The Frontstretch Newsletter: May 9th, 2011

THE FRONTSTRETCH NEWSLETTER
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May 9th, 2011
Volume V, Edition LXXXIII

Sprint Cup Race Recap: Regan Smith Uses Pit Strategy To Take First Win At Darlington

by Mike Neff

 
The Track Too Tough To Tame lived up to its nickname Saturday night, providing as much action off the track as on it. Frayed tempers, bent-up race cars and a fresh coat of black Darlington stripes coated the 1.366-mile oval by the finish.

Who knew in the midst of all that, one of the toughest places to race in NASCAR would find a soft spot for the underdog.

Regan Smith, using pit strategy to jump into the lead on Lap 360 held on with old tires to score an improbable victory in the 62nd running of Sprint Cup's Southern 500. Surviving a green-white-checkered finish, Smith started on the inside of the front row with Carl Edwards to his outside on 25-lap newer right side tires.  Leading 57 laps on the day, it seemed Edwards was all but certain to take control; however, Smith received a push from Brad Keselowski to clear the No. 99, then drove his heart out with his underdog, single-car No. 78 Chevy to keep Edwards behind him for the final two circuits.

"The tires hooked up good," said Smith, literally in shock after the event. "When we cleared Carl going into one, I thought, 'That's good, at least we'll finish second in this thing, I won't have to worry about any of the other guys on fresh tires.' When he didn't catch me at the white flag and I still had a car length gap, I thought, I'm going to run another qualifying lap here, we might have a chance at this thing."

He wasn't kidding. Off of Turn 2 on that lap, Smith nearly lost his car, making slight contact with the outside wall.  He still led the No. 99 into turn three, though, and for one of the few times all evening actually washed up the track, which inadvertently took the air off of Edwards' car and allowed Smith to hold him off through the turn and back to the checkered flag.

"I hit the fence at turn two. How hard was it? I thought I hit it hard, anyways," Smith claimed. "Never checked it up. Sailed off into three, drove it deeper than I wanted to. I got tight in the middle. But I saw he drove off pretty deep, which I expected him to do. He wasn't able to make the run and we won the Southern 500. That's pretty awesome."

Smith, who was running sixth heading towards the finish, benefitted by a call NASCAR made to throw the yellow for Jeff Burton's blown engine. With the car excelling on longer runs, crew chief Pete Rondeau, in Victory Lane for the first time after a failed run as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s head wrench in 2005, approved the call for the No. 78 to stay out.

"I wasn't too nervous with him doing it," Rondeau said. "Generally you get a guy with the drive and the desire to do this, they get to the front, even if they can just sniff it, they're going to drive the wheels off of it."

Edwards fought hard, but it was clear especially on the GWC the biggest obstacle proved to be old rival Brad Keselowski. His actions on the inside left the No. 99 fighting for second, giving Smith the distance needed to scoot out front and take control.

"I knew that I could time a run on that last restart and give Regan a good push," Keselowski said.  "Carl (Edwards) was really fast behind me.  I ended up giving him (Regan) a huge push into Turn 1 and we hooked up and set sail.  I'm really happy for Regan.  I wanted to make sure that if I couldn't win, he did. A win for the underdogs tonight, that's for sure."

"I definitely underestimated that restart a little bit," added Edwards. "I didn't want to lose that way. Man, I really felt like that was our race to win. But that's NASCAR racing. As upset as I am to have lost that race, I'm happy for Regan and his accomplishment. But, man, I'll run that one back a few times in my head."

Officials will also have a few replays to run through for possible penalties after some late-race contact between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick sparked a post-race fracas. On the restart from the Burton caution, the racing got fast and furious; Clint Bowyer made it three-wide coming out of turn four on lap 365 after Busch and Harvick made contact.  That can't work at the Lady In Black, with teammates Harvick and Bowyer connecting to push Bowyer's No. 33 into the inside wall, a wreck which set up the green-white-checkered finish. But it was what happened next that surprised onlookers, Busch irritated by the racing and hooking Harvick into the outside wall to ensure the No. 29 was out of contention for the race win.

