The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into the Dallas-Fort Worth area this weekend for Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500. 43 drivers will be taking the green flag in hopes that they will be the one to stand in the Texas victory lane while wearing the white cowboy hat and firing the six shooters into the air. But the one aspect that we will all be watching will be the possibility of a Texas sized impact on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship.

THE STORY BREAKDOWN

The story everyone will be watching throughout Sunday’s Texas event will be the progress of the three Chase contenders: Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

If Johnson is going to advance his drive for five campaign at Texas he’s going to have to avoid the pratfall the team experienced last year. An early race accident found the #48 Lowes team in the garage, with some of their Hendrick Motorsports friends, taking on the task of rebuilding the entire front end of a badly damaged race car.

Johnson’s last two outings at Texas hasn’t been that spectacular but, despite that, his overall numbers at this super speedway remain very healthy. In 14 starts he has one win at Texas, in 2007, along with seven top five finishes, ten top ten finishes and his average finish ratio is an impressive 10.1.

Denny Hamlin’s game plan is quite simple: finish ahead of Johnson in order to eradicate the 14 championship points that separate them. Hamlin, and his #11 Joe Gibbs Racing team, would like to do that by sweeping the Texas events this year. They won the race there back in April. Hamlin’s overall numbers definitely makes him a pre race favorite. In ten starts there he has the one win along with four top five finishes, seven top tens along with an average finish ratio of 9.6.

Kevin Harvick’s game plan is the same as Hamlin’s except his numbers are a little different. He’s 38 markers away from Johnson and needs to do exactly what he did last Sunday at Talladega: finish ahead of the #48 and the #11. Harvick is still searching for his first opportunity to wear a cowboy in the Texas victory lane. However, he has compiled some impressive numbers at the speedway. In 15 starts Harvick has three top five finishes, seven top tens along with an average finish ratio of 12.9.

Again, don’t be too surprised if the outcome of Sunday’s race delivers a Texas sized impact on the state of the Chase. Also expect to hear reports regarding the huge smiles on the faces of NASCAR executives at Daytona Beach. You know that they’re just loving what they’re getting from the 2010 Chase.

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Needless to say the other big story line from the Texas weekend will be the current and future status of the financially strapped Richard Petty Motorsports, (RPM). There was some good news for the team this week. All four teams have reported for duty at the Texas Motor Speedway this week. That may sound insignificant to some, but as of last Sunday RPM’s presence in Texas was actually a question mark.

The other good news came from Budweiser who announced earlier this week that they would honor their sponsorship contract, on RPM’s #9 Ford, until the conclusion of the current racing season. It wasn’t that many days ago that this was also another difficult issue for RPM. When Kasey Kahne left the team a few weeks ago Budweiser acted like they were also leaving. They referenced breach of contract and insisted they signed on with Kahne and not substitute driver Aric Almirola. Apparently the famed beer company had a change of heart and will honor their deal with RPM while waiting to join Richard Childress Racing, and driver Kevin Harvick, next year.

Despite the fact that his famous name is prominent on the company logo, Richard Petty is a small, minority, owner of this operation. But that hasn’t deterred his attempts towards putting together an investment group to purchase controlling interest of RPM from majority owner George Gillett Jr. This action is being scrutinized by the Wachovia Bank who holds a $90 million note, now in default, that allowed Gillett to purchase the team approximately three years ago.

Adding to the financial drama was a report, last Tuesday that said there may be another group, yet to be identified, that has expressed an interest in purchasing RPM. But, from the outside looking in, it appears that Wachovia Bank is hoping that Richard Petty will emerge as the new majority owner and it appears they are giving him the time he needs to assemble an investor group before they seriously entertain other offers.

Richard Petty was the recipient of some strong support recently from Ray Evernham, the creator of this team to begin with, who is also a minority owner of RPM. On Wednesday Evernham made an appearance on the very popular “Sirius Speedway” program hosted by Dave Moody on the Sirius Radio Network’s NASCAR Channel. Evernham described the current status of RPM as being a “legal and financial nightmare.” But he also made it clear that he was in favor of Petty becoming the new majority owner and said “I don’t have an interest in owning a piece of the team anymore, but if it comes down to helping Richard bridge a gap for time being, I would absolutely do what it took to help him achieve his goal.”

