Biffle still managed a fifth place finish.

HOORAH to the other Roush Fenway driver who looked like he was going to win at Texas during the final two laps. Early in the day Matt Kenseth was a lap down and it appeared the team was in the midst of another mediocre race that has plagued them all year long. But, in the final moments, Kenseth was back on the lead lap and, with some good pit work and adjustment calls, actually took the lead from Hamlin.  Unfortunately a “Hail Mary” type move to clear Hamlin found Kenseth brushing the backstretch wall. Despite the turn out Kenseth was all smiles after the race. That hard charging second place finish had to feel like a win for this team.

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WAZZUP with the performance of Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew at Texas? Talk about a bad day at work. During their first seven pit stops the performance of this championship crew managed to cost their driver highly significant track position during four of them.

HOORAH for crew chief’s Chad Knaus sudden, and very surprising, decision to swap his team for the available Rainbow Warriors from Jeff Gordon’s team. Following a crash that sidelined Gordon’s car, the Rainbow Warriors were suddenly available and a deal to swap pit crews was quickly arranged.

HOORAH to Gordon’s crew for their stunning performance on pit road. Their first effort got Johnson down pit road in 12.6 seconds which allowed him to pick up positions. The second stop clocked in at 12.3 second while the final stop, a two tire change, was performed in a stunning 5.9 seconds.

A major move like this may seem unorthodox to some but, with a championship on the line, decisions like this are often vital and could loom large when the final points are counted at the end of the season. No one connected to a major sport likes being benched but the #48 deserves a HOORAH for their understanding of the decision. They even “fist bumped” the #24 guys during the changeover.

**************

That, in turn, leads to a WAZZUP with the sudden availability of the #24 team.  Following a lap 191 caution flag, caused by Martin Truex Jr hitting the wall, the cars of Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton collided in what turned out to be a very hard crash. At first, the video replay appeared to be an act of retaliation by Burton. It turned out that there was contact between the two cars from a previous lap and Gordon was pretty steamed about it. Following the yellow flag Burton pulled alongside Gordon to let him know he was sorry about that contact. That’s when the two cars got together and hit the wall.

Two ambulances came out onto the track to transport the drivers for the mandatory trip to the infield medical center for a check up. But Gordon walked right by his ride and physically attacked Burton on the backstretch while officials made an effort to pull them apart.. WAZZUP with that move? Is that what they call fighting?  Frankly, I’ve seen ladies in a bar room brawl put out a stronger effort?

Related to this is a HOORAH to NASCAR’s “have at it boys” policy initiated last January. It was that policy that allowed ESPN to present a boxing match in the middle of a stock car race if, again, you can call that fighting.

WAZZUP with putting these two angry drivers in the same ambulance for the ride to the medical center?

After the mandatory checkup a still angry Gordon said he’s now lost a lot of respect for Burton. But a HOORAH does go out to Burton for taking full responsibility for the incident and explained that their bumpers hooked up when he pulled alongside Gordon’s car. He also said that Gordon had every right in the world to be angry with him.

**********

WAZZUP with Kyle Busch exercising his self proclaimed right to free speech? That’s what he called presenting the middle finger to a NASCAR official standing in front of his car on pit road. Busch was called back to pit road to serve a penalty after getting caught speeding while exiting the pits. The angry driver shouted a flurry of expletives over the radio and then presented the offensive hand gesture to the NASCAR official.

There’s no defense for this. The Busch car had an in car television camera in it and

the entire nation witnessed the act. Someone needs to remind the “Rowdy One” that the tiny green light means the camera is on. That prompted ESPN broadcaster Marty Reid to apologize to the viewing audience for the offensive display.

HOORAH to NASCAR for refusing to tolerate such a display by penalizing the driver two laps for what they termed “unsportsmanlike conduct.”. There are now reports that additional punishment may be levied later this week. If that happens then they’ll receive another HOORAH for that action as well.

The shame of it all is the fact that Busch had a very strong car capable of winning the race. Had he kept his middle finger to himself he could have rejoined the race at the tail end of the lead lap and become a factor in the finish. It’s now likely that Busch just realized that sometimes freedom of speech isn’t necessarily free and, dependent upon NASCAR’s decision on additional punishment; it could get even more expensive.

