“Since a lot of people dislike the Chase format, maybe this is the year to feature a different playoff format. NASCAR is more of a team sport than ever before and talk of franchising is occasionally breached so let’s take it a step further. Let’s make it a four way fight to determine the true NASCAR juggernaut. If Clint Bowyer hangs on, the field of 12 will feature only four teams: Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush-Fenway Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing. Each team also has three Chase drivers so it is the perfect year to transform the Chase into a four team Battle Royal. Sure, any team can throw Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards out there and compete for the Sprint Cup[legal disclaimer: not every team can throw any driver out there and compete], but let’s see who the deepest team in Cup is.

Instead of 75% of the drivers falling off the pace by the midpoint, suddenly every driver-and every place-would mean something. Let’s say Jeff Burton wrecks at Dover and blows an engine at Kansas. In normal years Burton would shrug it off and begin peeking at next year’s program. With the Juggernaut Cup (that’s right, I just invented it) RCR’s team still needs him to finish strong at the remainder of the races.

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have won the most races, but would their teammates contribute enough to get the most combined points? Hendrick has three drivers that could alternately finish in the top 5 or suffer horrible finishes. RCR doesn’t run at the front of the field but all three drivers avoid trouble and finish on the lead lap. Who would come out on top? If the standings hold suit after Richmond I plan on tracking the team stats and updating weekly.”

Chevy Rock & Roll 400

This week we head to Richmond for a Saturday night race and the final race before the Chase starts.

My Pick To Win

Kyle Busch will get his ninth win of the season and take a 40 point lead with him heading to the Chase. Kyle has 6 top 5 finishes at Richmond in only 7 starts. That includes 3 runner-up finishes and this time he won’t be denied.

Richmond Frontrunners

The top competition for Kyle is going to come in the forms of Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin this weekend. Jimmie swept both races here last year while Denny lead the most laps this spring and has 3 top 10 finishes in his 5 starts at Richmond.

Clint Bowyer won the race here this spring and needs another top 10 finish to get himself into the final spot in the Chase. Right now Clint has a 19-point lead over David Ragan for the final spot. David has finished 20th 3rd and 17th in his 3 Cup starts at Richmond and can capitalize on any mistakes made by the 07 team this weekend.

Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman will be teammates next season at Stewart-Haas Racing. Both of them do very well at Richmond but I’m not sure how much emphasis their owners are putting on getting them a win anymore this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has 3 wins at Richmond and would like nothing better than to gat another one heading into the Chase. Dale hasn’t had a top 10 finish here since winning in the spring of 2006. I’m sure that this team isn’t going to make the same mistake that they did with the camber on the car anymore in the foreseeable future.

Kevin Harvick has reeled off 7 straight top 10 finishes including a win at Richmond over the last few years. This is a team that has quietly made solid showings most every week and could be a big surprise to everyone once the Chase starts.

Matt Kenseth is in the same boat as Kevin Harvick. This team has also gotten the job done without much fanfare throughout the year. Matt would also love to get his first win of the year heading into the Chase. It is going to be a big hole for teams entering the Chase without a win to make up the 80 or 90 points that Kyle Busch will have starting out.

Carl Edwards got his first ever Cup start at Richmond and made an impressive showing coming away with a 6th place finish. That has been the best he has ever finished at Richmond. That doesn’t mean that he can’t win this weekend but he is just too inconsistent to put your money on.

Jeff Gordon has struggled most of the year but will still make the Chase. I don’t look for him to be much of a factor when it comes to challenging for the championship this year but if he’s going to run well anywhere it will be at the short flat tracks like Richmond. Jeff has 3 straight top 10 finishes at Richmond but 4 straight finishes of 30th or worse preceded that.

Yahoo! Fantasy Picks

Group A

• Denny Hamlin (starter)
• Jimmie Johnson

Group B

• Ryan Newman (starter)
• Kyle Busch (starter)
• Kasey Kahne
• Mark Martin

Group C

• Travis Kvapil (starter)
• Brian Vickers

“

Raise your hand if you love free stuff?

