Infineon: Video: Preview Show
http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010...car/index.html
Cut to the Chase
Smackers debate whether drivers should pull double-duty (Cup & Wide or Truck), wonder if it's too late
for #88 Junior to make the Chase and dissect
Scott Speed's run-in with Casey Mears.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 7-place result at Michigan was his best in 3 months.
More than 2,100 miles separate Sonoma, Calif. from Elkhart Lake, Wis. -- the sites of this week's respective Sprint Cup and Nationwide events. Given the distance, should any driver attempt to do both?
Joe Menzer: Well, you can't tell the guys who long ago committed to running full Nationwide and Cup schedules --
Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Paul Menard -- not to go to both now! Maybe they should share a plane ride, although I can't imagine that Brad K and Carl will!
Raygan Swan: I think if you're Paul Menard, a native of the Wisconsin area, you have to go because he won a race there in 2001.
Joe Menzer: When you look at Brad Keselowski specifically, he's trying hard to put a Nationwide championship on his resume.
David Caraviello: Perhaps. But I want to think we used to see a few more guys -- Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and the like -- try this double.
But clearly adding Road America has increased the difficulty of doing this.
Joe Menzer: I think adding Road America also has increased the interest in this race.
Raygan Swan: I think Kyle has clearly narrowed his focus a bit regarding double and even triple duty.
David Caraviello: Road America certainly increases the interest factor, Joe. But Sonoma is fabulous on television, much better than people give it credit for, because of the dramatic elevation changes and the hairpin at the far end.
Paul Menard will join Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski in logging the miles between driving duties at Sonoma and Road America.
Itinerant racers rule the weekend, log the miles
Three Cup regulars to pull double-duty at road courses
You've got to like the intrigue, drama and pure adrenalin rush of hustling from high-powered race cars to helicopters to jet airplanes -- including, in Edwards' and Menard's case, the fastest civilian aircraft available, at a little better than 600 mph top speed; if they indeed end up using John Menard's Citation X.
Former Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, a very credible road-course driver who's not busy this weekend because his Wood Brothers Racing car isn't entered, will tune Menard's car on Saturday.
And Keselowski's Penske Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, supposedly will try to make a few laps in the No. 12 Dodge to do its fine-tuning.
Tasmanian Owen Kelly - of his Nationwide Series debut in a JR Motorsports car.
"I've done a million laps around [Road America] on iRacing and other than that, I've watched plenty of IndyCar races from there," Kelly said. "I know which way the track goes but I haven't actually driven around it myself."
Of course, given that IndyCar driver Cristiano da Matta had a near-fatal crash with a deer at Road America; Kelly can hark back to his experiences at the famous Bathurst circuit in Australia -- where dodging errant kangaroos are part and parcel of racing -- for part of his training.
"I don't think learning the track will be a huge deal," Kelly said. "Bathurst has got to be one of the toughest tracks in the world to get your head around and I can get around there OK, so I should be all right."
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s seventh-place result at Michigan was his best in three months. Is it too late for him to make the Chase?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2010 statistics
Race Start Finish
Daytona 2 2
Bristol 18 7
Phoenix 5 12
Texas 9 8
Talladega 7 13
Michigan 27 7
Raygan Swan: What's the point difference between him and 12th place, 81?
Joe Menzer: Let's see. He's 14th, but less than 100 points out of 12th.
Better than last year, yes, but still a struggle.
David Caraviello: Not at all. He's what, 14th in points, 80-something out of that final Chase berth? It's absolutely not too late.
Raygan Swan: Yeah David, after Daytona I thought, OK, he's back, he's going to show his fans something. But multiple finishes in the 30s was a bit alarming.
David Caraviello: Here's the thing I think helps Junior -- no one at the bottom end of the top 12 has exactly staked their claim. Guys like Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin -- they're in and out, in and out, in and out.
We're talking about making the Chase. That's the goal. That takes some of the pressure off.
Raygan Swan: It's hard for me to care anymore who makes the Chase, because there are only a few drivers who can actually contend for the championship in the end.
Joe Menzer: Dude, this isn't his first year at Hendrick or his first rodeo.
You think Rick Hendrick is satisfied with the way they've been running?
David Caraviello: Of course not, Menzer.
But goodness, you have to start somewhere. And you start by making the Chase.
Raygan Swan: Making the Chase after missing last year, that does deserve a cake at least in my opinion.
David Caraviello: Yes. Maybe a chocolate chip cookie cake with chocolate icing. Boy, those are good.
Related:
Notes: Earnhardt Jr. happy after top-10 at Michigan
Scott Speed had harsh words for fill-in teammate Casey Mears at Michigan. Is it out of line for one driver with a single career top-5 finish to criticize another who's won a race?
Raygan Swan: And comparing Speed and Mears is like comparing apples to oranges. Speed is fairly new and still progressing with a two-car team, mind you. Mears has raced for the best in the series
David Caraviello: OK, let's begin here by saying that everybody loves Scott Speed.
I know Casey has a rather checkered career, but maybe those gripes were best saved for behind closed doors.
David Caraviello: But then again, Scott Speed is the Red Bull guy. He's the one Red Bull has all this time and money invested in. He's their product to the very core. Casey is a fill-in, and one who appears to be losing his job at that. So Scott clearly has leverage there. Scott likely has a sense of ownership in Red Bull that I'm sure Casey does not.
Joe Menzer: And who says everybody loves Scott Speed?
David Caraviello: Wow. Joe is hating on a lot of people today. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Scott Speed ... good thing David Ragan isn't up for discussion, or Menzer would have himself a hat trick. Oh, and by the way -- Casey Mears, 12 career top-five finishes on the Cup tour. For what that's worth.
Raygan Swan: I do agree with David, Speed ... Maybe he should've been a little easier on Casey... but he was upset and it has been a frustrating season for him losing Brian Vickers and changing crew chiefs. I think Scott reached his breaking point on Sunday, and we saw the result.
Raygan Swan: Joe, I don't think we can make any excuses for Casey Mears. I like the guy, so does everyone else, but it is clear to me that after seven years we've seen what he can do.
Joe Menzer: Yep. Agreed on that point.
Raygan Swan: OK, can we really call Casey Mears a teammate though? He was a temp, and that makes a difference. Vickers will be back. Vickers and Speeds are close friends.
Related:
• Video: Mears, Speed get together at Michigan
• Speed has harsh words for fill-in teammate
• Released from Red Bull, Mears returns to TBR
Itinerant racers rule weekend, log miles
Edwards, Keselowski, Menard pull double-duty
Inside NASCAR: Debris on the track
NASCAR president Mike Helton sits down with the guys and talks about the first half of the season.
A little more clarity
Gordon, Stewart can rack up the points
In past 11 races at Infineon, no one has earned more points.
Edwards has the edge at Road America
Driver owns the top Nationwide road-course statistics from '09.
An opportunity to gain some momentum
Marcos Ambrose hopes to turn rough 2010 around at Infineon.
Penske revives idea of a factory team
Team owner reaping the rewards as only Dodge in the garage.
Changes in 2013?
Ford will run the Mustang when the Nationwide Series debuts its new car.
Pony up: Performance cars possibility for Cup by '13
The Chevy Camaro can be seen from time to time at NASCAR sites as a pace car.
NASCAR changing the look of front splitter for 2011
New valance design will eliminate need for braces
Braces coming off
One change coming to all makes in 2011 is a redesign of the front bumper, which will feature a new valance and splitter combination.
Miss Sprint Cup: Get to know Paige
We catch up with Paige Duke to see how much she has enjoyed the first part of the 2010 season.
More Ms. Sprint Cup