AMP Energy 500

This week we head to the crapshoot of the Chase, as the drivers will run the final restrictor plate race of the season.

Any (and I mean any) of the 43 drivers who start this race on Sunday afternoon have a chance on winning this race.

If all of the pieces fall in the right place we could all see a major upset.

Gutowski’s Pick To Win

I am going to go with a non-Chaser to win this weekend in Kurt Busch.

Kurt has been the most consistent driver at Talladega over the past few seasons with 7 top 10 finishes in his last 8 races. Teammate, Ryan Newman, won at Daytona in the first race of the year and the Dodge’s have the power it takes to visit victory lane.

Talladega Frontrunners

Kyle Busch has won the last 2 restrictor plate races this year in his Gibbs Toyota. Kyle has had just horrible luck since the Chase started and needs to get out of this race clean if he has even an outside chance at the championship this year.

Tony Stewart hasn’t won a race yet this season but is very good at Talladega. Tony has been the runner-up at Talladega 6 times in his career and is still looking for his first victory here in a Cup car. I almost picked him to win this weekend but I’m not sure if the Gibbs teams are giving him the best equipment or all of the insider information anymore this year.

Jimmie Johnson has a win and 2 runner-up finishes in his last 5 Talladega starts. Jimmie got his first Chase win last week and would like to start to put some people away with a second consecutive trip to victory lane this weekend.

Jeff Gordon has won 2 of the last 3 races at Talladega and really needs to pour it on now if he has a shot a winning his 5th championship. Unless something drastic happens to the top 3 in the standings I think it is just a 3 horse race.

Carl Edwards is one of those horses but he hasn’t faired that well at Talladega or Daytona throughout his career. However, he did finish 2nd to Kyle Busch at Daytona in July and the Roush teams have all gotten a little better at the restrictor plate tracks over the course of this season.

Greg Biffle is the 3rd horse in the race right now but has never even finished in the top 10 at Talladega. He won a restrictor plate race at Daytona on fuel mileage but always seems to make a mistake sometime during these races that costs him dearly.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. used to be the king at Talladega when he won 5 races and finished runner-up in the other 2 races from the fall of 2001 until the fall of 2004. Since then Junior only has 2 top 10 finishes in 7 races but now he’s in a Hendrick car, which could catapult him back to the top.

The Childress teams seem to be struggling the most of any of the Chase teams at the restrictor plate tracks. That means that Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer probably won’t do that great this weekend.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Kurt Busch (starter)
• Jimmie Johnson

Group B

• Ryan Newman (starter)
• Dale Earnhardt Jr (starter)
• Kyle Busch
• Casey Mears

Group C

• Travis Kvapil (starter)
• Brian Vickers

Stay Away From

• RCR Drivers

Dark Horse

• Mike Skinner

“

“Midway through the 2004 season DEI signed Paul Menard to drive a Busch Series car with the eventual hope to move to Cup. At age 23 he was a promising stock car driver that had already won two races on the Grand Am tour. The fact that he also provided sponsorship by way of his father John’s lucrative home improvement company, Menard’s, did nothing to hurt Paul’s future.

After a slow start with DEI, Menard hit his stride midway through 2005 when he rattled off 6 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s in the final 20 races. His 6th place points standing asserted his standing as a Cup prospect. He followed up in 2006 with another 6th place showing in a Busch Series that featured an avalanche of fulltime Cup drivers dominating the series. Menard won his first NASCAR race at Milwaukee and also ran in 7 Cup races for DEI. This paved the way for a hopeful 2007 when Menard would run full time in a 3rd DEI car alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr and Martin Truex Jr.

Since Menard has joined the Cup Series, things haven’t quite clicked. So it isn’t surprising that the AP is reporting that Menard is headed for Yates Racing for 2009. Menard hasn’t scored a top ten since his 7 race stint in 2006, has only 17 lead lap finishes in two seasons and averaging a poor 26.1 finish [note: the AP incorrectly said Menard has 1 top ten this year and is 22nd in points. He has 0 top 10's and is 28th in driver points]. Aside from a pole at this summer’s Daytona race, Menard’s only claim to fame was drawing Tony Stewart’s ire via several pit road incidents in last year’s Chase.