We saw this act too many times in the past, Kyle Busch on a tirade. We’ve been told in the past that he’s a very passionate driver who finds race day adversity, such as finishing second, unacceptable. He attracts attention like a moth drawn to a flame. There are even some members of the NASCAR media who regard him as job security because he’s always good for a story line.

But what we witnessed from this driver, during the NASCAR weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway, was an act that was taken too far. When Kyle Busch decided to disrespect a NASCAR official with an obscene gesture, during last Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, he seriously crossed a line. He now knows that and he seems to be humbled by the aftermath of the incident.

Busch’s Texas weekend actually began on a super positive note. The Texas Motor Speedway played host to all three of NASCAR’s national touring series and Busch was entered in all three races. That’s something else about him we’ve seen many times before and he’s very good at busy racing schedules.

On Friday night Busch, in his self owned Toyota Truck, won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. It marked his seventh series win of the season and his 23d series career win. The latest win in the truck series also paid some handsome dividends. This was especially true of the owner’s points championship. Kyle Busch Motorsports now holds a 72 point lead in those standings and, with only two races left in the season, that’s going to be difficult for the competition to overcome. It beginning to look like Busch’s truck team, in its rookie season, is going to take this coveted title.

Busch’s Friday night win also paid dividends for Toyota as well. It allowed the automaker to win the series’ manufacturer’s championship for the fifth consecutive year in a row.

On Saturday Busch climbed in his familiar Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to take the green flag for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Busch was going after another set of Nationwide Series numbers in this race. With five previous wins at Texas, he was looking to become only the first driver in NASCAR history to win six consecutive races at the same track. Once again he was a major player in the race and led a race high 107 of the 205 laps.

Unfortunately, he didn’t lead the lap that mattered the most: the final one. That honor went to race winner Carl Edwards. A late in the race final caution flag set up another one of the series’ classic green-white-checker finishes. Edwards and Busch lined up next to each other for the double file restart. Edwards pulled off a beauty of a restart and easily led the final two laps for the win.

After the race an incensed Busch swore that Edwards jumped the restart and hit the gas pedal prior to passing the double red lines painted on the outside retaining wall. These lines are used as markers for the official starting point. NASCAR officials double checked the video and declared that Edwards had done nothing wrong.

The fact of the matter was Busch was completely got off guard by Edwards’ outstanding restart effort and apparently had trouble with the fact that he lost the race and the opportunity to set another new series’ record.

After the race an angry Busch said “he jumped the restart by about three lengths before the double red marks. Does it freakin’ matter? The race is over. The guy’s in victory lane. It doesn’t matter.” Following the conclusion of a race NASCAR policy calls for the top three finishers to report to the track media center for a press conference. Busch only spent a few scant moments in the media center before he stormed out but not before he left a few well chosen four letter words in his wake. There was also a report that said Busch used foul language during a post race radio interview. Fortunately the radio network was able to do some quick editing to protect the sanctity of their airwaves.

We have of course seen these tirades from this driver many times before. But what we didn’t know Saturday night was the ultimate Busch melt down was yet to come. What happened on Sunday left even Busch’s harshest critics speechless?

When the green flag fell on Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Busch was considered a pre race favorite. But his Sunday in Texas unraveled on lap 160 when his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota went spinning through turns one and two. He came in for tires and quickly worked his way down pit road. Busch was worried about crossing the pit road exit line before the pace car did in order to avoid going a lap down. He got to the line first but was caught for speeding down pit road in the process. His action to beat the pace car was deemed flagrant and NASCAR ordered him to return to pit road for a one lap penalty.

The Kyle Busch meltdown was now locked and loaded. He pulled into his pit stall to serve the penalty amid a volley of four letter words. A NASCAR official was standing directly in front of his car with his hand held up to halt the driver until the penalty was complete. That’s when Busch decided to let his anger cross a line that should have been left alone. He displayed his middle finger to the official. We all saw it because the ESPN Network had a camera inside of Busch’s car and the moment was recorded for posterity. NASCAR also saw the offensive gesture and brought Busch back to pit road for an additional two lap penalty. A car capable of winning the race was now three laps down and wound up finishing 32nd.

Busch later said that he wasn’t aware that the in car camera system was on. It really didn’t matter because he held that middle finger against his windshield for several seconds. He wanted to make sure that the pit road official got a good look at his displeasure.

After the race Busch was still in a surly mood and said “you get spun out and wrecked like that and you’re not supposed to lose your cool. I mean HELLO!