You can expect to hear a lot of speculation this weekend on the status of RPM and expect to hear even more in the weeks to come. There’s a lot more than just tangled finances involved here. This story has a lot of human emotion connected to it. Literally everyone wants to see “King” Richard Petty, and his famous #43 race car, remain active in NASCAR racing.

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THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN

The Las Vegas based World Sports Exchange, (WSE), truly believes that Jimmie Johnson will be “the man” next Sunday at Texas and they’re backing that up with 4 to 1 odds. Right behind him is Chase rival Denny Hamlin rated at 11 to 2 this week.

Championship contender Kevin Harvick leads a trio of drivers in the 9 to 1 category. But it’s the other two drivers in this category, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who could turn out to be lucrative long shot wagers. It’s well documented that Gordon’s last trip to victory lane was at Texas in April of last year. He has an average finish ratio of 15.9 in 19 starts there. He also holds the track record for top five finishes with seven. If Gordon is going to get the win that has eluded him for the last 18 months this might be the opportunity. Meanwhile Tony Stewart’s up an down Chase performance could use another shot in the arm and Texas could be the place for it to happen. Stewart won the Texas race in November of 2006 and has an average finish ratio of 13.4 there.

All by himself, at 10 to 1, is the always important Kyle Busch.  He’s still looking for his first win at Texas but, as we’ve all seen before, he’s somehow always a player in any NASCAR race he enters. This is another really good long shot consideration.

Now here’s a really good long shot opportunity. That would be Carl Edwards at 12 to 1 odds. Granted, Edwards is currently trying to resolve a 69 race win less streak but the fact of the matter is he has some really good numbers at the Texas Motor Speedway. He has a series high three wins there and swept both races back in 2008. Edwards is also one of the Ford drivers for Roush Fenway Racing who holds the track record for team wins at seven while Ford holds the track record for manufacturer wins at nine. Also in this 12 to 1 category is Greg Biffle, another Roush Fenway Racing driver, “The Biff” is also a previous race winner at Texas and is another great long shot consideration. The same goes for Kurt Busch, also ranked 12 to 1, who is defending race champion as well the track record holder for the largest winning margin. Busch won last November’s race by a whopping 25.686 seconds.

In the middle portion of this week’s WSE rankings Jamie McMurray is set at 15 to 1. At 20 to 1 is a trio of drivers featuring Talladega winner Clint Bowyer, previous Texas winner Matt Kenseth and two time winner Jeff Burton who is another long shot consideration.

At the bottom end of the WSE listing you will find Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin and previous race winner Kasey Kahne at 25 to 1. Joey Logano stands alone at 35 to 1 this week. The trio of Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann and previous Texas winner Ryan Newman closes out this week’s list at 40 to 1 odds.

Time for the disclaimer: NASCAR wants us to remind you that these numbers should be viewed for informational and entertainment purposes only. They neither encourage or condone the placing of wagers on their races. They would prefer that you, instead, spend your money on the variety of unique racing souvenirs available at the NASCAR Store on line. That Dale Earnhardt Jr bar b que grill cover is really bitching.

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THE RACE BREAKDOWN

The AAA Texas 500 is 334 laps/501 miles around the Texas Motor Speedway’s massive 1.5 mile quad oval.

The race has 49 entries vying for the 43 starting berths. 14 of those entries are on the go or go home list meaning these teams are not guaranteed a starting berth because they are currently outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points. These teams will have to rely on qualifying speeds to make the race.

The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway was held in April of 1997 and was won by Jeff Burton. Since that time there has been 19 Cup races there that has sent 16 different winners to victory lane.

The turns of the Texas Motor Speedway has 24 degrees of banking along with five degrees of banking on the straightaways and the dog leg.

The speedway has permanent seating for 138,122 fans.

The pit road speed is 45 MPH.

Weather should not be a big factor in Sunday’s race. The Dallas-Fort Worth forecast calls for sunny skies and a balmy daytime high of 74 degrees.

The AAA Texas 500 will be broadcast live by the ESPN Network beginning at 2 pm eastern time. The rebroadcasts will be on Monday morning, 230 am et, on ESPN2 and again on Wednesday, 12 pm et, on SPEED.