During the cool-down period Busch and Harvick exchanged pleasantries, ultimately ending up parked nose-to-tail on pit road with Harvick's car in front. Harvick climbed from his car and moved toward Busch's, at which time Busch used his car to push Harvick's out of the way and ultimately into the inside pit wall before driving on to the garage.  After Busch got out of his car and went into the hauler, the crew of Harvick showed up to explain their feelings to the crew for Busch and the NASCAR officials in the area were forced to maintain order.  In the end, both Harvick and Busch were both issued invitations to report to the NASCAR hauler before leaving the premises.

 

"Obviously we were racing hard and doing what we had to do there at the end and things happen," claimed Harvick, who when asked if things were settled between the two drivers had a telling response: "You saw the end."

"Just uncalled for and just unacceptable racing," said Busch. "It's in the last couple laps, but I gave him room off of two and I didn't get the room. Just real unfortunate. We tore up a few good cars there."

Kahne started the race on the pole with a new track record speed and assumed command when the green flag dropped, swapping it with mostly Ryan Newman and Edwards for the first 127 laps. Then, during the race's longest green-flag run of the day it was Kyle Busch who came to the front, pacing the field for 78 circuits until a loose right-rear wheel forced him to make an extra stop on Lap 205. Edwards took the top spot when Busch pitted for the rest of that stint until a yellow flag for Jimmie Johnson's second spin of the day.  As the race resumed, Edwards was once again in the lead over Kahne and Harvick when David Ragan and Brian Vickers got together off of Turn 2 on lap 231, peeling the left side of Vickers' car open like a sardine can.  Action resumed on lap 236 as Harvick grabbed the top spot from Edwards for four laps until Marcos Ambrose and Joey Logano got together on the front straight, sending Logano into the inside wall and ultimately the garage for repairs.  The race resumed with Harvick still out front for the next 38 laps when the caution flew yet again for debris on the backstretch.  After pit stops, it was Kahne who reasserted himself at the front of the pack until a flurry of green-flag pit stops again took place.

 

After most of the other lead lap cars pitted, Kahne and Edwards entered the pit lane side-by-side with Kahne leading Edwards off of the pit road.  However, Edwards passed him on lap 341 and was seemingly in control until Burton's engine expired, setting up the pit strategy that pushed Smith to the front and ultimately determined the winner.

Kahne did hold on to finish fourth, while Newman rounded out the top-5 performers. As for Smith, the Darlington triumph was his first victory in 105 Sprint Cup starts and the first for Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser in six seasons at the Cup level. The victory also marked Smith's first top-5 finish of his career, making up for the "win that never was" after crossing the finish line first at Talladega but penalized for passing Stewart below the yellow line in Fall, 2008. But on a jubilant Saturday night for Smith, that became a distant memory for good.

"Winning at Darlington," Smith explained. "Means more than winning at Talladega ever could."

"I think Regan is as good as any driver out there, so those guys have earned what they have," Edwards added.  "There's a reason they've been out-qualifying everyone and it was just a matter of time before they put a whole race together.  Myself included, I think all of us kind of underestimate them a little bit, but that will occur no longer. They got to Victory Lane and this is NASCAR. It's equal opportunity. If you can do it, you earn it."

 

Mike Neff is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at mike.neff@frontstretch.com.

 
Tracking The Chase:  Edwards Loses Race, But Extends Point Lead

by Garrett Horton

 
Carl Edwards notched his sixth top 5 of the 2011 season and extended his point lead over Jimmie Johnson Saturday night, but in the heat of the moment, Saturday night's runner-up finisher was looking for more.

"I'm sure that will feel good tomorrow (on extending his lead), but, right now, I wanted to win that race," he said.

Edwards' fourth straight top-10 result allowed him to stretch his lead over Johnson by 23 points. It was a rough night for the No. 48 car; Johnson was able to crack the top 10 early, but contact with Juan Pablo Montoya sent him spinning on Lap 85 and he wasn't a factor after that.  A second spin on Lap 222 cost him a lap, and it took over 60 circuits for him to get it back. Fighting through traffic, he rose to 10th another time only for a missing lugnut to cause an extra stop under yellow with eight laps left.  With so little time to fight back through the field, that mistake relegated him to a 15th-place finish, his worst since Las Vegas in March.