Thanks to M&M’s Racing we are running three contests in September for some rare M&M’s and Kyle Busch gear (and please put your hand down now).

The Prizes: M&M’s Racing is giving away some really cool Kyle Busch gear:

• Autographed Kyle Busch photo
• Autographed Kyle Busch M&M’s racing hat
• Autographed Kyle Busch M&M’s racing bag

We will run three separate contests and give away one item for each one.

Contest #1: This first contest is for an Autographed Kyle Busch photo.

How To Play: M&M’s Driver Kyle Busch can elicit a rainbow of reactions from fans.

Some fans may turn red with anger or green with envy while others may be tickled pink.

It’s part of what makes NASCAR fun and Kyle Busch such an interesting driver.

To enter the contest, simply describe:

• Which color Kyle Busch is to you?
• Why?

Use the comments section of this post for your answer.

Example: Kyle Busch would be black and white because he always takes the checkered flag.

Of course this example is lame and would not win any contest, but at least it gives you an idea. Be creative, funny, philosophic or artistic. (If you really get into it, use your Photoshop or MS Paint Skills and email your colored pics to kylebusch@onebadwheel.com).

The contest will run for seven(ish) days (beginning September 02, 2008 until midnight CST September 9th, 2008). The winner will be selected by the OneBadWheel panel of judges.

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.

It’s the most famous words in motorsports. “Gentlemen, start your engines!” Not only does it command the drivers to power up their cars but should also fire up the crowd. Not every celebrity that does the honor (and it should be an honor) understands that the crowd is the key. Drew Carey showed how to do it perfectly on Sunday night (anyone have video?). He shouted, drew it out (no pun intended) for drama and was loud. Here’s a few quick do’s and don’ts on what makes a good call, along with some samples.

1. Go for humor. In recent years comedians like Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler have used character voices to give the command. So what if they’re shamelessly promoting The Longest Yard? Funny always flies.
2. Don’t act like you’d rather be somewhere else. Maybe your agent didn’t get you hooked up on the VMA’s, but there are still millions of people watching.
3. Recruit a NASCAR legend. It’s tough to go wrong with someone like Richard Petty or Junior Johnson giving the command. This is the NASCAR equivalent to having a Hall of Famer throw out the first pitch.
4. Exude power. A few years ago Matthew Mcconaughey gave the command at Daytona by reprising his Wooderson character from Dazed and Confused and shouted it with confidence. There is nothing wimpy about 800HP engines, so asking them to roar in a subdued voice just doesn’t work.
5. It helps to pop a vein. Like Carey this past weekend, Kevin James looked like he might have hurt himself with his screaming version. It’s just a sport, have fun with it.

“

Richmond: Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Courtesy of NASCAR MEDIA

Bubble Bursting: Drivers Vying To Get Into Chase Field

The Race to the Chase has reached the end of its road.

Next stop: The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Richmond International Raceway turns up the volume Saturday night for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, an event that has become an annual highlight of the season, as the ‘cut-off’ race leading into the Chase, the five-year-old playoff-style format to determine the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

Twelve drivers make the Chase, which is contested over the season’s last 10 events. Once again, there are more drivers than 12 with a chance to qualify, coming into RIR.

But first, here’s what we know.

Five drivers have already clinched Chase berths:

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota); Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet); Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet); and Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet).

Six more, who reside in points positions 6-11 this week, can be placed in the ‘highly probable’ category coming into Richmond: Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford); Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell Pennzoil Chevrolet); Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Toyota); Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford); Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont-Nicorette Chevrolet); and Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota).

And then you have a few other guys, treading tenuously on both sides of the 12th-place Chase bubble.
Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet) has 12th-place honors this week. Of course, that’s akin to starting the final round of the Masters with a one-stroke lead. Bowyer’s position is hardly secure.

Bowyer, who has remarkably strengthened his grip on the NASCAR Nationwide Series points lead in recent weeks despite the pressure of the Chase, holds a slim 17-point advantage (2,989-2,972) over David Ragan (No. 6 AAA Ford).