Since October 23rd, possible manufactures switch for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (EGR). Ford has rumored to have made an offer to EGR that’d benefit them that’d draw them away from Chevrolet. However, Racehub reported tonight that EGR signed a three-year contract with Chevrolet.

The move was being considered after looking at the manufacture ranking and the fact that both EGR drivers, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, failed to make the Chase. Despite this, the pair managed to score four wins this year, including McMurray winning both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400.

As according to FOXSports.com, their sources said that Ford started discussion back with July.

If Chip Ganassi had made the switch from Chevrolet to Ford, it would have moved them up in the manufacture ranking. With Chevy, they’re currently fourth in line behind Hendrick Motorsports (HMS), Richard Childress Racing and, Stewart-Haas Racing (who has an alliance with HMS). If they had gone to Ford, they’d only be second to Roush-Fenway Racing. By being higher in the manufacture ranking, it’d allow them to get better technical support.

A spokesperson for Ford also told Sirius Speedway that the offer from Ford is supposedly worth more than their current deal with Chevrolet.

“The offer is on the table, and it’s up to them whether or not to take it,” the spokesperson said. “If this was a strict business decision, I think Chip (Ganassi) would make the move. But racers are a pretty loyal bunch. I honestly think it could go either way.

It all looked great on paper, though would it be something that Ganassi would want to do and chance? What if things don’t go as they should and it doesn’t help the team? As they say, if something’s good, then don’t mess it up and overall, they’ve had a pretty decent year.

Also if they had made the switch, they would have lose their engine package with Richard Childress Racing. Earnhardt Childress Racing Technology (ECRT) Engines have won eight races this year, second only to Mark Cronquist’s engines at Joe Gibbs Racing who have nine wins.

The switch would’ve caused EGR to have to build their own motors or work out a deal with Roush-Fenway Racing (RFR). Though is that something that’d be something that Ganassi would be interested in doing considering the liability issues this year with RFR motors?

Officials at EGR have said that they don’t have plans to leave Chevy due to the long-standing relationship for the Earnhardt clan with Chevy and the fact that the motors are the best in the business right now.

Also, had EGR parted ways, it would’ve had other implications.

Past what has been discussed, Furniture Row and Tommy Baldwin Racing were set to join the ECRT alliance so if the alliance gets broken via a manufacture switch for EGR, how does that affect them?

If the switch would have happened, there’d probably would have been a bunch of unhappy fans and it would’ve taken EGR another step away from Dale Earnhardt’s beginnings with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated as Chevrolet was his main manufacture.

During the previous weekend we witnessed a 500 mile race at the Talladega Super Speedway that had 87 lead changes in 188 laps. We watched a beleaguered Chase team rise to the top of the charts and find victory lane again. We learned the true value of computerized scoring loops. We watched the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship standings turn into a NASCAR dream come true and we were treated to a tailgate party that was simply awesome.

With those thoughts in mind let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Clint Bowyer for winning Sunday’s Amp Energy Juice 500 at Talladega. The win was Bowyer’s second of the season and 4th career win. Team mate, and fellow Chase contender, Kevin Harvick finished second. That leads to a HOORAH to team owner Richard Childress who collected his 11th team win at Talladega. When you consider the overall status of this organization last year, their 2010 season has been an amazing turn around.

HOORAH to the power plants manufactured by Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines. Their good work has led to victories in all four of this year’s high speed restrictor plate races.

HOORAH for the computer scoring loops that actually determined the winner of this race. When the caution came out during the final lap, NASCAR officials had a high tech reference center at their disposal to determine which car was in the lead when the yellow came out. Naturally, an important review of this nature took a few moments. Meanwhile Bowyer and Harvick were cruising in front of the fans waiting for the final decision. Only team owner Richard Childress knew for sure he was supposed to report to victory lane. He just wasn’t sure which driver he was going to be shaking hands with.

HOORAH to both of these drivers for stopping on the front stretch to shake hands. That’s the kind of post race class we like to see.

HOORAH to Kevin Harvick’s crew led by crew chief Gil Martin. Harvick sustained some front end crash damage after Marcus Ambrose spun in front of him. In a sheer note of irony it was his team mate and race winner, Bowyer, who accidentally tapped Ambrose to launch the accident. The Harvick team did an outstanding job with patching up the front end of the car while keeping their driver on the lead lap. Harvick took it home from there.