NASCAR officials were understandably angry at Busch. After the race Kerry Tharpe, NASCAR Director of Communication and Competition, called the incident both “unacceptable and inappropriate at any level of sports.” He also indicated that the punishment phase may not be over and NASCAR may be taking a hard look at this incident in the days to come.

Tharpe strongly objected to the offensive action taken by Busch against one of their officials and said “we take that very seriously and I think this is one we’re going to take a hard look at. It’s in the rule book, It’s on the pit road rulebook card as well. Anytime you make an obscene or inappropriate gesture toward any one of our officials, you’re subject to a time or lap penalty and we got him with the two laps. But again, the people who officiate our sport are hard working men and women and they deserve to be treated with respect.”

By now a much calmer, and very humble, Kyle Busch admitted that the frustration of the spin out got the best of him and said “I’m sorry that I lost my cool to everybody on this team, to everybody at NASCAR and all my guys that supports me. It’s just so frustrating the way that have such a fast race car, then you get spun out and you don’t expect to lose your cool, I guess. I apologize to all of my guys for letting them down and for getting us so far behind that we could never make it up.”

Next we witnessed another sight that we’ve seen many times before. That would be J D Gibbs, President of Joe Gibbs Racing, taking on the role of company spin doctor. Gibbs reminded us that Busch is an extremely passionate driver who gets frustrated easily when things do not go well on race day.

“I think that’s something he’s going to have to continue to work on and I think that he acknowledges that and admits that. But right when it happens, it’s hard for him to control that. I think that’s just an area in general and in life he’s going to have to address. We’ve just got to make sure it happens sooner rather than later”, Gibbs said.

Monday’s announcement from Hendrick Motorsports that said their #24 and #48 teams were swapping pit crews for the final two races of the year really wasn’t that surprising. For Jimmie Johnson, and his Chad Knaus led #48 team, it’s bottom line time. It’s all about taking care of business in order to win the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship.

We all watched in amazement last Sunday as the events of the Texas race unfolded. One of the best pit crews in organized motorsports was faltering. Their pit road performance was chaotic and costing their driver valuable track position. This is not the first time that a tiny chink in the armor of the #48 team has been noticed. But in the past they’ve always managed to rally and overcome the adversity. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen at the Texas race. The pit road situation started off bad and only got worse.

When Jeff Gordon crashed out of the race, following that bizarre caution flag incident with Jeff Burton, a decision was made by Chad Knaus no one expected. He benched his guys and had Gordon’s #24 team, known as the “Rainbow Warriors” take over. The #24 crew has been formidable on pit road much of the racing season. They made quick work of coming to Johnson’s rescue last Sunday. According to the ESPN Network time clocks, their first pit stop for the #48 car was 12.9 seconds. The subsequent stop was timed at 12.3 seconds and their final stop, a two tire change, was performed in a stunning 5.9 seconds.

But, despite that stellar performance, the damage was done. Johnson’s team arrived in Texas with a slim 14 point advantage in the Chase standings. They left the Lone Star State second in the standings 33 points down. It marked the first time since the 2005 Chase when this team was not in the points lead with only two races left.

It was only two weeks ago that the pit crews for Richard Childress Racing drivers Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer made a temporary crew swap in order to help Harvick’s championship contender status. But this swap was carefully planned and orchestrated from the RCR office. On the opposite extreme was the crew sway arranged by Knaus that was extreme last minute and caught everyone, including the crew members and the driver, completely off guard. That’s likely why everyone seems to be having issues with the move.

Afterwards Johnson said he truly felt bad for his guys and noted that many of them has been with him during the team’s previous four championships. But he also pointed out that there were performance issues and compared it Major League Baseball saying “I just watched the World Series, and when a pitcher is not doing his job, they make a change and get someone in who can (get the job done).”

While this crew swap was surprising, and perhaps even a little unorthodox, it was all about the series business of winning the Sprint Cup championship. Knaus even indicated a willingness to take himself out of the equation if that’s what it takes to get the job done and said “if Steve Letarte, (Jeff Gordon’s crew chief), can call a better race, then I’m going to put him on my pit box. It’s about winning this championship. That’s all that matters.”

The bottom line here is indeed winning a fifth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. In short, all Chad Knaus did last Sunday was take care of business.