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Bud-weiser Dodge) is staring his hot-and-cold season squarely in the face this week. He’s 14th in points, only 48 behind Bowyer.

Kahne has won two events this year ‘ plus the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, which pays no points. Suddenly, despite all of that, he has the look of a long shot.

But then, so did Jeremy Mayfield in 2004, the first year of the Chase.

Mayfield motored into Richmond that September needing a victory to even make the Chase. Win he did, establishing a standard for drama that at once validated and highlighted NASCAR’s then-new championship approach.

Four years later, more highlights are seemingly on deck.

Here’s a closer look at the three drivers in bubble territory this week, from a Richmond perspective:

• Bowyer, like Ragan and Kahne, has limited RIR experience, but he looks like a quick study, a short-track speed-reader of sorts. In four starts he has three top 10s at RIR, including a victory this past May.
• Ragan has three Richmond starts in NASCAR Sprint Cup, with one top five and a 17th-place finish in this season’s spring race.
• Kahne appears to have the edge in this trio, as far as Richmond is concerned. Consider: Nine starts, one victory, five top 10s. Good stats by any measurement.

Stats aside, it all comes down to one night, one race. This is what was envisioned, when the Chase was instituted.

Making The Chase: Berths In NASCAR’s Playoffs Will Shake Out At Richmond

Seven spots remain up for grabs in the Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Two Chase berths will be clinched once the green flag flies at Richmond. Both Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick need only to start the Richmond race to clinch a Chase berth.

So, realistically, five spots remain.

While listing every clinch scenario would fill up uncountable pages (and hours), the below scenarios are the simplest.

The following are the clinch scenarios that would lock up Chase spots for Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin regardless of how any other driver finished (assuming there are no ties for most laps led at Richmond):

Tony Stewart

• Finish 36th
• Finish 37th and lead at least one lap
• Finish 40th and lead the most laps

Matt Kenseth

• Finish 26th
• Finish 28th and lead at least one lap
• Finish 30th and lead the most laps

Jeff Gordon

• Finish 24th
• Finish 25th and lead at least one lap
• Finish 28th and lead the most laps

Denny Hamlin

• Finish 21st
• Finish 22nd and lead at least one lap
• Finish 25th and lead the most laps

After that, the points get tighter and the scenarios that much more intriguing. Clint Bowyer is 12th, 17 points ahead of David Ragan and 48 points ahead of Kasey Kahne. There are a number of different scenarios that could play out that would give Bowyer a Chase spot, but simply put: Bowyer can clinch a spot by either winning or finishing second and leading the most laps or third and leading the most laps.

Ragan is in a similar clinching position. Regardless of other drivers’ finishes, Ragan clinches if he wins and leads the most laps. Other clinching scenarios ‘ involving certain finishes by both Bowyer and Kahne ‘ also exist for Ragan.

Kahne’s road is bumpier. At Richmond, he needs to finish 48 points ahead of Bowyer and 31 points ahead of Ragan to clinch a spot.

On The Line: Bubble Drivers Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne

Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne occupy positions 12-14, respectively, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. They were guests on Tuesday’s NASCAR Teleconference.

Following are some excerpts:

David Ragan: ‘We definitely are excited just to have an opportunity to get into the Chase. The bottom line is we just have to go out and beat these guys. No other way around it. We can’t count on the other teams having problems or issues throughout the race. We have got to make sure we are on our toes so we don’t have any mechanical failures or any screw ups in the pits and also on the race track. Richmond has been a good track for us in the past, we have had some success there.’

Kasey Kahne: ‘Yeah, I am looking forward to it. I think we just come in and really just do the best job we can. We’ve been put in a position and all we can do is do our best and hope that it works out for us, and see how the points end up at the end of the night. Really, if we run our race, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to make it into the Chase. I just feel like Kenny (Francis) and our whole Budweiser team has done a good job preparing the car and being ready to go when we get to the race track. You know if we can go out there and try to get a really good finish and just look at the points in the end of the night and see where we are at.’