WAZZUP with driver A J Allmendinger and that horrible accident that brought out the final caution to begin with? The destroyed race car was absolutely the last thing the financially strapped Richard Petty Motorsports needed to see. Prior to the race Allmendinger admitted that he had knots in his stomach because he’s not sure about his future with the team.

But that crash does lead to a HOORAH for the safety innovations installed in NASCAR’s Car Of Tomorrow from the very beginning. This accolade also applies to the SAFER barrier walls that is employed by the speedways the series races at. It wasn’t that many years when an upside down crash, like Allendinger’s, would have become an extremely serious incident.

HOORAH to the Chase standings that followed this race. With three races left in the season, Jimmie Johnson has a slim 14 point advantage over Denny Hamlin and is only 38 points ahead of Kevin Harvick. The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship has the makings of a shootout and NASCAR has to be thrilled with what they’re seeing right now.

WAZZUP with no one wanting to draft with Jimmie Johnson during the final laps of this race? Could it be that no one wants to see this #48 win a fifth consecutive championship?

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Have I told you lately how much I love the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series?

HOORAH to Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 and the exciting finish NASCAR’s truck drivers presented the fans. The sight of race winner Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola and Johnny Sauter racing three wide to the checkers, only two-one thousandths of a second apart, was breath taking.

HOORAH to Kyle Busch Motorsports for taking over the lead in the coveted owner’s point championship. Steve Germain, owner of Todd Bodine’s Toyota, started the race 39 points ahead of Busch in the standings. Busch finished the race 42 points ahead of Germain.

WAZZUP with all of the bump drafting that often doesn’t work between these trucks? Prior to the race Series Director Wayne Auton warned the teams about bump drafting saying the bumpers on the trucks just simply weren’t a good match for this type of activity.

WAZZUP with the drivers not heeding this warning. With three laps left in the race, it was an ill timed and placed bump draft that turned Todd Bodine’s truck which caused him to collect Ron Hornaday Jr. The Hornaday truck wound up on its roof. Once again a HOORAH goes out the NASCAR mandated safety equipment which more than did it job by allowing Hornaday to leave the infield medical center with a smile on his face.

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This week’s NASCAR notable quotable HOORAH goes to the always fun Michael Waltrip. Each year, during the Halloween racing weekend the SPEED Chanel’s crew assigned to the truck series goes all out with the costumes. This year they chose to dress like the characters from the television show “Gilligan’s Island.” That included Waltrip’s transformation to playing the millionaire’s wife: Mrs Thurston Howell III. During the excitement level of the final ten laps in this race, Waltrip yelled “this is making my make up run.”

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Our final WAZZUP of the week contain some rather bizarre circumstances. The WAZZUP goes to the Dusty Whitney owned #46 Dodge team driven by Michael McDowell. During a pre race inspection by Sprint Cup officials last Friday it couldn’t help but be noticed that there were some ball bearing rolling out of the front of the car. It turned out that the car’s lower A arms had been hollowed out and filled with the bearings. This unique maneuver lowers the car’s center of gravity and improves handling capabilities. It also allows the team to remove some weight from a higher portion of the car. NASCAR is expected to respond with a penalty sometime on Tuesday. It’s a good possibility that the price of ball bearings could soar to around $5,000 per pound.

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Finally this week comes a sad GOD BLESS to the family, friends and fans of Jim Hunter, the NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications, who passed away last Friday, at the age of 71, following a valiant battle with cancer.

Hunter’s motorsports career spanned six decades. He was an award winning member of the motorsports media, a motorsports author, a public relations rep for Dodge Motorsports and President of the Darlington Raceway in addition to his presence in NASCAR’s top executive line up.

Anyone who has ever had the privilege of meeting Mr Hunter, and talking racing with him, fully understands just how big of a loss his passing was to the NASCAR nation.

At the track described as NASCAR’s ‘wild card’, famous for white knuckle racing, insanely close finishes and the infamous ‘big one’, Talladega Superspeedway’s Amp Energy Juice, run on Halloween no less, delivered on all accounts, for the most part.  Here are the surprising and not surprising tricks and treats from HallowDega:

Surprising:  What was most surprising was the length of time that it took to finally declare the winner after yet another close finish at Talladega.  With Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick exchanging handshakes as they waited for what seemed like an eternity to find out which one had won, NASCAR finally declared it was Clint Bowyer after reviewing and re-reviewing the videotape.  This was Bowyer’s second Chase win and he is now left to wonder what could have been since his penalty put him dead last in the Chase race.  After thanking Juan Pablo Montoya for pushing him to a great finish, Bowyer just had two words after finally being declared the victor, “Hell yeah.”