The move is great for Yates Racing, a team in dire need of sponsorship dollars. It also hurts DEI for the same reason. After the announcement is official, DEI will sit at one fully sponsored car (#1 of Truex), a rookie scheduled for 36 races (Aric Almirola), and an unknown status for the #01 and #15 cars. For Menard, it’s an interesting decision. He leaves a team with some decent resources and more importantly a guaranteed starting spot with DEI for a team that, despite a strong alliance with Roush-Fenway Racing, is still rebuilding going on four years. Unless David Gilliland or Travis Kvapil are released, Menard will have to begin the season outside the top 35. Based on his qualifying struggles in 2006 and 2007 (9 DNQ’s) it could be a rough road.

At one point it looked like Menard could develop into a solid driver that would occasionally challenge for a win. His Busch/Nationwide numbers were a lot better than several young drivers that landed Cup rides. Unfortunately that promise has been replaced with the reality that Menard looks nothing like a driver ready to crack the top 25, let alone score top tens. Menard is still only 28, but even in mediocre equipment I would have expected to see more promise out of him.

What do you think of the deal? Who’s the winner of this? Is anyone a winner or is it simply shuffling parts among two second-rate teams? How good is Menard? Can he score a few top tens or is he simply a backmarker?“

ESPN NASCAR Analyst Dale Jarrett on The Chase and Talladega Superspeedway

Dale Jarrett, NASCAR analyst for ESPN, was the 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and won 32 Sprint Cup races during his career. He won twice at Talladega Superspeedway, including the final win of his career in 2005.

Q – Has the new NASCAR race car changed the racing at Talladega?

That’s one place that it hasn’t changed the way the racing’s been. Talladega over the years has been two and three-wide racing. The first time that we took the car there, it did change. Everybody was a little unsure of exactly what to expect with it and didn’t know if we could do the things with this new car that we could with the old car. But since then, I think we’ve seen a big turnaround that racing is back to the same and we’re in for more of the same this Sunday. With as comfortable as these guys have gotten with this car and the new pavement at Talladega that was put there a couple of years ago, we’re in for the same three-wide racing that we’re accustomed to.  

Q – With all that can go wrong at Talladega, is it a place where drivers in The Chase worry?

This is the one weekend that the drivers in the Chase are more nervous about than anywhere else and more on guard than any other race that they will participate in. They realize that anything can happen anywhere but the likelihood of something happening and sweeping them up is much greater in the race at Talladega than anywhere else. You have three teams in the Joe Gibbs group that can put caution to the wind right now but the rest of them have to go at it pretty hard and they have to be looking that if they can make it through this one wild-car race then they have a lot better chance of controlling their destiny after that.

The Chase is On: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Talladega on ABC

NASCAR races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway feature close competition, multiple-car drafting packs and the added tension of the “big one,” the multi-car crashes that often occur on the 2.66-mile track. NASCAR’s version of the playoffs continues this week with the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the series visits Talladega. ESPN on ABC’s high-definition telecast of Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 begins at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. ABC will have live coverage of all 10 races that make up the Chase.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lead announcer, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will be pit reporters with two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Tech Center.

The pre-race NASCAR Countdown show from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick, with 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and analyst Brad Daugherty. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.

The race will re-air Monday, Oct. 6, at 2:30 a.m. on ESPN2, and at noon on ESPN Classic.

About NASCAR on ESPN:
ESPN and ABC have comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All programming is produced totally in high definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network’s award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 18 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

AMP Energy 500

NASCAR heads to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the fourth race of the Chase.

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, AL.

Talladega Superspeedway History

• Construction began on what was then known as the Alabama International Motor Speedway on May 23, 1968.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held on Sept. 14, 1969.
• The track name was changed to Talladega Superspeedway in 1989.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held on July 25, 1992.
• The second NASCAR Sprint Cup Talladega race was moved from July to October in 1997.
• Talladega Superspeedway completed its fourth repaving on Sept. 19, 2006.
• The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was held on Oct. 7, 2006.

Track Numbers

• NASCAR Cup Series Races: 78
• Pole Winners: 33
• Race Winners: 36
• Bill Elliott leads all drivers with eight poles at Talladega.
• Joe Nemechek leads all other active drivers in poles with four.
• Bobby Isaac won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole in September 1969. Isaac went on to win the first three poles there.
• Richard Brickhouse won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
• Dale Earnhardt Sr. has won the most races at Talladega (10). Eighteen drivers have won more than once.
• Jeff Gordon leads all other active drivers in victories with six.
• Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 races, more than any other organization.
• 31 of 78 races have been won from a top-two starting position, including 13 from the pole; 21 have been won from a starting position outside the top 10.
• The furthest back in the field a race winner started was 36th, by Jeff Gordon in 2000.
• All of the NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Talladega have been scheduled for 188 laps, 500 miles.
• There have been four green-white-checkered races at Talladega: May 2005 (194), October 2005 (190), April 2007 (192) and April 2008 (190).
• Mark Martin’s pace in the 1997 spring race set an all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for the fastest race ever run. He won the caution-free race with an average speed of 188.354 mph and covered the 500-mile distance in two hours, 39 minutes and 18 seconds.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 42nd and 14th in his first two races at Talladega. In his 14 races there since, he finished in the top 10 ten times, including five victories and two second-place finishes. His four consecutive victories (October 2001 through April 2003) are the most ever by a driver at Talladega. Buddy Baker (three – May 1975 through May 1976) is the only other driver to win more than two consecutive races there.