In addition to an upset win by Regan Smith, there were some well-documented post-race festivities between Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.  Perhaps their frustrations were fueled by the fact they both had race-winning cars, yet neither garnered a top-10 performance.  Busch finished 11th after leading 78 laps while Harvick ended up 17th after running in the top 5 for the majority of the event.  For Busch, his downfall came via an unscheduled pit stop for a flat tire, coming while he was in the lead and pulling away while Harvick failed to pull away from an angry Busch after a late-race wreck... and paid the price. Busch still remains third in the points, while Harvick stays in fifth after their shenanigans described in our recap above; any possible punishments by NASCAR will likely come on Tuesday, and if points are taken away, they can expect to fall back a position or two.

In between the two combatants lies Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who continued his strong start to 2011 with a 14th-place effort.  The No. 88 car was actually running as high as sixth before he was penalized for a commitment cone violation after locking up the brakes trying to slow for pit road.  That left him a lap down, but a late-race Lucky Dog and subsequent charge towards the front means Earnhardt remains fourth in the standings; he's now been propelled by eight top-15 finishes in ten races.

It was a good weekend for the Stewart-Haas Racing stable of Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.  Newman started on the outside pole and led early, faded midway through the race, but rallied to finish fifth.  It is his fourth top-5 of the year and ironically they have all been fifth-place efforts.  His teammate and boss Tony Stewart finished seventh after using the same pit strategy that Regan Smith's team employed to win, staying out on old tires gain track position in the closing laps.  Stewart moved up three spots to seventh in the standings, while Newman jumped up to two positions to sixth.

Kurt Busch's season continues to go backwards despite a verbal tirade that led to engineering changes within Penske Racing this week.  After finishing in the top 10 in the first four races, his best result since has been tenth - and that was through pit strategy.  The Lady In Black couldn't cure his handling gremlins; hitting the wall early and struggling to avoid the Darlington Stripes, the 27th-place run was his worst of the year - he's now eighth in points. 

Clint Bowyer's recent hot streak came to a screeching halt Saturday night.  He had been running in the top 10 for most of the night until he became a victim of Busch and Harvick's hard racing late in the going.  The end result was Bowyer in the wall, leaving only a 31st-place finish to show for an outstanding effort.  He dropped two spots in the standings to ninth.

Rounding out the top 10 this week is Matt Kenseth, who has seen his share of tough luck.  Darlington was more of the same, cutting a tire not once but twice en route to winding up four laps off the pace in 25th.  Kenseth has slid from third to tenth in the standings in a matter of three races.

As for the wildcard drivers, A.J. Allmendinger remains 11th after having a rather uneventful night, finishing 20th as the second car one lap down.  Jeff Gordon, still eligible based on his Phoenix win ran in the top-5 all evening until poor pit strategy sent him back to a 12th-place outcome.  He fell a spot to 17th in the points, but that victory saves him a spot in the Chase.  (Note:  While Regan Smith scored a victory, he still sits outside the top-20.  Per NASCAR's new rules, a driver can only make the Chase through victories if they are inside the top 20.)

Point Standings: 1) Carl Edwards 378; 2) Jimmie Johnson -23; 3) Kyle Busch -39; 4) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. -47; 5) Kevin Harvick -50; 6) Ryan Newman -61; 7) Tony Stewart -65; 8) Kurt Busch -72; 9) Clint Bowyer -81; 10) Matt Kenseth -83.

Wildcard drivers:  A.J. Allmendinger (11th in points, no wins), Jeff Gordon (17th in points, one win)
 
Tracking The Top 35:  Tommy Baldwin Racing Expands Their Advantage; TRG Hurt By DNQ

Dave Blaney and Tommy Baldwin Racing continued their string of respectable finishes.  Since nearly winning at Talladega three weeks ago, Blaney and TBR have leapfrogged from 37th in the owner points to 32nd with a reasonable cushion of 16 points over 36th.  On Saturday night, Blaney brought the Golden Corral Chevrolet home in 24th, three laps down, as this single-car team continues to build up its program with that new sponsorship.