Not Surprising:  Kevin Harvick, with a bruised, beat up, and bear-bonded race car as a result of an early wreck, finished runner up to his Richard Childress Racing teammate.  As Harvick said, “We kept it 1, 2 in the right house and beat the guys we needed to.”  Harvick has now finished seventh, first, first, and second at this season’s restrictor plate races at Daytona, Talladega, Daytona and Talladega respectively.  Harvick is now just 38 points behind Chase leader Jimmie Johnson, tightening up the championship competition considerably.

Surprising:  At a track that he loves and where his father had such success, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did lead laps early in the race to the delight of the crowd, particularly Junior Nation.  But surprisingly, Junior, usually so solid in plate races, made a mistake in the draft, clipping Jeff Burton in the corner and sending the veteran for a very wild ride.  Burton was so upset, knowing that he had a good car, that in spite of his hard impact, decimated vehicle and even a brief fire, he got out and promptly kicked his race car.  Junior also sustained significant damage, and although he was able to eventually return to the track, he finished a cursed 39^th in his The Legend of Hallowdega race car.

Not Surprising:  While Junior usually loves the restrictor plate tracks, one driver in particular just hates them, especially Talladega.  So it was not surprising to hear A.J. Allmendinger declare after flying through the air and hitting the wall upside down, “I hate this place.  I always have and I always will.”  Allmendinger admitted that he has never flipped before and will most likely seek the services of his chiropractor wife Lynne for his sore neck and back.  Allmendinger finished in the 32^nd position and time will tell if he will be at the next race due to the financial turmoil currently affecting his race team, Richard Petty Motorsports.

Surprising:   At a track known for the ‘big one’, a wreck that traditionally occurs at Talladega, often taking out at least twenty race cars and a major portion of the race field, it was surprising that the ‘big one’ just did not occur.  There certainly were a few wrecks along the way, but they were more isolated instances involving just a handful of cars.  The majority of cautions were for debris on the track rather than carnage from the dreaded ‘big one’.

Not Surprising:  Although no major wrecking occurred, there were the unbelievably frequent lead changes.  In fact, the race at Talladega this year yielded 87 lead changes, so almost every driver got their chance to be out front at one point or another.  It was also not surprising to see those infamous two-car breakaways that have also become a hallmark of Talladega, moving duos from the back to the front in the blink of an eye.  Both race winner Bowyer and runner up Harvick took advantage of the two-car hook ups with Juan Pablo Montoya and David Reutimann to thank respectively.

Surprising:   It was surprising how depressed Denny Hamlin was after a top-ten finish at Talladega.  Hamlin stated glumly, “I wish I could have had a better show.”  Hamlin’s depression was also surprising given the championship contender battled back from being a lap down to finish in the ninth position.  Hamlin is now just 14 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson in the Chase standings, yet still in a gloomy mood.

Not Surprising:   At one of NASCAR’s wildest and most unpredictable tracks, it was not surprising to see some non-traditional drivers lead laps and get good finishes.  Juan Pablo Montoya, who started on the pole, proved that he is quickly becoming a plate track ace with his third place finish.  David Reutimann, who studied at the feet of team owner Michael Waltrip, also had a great run, finishing fourth.  The youngster Joey Logano had a great ride, finishing fifth and scoring his first three top-10 finishes in a row in his Cup career. Reutimann’s Diamond Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. finished sixth and Brad Keselowski did Penske proud with his top-ten placement.

Surprising:  It was a major surprise that after hanging in the back all race long and finally deciding to make their move to the front that teammates and four-time champions Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were not able to seal the deal.  The two hooked up late in the race and charged to the front, leading a few laps.  But Gordon seemed to just get spooked, saying his car was “blowing up”.  He fell back, leaving Johnson alone in the draft, while he tried to diagnose his issues.  Although both drivers finished well, in the seventh and eighth spots respectively, Johnson was left shaking his head after the race, saying he still did not know what was going on with his teammate.