Track Records

• Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott (212.809 mph, 44.998 seconds, 4-30-87)
• Track race record: Mark Martin (188.354 mph, 5-10-97)

Qualifying/Race Data

• 2007 pole winner: Michael Waltrip (189.070 mph, 50.648 seconds)
• 2007 race winner: Jeff Gordon, 143.438 mph, 10-7-07)

Talladega Race Day Data

• Estimated Pit Window: Every 34-36 laps, based on fuel mileage.
• #30 of 36 (10-5-08)
• Track Size: 2.66 miles
• Banking/Corners: 33 degrees
• Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
• Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
• Frontstretch: 4,300 feet
• Backstretch: 4,000 feet

Who thought that Kyle Busch had the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship ‘in the bag’?

If you thought Kyle had the Championship ‘bagged up’, or you just knew all along that he was gonna ‘get bagged’ in the Chase, let us know in the comments section.

You may win a M&M’s Racing Tote Bag signed by Kyle Busch.

The rules are simple:

• Leave a semi-logical comment or a response to another commenter in the comments section of this post
• Make sure you enter your email address when completing the ‘comment’ form so I can contact you or your comment is black flagged.
• We will run this contest through midnight (CST) October 16th, 2008.
• I will randomly pick one comment # as the winner, so multiple entries are possible with multiple comments.
• Again, all I ask is that you are presenting a new idea or responding to a previous comment.

The M&M’s Racing Tote Bag is about 14 1/2″ wide x 18″ tall. I could see my kid wearing it around on her back as a backpack weighing about 50lbs from her school books. Of course, any self-respecting Kyle Busch fan will incorporate this thing into their NASCAR collection.

The shiny round thing down on the bottom of the bag is a quarter so you can get some perspective. It’s pretty nice and I can’t find any online??

Good Luck!

Sponsored by M&M’S® Racing and NASCAR® is the popular “The Most Colorful Fan™ of NASCAR” contest, which encourages NASCAR fans nationwide to showcase their passionate love for the sport by uploading their most eye-catching photos to NASCAR.com for a chance to win big.

Talladega: AMP Energy 500

Courtesy of NASCAR MEDIA

• The Chase, Race 4: Talladega Personifies Unpredictability
• 3 At The Top: Johnson, Edwards, Biffle Dominating Thus Far
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. : The Rally Could Start Here
• Jeff Gordon: Winless But Still In Title Mix
• NASCAR Mourns Loss Of An Industry Institution — Hal Hamrick

All Bets Are Off, As Chase Makes Annual Stop At Talladega

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — In days gone by, Talladega Superspeedway’s second race each NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was held in late July, with impressive competition meeting oppressive heat. Seeking to enhance the first but lose the second, NASCAR moved the event to October.

Then, starting in 2004, things got hotter than ever.

Credit the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s playoff-style championship-deciding format that encompasses the last 10 races of the season. When the format was instituted in ‘04 it placed tempestuous Talladega in the middle of the mix.

Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 is Race 4 in the 2008 “Chase.” As always, the only thing predictable about Talladega is the track’s unpredictability.

Credit the banking of 33 degrees in the turns.

Or maybe the overall track length of 2.66 miles, conducive to serious speed.

And don’t forget the close-quarters racing resulting from carburetor restrictor plates that reduce horsepower and put a premium on handling, drafting — and teamwork. Or in lieu of teamwork, cooperation between non-teammates.

Talladega’s tough — particularly on drivers who roll into town leading the Chase standings. In the four years of the Chase thus far, only once has the leader coming into Talladega been the leader leaving town — Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) in 2006. And that was a close call; Burton’s lead was sliced to six points after a 27th-place race finish. He ended up a disappointing seventh in the final point standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet) has five Talladega wins to his credit. Earnhardt, eighth in points and in need of a late-season rally, isn’t convinced a big points shake-up is inevitable this week.