 

TRG Motorsports came into Darlington in a three-way tie for 35th in owner points, battling with FAS Lane Racing's No. 32 and Germain Racing's No. 13.  TRG lost the tiebreaker, though, which forced rookie Andy Lally to qualify on speed at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit for freshmen.  Talk about a bad break; during his qualifying lap, Lally stuffed the No. 71 Ford into the wall and their chance to make the field was toast.  As a result of the DNQ, the No. 71 team fell out of their tie for 35th and are now 37th in owner points, 12 behind a "locked in" spot.

The other two teams that were tied entering the race (Nos. 13 and 32) each had mediocre nights.  Ken Schrader drove the No. 32 Ford to a 28th-place finish, six laps down.  Meanwhile, Casey Mears finished 30th in the GEICO No. 13 after a jam-up on a restart destroyed the car's rear end.  Those results were enough for both teams to vault over the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21, which did not attempt Darlington, and the No. 7 for Robby Gordon to move into 33rd and 34th places, respectively.

 

As for Robby Gordon's No. 7, Gordon pulled his Dodge off the track after completing 87 laps due to brake issues.  However, we're now beyond the point of which Gordon claimed that his team was good on sponsorship, meaning a number of start-and-parks could be in its future.  The team is now 35th in owner points, just four ahead of the No. 21 who will miss one more event before returning to points-paying events at Charlotte. 

 

31) Phoenix Racing (No. 09 – Landon Cassill), +30 ahead of 36th place.
32) Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 – Dave Blaney), +16 ahead of 36th place.
33) FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 – Ken Schrader), +9 ahead of 36th place.
34) Germain Racing (No. 13 – Casey Mears), +7 ahead of 36th place.
35) Robby Gordon Motorsports (No. 7 – Robby Gordon), +4 ahead of 36th place.
36) Wood Brothers Racing (No. 21 – Trevor Bayne), -4 behind 35th place.
37) TRG Motorsports (No. 71 – Andy Lally), -12 behind 35th place.
38) Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 – Travis Kvapil), -35 behind 35th place.
39) Front Row/MaxQ Hybrid Team (No. 37 – Tony Raines), -38 behind 35th place.

Garrett Horton is a Website Contributor to Frontstretch.com.  He can be reached via e-mail at garrett.horton@frontstretch.com.
 

Got NASCAR-related questions or comments about 2011? John's got answers!
A new year means a new columnist to answer all your pressing questions about the sport! Our legendary flagman John Potts is taking over our Fan Q & A, so be sure to stack his inbox with plenty of queries and comments for the New Year! Send them his way at john.potts@frontstretch.com; and if you're lucky, you'll get your name in print when he does his weekly column answering back to you – the fans!
 
Secret Star of the Race:  The Race You Never Saw

For Greg Biffle, the Track Too Tough To Tame is more like the Track Upon Which You Build Momentum. In ten previous Darlington starts, he entered this Southern 500 with two wins, seven top-15 results, a pole and 639 laps led at the track. Despite a ho-hum qualifying run – he rolled off the grid 22nd - history left Biffle and his No. 16 Ford with every reason to believe they'd be a factor.

 

But the Lady In Black can be a finicky mistress, leaving this driver sitting alone on their date and out to lunch this year. Failing to lead a single circuit, the 3M car found itself a victim of track position from the start, a frustrating scenario for a veteran defined by controlled aggression. Good enough to run consistently well, that speed wasn't enough for The Biff, unarmed with that extra tenth of a second true contenders Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch had to pass cars directly ahead. That meant a midpack starting position was a full-time ticket to running in traffic; it took 80 laps just to gain five spots, and by halfway through the race Biffle had only just cracked the top-15. With a recent repaving on this egg-shaped oval, turns out that whole clean air thing is more important than you think - especially at a place where passing comes at a premium.

 

"We had a top-5 car, but we just never got there," Biffle explained. "We'd run the lap times of the top-5, even the leader, but we just couldn't get there. If it would have been a 600 or 700-mile race, maybe we would have finally got up there, but we did all we could (laughing)."

The final straw came during the team's final stop, choosing to pit under caution with eight laps to go rather than stay out like eventual winner Regan Smith. The right call would have given Biffle a top-5 finish; instead, he fought for every inch on the racetrack simply to come home eighth.

 

"It was my fault," the driver claimed on that end-of-race snafu. "I should have stayed out and I pitted, so we started at the back and never got back again."