Not Surprising:  In spite of Gordon’s issues, Jimmie Johnson soldiered on, in spite of some damage that he sustained in one of the on-track incidents.  Johnson, apparently ditching the lucky horseshoe, credited his baby Genevieve’s Halloween costume, an angel with a halo, as his ‘Dega good luck charm.  Johnson maintains the points lead in the Chase as he continues his historic quest for a fifth consecutive championship.

With just three races left in the season to decide the winner of the Sprint Cup, the NASCAR aces will head deep in the heart of Texas.  The AAA Texas 500 will be held at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, November 7^th at 3:00 PM on ESPN.

Talladega has come and gone on Halloween and all that can be said is the fans got a good show. Whether it was racing is up for debate. At least the ‘big one’ never happened unless you consider A.J. Allmendinger flipping through the air at the end of the race.

One or more things are clear. The Earnhardt-Childress engines are the class of the field. Where once Robert Yates was the power king of racing engines, that program, now known was Yates-Roush engines, now takes a back seat. It may be in third place by now with Hendrick in second, for that matter. Not one Ford qualified in the top 15 while the Chevys, Toyotas, and Dodges looked down on them. Of course, racing and qualifying are two different animals with Matt Kenseth running up front until the end, but the end result is what is important and Earnhardt-Childress engines had cars in first, second, and third place followed by two Toyota Racing engines.

The racing, if that’s what you want to call it, was spirited. One driver called it luck that the big wreck didn’t happen, but five wide at times was flirting with disaster. And it didn’t happen. The end result was that Jimmie Johnson amazingly came out of this mess with a bigger lead. With Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon laying back in the field for most of the race, the television network was able to hear Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, tell him it was time to go and the loyal teammate followed. It pushed the strong Hendrick engined cars to the front and in a position to win. Jeff Gordon thought he had am engine problem and got out of the draft, which proved false. That was probably the only thing that kept Johnson from winning. Gordon discovered that he didn’t have that problem and rallied back to a top ten finish.

That’s another problem. With NASCAR’s rule that once the white flag is shown that the field is frozen on cautions, it becomes almost impossible for the fan in the stands to know who won. Heck, even the TV guys couldn’t figure it out. So, we had two drivers who were running a race having to wait until film or digital photography to determine the winner or the finishing order. In fact, Johnson was listed as the eighth finisher for some time, one place behind his main challenger. After some investigation, Johnson was determined to be the seventh finisher with Denny Hamlin two places behind him. Hamlin instantly went from only two points behind Johnson to 14 points behind. The final determinations were probably accurate, but why not just have a green-white-checker finish so that the fans can actually see who won? I guess that would be too simple.

The argument is that we could have too many starts at a place like Talladega, but isn’t that the point? Why go through all the problem of shotgun starts and making sure folks see the race end without a caution only to have that happen in a case like this? It’s another example of faulty thinking and should be looked at for next season, but it won’t.

Regardless, Clint Bowyer, the guy who won the first race in the playoff system won his second race without penalty and the scoring dilemma continues to exist. Nothing like progress, right?

Well The Amp Energy Juice 500 is over. Hallowdega has given way to All Saints Day and the commercial rate on ESPN has gone back to normal.

The Amp Energy Juice 500 appeared to be an exciting race of side by side balls to the wall racing. With the top contenders not necessarily being chase drivers. Note that I said appeared to be. The reason for that is that there were no fewer than 29 sets of 6 – 8 commercials in the broadcast. Approximately every 3 minutes we went to commercial. We missed 2 restarts and 2 caution flags none of which did we get on replay. I think it’s just a shame they had to interrupt the parade of commercials to show us any of the race at all. Please note the sarcasm here.

ESPN and ABC are the absolute worst when it comes to broadcasting NASCAR. You either wait for the football game. You wait for the baseball game. You wait for tennis, yeah tennis. Or you watch commercials more than you watch the race.

The camera work for Talladega was horrible. Obviously most of the camera work was done from the blimp. Long range shots that made it difficult to identify cars made the race frustrating to watch. For instance, it was incredibly frustrating to try and figure out where your driver was in the line of hot wheels appearing Sprint Cup cars if he was driving a black car. The only easily identifiable black car in the field was the M&M’s Toyota and it was because from the normal camera angle that was used, it had orange polka dots on the hood.