But that’s not to say he would be surprised.

“[This race] has the potential to do that,” Earnhardt said.

“It’s going to be tough to gain on everyone in this race. It will be tough for it to really jumble up the points. I think you just have to try to win the race.

“The only way to really gain points on anybody right now, for anybody who’s outside of the top five in points, is to be first when the checkered flag falls.”

Earnhardt’s five Talladega wins happened between 2001-04, part of an overwhelming Chevrolet dominance at the track this decade. Since the start of the 2000 season Chevrolet drivers have won 15 of 17 races there. The two exceptions: Dale Jarrett’s victory in a Ford, in the 2005 fall race and Kyle Busch’s win in the No. 18 Pedigree Toyota this past April.

Current series points leader Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s/KOBALT Chevrolet) has one of those Chevrolet victories since 2000 — in the spring 2006 race.

The two drivers immediately behind him in the points — second-place Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) and Greg Biffle (No. 16 DISH Network Ford) — have average Talladega finishes of 24th and 25th, respectively.

On The CAM: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Talks About ‘Dega, Chase On NASCAR CAM Video Teleconference

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was this week’s guest on the NASCAR CAM Video Teleconference, held on Monday afternoon, from the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

Some excerpts from the teleconference follow .

“Talladega has been a good track for us. Always run good there …. got a lot of fans there.

It’s just a good track. We look forward to it. It’s always a lot of fun, more of a mental race than a physical race. It’s not really who has the best car; it’s the guy who makes the best moves and makes the right decisions there at the end of the race. …

“My dad was a real good restrictor-plate racer. So I loved going to the plate tracks to watch and to be a part of his success. You always knew going into Daytona or Talladega, if you were at the track or at home watching, that you were going to have a lot of fun because he always ran well, led laps, made a lot of incredible moves. It just made it a lot of fun to watch. …

“[Talladega and Daytona], those tracks are really intimidating when you’re young, when you go to them for the first time. They’re the biggest tracks on the circuit. So when you’re a 15-year-old walking around in the garage area, you see all the preparation that goes into it, you see the speeds those cars are reaching, what not, you just get a big amount of respect for it early on.

“Obviously winning races at the track yourself, you’re going to get a great relationship with the race track and feel good about going back to it because you’re having success there. …

“To me Talladega is special. I don’t think everyone gets that sensation going into the race. But to me it’s a pretty important place just ’cause my family’s done so well there. And the way the fans treat us there makes it exciting, makes it a place you look forward to. I think that’s probably the biggest key, the fans and how they’ve treated us at that track. It really gets you excited when it’s coming up on the schedule.

“I think as far as our position now in the Chase, we just kind of got to go for broke, really throw it out there and take some chances, really take some risks. I don’t know if we can take any more than we’re taking now. We can only get what we can get out of the car each weekend. …

“At Talladega you can make some pretty ridiculous moves, and some of them pay off, some of them don’t. We’ll just have to see what kind of position we’re in on any given lap to be able to try to take advantage of some things happening around us. …

“Talladega is just impressive, the size of the track, the speed, how close we run together. I mean, we’re running 190 miles an hour in the draft, tight door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper. There’s literally no room for any error whatsoever. It’s just really, really exciting. It’s an amazing adrenaline rush for four straight hours. You got that feeling constantly throughout the whole race. “

Talladega Loop Data: The Stats Align To Favor Former Champions Gordon and Stewart

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) and Tony Stewart (No. 20 Subway Toyota) have combined for six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships – and zero 2008 wins.

Both are perilously close to ending a prolonged career win streak. Gordon has won a race in each of the last 14 seasons; Stewart in each of the last nine.

The “slump” has reached 34 races for Gordon and 43 for Stewart.

But Talladega Superspeedway, though unpredictable as it may be, should be a solid opportunity for either to end their slide.

Both have strong statistics at the 2.66-mile Alabama track, topping most of the Loop Data categories over the last seven Talladega races.

Gordon is Talladega’s most successful active driver with six wins, 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. He swept both Talladega races in 2007.

Since Loop Data’s inception in 2005, Gordon has a series-best Driver Rating of 96.9, an Average Running Position of 13.8 (second-best) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 65.4% (second-best).

If Gordon’s the most successful at Talladega, Stewart’s the most consistent – and least lucky. Stewart has six runner-up finishes at Talladega, but no wins. It is one of four tracks at which Stewart has yet to win (Las Vegas, Auto Club Speedway and Darlington are the others).