 

Why was Biffle smiling after all that? Because in the grand scheme of things, salvaging a top-10 finish became beneficial for him where it matters most: the point standings. Early stumbling blocks, like his car going fuel-less at Las Vegas are becoming distant memories; 41 points out of the Chase after that race, Biffle was 31st in the standings and seemingly opening the door for someone else to steal a playoff spot. Now? He's cut that deficit to nine, charging through the last seven races with six top-15 results and no finish worse than 21st. It hasn't exactly been a winning effort – in fact, Biffle has just 21 laps led this season – but in the world of consistency, what you need to make the playoffs this veteran Chaser is developing a rhythm that should continue.

 

"We're worried about the points right now," he explained. "And we'll keep chipping away at it."

 

As long as they keep up this pace, he's absolutely right. – Tom Bowles
 
STAT OF THE WEEK: 137. That's the number of starts it took Furniture Row Racing owner Barney Visser to win a Sprint Cup race. The Colorado furniture magnate used five drivers in the process, debuting with Kenny Wallace in 2005 and moving onto Jerry Robertson, Jimmy Spencer, and Joe Nemechek before settling with Regan Smith. How bad did things get for this underdog program? Through their first 91 starts, the team had just sixteen lead-lap finishes, exactly zero top 10s and a whopping twenty-two DNFs. But to his credit, zero of those were by starting-and-parking as Visser built up his program the good ol'-fashioned way: experience while hiring the right experts to perform at the right times. Now, in just the first eight races of 2011 he has his first top 10 (seventh at the Daytona 500) and now a maiden victory with Smith to show for those efforts. – Tom Bowles 

Big Six:  Showtime Southern 500

by Amy Henderson
 
Who…gets my shoutout of the race?

 

While this spot usually goes to a driver who didn't win, this week nobody deserves it more than race winner Regan Smith who took his first career win by flat outdriving Carl Edwards on old tires and on a much smaller budget.  Smith got a great restart and then held off Edwards, bouncing off the wall at one point but not losing momentum as he took away Edwards' line and got the win that was not only a first for the driver, but his entire organization.  It's great to see an underdog take home a trophy, and Smith did it in textbook fashion.

 

What… was THAT?

 

OK, I understand that pit road rules are made mostly for the safety of crewmen who don't have a rollcage to protect them, but was it really necessary to penalize Matt Kenseth for missing the commitment line when Kenseth blew a tire?  It seemed like overkill to me; after all, Kenseth was already handicapped by the tire, and the penalty added insult to injury.  It wasn't a situation Kenseth had control over, which sets the incident apart from speeding or even from trying to fake out other competitors and missing the line. 

 

Where…did the polesitter wind up?

 

After setting a new Darlington qualifying record on Friday, Kasey Kahne had the car to beat for long stretches early on.  It was not to be, however, as Kahne finished fourth with his Red Bull team after a midway slap of the wall affected the handling of his Toyota.  Speaking of, did anyone catch the on-air mention that the team was throwing everything they have at Kahne, with hopes that a win will make the car more attractive when Kahne moves on after this year?  Maybe it's just me, but that seems a little backwards.  How about throwing some of that at the guy who virtually built your team from the ground up, Brian Vickers?

 

When…will I be loved?

 

Darlington is tough enough to race without drivers resorting to blatantly wrecking the competition.  Yet that's exactly what Kyle Busch did in the closing laps, giving Kevin Harvick a shot that was so obviously intentional.  In the aftermath of a Lap 365 hookfest, it's important to know Harvick had gotten into Busch half a lap earlier after Busch began the conflict by sideswiping Harvick.  So in essence, Busch intentionally wrecked Harvick - turning him directly into the outside wall - for a problem he started himself.  In fact, after reviewing replays the only people who did worse than Busch were the NASCAR officials who didn't park the driver for his actions right then and there.  It's nice to be NASCAR's golden child, right?  Harvick got out of his car on pit road after the race and went to Busch's car to have a discussion on the incident.  Busch's response? He punted Harvick's empty car into the pit wall and drove away instead of risking a conflict, putting others at risk.  So much for the "new" Kyle Busch.  He showed his true colors... and one of them isn't the color of class.

 

Why…was there blue foam all over the track?