Come on ESPN you are suppose to be the leader in sports coverage and this is the second time that you were obviously unprepared and ill equipped to deliver a suitable broadcast that was way over funded by the amount of commercials. You didn’t have Elliott Sadler’s wreck at Pocono and the entire Talladega race was horrible. There to date has not been a replay to show what actually triggered or happened to the 43 car of A. J. Allmendinger. Other than we watched him flip wildly and the slam the wall.

NASCAR for the last couple of years has been concerned about the drop in TV ratings and the drop in the number of tickets sold. They don’t seem to be able to come up with the reason. If I may be so bold as to suggest to them that they watch the same TV broadcast that their fans at home watch I think they might find the reason. The interruption of the broadcast of commericals for the race is minimal. No one wants to sit and watch the same commercials over and over and over. The third or fourth set people change the station. They turn to NFL coverage where there are 1/4 as many commercials.

People are not going to buy a ticket to come and see the type of racing that they see on TV. The race itself maybe excellent if you are there in person, but what is shown on TV is so broken up and follow the leader in appearance that it’s boring. Perception is reality. And the perception is that NASCAR has become a choppy half hearted manipulated show and not a race at all. The penalties to Bowyer after Richmond only served to solidify that. Without the penalties Bowyer would be 5th in the points and still mathematically in the hunt. With the penalty it’s all Harvick, Hamlin and Jimmie.

The appearance is that they manipulated the championship with the penalty. Especially since they claim they had warned the team numerous times. If that is the case why did you wait until the first chase race to penalize the team and take them out of contention for the championship? There was either someone you didn’t want in so you let it go so that Bowyer would get the last spot or you didn’t take him seriously until he won and you realized oops this messes up our plans. Note that I said it is the appearance. But again Perception is Reality. That reality hurts TV ratings and ticket sales. It hurts fan loyalty.

The race itself what we saw of it was exciting. There were many stand out performances. For instance, Jeff Burton in his 31 CAT Financial Chevrolet, Burton was lightening fast and would have no doubt been a contender for the win had he not got caught up in the accident with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was well Dale Jr again. He was burning up the track and his competition. He was smooth. He was in control. He was calm and he was calculating. Then he misjudged Jeff Burton’s drop to the middle and caught him with a bump draft too far to the right. Taking them both out of contention for the win. But Dale Jr led 24 laps, more than any other driver. And he showed a lot of class when he exited his car and immediately went to the Infield Care Center to apologize to Jeff Burton.

Kevin Harvick’s dramatic run for the win in a badly damaged Realtree Chevrolet was inspiring. It certainly shows he has the never say die attitude of a champion. It also shows that his pit crew and team also have that same attitude.

Clint Bowyer has never given up. Not with the penalty. Not with the micro scrutiny. He has come to the front when he had the car and made every effort to win. His fight to the checkers attitude won him the Amp Energy Juice 500. He won by a bumper. He won in literally a photo finish.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon stroked their way to strong finishes. They waited around the back markers and played it safe all day long until Chad Knaus made the announcement it was time to go. Then they went to the front with Johnson pushing Gordon. When Gordon thought his engine was failing he quickly ducked out of the draft line so as not to take Jimmie with him when the engine let go. But it didn’t let go. The misinterpertation of the problem did however, end the shot at the win for both drivers.

The Sprint Cup drivers avoided the big one for the most part. Although the wreck on the last lap came close how close we really don’t know because we didn’t actually get to see it. But at least, this time Talladega didn’t become a million dollar junkyard despite speeds in excess of 200 mph. Perhaps this should be a point of reference for Robin Pemberton and NASCAR. The drivers are capable of more than you give them credit for. And when you let go, they take off and low and behold all is well.

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Congratulations to Clint Bowyer on an exciting victory and to RCR for having the class of the field once again at the super speedways. Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his Camping World Truck Series win. And most of all congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr on showing he is every bit as talented and classy as his Jr. Nation thinks him to be.

That said, to all the competitors in all the series thanks for giving us everything you have to give, you are our heroes. Most importantly, thanks to all the families who shared their loved ones with us so we could cheer our favorite driver and favorite teams. You are the true heroes of the sport and we are forever in your debt.