Still, Stewart’s statistics rank among the best in the series.

Over the last seven Talladega races, Stewart has a Driver Rating of 94.4 (third-best), a series-best Average Running Position of 12.2 and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 65.1% (third-best).

Also watch for a strong run from Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota). Though Hamlin struggled to start his Talladega career (three consecutive finishes outside the top 20), he has adapted to the tricky terrain. In his last two Talladega races, Hamlin has posted finishes of fourth and third, respectively.

In his five-race career there, Hamlin has a Driver Rating of 96.8 (second), an Average Running Position of 12.4 (second) and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 63.0 (fourth).

Among the three-way battle at the top of the standings, Johnson clearly outclasses Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle at Talladega.

Johnson, a winner there in 2006, has a Talladega Driver Rating of 86.7. Edwards has just a 70.5 and Biffle has a 68.0.

Gordon ‘Hanging Around’ In Chase Battle, Looking For Late-Season Surge

Jeff Gordon seems to be in the same high-banked boat as Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week. Like Earnhardt, Gordon needs to rally quickly if he is to have a viable chance at winning the series championship.

And like Earnhardt, he has history on his side.

Gordon has won six times at Talladega, including a sweep of last season’s two events there. That victory total is second all-time behind the 10 wins posted by the late Dale Earnhardt.

While Earnhardt seems reluctant to predict a serious points shake-up Sunday, Gordon sounds like he’s planning on it.

A lot can happen points-wise in this race,” said Gordon. “Hopefully, there are no big accidents, and if there are, we are able to avoid them.

“I feel this is a race we can win. We just need to be in a position at the end to challenge for the victory.”

Leading is the best way to avoid trouble at Talladega, Gordon said, adding, “if you get shuffled out of the lead, you have to survey the situation and make the best decision at that time. If there are plenty of laps left, do you try and stay in the lead pack to draft back up to the front? Or do you clear yourself of the main pack and just ride around until the closing stages to make your move? Last year in this race, I hung back away from the big pack for much of the day and was still able to win. While I hate that strategy, it worked in that instance.”

Closing In On Cale; Johnson Has ‘Threepeat’ In His Sights

We’ve seen this before.

A late-season lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points belongs to Jimmie Johnson, a driver who has developed a decided knack for “closing the deal” when presented with the opportunity to win the series championship.

This is Johnson’s time of year. Consider:

In 2006, he finished the season with six consecutive top-10 finishes. Included was a five-race stretch in which he had four second-place finishes and a victory at Martinsville.

In 2007, he won four consecutive races during the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup to win the title going away.

This year, he has rallied again. Pre-Chase victories at California and Richmond secured the Chase’s second seed. In the three Chase races thus far he has a second, a fifth and, this past Sunday, a victory at Kansas.

And as a result, he now has the series points lead. Once again.

Johnson is trying to become only the second driver in history to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship three consecutive years. Cale Yarborough did so from 1976-78.

Only five drivers have won the title three or more times: Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip (3), Jeff Gordon (4), Richard Petty (7) and Dale Earnhardt (7).

NASCAR Loses Long-Time Friend, With Passing of Hal Hamrick

See the NASCAR 60-years logo adjacent? It’s on this page for a most special reason this week, to help give appropriate mention — and due — to the death this past Sunday of Hal Hamrick, of Gastonia, N.C.

Hamrick, 79, was around for all of NASCAR’s 60 years to date and was integral through those years in helping build a grassroots sport into a national sport.

For years he was a renowned announcer, having worked the first Daytona 500 in 1959. He excelled in promoting races. And among his many contributions was the creation of FasTrack Magazine, one of the industry’s most popular publications, in part because of the space devoted to covering NASCAR’s short-track and touring series competition.

“Hal Hamrick did, indeed, do a lot for the sport, especially in its formative days,” said NASCAR Vice President of Communications Jim Hunter, a longtime friend of Hamrick’s.

“He built a lot of excitement into the sport as an announcer and was a contributing member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His publication in his twilight years has certainly been a huge boost for stock car racing’s grassroots local tracks.”

Hamrick’s family will receive friends on Wednesday from 2-3 p.m. at Parkwood Baptist Church, 1729 East Garrison Blvd. in Gastonia (704-864-3930). A celebration of Hamrick’s life will follow, starting at 3.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to one of the following:

Parkwood Baptist Church, 1827 Dixon Road, Gastonia, N.C., 28054

Victory Junction Gang Camp, 4500 Adam’s Way, Randleman, N.C., 27317 (www.victoryjunction.org)

American Heart Association, 222 S. Church Street, Suite. 303, Charlotte, N.C., 28202

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc. — Skinner’s Back, Earnhardt Has Unique Fan Support

Mike Skinner is back — again.