Clint Bowyer: ‘It’s obviously down to crunch time. We have one more week, but if there is anything that gives you a good feeling, it’s knowing that we won there in the spring and it’s a track that I typically run good at. But as we all know Richmond is a track where anything can happen. You know we have kind of put ourselves in this situation, but it is time to see what we are made of. A lot of pressure this weekend but I think we can handle it.’

Loop Data At Richmond: Hamlin Has The Numbers, Needs A Victory

Luck managed to elude Denny Hamlin during this past May’s  race at Richmond.

The Chesterfield, Va. native led an unbelievable 381 of the 410 laps that race, looking like the certain winner at his hometown track.

Then bad luck ‘ in the form of tire problems ‘ intervened. Hamlin finished the race a disappointing 24th, three laps off the pace.

If it’s any consolation, his stats that race were the numbers of a winner. In May, Hamlin had a Driver Rating of 129.1, an Average Running Position of 2.3 and 104 Fastest Laps Run.

Now, Hamlin returns for revenge. This time around, the stakes are a little higher. Currently 11th in points standings, Hamlin is teetering on the Chase bubble. A strong finish will lock him in, though. Regardless of how any other driver finishes, Hamlin can clinch a Chase berth with a finish of 21st. That finish drops to 22nd if he leads a lap.

Considering Hamlin has led at least one lap in all five of his Richmond starts, and that he only has one finish outside the top 15, figure on Hamlin a near-lock for his third consecutive Chase.

Hamlin’s career numbers at Richmond ‘ which include three top 10s ‘ are phenomenal.

He leads the series in Average Running Position (5.3) and Laps in the Top 15 percentage (97.5%), ranks second in Driver Rating (114.8) and fifth in Fastest Laps Run (162).

Also watch for a strong run from Kevin Harvick, who has finished inside the top 10 in each of the last seven Richmond races. Harvick plays with the houses money this weekend, locking up a Chase spot with a Richmond start. In other words, it’ll be all about the win ‘ and the 10 bonus points that go with it.

Harvick has yet to win this season, but the stats suggest that could change this weekend. Harvick boasts series-highs in Richmond Driver Rating (118.9) and Fastest Laps Run (278), and ranks second in Average Running Position (5.8) and Laps in the Top 15 percentage (95.3%).

Also, as usual, Kyle Busch could dominate this weekend. Though he has yet to win at Richmond, he has finished in the top five in six of his seven starts ‘ which include three runner-up finishes in the last four races.

Busch has a Driver Rating of 110.6 and an Average Running Position of 7.1 at Richmond.

Bonus Round: Richmond Affords Drivers One Last Chance To Improve Chase ‘Seeding’

Kyle Busch has obviously benefited from the increased emphasis on winning races that is now part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship mix.

His outstanding season thus far will be rewarded appropriately when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins next week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Busch will have the  Chase’s ‘top seed.’

All drivers who make the 12-man Chase will have their season point totals ‘reset’ to 5,000, whereupon they then will get 10 bonus points for each win they had prior to the Chase.

Busch has eight victories thus far, meaning he’ll start the Chase with at least 5,080 ‘ 5,090 if he wins Saturday night at Richmond.

Carl Edwards has the second seed wrapped up, with 50 bonus points to date. A recent rebound has enabled him to slice into Busch’s once-daunting bonus point advantage. (Edwards  actually has six race victories this year but a penalty after Las Vegas erased the bonus points he got winning at that track.)

Two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson has the third seed secured, via a recent return to his form of the previous two seasons. Johnson has three wins on the year and will start the Chase at 5,030.

Kasey Kahne could start as the fourth seed, as he has two victories and a potential 5,020. One problem, though: Kahne is in peril of not even qualifying for the Chase field, as he heads to Richmond 14th in the series points, 48 behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer.

After that, we have a traffic jam.