 

That was the question Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and other drivers were asking after a bizarre crash in which the side of Brain Vickers' car was peeled back like a can of sardines.  Vickers made contact with David Ragan, causing Ragan to spin back across the path of the No. 83.  The right front corner of Ragan's car peeled back the side of Vickers' machine like a can opener, throwing pieces of the impact foam in the doorframe all over the track.  It also removed Vickers' window net, although the driver himself was unhurt.  The wreck meant the No. 83 team had to retire to the garage as the car must have the foam, window net, and door panel attached.  Cars must also display a number on both doors as well as the roof, meaning all needed to be replaced before the No. 83 was again raceworthy.

 

How…should NASCAR handle the Harvick-Busch situation?

 

They should have handled it before it got worse and parked Kyle Busch for the final laps at Darlington.  Had that happened, the pit road incident would have been avoided.  But, since they did the wrong thing, they should follow their own precedent and park Busch for the entire Dover race after Busch punted Harvick's car on pit road and threatened retaliation on the radio.  Ironically, it was Kevin Harvick who NASCAR punished in simliar fashion a few years ago after Harvick threatened another driver in a Truck race.  NASCAR sat Harvick out of the next event - a Cup race at Martinsville - to send a message that such actions were unacceptable.  "Boys, have at it" or not, a line was crossed on Saturday, and NASCAR needs to send a strong message about what's hard racing - and what's going overboard.

Amy Henderson is a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com.  She can be reached via e-mail at amy.henderson@frontstretch.com.
 
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
 
Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud:  Darlington Race Recap

by Matt McLaughlin
 
Bowles-Eye View:  How To Shed A Label And Gain NASCAR Immortality

by Tom Bowles
 
Kyle Busch Can't Run From Himself At Darlington

by Bryan Davis Keith
 
Bubble Breakdown:  Track Too Tough To Tame Mixed Bag For Other Underdogs

by Dave Thompson
 
Running Their Mouth:  Breaking Down A War Of Words At The Southern 500

by Brody Jones

 

Nationwide Series Breakdown:  Royal Purple 200

by Bryan Davis Keith
 
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
 
Q:  ESPN used footage for their video, Racing Tough! from the 1990 Budweiser 500 at Dover.  Derrike Cope won the race, earning his (and Whitcomb Motorsports') second and final victory.  Further back, Alan Kulwicki and Michael Waltrip each had terrible days, finishing 24th and 26th, respectively after having a collision.  What happened?

 

Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
 
Friday's Answer:
Q:  In the 1991 TranSouth 500, Michael Waltrip was in excellent position to pick up his first career Winston Cup victory.  However, something happened to drop him back down the order (he eventually finished third).  What was it?

 
A:  Michael Waltrip led a race-high 208 laps, but trouble struck on his final pit stop.  Michael pitted his Pennzoil Pontiac out of the lead for a four-tire stop.  However, the front tire changer's air gun failed, costing the team a ton of time.  36.5 seconds later, the No. 30 ventured back on the track, having lost a full 15 seconds to Ricky Rudd on the stop.  The horrendous stop can be seen at the 3:45 mark of this clip.

Michael ended up making an unscheduled pit stop 20 laps later due to a flat tire.  The unscheduled stop can be seen in this clip.  Rudd went on to win the race by a full 11 seconds over Davey Allison.  Michael, in third, was the last car on the lead lap.

 
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs!  If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to trivia@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
 
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Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News from TBA
-- Sitting In The Stands:  A Fans' View by S.D. Grady

-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
 
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:

The Yellow Stripe by Danny Peters
Danny is back with another captivating commentary. 

 
What's Hot / What's Not in Sprint Cup: Darlington-Dover Edition by Summer Dreyer
Summer takes a look at post-Darlington numbers to see who's got the most momentum heading into Dover... and beyond.

Five Points To Ponder by Bryan Davis Keith
Bryan's back with his weekly edition of talking points to get you set for the FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway.
 
Talking NASCAR TV by Phil Allaway
Last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series raced at Darlington Raceway.  Were these telecasts up to snuff, or did they leave something to be desired?  Check out our weekly TV critique to find out.

Fact or Fiction by Tom Bowles
Tom looks at some conclusions that could be made after Darlington and determines whether they're true or not.
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