Red Bull Racing announced this week that Skinner and Red Bull development driver Scott Speed will replace AJ Allmendinger in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota for the rest of this season.

The No. 84 entry is currently 33rd in the car owner points, just inside the top-35 cutoff for automatic entry into this weekend’s event.

"The schedule we put together is in the best interest of both Red Bull Racing Team and AJ’s plans for the future,” said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. Allowing Mike Skinner and Scott Speed to share the No. 84 for the balance of the season helps our team continue developing our program for the future.”

Skinner, who drove the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota for five races earlier in the 2008 season, will take the reins of the No. 84 at the NSCS races in both Talladega and Charlotte. Red Bull development driver Speed will drive the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Oct. 11 – the same weekend he attempts to clinch the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship in Toledo, Ohio. Speed will then take over driving duties of the No. 84 at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami. …

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet will be adorned with 73,000 signatures this weekend, as part of a “Ride With Dale Jr.” promotion. One lucky fan, Dewayne Bennett of Pickens, S.C., will be the last signature on the car. Bennett will sign just before Earnhardt’squalifying laps.

Up Next: Chase For the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Race 5at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. once again has the honor of hosting the Chase’s “halfway” event — the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night, Oct. 11. (7 p.m., ET; ABC)

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) may not be in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but he does have a chance to sweep all three of this year’s races at LMS. In May, Kahne pulled off a sweep of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.

No one has ever won all three LMS events in a season.

But there’s precedent to predict a Kahne trifecta. In 2006 he won both of LMS’ points-paying events.

On the other hand, it’s always tough to pick against Jimmie Johnson at LMS. He has a knack for maximizing his sponsor’s visibility, by taking the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet into LMS’ Victory Lane. Johnson has five points-paying victories there plus two all-star victories.

Jeff Gordon is the defending Bank of America 500 champion.

The Race: AMP Energy 500
The Place: Talladega Superspeedway
The Date: Sunday, Oct. 5
The Time: 2 p.m. (ET)
The Track: 2.66-mile tri-oval
The Distance: 500 miles/188 laps
TV: ABC, 1 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS Satellite. (Locally on WTDR-FM 92.7).7
2007 Winner: Jeff Gordon
2007 Polesitter: Michael Waltrip
Series Standings
Driver Points
1Jimmie Johnson 5,575
2 Carl Edwards 5,565
3 Greg Biffle 5,545
4 Jeff Burton 5,454
5 Kevin Harvick 5,439
6 Jeff Gordon 5,432
7 Clint Bowyer 5,411
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5,385
9 Matt Kenseth 5,383
10 Denny Hamlin 5,332
11 Tony Stewart 5,320
12 Kyle Busch 5,264
Pre-Race Day schedule (all times local / CT): Friday—Practice, 1-2:15 p.m. and 2:45-3:30 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying, 11:15 a.m.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I normally don’t go into the Kansas race expecting much excitement. Some in the television media were certainly hyping it up as that, but for whatever reasons the racing at Kansas just doesn’t capture my attention or burn itself into my memory.

Surely eight years has been enough time for something to have happened on the track that would be memorable for me. Other than last years coasting win by Biffle, I’m hard pressed to recall anything exciting in the previous Cup races there.

Next year, that won’t be an issue as Carl Edwards gave it one memorable final lap passing attempt. Driving in hard and late, Carl took the lead and held on…. right up until he hit the wall. I loved the fact that he went in there for it with a points-be-damned mentality and still came out in the end without loosing his original 2nd place spot.

Carl Edwards is certainly gunning for the cover of EA Sports NASCAR 2010.

Here in our Experts Chase Game we seem to have our own versions of Greg Biffle (Mike) and Kyle Busch (Jeff). Mike now has two wins and a 4th place finish. Jeff has two finishes of 40th or worse, but (unlike Kyle) he also has a 9th place finish. Still, Mike and Jeff’s average so far in this game is eerily similar to their NASCAR driver counterparts. :) Mike’s average is 2nd while Gregg Biffle’s average is 1.66. Jeff’s average finish is 30.66 while Kyle’s is 35th. Hmmmm….