Four drivers have won once in 2008 and are set to start the Chase with 5,010: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton. Of course it should be noted that of those four, only Earnhardt and Burton have actually clinched Chase spots.

Richmond, then, can be seen as a last chance race of sorts both for drivers trying to get into the Chase ‘ and for those already safely in the field.

Richmond affords drivers one more shot at accruing bonus points and capitalizing on the emphasis on winning now prevalent in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing.

Champions Lined Up For 2008 Playoffs

When the field is set for the fifth annual Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, following Saturday night’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond, fans will immediately notice that the field will feature the cream of NASCAR’s crop of talent.

Four former series champions appear headed toward the 10-race Chase, amounting to a total of nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles, collectively.

Here’s a look:

• Two-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, the only one of the four to have clinched a Chase spot, coming into Saturday night’s event.
• Two-time champion Tony Stewart;
• 2003 champion Matt Kenseth;
• And four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who actually has a bit of a challenge facing him at Richmond, to secure a Chase berth. (See page 2’s clinching scenarios.)

Compared to the previous four years of the Chase format, this year’s potential lineup falls one short of the record five former champions involved in the 2007 Chase.

Champions In The Chase
2004: (3) Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth.
2005: (4) Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Rusty Wallace, Kurt Busch.
2006: (2) Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon.
2007: (5) Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Etc. ‘

RIR Races Are Always One For the Books ‘ The History Books

Since the advent of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Richmond International Raceway has been part of a new round of history-making, as the site for the annual ‘Chase cut-off’ event.

This is appropriate. Richmond is all about history in NASCAR. It’s been on the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule since 1953, when Lee Petty  won the Richmond 200 by averaging 45.535 mph in a Dodge, on a half-mile track that was then a free-wheeling  dirt surface.

In three of the four previous seasons, drivers who were outside the Chase ‘bubble’ raced their way into Chase, via their efforts in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 ‘ Jeremy Mayfield in 2004, Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge) in 2005 and Kasey Kahne in 2006.

Ahead Of The Curve, Logano Looks To Make First NASCAR Sprint Cup Start

Joey Logano, in the No. 02 Home Depot Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing, will attempt to make his first NASCAR Sprint Cup start on Saturday night.

At the age of 18.

Without the safety net of a guaranteed starting spot via the car owner points (the top 35 are guaranteed starts), Logano will have to make the field based solely on his qualifying speed. Few people are betting against him doing just that.

In addition to this week’s attempt, Logano plans on running five more NASCAR Sprint Cup events this season in the No. 96 DLP HDTV Toyota, beginning with the Sept. 14 Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Logano will also drive the No. 96 machine at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City Sept. 28, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Oct. 11, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway Oct. 19, and Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth Nov. 2. 

Next season he takes over Tony Stewart’s No. 20 Home Depot Toyota ride full-time.
 
RIR To Host NASCAR Foundation Track   Walk On Saturday

The NASCAR Foundation is inviting fans to participate in the NASCAR Foundation Track Walk at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Track Walk is a partnership between The NASCAR Foundation and Richmond International Raceway Cares and proceeds will benefit both charities. Fans can register online at www.nascar.com/foundation or by calling (704) 348-9657 through Wednesday or  register at RIR on Friday from 9 a.m.’7 p.m. and Saturday, from 8-11 a.m. The registration booth is located outside Gate 70 near Turn 4. Registration fees to participate are $35 for adults. Children 14-and-under walk for free with a paying adult.

NASCAR Angels Salutes Local Soldier With Car Makeover

Robby Gordon (No. 7 Jim Beam/Operation Homefront Dodge), will visit soldiers assigned to the Warrior in Transition Unit (WTU) at Fort Lee, Va. on Thursday, on behalf of Operation Homefront, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing emergency assistance and morale to U.S. troops and their families. Gordon will also make a brief stop at the PX to sign autographs.

Rusty Wallace, former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and host of the nationally syndicated television program NASCAR Angels, will join Gordon on-site to salute U.S. Army SPC Joshua Grant of Chesapeake, Virginia with a car make-over. SPC Grant was wounded while serving his country in Iraq and is receiving treatment at Fort Lee while continuing his military duties.

