Don’t forget the champ: Johnson serves notice with dominating win

Sunday night’s race at California was similar to a bad blind date.Heading into the date, there is lots of excitement: What’s going to happen? Will Edwards and Busch have another exciting battle? Will there be any big changes in the Chase standings?But just like a bad blind date where you realize your date is more boring than C-SPAN, shortly into the race fans started to realize only one thing

Stewart lets out rare dose of lurid honesty in Rolling Stone interview

Rarely in today’s NASCAR do drivers give truly candid interviews or offer any the media any true insight into their real lives. Everything usually sounds processed and is basically a string of sound bites.But Tony Stewart recently allowed a reporter from Rolling Stone to follow him around for a while and offered a rare glimpse into how he talks and acts, and it wasn’t all rated PG. Let’s just say

Bud Shootout changes take away value of winning poles

The Bud Shootout used to be a battle between all the drivers who had won a pole position the previous year. With new changes announced by NASCAR this week, it will now become a battle between the top 6 drivers for each manufacturer.Under the new rules, Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann and Travis Kvapil will race in the event, and I’m not quite sure that makes much sense. Waltrip has had a

NASCAR shouldn't allow Childress to buy his way into top 35

It used to be that when a new team started up in NASCAR, it had to earn its way into the first few races. This was the case when Tony Stewart’s #20 team first hit the track, when Jimmie Johnson’s #48 team made its debut, and so on. (In fact, I distinctly remember thinking Stewart's team was going to tank and miss the Daytona 500, based on his spotty Busch Series record ... he started second in

Given his past actions, Busch has no right to be offended

NASCAR drivers, like many people in this world, often have severe cases of selective memory.The other guy is always to blame for driving dirty when they end up turned around at the end of a race, but if they do the turning, it was simply an innocent mistake or no big deal. It’s hypocrisy with a capital H.Kyle Busch, who led more than 400 laps of Saturday night’s race at Bristol until Carl Edwards

Keselowski shows up the Cup drivers; Kahne will take checkered at Bristol

If there was a class called NASCAR Math, lesson No. 1 would be the following:NASCAR + Bristol = Pure excitement.It’s already been a great week at Bristol, starting with the caution-filled yet competitive Truck race, won by (guess who?) Kyle Busch.But Friday night was even more impressive, with some very exciting racing throughout the field in the Nationwide and, SHOCKER, a Nationwide-only driver

NASCAR should have parked Gibbs cars for cheating

NASCAR threw the book at Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nationwide teams on Wednesday, blasting them with a laundry list of penalties after magnets were found under the gas pedals of the teams two Nationwide cars during a post-race dyno test, in an effort to disguise the team’s true horsepower numbers.-- Drivers Joey Logano and Tony Stewart will each lose 150 points, and are on probation until the end of the

House of Roush intact after Edwards holds off Busch, defends Big 3 territory

It was on the verge of happening.A Toyota was about to take the checkered flag at MIS on Sunday, leaving the Big 3 with a lot of egg on their faces.Then, as has happened so often in the past, Jack Roush’s drivers showed the intruders at their track who is boss, and Carl Edwards took yet another win for his boss, a Livonia native, and swept the weekend’s races at MIS.Over the past 14 races in

Kyle Busch’s competitors weigh in on his dominating year

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- One question has been on the mind of NASCAR fans and competitors all season -- How did Kyle Busch go from occasional contender to field-killer in the course of one year.If you ask 2-time champ Jimmie Johnson, it’s about maturity and taking better care of his equipment.“I have worked with him as a teammate and have always known that he’s a special, special talent,” Johnson said.

Dale Jr., Gordon stay positive despite criticisms

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- A couple of Hendrick drivers have seen their teams take a lot of heat this week after their performances at Watkins Glen.For Jeff Gordon, his team was just off. In what used to be a rare thing, but is now more common, the #24 car was simply not very strong and finished 29th. After watching Gordon run up front for more than a decade, weeks like this have his fans scratching

Burton: More than 43 cars bad for NASCAR

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Jeff Burton raised some eyebrows this weekend at MIS when he suggested that NASCAR not allow more than 43 teams to compete for the right to race on Sunday.Responding to a question about sponsorship issues, here’s what he said.“Forty-three cars that are assured of being in the field is the best scenario for our sport,” Burton said. “Professional golf being the exception, we are

Toyota win at Michigan would be painful for Big 3

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- There’s always something more upsetting about losing on your home turf. All the fans are watching and you hate to let them down.With the distinct possibility that Toyota could win at Michigan, you can bet GM, Ford and Chrysler are praying that doesn’t happen. Toyota has already claimed the pole position, so you can bet some of their cars will be up front during the

Newman announcement has Stewart smiling, hopeful for future

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Grinning from ear to ear, Tony Stewart was downright giddy, playful and relaxed as he spent about a half hour answering questions from the media after the long-anticipated announcement that he has chosen Ryan Newman to drive the second car next season at Stewart-Haas Racing.Yes, I’m talking about Tony Stewart, who is not usually the chummiest with the media. It appears this

Dawning of Logano era in Cup is nearing

It’s not officially announced, but it might as well be … the Joey Logano era in Cup is about to begin.The kid who broke into NASCAR’s top ranks this season like no one else I can remember will likely make his Cup debut very soon, at Richmond, then run several more races this year in preparation for a full season in the #20 for 2009 for Joe Gibbs.Logano, who just became a legal voter, has been

NASCAR’s new road race king is Kyle Busch

We’re long past the point where the doubters can question Kyle Busch’s talent and give all the credit to his Joe Gibbs Racing cars and Toyota engines.After yet another dominating performance on a road course, Busch won at Watkins Glen to take his eighth win of the season and sweep the road races this year in Cup (not to mention his Nationwide win on the Mexico City road course, and second place

Harassment lawsuit heading down ugly road

It wasn’t pretty to start with, but this could get even uglier.The $225 million lawsuit filed by former NASCAR official Mauricia Grant, claiming repeated racial discrimination and sexual harassment during the time she was employed by NASCAR, just got more interesting, as it was revealed that she has some issues in her past that could reflect on the case.A former boyfriend once filed a restraining

Not Earnhardt, not Petty ... Pearson is NASCAR’s greatest driver of all time

With a somewhat quiet week in Cup, I’d like to revisit an old debate that everyone seems to have an opinion about -- who is the greatest driver of all time in NASCAR?The choices are pretty clear. Many will say there’s no denying the title to Richard Petty, who amassed an amazing 200 victories in his career … a mark that will never be passed. In addition, he also took seven Cup titles. These

Old-timer Martin gives notice to Young Guns

For a while on Sunday, Mark Martin looked like a man possessed behind the wheel of his #8 car, as he was putting an old-school whooping on all these young kids who were still in diapers when he made his first Cup start.Then, as has happened far too often through his career, Lady Luck came up and bit him you-know-where. The first setback was a couple of slow pit stops that put him back further in

NASCAR makes history, thrills fans by using rain tires at Montreal

All I can say after watching the Nationwide race from Montreal is … WOW!Over the years, having watched many great Formula 1 races run in the wet, I never thought I would actually see it with stock cars in a points race. But Saturday, it actually happened … more than a decade after the first use of rain tires during an exhibition race in Japan.Watching these stock cars make their way around the

Petty shows signs he’s ready to hang up his helmet

Kyle Petty burst onto the NASCAR scene in 1979 at a time when his dad was the biggest name in the sport.The young bushy-haired teenager won the first race he ever entered on the big stage -- an ARCA race at Daytona in 1979, the same year of the infamous backstretch fight and his father coming from third to win as a result of the accident that spurred the fight.In the three decades since, Petty