Kyle Busch has taken quite a bit of criticism for his perceived attitude after posting poor finishes in each of the first three Chase races. Of course Kyle has quickly grown accustomed to the criticism. But honestly, after the surprising season the #18 team has had throughout the first 26 races, who wouldn’t be dejected and disheartened? I honestly believe that most of the drivers in the Cup garage would also be quite depressed if they were having Kyle’s Chase season after the season he had to get into the Chase.

His last three races were finishes of 36th at New Hampshire, 43rd at Dover, and 27th at Kansas. The team actually lucked out with the 27th at Kansas as it looked like it was going to be far worse than that. The three finishes of 27th or worse have combined to give him an average finish of 35th for the Chase races. To put that into perspective, the team only had five finishes outside the top fifteen all season long. One of which was a 17th at the Spring Bristol race. Also, these three races are the first time this season that Kyle has gone more than two consecutive races without a top five finish!

Even more surprising, and surely a thorn in the side of the anti-Kyle Klan, is that the poor finishes have NOT been a result of some sort of “wreckers-or-checkers” type mentality by Busch. Rather, it’s been mechanical issues that Kyle has found himself strapped to. So I’ve put together a Top Ten list to explain how it’s not Kyle’s fault.

Top 10 Reasons The #18 Team Has Imploded

• #10 Just like on a package of M&Ms, there is an expiration date on Kyle’s Toyotas.
• #9 The Coke associates have been talking to Kyle.
• #8 Since Tony Stewart is leaving the JGR organization, he has been picking out all of the orange M&Ms and throwing them in the trash.
• #7 To help fund Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota has insisted that Steve Addington get his parts from NAPA. Unfortunately, Ron Capps is Addington’s sales rep..
• #6 Home Depot has been filming the second commercial in this new series. The new commercial features Tony Stewart and Joey Logano working in the #18 car’s shop.
• #5 NASCAR didn’t believe Steve Addington when he told them the #18 car was indeed held together mostly with magnets.
• #4 GameStop has provided Joey Logano with his very own NASCAR Fan Controller.
• #3 Steve Addington has been testing chocolate covered parts. Hey, it worked with peanuts!
• #2 Somone in Jr. Nation actually has a working voodoo doll.
• and the #1 Reason the #18 team has imploded….
  “M&Ms. They Melt in the Chase, Not in Your Hands.

Be sure to reply with any other “reasons the #18 team has imploded” that you can think of.

“That last lap, I just figured, hell with it, I don’t want to finish second here, I want to win this race more than anything in the world, so I kind of bonsaied it in there. I wanted to make sure I cleared Jimmie. I went probably just a little too far and hit the wall harder than I planned on hitting it, he got back by me.
It was fun. Always wanted to kind of try to do that. Now I know it doesn’t work quite the same as video games. But it was fun.

No matter how you feel about Carl Edwards, at least everyone can agree that he’s not point racing.

With the outside blocked on the final lap his only shot to get past Jimmie Johnson was to hurtle himself into turn 3, pass Johnson and hope the car would stick. The car didn’t stick and not only did he end up in the wall, but the wall scrubbed too much speed to hold off Johnson and Edwards settled for second.

Maybe it was because no other car was close enough to matter, but I’d like to think Edwards decided to make his Checkers or Wreckers decision based purely on his desire to win at Kansas and ignore the big picture.

While the top three drivers in the points filled the top three spots at Kansas, they each had drastically different days.

• Jimmie Johnson started on the pole, led 124 laps, spent basically the whole day in the top 3 and (barely) won the race.
• Carl Edwards qualified 34th, made contact on pit road twice and still battled back for second place.
• Greg Biffle spent the majority of the day inside the top ten but struggled most of the day with the handling, didn’t lead a lap before passing Jeff Gordon at the line for third.

Three totally different races but in the end the top three drivers so far have all finished in the top five in each race.

Now they head to Talladega where all three are capable of running in the top five, but none could be considered favorites to finish there.