In its third season, NASCAR Angels focuses on how the racing and automotive care communities can help deserving individuals in need of a transportation fix. 

I’m happy to win and win on a big track, because the bulk of the races are on these big downforce tracks, and I feel like we’re doing the right things to have a fighting chance at the championship and that’s really all we can ask for.
-Jimmie Johnson

As far as the Chase goes, Sunday night’s race changed nothing. It is going to be a three man battle for the championship and it’s been that way since July. Granted, Jimmie Johnson hasn’t garnered the attention that Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch have received, but just like last year the #48 team has kept the big picture in mind all season. While winning additional races during the regular season is nice, Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson will surely have their strongest cars ready for the Chase. Edwards and Busch will also be there every week, but as I’ve said since February, Jimmie Johnson is the Champion until someone takes it from him.

In the same way that Johnson reasserted himself as a Chase threat, others proved how great the gap is from the big three to the rest of the field: Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon continued their indifferent seasons, Dale Earnhardt Jr was again left wondering who swapped his early season cars with Johnson’s, and the RCR cars gave more ‘B’ performances (good, but never great).

Notes and Thoughts

• While Johnson did his best to make the action at the front non-existent, the racing was actually pretty decent. Drivers were using different lines all over the track and featured lots of three-wide racing. Like in any sport, sometimes a team will show up, dominate and make the race less exciting. When it happens in football or basketball no one cries for rule changes or to switch the venue. When it happens in NASCAR, too often it leads to pleas for changing something in the name of improved racing. Sunday night was not one of those cases.

• The race had a dearth of adversity. Aside from Martin Truex Jr’s loose wheel and Kurt Busch’s flat tire and spin, none of the drivers in the top 20 had any problems. Of the top 20 drivers, only Kurt Busch, Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray failed to finish on the lead lap. David Reutimann, Patrick Carpentier and AJ Allmendinger were the only drivers outside the top 20 in points to finish in the top 20 on Sunday night.

• While Allmendinger hurdled five drivers to land at 31st in the owners points, Robby Gordon’s spin through the grass (I hope he replaced his divot) pushed the #7 car to the edge of the top 35 cliff. Falling outside the safe zone probably wouldn’t affect Gordon’s one car team this year. But if he were to enter 2009 without a guaranteed spot, it could spell disaster. The top 35 provisional is one of the major assets for a team when talking to sponsors and without it, Gordon could be in serious trouble.

• Drew Carey is a serious sports fan and obviously entertaining. His enthusiastic starter’s command was fantastic (More on this tomorrow). It was one of the best I’ve seen all season. It’s a small thing, but when someone gets that into the Three Most Famous Words in Racing it starts the night out with some fun.

• Not much changed in the competition for the final Chase slots. 14th place Kasey Kahne shaved eight points off his deficit and 13th place David Ragan lost another five to 12th place Clint Bowyer. Barring major disaster from Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon, Bowyer’s spot is the only one within reach. Bowyer’s 17 point gap over Ragan is the difference between tenth and 17th place. To add to the drama, Ragan, Kahne and Bowyer are good at Richmond.

How was the race for you? Were you entertained, bored or off grilling somewhere? How many drivers have a realistic shot at the championship?“

It’s a 10-race, season ending blowout with our Champs, Chumps & Sleepers game!

Beginning on September 14, 2008 with the first race of the NASCAR Chase at New Hampshire Motor Speedway we will be awarding a weekly prize of $50.00 to the player with the highest score of the week.

Doesn’t matter whether you have been playing all season or just starting. Everyone that plays during that week will be eligible for the weekly prize.

If you are not already playing then sign up now.

We are adding a weekly tie-breaker question to override any ties in high score. The weekly tie-breaker question is the average race speed for that weeks race.

The $50.00 prize will be in the form of a $50.00 pre-paid VISA card which will be mailed to the winner.

Much appreciation to our great sponsor On Pit Row!