Other Notes

• The #48 team has run this same chassis three times this year with dominant results each time: Indianapolis (147.3 driver rating), California (150.0) and Kansas (145.6). It’s a safe bet we’ll see this car again.
• With the win at Kansas, Johnson has now won at 16 of the 23 Cup tracks. He also passed Bobby Isaac for 16th on the All-time win list (or 10th on the modern day post-1972 list) with 38.
• Kyle Busch is now officially toast.
• DEI had a promising weekend with three cars qualifying in the top six. Martin Truex stayed in the top five for the majority of the day and led 27 laps, but Mark Martin and Paul Menard dropped out of the top ten as quickly as Truex’s ascent to the lead. Unfortunately even Truex’s good day was spoled by a bad transmission. None of the cars finished on the lead lap and Truex came home last.
• If the old NASCAR adage, “If you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying” is true, then at least Chip Ganassi Racing has resumed trying.
• What in the world has happened to Joe Gibbs Racing in the last three weeks? Not only is Kyle Busch in the middle of a nightmare, but Denny Hamlin has experienced mechanical problems the last two races and Tony Stewart-well that team hasn’t been right for most of the season.
• A minor nitpick, but I thought Biffle’s paint scheme at Kansas was a little bit ugly. You would think a Sherwin Williams sponsored car would have an amazing paint scheme.
• Kansas was an important test for the rest of the Chase because it would show the teams that were ready for the other four 1.5 mile tracks. Aside from Kyle Busch’s troubles, nothing new was learned. Roush and Hendrick didn’t disappoint, although Jeff Gordon popping up in the top five was a mild surprise. And the RCR cars were all solidly in the top ten, but never near the front.

“

Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC
The Chase is On: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Live from Talladega on ABC

NASCAR races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway feature close competition, multiple-car drafting packs and the added tension of the “big one,” the multi-car crashes that often occur on the 2.66-mile track. NASCAR’s version of the playoffs continues this week with the fourth race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the series visits Talladega. ESPN on ABC’s high-definition telecast of Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 begins at 1 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. ABC will have live coverage of all 10 races that make up the Chase.

Dr. Jerry Punch will be lead announcer, joined in the booth for analysis by 1999 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Dale Jarrett and two-time champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will be pit reporters with two-time champion crew chief Tim Brewer in the ESPN Tech Center.

The pre-race NASCAR Countdown show from the ESPN pit studio will be hosted by Allen Bestwick, with 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Rusty Wallace and analyst Brad Daugherty. The studio team will interact with the booth during the telecast of the race.

The race will re-air Monday, Oct. 6, at 2:30 a.m. on ESPN2, and at noon on ESPN Classic.

Craven, Evernham, Said on NASCAR Now Monday Roundtable Discussion

The Monday, Oct. 6, edition of NASCAR Now, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information show, at 5 p.m. ET will feature host Allen Bestwick leading a roundtable discussion of the latest NASCAR news and races. Panel members will include former NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ricky Craven and ESPN analysts Ray Evernham and Boris Said.

Episodes of NASCAR Now air Tuesday through Friday of this week at 5 p.m. The one-hour weekend edition of NASCAR Now airs Sunday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. with a preview of that day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. The weekend wrap-up edition airs Sunday night at 10 p.m. Craven will be in the studio for both Sunday shows. 

NASCAR Now is hosted by Ryan Burr, Nicole Manske and Bestwick and originates from ESPN’s high definition studios in Bristol, Conn. Contributors include NASCAR Insiders Marty Smith and Angelique Chengelis, analysts Ray Evernham, Tim Brewer, Brad Daugherty, Boris Said and Tim Cowlishaw, ESPN.com reporters Ed Hinton, Terry Blount and David Newton and D.J. Copp, a member of the Petty Enterprises NASCAR team.

NASCAR Now viewers also benefit from frequent contributions by the NASCAR on ESPN team including Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake.

ESPN Classic Showing One of NASCAR’s Greatest Races – 1994 Winston Select 500

The 1994 Winston Select 500 at Talladega Superspeedway featured multiple lead changes and a rousing win by Dale Earnhardt. NASCAR fans can watch highlights from the event on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN Classic.

Earnhardt held off Ernie Irvan to win on the 2.66-mile Alabama track, with Michael Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer and Ken Schrader completing the top five.

John and Ashley Force Featured on Tuesday’s E:60

The next edition of ESPN’s prime-time newsmagazine E:60 on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m. ET, will include a look at NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series stars John and Ashley Force.

John Force is the Richard Petty of Funny Car — winning an unprecedented 14 championships. His daughter Ashley is a rising star on the circuit. She not only blazes down the track at over 300 mph, she was voted AOL Sports’ “Hottest Athlete for 2007.”  Ashley’s two younger sisters, Brittany and Courtney, are following in her footsteps racing in the NHRA development series. E:60 correspondent Michael Smith explores how this first family of drag racing has been shaken to the core by tragedy, and why John Force is re-evaluating his legacy and the wildly popular Ashley is uncertain about her future as a driver.

Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN’s latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.